Entry for May 26, 2008

This week was wonderful.  I got to do my first outdoors family in a long time.  I also got to shoot a wedding down in Birmingham.

 I had not been down to Big Spring park since spring had come so I was a little worried about what I was getting myself into when I arrived for my shoot on Thursday.  Luckily it was very pretty, and the weather was nice.  Unfortunately the spring was turned off so we weren’t able to get any shots with the water spraying up in the background but we found some great spots anyway.  I wasn’t the only photographer out, so we had to dodge another session, but it wasn’t too hard.  This family had requested outdoors because they didn’t want “traditional” family portraits.  I had to stretch myself a little to come up with some interesting poses but I think that overall the session went very well and we got some great pictures for them to choose from.  I had a blast with their two sweet girls. 

 

I drove down to B’ham this weekend to shoot the formal portraits for a LDS temple wedding.  Because the actual Temple ceremony is sacred to the LDS, there are no pictures during the wedding.  So usually the Bride, Groom and family meet outside afterwards to take pictures on the gorgeous grounds surrounding the Temple.  It was a beautiful day with blue skies and big puffy clouds.  It was also about 100 degrees in the sun and since it was at 1pm, no shade to hide in.  Everyone was wilting in the heat but the Bride and Groom toughed it out and we got some fabulous shots.  There were no attendants for either the bride or the groom so we did mostly shots of the families and then shots of the new husband and wife.  It was sweltering in the heat, but fun nonetheless and was a good experience.  I haven't had a chance to go through all the pictures yet, but here are some of my favorites so far.

 

Only one more session left this month, then a short break before our next round of sessions start.

Have a great Memorial Day!

Entry for May 18, 2008

This past week was awesome.  I had two fabulous sessions and I also got to go on vacation with my family to Dollywood!  I can’t believe how much was accomplished last week. 

Ella has been a super trooper lately and has been so well behaved.  When she saw me setting up for my session Wednesday, she stood aside and didn’t touch anything.  Then when I was all set up, she asked very politely if I would take a picture of her.  Of course, I had to after that!  I had plenty of time before my client showed up so I snapped a few of her that turned out so cute!  I am so glad that my little girl loves the camera again.  Now I just have to get her to follow directions while she is on the set.  She loves to call out “Smi-ule” but it is never followed by an actual smile.  We will have to work on that!  Here are some pictures of my little flower.

 

When my client arrived I locked Ella upstairs with her Daddy so she wouldn’t be in the way during the session and got on with the serious work of photographing a 6 month old.  Ellaina was a wonderful subject and even though she wouldn’t smile, we got some great faces.  I got to try some new things with her, including my brand new brilliant BLUE backdrop.  Unfortunately I ordered the backdrop so big that it doesn’t fit in a car so can’t travel, but I am so happy that I can offer it as an option to my clients who choose to come to my home studio.  I was thrilled with the results of all the pictures, especially my flowerpot idea that Ella tried out earlier.  There was another picture that I wanted to try but Ellaina was not interested in sitting up on her own so we skipped that one.  We will have to try again in 3 months when she comes back!

 

Also this week I got to shoot the newborn baby of the maternity session I did 2 weeks ago.  Little baby Juliette was only 5 days old this Saturday.  She slept almost the whole session, but was awake long enough to look straight at the camera and give me a big, beautiful SMILE!  I know that you are all thinking that babies this young don’t smile, but when you see the picture you will not be able to deny that she is indeed smiling at me!  I got lots of lovely shots of baby J sleeping, and some fun family portraits where you get to see the whole family together, with no faces involved!  Little Anne-Sophie was a doll the whole time and was very eager to have her picture taken with her new little sister.  She was so loving and gentle.  I can tell she will be a wonderful big sister.    I think newborns are my favorite things to take pictures of.  They are so pliable and easy to move around.  Also, they are cute no matter what, so that makes things easier!  This week was truly wonderful for me.

 

I feel so blessed to be able to share these moments in time with such wonderful families.  It makes me happy to know that the pictures I take will hang in places of honor in people’s homes.  I can’t express how lucky I feel to do something I love.  Thank you to all who have shared your lives and families with me!

Entry for May 12, 2008

This month is shaping up to be a very busy one!  I have been so busy with client shoots that poor Ella hasn’t gotten anything better than a snapshot all week.  She is still constantly coming up to me and telling me to “Take a picture Mommy!” about 30 times a day.  So at least she is getting snaps right?  

This weekend we did 2 sessions.  The first was a last minute appointment for Mothers day.  The second was a family portrait session with a beautiful little girl and her parents.

 S G wanted to have a portrait done for her mom for Mothers day.  Lucky for her she is my neighbor and I was able to squeeze her in at 9pm on Friday.  It was so much fun to shoot with her.  I haven’t done a teen in a long time, and it is so different from shooting kids/families.  She actually did what I told her to!  She had some great ideas of her own and I think we ended up with some nice shots.  On Saturday she popped over to see her proofs and we created a special Mothers day collage.  We didn’t have time to send it out for printing, so I printed a proof on my home printer so she would have something to give her mom other than a promise of something coming.  I am happy to report that her mother LOVED her gift and I was so glad that I was able to help out a friend and make my neighbor so happy.  Mothers day can be so much fun!

On Saturday I got to go shoot a lovely family of 3.  The daughter was 17months and she was such a doll!  She was so friendly and happy.  She took to me right away and we had so much fun playing peek-a-boo and tickle.  She wasn’t real interested in having her picture done, but we managed to get some really cute family pictures and a few of her by herself. She fell in love with my tiny little prop armchair and was happy to just sit in a chair her size.  This helped a lot when doing her individual pictures since it kept her in one spot.  I had so much fun with this family!