It is the season for babies and baby showers again. Yes, there’s a season when more children seem to be born than others. A while back I was hired to photograph a baby shower. Since I love to get to observe people and photograph I of course welcomed this idea with open arms. I was told this would be a real baby shower where men are welcome to smoke cigars and there will be no games. I was not sure what that meant but was happy to go experience this and learn all about it.
When I arrived there were not many people there yet (thank god because I got lost, yes my GPS failed me!). I took this opportunity to wander around and get the shots of the decorations as people seem to love those shots as well. This family had put a lot of work into the decorations and making everything just dreamy! There was a huge set up out in the perfectly manicured back yard, round tables with chairs, table cloths, and each had a center piece similar to the image here. There was coffee, drinks, cigars, etc. Everything had chalk boards with the painted pens used to label what was available at each location. Not only did it look fantastic but I was also jealous of the hand writing (little things right?).
The sun started to go down and more people began to arrive. The men tended to gather outback around the fire pit and smoke their cigars, it was really more of a cocktail party than a baby shower. About 30 people arrived and all mingled and congratulated the happy couple on their new addition to the family. The little boy is going to be very loved by this family, they were all so very happy and excited for his arrival! I have never been invited to an event where everyone was so welcoming and glad to have someone there to do something for them.
The family also owns a few restaurants and had their waiters cater the event for them. The food set up was gorgeous as well as delicious. No, I did not eat the food, but just the smell going through the house was enough to fill you up. You could smell the different flavors and even imagine the taste of each thing you smelt. It was really quite an amazing and eloquent event.
The images were rather difficult to get with decent white balance due to the yellow painted walls, candles, and the fact that was dark outside. With no way to set up lights and no real natural light to work with I was challenged during the processing to get the right white balance back into the images but it was worth the time. The family was overjoyed with the images I provided and the way in which they were provided. I of course provided a DVD with print files and web files so they can easily 
Facebook and also easily print. I light scribed the event and date onto the disk and purchased a case with an image of the happy couple and date on the front.
I had taken my Domke camera bag with my extra lenses, batteries, and memory cards. This I tucked back in a hallway out of the way but with easy access to get to and switch lenses. I had several with me but seemed to only use my 105MM and randomly used my kit lens due to the small space. This worked out rather well for me though I would love a 50MM prime, but someday I’ll give in and buy one.
Being my first baby shower photography shoot with my D7000 I think I did well and produced photos that the family appreciates as well as providing them in a way that will be a great keepsake. Just remember to think about the way in which the images are provided after the event as that is the way that you will be remembered.
One Comment
I use MPIX for a great deal of my work. They give excellent restuls by using quality paper and equipment. They give you options on your output. Mpix uses photographic paper. MPIX uses Durst laser light jet printers. They expose photo paper with RGB lasers so the photos are NOT dye or pigment prints from ink jets or laserjets . The standard paper is Kodak E surface. You can also get Kodak Metallic, or for b/w photos Ilford true black and white paper You can submit the order and they will ship them to your or your client. You can even set up a zenfolio account if you choose to where your clients can order online they will print, ship, bill and cut you a checkadded : courtney y beat me by about 15 seconds cause old men type slow so I should just say I agree with courtney yadded 2: lover not a fighter MPIX is a division of Miller Labs one of the oldest and largest professional labs in the country. ( founded in 1939) I also subscribe to shutterbug and I used to subscribe to petersens which was its predescessor. They have good articles and are a great magazine. But I could blow the dust off my old bogen enlarger in the basement and buy an ad in shutterbug as a lab. That of course would not make me a professional lab. If they got enough complaints they would pull my ad as they are a reputable magazine but there is no peer review process to buy an ad.added 3: good point lover not a fighter. I know I am at least a half bubble off level could be why I don’t take ads at face value, and my point may have been poorly made but it was meant to be that just because there is an ad in a magazine that does not make it a good lab. It only showed they had spent the money to buy an ad. I agree with you entirely that my opinion is just that an opinion no more or less valid than anyone elses here. But in this case is it based on the experiences I have personally had with MPIX. Also looking at consumer report sites, reading articles in the magazines about the labs and even going to places like BB B are better than my opinion . but I do love a good debate, thanks