Haag Portrait Studio Blog

Out with the old in with the New!

Haag — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 20:06:44 +0000

2011 was a year of change for Haag Portrait Studio, as we split our time between Jonesboro, Arkansas and Nashville, Tennessee.
It was a great year for our senior photography business, as we were blessed to work with some really special seniors! It seems like we photographed all over Jonesboro and we began the process of finding some of the great places to shoot in Nashville. It was also a year we made some significant investments in new equipment, the most significant of which is our new Hasselblad H4D-40. What this means for our clients is some amazing images from a camera that is used in the high end fashion and the music industries. This camera is incredible, the range of highlights to shadows make for really beautiful images! So to all of our client we say thank you for helping to make 2011 such a special year!

Hallie

Haag — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 19:53:59 +0000

Hallie and I had quite a ball together. Hallie was a fantastic model! Aside from being a sweetie, she is a natural, athletic beauty with great carriage, as you can clearly see in this pic. She has an amazing smile that I really think is the home of this image. A portrait is merely a frame for the expression of the individual; you can’t make a stellar shot without an expression to match, and Hallie has us covered! I also love the motion in her hair and dress, that came from a little bit of twirling. I love the way the amber tall grasses and her fabulous dress contribute to our bohemian summer feeling.

My session with Bekka

Haag — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 02:55:56 +0000

These are a few of our favorites from a recent session we had with Bekka. Is she not stunning? The black and whites are so beautiful on her. Her complexion glows in highlight and shadows, and her eyes just sing. In the black and white with her hair up, that was me holding her hair in a pile on top of her head with my arm chicken-winged to keep it out of the shot. The red one looks to me like ritzy Hollywood glamour with a definite modern edge. I love these! We had a great time together.

Profiles of a mother and daughter

Haag — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 19:31:50 +0000

These shots are from a studio session that we had this week. This mother and daughter were so sweet and wonderful to work with. The profile is one of my absolute favorite shots! These are so beautiful. I love the quality of light wrapping around the subject’s features; it appears to me as though the viewer is watching the subject look at a sunrise. I especially like the light that penetrates the iris, making it appear transparent and luminous like sunshine in ocean water. It is all around a simple and beautiful shot, drawing the viewer solely into the subject.

A couple from Ty’s Session

Haag — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 03:21:23 +0000

This is one of my favorites; I believe Ty liked it as well! Ty was a perfect model for this shot. His expression and personality fit, so that it has a natural, unaffected feel. I also think that it makes a broad statement about our style. It definitely pleases my personal taste. I love the art-piece texture of the image; I think it gives a very contemporary, but timelessly good feel. It is punchy, but not overly trendy. It records the time in which we live, without being a piece that is solely fun without enduring value. I think it is a very nice fusion of portrait with a fashion vibe- in addition, it’s just awesome. This is an image and a style that I am very passionate about.

I love this one as well! This is also very natural of Ty. This is just as modern, but slightly more formal and definitely more classical than the other image. This image also profiles Haag Portrait Studio style. His expression is the thing that gets my attention first. This image of Ty keeps the hip factor but draws in the warmth of his personality; his smile is absolutely contagious. This type image is very gratifying to shoot because it has such value for the subject and their loved ones. It’s hard not to love a portrait that puts the subject in a beautiful, simple setting that allows the viewer to focus on the subject and the feeling in their face. One of the most glorious things about this type of portrait- a very simple, clean style- is that everyone loves them.

One of my favorites from our session with Meredith

Haag — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 02:48:36 +0000

First of all, Meredith was an absolute joy to work with; she was very sweet and very beautiful, as I am sure you can tell. We shot a ton of images that I love with her, but this is one of my favorites. I have been gleaning a lot of my creative inspiration from fashion photographer’s work lately, and I think that this one reflects those fashion influences very clearly. I love the intensity and the movement in her pose and expression and her hair. I love the flood of light bathing her skin and eyes- largely due to my fabulous partner in lighting design (my Daddy). I love the gentle, glowing highlights on her skin. Meredith was a great model for this, and we had lots of fun! Thanks and ttyl!

A word from Caroline

Haag — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 20:19:28 +0000

Hello!

I am Caroline Haag. I am a budding photographer, and this is my blog. I will attempt to be interesting.

I started thinking about this business about three years ago. My parents thought that I was very talented in the visual arts. So dad and I went to the national professional photographers conference. I saw the work of two wedding photographers out of Australia: Jerry Ghionis and Yervant. They had beautiful, eye-popping cutting-edge fashion work. I was inspired. I wanted to make people look and feel just that gorgeous. Not to mention they were so cool: they were artist rock stars. (Their accents didn’t hurt either.)

Along the way, we have developed a relationship with Tom McDonald and his wife, Jo Alice. Tom was the premier photographer in Northeast Arkansas before he retired. His accolades include Master Photographer and a member of the Camera Craftsman of America, just to name a few. He has traveled the world educating photographers. He has been extremely generous with his time and energy in training us in the crafts of lighting, posing and the attention to detail that make a portrait beautiful. His wife, Jo Alice, is also a master photographer and has been so kind to share her knowledge and experience with us. She is genius at working with children and getting them to relax enough to see their natural palette of expressions. Tom and Jo Alice were and are superb photographers, on both a local and national scale, right here in Jonesboro. They have spent hours with us- teaching us and simply investing time. We owe them so much.

Now, we are well into business and on the road to my dream artsy non-job. I love what I do! For me, my work is about, first, making my clients feel great and showing them how beautiful they really are. It is also about giving people honest and beautiful renderings of the people they love the most. I love my little sister so so dearly, and I am thrilled that I have the ability to gracefully capture her at each stage of her growing up. I would like to do the same for everyone I photograph. And, bonus, I get to be my inner artist!

It also kind of grows well out of the other things I love to do. I have danced ballet on and off since I was little. The concept of fluid movement, rhythm and grace in the human body- even in fundamental posing- is very much the same as it applies to photography. I am desperately infatuated with music as well. And again, I have found the axioms that apply to music- the balance, harmony to be similar. Photography has definitely further cultivated the clarity with which I see things. I observe light patterns. I have a heightened sense of awareness, and a greater appreciation of the beauty around me. I encourage anyone that might chance to read this to look around you carefully. There is so very much to be learned and joy to be had merely from using your eyes.

Thanks!
Caroline

Check out our new iTunes video podcast

Haag — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:27:11 +0000

If you get a chance check out our new iTunes video podcast of some of our senior sessions. We are trying to add one or two sessions a week, as time allows.

Thanks!

http://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/haag-portrait-studio-podcast/id356428648 or click on the “our iTunes page” under blogroll in the upper right hand corner of the blog.

A budding photographer

Haag — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 22:54:25 +0000

Our cousin Claire was over today and we had an impromptu photo session, this is one she took. We think she has a good eye . Great job Claire!

Emily’s Session

Haag — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 02:28:19 +0000

We just posted a short video from Emily’s senior photography session in our iTunes podcast. We hope you enjoy her senior pictures.

To locate our iTunes podcast, click on the iTunes link in the Blogroll located in the upper right hand corner.