Kasey, Fashion Portraits

Gah! This girl is stunning! And as real as they come. She has a mind of her own and won't hesitate to tell you how much she loves Krispy Kreme doughnuts or belt out Celine Dion! 

How Professional Images Actually Help Your Memory

Professional portraits are considered an investment because while we are told our brains save everything we hear, see, read, feel, smell, taste… we have not yet mastered the skill to recall those things at will and with utmost clarity. Try remembering the details of a face you haven’t seen in years… can you do it?

Without high quality images, I wouldn’t remember the details in the baby blue eyes of my now 9 year old - whose eyes have incredibly turned a shade of gold and green. I just couldn’t! Without high quality images, I would hardly remember the mischievous grin,and twinkling eyes of my younger brother who passed away over 10 years ago at age 20.

Images keep long distant relationships alive, and connect us to people we may never see again in this life (or may have never even met). Images keep stories real and memories closer to our mind’s reach. I despair to think how many priceless, precious moments have been lost to oblivion because no one bothered to record anything referencing them. How much more do we cherish the images of our babies - once they’re grown? How much do we cherish images of the best times of our lives - when those times have long since passed?

It is far too easy to let time slip away thinking there is nothing significant about that birthday, that family get together, that random road trip, that whole year, or that Halloween costume. Or have you already experienced the pang of regret that you didn’t get pictures while she was still around or when you went to that one place that ended up meaning a lot to you…

“I wish someone had gotten a picture…” Have you ever thought that?

Now let’s get your pictures taken!

6 Tips to Get Great Pictures of Kids!

Kids.

Oh, kids.

They can be exasperating to work with.

Let's be honest, a happy child is the most wild, free spirited thing you'll ever know and will hardly sit still or look at a camera long enough to say cheese. BUT if you know a few tricks they can be the most beautiful, magical creatures you've ever worked with! 

Here's a few things I've learned that make photographing kids my favorite! (And they don't even have to smile...)

Connect. You have to have to connect with them somehow. If you connect with them they will be more likely to respond to your direction.

1. Be FUN - throw leaves with them. Play a game of making faces. High five them - a lot!

I think it's really important to know their names, and use it a lot!

2. Change it up. K, now jump around. Look at mom. Make a silly face. Now give me your best smile! Now stop smiling and freeze…. Work with their short attention spans! They're guaranteed to get a little cranky (or maybe a lot) if they are expected to sit still and hold a, now fake, smile.

3. Give them breaks. Again, work with their short attention spans, and give them quick breaks to run around or get a drink or go to mom

4. Encourage good behavior. If mom and dad haven’t already bribed - I mean encouraged - them to be (generally) well behaved, then figure out some kind of reward. Small candies (with parents' permission) like smarties (NO CHOCOLATE) or pez work miracles. If candy is a no-go, simple rewards like hopping up and down can feel like a reward (and also goes along with "give them breaks").

5. Don't make them smile in every shot. Sometimes I like to tell the kids, "don't worry about smiling, just look at me like you're listening." Or, "don't worry about looking at the camera right now... why don't you look at _____________?"

6. Follow them around. Let the kid(s) set the pace for a little bit and follow his or her lead. Ask for their ideas, and go with them. If there is a child who just refuses to cooperate you might be amazed at how they change when they feel like they are in charge! Action shots are another great way to capture their personalities. Follow them around and snap away!

No matter what you do, don't forget to breathe. Don't rush through the experience, try to enjoy it and create those portraits that will be timeless for them and possibly generations to come!

You've totally got this!

What are some of your tricks to get great pictures of kids?
What other challenges do you want to overcome in your portrait photography?

My Little Princess... a photo project

I shared a little teaser in my last post of the project I was working on, My Little Princess a Photography Project. Remember I talked about learning new things? One of the things I learned to make was flower crowns, and I used them for this project.  This is a natural light : natural beauty project that emphasizes softness in facial expression, natural lighting, soft colors and texture. This is a photo shop project as much as a photography (straight out of the camera) project. Adding and blending the texture is what I feel make these images more than just nice pictures, but portraits. Pieces of creative art that would make someone want to hang on them on their walls. :) t's all part of the learning curve. Trial and error. Practice, Practice, Practice.

I am super pleased with these images, and hope you enjoy them!

Rediscovering Me

Have you ever done or experienced something so life changing that it kind of reawakens a part of you that has been dormant for... well, a long time? No? Go do it.

I'm at a good place in my life right now, (a calm before a storm? I hope not! knockonwood) and have been motivated to learn new things. I've been brave enough to start growing my own herbs, we're eating healthierish (yeah it's a thing), I've been trying new lighting/fabric/textures in my photography and I'm loving the results! Today I even set up my sewing machine!

It's no secret that I'm not fan of Winter, and finally summer is here! I thrive in the summertime!

I considered starting a new blog for the things I'm learning and experiencing... but let's be honest... there's a pretty good chance it will be badly neglected. So I'll share somethings here. Hope you don't mind!

And for your viewing pleasure... A beautiful little princess! (I've also learned how to make flower crowns and I'm in love with them!)

Playing with available light

I love playing with light and trying new things. This is 100% natural light from her bedroom window. Yep! I saw this light and had to have it. ;) Obviously it worked perfectly with some texturing too! I am super pleased with this image and can't wait to play with this technique more! 

Winter Pearls

We had a fun mini session up in the mountains - where we found some snow! It may not seem like it since you don't really notice it in these images, but the snow really created the feel of this session. And do you like the pearls? I love 'em! :) These are my favorite images of each of them. It was a really mini session since it was so dang cold! But obviously a success!

Family Fun

I'm still behind on sessions! This is from a session in November just before the winter really set in! It was dang cold but these kids were exceptionally well behaved and we got some great images during this mini session!

This one is my favorite since it is so spontaneous and fun! It makes me smile :)

I'm back... and ready to rock and roll!

I have a few shoots to preview here, but for now I'm just going to put this beautiful family up. This winter has been rough for me... creatively and mentally/emotionally. It's like this every year. I just can't seem to find a way to enjoy being out in the cold! I think (hope!) that for the most part, we're past the ridiculously cold temperatures... I can work with 30 ish degrees (still ew, but that's my compromise!). 

My point is, I'm back! My creative side is unleashed and ready to rock and roll!

Portrait Party... aka Photo Partay!!

I am super behind on posting images from the past few sessions, but these girls are dying to see their pictures, so I'm "throwing" them up here! 

We laughed a lot as these girls worked the camera. :) Really, they're just naturally beautiful girls and getting incredible shots of them was easy peasy. 

My sister (the first one pictured) will be going back to Hawaii at the end of the month and wanted some fallish pictures before she leaves (haha pun not intended)! The colors weren't as brilliant as we had hoped, but obviously we got some good shots even if they don't scream Autumn! 

Honestly, so much fun!

The Cook Sisters {Pt. 2}

What beautiful little girls!! It was an absolute joy to take their pictures! You may remember when I took first year pictures of their baby sister... well, we got together again and this time we had the balloon! Each girl had pictures with a yellow balloon for their one year birthday sessions, and last time we got together all the balloon places had closed! 

The lighting was beautiful. Obviously, I have a thing for morning and evening lighting. The backlighting and highlights are gorgeous. 

These girls were natural posers, but even when they weren't actually "posing" they were stunning. It was darling to see the older two interact. I could tell without even guessing that they are the best of friends. 

It's always fun for me to take pictures of girls since I only have boys. It's fun to be around their girly energy and I get to be silly in ways my boys would think were just weird. :) I could never ask my boys to flip their hair or twirl or pop their hip... lol... (I'm chuckling just imaging it!)

Venture off the beaten path

These cute girls are my boys' favorite babysitters! We traded some baby sitting for a photo shoot, and sure had some fun last week. McKaida's cute headband matched beautifully with the spot we found, and she worked it! This was the first time Jorie took pictures with me and it took her a minute to warm up, but once she did, she rocked it! We will definitely be doing this again! I would love to do photo sessions in this same spot in each season... just sayin', girls...

I am in love with these images. We woke up bright and early (for a Saturday) complete with some Del Taco hashbrowns and caught some gorgeous morning light, in a spot we just happened upon. True Story. I heard the little brook and ventured off the beaten path to find this tiny clearing that was pure magic! The smells, the sounds, the light... We could have stayed there all day! ...but we filled up my SD card... so until next time!!

I will be back.

Enjoy.