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Mother’s Day – Kitchener Waterloo Photographer

Wednesday, May 9, 2012 1:50 pm

Its almost Mother’s Day, arguably the most awesome holiday of the entire year. At least thats what my kids say…in fact they are constantly telling me that they wish EVERYDAY was mother’s day…they are so right, but alas, that would be too much wonderfulness all the time that we would all forget to pay any attention at all to other important stuff, like puppies, rainbows and butterflies.

SO, if you want to give a gift for mothers day that DOES last everyday of the year, quietly hanging on the wall, reminding her how much you love her every time she walks past it, the gift of custom portraits is your answer! (you.are.welcome!) Tauro Photography gift certificates start at $200 – email julie@taurophotography.com by Friday May 11th to order yours! (then be prepared to hugged…and I mean ALOT, on Sunday, after you let her sleep in and prepare her breakfast in bed of course).

To go with this post, I wanted to find some new quotes about moms and I found a couple I loved.

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” Tenneva Jordan

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before. The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new.” ~Rajneesh

And a photo, just because. These are lilacs from my tree. We planted this lilac tree on my very first mother’s day in this house, way back in 1996. It was a twig, and now its taller than my roof.

Can you smell them? now they are on my desk, distracting me from my work.

And one more quote, the best one I found today, cause its truth is so profound…

A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after. ~Peter De Vries

Oh yeah, absolutely the truth!

Happy Mother’s day to all the moms!

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My fave photos from the last 10 years #2 – Kitchener Waterloo photographer

Wednesday, May 2, 2012 7:56 am

A little late, but whatever, I just roll like that these days. This is my countdown of favourite images from the last 10 years of business. AND May is my actual anniversary month! Yay! It will be the end of the month and I am planning a celebration (what the heck…I deserve it, am I right?!>!)

In the meantime, here is an image I have always loved. Weirdly, as I was pulling images from a folder of favourites, I ended up with 3 out of 10 images from WAAAAY back in my days of film (oh lovely film, I miss you sometimes). And in my runner up folder, several more from film. Maybe its just that I have lived with those images in my brain longer, but whenever I run across them in my folder system, I can’t help but be somewhat nostaglic to those old days (what can I say, I am getting into my middle age years and feeling nostagilic is in my blood stream it seems).

This is a client image from an extended family session. The minute they rolled up to the location in this fully restored old car (yes, old car is a real automotive technical term…truthfully, I know absolutely nothing about cars, other than they always seem to end up costing me at least a grand everytime I take it in for an oil change). ANYhoo, this gorgeous old car was awesome and we definitely did a family image with it in the background. BUT my favourite image of the day, was of the littlest grandson and his grandpa. There is just something timeless about a little boy sitting behind the wheel of a car with his grandfather.

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marmalade - BEAUTIFUL. I love it. LOVE LOVE it in fact.

Blog Carousel – How photographers use and choose lighting for your portrait session – Kitchener Waterloo Photographer

Sunday, April 29, 2012 9:07 pm

I always love blog carousel time – I never know what the rest of the ladies are going to post about until after I have followed through the carousel to all the blogs (although we do agree on a theme, but with so many creative types involved, everyone generally has their own take on it). This month we decided to do a round of informational posts for our carousel. I hope you will enjoy learning about photography, things to consider when hiring a photographer, ideas you can use for your images, etc. I decided to talk about light – different types of light that photographers use (or choose not to use) for their clients and personal photographic style.

I personally use both natural light and studio light. I love the variety that I can achieve with having both options, and quite frankly, living in Southern Ontario means there is a good part of the year that outdoor portraits are somewhat impractical (<—-UNDERSTATEMENT right there haha!). Outdoor natural light sessions have a very different feel than a studio portrait. One is not better or worse than the other – they each have their benefits and challenges.

In this first example, the one of these was lit by studio lighting, one by window lighting. The studio is a perfect option for simple newborns, if the family is not interested in having their session done in the home (which happens often). But on location in the home can also yield simple and lovely portraits by window light. I like both! (do you know which it is – photographers…no cheating cause you probably know! LOL)

Similarly, studio light and window light (okay this one is alittle easier to tell which is which…but I still love both looks!)

Outdoor natural light allows for a TON of variety in a portrait session – locations, type of lighting, space and movement, etc. For some types of sessions, in particular children, you can move about, rather than staying within a smaller area.

But fun can happen in studio as well! Just because the space is smaller, doesn’t mean it has to be static or posed (although there is also a place for that style as well)

Indoor natural light…simple and sweet.

And for seniors and adults, the same thing applies – studio, indoor natural light and outdoor can all yield lovely results, very suited to the subject and style of portrait.

So a few considerations you need to make when choosing a photographer to create portraits for you when it comes to light:

1. style – different light can absolutely be used to create a specific look and style. Neither is better, just different, and you would choose the photographer based on the work they create and the type of session you need. Don’t discount a particular lighting type simply because it is perceived as less valuable. Often studio lighting is regarded as traditional or static or too posed, but the reality, that is more about the style of the photographer than the light they use.

2. time of year – because I live in a four season climate, I have opted to utilize both types of lighting in my work in order to offer services year round. Other photographers may choose differently. But if it is winter, your options are limited for outdoor lighting, so either in your home or in the studio are your best options then. Or waiting until spring or summer. Of course, if you have a baby in the cold depths of an Ontario winter (as I did…twice!) you probably will not opt for waiting so studio is a great option, especially if your home is not as suited to a portrait session because it looks “VERY lived in” (thats a nice way of saying our place is alittle messy most of the time LOL)

3. temperament - for children’s sessions, you may just KNOW that your little one will not be happy to sit and interact with a photographer in a limited space. Fair enough, I have definitely had that experience a few times! But just because we are in a limited space in the studio doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun!

Next up in the carousel is Melody Hood, a very talented photographer (I am always in awe of her environmental portraits! they are simply stunning). Click HERE to check out her post in this months blog carousel.

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8 comments

lauri - You’re so talented with light, I can’t tell the difference in those first two. Either could have been made with natural or artificial light. You do both so well! Well-written article about the merits of both too.

chris plamann - light is such a powerful tool and your images are such gorgeous examples of that!!

Corey Sewell - Great post and beautiful examples, Julie!

dena robles - I think you have been able to demystify lighting styles with your post. I know there can be such a split between the two ‘sides’ when it comes to lighting, but it is great to see them side-by-side and to know that the difference is really quite negligible when done well. FWIW, I don’t know which is which on the first set of images!!

allie - BEAUTIFUL examples shown of the different ways to use light in photography. Great information and images here!

Danna - Great post about info people should really consider. I too, like to use both natural and studio light. They are both wonderful, but in different ways ;)

Calgary Baby Photographer -Bowes Photography -Baby Art™ - [...] next in the carousel is Julie Tauro, Kitchener Waterloo child and family photographer, women’s portraits. She is writing about [...]

Pretty Lady – Waterloo Kitchener Photographer

Friday, April 27, 2012 6:19 pm

Isn’t she gorgeous? She is also funny as heck and a great mom and photographer. And she is the first photographer I have photographed. Usually when I am with photographer friends, its all talk and cameras really don’t make an appearance (well, sometimes we use them just long enough to justify calling it a “work” meeting LOL). But I asked Mich if she would pose for me and bravely, she agreed! I think she looks great! THEN we did makeup and WOW! Its very different photographing a friend – I was totally free to say some very inappropriate things to her (cause she already knows I do that from time to time HA!). I try to stay polite with people that don’t know me well, but I have to say, I may have to try it with someone soon – it definitely was good for some laughing shots (I definitely don’t mind if someone wants to laugh at my expense, as long as it looks good in the camera).

Thanks for the great afternoon (and the unplanned ride home!! )

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