Micah Duerr | Newborn Session

What an honor it was to photography baby Micah less than 48 hours after he was born. The Duerrs are dear friends of ours and actually they were the very first people to invite us over to their home when we moved here to Arizona. Over the past three years we've added a total of three kids to the mix and it's been so fun to live this same stage of life with them.

Melissa graciously allowed me to visit them in the hospital and it was such a sweet, tender time. I was completely smitten with sweet Micah; what a handsome little guy! And it was fun to get to hear his surprise birth story and remember with Melissa all the joys and challenges of these first hours. But honestly, is there anything more precious than a newborn baby? I can't think of one.

emma jane | 11 months

 

Happy 11 months, Emma Jane! This past month Emma went on vacation to Sedona with my side of the family, started pulling herself up to standing, and babbles "hi!" and "dada!" Some of her favorite things are puppies, dancing, and being tickled. Our sweet little darling girl; we love you so!

Bath Time | Photography Journal

Last night I decided to get my camera out for bath time since Paul was with us and could keep a close eye on Emma while she was in the water. I love to take photos of her in the tub not only because she's so adorable but also because I really like the white surround and there's a nice big window on one side to let in some lovely light.

One thing I'm trying to work on as I get used to using my manual controls is framing a successful layout. It's definitely easier to compose the photo when I'm posing people, but that's pretty much impossible with Emma so I'm learning to catch the shot moment by moment. It's not easy! I think as I go I'll get better at setting up the composition though. I'm also trying to challenge myself to take photos from different angles. I think these are the things that can make everyday images eye catching and special.

And as always, I'm working on my focus! Some of these are spot on and some of the focal points are just a little off. I'm finding that my camera doesn't hold the focus well if I select my focal point and then adjust my finder. It just readjusts the focus. I'm going to have to check that out in my settings and see if it's something that I can adjust.

These were taken close to sunset again so I used 1600 ISO, f/2 aperture and 1/125 exposure. I bumped my aperture from f/1.8 in hopes of keeping both of her eyes in focus no matter what angle she was looking.

A Photography Journal

I'm really hoping to improve in my camera skills, so I've decided to start blogging again and use this as a sort of photography journal. Onto the next adventure!

These photos were taken this evening just before sunset. Since the light was fading fast I bumped my ISO up to 1600, aperture at f/1.8 and I kept my shutter speed right about 1/125 since my little Emma is always on the go! I tried to keep her right near the large sliding glass door with a window on one wall perpendicular. In the past, low light has always intimidated me (with good reason!) but now that I'm not afraid to raise my ISO, I'm finding I can get a lot better photos. They do look a bit more grainy, but I don't mind that much. The other issue I'm trying to remember is that when I shoot such a wide open aperture, it's hard to get both eyes in focus if my subject is on an angle. This top photo, both of Emma's eyes are pretty much in focus because they are on the same plane, but the bottom photo her right eye is crisp and her left eye is soft.

Family Vacation | Arizona 2015

We had such a wonderful vacation last week with my family here in Arizona. My brother, Mike, flew in to town so it was an extra special reunion. He hadn't seen Emma since she was 6 weeks old last Thanksgiving! We had a sweet visit up in the mountains for a few days and then finished the week in the red rocks of Sedona. We enjoyed a few hikes, some delicious meals, early morning walks, a little window shopping and lots of reading and rest. I was thankful to have a few extra eyes on my little babe so that I could sneak away for a few naps - delightful! I'm trying to get better about taking photos and using my camera well, so this vacation was a good excuse to practice. And luckily I had some pretty fabulous subjects and scenery to capture! All in all it was so good to be together, but as usual it feels pretty good to get settled back at home too.

St Patricks Day Project

Happy St. Patty's Day! Did you know that Saint Patrick was not actually a saint, he wasn't even Irish, and he was one of the greatest missionaries who ever lived? It's true! I just read this really interesting bio on him and I think you'd like it too.

I mentioned that a couple weeks ago, I visited my friend Jasmine and we worked on a couple projects. Well the other project we did together besides my invitation product shoot, was this awesome St. Patrick's Day photoshoot! It was recently featured here on Ruffled, and you can see the full thing on Jasmine's blog. I designed all the paper products, but it was so inspiring working with lots of really talented artists and vendors on this project. Such a treat! 

New Product Pictures

A couple weeks ago I got to take a quick trip to Albuquerque to visit my sweet and talented friend, Jasmine. She is an amazing wedding photographer and had invited me to work on a couple projects with her. How lucky am I!? On the second day of my visit, she generously spent the day photographing all of the wedding invitations I had designed and now offer in my shop. It was such a cool experience for me, and I feel like it's something that every designer should do. I loved getting to spend time styling each set to show off the vision I had for each one. It made me more confident in my work and I felt proud of seeing how much I've grown as a designer in the past couple of years. I normally struggle with feeling like my work isn't good enough, so to actually have to print it out, and get it photographed was intimidating, but also really freeing for me. It's okay to like what I've created now, but also have goals and dreams about how I will improve. I'm trying to stay balanced in that way. So without further adieu, here are a few shots she captured. More can be seen in my shop!

Not only did this opportunity help me to feel more confident as a designer, but I also believe that it's so important to have good product photography when you're selling things online! You may have the most beautiful creation, but if you can't express that in a photograph, no one will look twice. If you're interested in learning about product photography, there is a free class right now on Skillshare called Make Awesomer Product Photos that I think looks good. And I recently read a great blogpost about it on Elm Street Life as well! I'm soaking all this info in because I don't think I'll be able to make a trip to New Mexico every time I come out with a new wedding suite – although I'd sure love to, Jasmine! ;)

My Palette: Spring Blooms

Paul and I went out on a little run last night after work* and we kept seeing these trees with the sweetest little yellow blossoms. I just had to go back and capture them with my camera. These colors are inspiring me today and I thought I'd share this darling palette.

*Okay, I admit it. We went to Dairy Queen too. But this month Blizzards are buy one get one for 99 cents, and I mean, come on, it's birthday week!

My Photography Class

This semester one of my classes is a digital photography class. Now I would consider myself a hobby photographer, but I am learning so much in this course! Each week we have lecture and then do a little photo shoot. Here's a photo I took this week of a glass jar that used to be my grandmother's. I used two continuous lights and actually that backdrop is white but because of the way I set up my lights it made it look that dark charcoal gray. I bracketed this shoot and chose this as the best shot. F 11, shutter speed 1/20 and ISO of 400. It has been so interesting using a meter and learning what all those readings mean an how they work together!

rush order for framing!

Remember the photo shoot I did for Molly and her siblings on Sunday!? Well she asked me to frame three of the photos in black and white in time for her parent's Christmas gift. Whoa! I pulled a few tricks I had up my sleeve and made it happen in the short deadline. Phew! I was really pleased with how they turned out and with the awesome rustic wood frames I found! I was so tempted to buy a few for myself, but held back :) What do you think? Molly I hope you and your family are pleased with the finished product!