Troutman Photography's Blog

Then it was time to get to the main event and smash some cake!  Now here's the cool thing I've noticed after doing tons of cake smash sessions.  Instead of plowing into the cake and stuffing their chubby little faces, the first thing they do is share!  Mr. Wallace was no exception.  With a huge grin on his face he offered his mommy the first bite.  
After sharing with mom it was time to get down to the business of some serious cake eating and smashing.  Mr. Man smashed the cake, stuffed his face and squished frosting between every cute little finger and toe.

Mr. Daniel came to us... well actually his mother did because a random baby just walking into our office would be a bit strange.  So Daniel's mom came to our studio looking to do a cake smash and family portrait session combo.  which worked out perfectly because that's what we prefer to do with all cake smash sessions.  Before we introduce the cake we usually take time to shoot a mini family session.  Including family portraits in a cake smash session is a great way to really celebrate the first birthday milestone while documenting you family at that stage in your lives.  We highly encourage at least a few family pictures before the main event. 

After we rattled around in the alleys of downtown Albany Oregon, we went in search of a giant puddle.  Why?  So we could jump in it of course! Senior Pictures can be anything you want them to be.
Some seniors come to us knowing exactly what they want from thier senior pictures and I love that!  There is nothing more exciting then being able to create with the client!  I love the creative energy that flows when two people are on the same creative page. 

Clare and I will be traveling this week to Destin Florida to attend a photography conference called SYNC.  SYNC is specifically devoted to senior pictures.  The photography industry's best senior portrait artists will be teaching their techniques in a hands-on environment.  There will be round table discussion about styles and trends in senior portraits as well opportunities to practice shoulder to shoulder with some of the world's best photographers.

You know who else loves an indoor portrait studio... my clients.  Especially the parents of small children.  When it’s cold, wet, rainy and otherwise being Oregon outdoors, it’s always southern California in my studio. No runny noses, no cold, cranky kids, just warm happy smiles all day, every day.  

After spending some time on family pictures with the Cookes, I can safely say they are what the English would call a bunch of nutters.  They are slightly off-bubble in a very pleasant way.  It made working with them an absolute riot and at times I was laughing so hard...

 Imagine spending the perfect afternoon with your child getting messy, having fun and bonding.  Now imagine that perfect day framed and hanging on your wall forever.  That’s what we do and why we do it!

Indoor portrait sessions with Troutman Photography come with some very convenient perks that no other studio in the Willamette Valley offers.  Let’s look at why our location is good for you.
 Having our studio in such a beautiful building allows me to combine the freedom of outdoor photography with the predictability of a studio.  We place our clients in a real world environment, not a 10 ft background and photograph their family interacting naturally as they would outdoors.  This give us all of the benefits of an outdoor session without having to be concerned about the weather or worried about things - like traffic.
 

Over the last decade I photographed Mr. Nathan several times and had the pleasure of watching a chubby cheeked toddler turn into the young man you see here.  I had the pleasure of connecting early on with him and he and his family are on my list of life-long friends friends.  I love it when Nathan pops in once a year for pictures, because at this point were just two friends hanging out while taking the occasional photograph.

This is Charlie.  Charlie is 50 lbs of awesome in 5 lb bag.  Seriously this pint-sized little muppet has a personality so big that she needs her own theme song and a crew of backup dancers to follow her awesome little self around.  Her personality is so large and in charge it can only be described in epically long run-on sentences big enough to make my third grade teacher crawl out of the grave with her red pen and start editing the aforementioned sentence. (RIP Mrs. Simmons.) That’s Charlie.

Baseball Senior Pictures

A couple of weeks ago we wandered out to the outskirts of north Jefferson for some dirt roads, wooden fences and dilapidated old barns for some country senior pictures.  Hunter's graduating from West Albany High School, he's a ballplayer, has a great dog and a fun family.

We were running around Cascade High School in Turner again last week. We're seeing a lot of sports seniors from there this year.  Nate is a runner, both long distance and track. He also spends a lot of time hunting with his family.

Growing up I was a military brat that got to see my fair share of this great country.  After graduation I enlisted myself and found my boots on the ground of some spectacular cities (as well as some not-so-spectacular ones).  The pattern that emerges from traveling this country extensively is that you really never want to live in a capital city.   Don’t believe me?  Check out the crime rates of Washington D.C., or Sacramento California. But Salem....

So imagine I said to you “Hey let me photograph your child doing doing something life threatening and incredibly illegal."  I’m pretty sure your response would be understandably less than polite.  I’m a dad and I totally get that.  But unfortunately I see photographers engaging in illegal activities and endangering their clients all the time.

We chose to photograph Cole's baseball images first because he wanted a strong gritty look and I knew that to do it right we were going to have to use studio strobes lighting.  Studio strobes are the greatest asset a photographer has (next to his/her brain of course).  With studio strobes you can basically change and override any natural light situation giving you maximum flexibility and creative control.  Cole's a pitcher so we sent him to the mound and began setting up two lights around him.

This is the second year that Troutman Photography will be raising funds to provide local area foster children with High School Senior Portraits.  The program’s goal  is to provide a once in a lifetime senior portrait experience for up to 10 foster children per year.