These are my favorite 100 photos of 2007. That I took, anyway.

They’re not really in a particular order. That was far more complex than I could fathom creating! Enjoy.

One of my favorite things about having a relaxed style of portraiture is that I get these moments that, for a lot of photographers, would be “outtakes” and yet for me are the real and beautiful moments that make a person who they are. Good portraits don’t require the subject to be looking at the camera, or even to be in focus. Sometimes those elements are important, but I love the split second that someone lets their guard down because it often speaks more to who they are:

Favorite!

This girl is UP TO SOMETHING.

Redmond, WA: Last weekend, I did some headshots of Christine Allard, a branding and marketing expert in Seattle, for her upcoming speaking and teaching engagements. I replied to her posting on Craigslist, looking for a photographer. When she let me know that I made her “short list,” I went to check out her website and KNEW we would get along. She’s done work for some amazing companies and organizations, including the National Organization for Women (NOW). Ballsy, bright and bubbly, I knew immediately that Christine was a woman I wanted to know.

For Christine’s portraits, I followed my typical approach to studio photos. I keep my studio set ups simple because my goal is to capture the person’s personality instead of just a record of how they looked on the day we took photos. I like to think of this as a “character” approach to photography, since I’m trying to capture more than their physical details; I’m trying to capture the essence of the person in front of me.

To enhance these character studies, I’ve been experimenting more with my post-processing lately and achieving some kinda funky effects. One of the things I’m enjoying is being able to totally change the mood of an image with a few key strokes and mouse clicks. Especially with my portraiture, which I tend to keep fairly simple in terms of studio set up and lighting, I like how much I can change an image in post to create very different images even when the photos were taken only seconds apart from each other.

Some critics of involved post-processing argue that too much Photoshop work is just masking bad photography. While I think that is sometimes (perhaps even OFTEN) the case, I also think it can be used creatively to help tell a story or change the mood or just to experiment and learn. I’m still figuring out what I like and what I don’t like about the new things I am learning how to do…what do you think? What’s working for you? What isn’t?

Christine, it was wonderful working with you! If any of you blog-stalkers noticed Christine’s amazing make-up, check the blog soon for some exciting announcements about package upgrades I have in store for 2008…

Gotta love that slow shutter speed!

Up, up and away!

Can you tell it was a windy day at Greenlake?

I’ve been really loving the opportunities I’ve had lately to photograph families (and people) with their pets! I really hope more of my clients decide to include pets in their photos! (Hint, hint!) Shaq certainly enjoyed himself…

This was my first time photographing a family at Greenlake, and I’m SO glad that Leslie suggested the location. There were lots of little picturesque spots to take photos; I’ll definitely be keeping this one in mine for future photos. I’d stayed away from it in the past because it’s often so crowded, but once you move off the trail it’s very open.

This girl should go into modeling. Seriously! Talk about adorable.

Okay, let’s be honest…this whole FAMILY should go into modeling!

Favorite!

No, wait, maybe this is my favorite…

No, this one! This one is definitely my favorite…

Alright, fine, they’re all my favorites. How on earth am I supposed to pick ONE?

Seattle, WA: Leslie is one of my girlfriend’s co-workers, and immediately thought of me when it was time for their family photos this year. She really wanted some photos with the family dog (Shaq), because he’s getting up there in dog years…though from his energy, you would never guess it! Shaq kept us on our toes all afternoon. Leslie suggested Greenlake Park, and I’ll admit—I was a little nervous about the location at first because Greenlake is usually SO busy. It was a pretty chilly day when we were there, though, so we lucked out! Leslie, Lamar and Linai were an incredibly fun family to photograph, coming up with ideas like climbing trees for their pictures! How much fun is that? The whole family is very active; Linai (the daughter) just finished her first 5K walk last weekend. Talk about impressive! Shaq wasn’t the only one keeping ME on my toes.

Leslie, Lamar and Linai—thanks for such a fun afternoon!

Click here for the slideshow

Click here for the online proofing/ordering gallery

I try to avoid making posts that are strictly personal…but I couldn’t resist. Which season do you think Harper likes better?

Fall…

…or Winter?

Hmm, tough call! Talk about appropriate weather for the first day of December. I think Harper is less excited about it than I am.

Okay, this has been a BIG week of BIG announcements around here. As if the WPJA acceptance wasn’t enough, I have also accepted a full-time job as a graphic/web designer with Imagekind.com!

From the Imagekind.com website:

Imagekind.com is one of the fastest growing online art sites on the internet. Our newest partnerships allow us to bring almost unlimited options in the world of framed art, poster art and wall art.

Imagekind is about three things:

• Creating art from digital files
• Providing an online marketplace for selling art without any actual inventory
• Providing the world’s largest online venue for shopping for unique fine art prints

Our goal is to develop a fresh new online art experience that allows both consumers and professional artists a new outlet for sharing, creating and buying actual wall art from digital files. We often describe Imagekind as a cross between an art gallery, a photo-sharing service and a print-on-demand service.

Could a job GET anymore freakin’ perfect for me? I am so excited about this opportunity! I’ll be honest: I wasn’t even LOOKING for full-time work. I love freelancing (and I love all of my clients), and it’s been great to focus on my creative vision and freelance business for awhile. I updated my Monster.com resumé to toss my hat into the ring for some steady contract/part-time positions, and got a call from an iMatch recruiter for Imagekind the very next business day. As soon as I looked at the Imagekind website, I was in love. I love the Imagekind.com business model, their Web 2.0 flare, their Flickr partnership, and the fact that they have an office dog named Fenway. (Go Sox!) I knew that this was my Next Right Thing. There’s a paradigm in my life of the Universe (God/higher power/fate/the force/whatever you want to call it) presenting perfect opportunities to me exactly when I’m ready for them. Julia Cameron, author of The Artist’s Way, says, “What we really want to do is what we are really meant to do. When we do what we are meant to do, money comes to us, doors open for us, we feel useful, and the work we do feels like play to us.”

I am being hired because of my background in user interface (UI) design. While I always design with the user in mind, I rarely get to do UI design on projects for which I am the actual target audience! I am so excited to bring my web, design AND photography experience to the Imagekind team to further the business and vision.

So, what does this mean for you, my amazing freelance photo clients?

Well, I’m finishing up the last of my family photo sessions by the end of the day tomorrow because I know you’re excited to see your photos and have them ready for the holidays. I am still booking wedding, portrait, pet, kids & families, and coquette sessions for 2008. You know me—I’ve always done my own freelance thing on the side when I’ve had a full-time job. I love what I do; photographing candid moments, authentic memories and real people is my passion. I imagine I will be more selective about the sessions I take so that I can sort of pretend that I know what “work/life balance” means, and I might take a look at my stated image processing times. What WON’T change is my dedication to excellence while capturing the important moments of your life that tell the story of who you are. So if you have a session you want to book, drop a line!

Happy Black Friday, everyone! In honor of today’s unapologetic consumerism, I’m posting my list of recommended gifts for the people on your list this year. Happy shopping!

If last week was a whirlwind of image editing, this week is the same thing for business development! I’m deep into research mode for adding new products and services to my 2008 catalog and I can’t wait to see some of these ideas in action in the new year. I’m looking at expanding the options for coffee table books and adding some more album options for family photo sessions (and budget-conscious wedding couples!). I’m also planning to add a complimentary in-home consultation with some of my packages, to help you plan for the final display of your photographs in your home. I can’t wait to share these developments with you as they happen.

In the short-term, though, I’m very pleased to announce that I am offering customized holiday card designs for family photos this year! I have six fun, elegant and dramatic holiday card templates from which to choose, and I may be adding more by next week. Here’s just a few of the card fronts that I’ll be offering:

I’ll be scheduling follow-up sessions with everyone this year so we can get your cards, prints and gifts perfected and ordered, and I’ll bring some samples of these cards for you to view. I’m so excited to see your families on these cards this year! If you haven’t scheduled your family session yet—DO IT NOW! I have very few spots left!

Speaking of holidays—I have to be honest, I’m not a big fan of holidays in general, but I have found one thing to love in the last few years…it may sound weird, but I love Tofurkey! I was never big on turkey as a kid, and then I became a vegetarian in my early-mid 20’s…well, I’m not a vegetarian anymore, but Tofurkey is one (new) holiday tradition that I won’t be giving up! My other favorite tradition is going to the movies on Thanksgiving and Christmas. So that brings me to my question—what’s your favorite holiday tradition and why? It can be any holiday! Leave it in the comments, or drop me an email by this Friday (10/12) and I’ll announce the winner with the best answer next week!  Winner receives a $10 gift card toward your next print order, or a free 8×10 print of your choice.

Here’s a list of my currently-available photo session dates. This list is for weekends only—as those are the dates for which I get the most requests—but weekday evenings are also a possibility. Please email me (mcb@mollybennett.com) to schedule your photos for 2008!

Summer 2008 availability:

• 6/8
• 6/14
• 6/15
• 6/28
• 6/29
• 7/5
• 7/6
• 8/23
• 8/24
• 8/30
• 9/13
• 9/14
• 9/20
• 9/21

I’m backlogged on photos at the moment, but I took an hour today to select and edit a few images from my ongoing Sun Signs project. These images were taken this afternoon. I skipped posting any images for Cancer or Leo, but I’ll post those as soon as I can. That’s the problem with these personal projects—they always get lower priority than work for clients. :\

What’s the Sun Signs project about, anyway? Scroll down below the photos in this post for more details.

See more in this set on Flickr

The Sun Signs project is a long-term art project that I’m doing. It’s a project that I’ve been thinking about for years, and finally started working on last June. It’s a project that I fully expect to be working on when I’m 40, 50, 60…heck, as long as I can pick up a camera and find people willing to sit for me, I’ll be working on this project.

The premise for this project is simple enough: How does astrology influence who we are? My goal with this project is to let each person’s personality shine through as much as possible while I’m photographing them, and then select the image that captured their “essence” the best. I do not pose people for this project—honestly, I rarely pose people at ALL when I photograph them, but I definitely do not do it with these images—and I stick to extremely simple lighting arrangements and framing. I am not trying to be artistic with the images, or to do anything staged or contrived. What I want is to capture moments of people being exactly who they are in that moment in time.

I am taking these photos on people’s birthdays because that’s when the astrological energy is the most focused on us, according to the astrologers I’ve spoken with. On our birthdays, the universe’s energy is extra validating of those qualities that make us unique, astrologically-speaking. My ultimate purpose with these images is to display them in various combinations (a show of all Capricorns, or all air signs, or all queers representing each sun sign), and let people draw their own conclusions about how much (or how little) astrology impacts each of us.

If this sounds like the kind of project you’d be interested in participating in, here’s the low-down!

Details:

• Cost: $30 at my studio in Redmond, WA ($50 if you prefer me to bring my lights and equipment to you and you are located in the greater Seattle area. Outside of the greater Seattle area, please email me.)
• You sign a model release form allowing me to print, display, modify, and use these images for this project and in my general portfolio.
• You must be available on your birthday, either during the day or in the evening.

You recieve:

• Online proofing gallery from which you, your friends and family may order prints
• DVD of high-resolution (print-quality) images, with a print and display release
• Professional (though minimal) re-touching and image processing

If you’re interested in participating, please email me at mcb@mollybennett.com with your birth-date and we’ll set something up! People from all walks of life are welcome: age, race, ethnicity, size, shape, gender, sexual orientation, shoe size and ice cream preference are unimportant!

One of my favorite photographers, Anne Ruthmann, makes a point to post a new desktop background each month that people can download. I think this is a fabulous idea, so I’m going to start doing the same! Look for a new on next week, since there’s only one week left in August. Click below for the large version of this month’s image:

See more from this set on Flickr