Menzel Photography

Getting Kids to Cooperate

menzelphotography — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 05:19:01 +0000

After photographing families with small children many times over I can tell you that is doesn’t always go smoothly. Whether it’s that your child refused to nap before the session and is tired and grouchy, they get shy in front of the camera, or they just decide they don’t want their photo taken, there are some simple “tricks” to getting your kids prepared to cooperate for the session! I wanted to take a few minutes and share these with you!

1.) Tell your kids what’s going on – Some parents might say “This won’t work with my kids.” but I’m convinced it’s all about how it’s done. When I schedule a photo session I also schedule a complementary consultation. This consultation is very helpful. First, it helps me get to know the family better and get a vision for how your photos can represent your personalities. I always encourage parents to bring their children to the consultation as well. If the kids are just seeing me for the first time at the photo session and I’m getting in their face with a camera it can be a bit overwhelming, but if they meet me before the session then I’m not a complete stranger taking their picture.

2.) Don’t set unrealistic expectations – Kids are kids. Let them be kids. Sometimes as parents we have these ideas in mind of beautiful classic family portraits. Many kids can and will pull that off, but even the most cooperative kids can have an off day. If the kids are being a little goofy (or even grouchy) the day of the shoot, embrace it! Sometimes you let them be goofy to start and then before you’re finished you get that perfectly nice shot you were hoping for. If it doesn’t work out and you don’t end up with that perfect shot, enjoy the photos of your kids being themselves. I promise they’ll be just as adorable! And let’s be honest, how many of us are so frustrated with out kids when they are grouchy that we never get a photo of their signature glare? Once they get older you might start to miss it.

3.) Don’t try to get there extra early - I’ve shot with families who thought “I’ll get there early and let the kids play and explore the location first, so they will pay attention and co-operate during pictures.” In theory, this sounds like a great idea, but it doesn’t work. The kids get all their fun playtime out, and then when it’s time to start taking pictures they just want to leave. Again, let kids be kids. If they can play and explore a little during photos, you get more natural smiles instead of the “cheese” face or a grouchy face.

4.) Use bribery – If you don’t like this concept I’m sorry, but when I do a photo shoot with a family I like to bring “treats” for the kids. I tell themthat I have something special for them, but they can only have it after they help me get nice pictures for mom & dad! If the parents are really picky about what the kids can have (or the kids have multiple allergies) then sometimes they will bring the treats for their kids instead of me, but I believe that when all else fails, bribery will get the job done.

I hope this information is helpful to you as you plan your next photo session with Menzel Photography, We look forward to meeting with you and going over more details on how we can make your session the best experience possible.

High Fashion – Downtown Boise

menzelphotography — Mon, 11 Feb 2013 16:53:18 +0000

Because I (Britta) studied Advertising in college, I love watching commercials, and looking through magazines just for the ads. I know it might sound silly to most of you, but I LOVE advertising. I have always been especially fascinated with the high fashion ads that involve dramatic lighting and shadows, so I decided to try my own shoot of this style. I must say that I am thrilled with the results! I’d like to give a HUGE thanks to my models Candis Standridge and Tawnee Watkins as well as Hair stylist Sara Murray and Makeup Artist June Klyder for making this shoot such a huge success!

Event Photography – City Church

menzelphotography — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 20:20:33 +0000

As we have mentioned before, we love the city! We love it so much that we even go to church in the city. City Church Boise meets every Sunday at 10:00 AM in the Linen Building in downtown Boise! Occasionally we do photos for the church when they need to update the web site, so we wanted to share some of their recent photos with you!

Winter Wonderland

menzelphotography — Mon, 21 Jan 2013 20:20:09 +0000

We have had some beautiful hoar frost over the last week and I wanted to make sure the capture some of it while I could. For anyone not familiar with Boise, we don’t usually get a lot of heavy snow in the valley. In fact usually the snow we wake up to is melted by the end of the day. The mountains typically work as a great barrier to the weather, but this has definitely been a cold winter. I always say if it’s going to be cold we might as well have pretty snow to look at, and it looks like I got what I wanted.

Mrs Idaho – Beautiful Abilities

menzelphotography — Wed, 16 Jan 2013 20:23:32 +0000

We had the honor and privilege of taking these photos for Joy for her entry in the Mrs. Idaho United States pageant. Not only is she a personal friend of ours, but she is truly an amazing woman! Joy’s platform for the pageant is Beautiful Abilities, Empowering women with physical, developmental and mental health challenges to shine! This is personal cause for Joy having a son with autism and being diagnosed 2 years ago with Lupus. Joy is also the founder/co-owner of A New Leaf Inc. a Developmental Disability Agency (DDA) that strives to provide the best services possible for adults and children with developmental disabilities and mental health needs. And the icing on top the cake? You probably won’t believe me, but this last year Joy became a grandmother (Oma) twice!

The Mrs. Photogenic part of the competition will be open to the public for voting. You can vote for her here starting Thursday January 24, 2013.

Gotta Love Good Neighbors

menzelphotography — Mon, 07 Jan 2013 18:03:49 +0000

We are blessed to have some wonderful neighbors, including the D Family seen here. They were some of the first to come by and offer comfort to my Mom when my Dad passed away in 2011, even though they had only just met. When we got back into the country earlier this year they were some of the first to volunteer for portfolio building family shots.

They do occasionally do something mean…like bringing us cookies just as we are about to start dieting (to be fair…they didn’t know). I guess that’s just something we’ll have to deal with.

They had a great time shooting these photos with Britta earlier this year, I’m sure your family would enjoy the experience as well. Give us a call to set up your consultation…neighbors don’t have to live next door!

-David

Lake Cascade in December

menzelphotography — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 20:27:26 +0000

We recently did a photo shoot to add something a little different to our portfolio. Although this is not the typical shoot for us, we decided it was important to have in our repertoire as we continue to move forward with modeling portfolios and commercial photography work. The models were absolutely amazing to work with, and real troopers when it was time to put on the smile (trust me, it was COLD.)

A couple of the most important things to keep in mind when working on a modeling portfolio are:

1.) Have a variety of styles

2.) Only show your VERY best images

Oh the Holidays

menzelphotography — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 04:00:22 +0000

I both love and hate the holiday season. I love the time with family and friends, getting to kick back and maybe watch a few movies and gain a few pounds, but it throws the regular routine all out of whack. Well…we’re through the holidays and it is time to get back on course.

2013 is going to be a blast for Menzel Photography. We are focused and ready to create some beautiful memories for people in the Treasure Valley and beyond (we are especially open to travel jobs to anywhere tropical).

We have done a couple of shoots in the last few weeks that we are really excited to share, but can’t yet. Give it time…it will be worth it.

We did head to McCall for a location scouting trip the other day. My friend and I decided to capture some snowball fight goodness. Here is a nice action shot to hold you over until more photos arrive!

- David

Why We Love Boise

menzelphotography — Tue, 18 Dec 2012 04:38:10 +0000

Because we are a Boise based photography business I thought it was only fitting to write a blog about why we love it here so much. Let me start by admitting that I (Britta) am not a Boise native. I lived in Illinois most of my life. David was born in Michigan, but because he has spent most of his adult life in Boise I consider him an honorary native. David and I visited his parents in Boise a couple of times before our wedding and I fell in love with it, making it an easy decision to move here after we got married. In fact, we didn’t even take a honeymoon. The day after the wedding we loaded up a moving truck and drove from Illinois to Idaho, and we’ve never regretted that decision.

Boise has the perfect blend of small town charm in a modern urban setting. It’s big enough to give you that city feel with a lively, interesting downtown, but still small enough to be super clean and safe.

Boise is also an active city, with residents riding their bikes to work and spending evenings and weekends outdoors. Our downtown parks such as Kathryn Albertson, Julia Davis and Anne Morrison make excellent photo locations as well as a great place to hang out on a beautiful day (Boise has perfect or near perfect weather about 350 days a year). Some of our favorite things to do in the summer are hang out at the Grove Plaza and let the kids play in the fountain or stroll down Harrison Boulevard on a Sunday afternoon. We love to float the Boise River, and take the kids to the Saturday morning 8^th Street Market.

In the winter you have such a short drive up the mountains to Bogus Basin for skiing and snowboarding. While David enjoys this, I must admit that I have never been skiing or snowboarding in my life. I keep thinking that I should give it a try, but I’m not much of a cold weather person. I would probably end up sitting in the lodge next to the fireplace drinking hot chocolate and taking pictures of everyone around me. But even in the winter Boise has its appeal for me. I could sit in a coffee shop for hours working, watching people, and making new friends! I love snow, and even though it doesn’t usually stick in the valley, I love that it’s just a short drive up into the mountains to see it!

I could go on and on, but if you live in Boise you already know all about it. If you don’t, you should visit (or move…but no pressure). We have lived here almost our entire marriage (7.5 years – we loved the year we spent in Australia, but we still missed Boise the whole time.) We feel so blessed to be able to raise our family and continue to build our business here.

Not Just a Snapshot

menzelphotography — Sat, 15 Dec 2012 20:53:02 +0000

Having a piece of art that you love hanging on your wall is great. Having a piece of art on your wall that has someone you love in it is even better.

This is a shot that Britta got during a family shoot a few months ago. The family’s little boy wandered off to explore by himself, providing this shot. I love how the hills roll and make it look like he could be off in the wilderness somewhere when in reality, they were in the middle of Boise.

We are always on the lookout for shots like this. Our goal is to provide every client a print that they will be proud to display in their home. Not just because it is a picture of them, but because it is art that they were a part of.