“Where’s that last post card you promised?” I hear you ask. Well, technical issues at the printer ruined two attempts to run them, and since our good weather wasn’t going to hold out forever, a late decision was made to try and get some ads in the different high school newspapers as an alternative. That attempt was only moderately successful, with Spanish Springs being the only paper where we were able to make contact and place an ad in time. So the bottom line is, no final post card this season! (Anyone need a few rolls of postage stamps???)

But look for the next card sometime around late March or April, just before good weather arrives.

The special that was to be offered on that card (and outlined in the post below) is still on, however! Check out that post for details about the free second “sunset” mini-session (with makeup, of course) for all October sessions, to take place at our new and different shooting location on private acreage in Spanish Springs. It looks like our weather is about to begin changing, so don’t delay!

And if you want a “fall look” session, call now! Since fall can be quite fleeting around here, we only book a small handful, and as soon as fall arrives, we immediately call those with reservations and start shooting within a couple days. If after that we’re lucky enough to have an extended fall, we’ll take additional bookings while the weather lasts.

So call us at 356.5550!

[9/13 Note: Sorry, but these post cards will be delayed in mailing, probably until the 21st or so. The cards were not printed well, and I'm told it will take until next week before I have the new run. The special offer outlined below isn't affected, though!]

If you’re on our mailing list and are already receiving our post cards, or have recently added yourself to our list, keep an eye on your snail mail for the latest and final post card of this year’s senior season, arriving sometime this week. (If you’re not on the list and want to join, it’s not too late, just head on over to our sign-up form. We’ll make sure you get a copy of this latest card, and be on the list for the start of next spring’s 2013 season post card mailings.)

The card you’ll be getting will have details about our fall special offer: For the end of this senior season, we’ve added a second location for “last light of the day” sunset shooting. And for September and October senior sessions, it’s not just an optional alternative, it’s a second evening added the day after your primary session for an additional hour of photography at sunset.

Our primary locations are close-in to the foothills of the Sierras, and the sun disappears over those hills while it’s still relatively high and the lighting is just beginning to soften and warm. But the new location (on property belonging to our makeup artist, Gaynel) is a flat desert area, and we’ll get long shadows and a rosy-orange sunset light that we just can’t get at our Verdi locations.

And the best thing about it: It’s all included for the same basic session charge, and even includes the services of our makeup artist, Gaynel, for this second evening!

Mind already made up? Great! Just give us a call at 356.5550 and set up a consultation appointment to talk about your Hildebrand Studio senior session, and we’ll have you in front of our camera in no time!

I’m looking for one or two junior/senior young ladies to do some sample senior photography in exchange for a very large senior package of images. In short, if we shoot it and you like it, it will be included, up to $1600 in value total (or if we split the project between two, up to $800 in value each), so your senior portraits will be pretty much covered with no cost to you!

The catch is I need one person with a *very* large wardrobe, or two with moderately large wardrobes. We’ll need a large variety of accessories and shoes for different outfits, from jeans & shorts casual, to jeans dress-up, and dressy dress-up! The focus of this project is to show how different looks can enhance and give variety to one’s senior portraits, as well as showing some of the better locations in the area for doing a senior portrait.

This means our senior model will be going through more outfits with this project than is typical for the normal senior session (which goes through about three or four clothing changes on average), so lots of outfit changes of widely varying looks should be available. Don’t just think summer looks–jackets, hats and other cooler weather details can all be used, as we’ll use some locations that won’t be season-specific. We’ll most likely be doing about three sessions, and about three looks (possibly with small variations of accessories) per session.

Our models also need to be very outgoing, and willing to project some real attitude on occasion. While many of the photographs will be fairly subdued with pleasant smiles, some will require projecting a lot of one’s personality. And, maybe even a little action, such as some limited running and jumping if the situation presents itself. So it’s ideal for someone who loves to dress up and show off! Sound like you? Great!

Keep in mind, this isn’t simply doing an extended typical senior session. It’s about showing a wide range of possibilities one can pursue in their own session from simple and reserved to the occasional hopping, skipping and jumping if one is so inclined, and whoever is chosen for this project should be able to do it all and feel comfortable doing it in front of a camera. Now, most of what we do won’t be anything very active, but once in a while when the situation is right, it may be on the menu!

We’ll be doing several shoots (three or four, most likely) in a wide variety of locations from late afternoon to early evening, and a parent, adult relative or guardian will need to be available for each one. Lastly, our model needs to be highly enthusiastic about the project from start to finish, as it will take several sessions spread out over a couple weeks to complete–so enjoying being photographed is an important quality.

Since this project is meant to show our potential senior clients the wide variety of things we can do in their session, and show actual examples of how they can put together a number of different looks, I’ll suggest here, as I often do with my seniors when prepping for their session, to have a look at http://lookbook.nu/. The images and outfits on lookbook.nu cover a truly wide spectrum of looks, from conservative to nowhere-near-conservative, to just simple good styling.

And there are lots of ideas for using color on Lookbook, too. For instance, a few days ago I saw a very simple but very memorable outfit there: a plain white blouse overhanging jeans shorts (with cuffs, I think) and a bright blue pair of heels (not sure of the technical details here, but I think they would be called pumps…no straps, and enclosed from heel to toe). So it was very simple, but immediately eye-catching: Just blue and white for color, no details, embroidery or adornments, and topped off (bottomed off?) with those brilliant blue shoes.–but immediately eye-catching. It was stylish and contemporary. The fact that I recall so much detail about it proves to me it was a great look. And there are lots of great looks on that site!

If you’re interested in this project, or just have a question or two about it, call the studio at 356-5550! We can either talk over the phone, or set up a consultation appointment to go over the details. But even if we talk on the phone now, there will be an in-person interview before the final selection. I’d like to start this in early/mid July, and have it completed before the end of the month so it can be incorporated into the Web site by early August.

Thanks so much for your interest!!!

Yep, we had ‘em both last Friday at Katie’s senior session! I’ll leave it to you to figure out who had what:

(And Katie was even wearing one of our Hildebrand Studio hats from when she booked her senior session with us!)

If you’ve been to our page about scheduling (use your back button to return from that page, as the page itself has no nav controls), and are interested in a Spring Green session, it’s probably time to schedule.

With our odd Spring (meaning, “no Spring”) retarding vegetation growth to some extent, and the coming plunge from the 50s and 60s of last week right into 80s and 90s heat with no rain in the foreseeable future, the tall grasses (very green as of yesterday, when I made a quick trip to assess our locations) will most likely begin to dry out and turn yellow before they get a chance to grow very much taller. Only the grasses in the orchard area we use are approaching two feet in height, while the adjacent open field is closer to 12″ in height. The weather last permitted us to do a session there about two weeks ago (we’ve subsequently rescheduled one session 3x now because of changing weather!), and since then, there really hasn’t been all that much added height to the grass, most likely due to the cool temperatures we’ve been having.

I do like the toasty tans of dried grasses in the field, but then, nothing says “spring” like lush greenery! If you do prefer mostly green surroundings, and you’re in the “better safe than sorry” camp, I’d suggest getting your session in before the end of the month!

We’ve been weathered-out in our senior sessions lately, having rescheduled one session three times now! So instead of posting images from a session, here’s a heads-up about a couple Web sites that may be helpful in planning for your own session.

These are two great sites about fashion and photography, and can be a big help in putting together the wardrobe for your session. What’s so nice about these particular sites is that with only a few exceptions, they feature everyday, real-world looks on real people, not commercial fashion on professional models.

Lookbook.nu is primarily European teen fashion, shot outdoors in situations very close to what we’d do in a senior session, and salt&prep is a makeup, grooming, and fashion site featuring a lot of senior photography from all over the US. You may actually be familiar with either one or both sites already, but I think they’re both valuable resources for planning session wardrobe, so wanted to make certain you’re aware of them.

One thing you may notice on the Salt & Prep site where there are often multiple images of each senior, is that just about every different outfit in a set of images has a change of shoes. This really helps give each outfit it’s own unique look. Lookbook.nu does have some posts where the posters labels themselves model or designer, but they still fit well into the overall picture.

Give ‘em a look!

We did Mackenzie’s senior portraits last week, and here are just a couple images from the session:

(This little image doesn’t do Mackenzie justice…so just click it for a larger version!)

When you see Mackenzie at school, she’ll have a card to give you worth $25 off your session fee and 16 free wallets that will be added to your print order. Look her up!

We photographed Toya both in-studio back at the beginning of the year, and then about a month ago around town for some outdoor images. Toya is from Hawthorne, and we did a couple different basketball related images, since she was on the team. The “Toya” and “34″ grafitti on the Wells overpass support wall (we were under the overpass on 4th St for this image) you see in the background was done with Photoshop, not a can of spray paint!

Our next session was “clouded” out a few days ago, but the weather seems to finally be clearing up, and we’ve got a few more scheduled starting late next week. So stay tuned!

(And don’t forget, our “$50 off your print order” offer for Spring Green sessions taking place by June 15th ends, well, June 15th! You’ll need the post card sent out last month with the offer on it to redeem it, but don’t worry, we’ll give you one when you come in to sign up for your session if you need one. And make sure to get on our post card list for other offers that may occur!)

If you got a database error in the last week or so when you tried to access this blog, sorry! My domain host upgraded some software that required a resetting of a password on my end to reestablish a database connection, and I simply forgot to do it! So sorry for that big white screen and the screaming bold text that greeted you during that time!

Saturday is our first outdoor session of the year already!

Usually, we aren’t able to begin shooting outdoors until May, since we just don’t get the greenery and tall grasses until then.

But Saturday should be pretty nice, and our senior, graduating this year, has an early deadline to get photographs in the mail to her family. So this session will be more urban than our usual “communing with nature” look! This is also the second half of a split session, the first part done in-studio earlier this year.

Usually, I don’t get to say this, because there’s seldom anyone around when we’re shooting out in the sticks, but one of our locations Saturday will be downtown near the river. So if you see four people late in the afternoon, including a pretty young lady of high school age, a mom loaded down with several changes of clothing, some big reflectors and a makeup artist tossing around a powder puff, and of course, some guy looking through a camera gesturing wildly at some poor young lady…wave!

I’ll get a couple images posted next week!

April 12th, a quick update: We still have one Senior Rep spot open each at Spanish Springs, Hug and Reed. Call us at 356.5550!
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Daylight Savings Time has arrived. Spring is within sight. And that means it’s Senior Rep time!

Details are on the Senior Rep page, but in brief, you’ll get a half-priced session (with our makeup artist, of course!), a free starter package of prints, some personalized cards to hand out, as well as earning print credits each time someone brings in your card and commissions Hildebrand Studio for their senior portraits.

Apply soon, as we’ll need to do your session as soon we get some leaves on the trees and the field grasses turn green and begin to grow. That’s usually late April or very early May.

Yeah, corny phrase, but true. The Senior’s Web Site is getting some refreshing right now, and a few small inconsistencies in the graphics may prevail for a few days during the changes, such as “Seniors 2011″ still on a few page headers instead of the updated “Seniors 2012″–little things like that. A few pages are getting fairly extensive work-overs, while others are just getting the header dates revised for the Class of 2012.

There’s been an article under the main image graphic on the hildebrandseniors.com index page for a while, but it was “below the fold” as the terminology goes in the newspaper trade (what’s a newspaper, you ask? ), so you may have missed it. It should be more obvious that it’s there in the new revision, so if you haven’t yet seen it, you might want to take a look (this was the first revised page completed). The article talks about retouching, and how Hildebrand Studio strives to maintain a naturalness that avoids the “plastic skin syndrome” that I’m sure you’ve seen in your travels around the Web. It uses the main image at the top of that page, and talks a little about how retouching and enhancements can take it from a raw camera image (below,top) to the finished image (below, bottom).

If you haven’t yet seen it, take a look!

Ok, not quite.

But with mid-60s temperatures right now in mid-January, it’s difficult not to begin thinking a couple months down the road. (The winter’s dirt got washed off the old Miata Sunday, and the top is down, and it will stay down until the weather gets stormy–or really cold–again!)

Most outdoor locations are usually ready (“ready”, meaning we have nice, tall green grasses in the fields and leaves on all the trees) around late April to early May. Then, we have about a month until the grasses start drying out and fields turn from green to gold, and the leaves turn a darker, more mature green.

So, the first thing to consider for your senior portraits is whether you like the lush look of green grasses or the more summery golden tan look. We also have a split session, where we do part of your photography indoors and part outdoors. (We’re right now in the middle of scheduling the studio portion of our first split session of the year for sometime in February.)

Questions? You can always call the studio at 356.5550!

With our weather having turned for the most part, and much of the color gone from the trees, Rachel was probably our last outdoor senior until Spring returns:

Keep us in mind! Check back in a couple weeks; I’ll be posting some information about split sessions (part studio, part outdoors in the Spring) soon. There will also be a special offer for those who sign up for a split session and do the studio portion in January!

And that means “last call” for this season’s outdoor senior portraits!

Give us a call at 356.5550!