Lara Swanson Photography

MJ and Corey – Mandarin Oriental Wedding Photography

Lara — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 11:00:24 +0000

MJ and Corey threw an incredibly chic and fun wedding at the Mandarin Oriental. It was clear that the guests had as much fun as MJ and Corey did; it made Joanie’s and my work easier! This was also fun for another reason: it was the mosts challenging ceremony I’d ever photographed. The 5 o’clock sun was just above the heads of the bridal party on the platform, meaning I had to crouch on the ground to get the officiant’s head to block the rays from streaming directly into my lens. Of course, I wanted to do artistic work with it too, because when do you ever get powerful light like that? :) I love the outcome. MJ and Corey, thank you so much for letting us be a part of your wedding!

The Presidential motorcade drove by:

Corey rocked out with the band during the reception:

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Ebie and Zach’s engagement portraits in Old Town Alexandria

Lara — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 11:00:45 +0000

I’ve begun to feel old now that I need more than one hand to count the years I’ve known the people I’m photographing. I met Ebie my freshman year of college at AU; we lived either across the hall or a few floors away from each other all four years that we went to school.

Tina, Kat and Aidan – family and baby portraits in Old Town

Lara — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 11:00:40 +0000

I photographed Tina and Kat’s maternity portraits over a year ago! They now have a beautiful baby boy, Aidan, who was an absolute sweetheart and made my job a piece of cake.

I mean, really, look at that face.

Sara & Jeffrey – married!

Lara — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 12:00:27 +0000

Brad and I had a delightful time at Sara and Jeffrey’s autumnal wedding at Poplar Springs in Midland, VA. The colors were absolutely gorgeous – all deep reds, purples and browns – and complemented beautifully by the weather we had later in the afternoon. Enjoy the slideshow!

MJ and Corey – Mandarin Oriental Wedding

Lara — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 11:00:02 +0000

We joined MJ and Corey at the Mandarin Oriental on Saturday, and it was a gorgeous afternoon. Joanie and I had a total blast hanging out with their friends and family and are so eager to share our favorite photos with you! Enjoy the slideshow.

Amy and Cole – Wedding in Old Town Alexandria

Lara — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 11:00:05 +0000

Amy and Cole are incredibly sweet and wonderful to be around, as were the friends and family that surrounded them on their wedding day. Kelly and I had a great time photographing their wedding – enjoy the slideshow!

Beth and Jon’s Kiss album

Lara — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:18:35 +0000

I’ve been cranking out albums left and right! My favorites are the Kiss albums, since I get to make each spread by hand. Here are some of my favorite spreads from Beth and Jon’s Kiss album!

Underwater photo shoot video

Lara — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 02:14:42 +0000

Thanks to the amazing videographers at Playa Weddings, there’s footage of our underwater photo shoot in Mexico! Enjoy :)

Here’s the photo I showed them on the screen:

Best Practices for a Photographer’s Portfolio

Lara — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 11:22:45 +0000

I’m a web designer by day, and lately I’ve been accumulating notes on some web design snafoos on photography portfolios. The online portfolio is something that should get clients excited and inspired, and help them connect to you on a personal level. Here are some best practices to follow when building your site that will help you achieve these goals:

Organize your images. Your portfolio should make it clear to the potential client what kind of work you do; having multiple galleries with a spectrum of work in each will just be confusing. They want to see your aesthetic, and they want to see it based on the type of photography (weddings, portraits, commercial, etc.).
Do not resize their screen. It may seem like a good idea to force the user’s window to be as big as it can be, but this is incredibly annoying for the user. Best practice is to never do something for the user that they didn’t choose on their own.
Do not play music automatically. Falling in line with number two, turning on music automatically will annoy the vast majority of users, since it’s not something they chose, and it’s often difficult for them to figure out how to turn it off quickly. If you really want to have music playing, make sure that the on/off button is visible on the page, and the user won’t have to click multiple times to get there.
Do not force the portfolio to open in a new window. Same reason still: don’t force the user to do something he or she didn’t choose.
Be succinct on your About page. Well I guess we should start with: you should HAVE an About page. On it should be some brief sentences on who you are and why you do what you love. It should also help you stand out from the crowd – why do people want to work with you? What makes you different? But this page should be no more than two paragraphs long, and definitely shouldn’t scroll.
Make sure the Contact page is clickable from any other page. You want people to be able to get in touch with you. I also recommend that you include your email address and phone number directly on that page, and don’t force users to always submit a form to get in touch.
Your navigation should be easy to use. This is a more subjective guideline, which you can test by asking a few people to check out your site on their own and giving them goals. How difficult is it for them to get to your second gallery of images? How difficult is it for them to find information about you or your prices?
Use gender-inclusive language. What if a groom is perusing your site, and finds language about how this is the bride’s day, how you make bride’s dreams come true, and you request the bride’s name on the contact form? There are many grooms out there whose responsibility it is to find their wedding photographer. Similarly, same-sex couples may value the effort in same-sex language.
At least mention where your pricing starts. This is an item that’s up for much debate, but potential clients will value having at least an estimate of what your price range is.
Don’t write obviously-for-SEO language. If you start getting keywordy, you start looking spammy. Plus, search engines will notice anyway (in a bad way) – they value content that is obviously written for your user to read.

Birth Photography – Sydney Paige

Lara — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:00:11 +0000

Meet Sydney.

Sydney is the daughter of my amazing clients, Jamie and Chris. They invited me to the birth of their first child, and it was incredible.

Sydney was born via an unexpected C-section at 7:02pm on Monday the 14th. Chris showed me his photography skillz:

Great-grandma also loved it:

I love this photo of Jamie’s sister holding Sydney, while her father and mother look on:

Baby faces:

Jamie and her daughter: