HJ SELCH PHOTOGRAPHY

I am not your traditional photographer! I like to let the "clients" be who they are...kids! I work with the children from a playful approach interacting with them to capture their personality. I try to capture the little things that you love about your children, the way they giggle on the swing, or twirl their hair when deep in thought. These are the little moments which will be so memorable to look back on.

I am a mother of two young boys, therefore I understand that kids will need a break to have a snack or babies need a change. I want it to be a relaxed and fun environment for both the parents and the children. Welcome to my blog!

HOME

The BIG ONE!

Sunday, January 31, 2010

The J family came over to the studio for some one year pictures and a little cake smashing. P was so hilarious with the cake that I thought he and the cake deserved their own post, so that will come tomorrow. :-) He was so cute and full of energy!!!

xoxo

Labels: 1 year cake smashing, Childrens, HJ Selch Photography, Neenah, Photographer, Photograpy

Macs Man

Thursday, January 28, 2010

Macs and I have been spending a lot of time home together being he is in the fun process of potty training. So I thought I would share a few pictures of Macs being...MACS! Oh and don't mind the PB on his cheeks! I caught him eating out of the peanut butter jar with his hands!

xoxo

Labels: Childrens, HJ Selch Photography, Neenah, Photographer

Face Book

Monday, January 25, 2010

Become a fan of HJ Selch Photography on Face Book. I will be having a contest once I hit 300 fans. So be sure to tell your friends too. It will be fun and the prize involves coffee. :-) Who doesn't like a little free coffee?!?

xoxo

Click HERE for my FB page.

Labels: Facebook, HJ Selch Photography, Neenah

C Family

Sunday, January 24, 2010

What a fun family! The C family came over this weekend for some family photos, they were such a joy to meet. We pulled almost every trick out of our hat to get the youngest sweet 2 year old out onto the white seamless. he he But I get to go over to their house in a few weeks and photograph her all by herself, I can't wait! She reminded me so much of my youngest Macs! ;)

So nice to meet you all!!!

xoxo

She was the oldest and so fabulous in front of the camera. I think she would have stayed all day!!! So much fun!

I could not decide between color or BW. Love 'em both!

Toes!

Labels: Childrens, Families, HJ Selch Photography, Neenah, Photographer, Wisconsin

Silly Boy

Saturday, January 23, 2010

Brenden and I were having fun while Macs was still napping. He is a typical boy and is on the table upside down, even a simple photo session with me has to have some sort of danger level. ha ha Boys will be boys!!!

xoxo

Labels: Childrens, HJ Selch Photography, Neenah, Photographer

Products: Mini Album

Thursday, January 21, 2010

I wanted to show you one of the products I offer. I just love these!!! They are cute and little and fit perfect in your purse. :-) I just recently made this one for a newborn and I think it turned out so sweet. They come in lots of colors, and can be customized exactly how you want it.

xoxo

This is what the whole spread looked like before printed on the album. Isn't he just the sweetest baby!?!

Labels: Albums, Babies, Childrens, Fox Cities, HJ Selch Photography, Neenah, Photographer

Locks of Love

Thursday, January 14, 2010

I was lucky enough to be asked to take some photos of this young lady and her sister who donated her hair for Locks of Love. If you aren't familiar with Locks of Love, this is some info I got from the website.

Locks of Love is a public non-profit organization that provides hairpieces to financially disadvantaged children in the United States and Canada under age 21 suffering from long-term medical hair loss from any diagnosis. We meet a unique need for children by using donated hair to create the highest quality hair prosthetics. Most of the children helped by Locks of Love have lost their hair due to a medical condition called alopecia areata, which has no known cause or cure. The prostheses we provide help to restore their self-esteem and their confidence, enabling them to face the world and their peers.

What an amazing organization and all those who are involved who volunteer their time and hair!

xoxo

Here is the before...isnt' she so cute!?! Check out all that hair!

After!

Thanks to Erika from Salon Erika who coordinated everything and gave the amazing cut and style.

OH we had fun! :-)

Labels: HJ Selch Photography, Locks of Love, Neenah, Photographer

Red

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

I bought this red background almost a year ago for a steal and have just never got around to getting it up in the studio. Well just last week I was contacted by a client about doing a Locks of Love photo shoot. What a perfect opportunity for red background, right!?! Here are a few practice shots Brenden so graciously let me take of him. Check back tomorrow for the sweet pictures of the gal who gave 10 inches of her hair away for an awesome cause.

p.s. You may notice Brenden did get his hair cut too, but he didn't quit have 10 inches to give away for locks of love...but close!!!

xoxo

I get a lot of grief for never being in any pictures, so here is a self portrait. :-)
Look really close into the Christmas ornament.

Labels: Childrens, HJ Selch Photography, Locks of Love, Neenah, Photographer

My Gear Product Review: Compact Flash Cards

Friday, January 8, 2010

Occasionally I get a question about the equipment I use so I figured I would review my gear for those interested. I am by no means saying I know everything about photography and equipment, I am just writing my opinions and what I have found in using the equipment I have. I have made a lot of mistakes along this path of photography, so maybe this info will helps just one person along the way.

If anyone has any technical questions add a question in the comments or shoot me an email.

I thought for the first blog post I would start off with the basics....

Compact Flash Cards
At the rate these cards change I won't review an individual card but discuss the cards I have, why I have them, and how I buy them.

First thing, watch out for fake cards! If the price seems too good to be true it probably is. Always check with the usual suspects Amazon.com, Calumet Photo, B&H Photo, etc. These vendors will tell you what the average price point is and are typically competitively priced and always seem to have manufacturer's rebates. I have bought all my cards from one of these three sellers and have had zero issues.

I have also bought from one of those 'to good to be true' sellers and it ended with me sending the product back and putting a stop payment on my credit card (be very careful with eBay). Always use reputable vendors because there is a lot of fraud in electronics and when you get into professional photography equipment you start to talk real dollars.

There are a lot of cards on the market so how do you decide which one to use? The answer to this question is answered by knowing why you might need a faster (and more expensive) card or why you really don't need a faster card.

As cameras become more advanced they want to transfer more data more quickly. So, if you have an advanced camera you could be slowed by a card that can't receive data fast enough (a simple Internet search will show recent timed transfer rate tables for your camera and your cards).

Most photographers that I work around, including myself, use SanDisk Extreme III Compact Flash Cards. I also have one SanDisk Extreme IV Compact Flash Card but only purchased it because of a great rebate and curiosity. The Extreme III and Extreme IV transfer at rates of 30 MB/s and 45 MB/s per second respectively.

I believe, with some exceptions, that card transfer speeds will really become an issue in the emerging generation of digital cameras. For example the Canon EOS 5D Mark II is shooting 21.1 mega pixels. That's a lot of information to transfer to a card. I have personally had no noticeable speed issues shooting with my Canon 40D or my Canon 5D.

Now if you're wondering if you should buy a more expensive card anticipating the future transfer rate demands I would say no. Card technology changes so fast that even if you can use your faster data transfer card in the future the price of GB's (gigabytes) falls so quickly the card would be of questionable value within a couple years.

In the end it comes down to personal preference but stick with quality cards. I have had lower end cards fail. The price of these cards fall on a monthly basis. My price point is typically 'less than $100 per card' and at that point I buy the highest quality.

Here is my Amazon store where you can see current prices of most everything listed here: http://astore.amazon.com/hjselpho-20

I think I will continue to do some more Q+A type blogs. I will even include posts on topics like wardrobe choices, and best locations for family shoots. This is going to be fun, so be sure to check back for more!!!!

Labels: Equipment, HJ Selch Photography, Products, Q+A

The Boys!

Monday, January 4, 2010

This little session involved my boys and their cousin Gunnar (we missed our other Cousin Spencer). They all got these awesome vests from Grandpa, so we bribed them with lots of chocolate and a ready, set, go game. It would have been funny to have a video camera recording this 5 minute slot when I shot all these pictures. Hilarious! So here is a look into the craziness that these boys brought over the Christmas holidays.

xoxo