Everyone loves a good deal so we are giving you a super good one! For the month of August we are selling 100 photo sessions for $100.00 each (plus tax). This is an unbelievable deal worth a value $700.00! You can use this prepaid photo session for families, individuals, couples, high school seniors, teens, and kids portraits at your choice of a location listed later in this post. This will be the perfect time to get an updated portrait or perhaps buy a photo session for family or friends! Only 100 sessions will be sold so hurry up and get yours today! Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

That is right we have a winner of our Free Photoshoot for a Fortunate Facebook Fan Contest! We are sure you are beaming with excitement to find out who won… so without further ado… the winner is…

Michelle Shipley

We will be contacting Michelle to let her know she won, however, if there is no response there will be a runner up.

Unfortunately we couldn’t make every one a winner but we have special that we are running for the month of August that might be music to your ears!  Check out our post on this limited quantity and time offer that just can’t be beat!

August Photoshoot and CD Special (a $700.00 Value)

Leave a Comment | Permalink

We’re going to have a unbelievable deal for the month of August!  Check back in 2 days to see what the buzz is all about!

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Before photography became the popular medium, artists used to capture portraits by painting. If you look at some of the works of classical painters like, Cecilia Beaux, Charles Chaplin, Dagnan-Bouveret, Edward Hughes, & Thomas Benjamin Kennington, you’ll find all of their paintings had such emotion, depth, textures, drama and something else in common.  They all painted with a good use of lighting! You have to know where you came from to know where you’re going. History can teach us a lot and many of today’s photographers completely overlook our beginnings. Classical painters learned early on that lighting will make or break a portrait.  That philosophy still continues on today when it comes to photography.

So what makes a good portrait?

Before we answer that we’re going to show you a portrait that isn’t ideal to the classical portrait look.

This what we called a “deer in the headlights” portrait!  While this might be a great snapshot (or mugshot) for a friend it doesn’t scream classic portrait.  There are a few things that are keeping this from being a classic shot.  First and foremost is the lighting. It’s very flat! By flat we mean that it doesn’t not show the shapes and features of the face very well.  It is almost directly forward and because it was lit by a small light source it caused harsh shadows on the background. The second thing that keeps this from being a classical portrait is the pose.  Being square to the camera or directly facing the camera is typically not a flattering look for many body types. Some people can get away with it but the majority can’t!

Now let’s look at a more classical style portrait.

First off look at the lighting.  It’s brighter on the left side of the face and fades to a shadow towards the right side of the face.  There is also a subtle hair and rim light on the right ear.  With this type of lighting the portrait starts to look three dimensional.  Also if you look at the quality of light you’ll see that it is much softer than the first picture.  A big, diffused light source was used versus the tiny, harsh light source in the first snapshot. Next let’s look at the pose.  We didn’t pose square to the camera.  We turned at an angle to help make the body and face look slimmer.  Not only does turning the body help slim the body it also help add texture and detail to clothing.

Which of the two portraits would you rather have hanging on the wall?  Don’t get us wrong snapshots are great for capturing and recording an event or place but portraits should be timeless! Now aren’t you ready for your classic portrait session?

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Who wants a free photoshoot? Mark Warren Photography is giving a free photoshoot with prints to one of our lucky fans. All you have to do is become a fan on our fanpage and you’re entered!

You will receive:

A free one hour, on-location  photoshoot courtesy of Mark Warren Photography!

You will also receive a credit for 1 – 8×10, 2 – 5×7′s and 8 wallet’s printed on Kodak Lustre Paper

Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Summertime is always filled with hot days, vacation get-a-ways, relaxing at the beach and of course…it’s wedding season!   Amber and Chandler had a beautiful wedding along the river right next to their family’s home.  We always enjoy being there for the beginning of a couples life together and best part is we get to capture it from the start!

Read more

1 Comment | Permalink

A few weeks ago I received an email from a mother that her and her daughter would be flying from Colorado visiting friends in the area. They used to live here several years ago and her daughter wanted her senior portraits near the water.  Of course I was happy to oblige their request.  We met at a local marina so we could take pictures on the docks. Melanie, our senior, arrived wearing her blue and white dress that totally complimented our scenery.  We quickly got acquainted and went to work!

When it comes to having photography done on location the times you shoot is crucial! It is better to shoot either early morning or late evening for better lighting results.  Noon is the worst time to take portraits unless you’re in the shade! We decided to shoot at 9:00am and we happened to be in direct sunlight.  While this is pretty much mid morning the sun was still much higher than I would have liked. We didn’t panic we just through in some fill flash and Melanie turned out some awesome shots!  I love working with seniors and it was a such a pleasure photographing Melanie! Thanks Melanie and mom for being such great clients. Good luck in your senior year and future after high school!

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Let’s face it…most guys don’t like or care to be photographed but we definitely found our exception to the rule!  We met Sean at Yorktown Riverwalk for his senior session.  While this is the same place we shot Cylenthia a few weeks ago you would never know it.  The great thing about photographing on location is there are so many different areas to take advantage of.

Sean allowed us to capture some amazing images but we didn’t stop there!  We process our images according to the look of the individual so in the latter part of his set we threw in some vintage looks, old school film grain, and some toned black and whites. My wife loved Sean’s pics so much that she wanted to put a few of his prints up around the house!  To bad she’s already taken Sean but I’m sure you have no problems with the ladies!

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Senior season is in full bloom and over the weekend we photographed Kalie. Kalie wasn’t exactly sure where she wanted to have her photos taken so, we dusg into our great locations to photograph box, flipped a coin and settled on Downtown Norfolk. I must say, I love shooting in the city! Just walking half a block, you can find so many different scenes that are perfect for photographing.  Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

The 2010 Seniors are almost outta here and now it’s time for the Juniors that will be taking their place to step up to the plate.  Mark Warren Photography is searching for 2011 Senior Representatives for our Senior Rep Program. Read more

Leave a Comment | Permalink

Next Page →