The kids each received a few packets of hot chocolate in their stockings for Christmas this year, and we’ve slowly been working through them. Some days have definitely not been hot chocolate days, recently. High of 82 in Virginia? In FEBRUARY? Can’t complain about the sunshine, though ;) (PS- these were edited with the Ruby […]
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Recently we drove several hours south of DC to pick up a tabletop that my husband had commissioned from custom woodworker. The woodworker’s son is a colleague of my husband’s and we were graciously invited to enjoy their farmland and lumber mill. Our boys didn’t want to leave. ;) Yet another indication that our eventual
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Place, chase, joke, replace, shoot 1 frame. Repeat the first 4 steps in order to get to the 5th… over and over. That is how my sessions with all three of my boys at 4 years old have proceeded. Worth it in the end though, for pictures that help me to remember what their soft
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A week from today the last run of 2017 for Mastering Natural Light Indoors begins. I’ve been teaching this workshop for Click Photo School for over 5 years, now. I remember the nerves I felt creating the materials, wanting so badly to create an experience that would make a difference for photographers. After instructing hundreds
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Routine, everyday life is busy, sometimes chaotic, but also very normal. That normalcy sometimes soothes me into complacency and I stop taking pictures of what daily life looks like at our house. Unfortunately, the stages of interest, and even the way my children look, both change extremely frequently and when the urge to document does
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Partial success. The week after the older boys get out of school I thought maybe I’d try a daily shooting project over the summer. I lasted 8 days. But, that’s 8 days of documentation more than I might have had! This image is a 4th birthday portrait. I wanted to include some sense of scale
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When life is odd, and I’m not sure what to do, I shoot portraits and then edit them while listening to 80s power ballads or the Hamilton cast recording. That, or clean the house, with a side of all things chocolate. What is your “I need some control, this’ll fix me up” activity? Photography related
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My local Trader Joes pulled through for me! I thought for sure that we had passed by ruffly flower (my basic definition- ranunculus and peony) season without a bundle showing up in the store-front barrels. Turns out I was simply overly anxious and remembered the ruffle season as occurring earlier in the year than it
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First up- registration is currently open for the June 19th start date of my online workshop, Mastering Natural Light Indoors. If you’re ready to see and use the light that you find indoors (almost all the concepts we discuss translate to outdoor photography, as well) then join us for four weeks of interactive learning! Click here
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After the little guy helped me with a self portrait session I pulled the camera off of the tripod and chased him around for 5 minutes. He rolled around on the floor, got stuck under my bed and hid in the tub. Typical 3 year old antics. I recently shared tips on how to inspire
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One of my favorite little indulgences in life is to purchase a $5-6 bouquet of flowers at Trader Joes. I feel particularly blissful when it is Ranunculus season, but full Roses, pale tulips and delicate Hydrangea is satisfying, as well. My goal when bringing these bouquets home is two fold; I want to both 1-
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It is actually quite uncommon for me to deem a given scene “badly” lit. However, it does sometimes happen that I have deal with what I have and end up photographing in bad light. Generally, the light is bad because I do not have the option to modify it. If I can move subjects, add
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Still waiting on that highly anticipated ‘big snow’ here in Virginia. We did have a little unexpected flurry in the late afternoon, recently, which had everyone pretty excited, including this little guy who couldn’t get enough of watching the white flakes from the window. *Tip: You need to be focused quite close up in order
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We may not have snow, and I may forget that I have a macro lens 95% of the time, but we do have dew and I DO have a macro lens. They go together nicely. Pin It
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Somehow, helping to make coffee has become a coveted activity in this household. The two younger boys compete for the honor when they are able. If I skip a step in the process, or attempt to modify my normal order, I’m met with stiff resistance. They know how it should be done. Pin It
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I photograph my family. Our daily life, our travels and our occasional portrait sessions. Most of the time, I love the freedom of that. I can shoot what I want, when I want, without feeling obligation to capture other people’s visions or stick to external timelines for production. Sometimes, though, I find myself feeling antsy.
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I needed to shoot some example images for a tutorial I wrote for Clickinmoms, and this guy was my willing model. He even happily went coat-less in mid-40 degree weather. As we enter into the tween stage of life, we’ve had a lot of fun as his humor and insights have really grown. Pin It
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Since he was able to shell them, actually- before… I spent a good amount of time cracking pistachios a few years ago, he has been in love with these little nuts. As far as snack foods go, they’re a winner in my book, so we even bought him a special pistachio bowl. It has a
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The best of 2016 in 50 images. Culling is no joke! If you haven’t, go through your collection of images from the past year and pick out your top 50 images (or less, if you are feeling particularly ambitious.) Celebrate your successes! Whether you met your ultimate goal or not, I can guarantee that if
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During Day 1 of freelensing I wasn’t able to achieve focus in the middle of the frame. After spending hours googling and reading, I came to the conclusion that the rear element of the lens simply wasn’t able to get close enough to the camera sensor in order to create focus in the middle of
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While at Clickaway in Seattle last month, Sarah Wilkerson mentioned a fun product that the Click & Co store had brought along to sell- Lensbenders. I’d never heard of them and never found the time to make my way to the store booth during the conference, but a few weeks ago I was looking for
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I recently acquired a prism from the Click&Co store. For a trial run, I took it out into the backyard in the late afternoon. I love the haze and flare that other photographers achieve with similar tools, but I found myself struggling with the reflection that the prism introduced into my images. It was necessary
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