st. louis senior portraits

Who Put That Penguin in My Portrait?

Good morning and Happy Monday, everyone!

Those of you who have been part of the E.M.Ward Photography family over the years, know that I love to design fairytale/storybook-style portraits for kids. These have become more elaborate over the years and they are now, one of the most requested products that I create. There are a lot of portrait photographers in the St. Louis area, a lot of good ones, even - but this is one of the things that makes me a little unique. I have Photoshopped a girl feeding a giraffe on an African Safari and another riding an elephant. I've done several other composites as well, that attempt to display the whimsy of childhood.

In the past, I've had to rely on stock photography for a lot of the composites I've done. While there are some great images out there, using stock photography is not always my favorite, for a few reasons. This can be anything from the cost to purchase the photo and license to use it to printing rights and other boundaries. Knowing that these are often the parents' and kids' favorites to print on canvases, I wanted to make sure that my clients could do whatever they want with them, without limitation. So, I spent a full day last, wandering (in some cases, running lol) around St. Louis with my camera - visiting places like the Wild Bird Sanctuary, Lone Elk Park, and the St. Louis Zoo - capturing images of every animal I could find so that you guys could have more options, when it comes to your storybook portraits. All of these images are currently being catalogued and put into a gallery so that from now on, you can go through my Gallery of Animals and select the one or ones you'd like to use in your portraits. I'm really excited about this and am happy to finally be able to provide you this service! If you follow me on Instagram(EWard328), you may have seen some previews recently of a few of the animals.

In the coming days, I will be uploading the Gallery of Animals for your viewing - so be sure to watch for a link to it on my Facebook page. I hope you all have a wonderful week and that your weekend was restful! I spent the weekend volunteering with a group called TAPS (more about that on the blog tomorrow) and will be down at Almost Home doing portraits this evening - and I can't wait! If you have a free minute today, or if you're just not feeling work, head over to my website and sign up for my newsletter - I will be announcing some composite specials soon!

Tomas' St. Louis Senior Portraits

Last Friday, I had the pleasure of shooting this young man for a Senior Portrait Session. We managed to get photos from several different locations around St. Louis and go to go check out some new locations that neither of us had previously been to. Here are some of our favorites from his session!

The Future of E.M.Ward Photography

Gosh, it's so nice to be back! I'm so thankful for the way you guys rallied around yesterday to get some traffic to my pages and help my business to lift off!

Over the months I was away I spent a lot of time thinking about the things that I wanted to bring to my business. Some of those things, I've yet to mention and I want to spent a little bit of time talking about them.

First, I may be a St. Louis Portrait Photographer, but I also spend a lot of time in Photoshop, creating fun, light, creative photos. It is my hope, that starting sometime in August, I will being hosting Photoshop classes for anyone who might want to learn. These will start out as local classes, but I intend for them to go to webcasts so that more people can benefit from them. Make sure to sign up for our newsletter because we will be announcing all classes there first.

Check out the "Before" image on my Facebook page!

Check out the "Before" image on my Facebook page!

Next, I'm also considering doing some classes for moms! How to take better photos of your kids, using the tools you have. Very excited about this one too!

Other things coming up: we're bringing sexy back! For a few years, we played with the idea of doing boudoir or intimate photos, and I think we were pretty successful. After a lot of time analyzing what worked and what didn't we were finally able to come up with a boudoir style all our own. We will bring our boudoir photo sessions back in the fall (just in time for making those sexy Christmas gifts for your significant other!!).

Finally, you'll notice that our Fine Art Photography section is kind of sparse. I will be growing this section over the next few days so that you all have access to purchase beautiful images for your walls! Have a business? Even better! I'd be happy to see how your business is decorated with my art!

Thank you again, to all of those who have rallied and who continue to rally for my business! I love you all so much for all of your help!

What's in a Cover Photo?

If you follow me on Facebook (you definitely should!) you've probably seen our newest Cover Photo. Here's how that happened:

Sometimes, in the middle of a time of uncertainty, an old friend messages to ask you if you could do his daughter's Senior Portraits - in Ohio. I am a St. Louis Photographer, but all of my family is from Ohio, so every now and again, I find myself in the great land of corn fields and Detroit Tigers or Cincinnati Red fans. And sometimes, when you meet this friend's daughter, you're awestruck! And when that happens - well, she becomes the new face of your business. Young. Fresh. Vibrant. And without a doubt, AWESOME. And now, without further interruption from me, I'd like to present to you Madeline (and her dog, Ducky).

And We're Back!

And We're Back!

That decision, set me on the path to finally follow my passion - it restored the self confidence I had misplaced and reminded me of why I got started in portrait photography to begin with. I love it. I'm passionate about it and I love creating images for clients that are unlike anything else I've done

Read More