All Natural

All natural photography is refreshing.  My friend Emily of Willa J. Photography wrote a nice post just about this, read it here.  She's a great photographer living just north of Pittsburgh.  If you need some family portraits, Christmas cards, wedding photography, etc, check her out.

Here are some of my all natural photography today.  It's freeing to put forward a photo that is full of emotion, full of a moment, and full of imperfections.

I'm also going to use this opportunity to teach about aperture.  If you can, shoot on manual, always.  It brings so much creativity to photography.  If you shoot with a very low aperture (f/1.4) it opens up your lens and light comes streaming in and you get all kinds of blur going on (bokeh--is that how you spell that word?)  A very small part of the photo is in focus and the rest out of focus.  (click on it to see it better)

And this photo shows it perfectly.  All natural.  

It is also all natural childhood.

Self Timed Portraits

I love the self timed portrait.  This is us today on the back porch playing Tinkerbell.  I got tired of flying around in circles, so I ran inside and grabbed the camera.  Set it up and snapped away.  And I loved how it turned out.

Go find your camera, set the timer and let her rip.  It's always fun to see what you get.

Family Photo Shoot

I had the pleasure of chasing this family around Brookside Botanical Gardens on Saturday evening.  (Have you been to Brookside Gardens?  It's fantastic!  Go!)

Rebecca has been a dear friend to me.  When I need a laugh, some healthy parenting perspective, or an empathetic ear, I know I can call Rebecca.  A sweet friend and a special family.

You might remember little baby Caelyn.  She was my first photo shoot of all time--those are future bragging rights, you know :-).  Well, here she is all grown-up with her 2 big brothers.  Almost grown-up.  Kinda but not really.  :-)

Enjoy!

Easter Monday

Happy Easter Monday!

We had a joyous day yesterday full of many Alleluias, many eggs, many friends, many chocolates, and many fun.  Alex has today off so I told Eloise that today we were just going to "chill."  She looked at me like that was the worst possible news she could hear at that moment.  

Eloise was really cute yesterday as she tried to understand the Easter egg/bunny concepts.  We had several egg hunts and at each one she asked, "Can I take the eggs home with me?" Aww... and when we  opened the door to go to church, there was a beautiful gift pack on our doorstep from our neighbor.  It was signed "the Easter bunny."  We were all surprised, but Eloise didn't care as much about the gifts as she did the bunny.  "But Mom, what color is the Easter bunny?"  Her mind was working overtime with all the concepts (and her body was working overtime to keep up with all the sweets!).

Cordelia found a few eggs too.  She was one proud little girl when she put them in her basket.  

A quick story told by Bishop Salmon yesterday... He was at a mall and a little child is crying because he's been separated from his mom and is scared.  He and another lady come to help the boy.  The woman says "Don't worry sweetheart, we will look and find her."  Bishop Salmon says, "Son, we will stay here because your mom is looking for you."  And there's a major difference in that.   The mom is desperate to find her son and is no doubt searching high and low for him.  The boy needs to know that.  Same thing with us.  We don't have to chase after God to find him.  He is coming to find us.  He has come to find us.  And that's a great thing about our God.

Happy Easter Monday.  I hope you have a chill day, too.

Life this week

It's Spring break and we're having a solid week.  I'm having to sneak downstairs early this morning to write this, though.  That means I'm busy parenting.  Me + Girls = All Week Long.  And when the girls are playing during the day, I can't open the computer for long.  They come running....Eloise wants to type letters and spell words and Cordelia wants to destroy the keyboard, like any healthy 17 month old.

We are declaring this spring and summer the seasons of the bike.  The girls love the bike trailer, so Alex and I suit up and take the girls for a ride.  The only challenge is finding a route that is not too hilly (we're still biking wimps) or dangerous (I hate traffic in my car, definitely not braving it on my bike.)  I think our route to Dunkin Donuts is working out well for us.  :-)

It's Holy Week.  And we are preparing to celebrate the death (Good Friday) and resurrection (Easter) of Jesus.  This is the most important time of year for the church because this is what it's all about.  Jesus died for us.  For 3 days.  Then we rose again.  It is also a very full week and weekend for Alex.

So, to occupy my time in the evenings, I've started a photography blogsite trial.  Wow.  It is fun, tricky to learn, and full of choices.  But seeing my images full screen on a fading slideshow is pumpin' me up.  I'm eager to start my business but there is also still a lot to do before I can.  So I'm plugging away.  This week I hope to accomplish the following towards that goal-- buy a new computer screen, improve at another practice session, and open a business bank account.  I'm working hard but having fun and praying that I'm doing the right thing.

Here are 3 more from my last session.  I'm loving these sisters' eyes.

And one more.  Our favorite "woof woof" friend.  Cordelia hearts animals.  We are destined to get one in the future, and when we do, I want a Puggle.  Pug+Beagle=Puggle.

I took some shots of "woof woof" real fast one afternoon.  Uploaded them, edited my 4 favorite and emailed them to my neighbor.  They loved them.  My heart swelled.  Sharing beautiful images of a loved one is such a blessing to the receiver and the giver.  And that's why I'm enjoying my photography internship so much.

Yuck

Was your 1 year old playing with the toilet plunger? 

Because mine wasn't! 

That's disgusting.

Family Photo Shoot

Some more close friends of ours.  These photo shoots are starting to feel like a friend parade!  It's a sweet way for me to introduce you to all the loving supports we have in our lives.  For example, Annemarie and Greg took us in when we lost power for a few days, took Eloise home when Cordelia and I went to the hospital, helped us when we had a flat tire, and more and more and (I think we owe you one :-).

Without friends like these, I'm not sure how we'd get through life.

I love these precious girls.  Not only are they BFFs with Eloise and Cordelia, but I love watching them grow up.  They're smart, spunky, and a whole lot of fun!  Raising children is crazy and it is much easier when we can do it together.  Thanks for doing it with us.

We'll be seeing you soon, I'm sure!

Daddy, Daughter

There are few things cuter than a daddy playing dollies with his daughter.  We did a lot of this today.  

Forecast: 55 and raining all day.  Lots of indoor play!

Photos from tonight

What a sweetie.

This is a short post because I'm off to bed.  Another week ends.  A sunny weekend ahead.   A photo shoot with a special family and spending lots of time with this little sweetie.  

As I write this, Alex is taking photos.  So I'm not going to bed as early as I thought.  

Let's take a look at what he has done.  Do we see a potential second shooter in the future?  

I don't know about potential, but what I do see is that Cordelia smiles a lot like me.  We use our entire face in a smile.  Is it still alright if I think she is the cutest toddler ever?

Well, she is.

Good night.

this week in photos

Baby Photo Shoot

I journeyed across the "Potomac ocean" to see another seminary friend.  Our seminary friends are going to be represented well in my portfolio!  And I couldn't be more proud to have them there.

These friends recently moved from Pennsylvania to a church in northern Virginia.  They are settling into their new church life well, and their little gem is making it much more fun for them.  She is a perfect delight.  Happy and beautiful!

Enjoy this sneak peek of my pretty friend A and sweet baby C.

Newborn Photo Shoot

Meet baby E.  I had the pleasure of spending the afternoon with him and his neat parents.  This little guy is the perfect gentleman.  He never fusses.  He loves his parents and they love him.

After a photo shoot, I'm always anxious to upload the photos and start editing.  I think the mood and excitement of the shoot is fresh so it's great to tackle them right away.  As I edit, the girls jump on the couch and I tell Alex how my favorite part of the job is meeting the people.

Making the relational connections is always best, and capturing beautiful moments for a family is second best.

 

Flower Petals

It's blooming magnolias and snowing cherry blossoms.

We're enjoying Spring between the rain storms.  I also read that to become an expert at something you have to practice for 10.000 hours.  Or maybe it was more, or less, but either way, you have to practice all the time.  (It has to be perfect practice right?)  And while I would never strive to be an expert at something--it's just not my personality type--I am trying to get better.  So clicking and editing I shall go.  Tomorrow I'm meeting another newborn.  This kind of practicing is really a lot of fun...maybe I'll become an expert after all.