I’m not a big fan of winter. I try to convince myself that without enduring a hard New England winter, that my summers wouldn’t feel quite as magical as they do. Read More

General Notes…

Please arrive on time to your appointment. Showing up late means you lose camera time. I often have sessions booked back-to-back and I don’t want you to miss a minute. Sleep! Make sure you get at least 2 nights of good sleep before your photo session so that you will look fresh.

Clothing Tips

Keep it simple and make sure you feel good in the clothes you select. Have your clothes and accessories ready the night before your shoot. Choose clothes that reflect your style and are appropriate for the event. Make sure they are clean and free of wrinkles. Plan on changing quickly. The faster you change, the more time we have to photograph and the more photo choices you’ll have later. Bring more or less clothing options depending on which session type you selected. It’s okay to bring extra that you may not wear. If you’re self-conscious about your arms, avoid sleeveless or cap-sleeve shirts and tank tops, as they tend to make arms look fuller. Avoid stripes and plaid. Solid colors photograph much better than busy patterns. Bring a variety of colors and mix the level of styles. Some should be dressy, some dressy casual, and some casual. If you’re comfortable in dresses, bring them!

Shoes

Heels and boots are always flattering and glamorous. Flats or bare feet can also work if you mix them with the right outfit.

Hair

Bring hair spray, clips, pins, and whatever else is needed to keep your hair out of your eyes if it’s windy. Bring a brush and mirror for quick hair touch-ups. A little curl cream or pomade can go a long way to help prevent frizz and fly-aways. Do not make drastic changes to your hairstyle right before your photo session. This could add unneeded drama to your life.

Makeup

Makeup that is well done is one of the best preparations you can make for your session. It will even out skin tones and help give your photos that extra pop for a model-like look. Even if you don’t normally wear makeup or wear very little, take the time to do it well and your photos will look their best. Mascara should be clean and not clumpy. Please don’t be concerned about minor (or major) breakouts. We can touch all that up. Don’t sweat it! Make sure that your face make-up is blended into your neck so that when you look in the mirror your neck is not too white. Also check to see if you have tan lines that will show with the different outfits you are going to wear. Bring chapstick or lip gloss to keep your lips moist.

Jewelry

Keep it simple. The proper jewelry can really complement your outfit. Select items that don’t distract from your face. It’s nice to have a variety to choose from and it doesn’t hurt to bring numerous options with you.

Props

• Feel free to bring props that help show who you are. Some popular choices are:
• Sports equipment (soccer ball, basketball, softball bat, etc.)
• Sports uniforms
• Musical instruments
• Other items (favorite book, dance outfit, art supplies, etc.)

Glasses

Most lenses have a glare. The safest option is to check with your eye doctor and ask if they’ll loan you a similar pair without lenses. (I stock a few pairs, but the frames may not be to your liking.)

Bringing Friends & Parents

Friends or parents are welcome and often can be a helpful. However, if they distract you, it may be best to meet them when the session is over. You’re welcome to have a couple of shots with a boyfriend, best friend, sibling, or parent at no extra charge.

Weather

Sun and/or clouds are great (clouds even out the light and can make for ideal shooting conditions). If it’s actually raining or hurricane winds are blowing, will have to reschedule.

Undergarments

Please make sure the colors of your undergarment coordinate well with your outfits and don’t show through your clothing. Try on your clothing with the undergarments and make sure all is good.

Relax and Have Fun!

I strive to make the portrait sessions fun. If you are enjoying the session, it will show through and the result will be better images.

I am about half way through photographing the mothers in this portion of the Susan Ogar Photography Honoring Real Mother’s Project. I have met such wonderful people as I create these images.  I am enjoying seeing (and feeling) the love between mothers and their children. Jessica, the mother featured in today’s blog post has been extremely supportive of the project and has inspired me to take it to another level…more on that to come.

In the meantime, here are Jessica and her two beautiful daughters–Bella and Violet….

I love summer. LOVE summer. And as a child and family photographer, I have fallen in love with photographing families in a summer garden. There are some amazing local gardens and I continue to expand my own garden studio. Look at that…I somehow became an amateur gardener along the way. …which is handy because I love summer. Did I mention that?

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Susan Ogar is a Northborough, MA based family photographer serving the MetroWest and Boroughs area including Southborough, Westborough, Sudbury and Hopkinton.

The Susan Ogar Photography Mothers Project truly started when one of my sweetest clients, Melanie, suggested I read an article in the Huffington Post about mothers not getting into pictures with their kids. Mothers who felt too self-conscience about their extra baby weight or some other flaw they saw in themselves to have a photograph taken with their children. They were missing out. Their children would grow and change and it was a real loss to not have these photos…. I started to encourage my clients to get in the picture. Mothers with small children, mothers of high school seniors…all mothers.

The project has grown and evolved in amazing ways over the past two years. If you have been following the blog, you know that my high school friend Heather was my inspiration for the second part of this project—focusing on Mothers whose children have special needs.

This past week I photographed 3 remarkable mothers with children who have special needs…Each with their own story. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting and getting to know each one. I look forward to posting about them in the coming weeks. As I was driving to a session yesterday in the late afternoon sun, it struck me that I feel as if the project is beginning to come full circle. I also photographed other clients throughout the week (not for the project)…those mothers had their own stories as well. One was a generational session which included a young daughter, mother and grandmother. Another was a beautiful mother of 3 who wanted me to photograph her children in front of a special tree in their yard. She went on to explain that she and her family had planted this tree in honor of their baby who died 1 day before she was delivered. As she spoke, my eyes instantly filled with tears.

The journey we take as mothers is unscripted and unpredictable. The road is often rough and we may stumble along the way. There are so many shining moments that we all celebrate. There are also many quiet, solemn moments that remain unspoken. It made me think about how every mother (every person) has so much going on inside that the world around them doesn’t know about. I was touched that she shared this intimate, personal tragedy with me. I saw her as a beautiful and capable mother of three sweet kids…which she is. The idea that she struggles through the pain of the loss of a child overwhelms me.

And as I write this, Melanie, the mother who unknowingly started me on the journey two years ago sits beside her daughter’s bed at NYU Hospital while wires and monitors follow her brain activity for seizures. Her beautiful, spirited young daughter is suddenly struggling with a form of epilepsy. It’s not fair. It kills me to imagine how tired, worried, and scared this mother is. She is also full of love. And I believe she thankfully has a network to support her and her family.

Today I’m more energized than ever to share the stories of mothers through words and images. Please support the mothers around you as they support their children. Thank you.

“We built this city, we built this city on rock’n’roll”…Starship performed the song, and the local music video channel, V66 out of Framingham, created a local video to go to the song. The video, circa 1985, displayed scenes all over Boston including the CITGO sign outside of Fenway Park….. Hundreds of times as a preteen, I thought to myself, “we built this city on rock and roll…”

As an adult today, I don’t think we built Boston on rock ‘n’ roll—not exactly. We built this city on love….love for music, love for freedom, love for education, love for tradition…and just plain love for each other.

Boston is my city. Many of us lay claim to this great city—and the more the merrier as far as I’m concerned. After living in the Boston area for 40 (yes 40) years and in Boston proper for 10 years, this is my city.

Tonight, as I think of the city’s spotlight event, our marathon, our beautiful Boston Marathon, being tarnished by violence, it makes me unbearably sad—and mad. We built this city. No one has the right to tear it down. It’s not always easy to live in Boston. It’s expensive. The parking is difficult. The accent is harsh. The driving is crazy. The weather is a challenge. Once you accept these things, you are in. And once you become a Bostonian, you are family. It’s a big, huge, dysfunctional family. I am so proud to be part of it.

The marathon is our passage to spring. We clean up our yards after months (and months) of snow and then we settle in to watch the runners—up close in person—or through Jack William’s eye’s on TV. When we are there, we cheer for the runners…not just the leaders, but for all the runners. Even as a child, I understood that this was one race that was not just about the winners. It’s a complex concept for a kid. The magnitude of the runners running for causes such as Dana Farber and Liver Cancer is so much more important than who actually wins. All the runner are winners and they all inspire me. I used to yell from the sidelines of Comm Ave in my Boston College years to each passing runner, “You amaze me. You beat the hills. You’ve got this girl…” to random strangers. I would have tears of pride in my eyes. I know…it sounds sappy, but it’s the honest truth. And then I’d see the Hoyts. I have no words for their story. It tells itself. They are Boston.

I’m not sure how the investigation will all pan out, but I certainly hope the guilty are brought to justice. The 3 people who lost their lives on Monday represent all of us Bostonians. It could be any of us. I was that student watching the marathon on a beautiful April day, my son is that boy who plays hockey and baseball and was ready for the new little league season to start. My friends were running and their spouses and children were watching and cheering them on. It could have been any one of us. I brought my two babies right to the finish line on Boylston a few years back—still in their stroller. It could have been us. It could have been any one of us….We are Martin. We are Lu. We are Krystle. And we are Boston.

Don’t mess with my town. I live here and I love here. My parents lived and loved here before me. It’s a real town—made of real people. I love Boston. We are Boston!

Over the past few years, I have begun to realize how important multi-generational photos are. Maybe it’s just that I’m getting older myself, but I adore the photos I have with my older relatives. Sometimes it feels as if our world is moving at warp speed…work, activities, school, sports…. The moments we spend with extended family often slow down time and get to the heart of what’s important in our world. We have the posed images that document what we looked like at a point in time or the ones taken at this wedding or that party. What I like best are the images of the quiet moments, the special moments, the silly moments, the snuggly moments…

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 I enjoy the images that include the whole family, just the grandchildren, or a special pair…. Capture the moments with the family dog, a special uncle, or summer that the grandson grew taller than the grandmother…