Education & How To's Archives - Maren Elizabeth Photography

Scottsdale Extended Family Photographer | What To Expect

Scottsdale Extended Family Photographer | What to Expect One of the questions I get asked most often about extended family pictures is what will the session be like? What people really want to know is what poses they can expect during their 60 minute session. I'm going to walk you through this Scottsdale Extended Family session to give you an idea of what my sessions (as an extended family photographer) are like. What are Extended Family Pictures? Good question! Extended Family refers to any session that[...]

Education & How To's

DIY Valentine’s Day Mini Sessions | Arizona Photographer

DIY Valentine's Day Mini Sessions | Arizona Photographer A few years ago when me and Matt were still newlyweds and we didn't have any kids, I turned our bedroom into a studio for some DIY Valentine's Day Mini Sessions. I went all out. I removed all the furniture, blew up at least 50 balloons, and cut out 100 paper hearts. I recruited some cute kids from our nursery class at church and some family friends and captured some Valentine's Day magic. Those sessions were super fun but they were a little excessive... I[...]

Education & How To's

Natural Consequences | Parenting 101

Natural Consequences | Parenting 101 I know what you're thinking... isn't this a photo blog? Yes. Yes it is... but did you know that I majored in Human Development in college with an emphasis in Marriage and Parenting? The degree is doing absolutely nothing for me but I LOVED the subject matter and would love to share a few of my favorite principles that have stuck with me 4 years later in my new Parenting 101 series. What are natural consequences? In real world terms, natural consequences are the laws of nature[...]

How to photograph grief. I take pictures to tell stories. Mostly happy stories but I think its just as important to tell the stories that are sad, and even the ones that hurt.

Education & How To's

How to Photograph Grief | Chandler Arizona Photographer

I take pictures to tell stories. Mostly happy stories; births, families, milestones, weddings, and everything in between. But I think its just as important to tell the stories that are sad, and even the ones that hurt. Here are some tips about how to photograph grief. My Grandpa Hale passed away in June of 2012. I had only been doing photography for about 2 years at the time and for some reason I decided to take pictures as we celebrated his wonderful and long life. We called him "Big Daddy" and I learned a lot[...]

Birth Story | Fresh 48 / Education & How To's / Personal

Tips & Tricks for DIY Birth Photography | Utah/Arizona Birth Photographer

DIY Birth Photography Almost exactly 9 months ago and just after they'd finished paying us a visit, Matt's dad and step-mom gave us the best and most surprising news! They were expecting an unexpected and unplanned, miracle baby. Since then we've been holding our breath waiting for her big arrival. I was hoping to make the trip down to document her birth myself but it just didn't work out. On the morning of her induction I learned that my sister-in-law Mariah was at the hospital and had access to a DSLR camer[...]

Education & How To's / Personal

How to use Perspective Portraits to document baby’s first year | Emi’s 8 Month Update

Monthly Perspective Portraits Babies do a lot of growing and changing during their first year – more than at any other time of their life! If you don’t pause to document that growth and celebrate each stage its easy to forget all the little details. Perspective Portraits are the answer! If you’re not familiar with this concept, basically you use perspective to show how your little one grows by taking a picture of them next to the same object or setting each month. Bitsy the Elephant is our perspective[...]