Our second and final date of silhouette sessions (at least for now) is Saturday, March 6 from 10-12. I believe we still have a few spots left, so if you are interested, give me a call at 396-9387. Or, you can email my assistant, Jillian at jillian@ashleybrownphotography.com and she’ll get you on the schedule.

Check out some of the eye candy we are offering! Included with each session is a 5×7 print in your choice of colors. In addition, PaperDolls and myself are offering several cool products such a wall hangings, stationary and more. Hope to see you next weekend!

Now onto Iver, the deliciously sweet third child (first boy!) of Lizzie Sorensen, the mastermind behind my brand and the boss who kicks my butt into gear when it comes to PR and marketing. Iver is already kind of famous. In keeping with her career as a publicist, Lizzie “live tweeted” a lot of her birth… not during the hard stuff, of course!… and garnered media attention as Albany’s first “TwitterBirth!”

This little peanut was a month early, but is already settling into his third child role extremely well… aka completely unfazed and letting his big sisters love him up as much as they want. Lizzie has a fun modern style, so I wanted our session to reflect that, and I think it did! Here are some previews, but for the whole sessions, click here.

Ok, here we go… a little bit of a catch up from some recent shoots.

Gorgeous baby Joey. This boy is going to be a heartbreaker. I think I can see where he gets it from…

The stunningly perfect belly that is currently housing Samantha. Can’t wait for her to get here!

My sweet girl Angelina turned one! It’s been fabulous photographing her throughout the year.

And I got to hang out with Sean in another installment of his Growing Plan. This time, his grandparents joined us!

And I got to photograph Christopher one last time before he becomes a big brother.

Stay tuned for some sweet baby goodness from the last few days. I’ve been loving every second of it!

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In this day and age, many clients look for the ability to purchase digital images (the digital version of a film negative) from their photographer. I believe that owning the digital images from your session is a wonderful thing; first and foremost, for archiving your images for the future, and secondly, for printing small gifts for family and friends. This is why I offer them to my clients.

However, I firmly believe that a professional photographer is just that… an artist, not just a finger that clicks the shutter. The work any artist is meant to be displayed to its fullest capacity. With that being said, I feel it is infinitely important that my clients enjoy their images in the form of fine art, archival portraits and albums. When you purchase a print through a professional photographer, it will be color corrected and processed to perfection. It will also be finished, with a protective coating and backing substrate. Albums are created from top quality papers and bindings, and will provide a wonderful format for viewing your images for a lifetime (albums are also a great alternative to large wall portraits, for those with limited space or who don’t desire to go that route). These products are pieces of art to be enjoyed for years, and are truly the best way to enjoy the products of your session.

Digital images have their place, and are a great addition to any portrait session… however, is important to keep in mind that when purchasing digital images, you are assuming the responsibility for the outcome of the finished product. Please be sure that if you go this route, you are willing to take the steps to ensure that your images are printed correctly (i.e. using a high quality lab instead of a drugstore). Also, do keep in mind that like the hundreds of snapshots you have taken yourself, professional digital images often end up sitting dormant on a hard drive or disk. Will you take the time to print and enjoy your images, or do you prefer to take a more full service approach? Every client is different, so it is important to think about whether or not digital images are the right option for you.

Digital images are not inexpensive (and any photographer who sells them for next to nothing is doing a disservice not only to themselves, but to the photographic community as a whole… not to mention, this is rarely a sustainable business model). When a photographer sells them, they are selling their art and vision. They are also selling the ability for the client to reproduce the images countless times and retain all of the images from their session, which is invaluable.

When purchasing digital images, the copyright (ownership) of the images that you purchase stays with Ashley Brown. This means that while you can freely use them for personal use, you cannot use/sell them for any commercial purposes or contests. Since each image is a unique piece of art that has been digitally mastered by Ashley, it is important that the files are not altered. Your digital images will be sent to you electronically via a very simple process. An account will also be created for you at Ashley’s consumer lab of choice. While not required, it ishighly recommended that you go this route for creating your prints. Please note that while we are happy to give recommendations (an in-depth printing guide will be provided to you), we cannot guarantee the quality of prints that are not created by our lab, nor can we provide ongoing technical support.

Keeping all of this in mind, most clients choose to go with a hybrid of both professional prints, products and digital images from their session. Both formats allow you to enjoy the beautiful images from your session in the format that is right for your family.