Anchorage Photographer | Golden Hour Sessions

Let’s talk about lighting!

Golden Hour Sessions

When you contact me to schedule sessions, I will always try to talk to you into going as late as possible for the best and most flattering lighting. Photographers LOVE the beautiful, golden light that you get at the last hour of the day, and because I want your photos to turn out the best they can, I will try to convince you and your family to schedule as late as you can. Scheduling for golden hour has an extra challenge in Alaska, as the most popular time for outdoor sessions is during the summer, and as we know, the sun feels like it never sets up here during that time. That can mean scheduling at 10:30-11:00 at night, but I promise that the results will be worth it. Read on for other options if you have a young family and scheduling that late won’t work for you.

Option 1 - Schedule for earlier in the day, but compromise on location.

My most requested spots in Alaska are requests for mountains in the background. In order to get that beautiful mountain backdrop, you need to be somewhat out in the open, and if the sun is out and it is earlier in the day, that can mean harsh lighting, which would create harsh shadows, or half closed eyes with scrunched faces because the light is too bright in your eyes. If you need to go earlier in the day due to family schedules, I will suggest going somewhere with some tree cover. If you are able to filter out some sunlight with trees, it can make for some beautiful, evenly lighted photos.

Option 2 - Wait for a day with some cloud cover.

This is an easy option. If we get a cloudy day, the clouds filter the sun and depending on how thick the clouds are, makes the lighting easy and even, and we can have your shoot anywhere, and at anytime during the day you like.

Option 3 - Schedule later in the year.

Summer photos are so pretty. But if you are set on a sunny location with mountains, consider scheduling during September or October for some earlier golden hour times as the sun starts setting earlier and earlier. BONUS! Fall photos are my favorite.

Option 4 - Embrace the sun.

Although I don’t recommend this option, they are your family photos, so as long as you are aware why I do not recommend this lighting situation, we can always head out and do our best with the sunlight during a convenient time of day for your family. It can mean beautiful photos as well!

Option 5 - Studio session.

It is hard to pass up Alaska’s outdoor scenery. However, if you would like to be able to control temperature, lighting, bugs, etc, I do have a studio and we can do an easy studio session instead of an outdoor.

Anchorage Senior Photographer | "H" Senior

You guys, I love senior sessions. All my seniors are good looking, relaxed kids that are NOT AT ALL awkward. Seriously, was I the only one?

I'm a firm believer that you can find beauty in the simplest places. So when we decided to do this senior session at one of my most loved spots, I realized that as much as I love this place, we needed some fresh new spots and backgrounds. We managed to find it in this simple tall field of weeds. 

So let's talk about this first picture. This was taken in one of those spots that if you looked at it, it didn't look like much, but when you put this gorgeous girl into it, it came to life. I pulled this photo up on my computer to edit it, and my husband, who never gives me much more than a "Good job!", was looking over my shoulder, gasped and said "Whoa, thats a really good picture". So I knew I had a special one. After posting it on my instagram and Facebook pages, this photo was featured as one of The Snap Society's Daily Faves, and let me tell you, I've been trying to get on there since I found that hashtag. So exciting!

"H" Senior, Class of 2018!

Anchorage Family Photographer | "G" Family

Another gorgeous fall session! Sometimes the light, the family, the location all come together perfectly and this was one of those sessions. We came armed with ideas for this little man's 1 year old pictures, and the ideas did not fall short. We incorporated some props, and little man was AMAZING.

Little secret: kids hate pictures. When you see pictures of smiling kids, 99% of the time, you have no idea how much work, silly faces, noises, etc. went into that one smiling shot. This little man was the exception. You didn't need to do much to get him to smile, and you can tell immediately what a happy, sweet family this is. 

"G" Fall family session!

ANNOUNCING! Name change!

If you follow my page at all, you'll probably notice that something has changed. I've changed my name from Oh So Sweet Photography to Karen Travers Photography.

As I'm starting to get into different areas of photography, I started to feel a little limited by my previous name. 

I'm pretty excited about this name change, I've been wanting to do it for a while, but please hang in there while I get things changed around. You can still contact me in all the same ways, through the website, through my Facebook page, and phone number is still the same. The only contact information that is going to change is my direct email address. This will now be: 

karen@karentraversphotography.com

You'll still be able to reach me at the old email address while I get things changed around. :) Thanks for sticking with me through some exciting changes!

Eagle River Twin Newborn Photography | "T" Family Twin Newborns

Remember back in January when I said I was going to be awesome sauce this year and keep up with blogging. Fail. This session happened back in March and here I finally am, leaves on the trees and wearing short sleeves instead of bundled up and shivering like I was in March when I did this shoot.

Yay for twins! As a newborn photographer in Eagle River, Alaska, newborn multiple sessions are rare. So I get super excited every time one books with me.

These are the busiest parents ever. Newborn twin boys, and a very active 2 year old big sister. Whew. I got sleep deprived just thinking about that. Their parents are so much fun, and we found out that we both have kiddos with the initials "TNT" so we knew we were going to get along. 

Already I could see the differences in their little personalities. So sweet!

Eagle River Newborn Photography | "P" Baby

"P" family continued (plus 1)!

How sweet is this little man? He is so loved by not only his excited parents, but mom came in with handmade things from both grandmothers to use as props in his photos. (Where's the crying face emoji when you need it?) 

I got so many sweet sleepy smiles which I LOVE, and had so much fun. Love this family!