This is the only “Love Story” film I’ve done, and Drake and Savannah viewed it for the first time at their wedding last Saturday. Now, I can share it with you!
My Addiction – Blog Circle Post
This month’s theme is “My Addiction”.
Ummmm….
’nuff said.
Remember, this post is one in a circle, continue your journey and visit, Lea, next.
Technical Notes: This time I used my Canon 7D – it needed some love, and the 70-200mm lens. For lighting I used a 430EX II speedlight. No photoshop except to sharpen.
Families for Fisher House
Early in the year, I started specializing in maternity and newborn portraits. I narrowed my focus to fit my busy, busy life (homeschooling mom!) and therefore have not taken any family portrait clients. However, I miss my families and I’ve had several inquiries in the past few weeks – folks are getting ready for Christmas and want to document their family in portraits! I am not ready to start accepting family clients on a regular basis, but I also want to make sure y’all have your family portraits updated. So, it occurred to me that it would be great to tie the family sessions to a charity event. I’ve chosen a great charity and will be taking a limited number of family portrait clients in the months of October and November. These will be 30 minute sessions for $50. And I will donate the ENTIRE session fee to the Fisher House, an organization that assists military families. In exchange for participation in this event, I will give each family a FREE 8×10 print from the session!
So, for your $50 session fee, you will receive a 30 minute family portrait session, a FREE 8×10 from that session, and the warm fuzzy that comes from knowing you’ve helped a worthy cause! Of course you’ll have the option to purchase Wall Portraits, Gift Prints, Christmas Cards, and some other fun products – grandparents LOVE portraits as gifts. In addition, I will have discounted metal Wall Portraits for these sessions, and have special packages. This is a fantastic time to update your family portrait for a wonderful cause.
Email, call or text to schedule your consult, where we will discuss wardrobe, location, products and pricing.
Newborn – Emma
Eight months ago my sister, who is ten and a half months younger than I, announced she was pregnant. A few months after that, she announced it was a girl! The entire family was excited and has greatly anticipated the arrival of little Emma Marie. I live seven hours away from Pam and I thought there was very little chance I would be able to be present at Emma’s birth, although it was one of my greatest hopes. On Friday, I got the text – they were inducing Pam because of high-blood pressure. Immediately, I started packing and within three hours I was on the road with my two youngest. Six hours later, at 9:30pm, I dropped off my kids with my mom and dad. Two hours (and a tremendous thunderstorm) later, I arrived at the hospital. I had made it! Although it was my intention to document the birthing process, I could see that I would be of better use to my sister at her side. As soon as Emma made her debut, I picked up the camera and captured her daddy holding his first baby for the very first time.
The next day, I went back to the hospital and did Emma’s newborn portraits. I am truly blessed to have met my newest niece, and even more blessed to have captured her first moments in this world.
Four Months Old – Piper
It is amazing how quickly babies change! I first met Miss Piper at her newborn photo session, and when she came back for her next baby plan session she had grown so much I could hardly believe it. Her mom had all kinds of cute wardrobe props to play with and we had tons of fun.
Photography Tips { LRAFB Airshow 2012 }
The airshow is a perfect time to play with your camera! Lighting situations are constantly changing, your subjects are on the move, therefore you are forced to keep checking your exposure. You’ll get some overexposed shots, and some underexposed shots, but you’ll also rock some shots and feel giddy when you do. Here are some tips to get you started.
To photograph the aircraft in the air on a bright sunny day:
ISO – Set it and forget it at 200. Aperture – Personal preference, but I would suggest starting with anything from f5 – f11. Shutter Speed will be FAST. To stop the motion of those jets, you’ll need 1/2000, 1/4000, etc.
Look in your camera’s manual to find out how to adjust contrast and saturation. Adjusting these settings will get you more color pop and will provide more contrast between your very blue sky background and the aircraft, your subjects.
Try a few White Balance settings, and go with what looks good to you.
Get a sharper image by anticipating where the aircraft will be and pre-focus by pressing the shutter button half-way. Wait for the aircraft to enter the frame and snap! (You’ll need to keep both eyes open for the Blue Angels) Another, trickier, way is to follow the aircraft by moving your camera (panning) with it. This is a good time to try out that multiple-shots setting!
Don’t just photograph the aircraft. You’ll end up with 500 images of tiny aircraft if you keep your camera pointed at the sky. Capture your kids’ reactions to the show, capture the vendors, and capture the static displays.
Capturing your kids:
Look for shade – the shadows will be less harsh. Make sure you change your white balance. Again, play with the saturation and contrast settings if you wish. Capture the backs of their heads, or capture them shading their eyes as they trail the aircraft. Minimize posing – they hate it and it frustrates you.
If you’re taking an image of your kids with an aircraft in the background, you may need to {gasp} pop up the flash. ( You can adjust the output of your flash – look in your owner’s manual – so that its not overpowering. ) Adjust your exposure (use a larger f-stop number, like f/11) for the background aircraft, recompose the shot with your kid in the foreground. If you take the image now, your kid will be dark, but pop up that flash at ¼ power and it will fill in the face.
(I don’t have any examples of this because I didn’t take many images of my kids at the last airshow. 🙁 )
Capturing the static displays:
Look for details. Photos of planes get monotonous, unless you’re a pilot. Get details – wheels, bolts, instruments, hoods, ladders, etc. It will add depth and layers to your story. Capture your kids looking at the aircraft. When you’re inside the static displays, up your ISO to 800 and see if you can get more light to your sensor.
Have fun! Look at this as a fun learning experience. Expect about 25% of your images to be acceptable. That’s okay because you have instant feedback on your LCD screen and can retake the image if you don’t like it.
Let me know what you think and if these tips helped! Enjoy the show!
