meghan orud photography & design » Portfolio

Where do you get those ‘cute’ little outfits?

admin — Sun, 08 Jul 2012 15:50:06 +0000

For years I have been asked where I get ‘the cute’ outfits I photographed my boys in, that is when I set out to find cute little outfits to have on hand for those clients that want a classic photo shoot. Realizing that is much harder to find classic boys outfits I stocked-up on everything that I could get my hands on. Some are antiques and some are new, but they all have a vintage look to them.

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.

Altos de Chavón, a perfect backdrop

admin — Fri, 18 May 2012 02:26:45 +0000

We recently had the opportunity to travel to the Dominican Republic where we attended a wedding at Altos de Chavón, a 16th century replica of a Mediterranean village perched high above the Chavón River. Located in Casa de Campo, the handcrafted stone pathways, decorative ironwork and enchanting buildings made for an excellent backdrop for these classic toddler photos.

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.

What inspires me

admin — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 00:15:21 +0000

I am often asked about what inspires my photography and how I would describe my photography. I have decided that I can sum it up in two words …Vintage Inspired. I love classic baby and toddler photos. To create something Vintage Inspired, from the perfect background to the perfect outfit – even going as far as the perfect toys as ‘props’- tickles me pink with the perfect outcome.

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:

Inspired by 100 year-old photo

admin — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 02:40:32 +0000

Christmas came and went so fast that I didn’t get to share this last pre-Christmas photo shoot with all of you. I received a call a couple weeks before Christmas from someone that wanted to do a photo shoot with her little boy to ‘match’ a 100 year-old photo that they had of his great-grandfather. I was more than happy to help her out with this. I love vintage inspired photo shoots and I am more than happy to help with the props, perfect location and/or the clothing. This mom had it all under control… she had already contacted the Guthrie and rented a costume, figured out a collar to match the outfit in the photo, gathered a stool similar to the one in the photo.

I started out with some color film figuring that I could always have it printed black and white, but I also brought along my medium format camera to take some true vintage looking photos.

Here is the Christmas Card I put together to pay homage to the 100 year-old photo of this little guy’s great-grandfather.

Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!

admin — Sun, 25 Dec 2011 04:20:19 +0000

After a lot of hard work from October through December here are a few samples of my cards this year.

New this year to my list of card options were Boutique cards. With over 50 shapes of Boutique Cards I can take your cards to a new level of distinction. Choose from basic shapes, curved shapes, scalloped edges, geometric and ornate designs. The front of Folded Boutique Cards is shaped and there are also options for cut out windows on
select styles.

Also look for select Boutique Cards sizes and shapes that include an eighth inch hole at the top of the shape. Add a ribbon through the hole to transform the Boutique Card into an ornament or gift tag!

Playing in the leaves

admin — Wed, 19 Oct 2011 00:50:20 +0000

Now that there is a chill in the air it is easy to feel that fall is here. The weekend of this photo-shoot it was unseasonably warm, but it also made it easier to play in the leaves. We had fun with this shoot and is was really hard for me to not put all of my favorites in this post, there were so many! Technically I shot two rolls so I did sneak a few more in than normal.

We started inside for a classic toddler shot on the window seat. Mom had mentioned that she liked the shots with classic clothing, so I brought a few clothing options along for her to choose from. I also brought my Hasselblad along to get some medium format shots. I am so glad I did because we got some great shots inside as well as outside. With a regular roll of film you have up to 36 exposures, the medium format only has up to 12 exposures and is a bit trickier to use since it is totally manual. I love the old school look and feel it gives.

With a change of clothing and scenery we let this little guy go. He played in the leaves for a bit and then showed me how fast he could run. Then it was off to explore the rest of the yard with Mom and Dad. I wish I could have stayed and played, it was so nice out. Maybe next time!

Our historic carousel

admin — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 14:26:20 +0000

It is never too early to start thinking about Christmas photos. Many families take full advantage of their photo shoots and use the photos for their Christmas cards. This mom thought ahead and got matching outfits for her three cuties and we took advantage of our historic carousel. I have to say the employees were accommodating to our mini-photo-shoot, but the music was so loud that the kids couldn’t hear a word I said. It really didn’t matter for the individual shots because I caught them enjoying the ride. We then walked down to the pond to finish the roll and let the kids check out the ducks. It was a chilly day, but perfect sweater weather!

2011 American LeMans Series – Road America, WI

admin — Mon, 22 Aug 2011 04:19:37 +0000

Special Guest Blogger this week – The Other Half.

I think this recap needs to start where the weekend began. Almost 12 years ago, Meghan fell in love with the Lotus Elise (in Europe only at the time). Ever since, she has been on the lookout for a cute Elise, and many others along those lines, for her fantasy garage. We headed to Wisconsin for a weekend of watching wonderful cars on one of the most treasured tracks in America, and the following is what we found.

Of course, the first thing you notice is a sea of cars parked in the fields, and that is where we found the first of many cars to check out up close.

Not bad, but let’s get to why we are really here.

The American LeMans Series brings the excitement of 24-hour European LeMans-style racing to the US, albeit in a shorter format. Each year Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI hosts a 4-hour race in the Series on their 4 mile track. These races include competitors from five different classifications, all on the track at the same time. The most identifiable class is GT, with cars such as the BMW M3, Chevy Corvette, Porsche 911, Ferrari 458 Italia, Ford GT, and Jaguar XKR. A brief explanation of all 5 classifications can be found here: http://photos.americanlemans.com/files/2011/101/Classes_11.pdf

We started out the day at the edge of the woods, right next to the track at the exit of Turn 3, where the cars get their first chance to crank up their engines on their way to 180mph on a slight uphill. The first time the field came around on their warm-up lap, I had a huge grin on my face from the sight of weaving cars, the blare of roaring engines, and the smell of race car fuel. Wow.

Later we moved to Turn 8, where the racers come down a steep hill before taking a 90-degree left. This is the only spot where a chain-link fence was in our way, for our own safety. You always need to roll with the punches, and this was an opportunity for something different, as shown below:

This was a great place to get action shots of cars jockeying for position in the corner, and in LeMans racing the action is enhanced by the different speeds and braking strategies of each class of car. Meghan was able to snap action shots from many different spots around this corner. The GT race was close between BMW, Corvette, and the red Ferrari all day long.

Here are a few shots of cars from the other classifications.

Closer to the Corvette Bridge, at Turn 7, we were able to capture a few more pictures as the sun began to disappear behind the trees and the car lights came on.

Then it was back to Turn 3 to get a different look at the cars for the last 30 minutes of the race. Overall winner was the Muscle Milk Aston Martin prototype.

Lastly, it was not just about the cars on the track. We did find a couple more cars in the grassy lot that were camera-friendly.

Visit the American LeMans Series Photo Album for all of the photos from American LeMans Series – Road America 2011

A break from the heat… but rain?

admin — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 23:23:36 +0000

This past Saturday I had a photo shoot scheduled at 10 a.m. and I woke-up to it storming. My first thought was, ‘I just can’t get a break with the weather.’ I am glad I held out calling to cancel because it stopped raining around 9:30 and the sun actually came out at 10 a.m.! These
photos were for Baby R’s 1st birthday. He is just a little peanut, but very mobile. He showed me that he could crawl anywhere, and fast! The ground was very wet, but we let him go anyway. Check out this little red heads adventures thru the park!

Sweltering heat… when will it end?

admin — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 02:15:08 +0000

I can honestly say that in the 11 years I have been doing this I haven’t had to battle such a heat that made a baby sweat! We had planned to do the shoot later in the evening, but of course the day of I checked the weather and they were calling for storms in the early evening. Trying to avoid the storm we moved the time up and battled the heat. Poor baby H didn’t really know what was going on or who I was because there wasn’t time to play and let him get to know me. He did let down his guard pretty fast and started showing me a little personality. We had to get thru it fast before we all melted! Check out this little guy and his beautiful family!