baby

She’s here!

And she’s just the cutest, sweetest thing ever.

This blog is about to become inundated with baby pictures.

And probably some sister pictures.

And, for sure some dad and baby shots. I love dad and baby shots.

to be continued…

Coloring

I love doing intentional photo shoots (obviously) and making photos for people that capture THEM and their personalities at a particular point in time.  It takes a blend of candid (I love real, candid expressions) and some set-up and planning.  It is a hobby, a joy, and now, a small business.

However, my home photography is a different story.  I want to capture memories.  There is often bad lighting, messy backgrounds, weird expressions, unplanned groupings of people, etc.  It’s not staged. Sometimes I pull out my good camera, but sometimes it’s more appropriate to use my small point and shoot.  Time with little ones is fleeting, and I’ve learned to just take the pictures, even if I know it won’t be a great picture. I’d rather capture the memory.  Since I’ve gotten into photography, I often have a family member say, “oh, your pictures will be so much better.”  Please.  When it comes to birthday party pictures in a dark room and everyone is sitting at whatever vantage point they happened to have… there is only so much you can do.

My daughter just turned two. Like you, my pictures from her party are mostly silly shots of her, front and center, opening her gifts.  Nothing award worthy, but I will remember the moment.  (That being said, I did use the “good camera”, setup the settings ahead of time, showed hubby what I wanted him to do, used external flash – awesome!, and processed the photos afterward. So, they are as good as I think they can be.)

And yet, I did come away with a couple photos that do both.  I wasn’t really trying to setup a great shot, just trying to capture the day, and I ended up with a photo that I LOVE and that I would frame 10 times over.

Happy, happy me.

I am just so excited this morning. Too many weeks ago, I somehow convinced my husband that we should order a laptop just for me.  We built one on Dell that had an awesome video card and screen, so that it was worthy of using for photo processing.  It took for ever and a day to come, but it finally arrived yesterday.  And I’m in heaven.

I am 37 weeks pregnant tomorrow (yippee!), and I have 2 photoshoots to finish processing. Plus, my cousin is visiting this weekend with her baby and we’ll do a photoshoot… so make that 3 photoshoots. Plus, there will be photos from my toddlers birthday party, etc.  But now, I can FINALLY work on photos while having my feet up in bed or in a comfy chair….not at our office desk.  What a heavenly thought. I’m actually up too early this morning, writing this while sitting up in bed.  Seriously – my life has changed.

And the best part is that my laptop (whose name is Brandywine) is BEAUTIFUL… looks like this.

Self-portrait

Last weekend, we headed out to try to get some 2-year-old photos of my almost 2-year-old.  At the same time, I wanted to setup a “self-portrait” while I had my husband with me to take the shot.  I’m so glad I did… I love these few pictures we took of me and my daughter. I thought that they captured THIS MOMENT in my life really well.

Outside

Another sneak peak…

The other photo shoot I did last weekend was out at a favorite park. It was FANTASTIC to be out in good, natural light again. It was barely raining that day…  just enough mist to make my hair all frizzy. These kids were a little older, so the mom was fine with them in the cold and sitting on wet logs.  It was wonderful!  On our dark, gray days, I’m always amazed at how light there really is outside. It makes such a huge difference!

Ok… sneak peak:

Sneak Peek

I did two photo shoots this weekend and had a blast. I’m actually almost done editing both of them, and thought I’d post a sneak peek.

I got to hang out with Rebecca this afternoon.  Two-year-olds (well, almost!) are so fun and funny. They are so busy!  I love their balance between big-kid abilities, and sweet baby chubby cheeks.  Such a sweet age.

Ahhh… the end of a great weekend.

“self portrait”

I’m a big fan of Me Ra Koh and am following along with her SOAR photography exercises.  The first exercise is to take two self portrait images and share them.

The first of the two is supposed to be a true self-portrait. I haven’t done that one yet, and don’t know if I’ll be able to.  I have the image in my head that I’d like, but it would require daylight and Steve’s help… and some cooperative birds. If I do manage to get the shot, I’ll definitely share it.

I DID manage to get the 2nd shot – representative self-portrait.

Little Sister

The very first photoshoot I did (that wasn’t of my daughter) was for a friend of mine, mom of this guy:

In December, she had a baby girl and asked me to come take some photos of her. I definitely said yes! I love photographing babies.

I love close pictures of a mother and her baby.  I’m trying to figure out what to do when MY next baby girl arrives… I think I’m just going to give hubby some lessons, because I love these shots.

I love new baby skin and how it wrinkles up.

But, really… is there anything sweeter than a mom snuggling all her babies?

Even with his new sister around, Mr. T does a pretty good job of staying the center of attention.

Yep, he is a wild one. Watch out, sister.

So… what is sweeter than a mama cuddling her baby? Oh wait… I know.  Daddy.

This was actually the photoshoot that I bought the macro lens for.  I’m so glad I did.

Isn’t baby girl so sweet?  I definitely say yes!

Merry Christmas photo shoot!

Earlier this month, I took some Christmas pictures for Leah’s family.  Scheduling was proving to be difficult, so we did it early on a Sunday morning before we both headed off to church.  It seemed kind of crazy to do a photo shoot BEFORE church (although I did feel super productive that day), but it worked great! It was a good lesson in scheduling flexibility. The kids were happy (two toddlers!) and the lighting was great…and in Seattle in December, light is of short supply.

I felt like I got some great shots that showed the personality of her family and their sweet interactions.  I did get a some shots with both kids looking, and even smiling, but for the most part, their portraits showed them at this age and size.  Most of these photos below are on the more candid side, since the super posed ones aren’t usually my favorites in the end.

Here are some of my favorites…

Aren’t these two monkeys just adorable!?

I love this shot of Leah and her boys.

I think this is just about a perfect kissing shot. I love how the oldest son was looking at mom and dad, but the younger one was looking at me.

I have a whole series of laughing pictures and it was hard to pick my favorite. I love the raw emotion.

It will be fun to repeat this shot over the years as the boys get taller.

Oh, these two guys are just adorable. I love (love!) this tree shot.

A (late) Merry Christmas to you all!!!

Macro!

I’m doing an infant photo shoot tomorrow, and in preparation, I really wanted to get the macro lens I’ve been drooling over. It will be great for those close-up baby shots.

I’ve only used it once so far, but so far…I LOVE it. Although, I did learn that this thing isn’t so great with a toddler… it’s so close to her that she thinks she should be able to touch it. So, it might just get saved for baby pictures.

Here are a few random shots I took with it the other morning…totally unedited.