such a happy boy

i had so much fun meeting little brendan. his mom and i go waaaay back. i can remember when she was in junior high with braces. now she's a mom to the happiest little baby boy. i can't believe it.
thanks so much linds, i had a blast with you guys! i hope you likey....

itty-bitty blondy!

can you believe all this blond hair? this little guy is only a few days old and despite his size, he looks so much older to me. i don't think i've ever seen so much blond hair on a newborn. isn't he adorable?? and what a good boy!

PHOTO TIP of the WEEK!

Experiment with different lighting situations. Don't settle on open shade, but embrace it all! Now, please remove my soapbox. :)



Midday sunlight used to scare me (and i still would never schedule a shoot for this time of day) but I've realized that I can get some really cool shots even at the "worst" part of the day, with regard to lighting.
Moral of the story: Have fun and don't limit yourself!

awwe yes. my nephew....

remember my beautiful, pregnant sister? now she has a beautiful baby boy.

i'm so proud of my little nephew. for this reason, i wanted to post every picture i took. but i decided to narrow it waaay down. it was so hard to choose!
i love you little c. i'm so glad you're here!



and...he turns on the charm.

this little guy made my job EASY

one feeding and he was good to go. as soon as he ate and i started shooting, he fell right to sleep. i got every shot i wanted in an HOUR! that is short for a newborn shoot.
i have done quite a few newborn sessions recently and have several scheduled for the future. they are quickly turning into a favorite of mine. i'm also learning a few tricks along the way!
{a tiny bit of my pictures were cut off when i uploaded them on blogger.}

enjoy this little angel...










precious...

ENGAGEMENTS

do you remember this couple? i did their christmas photos last november and guess what? they're engaged! those must have been some good pictures. hehe.
seriously though, can you say HOT? there was chemistry all over the place. i can't quite tell, but i'm pretty sure they're in LOVE.

i'll only post about a million....sorry. i can't help it!







i couldn't decide...












whew! now go put your head in the freezer.

PHOTO TIP of the WEEK!....finally

sorry i didn't post a photo tip last week. i meant to and then, well just didn't. i was in california, so there's my excuse.

last time i talked about aperture. so this week we'll talk about ISO and shutter speed. {most of my tips aren't going to be this long/technical or in sequence.}

ISO is the equivalent to film speed on a film camera. it determines how fast your image will be captured by the film or digital sensor.
the higher the ISO the quicker the image will be captured and less light is required and vice-versa.

most beginner slr's go up to about a 1600 ISO. your ISO setting will depend on your lighting situation. indoors and in low light situations you will need around your highest setting. for sunny outdoor situations you would use your lowest possible setting.

it's very important to note that the higher your ISO goes, the grainier your picture will be. that's the tricky part. so in my case i prefer using the lowest ISO possible to prevent too much grain. but if you don't mind grain, then help yourself!

shutter speed is how quickly your shutter operates. a faster shutter speed will freeze subjects while a slower shutter speed will blur objects.

so turn your dial over to shutter speed priority {it is probably an S or Tv and don't worry about aperture, the camera will take care of that for you. if you're indoors, bump up your ISO to about 800 to 1600, as needed.}

ok, turn on your faucet. something needs to obstruct the stream of water so it causes a little splash. set your shutter speed to 1/80th of a second {indicated on your camera as 80.} take the picture.

now switch your shutter speed to 1/1000th of a second. {indicated as 1000} and take the picture again.
now compare your results!

if you like the tips, let me know. i like a good pat on the back. haha, is that too honest? :)

i heart snuggle luv

if you haven't heard of it and you have a girl, run, don't walk to the mall and get ya'self some luuuv. they have some cute stuff for boys too. in fact before i did this shoot i bought my boo some green and white striped stockings from them and love them!
i had so much fun on this shoot. i couldn't believe how ridiculously cute their accessories are.
check 'em out! www.snuggleluv.com

PHOTO TIP of the WEEK!

details, details....

the technical part of photography is obviously very important, but i'll admit that it is probably my weakness. i get it and understand it, but sometimes if i think too hard about it, i feel it gets in the way of my creative process. don't let that happen! understanding aperture, shutter speed and iso are the basic fundamentals of photography. get to know them. learn them. and once you feel comfortable with them, use it to create images that you like, that speak to you and that are pleasing to YOU. try not to get caught up in the "perfect picture" because that is extremely subjective.
with that said, it's important to know how to get it right using aperture (f/stop) iso and shutter speed. Understand how they work together to give you the results you are looking for.

APERTURE
this week i'll {try} to give a quick explanation of aperture to my best ability. {i will try to make sense, but i'm not an expert on this stuff, so i'd recommend some good reading.}

the size of the aperture or {f/stop} of a lens determines how much of your photograph is in focus.

the f/stop number refers to how open or closed the aperture on the lens is. the wider open the lens = more light is allowed in the lens at one time giving you a wide aperture. i.e. less of your picture will be in focus. this is called a shallow depth of field.

a low f/stop like f/1.4 or f/1.8 is considered a wide-open aperture.

{confused yet? i am a little.) :)

a super snazzy lens would go all the way down to an f/1.2 and this would be considered a wide-open aperture, while an f/22 or possibly higher would be a closed or tight aperture.

again- a closed aperture of f/22 would be completely in focus and have a very deep depth of field. an example of this would be a landscape picture where you'd want everything in sharp focus.

an open aperture of f/1.2 or even f/2.8 would keep a small portion of your picture in sharp focus while the rest is blurred. an example of this would be a portrait where you want the background blurred and the person in focus.

if you have a digital slr camera, switch it over to aperture priority {Av or A on most cameras} and play around with aperture a little. if you have a point-and-shoot, you still should be able to have some control over your f/stop.

focus on something at the lowest f/stop number your camera will go {remember that means a high aperture}, take the picture. then bump your f/stop to about f/8, take the picture. now bump it all the way up to the highest number it will go and take the picture. compare all three results. experiment, experiment, experiment!

aperture is my very favorite effect. it can completely change the tone of your picture.

have fun.

next week i'll {try to} explain shutter speed and iso.

itsy bitsy, teeny weeny

she was the sweetest little girl. she didn't want to miss a thing and stayed awake the whole time. ooooo, i just want to squeeze her.







i realize this one makes her look kind of like a boy. but who says green is only for boys?? she is still SUCH a girl. look at those eyes.
and i have to say, what a good sport! look at her act like being cramped in a small, ceramic bowl is oh so comfortable.