Flash Back

     Anyone remember this little guy from the "Newborn Photos" post back in July?

     You may not recognize him now...

                                                        ... but it's the same little guy!

     Three month photos are a new thing for me. I have always heard that they are tricky, because the baby is too young to sit up on his/her own yet, but yet you can not pose them like newborns because they are so much more alert. This little guy managed it beautifully though. A little propping him up was needed, but he was a trooper :) 

     This was a gorgeous fall day (chilly, but still pretty). We had just enough filtered sunlight for clear, crisp pictures with very few shadows to fix (shadows on people's faces are my enemy, because they are almost impossible for me to fix on the computer). All in all, it was just a really good photo shoot.

Fall Photo Fun

     Can I just say that I am loving this fall? The colors, the weather, and everything - it has truly been a beautiful fall season. My schedule for photos has been pretty busy for the past few weeks, and I am just now sitting down to catch up with my blogging. I have many fun photo shoots to share with you from this fall. I have been able to try some new things in photography. This fall, I have done birth photos, which I shared with you, as well as family photos, infant photos, more children's photos, and, just this past week, senior pictures and a maternity announcement. I am so excited about all of these shoots, but in order to spread out the fun I will not be posting them all tonight :) They are coming soon though, I promise.
   Tonight I want to share with you a family photo shoot that I did about a month ago. This is a family with four active, adventurous, wonderful boys. We met them to do photos at a park one day just as a few fall colors were starting to make themselves known...

 More coming soon, so stay tuned!

Captivated

     I am captivated. By the process, the experience, and the beautiful happening of birth. This past month I was privileged to attend my second birth as a photographer. I will never, ever tire of being one of the first to witness the arrival of a new life into the world. To document it with my camera is even better. I feel like I am being given a gift when I am able to attend a birth; to share in that experience with a family is such a blessing. In return, I feel like I am able to give at least a small portion of that gift back when I capture these moments and give them to the family, to have forever.
     It is more than just the experience that draws me. It is my favorite form of photography - documentary photography at its very best. When I am doing portraits, I struggle with the people aspect of photography. I love being around people, but being the photographer requires a whole different level of people skills. I am still continuing to learn how to direct people, and how to make them feel comfortable and natural and relaxed during photo shoots. That part of photography comes hard for me. It is still absolutely worthwhile, it just takes time and I still have such a long way to go. With birth photography, there is no need for me to direct, to instruct. I am part of the background, capturing each precious moment and each expression of struggle and of joy. I need only to slip into myself and focus on the task at hand, watching the world play out through the lens. Even though this was only my second birth so far, I am thoroughly captivated.
     That being said, I am still learning how to handle the lighting scenarios at births. I have so much more learning to do in the future. That is my disclaimer :)
     Let me share with you a glimpse of this extraordinary birth, and this stunning new baby girl.

More photos to follow, hopefully soon. Fall is such a wonderful time for photos...  :)  God Bless!

   
   

I'm Back

     "July 16," my last post reads. That means that over a month has passed since I last wrote on here. Photo World did not cease to carry on, not by any means. Rather, it took on a different form than normal. I travelled and went to a few different camps, and nearly every time my camera went with me. In addition, another really neat opportunity came up in the middle of August. My photo teacher, who taught the classes at my homeschool group, allowed me to shadow him on two different photo shoots. I was able to see what he does on a shoot, and learn from him how he handles different lighting scenarios and such camera things. Although it was all incredibly helpful to learn, it took me a few days to process all the new tips and information, and to learn how to put it to use. The week after I shadowed him, I went to a summer camp with two of my brothers, still processing all that my teacher had showed me. I played and played with my camera, trying to perfect my lighting with every picture. Even now, I am continuing to learn and experiment with everything he taught me.
     I learned another thing this summer about photography. There is no "right" way to do it. I shadowed another photographer this spring, who does things very differently from my photo teacher. In addition, I have photographers within my extended family, who do things very differently from either of the previous two that I mentioned. With each photographer that I encounter, I admire their work, the quality and the style of their photos. And with each one I learn something new and different that I had not learned before. At the end of the day, though, the best way that I learn about photography is by experimenting and playing. Over and over again.
     I could go on and on about everything I learned about photography this summer, and about everyone who has aided me in this journey. But... that wouldn't be quite so much fun as showing you, through photos. Late this August, about a week and a half ago, I finally did another photo shoot. I didn't realize how much I had missed doing shoots until I got back into it. This time, I did a 4-year-old little girl, who is... how should I say it... adorable? Precious? Only photos can really describe her accurately  :)

Hoping to have some more photo shoot/posts for you soon!