Magic Moment

Once in great while, you can throw together the right shoot with the right model, and the right light, and the right styling. And boom!! Magic!

Phoenix Hebrew Academy

So my sister is doing her dissertation in Education on a certain population of Jewish people and how they support their children's education.  Her entire dissertation is based on parent interviews and she wanted to thank the mothers who took the time to answer all her questions.  So her thank you gift was family pictures, done by moi.

All of these families are immigrants and most had never had family pictures taken before. They were all so sweet and really fun to work with.

It was such a wonderful experience.  Some of my favorite pictures yet.  Here are some highlights...

Emma-Girl

She’s was my biggest challenge yet (then I had Abigail the next day ) 

 

Emma moved like the wind and eye contact was not her style.  Which made it my proudest session yet, as I got 42 awesome shots!!  I average 25 so that was amazing.  And so rewarding.

 

She’s a superstar.  Sneak peek for Mom below…

 

 

 

 

 

The Giving Tree Workshop

So I was so incredibly blessed to get to go to Chea Lamb’s latest workshop.  (Merry Christmas to me, from hubby).  She is truly an amazing photographer and what I picked up in that four hours is just ridiculous.  (warning:  massive amount of pictures to follow)

We met at 8 am in deep Queen Creek.  Chea had an amazing family of eight, ready to model for us.  We talked about changing the white balance on our camera (!!), posing large groups, interacting with kids, and other fabulous tidbits.  Once we started shooting, I realized there were 6 of us trying to get the best shot.  We were civilized but you could tell we wanted to hip-butt each other out of the way.

 

We were then able to grab a kid and start trying some portraits.  That was when I made the only mistake I regretted for the morning.  I grabbed Porter, the 8 yr old cutie pie.  Exactly like my own two sons.  Totally in my comfort zone.  I should have snatched a teenager.  Haven’t tried that brand of crazy yet….



Then a hop, skip, and jump down the dirt road to an amazing abandoned factory.  The graffitti art, the light, it was ridiculously wonderful.  And a whole new crop of models to use, dressed appropriately of course.  I have to say, probably the biggest thing I’m taking away was how inspired I was by that location.  I really got kind of giddy and had never realized that a photography location could make you feel that way.  Great, now I’m really hooked.









I also realized I’m not naturally good at posing.  The other photographers in the group, all more experienced than I, seemed to create great poses easily.  This one above is a great example, wouldn’t have ever thought of that myself.  So, I stole a kid and tried some on my own.  (this kid should seriously be a professional model, he’d make bank.  so natural, it’s ridiculous)







Finally we ended up back at Chea’s house.  She reviewed all of our pictures and gave each of us some great tips and ideas on how to improve our shooting.  (biggest one for me:  better lens.  Can you say “Happy Birthday”?)
We finished out with a quick shot using window light.  This was the only shot I used some serious editing on, just because I thought it looked fun.  Amazing how when you shoot the dang picture right in the first place, very little editing is needed.


I also learned about spot metering, how I can’t do it on my camera, but there is a work-around.  Wish I knew the name for it.  Also realized that my 50 mm lens is more reliable if I manually focus, rather than relying on auto-focus.  Oh, the wisdom.  Such an amazing experience. 

PS.  when I upload to blogger, I’ve realized it really flattens and dims all of my photos out.  I tried to use Flickr but the code doesn’t work.  sigh.  You’ll just have to imagine these brighter and better.

Them. Captured.

 

 

 

 

 

First there was her.  Full of light and laughter and happiness.  She can laugh so hard, It’s silent.  That’s skill.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there was Them.  First date at 16.  True love still exists.  They wrote the book on True Love.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Then there was him.  Full of life, knowledge, music, emotion.  This is a deep kid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  Then there was her.  She started so teeny tiny.  Now she’s bigger than life.  So smart, so sassy.  So fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now don’t forget her.  Her eyes won’t let you.  Or her cheeks.  Or her grin.  Unforgettable.

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Put them all together and you get THIS!! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Just kidding.  A little of that and a little of this, and you actually get…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

True love.  All over again.

Sepia vs. Black and White

It's hard to know the difference between sepia and black & white until you see them side by side and then it's really clear.  The Black and White has a really crisp, clean, modern feelings.  Sepia is warmer, and more vintage, even though you think "black and white photograph" when you think old school.  If you're going for that more old fashioned look, you probably want Sepia. 

The Eyes!!

 

Last Friday, I met Baby Paige.  First I saw the eyes, knock you right out of your seat-eyes.  Then I saw the cheeks.  But best of all, once in awhile I saw the smile.  Now THAT will take your breath away.  This is a sneak peek for Mom. 

 

 

 

At the lake

My son and I snuck out for some time alone.  He needed to get outside and I needed to try out a new lens.  I was trying to push the limits of how sharp I could get my subject vs. how blurry could I make my background.  Kind of a bummer as it was sunset at the Riparian Preserve so the background was just gorgeous.  I did get some fantastic shots of purple cactus.  Gotta love that!

 

 

 

 

 

Vintage Princess

This was a quickie snapshot I took right before church.  We wanted to capture the dress that she demands to wear each and every Sunday.  I wonder what the nursery leaders think??

My two year old struck the pose all by herself, which begged for some vintage treatment in the post processing.  Too fun!

Baby "L" part Deux

This picture of Baby LB was just begging for a princess touch.  So I found a nice damask brush and used that on the background.  Then I went crazy with a black and white punch and a white frame.  Ooh La La!

I Heart Faces: Smirk

For this week's photo challenge at I Heart Faces, the theme is smirk.  Well, this is the darn cutest smirk I've ever seen..

Baby B

 

 

Lovey

 

Oh Baby H.  Your Mama lived in Africa, your Daddy lived in Germany.  And here you are, a big ole bundle of cuddles and kisses, right in my own back yard.