My lovely niece

She just turned 17, and I'm still wondering how the time went by so quickly!

Cowboy Carl

All boy, through and through!

James • Newborn Baby Session in Studio

Sweet baby....

I would have LOVED a photo like this when Colin was a newborn! I really appreciate Mom's willingness to be photographed :)




Speaking of the kid. Thanks so much to those asking about him. I spoke with him this afternoon and he sounded SO much better than he did even last night. I think it's going to take some time for him to fully recuperate, but it looks like he is on his way!

My little PSA for the year: if you aren't/don't do flu shots. PLEASE consider them this year. The swine flu is so contagious, and while the majority of people who contract it have mild cases, there are those (like Colin) who get hit very hard with it!

I got the flu about 13 years ago, and it developed into bronchitis. I was sick for nearly 2 months! I've gotten a flu shot every year since, and (knock wood) haven't had the flu since.

Thanks for listening ;)

On borrowed time....

That's how I always feel this time of year, trying to savor each sunny day. It's supposed to be in the mid-eighties the next two days :)

End of summer?

Sure doesn't feel like it around here!



I used some of Tori's textures again on this. I think they are fabulous!

Beautiful Baby Boy

As I edit these, that old John Lennon song with the lyrics "beautiful, beautiful, beautiful baby boy" keep running through my head. CC is VERY much welcomed!







On a more serious note. C is really, REALLY sick. He says he doesn't remember being this sick, ever. I won't get into details, but we believe he has several other things going on besides a severe case of the flu. He finally has an appt at the university health services tomorrow. It's hard as a mom to know when to hop on a plane and cross the country to care for him. For sure tomorrow will be the day we decide.

Smiley

I actually got a smile from her! I'm curious if you prefer one of these conversions over the other? The first is what I typically do, the second is something new (for me).





50mm lens, f/1.8 @ 1/320s

I forgot to post about this the other day. One or two people asked what the lighting was for the cupcake shots from last week. I used my SB800 in a 50" square Westcott Apollo softbox at about 8 o'clock, with a 42" reflector at about 4 o'clock. I was standing at 6 o'clock.

The photo above is natural light, she (luckily) was playing just beyond where it was falling through the west facing window at about 4pm.

On an unrelated note, if you could spare some "get well" thoughts, please send them Colin's way. He's come down with the flu (he thinks it's H1N1) and is pretty miserable. I spoke with him an hour or so ago and his temp is pushing 103, and he really sounds terrible. It's the first time he's been REALLY sick since going to college last year, and as a Mom it kills me that he's across the country with no one to mother him. Hopefully his house mates will step up to the task a bit, and hopefully it doesn't linger a long time. At least he's getting it out of the way and won't have to worry about it this winter, right? Love you Colin :)

Lastly, did ya notice? I hadn't changed my blog header since MAY 2007!!! I am so computer illiterate, but I figured out how to do it and how to resize the blog template for the new, larger banner. Yay me!!!

Sometimes you've got to just roll with it....

I wasn't planning on shooting this bee, but since he wouldn't leave the flowers that I wanted to shoot alone, I decided to just go with it....



f/5 @ 1/320s

Getting towards the end of summer....

Well, we've had a good, long run this summer for sure. It's been the sunniest, warmest summer I remember having for a very long time! At this point I know we're living on borrowed time, in a few short weeks it'll be all rain, all the time. Until April :(

I did some "neutral" fading on this, it was already quite yellow SOOC so I didn't want to introduce any other color casts, then used 3 of Tori's textures on this. Tori, if you see this, thanks so much!

Love at first bite

I had really hoped to edit and post a bunch of photos from this "session" at once, but honestly, I think they're just going to come piecemeal. I've been working on backups for days and cannot run PS while DVDs are burning.

I've never tried to shoot a toddler on seamless before. It truly is like trying to herd cats! The only thing that slowed her down is when she got a cupcake, and boy did she love that frosting!

Finger-lickin' good

Doesn't look like I'm really going to get to editing these for a few more days, but thought this one was awfully cute.

2 years old

She'll be 2 on Saturday, so we've been taking lots of pictures the last few days to mark the milestone from babyhood to officially becoming a toddler. Boy, I am getting a workout, and bow down to those who shoot toddlers on a regular basis. i think I need to get sillier, and FAST! More tomorrow :)

I'm not a huge fan of shooting roses straight on...

But I still do it from time to time anyhow.

Sometimes what can be done with editing amazes me. This is "ok-ish", but the color is pretty intense and even SOOC is starting to go out of gamut:



So I tried doing a very soft B&W conversion, added a little texture, and did a little bit of burning, and like it a lot better:



Oh, and yesterday's background was this:



Woo hoo Brenda, nicely done :)

I just grabbed whatever was handy since I was shooting in the kitchen. It was no more than 6" behind the rose. And because I always appreciate a good visual, below is my usual set-up when shooting indoors. I use the kitchen (which faces east) during the first part of the day, and a very small rolling cart with drawers in C's room with the background propped up on a music stand during the afternoon.





Sometimes I will shift the whole set up about 10-20 degrees to get the light a little more even, but I do like to use sidelighting to show shape and details and give some interesting light shadowing. I had to be careful with yesterday's flower that that random little pink petal didn't shadow the pistals though, that took a little bit of finessing and arranging.

It was overcast yesterday, so I could pretty much shoot whenever I wanted. Otherwise I wait until the sun streaming in is just beyond my set up. That way I have as much light as possible, without direct sunlight. You have to make sure not to block the window light with your body, camera, or lens though. What's nice about using the kitchen table is that I can rest my elbows on it for stability.

I don't always use a reflector, but the shadows were getting muddy yesterday so I added it. The reflector I use for macros is a little folding 22" one. But honestly, a piece of white paper, a white binder, anything white that you have handy will work. I've used all in a pinch! Move it around, watch how it changes the light and shadows on your subject, then prop it up when you've found that really nice spot.

Feel free to ask questions if you like :)

3 guesses...

...what the background is. Think of the most random thing you can, and that's probably it :)


f 3.5 @ 1/160. ISO 200

Give up? I'll tell you tomorrow...