Christmas pictures

hi there- enjoying Christmas vacation. hope you all have had an enjoyable holiday. i've been taking lots of pictures (mostly of Sadie). Caleb's been too busy playing with toys. thought i would put up some new shots.

Another Session

So I had a session last weekend and have been working on the pictures off and on- more off, than on because I also managed to come down with strep throat. I'm on the mend though, just in time to wrap things up for are week of traveling for Christmas. Back to the pictures though, I was so happy with how they came out. The little girl was such a sweetheart. She kept wanting to sit in my lap and look at my camera. There was gorgeous lighting in their dining room that gave me some really nice shots. I saw her mom today and she was very pleased with the pics. That makes me so happy. I'm still so unsure of myself in all of this. I know there are pictures that I like but I'm never sure if other's will like them as well. Please, if anyone is reading this, feel free to comment and let me know what you think.

I really love the colors in this.

Equal time

I've been spending so much time on Sadie pics, I thought that I should be fair and put up a couple of Caleb that I've been playing with. These are from our trip to Phipps Conservatory (a great place to photograph).

Tomorrow I have another shoot after a bit of a break. I'm looking forward to it now that I have a flash that actually works with my camera :-)

More 1 yr pics

So with Christmas getting closer I'm working on putting together some 1 yr portraits of Sadie. The second picture has a little spot coloring on the eyes. I still haven't gotten a smile out of her yet but I have some nice black and whites that I'm planning to frame. Now I'm hoping I can get some nice shots of Caleb so I can have some matching images but the boy needs a haircut (again). We'll see if we can get something nice on our Christmas card.

Another Pic

I really liked this one and I've been working on it all evening. This will probably be Sadie's 1 yr pic. It's just so her with the serious eyes and the finger in her mouth. Yes, she sucks her first finger and not her thumb. She's our little princess.

New Pic

I've been pretty busy working on photos for other people that I haven't had much time to touch up some of the pics of my own little ones.

Today I thought I would try to take some Christmas pictures of the little monkeys or at least try to get Sadie's 1 yr pictures done. Didn't really happen. The girl would not smile at all and just wanted to play with her brother's toys. Oh well. Still got a nice, serious portrait out of it and it's still not even December yet.

My Red Sweater

I worked on this picture last night and just thought it was too cute. It's also a nice warm picture now that it's gotten cold out (we woke up to see snow falling this morning).

Have a nice weekend!

A photo

I just had to put this picture up. This little boy was such a sweetheart and such a good sport as I took pictures of him. I took it a few weeks ago but I didn't start editing it until the other day and I just really like it. I've been experimenting with these muted tones. I got the from a picture of my step-mom when she was a little girl. It's hard to describe the colors in the picture but I've always loved it. Now I get to try and make my own.

hope you like this

Update for 11/13

I haven't posted for a while because I've been really busy with life and with photography. We just celebrated my daughter's first birthday and had the big party over the weekend. I got some nice pictures of her but the lighting wasn't the best and I've recently discovered that my flash that I had bought years ago for my original film Canon Rebel doesn't work with my new DSLR. That's made shooting indoors very tricky. There was also the added complication that while I really wanted to just be the "photographer" at the party, I still had to be mom and play hostess.

Besides all of that, I've been very busy doing some photo shoots for friends so there's been a lot of post-editing. I'm really happy with how I'm improving and I'm getting a lot of positive feedback. So I'm generally feeling pretty good about all of this, though I didn't expect it to take off this fast.

I'm also happy to have 3 photos that earned EFPs on the BetterPhoto website. What does that mean? Well, the website runs a monthly photo contest and earning an EFP (Editor's First Pick) means that the photo made it past the first round of judging for October's contest. I'm just so excited to have actual professional photographers recognize my work.

well, back to work

Welcome

Well, this is a bit overdue. I'm attempting to start my own business doing portrait photography, specializing in children's portraits. Someday, down the road, I would love to have a small studio but right now I shoot on location in natural lighting.

I've enjoyed taking pictures since I got my first camera when I was around 9 or 10. It was a cabbage patch camera. I remember having to get a little flash cartridge that would attach to it and let you use a flash 10 or 12 times. Then you would have to get a new one. After I "outgrew" my cabbage patch camera, I got to move up to a LeClick- that one was hot pink. All this time my dad had a side job as a wildlife artist and would work from photographs.

Here's a link to one of my dad's pictures (Joe Mattock) http://www.fish.state.pa.us/2tstamp/2004/entries/24mattockx750.jpg.

I remember looking at his pictures and thinking how beautiful they were and wanting to take beautiful pictures too. It didn't always work.

Finally, I asked for and got my very first "real" camera- a canon rebel slr. I loved it and had absolutely no idea how to use it. I also didn't have access to any photography classes so I made do and continued taking pictures.

In college I started working with children and that's where I found my calling. Somehow, I was able to relate and enjoy interacting with 2 and 3 yr olds. They were so much fun. I started taking picture of the kids. Then I went to grad school and needed to do a thesis exhibition of my artwork. I finally found a black and white photography course, and it was perfect. I loved being in the darkroom and loved my subjects. I was very pleased with my work and wanted to continue but I graduated and became a first year teacher in a challenging middle school outside of Baltimore. The camera was set aside because I just no longer had the time.

Two years ago, I stopped teaching and picked up my camera again. I had my first child, my son and the perfect reason to take up photography again. This time, I used my little digital camera. As a stay-at-home mom I just didn't have the time or the money to spend on film and developing. I used the manual settings mostly and gradually I became more and more pleased with my images. Then I had baby number 2. Our little surprise, a sweet little girl that gave me even more reasons to keep taking pictures.

Well, I love being mom but I have to admit that I'm an artist at heart and I need to create. I've gotten more confident in my abilities to capture moments and as I've taken pictures of other kids, I've found other people who are enjoying my work.

So here I am today. I've done a total of 7 photo shoots and I've learned more with each experience. Everyone has been pleased with their pictures (I tend to be my worst critic because there's always room for improvement). I'm working on balancing everything now...I'm still mom- that comes first...but I'm also excited at this new outlet and I want to keep improving.

I feel so blessed to be able to do these things that I love to do.