Celtic Charm Photography

What to wear to a photoshoot!

Color is your friend.

Light bright rich colors really stand out and pop in a portrait, white is very fresh and can look amazing, but neon colors are a no-go! yellow is also not one of my favs! having said that, if there is a color you just love and looks great on you and makes you feel comfortable, by all means.. wear that!!!

Solids over prints!

Solids look great every time,. Bold prints can look very busy and distract the viewer from the focus of the photo, you. Try to keep it simple.

Avoid trends.

Unless we're shooting a special session that requires you to wear something a lil' crazy, try to keep your photoshoot outfits to 'classic' and 'simple', nothing dates a photo more than wearing something super trendy that not only will be out of date in a year, but 10 years later you'll look back and say, OMG 'why did I wear that"!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Comfort is key.

Sometimes during my shoots, there is a lot of walking, sitting, standing, posing on top of this or sitting on top of that, OR lying under that thing over there! so you need to make sure whatever you wear is comfortable. Bring more than one outfit, it may take several takes to get your favorite shot. you may not feel happy with the outfit you're wearing and that will show in your shots, so take lots of clothes. Also a thing to remember is, you may get dirty, or wet or covered in sand for example... so make sure you feel comfortable enough to sit down or lay down in your clothes.

On location and in season.

Dress for location and season, if it's cold, wrap up! if it's warm, make sure your clothes are breatheable, shooting on a beach on a hot summers day is hard work, you don't want to spontaneously combust! on that note, if you're a lady like me, and you happen to be wearing makeup, it may just slide off during a hot shoot! bring more, bring deodorant, whatever you think will make you feel comfortable.

A favorite prop?

Please feel free to bring a favorite props to the shoot, such as sports equipment if you are a team player or fan, musical instruments, or hobby items. You can even bring a favorite portable piece of furniture, such as a lightweight chair or stool. If we're photographing a baby you might have special props you'd like to use. I have absolutely hundreds of props, we can talk about style before your shoot and decide what you'd like to bring or what you'd like ME to bring.

Be yourself.

The most important piece of advice I can share is to just be yourself. The above are all great tips, but for an engagement or any portrait session, the focus is YOU and you want your personality to shine through. I usually take some test shots to start off to try to make folks comfortable, I also tell some really awful jokes and waffle on and on and be a little goofy sometimes to make kids smile.

A recap - some Do’s and Dont’s

• Do pick clothes that you are comfortable in, avoid anything with too much pattern (or something that’s too busy) or clothes that are too trendy. Remember you may be looking back at these shots in twenty years time!

• Do try on ALL the clothes before coming to a photo shoot. Nothing like finding out something doesn’t fit at the shoot, or there is a huge stain that even Photoshop can't clone out!

• Do remember to coordinate your nail color (both hands and toes if you will be wearing open toe shoes or if you will be barefoot). Also, remember that your nails should have a fresh coat, that chips will show in the pictures.

• Don’t worry about bringing too many clothes, as long as you bring a variety.

• Don’t worry if you don’t like something, you can always go onto the next wardrobe.

• Bring a prop or two!

Most importantly be yourself and have fun!

Why Celtic Charm??

Have you ever wanted to have a different kind of portrait experience? One that could make you feel like a million dollars? Or boost your self-confidence immediately? Well, I really believe I can make that happen for you!

I really love hearing a client’s idea, seeing them get excited about it and then making it come true. I’ve already captured a mermaid and followed little red riding hood through the woods to get the perfect portrait. Alice in Wonderland is next on my list…. Is there something you’ve always wanted to do, but felt it was out of reach? We’ll I would LOVE to see it become a reality for you. It could be a boudoir session, a fifties pinup shoot, whatever you dream up!!! Maybe you would like a portrait of yourself to mark an important milestone, achievement, engagement, or maybe you just want an amazing Facebook profile picture!

Have you wanted a piece of art for your wall that depicted your family perfectly, but felt your kid’s personalities weren’t captured during that your last studio sitting? After all, it was only 30 minutes long and they wouldn’t sit still!!! I spend time with families and encourage children to be themselves so I can capture those candid moments that make them unique. I don’t take bookings on top of each other, I like to give everyone time to relax and ease into a session. Having your photo taken is an intimate experience so I like people to get to know me a little first. I always take some test shots, to get people used to standing in front of me and to get used to how I work.

100% customer satisfaction is of utmost importance to me, I will work with you to create something special and distinctive; I’ll work super hard to achieve the results YOU want and if you don’t know what you want, then I’ll work even harder to find that special ‘je ne sais quoi’. All I know is, photography is my passion, it has been my entire life, I see everything around me in ‘pictures’, it’s how I think. I never stop trying to evolve, learn, improve, I could go on and on, but as we say in Ireland ‘to cut a long story short……..

Pricing

A 45 minute photo-shoot at one location of your choice, which can include in studio, at your home or one outdoor location setting. No limit on poses or anything in fact!! I like to move around a lot and take pictures from different angles, different places, so it’s likely you’ll be moving around a LOT too!

Up to 20 images will be proofed for viewing at the after shoot visit; OR you can view your proofs online on your very own viewing gallery on my website. You get to choose one 8 x 10 and one 5 x 7 photo from your shoot. (Other sizes available at further cost) see price list for details.
A CD of LOW RESOLUTION images is provided for upload onto Facebook or other social media sites. These photos are not suitable for printing due to their resolution; they are suitable for online viewing only. (There is no print release letter provided).

Digital re-touching and enhancement are included in the cost.

50/50 payment plan is offered, pay half of your session fee on the day of your session and half when you receive your prints. For example the session fee is $90 less $40 deposit = $50, then payment due on the day of your session is $25; balance due when you receive your prints is $25. You do not HAVE to avail of this payment plan but it is offered for your convenience.

Up to 90 minutes shoot time at your choice of locations.

Up to 30 Images will be edited and available for you to proof at the after shoot visit OR online on your own private gallery on my website.

You can choose which images you would like to have printed with your $50 print credit. For example an 8 x 10 print starts at $15.00. A CD of LOW RESOLUTION images is provided for upload onto Facebook or other social media sites. These photos are not suitable for printing due to their low resolution; they are suitable for online viewing only. (There is no print release letter provided).

Digital re-touching and enhancement is included.

A 50/50 payment plan is offered, pay half of your session fee on the day of your session and half when you receive your prints. For example the session fee is $150 less $40 deposit = $110, then payment due on the day of your session is $60; balance due when you receive your prints is $50. You do not HAVE to avail of this payment plan but it is offered for your convenience.

Unlimited time to shoot session, (there will be no booking taken after yours, in order to give us enough time to complete your session). This session is perfect for people who are visiting out of town and who don’t have time for a viewing appointment and would like to take their disk home with them and have their images printed themselves. It’s also great for creative sessions, boudoir sessions etc., sessions that require ample time to set up.

Images will be digitally retouched, edited and burned to your disk.

You will receive a print release letter allowing you to have the images printed anywhere. Your disk will also include low resolution files for uploading onto social media sites.

You will also receive an online gallery with password for sharing with friends and family.

$40 nonrefundable deposit due at time of booking. This can be paid by debit or credit card, check or cash.

So, this is awkward, I don’t like writing about myself, let alone in the third party…. Who does that? Not me, no… Maria does not like that at all. But you need to know something about me right? Well, I’m going to pretend that you’re in the room and I’m talking to you.

Here goes, I’m Maria, and I’m Irish, hence the name Celtic Charm Photography. I’m a relatively new mother; my daughter is 3 and crazy. I recently moved to the U.S with my wonderful husband and I love it here. I’m a thinker, actually I over analyze everything (even this awful bio), I love zombies, honey nut cheerios and On Demand television (don’t have that in Ireland).

I’m not a mother who fell in love with taking snapshots of my daughter and decided to set up a business, it started waaaay before that, with my Barbie dolls in fact, when I was eight. I took embarrassingly lame photos of my Barbie marrying Ken and had them developed, cringe. I fell in love with photography thirty years ago; it’s always been my life long desire to work at it, so I’ve left the boring business world behind to try and make this work. And that’s it. I’m sorry it’s not more interesting, I didn’t spend the eighties training circus clowns in India or buying and selling sheep in Libya, I’m a silly Irish woman who loves taking photos and making people smile.

This is me and my family!

Portfolio of work

I am a Vancouver (Washington) based photographer. My business is still pretty new, I opened shop in August and I'm still finding my feet. One thing I've discovered is that I LOVE shooting families, children and general portraits of people. Highschool senior shoots are also a LOT of fun. I really love photography, I have done my whole life, it is my absolute passion! Here is a tiny snapshot of what I do! To see more go to www.celticcharmphotography.com