B Family Photo Session | Cottleville MO | Legacy Park | Chelsie Trendley Photography
B Family Photo Session | Cottleville, MO | Legacy Park
Chelsie Trendley Photography
Sometimes I draw a blank on what to write, I donât want to feel like youâre reading the same thing over and over again. This is Legacy Park In Cottleville, MO. Itâs a cute park with tons to offer, green space for running, playing, and photo sessions! A dog park, a park, and a trail! It really has it all. This year I started bring a blanket with me to photo sessions, there are so many endless options when it comes to using a blanket, but so far my favorite is turning it into a swing. I think these kids would agree that it was awesome.
This family was a lot of fun to photograph; so many smiles! Their outfits were amazing and worked so well together. I love the shot of Mom and Dad swinging big sister by her arms with the other two kids in tow!!!
If youâre looking for a pretty spot for photos or to take the dog or kids, I totally recommend Legacy park in Cottleville, bonus points is they even have a bathroom!
If youâre looking for a family, couples, children, or pet photographer in the Saint Charles area, feel free to reach out.
K Family Lifestyle Photo Session | Cottleville MO | Legacy Park | Chelsie Trendley Photography
This family brought the energy! Seriously was a blast working with them. I seem to luck out and get a lot of families where the Dad actually enjoys family photos. This was no different the Dad was all for photos! It just makes the session flow so well when everyone is having a great time.
Lets talk about sisterhood! I could tell these two are BFFâs, itâs hard sometimes I show up to sessions and the siblings want nothing to do with hugs and dancing, then there are sessions like this! These two sisters are totally friends. You know they got that bond from their amazing parents.
Location
I wasnât entirely sure on this park, I wanted to try it because it has this big beautiful hill right when you pull in. The day I went there wasnât a cloud in the sky! Luckily there was this beautiful field spot with brush and trees giving me the perfect light. This family session was at Legacy Park in Cottleville, the other awesome thing about this spot, there is an amazing playground, dog park, and walking trail. Perfect for families!
If youâre in the area I would love to chat about your photo needs!
R Family Lifestyle Photo Session | Saint Peters MO | Spencer Creek Park | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Getting to photograph the cutest baby in Saint Charles County was the best. His smile lit up the whole park. His parents were also awesome, all the snuggles, giggles, and cuddles a baby could dream of. I even had them use the blanket as a swing and the little guy was a HUGE fan! Family sessions are my favorite because Iâm documenting a moment in their life that they will forever remember.
I love lifestyle photography because kids donât like to sit still and be posed, I use fun ways to get great smiles and everyone has a great time. Spencer Creek Park in Saint Peters MO is a great little park for photos. Lots of green ares and beautiful trees all around.
If youâre looking for a photographer in Saint Charles Missouri or the surround area, I would love to chat.
Editing Programs | For Photographers | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Editing Programs
âWhat programs do you use to edit?â
This is my most asked question when I help other photographers. Itâs one of my favorites, over the years Iâve tried several programs and this by far is my favorite. Adobe programs are so easy to use, well know, and fast.
I primarily use three adobe programs for editing.
Adobe Lightroom: I use this for uploading, organizing, and editing. Iâm able to use colors, flags, and stars to organize what Iâm editing. Since I do a lot of back to back sessions, I typically have several sessions in one folder and need to easily be able to organize them. Lightroom helps so much with that.
This is my favorite, editing! It used to take me 5-7 hours to edit one session, one by one in photoshop. Now I design my own custom presets to match my style and am able to quickly apply to all the photos I want then easily click through and make adjustments as needed. I can also easily compare two similar photos to see which expressions I like best. Iâm also able to easily export photos to their own folders and can make a export preset so I can quickly apply my settings to the set of photos Iâm exporting.
Photoshop: Hands down my favorite for anything tedious, like headswaps, body altering, background fixes, etc. There is nothing I would rather use. There are so many useful tools to get what I need to do done. I also use photoshop for all my other creative work like card designs, advertisements, and graphics. I love that I can open a photo from lightroom to photoshop with a click, edit it, then it saves in lightroom with my edit. I also use photoshop to make GIFs from sessions! There is so much you can do with photoshop.
Premier Pro: While Iâm still learning how to use premier pro fully, I love the ease of editing my films with it!
All in all adobe is my favorite for anything photo, graphics, and video!
This does contain affiliate links.
Professional Product Photos | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Professional Product Photos | Saint Charles Photographer |
Chelsie Trendley Photography
If you didnât know, we recently started offering professional product photography. Having a small online product based business myself, I know the importance of professional product photography and how much it helps showcase my products. I noticed a huge increase in sales since I started updating the mock photos to professional photos myself or my associate photographer Meg took.
We started collaborating with other small businesses and doing photos early this year and wanted to expand and offer more.
Here are a few reasons why you should hire a professional.
1. To show the quality of your products; this is important especially for hand-made businesses, you want to show the great quality and value of your products.
2. Variety, a professional photographer can get a good variety of different views of your products, this will help show off different aspects of your product - think size, shape, style.
3. Stand alone or modeled, would your item be better show cased on a model or stand alone? A professional photographer can do both and create a stunning visual of your product either stand alone or on a model.
Stay tuned on what to look for when hiring a professional photographer!
Here is a product shoot show casing a skirt using both a model and just the product.
Another product shoot showcasing childrenâs yoga leggings on a model leggings by: Rogue Wanderer Co.
If you have a small business and are looking for product photography, lets chat!
Professional Print Products | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Thompson Photography
Professional Print Products | Saint Charles Photographer |
Chelsie Thompson Photography
This is something near and dear to my heart. I look back at photos of my family as often as I can, I constantly ask my family when was this, tell me more. The stories flood in and I learn so much about my parents, grandparents and the history of my family. A lot of things become forgotten until we see a photograph, then the memories flood back in. So while we live in this digital age, there is something nostalgic about walking down a hall or into a room and seeing prints on the wall, or looking through an photo book and seeing a story unfold.
I always print through the best quality print labs on high archival paper with the best inks. This way your prints and print products will last and one day your grandchildren will be looking at these photos.
I already here this regularly from past clients, that they love looking through their albums and remembering those moments. Not only are they investing in products but they are investing in those moments and memories. Here are a few examples of products that I offer.
Albums the perfect way to show case your family story!
Accordion minis, these mini books are the perfect gift for grandparents and relatives.
Custom wood boxes with prints, its so nice to snuggle up and look through loss prints. Canvases are great pieces to enhance any room and be a great conversation piece.
I also offer fun timeless products like retro viewfinders, these are so much fun because often times, kids have never used these and for parents they hold a special blend of nostalgia.
Showing a retro viewfinder, they hold 7 images and a middle reel image with the year.
Another neat thing I do is all prints larger then 8x10 are mounted so you can write on the back without the worry of ruining your prints.
If your in the Saint Charles area, letâs chat about your families needs and what kind of artwork you like for your home, we can create your session based off what spaces you have.
Why Lifestyle | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Why lifestyle photography is great for families
Why Lifestyle | Saint Charles Photographer |
Chelsie Trendley Photography
I wanted to write a post on lifestyle photography. I choose to specialize in this because to me this is the best way to get authentic family photos that tell a story. Your family is ever changing, your kids continue to grow and change throughout the years. This is a easy and fun way to show off the whole family and get the best authentic smiles. This is also so much easier on kids and parents. No more yelling for them to stand still and smile, no more saying âsay cheeseâ, I use cues and playing to get genuine smiles. I often time have the parents playing with the kids and then will branch off and have the kids play and the parents to fun cues. I always get a huge variety of âbreakdownsâ this way and easily create a beautiful photograph story of your family. All the while still getting a couple great options for that âeveryone looking and smiling poseâ. I get these with family walk, and the family hug cue.
Here is a great example of some cues and playing ideas I use to get great photos of a family.
If you have a session scheduled it doesnât matter if we are wandering around main street Saint Charles or a beautiful park in Cottleville we will get lots of gorgeous photos of your family! If you havenât scheduled a session, lets chat!
Dear Mom | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Dear Mom | Saint Charles Photographer |
Chelsie Trendley Photography
Dear Mom,
My heartfelt reminder to relax. Iâve been there, I have three children ranging from 2 years old to 7. We get our photos done once a year, and its always a bit stressful. Someone is always cranky and someone is usually crying. But what makes it worse is if I lose my cool, I tend to go with a gentle approach and try to distract them or I ignore them and just start playing with the other kids. Usually they catch on and start having fun.
Let me tell you about my last family photo session, it was our last session in Hawaii, my 2 year old hated her outfit and kept crying, eventually that turned into a hard glare and she looked like she was possessed by a demon, after that my 4 year old would not participate, she was in âstatueâ mode and just stood there. I know this one, I grabbed her and started playing, eventually her smile couldnât be hidden and she started having fun, right about then my 7 year old caught the âbugâ and would not get in the water, she was LIVID that she was not in a swimsuit and just cried. Meanwhile itâs getting dark and we have maybe 2 photos where everyone looks like they are having fun, so Iâm literally completely in the water with my 2 year old on one hip and the 4 year old on the other, my husband grabs the Amelia (the 7 year old) and drags her in the water, she was crying but also smiling. At this point it was pure protest and she was being stubborn to make her point.
I know if I had yelled or been demanding my children would have not had a good time and half the photos I would have looked like a crazy angry person. So I used what I knew would help each child and it helped, was it perfect, no; but neither are we, all in all we loved the photos and they accurately showed life with 3 kids 7 and younger.
So Mom, donât apologize, just use what you know will help your kid(s) be in a good mood. Trust me, it will look a lot better then photos of you yelling at them or stuffing skittles in their mouth. If itâs not working, take a minute and walk away, I have a few tricks I use to help kids get in good moods for sessions.
xoxo
Chelsie
Photo of two of my kiddos for a lifestyle brand shoot of Rogue Wanderer Co
Pets are WELCOME | Saint Charles Photographer | Chelsie Trendley Photography
Pets are part of your family and always welcome at your session.
Pets are WELCOME | Saint Charles Photographer |
Chelsie Trendley Photography
Dear Human,
Do you remember the day you met your pet? The look in their eyes when you picked each other. All the days they loved on you and sat by your side? Every time you come home and they excitedly run to you and smother you in love. Those pets are your family, it doesnât matter if youâre single, just married, or have 17 kids, that pet one is part of the family too and should be included in your session.
Trust me when I say it doesnât matter how âcrazyâ or âwildâ they are, they are welcome in your session. I always ask you bring treats or their favorite toy to help them listen and fell comfortable. Just like a child, please donât yell at them to behave, let them be themselves. Thatâs why you love them, right.
xoxo
Chelsie
Here is the perfect example of a couple session with their dog Charles.
Here is another session of a couple with their beautiful German Shepherd dog
This couple brought their two dogs to their holiday session for some splashing!
If youâre wanting to do a pet session or a family / couples photo session with your pet in the St.Charles area, give me a call! I love to do pet photography sessions and there are some beautiful pet friendly areas to photograph you and your pet!
A Dreamy Couples Photography Session | Busch Wild Life Park | St.Charles Missouri
A Dreamy Couples Photography Session
Busch Wild Life Park | St.Charles Missouri
A few weeks ago I took my jeep up to Busch Wild Life park, in St.Charles MO and cruised around with my 2 year old, she fell asleep so i didnât get any super cute photos of her modeling in spots like I intended. So instead I drove around the dusty roads and looked for potential spots for some up coming family and couples lifestyle photo sessions.
Busch Wild Life Park is HUGE, there are so many gorgeous spots it was hard to narrow it down. I found a couple of spots and marked them on my map. A few days later i had a gorgeous session near a lake, but my focus is always the light. There was this dusty path covered in huge trees and the sun trickling through was magical.
So I did what I always do when I photograph lifestyle couples, give them cues and photograph them re-enacting these cues. It was the perfect little Love story, full of giggles, snuggles, and kisses. Here are a few of my favorite photos from their session.