Manfred Orthodontics Studio Portraits and the Value of Printing
The Studio Portraits
Wow, I never thought I would EVER get into studio portraits, but after doing a session with Ry and Rivs (the babies) and then this session with Manfred Orthodontics' patients, I LOVE shooting studio portraits. There's just something so satisfying about creating your own light and playing with the shadows. It really puts me into a whole new realm of photography where I can explore and learn so much more. Challenges are fun, especially when it's doing something you love!
I had so much fun photographing this session. Lauren Manfred (hence Manfred Orthodontics) is such an awesome person. She is so upbeat and lively! Her place has some fun decor and it's only going to get better, but I'll touch on that later! Her office is like no orthodontic office you've seen before and it really reflects her upbeat personality.
With her upbeat personality, she definitely knew how to choose some A+ patients to work with. They all had great smiles, partly because of Lauren's amazing work straightening out those smiles. They were all incredibly cooperative, easygoing, and made it easy to get the shots we were looking for. They were pure naturals. She seriously couldn't have picked a better bunch of people to work with!
The Value of Printing
So, how is the decor of her office going to get better? Well, I'm so excited to tell you that she is printing NINE canvases of the patients to put up on her wall! It's seriously going to make the place look so awesome by displaying some of her patients' finished smiles. Why does this excite me so much? Printing photos has nearly become a thing of the past. Yeah, a lot of people still do it, but not nearly as much as we did before the age of digital. Most people like sticking to their digital copies, but what happens after the copies are received? Likely to sit on a flash drive collecting dust. Photography services aren't cheap, I'll admit that. So why let that money go to waste and not enjoy the photos in print?!
Don't get me wrong, I LOVE digital copies because I can share them all over social media! I can let so many people in on my life through digital photos by mass sharing them. But there's nothing like getting something tangible. Something that you can enjoy personally on your wall at home or in your office. Something you can see every day that is way bigger than the tiny screen on your phone. Something your guests will go "WOW" to when they walk into your home.
Let's put this in terms of music. Right now, we're all downloading it or streaming it. I mean, I even stream it all the time off of Spotify. But isn't there something so special about going out and buying the physical CD with the album art and booklet from the artist you're a fan of? Or better yet, a VINYL?! Some of you are thinking right now, do those even exist anymore? Yep, they do! There's just a special feeling about having something tangible that represents something you love...which is why I have the past 3 Taylor Swift albums on CD 😂 (sorry, not sorry). So if some people are willing to go the extra mile to buy a music artist's vinyl, shouldn't we go the extra mile to print the photos of the people we love?
Anyways, that's just something to think about. I'll have more to say later 😉. While you're at it, check out Bryan Caporicci's post on Huffington Post about this. He shares some pretty great thoughts: "Photography is Best Enjoyed Offline"
Thanks for reading! Here are some photos from this shoot (the first one is Lauren). Enjoy!
