Ron Brewer Photography Blog

You may have heard about copyrights or intellectual property rights but what does this have to do with your family’s portrait or your daughter’s wedding photographs?  Actually, copyrights have a lot to do with any photograph taken by a professional photographer. 

The nature of a copyright is to protect work-product that was created by someone, so that the artist (or in this case the photographer) can control the use of their creative work and protect their work from unlawful reproduction.  As a professional photographer I have spent thousands of hours learning my craft; I have invested thousands of dollars in camera equipment, computers and software programs, and hundreds of hours learning to use those programs; I spend money to put my phone number in the yellow pages and my work on to a web site so that you can see the quality of the work I produce.  I make my living as a professional photographer, so of course I want to protect the images that I create.

High resolution digital files  have replaced negatives in our digital world and they can easily be copied.  So why do professonal photographers resist giving you a copy of those files?  It’s about controlling the final product. A typical one hour lab can reproduce the images for you but the final photograph may have a slight blue, green or magenta cast to it, based on the technical expertise of the person operating the printer. The quality of the paper that is used may also be a factor; typically, one hour labs use lightweight, glossy paper where a professional lab will use a pearl finish or textured paper that will enhance the image and reduce fingerprints. So while you may have the digital files you might not get the same quality photographs that are offered by your professional photographer…but you will save money!

So ask your photographer about getting copies of the digital files; some will, some won’t, and some will charge extra for them. Knowing your options before you hire a photographer is the best way to be sure you are getting what you really want. And don’t be too hard on the photographers that don’t offer the files, there is another one who will!

White and Denim is a classic choice for a casual family portrait.

Coordinating what you wear to your family portrait can be challenging.  Everyone wants to wear what looks good on them but that doesn’t always mean it will look good when combined with everyone else’s idea of what is best for them.  As you look through the family portrait gallery you’ll see some good examples of how to dress and some that are not so good. 

Here are our suggestions for a well coordinated look that will keep your family’s portrait focused on what is most important, you! 

Solid colors are best, and darker colors are slimming as are V necklines.  If one person wears a print we’re okay but if several people want to wear prints we’re in big trouble because the photograph will be too busy.  So try to stay with solid colors and subtle prints.  Choose two or three colors; black and white with khaki, denim and white, khaki and white.  Then start with the person who will be most difficult to dress and find their outfit.  Now tell everyone else what the color scheme will be and see if they can come up with something that will match or coordinate.

Everyone has a pair of jeans or black or khaki pants and everyone has a white shirt in their wardrobe, so keep it simple and your family portrait will have a well coordinated look.