Here is the first of my models to help me showcase these outfits. You might recognize him if you follow my blog. I have had the pleasure of photographing him since he was born. Now three, he was so much fun to chase around with the camera. We started at my in-home-studio with the first two outfits and then moved onto an alley that made us feel like we were in Europe. I was going to show just one photo of each outfit, but he loved the Jack-in-the-box so much and we got so many great shots with it I really couldn’t choose just one.

The kids had a great time climbing around on the rocks and exploring the cobblestone pathways. Their shoes and clothing showed evidence of this by the end of the night.

Where do I get my inspiration? Everywhere from old books, photos, and movies, to pieces that I find in antique stores.  I also have a father that loves to browse estate sales. He has found so many wonderful things over the years that I have been able to use, and if I am looking for something he is the first one I call.

I have also found many wonderful options for the perfect outfits.  Some of these sites have antique clothing, but most have vintage inspired options:

Grammies Attic                     http://www.grammies-attic.com
The Baby Gardner                http://www.babygardner.com
Little English Clothing          http://www.littleenglish.com
Smock It To Me                    http://www.smockittomeonline.com
Rags Land                            http://ragsland.com
Jolly Rompers                       http://www.jollyrompers.com
Blu Pony Vintage                  http://www.bluponyvintage.com

If you shop the Clearance or Sale items you can find some great deals! I keep tabs on all of my favorite shops that have a Facebook page. If you ‘Like’ my page you will get updates from me with great options for sale items as they are posted.

Here are a few of my favorite vintage inspired photos over the past year:

Here is my first try at it.


The sun did come out Saturday afternoon and it lit this setting just perfectly.  These photos were to celebrate big sisters birthday.  We even went out for ice-cream after because they were so good!

The black llama was very friendly and loved attention, from my limited experience this isn’t always the norm. They are flighty animals mush like horses can be. The brown llama was not so keen on getting close to the fence when people were around.  The rooster was also very interesting to me.  Not only did he seem to strut his stuff. He seemed to tell me that the hens were his and I had better keep at a distance. Of-course he never came at me, but his eyes said it all…

It quickly became apparent egg hunting too early in the morning resulted in not finding any eggs.  Waiting until 10 o’clock resulted in about 6 eggs! The eggs came in all sorts of colors; green, blue, brown and white. Watching the chickens in their roosts was pretty neat and had a little visitor peek out to see what all the commotion was!

All in all the retreat was a nice, relaxing place with great landscapes.

The first reason I give people for shooting film is because I like the color and contrast it produces.  The second reason is the archival quality. I am going to address the color issue here and will save the archival conversation for a later post.

When I did a recent photo shoot of my children I decided to take both film and digital photos.  The cameras I have deal with light a little differently so I adjusted for it and shot with both to be able to do this comparison.

Now, you can adjust for what color you want by choosing different film. For example the film I use for portraits is a natural color film. The reason I choose this is because I believe the skin tone of a person comes out so natural and oftentimes more flawless than it looks in ‘real life’.  I have also noticed that the digital camera can make a person’s face look a bit washed out compared to the film, as in the examples below (all photos shown have not been modified):

I want to talk a little about the different film options.  The first decision to make is color and black & white.  Once you have chosen one over the other, you still have options to choose between.  I’ll start with color because that is what I have samples of here. 

When choosing color film you have a ton of options and it really depends on what you are shooting.  There are natural color films that make a person’s skin tone look most natural. You can choose a vivid color film if you are shooting a landscape where you really want the green grass to pop out.  Different manufacturers give you different color. One example of this is Fuji; using this film will really make the sky blue and the grass green. 

Now, on to black & white film.  Just as with color, you have many options. You can play with contrast, choose a grainy film to make it look really old-school, or choose an even-gray tone that will give you great detail.  So many options to play with! 

I love to take a ‘classic’ photo. Many of my children’s photos have them dressed in classic clothing.  When you lose the rich texture of the clothing in a photo they can look cut-rate. This is yet another reason to use film to gain a look of rich texture.  Yes, I could take your photos digitally and Photoshop them to get close to the color and texture you desire, but you are hiring me because I have the training and experience to capture beautiful film photographs the very first time.  Sometimes the differences are subtle, but to my eye the quality difference lies in the use of film for long-term satisfaction.

In closing, I believe that the artistry in taking photos is just that, taking the photo.  I love shooting a roll of film, turning it in to the lab, and getting it back to see how each shot turned out. I hope that you have the same satisfaction when I hand over the finished product!