Take better photos...

If you have children like me, you probably take more photos of them with your iPhone than anything else. Yes, even Matt and I find ourselves capturing Lillian’s daily adventures with our phones versus our fancy cameras and lenses.

Matt’s mantra for social media sharing is “Take better pictures”. What makes one person’s photos more interesting to look at than another’s?  The answer may be all the options for camera apps. There are so many ways to share your images so why not try to take better photos.  Even the editing process of images using phones has become fun. I thought I’d share a few of my favorite apps...

 

 

Snapseed: Love for sharpening photos, manipulating light, and cropping.

Picframe: User friendly for making collages.

iDarkroom: Fun filters, textures, and bokeh options.

Flickr: We have been storing our photos on this website since we got married and love the app for image sharing and for viewing other photos for inspiration.

Afterlight: Love the retro filters and resizing options for sites like Instagram.

iSmug:We use Smugmug to share galleries with our clients and this is a great app for us to be able to access our images on the go.

Vine: Trendy video sharing app kinda like Instagram. Matt uses it alot.

Beautiful Mess: The newest edition to my collection. I’m loving the text I can add to photos.

Camera +: I take all of my photos on my iphone with this camera. Superb quality!

I am an active user of Instagram with over 1593 photos to date! It's fun to use these various apps before posting images to Instagram or Facebook. I take lots of photos and typically do quite a bit of photo processing before I post anything. Happy photo taking! 

Q & A with Molly and Matt Photo

What types of sessions do you offer?

Families, children, maternity, and couples. At this time we are doing a limited number of newborn lifestyle sessions and weddings.

When should I book my session with you?

We are typically booked 2 to 3 months in advance and primarily only offer weekend sessions. October through December spots fill up quickly.

What are your fees?

Our portrait session is $150-$200 and includes our travel, shooting time (1 to 2 hours) at the location of your choice, and custom editing of images.   Desk/Wall Art & products are available to order through our SmugMug site  as well as card ordering through our Tiny Prints store front. Upon our initial consultation, you will be sent an investment guide that goes over our pricing in detail.

What makes you unique?

We are a husband and wife team so you often get two photographers for your session, especially for family and engagement shoots. We are lifestyle portrait photographers specialiazing in natural light photography that brings out the fresh, fun, and colorful side of life. Our modern and candid style mixed with our signiture bold and colorful imagery, have set us apart from other photographers.

Do you offer digital files?

Yes, we offer the option to purchase a USB of your images from the session. They are not included in the session fee.

Do you offer mini sessions?

We have in the past and likely will be doing it again in the future. We know these sessions allow us to work with several clients at one time but also see the disadvantages of clients feeling rushed and the creative process not being fully reached is such a short time period.

 

 

Our Day (Mothers Day)

 Happy Mothers Day- rise and shine! After working a 60 hour week, this was the perfect day to relax and spend quality time with Lil. The best gift she gave me was giving up her Nuk while sleeping!! So proud of her. #letshopeitlastswhenmattshome

A mini photo session with Lil. Matt took most of the camera gear to ATL but did leave me the 35mm and a camera.  I love photographing with my daughter, she is so good and actually enjoys being on the other end of my camera. And I always have new art to enjoy with her cute little face =).


 

 

Lunch on Pine Island... Live music, fresh seafood, and some interesting characters at the Fish House Marina. 

Ended the day with Lillian's favorite activity!

For my mom, I took her shopping on Tuesday at the Chicos Company Store and we went swimming with Lil yesterday and enjoyed dinner with my dad.

Much love to all of my favorite moms

Molly

Nolan Wedding I Southwest Florida Wedding Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

Congratulations to Danielle and Paul on their recent wedding on March 23, 2013. Here are a few highlights from their big day! 

Venue: Southern Waters and Gardens
Caterer: Chef Bill's Catering
DJ: Ron Rutz
Florist: Christy Marshall (she owned Little Shop of Flowers but had to close the business in January)
Hair and Makeup: J&A Makeup Artistry 
Groom and groomsmen suits: Black Tie Tuxedo
Brides dress: Alfred Angelo 


 

  

  

 


 



  




 

 

Valerie + Jesse ♥ Aubree I Southwest Florida Family Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

Thank you to Valerie & Jesse for inviting me to capture their little family! Their daughter, Aubree, just reached the six month milestone. She was facinated with my camera and was not shy about keeping eye contact with me the whole time. 

Valerie wanted color in this session, and she got it! The flowers were in bloom and served as a gorgeous backdrop for the session. And oh my goodness, V + J's love for one another is evident in the photos below... These two are adorable!

 

Schmidt Sisters I Southwest Florida Family Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

 

Here's a sneak peek at the Schmidt Family session from this past weekend... I'm in love with so many of the images from our time together. It was hard to pick just a few!

 

And a few more that make me smile...

And last but not least, we ended our session in the library with a few quick snapshots of the girls exploring their favorites books! 

Choose a Quality Print Lab...

We are members of Flickr and have been storing our photos on the site since 2005.  The only downside to Flickr is the print lab connected to it- Snapfish (similar to the like of Shutterfly). I recently ordered a bunch of prints from a gallery of Lillian and was very upset with the quality of printing in comparison to the print lab (Bay Photo) we use for clients through our smugmug site. What a difference it makes!  The Snapfish photo (on the bottom) was grainy and almost looked dirty to me. If our clients do purchase digital copies of their session and decide to print their own photos, I suggest using Mpix for the best quality.  I've heard Costco is even a good choice! Stay away from Walgreens, CVS, and other big box stores and sites like Snapfish and Shutterfly. If you don't believe me, try this experiment yourself! 

Sarah + Chris {engaged} I Southwest Florida Wedding Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

Meet Sarah & Chris and a few simple ingredients for the perfect engagement shoot... 

The outdoors (Koreshan State Park to be exact), Roxy- their adorable Boxer, Chris' beloved truck, and a gorgeous evening on St. Patty's Day set the scene for these two to be the photographed celebrating their upcoming Wisconsin wedding in the Fall. Sarah was so easy to work with a very laid back.  She knew she wanted to have Roxy in a Save-the-Date photo and incorporate Chris' truck in a few shots. The casual couple was a referral from another friend (Caitie & Erik) and actually participated in the Engagement Giveaway (thank you!) last month. Matt and I had a great time working with them and shooting at Koreshan (photographer favorite in SWFL) for the first time! Here are just a few of our favorite shots from the evening.

 

 

 

These two are adorable! 



 

 

 



 

 

Marketing Molly & Matt

I woke up this week and got into major marketing mode for some reason. I posted a question on Facebook to our fans yesterday and asked for feedback from our clients wanting to know what makes us unique ( I will share the comments soon!). I also got up the courage to actually try a Facebook ad to see if it would drum up some business.  Interesting how it all works.  Daiana from Deniminanco Boutique gave me some tips on how to use the ads. We'll see if we actually get any new clients down the road. Today I composed a marketing letter (see below) I will be sending community friends and contacts letting them know about what we've been up to and to encourage them to check out our work AND of course send us referrals of people that they know of looking for photography services.

To be successful and grow, I feel I need to spend just as much time maketing as I do behind the camera.  I am blessed to have so many community contacts, now I just need to let them know about Molly & Matt Photo.

 

 

Discover The Beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, Florida

Visiting Southwest Florida?

Check out the Lee County Visitor and Convention Bureau's Pinterest boards for ideas on how to enjoy the beaches of Fort Myers and Sanibel, Florida! We often have clients visiting our area that hire us to take photos of their family while they are on vacation. This is a great visual resource for tourists looking for places to eat, play, and relax while they are in SWFL.

Click here- http://pinterest.com/ftmyerssanibel/

 

Happy Birthday Lillian!

Happy Third Birthday Lillian!

We had a fun weekend celebrating Lil's 3rd birthday! On Saturday we had a little party at Matt's parents house and invited some of Lil's closest friends.  The bounce house was a big hit, she LOVED it! We gave sunglasses as the party favor...

  

We went to the beach on Sunday with Annabelle and Lincoln. It was a gorgeous day in March!

And on Sunday we went to the Alliance for the Arts Bruce Gora Concert series. Lil LOVES music!! I snapped this touching photo of Matt and Lil at the show.

And finally Monday was her actual birthday. A work day for us and a school day for her. She picked out her outfit (a camera T and colorful skirt) and brought ice cream cups as a treat for her classmates. Photos of Lil and Beacon taken on our way out the door to school...

Lil's fun day at school... (photo credit to Ms. Amanda, Ms. Kaila, and Ms. Robin)

 

We enjoyed a quiet night at home and she got to do some of her favorite things like reading to her baby! She turned out to be quite the little mommy.  We'll see what year 3 holds for our spunky little toddler. Looking forward to what she surprises us with!

LeSage Family I Southwest Florida Family Photographer I Fort Myers, FL

Shaing some of our favorite images from the recent photo session in Downtown Fort Myers with Tessa, Colin, Penelope, & Miles.  The weather was surprisingly cold for March, but everyone still had smiles! It was a pleasure working with the LeSage family, especially since we have so many friends in common, it was probably just a matter of time before we connected =)!

 

Including a color palette (below) featuring the colors they selected for their outfits. Tessa worked hard to coordinate 4 people and even adapted to the cold weather with running to Old Navy at the last minute to look for jackets that would match. Love the combination of green, lavender, coral, and denim!

 

 

 

Mama Narwhale I Southwest Florida Maternity Photographer I Sanibel, FL

I was really excited when Sarah contacted me to do her maternity photos. I felt honored because I was totally in LOVE with her engagement and wedding photos AND the style of photography that she admires. Our session was an add on to her spring break trip to SWFL for her baby shower in late February. At just 28 weeks, she had the cutest bump and was as radiant as can be. The lighting that we got as the sun rose was absolutely stunning.  Here are a few of my favorites from the shoot...

 

 



 

 

 


 

Valentine's Day 2013

Fever at 4:30 A.M., Happy Valentine's Day! When you start the day with a fever, that most definetly means school is out of the question. We dosed Lil up with Tylenol and I left to do a 4 mile run. She fell back alseep around 7 A.M. and slept until close to 10 A.M. I decided to stay home with her and Matt went off to work. I crammed as much as I could into the 3 hours of her slumber- emails, the engagement giveaway, HU stuff, and website updates. She awoke pretty grumpy and immediately demanded to see her daddy. I distracted her with bubbles, dried fruit, and an art project and her mood eventually improved.

One thing I love to do when Lillian and I spend a sick day together is take portraits of her. I had in my head I would take her to Target and bring my camera. I felt kinda felt odd doing it, like I was sneaking around.  The first cart shot below is from Target and the other ones are from our evening Publix trip after a family dinner at Pizza Fusion. It took two trips to get what I wanted to unfold. A colorful and feisty toddler determined to get her way...  

 

 

 And this is when we took the football away...

Engagement Giveaway from Molly & Matt Photo

 

2013 Engagement Giveaway

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and LOVE is in the air...

It seems the perfect time to give away a FREE engagement session to one lucky couple!

 

If you win, you will receive...

- a 2 hour session of photography at a location of your choice. Post processing of a min. of 30 images with B&W conversions of images, and an online gallery to share with family & friends. (valued at $150)

- a 16X20 print of favorite image from the session (ART is priceless)

- A USB of high-resolution images (valued at $300)

The winner will ALSO receive Free Styling consultation for their session!

-by Daiana Raina Lopez of Denimianco Boutique (valued at $100)

AND...

Makeup & Hair

- by Lisette Villanueva of Labrajay Beauty Services (valued at $75)

How to Enter?

You must be an ENGAGED couple living in SWFL to enter

Send your favorite image of you and your fiance to mollygrubbs@gmail.com

Please include your names (first & last) in the message

Your entry will appear on our facebook fan page under an album titled "Engagement Giveaway"

It will then be up to you to gather all your family & friends to come vote for your image by “liking it”!

All voters must like our fan page before voting for your image!

Voting & Entries will continue through February 13th!

The sooner you enter, the better chance you have at collecting more votes!  

The winner will be announced on 2.14.13! 

GOOD LUCK TO ALL COUPLES! 

All entries will receive a free 16X20 print if they book a session with Molly & Matt Photo


Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year from Molly & Matt Photo.  This year has rocked! We did close to 40 sessions capturing new friends & old.  Excited to see what 2013 holds.  We are looking forward to photographing 4 weddings (2 destination!!!!) and all the colorful families and playful tots & babies in between.  Thank to all of our fans, so HAPPY we get to do what we LOVE with such amazing people!


Heading into 2013, we are equipped with a full frame camera and a gorgeous new lense we picked up this past year. Most sessions (families & couples) get Matt and I both behind the camera. We are grateful for these date nights together and the help of our parents to watch Lil while we are busy photographing clients.


After the session concludes, most of my work begins. I do have to give credit to Matt for always organizing the camera bag and making sure we have the best equipment to do what we love. He also has patience for my prop closet that is busting at the seams!  I do all the post processing of the images and get the galleries ready for clients. This past year, I've learned the importance of not spending all my free time sitting at the computer. It has been a challange working full time at my "real job" M-F while fulfilling my thirst for creativity as a weekend warrior with my camera. House projects left incomplete, laundry not folded, and books sometimes not read to my daughter. My resolution for 2013 is to streamline a few things with Molly & Matt Photo so I can be sure to ALWAYS be there to read to Lil. She is the reason I got behind the camera in the first place and I must always remember that.

Watch for updates and exciting images in the coming year! Sharing my instagram collage from earlier this morning titled "Best of Lillian Paige {2012}... 

-Molly