Today was my very first ever maternity session!  I had so much fun!  These are my top picks from the day.  If you were the pregnant lady and you could only have one, which one would you pick?

Okay – this one isn’t really about the baby on the way – this one is just because I was playing peek-a-boo with one of the girls and I think she’s so darn cute!

Remember when I mentioned Tamron’s Photo Contest?  I showed you the pictures that I entered?  Well… one of the made it to the top 20 favorites!  Can you believe that?!  I’m so excited!  This is the picture they selected. 

Tamron is apparently having it printed to include it in an upcoming show next year too. 

A special thank you to my friend Sharon who encouraged me to enter the contest. 

Hope to be back to blogging faithfully soon.  I’m surprised by how I miss it.

edited to add link to the TAMRON site to see the winners.   Mine is the 7th one down on the right side.

I had a session with my pal to take pictures of her new baby girl.  Oh is she a sweet baby!  I learned that when you read that you can do "anything" with a newborn and they will sleep through it – yeah, that’s not always true.  This little one made us WORK for the pictures!  It’s worth it though.  Here are some of my favorites.

I had to use my Lightsphere for that shot above.  When she faced away from the window there were just too many shadows.  I think the look of surprise is cute though.

The rest include big brother.  I love the expression on his face in the first one.

All of these are ROOC.  I really need to take a class on editing because I think these could be really good if I knew how to edit properly!  Eventually….

Ta-Ta For Now!

Perhaps you’ve noticed that I like to take pictures of sleeping children.  Yesterday my son was napping in my bed and he just looked so angelic that I couldn’t resist.  I took many pictures from every angle I could think of.  The light was so nice.  This one is my favorite.

It was fun having the opportunity to play with aperture and ISO and such with a subject that was actually stationary!  In hindsight while reviewing the pictures afterward, I wish I’d played a little more and tilted the camera some.  I find that I’m very orderly so tilting is out of the box for me.  I need to remember that as an option next time.

Happy Halloween everyone!

It was a busy month in August.  Long trips, a birthday, last of the pool, back to school preparations and orientations.  Lots going on.  Sometimes life gets in the way of blogging.  If you’re still here, I’m glad to have you.

My buddy recently *hired* me to photograph her boys as they get ready to start the new school year.  Here are my very favorites from that session. 

Here they are in their school uniforms.  Lock up your daughters, people.  These boys are going to be heart breakers for sure! 

The eldest boy with his beloved scooter.  I’ll photograph ‘em with almost anything if it means cooperation… know what I mean?!

I personally think the next three should be a series photo card for their Christmas cards or something.  I laughed out loud when proofing these.

Mom and Dad were not planning to be in any pictures, but I talked them into it.  Here is my lesson (one of many) from this session… watch your backgrounds, people!  I was thinking it was such a lovely backdrop to have the family home behind them and I failed to notice the bottle sitting above Dad’s head.  Details like that make a huge difference.  I know, I know… practice makes perfect.

This is the favorite stuffed critter of the younger son.  His name is Moo Moo.  I’m pretty psyched that I managed to capture some flare for once! 

Soccer is starting up for the eldest.  We had to get some pictures in his new uniform.

Look at that form!  I happened to still be poised with the camera after I told him we were done and he decided to give it a serious kick.  I love this shot!

Look at that tough guy!  I don’t want to be playing against him…

Another lesson I learned on this shoot… I wish I’d taken more pictures of the boys in their uniforms.  Since that is why Mom wanted me to come shoot them, I should have focused some more on loosening the boys up while they were still in those outfits.  The boys were nice and playful by the time we got to the end but there aren’t as many good shots to choose from in the school uniforms.

Thanks for looking and I hope the new school year is going well for all of you so far too.

Cheers! 

Remember my first gig?  Remember me telling you about someone who asked for a business card and I had nothing to give them?  Those kind people invited me into their home yesterday (in spite of my unprofessional manner of passing out contact information) to photograph it before they put it on the market.  I made it clear that I’m learning photography and that I know nothing about real estate photography, but they invited me to practice on their home anyway.  It gave me an opportunity to try a different subject matter to see if I enjoyed it.  It was also low on pressure since they have a professional coming to photograph it for the MLS database later this week.  Isn’t that generous of them?

As you approach the home, you are greeted with a beautiful iron gate.

Inside the gate you find an elegant fountain surrounded by ample parking for your guests.

The view from the front porch offers a view of the fountain and the peaceful surroundings.

As you enter the home, you find yourself in a spacious and inviting two-story foyer.

To your left is a rich formal dining room that offers elegant crown molding along with the finishing touches of a regal medallion around the beautiful crystal chandelier.

To the right of the entrance is a lovely formal room with a spacious sun porch beyond. 

Upstairs, the master bedroom and adjoining sitting room offer a romantic sanctuary for you with an elegant trey ceiling.

As you enter the master bath, you pass by two walk-in closets to find yourself in a private spa.  On the left of the picture below is a third walk-in closet.

On your way back downstairs, you can see the relaxation offered in the two-story family room with warm natural light.

As you enter the custom eat-in kitchen, you find yourself in a workspace that offers plenty of counter space and even more natural light. 

This kitchen has luxurious details in the cabinetry, top of the line appliances along with plentiful recessed lighting.

Enjoy your morning paper and cup of coffee in this spacious and soothing breakfast room.

Venture out on the brand new deck, perfect for entertaining, to spend some time in your private tree-lined backyard.

This backyard offers significant space for your family to enjoy any outdoor activity you can dream of.

What do you think?  Do these pictures make you want to see the house in person?  Better yet, do they make you want to move to Great Falls, Virginia so you can buy it?  All of these pictures are right out of the camera (except one which I lightened).  This venture made me add a wide angle lens to my ever-growing wish list.

Thank you so much to Alan and Cindy for inviting me into your home.  I hope that this experience was beneficial to you in some way.  I know I thoroughly enjoyed my time with you and my time photographing your exquisite home. 

I’m working on my house (for a change) today so I’m just going to post a quick favorite pic from this past fall.  We went to the pumpkin patch nearby and they had this fantastic old tractor out for the kids to sit on.  I love the colors and the texture that it adds to the picture.

And one more – just because I found it while getting those first two up.  It’s my one and a half year old saying "bye" to one of the farm workers who drove by us on that road while we were shooting tractor shots.  He had just learned to say "bye" and wave like that at the time of these photos.

All of these are ROOC except the last one which was only cropped.  I really need to start learning to edit with a software program.  Have a good day! 

Warm weather has finally returned to my region!  I’m delighted that we can start getting outside again which also means more practice time for me.  Today’s study was a pretty cardinal who took a break in our tree.

The middle picture makes me smile.  The first is my favorite, I believe.  Or maybe the third… I don’t know.  I like all three.  What about you?

My theory for purchasing a camera is that you should buy the best you can afford and grow into it.  At the time that I was looking for a new camera the summer before last summer, I did just that.  The $1,000 it took to buy my Canon Rebel XT was quite a stretch for me at the time.  In fact, I sold stuff on ebay to earn the $500 beyond what our family budget could afford just to buy it.  My main purpose for wanting this one at the time was that it had very little lag time when I pressed the shutter button.  With three small children, this was essential to me.  Beyond that, I liked the fact that I could potentially use it to grow into the photographer I hope to be some day.  Honestly, since I’ve owned it, I’ve rarely used anything but the preset basic functions it is programed with.  I am such a wannabe that playing with macro and night mode were new to me!  I find that even a know-not-much-of-anything photographer like me can occasionally get a great shot if you shoot enough.  Getting to know the camera by playing with it often is the best way to do this.  I take hundreds of shots when I do a photo shoot with my children and I usually get a couple that turn out pretty decent.  What’s there to lose with a digital, right?  Nothing but time and memory space.  I’ve become better at hitting the delete button on those that are really not worth saving but I still have entirely too many pics saved.  What can I say?  They are my "creations" of my babies.  Who wouldn’t be attached to that?!  Well, anyway… enough rambling.  I thought I’d share with you a few of my favorites.

Other than cropping one of them, resizing all of them and turning two to black and white, I haven’t done any further editing.  I don’t know enough about editing to play in the so-called digital darkroom yet.  Until recently, I thought that was cheating – to be honest.  I thought if it wasn’t what you composed in the frame then changing it afterward was more "magic of software" than "great photography".  I’m starting to change my mind on that though.  Some day we’ll explore editing together… but not yet.  I still think that great photography begins with learning to take a great photograph in the camera and then – perhaps – tweaking it.  So, that’s where I’m going to begin.  Learning to take a great photograph.