Win-win photography

Katie sounded genuinely excited when I relayed to her the news that she was the winner of Anthologie's "No Foolin' Spring Photography" promotion. Truth be told, I was just as enthusiastic to make for her some great family pictures. That's because Katie is just the sort of person I love to work for — she's a  photographer.

Does that mean I relish the idea of a fellow shutterbug critiquing my creative work with a fine-tooth comb? Not exactly, though it does help to get constructive criticism. No, the reason I enjoy having photographers as the subject of my pictures is because, like me, they're never in any of their photos!

Katie and I go way back, probably 15 years or more. She was actually a classmate of mine in high school, a photo classmate to be specific, as was her husband, Stephan. I hadn't talked with the couple regularly in some time, and hadn't even seen them face to face in about a year, so it was a welcome surprise when their names were selected at random to win an Anthologie custom photo session.

We chose the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden as the backdrop to their lifestyle portrait session. There, the couple's three children would be free to explore the grounds while physical space provided some meaningful context to the pictures, since the Stombergs live in the neighborhood.

It was a challenge to balance catching up with old friends while at the same time doing my best to be a fly on the wall for the kids as they did what they did best — play. What impressed me most was just how close all the siblings were despite their separation in age. When I'm working, posing for pictures is kept to an absolute minimum. All the images of the kids walking together, holding hands and enjoying each other's company was all real! And despite the ever-plummeting temperatures and bitter wind, everyone had a picture-perfect disposition.

Thank you, Stomberg family, for being such great models. This photography session was a win-win for all of us!

Four days left to reserve your session

Just like spring, this deal won't last forever. The No Foolin' spring photography collection absolutely ends this Friday, so be sure to contact us today and reserve your time at a special price. You then have until May 31 to complete your session.

Our No Foolin sessions are the perfect opportunity to get out and have fun with your family while we make the pictures. Planting flowerbeds, playing frisbee, or simply teaching the newest member of the family how mow the lawn are just some of the many ways to celebrate this time of year through photos.

Anthologie specializes in capturing your family interacting with one another without staged portraits. So sit back, relax, and let us do the work for you.

Learn more about this promotion HERE.

And the winner is ...

Congratulations to Katie Stomberg, the winner of our free No Foolin' photography session! For those of you who didn't win, there's still one more week to reserve your spring photo session at a special price. Katie, we'll be contacting you soon to set up a time and location to work with your family! Have a great — and warm — weekend, everyone!

Spring Giveaway: No Foolin’

This spring's giveaway from Anthologie: A free No Foolin' photography session. This collection features up to one hour of photography at a location of your choice. Perfect for those who enjoy capturing candid moments, Anthologie will work with you to create a fun and relaxing photo experience where you're free to hang out with family or work on your favorite hobby while we worry about making the photos. Check the main article on our website to learn more about this special offer.

To enter, click on the "leave a comment" navigation below and tell us: What is your favorite springtime activity? Double your chances by entering on our Facebook page. We'll randomly select the winner on April 8.

A lesson in brevity

Feeling locked up indoors with a nasty cold all week, I decided I needed an excuse to get outside. So, today, I decided to create the 3.5.11 Project and challenge my own conceptions about the art of photography, and perhaps your own.

The rules: Create 3 final images in 5 minutes or less, and have all the edits and post production on the photographs made in 11 minutes or less. Sounds easy, right? Not so fast.

This exercise was done in part to whip me back into the shape I was in as a news photographer. With demanding deadlines, shooters like myself didn't/don't have much time to dillydally around on assignment. I, and others like myself, would often lament that only with sufficient time to work with the subject of a story can quality results be achieved.

The trouble is, when you become your own boss, you create your own deadlines — or lack thereof. It can be a challenge to move quickly when no one is above you telling you to hurry your ass up.

To make the necessary images in less than 5 minutes required a bit of planning, meaning, I at least needed a theme to work on before I got going. I decided on "transitions" for a theme, thinking the change of winter to spring outside should afford many opportunities for images.

I didn't limit myself to one lens or one aperture, or anything. After all, I was trying to get into my photojournalism mode, where decisions on what lens, ISO ratings and shutter speeds need to be made swiftly.

I actually used a stopwatch to perform the exercise, and even I was shocked just how quick 5 minutes can go. I spent 3 min. 22 seconds photographing the ice melt on my sidewalk before I even thought to look at the clock. The next two images were made quite quickly.

Once I got inside to upload and edit the images, I was happier with the results than I expected, but I could definitely see that I didn't have enough time to work with the composition of my last image, the one of the dead and decomposing bird in my backyard. I was particularly upset that I didn't move just a bit further away to get more of the rock forms on the left side of the frame.

The post-production work was actually pretty smooth. I came in at 10 minutes 24 seconds, having the raw images exported from Lightroom and resized for this web post. I even had a minute or two to rework the melting snow mound image in PhotoShop before resaving to beat the clock.

So, what did I learn?

1. It's still best to get everything good on-camera to save time editing. While I was pleased with the images, I realized that if it hadn't been for the clock counting down on my monitor, I probably could have spent another half hour in PhotoShop tweaking tiny details in the melting snow mound image.

2. I need to continue to do more photography for myself.

3. I'm still not over my cold.

4. Most importantly, spending more time on a project doesn't necessarily make it better. I remember one of my former editors saying my biggest challenge was learning to accept when my work is "good enough." He said he admired how I would want my work to be the best, but sometimes you just have to remember it's going to be replaced by another edition tomorrow.

I still find myself doing this for my clients — working hours and hours editing images, reworking a story, or redoing a design. And as you can see, I also need a lesson in brevity when it comes to writing. So, does spending more time on something make it better or more valuable than something done quickly? You be the judge.