Tuesday, August 28, 2007

Gor Sneak Peak



I had the pleasure of doing head shots for a client - in the rain. Even though it was hot, humid, and wet we still managed to get some good shots. Hopefully this time I won't get sick! :) Here is your sneak peak...more coming soon!

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Sunday, August 26, 2007

Edwards Sneak Peak


This afternoon I had the pleasure of photographing a beautiful family for their beach vacation down in Galveston. There will be more pictures headed your way soon. Enjoy your sneak peak!

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Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Monday, August 20, 2007

Carr Sneak Peak

Here are a few of the many photos taken for my photo session today with two beautiful young ladies!

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Can't Keep Up

Today Canon announced the new release of their new DSLR camera - 40D. It is a step above the Rebel line and the specs on this camera are incredible!! Here I am still using my point and shoot and Canon keeps throwing these amazing DSLR's out there teasing and taunting me. Too bad money doesn't grow on trees, because this one would be mine in a heartbeat!! One perk I will add though is now the Rebel's all went down in price with the addition of the 40D into Canon's DSLR line...I like that!

Saturday, August 18, 2007

Baby Blues



When my youngest son turned 5 months old (yes, I realize he is the size of a 9 month old) I took this shot of him. It was the cutest picture and I fell in love with it. The next day I entered it into a photo contest for amateur photographers. I honestly forgot about it after all the buzz and excitement when starting up my own business. Yesterday I received a letter in the mail stating that it had made it to the semi-finals! My sweet boy is a semi finalist! I was thrilled. If the picture makes it to the finals we have a chance of winning anywhere from $1,000 to $10,000!! I was just happy to hear that it made it to semi's! Finger's crossed!

Thursday, August 16, 2007

My Enemy

One thing I have as an enemy, being a natural light photographer, is rain. Not clouds, heat, cold...but rain. And wouldn't you know it - it's raining. I can thank Erin for her thoughtful gift of life for us, but water is not what I need when I have two shoots coming up! One of them I am afraid I have to reschedule and the other is for Monday. And to my surprise, as I am watching nonstop news coverage of this tropical storm, I see in the weather report that yet another hurricane is moving our direction and should be in the gulf by Tuesday. Goodness! Maybe I should think about doing more indoor shots for the notorious hurricane months of August and September. Something to ponder.

Tuesday, August 14, 2007

My Family


Three months ago my family of four took our first formal family portrait (of course before I went into the photography business). We just received them today and they came out great! I don't know how she did it, but she managed to get everyone (including a 4 month and 2 year old) to look at the camera and smile simultaneously! Great job well done. We have a 24x30 print hanging up over our fireplace and it looks beautiful there! Maybe one day I'll be as great as she is. You have to start somewhere right?

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Friday, August 10, 2007

Scouting


I had a client interested in a family session at the beach, so I decided to pack up the family and head down that way to find a good location. I want to make sure that I use the same area that way I know everything about it including lighting, sand location/depth, water, etc. It can be really tricky taking beach pictures, because you have the sun reflecting off both the sand and water. It can make some mean pictures if you aren't careful. So today was practice at the beach day to get the correct settings on my camera. I think I have it all figured out including the best time for pictures...that being in the evening around 6-7pm. The sunlight is perfect for smooth nice colors and great clarity with no overexposure. Now it's just play time at the beach!

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Thursday, August 9, 2007

Reshoot


I offered a free reshoot for my overexposed session last week with the two toddlers today. We used a different location and different time of day. And oh how well it worked out for all of us! The sun was in a great location, there were plenty of trees for shade, and it was cooling down by the evening. I am glad I was able to fix the problem and offer her great photos.

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Wednesday, August 8, 2007

God Bless Google

My tag lines must be doing their good work, because in the last 5 days I have had 3 emails from people wanting to book appointments who found me through google!! How exciting that I am getting out there into the public! My sessions so far have been of friends and family, so I am thrilled to start my journey beyond my usual borders. I thank you world wide web for getting my name out there and thank you public for being interested in my work! :)

Monday, August 6, 2007

Sneak Peek


I had a session today with a beautiful 5 month old girl. She is such a doll! She was a great trooper and really allowed us to play around with different props. This session holds the record for most photos I have ever taken in one sitting – and that says a lot. It will take me a few days to go through each one to delete the blurry/closed eyes/etc pictures and edit the good ones. I thought I’d post a few that I have already done as a sneak peak for the mother to see how beautiful her daughter photographs! Just imagine how great the pictures will look without the watermark logo and bigger.

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Saturday, August 4, 2007

Family Ties


I had a family session today and it went really well. One thing I learned is that you need to have the settings on continuous shooting. The chances that every person is looking at the camera, at the same exact time without blinking, is slim to none. Or in my case – 5%. I took 200 pictures and 10 of them had great shots of every person looking in my direction and without anyone blinking (some with smiles and some not). I’ll take it! The two boys were adorable, but considering they looked just like my boys (and were the same age) maybe I’m a tad partial.

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Thursday, August 2, 2007

Blue Jean Thursday


I attempted a new series of cute pictures using good old nakey skin and blue jeans against my black back drop. I think I have some work to do as far as the shot with the adult and baby. I was wanting him to hold on to my jeans with him looking up at me, but he is too good of a baby and stares at the camera - God love him. The shots of the boys came out pretty good. There were a couple of them hitting each other, staring at each other, laughing together, and hugging each other. They really do go through all the emotions that they possibly can. They are cute as can be. One thing I did notice when editing the pictures is that they are two different skin tones. My youngest has a pink hue and my oldest has a golden hue. So seeing them side by side makes this noticeable...I guess you learn something new every day right? Interesting.

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Wednesday, August 1, 2007

Note To Self



Today I had a session with two little toddlers at the park. I learned a few valuable lessons that will prevent me from making any future mistakes. I am, after all, portfolio building, so there will be lessons learned along the way as I grow as a photographer.

Things to do: I did great by bringing along some useful tools such as candy (for bribery), bubbles (to catch their attention), and props (to play dress up). The girls loved them all and we needed each tool at certain times.

Things not to do: I have learned that in the summer you should not and I mean not take pictures at 9am. The idea sounds great…morning light, no clouds, after breakfast, and not quite as hot out. Ha! The sunlight was way too harsh and over exposed most of the pictures. Darn. I have quite a few editing tricks up my sleeve, but none can save this problem. You live and learn. And might I also mention that 9am in Houston during the hottest month of the year does not make it any cooler outside. It was incredibly hot outside, to the point where we had to quit after awhile. The poor girls were exhausted and both my friend and I were beyond tired. At least I know now not to do morning shoots outside. I have done shoots in the morning before, but they have been indoors. I have always done shoots outside in the afternoon and apparently there is a reason for it. Photography lesson 1 learned. Got it.

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