160000 Seconds...

As many of you may know, my husband has been deployed to Afghanistan for the better part of this year.  He is coming home in a few short days and we are busy preparing and planning for his return.  I've only two more nights of being alone! 
I was searching through google for homecoming quotes for military deployments and I found one that really fits for my family "Other things may change us, but we start and end with Family"  I love it.  It really works well with this deployment.
Today we made signs for the airport, this deployment return is a bit different then others in the past, before we'd wait for the entire unit to return, greyhound buses full of them, hundreds of teary eyes and confused faces, standing, waiting.... but this time, he returned to California first and now is coming solo on a regular airplane. 
I also pulled out the banners from deployments past.  I'm used to marine unit homecomings, where fences outside the base are covered with banners, sheets, paper cups, with cute sayings and warm messages.  I don't see that around here, or any other base we've been but the marine based units.
So I'm going to banner my home, my garage, my front door with my creative energy.  Now if only I had a chain link fence to spell out Welcome Home! in red plastic cups, that would make for a perfect reunion....

Enjoy!

Babies! Babies! Babies!

I honestly have fallen in love with all things newborn.  I am setting up an indoor studio, a portable studio, so that I can photograph more of these gifts from God.  At first I was terrified, I've always been afraid of babies, they are so small, so fragile, so tender, but now as I study others work, I am just in love and hope to one day create images that I love so much!  It takes a ton of practice, getting your settings right, the newborn to cooperate, all the wonderful things that can not be controlled, but when these uncontrollable things come together some of the most beautiful images I've ever seen are captured.  I am a member of an online group of other photographers, some of these women are knock your socks off great with babies.  Here is my 3rd baby, she was a preemie, 5 weeks old, yet still only 5lbs.  It was wonderful!  I can't wait to be able to get my lens on another baby in the future!

Fort Pickens...Family Exploration

I have lived in Pensacola now for 2.5 years and I have  yet to visit Fort Pickens.  This past Saturday I grabbed the kids and we went on over the bridge!  We arrived pretty late in the day, around 4pm, so the tours were closed (good because the kids and tours don't mix anyways) so we got our pamphlet and did the self tour.
The fort itself is pretty amazing, you can just feel the history.
I am really happy I got this whim late in the day, because I was able to watch the sun set on top of on of the cliffs of the Fort.  It was gorgeous, bright blues, oranges, grays, yellows, and reds.  If you have yet to visit this area, I would suggest going.  There is an 8 dollar park fee, but the pass is good for 7 days, so I'm hoping to head back over there another evening this week for some more photos.
There were what appeared to be abandoned houses on the grounds that I could not get a close look due to the sun setting.

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Newborns. (Cont.)

I've written about Newborns before, you can read that post here.

Yesterday I was given another amazing opportunity to photography the most precious 5 week old baby girl.  :)
Ok, I admit I was scared, but fear is not an emotion in which I wish to ever want to prevent me from doing anything ever again.  So I took my fear and used it.
I actually enjoyed every second of my session yesterday.  From setting up, from planning, all the way to the editing.  Babies are really amazing people.  They can sense your emotions.  I knew she felt my tense emotion in the beginning, so I took a minute, gave myself a mind lashing, and relaxed, seriously the second I pushed fear out of my vocabulary, the baby relaxed.  It could have been just because she was tired, she was full, but I like to believe it is because I opened up my love emotion and embraced her.
I hope to get the chance to shoot another newborn soon.  Doing so really pushed my photoshop knowledge to the max.  Editing skintones is not my thing.  In older children and adults you have a give area, because you are usually shooting more then just their skin, you are shooting the scene, the entire clothed child, only a bit of skin is usually showing, well with newborns most of the photo is going to be skin.  It is going to be the main focus of the photo.
I want to give my babies a dream like appearance, doing so, you get real close to plastic doll looking edits and there is a fine line I'm trying not to cross.
I wanted to share a few SOOC shots and their edits.  (SOOC=Straight Out Of Camera)
So enjoy and if you know anyone with a newborn, let me know!  I need more practice!

Wedding Editing. Say that three times fast!

So I took close to 900 photos at the wedding.  I really think that is probably too few, as others I've spoken with take 2 or 3 thousand per wedding.  I just can not image sorting through and editing all those photos.
I actually have been working very  hard editing a storyboard for this wedding, starting from the getting ready photos, up to the ceremony, dad give away, bride/groom kiss, and into the reception, from the first dance to the end of the night cake service.
I'm on the cake service.  Whew.
And then I've got the other just random shots of the guests to go through.  I've been searching and tweaking how I organize the photos.
So this is my lesson 2. ORGANIZE.  Most likely you can view your photos and put them in order by date/time.  Group like items together.  make a folder.  Then open all RAW files and do a mass edit.  That will save a ton of time, you can go and tweak each additional one later.
Enjoy a few more photos from Melissa and Byran's Big day!

My first time.

Yes, I did it.

I sure did.

Was I ready? Was it time?  Was I developed?  Prepared? Informed? Protected?

no.no.no.no.no.and no.

but was it the most amazing experience ever!

yes!!

Details to follow!

Ok.  I shot my first wedding.  C.R.A.Z.Y.

I swore I'd never ever shoot a wedding, I promised myself to leave that alone.  But, an amazing opportunity opened up and I took it.  The couple was also my first non friend/family session as well, brought together by a craigslist posting!  This was a few months ago and since then, we've talked on facebook, the brides mother and I have spoken on facebook, the bride even babysat my children for me one day!  haha

I was super nervous, I mean this a day with no do overs.  If I were to totally mess up, if I was to accidentally reformat the memory card, drop my camera, use the wrong settings, or any other of a million things that can go wrong and usually do, happen, I can't say oh boy, I tanked, lets schedule a re-shoot.  No, this day happens once, the many firsts, they happen once.  

So I spent weeks reading, preparing, I went to the church several times, to take test shots at the time of the wedding, I studied my images and thought what I could do to make them better.  Prepared, right?

OMG! NO!  The day came and pfffffffffftttttttttttttt throw all that out of the window!  First I've only been to two weddings my entire life and I was IN both of them.  Everyone was crazy.  Everything was all over!  Busy Busy Busy.  I had MY lists of shots to get, I had MY plan.  Trash.  It was trash.

Lesson 1:

PART A 

Newborns.

We all love newborns, their smell, their sounds, their tiny feet and hands....
Well let me tell you that I've had some trouble photographing them!
My biggest problems come from posed shots.  I am not good at them.  Posing is definitely an art within itself, and now add that to a tiny little person, that has no control over their position, and wow.  I've been begging everyone with a newborn to let me shoot their baby!  haha

I will be a tad bit honest.  Babies scare me.  Yes, I've had 3 children and each of them were a tad over 7 lbs at birth, I've dealt with the ins and outs of a newborn, but having and handling your own child, is totally different then another.  With  your own newborn, you can throw them over your shoulder with one hand while giving the other child a bath, while folding laundry with your feet, but with others newborns, you treat them as if they would break in a million pieces if you moved them 3 centimeters in any direction.

Then there is the issue of skin tone.  Babies are wonderful, newborns are precious, but they do not have the prettiest skin, yet in a photo, the parents want to show the world their newest edition in a positive light.  Newborns just seem to absorb every color around them, if you put them on a blue blanket, they will look blue, a black backdrop and they pick up a red tone.  So, I need more practice with these clients.  It is a bit hard to say to someone, hey can I experiment on your newborn?  :)  Usually that offer is not so well received.

Also, as you can see, none of my newborns are sleeping or naked.  I don't know what it is, but sleeping naked newborn photos kind of creep me out.  I admit that some are cute, but I'm glad if my baby is awake and eyes are making some sort of connection with something (even though most of the time it is not the camera). It just gives them the life appearance. 

So enjoy my practice subjects!  They all get an A+ for effort and I hope I at least captured one photo that is shareable!  I admire all newborn photographers, they are truly special artist.