Family

Family is everything to me. So on my last trip out to California for a cousin's wedding, my sweet Aunt  mentioned that she had this great big wall in her new home that was just begging to be filled with photos. You better believe that my mind started racing...when could we squeeze in a quick photo shoot during such a short visit? After all, we had a wedding to attend, wait....ding ding ding!  Everyone was dressed to the nines, we were on beautiful golf course at sunset, and the models were as sweet as they come. {so maybe I am a bit biased} ;)
Picture the lot of us, trekking across the golf course (several extra cousins in tow), "searching for the light", stiletto heels digging into the green, golf balls flying in our direction. I was determined to give this amazing family some beautiful photos for their home...
Sure, it was impromptu and unplanned but there was love in the air and it made up for any lack of planning on my part. Of course, once the shutter started clicking...there was no stopping who jumped in front of the lens. Here is a tiny peek of my crazy and beautiful extended family...

 

 

And lastly, one of my favorites of little Q during our CA visit, learning to play "peek-a-boo" with her cousins. This is what family is all about. <3 p="p">

 

 

The White Family

I first met the Whites a few years ago when they showed up at a Halloween party in particularly amazing costumes! ;)  Being somewhat of a costume aficionado myself, we quickly hit it off. Several years and two babies later, we still remain good friends. I was more than thrilled to take this adorable family's photos for them this Fall, and was even more excited when they showed up fashionably styled, complete with a baby in little man suspenders....bestill my heart!
Here are a few of my favorites from their session. I think you'll agree, they are pretty much the most adorable little family ever.

Christmas Minis

So I finally offered my very first day of mini-sessions! I like to keep myself to one shoot a day, weekends only, but with the Holiday rush, I soon realized it was going to be impossible to keep to that schedule. And so, a bit tentatively, I opened my first studio mini session day! It was an exhausting day...but SO much fun! Just goes to prove that my love for studio shoots with props are just as near & dear to my heart as outdoor lifestyle shoots!

Here are a few favorites from my Christmas minis this year...

P.S. Do I not have the cutest clients ever?!

Christmas Pullback

Hi there, friends! Thanks for stopping by. Here is the pullback from the Christmas shot I posted the other day. I think you are going to be really excited to learn how simple it was to pull off this cute pic! 

I hope you enjoy this "Behind the Scenes Peek"...please feel free to post your version of this shot on my page if you try it out! I'd love to see all the variations!! Enjoy, friends! :)

 

 

Family Time

It's funny...we go away on a fabulous vacation to the beautiful beaches of Hawaii- lush palm trees, kids splashing in the ocean and building sand castles, gorgeous plumeria and hibiscus flowers blooming everywhere...a photographers dream come true, right? Yet, now that I am home culling my (4,000+) images, THESE are the photos that grab my attention. These are the images that draw me in, beg to be edited and put on display.

 Of all the sunny, colorful images I took on this trip- it is this handful of photos taken at bedtime in our hotel room that pull at my heartstrings. THIS is what vacation is all about to me...family time. The pure joy of doing nothing together. These are the moments I want to always, always remember...

Bracketing

 So throughout our vacation, my camera took quite a beating...needless to say, buttons that shouldn't have been pushed, were pushed and tonight when I ventured out for a shoot I noticed my camera was acting funky. I started playing around, did some research and realized that I was unknowingly "br

acketing". This is something I had never fooled around with before and had NO idea how to use. Basically, even though I had my camera set to manual, my camera was taking 3 different shots with 3 different settings for each "click" of the shutter- adjusting my SS and ISO each time. Here is what 3 sequential images looked SOOC. At first I found this annoying, but now that I know how to use this function of my camera, I find it pretty handy...because from these 3 images I was able to merge them to create the bottom (edited) image!!
I'm sure most of you know all about bracketing, but I thought I'd share for those of you who are still learning something new about your camera every day- like me! Photography is pretty amazing stuff, huh?

 

Here is how bracketing works: On my camera (Nikon D700) you hold down the Fn button on the front of your camera while turning the main command dial to number you prefer. You'll know you are bracketing when the (+/-) symbol is blinking on your top display. I had (mistakenly) set my camera to bracket at -3F, so it was taking 3 different versions of each image at 3 different setting combos. It's kind of fun to play around with....now that I understand it!

 

Friendship

I just love how close these two have become over the last few months...what choice did they have with two photographer mommies always bringing them "test shooting", "location scouting", "light testing"...the list is endless.

These two share a mutual bond and a common pastime...running when they see their mommies pick up their cameras!!

So....sometimes a little "Cupcake & Milk Picnic" is in order to treat these little troopers....even if half of the milk ends up dripping down the table!

This month, I Heart Faces is hosting a "friendship" themed photo contest and there are some phenomenal submissions! Head on over to check out all the entries...and maybe even submit one yourself!

This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com