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Friday, May 27, 2011

Tricks for Pics

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Every time I look at this picture I laugh. Gabe has always tolerated my joy for taking pictures. Claire, however, not so much. I’m sure the tables will turn over time, but for now, I can’t help but laugh when I get these moments instead. Can you relate? Or am I the only one out there who struggles to capture moments of my own offspring. Well, I thought I would share a few tricks that I use when capturing children. Scroll down to see…

Tricks for taking pics:

1. Sing a song: As parents we sing all the time to our kiddos. You know what their favorites are…just start singing.

2. Whisper: This is one I grabbed from my teaching days. Children feed on high levels of energy. The more excited we get, the crazier they get. With that being said, if I’m trying to get their attention I start to whisper. I might tell them a story or ask them what their favorite things are. They will start to unwind when you whisper.

3. Sneezing: This is where I can be somewhat ridiculous. I pretend like I’m sneezing. It usually involves things being on top of my head while I’m doing it. I’ll let you visualize that one.

4. Stinky feet: Who’s got them? Mommy? Daddy? Grandpa? They get tickled every time.

5. Dance, peek-a-boo, tickling, in-between moments: These are the random go-to’s based on what I’m feeling with each child. Of course, these depend on the age of your child and the amount of energy that is flowing. Sometimes you just have to be crazy and go with it.

As we go into the holiday weekend, feel free to try out some of these tricks. Hopefully, they will bring results that are much different than the photo of Claire above. Good luck!

Posted in Photo Tips

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Friday, May 20, 2011

My past few months…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal No comments

It seems as though I have disappeared from this little place for quite some time. Well, all with good reason…for the most part. This spring has been extremely busy for me. For those of you who follow our photography blog, then you know I went to South Africa for a missions trip. Feel free to head over there to see more…such an incredible journey. On top of that, Claire and I also took a quick trip to visit my family in Washington. We have a new nephew that I wanted to meet and wanted to spend some time with my Grandpa and extended family. Since I was going during the school year, Jeremy and Gabe weren’t able to go, so it was just the girls. Next time, it will be a family adventure.On top of that, we have been prepping for our busiest season yet which means some things are taking the back-burner.

However, I had to share our past month or so. Between flowers blooming, kids playing and our trips here and there…it was time. I trust that this finds your spring in full swing. Looking forward to the next time…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Personal

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Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Available Light

Posted in Personal, Photo Tips 1 comment

I’ve been suffering from some blogger’s block lately. To understand why, feel free to check out our photography blog…lots going on. Anyway, I have been wanting to share these photos with you and thought that now was the time. These photos were taken during the dreary month of February when the thought of spring felt as far away as another planet.

The purpose of these photos was to celebrate Claire’s little friend, Jordan’s, 3rd birthday. We headed down to the Flying Cupcake so that the ~~moms~~ kids could have a cupcake. Honestly, we did decide on Flying Cupcake for us…thinking the kids would equally enjoy it…and they did. Well, I was just a mom for this adventure…wanting to capture a few moments of these sweet friendships that have developed over the years. However, this popular cupcake shop was rather busy, so we decided to step out of the way and capture a few treasures of our own.

If you saw where these photos were taken you would have looked at me like I was crazy. It was a gloomy day and all we had was the back door. However, it made the perfect demonstration for this post…using available light. Many have asked how to position their little ones inside. The easiest, most efficient answer is to have your little ones facing a window or a door (with a window) allowing enough room to have your back to the window/door.

In the image below, you can look at Claire’s eyes and see the white spots. These are the catch lights from the windows. Notice there aren’t any hard shadows around her eyes or features. This is about as natural as you can get for being indoors. The images below also include catch lights and were shot in the same location.

The image below has Gabe facing the door and Jordan is sitting to the side of the light. You can see a slight shadow to the left of her nose, but all detail is there. Their expressions coincide with each other bringing a smile to your face.

And, this one shows Claire standing to the side of the light. Notice her left eye is somewhat shadowed because the light was metered for the brightness of the light. I didn’t want to blow out her features and was okay with having a slight shadow/darker left side.

So, while it does feel absolutely wonderful outside right now, I realize that the Midwest is always full of surprises. Even though I long for consistency with warmer weather, I know that we still have some cooler days ahead. With that being said, try shooting in this way. Put your backside to the window and start shooting away.

Posted in Personal, Photo Tips

1 comment

Vangie Lindner - Such good pictures- love them.March 22, 2011 – 11:44 pm

Sunday, March 6, 2011

This and that…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Something to share 1 comment

My past week was filled with a determination like no other…to finish updating our websites. To say that my head hurt would be an understatement. I have tried doing this for the past 3 years–pathetic, I know. I have put forth a glorious effort…I mean I have put forth some effort. However, once our seasons pick up and get going it seems as though the thought of updating our sites is far from my mind. While I believe that websites are somewhat overrated in this day and age, I do realize that the majority of our clients contact us through our websites. I also realize that websites can be resourceful and allow potential clients to find what they are looking for right away.

With that being said, it was time. So, I set everything aside and went to work. Going through thousands upon thousands of images between our wedding work and portrait work seemed next to impossible. Yet, here I sit with a small feeling of accomplishment. Is it perfect? No. Is it loaded with too many images? Absolutely. Will there be changes still? More than likely. However, it is clean, updated and will give potential clients a better idea of what to expect. Oh, and the best thing, you will be able to view it on your phones and ipads. My goal is to keep this better updated…only a goal. In addition to the websites, we are in the process of doing a few new things this year…those will be shared soon.

Until then, enjoy a sneak peek of what’s to come. We are hoping to go live this week. I will keep you posted.

In other news, I have several posts lined up to share with you. 1. Tricks for taking pics 2. Rule of thirds. Keep checking back…I look forward to sharing with you. If you have other things you’d like to hear about, please let me know!

And, of course, a few pics of Gabe and Claire. The photo below is of Claire and her “dee-dee.” She stole the name of her blanket from her best friend, Jordan. She has been calling it that for as long as she has been able to say it…love it. And, of course, my sweet boy. He is changing almost daily, it seems. I don’t know if it’s because he is reading and writing sentences or because of his child-like looks changing into the growing boy. Savoring as many of these moments as I can…

Posted in Life with Gabe & Claire, Something to share

1 comment

Amanda Jones - I was checking all my fav blogs and I skipped upon yours this evening to see Logan & Olivia above! Made my whole day!! Love our pictures everyday I look at them. I am already thinking of you taking more!! I will send you an email of our entryway with so many displayed. It turned out lovely March 8, 2011 – 7:26 pm

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Oh…Pinterest

Posted in Something to share 1 comment

I am in love…possibly a little obsessed. Last week, I had a friend on facebook “pin” an image from Pinterest to Facebook. Of course, I had no idea what it was, so I clicked on the link. It only took 5 seconds for me to fall in love. If you haven’t heard of this before, it is basically a place where you can build inspiration boards for your favorite things. It could be anything from decorating your home to finding ideas for your kids…the list goes on and on. It truly is a place where you can be lost for hours and hours. I’m not going to lie, I was a bit irritated at first because I thought, “Seriously?! Another place on the internet to get lost in?” Working at the computer does result in internet surfing distractions and I am trying to keep myself disciplined as much as possible. However, the more I played around with it the more I realized I was emptying some of my already stored thoughts into one location. I have upteen folders of ideas, things I love, on my desktop, in magazines, in cute folders, etc and this little piece of heaven has placed it all in one area for me.

Another highlight is being able to find/follow friends. When you set up an account it automatically links to your facebook account, so I immediately had a handful of followers that gave me a taste of what this is all about. As you begin to find images you like, you click on the repin button below. From there, you place it into one of your inspiration boards. Now, you have all of your ideas in one place. Genius…

For me, this has become a creative outlet that I have been longing for. As a photographer, it is easy to be consumed by everything photography. This has given me a place to dream outside my own little box and has sparked some creativity that can be used in my personal life with our family and in our business life with photography. Check it out…I promise you will be hooked!

Oh, the one downside is that you have to request an invitation. It’s not like facebook where you can start an account right away. At first, I didn’t get it, but now I realize that it encourages those who are really interested vs. those who are just wanting to find something else to do on the internet. You can search for “How can I be invited to pinterest?” and links will come up to guide you through the process. If you know someone who is already on there, they can send you an invite. I think we are limited to the number of invites we receive, but I would be more than willing to send you an invite as long as I am able…just drop me a line.

Posted in Something to share

1 comment

Britney - can you invite me? that is if you have invites left! February 27, 2011 – 9:47 pm

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