Sydney, Model for the day...

Taken 4-10-2010

This is Sydney, she was our gorgeous model during the Turtle Bay (http://www.turtlebay.org/) photography workshop featuring Kevin Lahey (http://www.kevinlahey.com/). I will be honest & say that I hadn't heard of Kevin until a few weeks ago. He brought Sydney along as a model & I was really proud at what I captured. What a fun day & the best part...Kevin said he really liked how I tilted the camera to take some photos. It made me feel pretty good that I was doing something he didn't see very often. These are all (SOOC) straight out of camera, in Manual mode, no computer enhancements, photos. Kevin liked the b&w setting on the camera for instant gradification. I have a hard time choosing my favorites so I'm not going to this time, they are all my favorites.

Beautiful hair to boot, she's so pretty.

I LOVED the eye contact!! I started smiling & telling her what to do...like using her fingers to shape her pretty face. I wish I could have taken over & directed her the way I wanted, I would have gone crazy with photos of her hands & face.

See, not much more to say...that beautiful smile & direct eye contact says it all. The first photo & the last 3 b&w photos are Sydney's favorite photos. I can't argue with that.

Abi's 2nd Easter - Redding Photography

Taken 4/1/2010

This is Abi, isn't she a gorgeous little doll. I was so happy when Katie called wanting Easter photos. We headed to a park & just let her play. The next two photos below show how the day started & how it ended. She was such a cautious little girl studying her guest so intently & kept guarded to an extent. It took a while to open her up but once we did, she flashed the cutest smiles. The biggest one's came from Katie playing with her. Besides the photo above being my fav of the day, I LOVE both the photos below, from her looking for the location of the crazy woman with the big black thing attached to her face, to being relaxed & just having fun with mom. What a beautiful little girl.

This is just plain good old fashioned happiness you're seeing here.

She is really holding herself up on these bars.

Her eyes are so pretty & blue.

She loves running after her mommy.

The photo above makes her look like such a big girl. Katie, Thank you for this time together.

I had so much fun & next time I'll remember to bring the reward for Abi being so good (can't believe I left it at home). Abi has grown so much & is really showing her own character, thank you for allowing me to capture her beautiful little self. Hope to see you soon.

Carly - Redding Photography

Taken 3/26/2010.

This is my niece Carly, she lives in Oregon & came down with her sister Mary for a visit. I think Carly is so beautiful & her eyes are amazing. I used my 50 mm for this shot so her eyes would stand out & was hoping not to focus on her super cute freckles by blowing out the highlights a little. I transformed the photo into b&w but I left her natural eye color. Notice the eye closest to the ground is greener, it was because it was closer to the green grass.

She was reading a book by James Patterson & was so excited about it, she wanted me to take photos of her reading it. She started telling me what the book was about & it seemed like most of the pictures I had, were of her talking. I couldn't decide what color version to post so I did them both.

This photo below is what I consider the super cute freckle photo. I have them too so I am allowed to call them super cute, took me many years to accept them & now I can't get enough of them, on other people, especially kiddos. No Carly, I'm not implying you're a kid.

She is such a happy girl & I hope to see her again on another visit. She liked being my model & I loved taking pics of her.

NOTE: When I take pictures of my family, I shoot the entire session in Manual so I'm continuing to learn what setting is the best in what specific lighting situation. So, as the blown out photo below is totally noticable, I'm still happy that I learned something. This photo had everything to do with not paying attention. I was wearing my sunglasses while shooting this day (never have done it before) & wasn't able to see the camera warning me the photo was going to be blown out. The bad part is that it took me a few frames to even look at the LCD & when I finally did, I was a little upset with myself. But the only way I learn is to do & the best part, is that I'm applying it. Besides this brief moment of not paying attention, I'm getting pretty proud of my progress again. Getting out & doing something is what this last month has been about.

Marys little family - Redding CA photography

Taken 3/26/2010. This is my niece Mary (from Oregon), her daughter Marina & boyfriend John. When I think of these guys, this is what I see...Marina listening to Mary telling her to straighten her headband (trying to encourage her to be a lady) while John is trying to show Marina how to make a W with his fingers (trying to encourage her to be a kid). It is a very natural shot & I wasn't going to include it but it just said a whole lot to me.

The important thing is that they are all happy together... And Mary's hair looks good ;p

I'm not going to tell anybody about the difficult time John had while taking the photo above...

OOPS!

They really are a cute couple.

One of Marinas knicknames is Nina, she had a lot of fun gathering acorn tops while Mary kept telling her to "stop picking things up, it's gross", so I got a quick shot before she had to put them down.

She really does have a cute smile.

Loved the light that morning. The photo above & below are my favorites of the day.

We were at the park for a long time & by the time they left, Nina was pretty tired. We had a good visit & it made me think of when they get married (or engaged), and I already can't wait to see them again.

PERSONAL NOTE: Seeing some of the photos from this session makes me want to critique my own photos. Part of taking photos of family (I believe), is to be comfortable with what you're doing to gain confidence & to make improvements from previous sessions, but to certainly learn from your mistakes. That being said, the photo of them walking away above, is one that I need to improve on. The sun was too high & I should have taken it where it had more shadow & it was behind them.

In the photo below is Carly, my youngest niece, (from this sister of mine). She got her own post & it's next.

Love the look on Nina's face.