Let me start out by saying this sweet young lady, all of FOUR year old had battled cancer and shown it where to go! I remember meeting her mom a few years back and she told us about her daughter who was 15 months and receiving chemo. But look at her now! She is four years old and a cancer survivor. What is your superpower?
And with four, comes being, well, strong in one’s convictions (that comes with being 42 as well, but oh well). Listen up photographers, here is your tip of the day: just because your sweet little client has decided that she doesn’t want to look at you or have her photo taken does not mean you rest. In her silent protest, she clung to her baby brother’s foot for comfort. Its one of my favorite shots from this session.
Speaking of baby borthers, hers is turning ONE! Happy Birthday!
And we cant have a birthday without cake. This was the whole purpose of the photo session to get some smash cake photos. He was quite the neat little cake monster.
Maybe for my birthday I will insist on my own cake that I can eat with my fingers. Mmm. It would make turning a year older something to look forward to!
I know we all stress out about the family photo. I even stress out taking people’s family photo because families are so stressed out about it. Its just a viscious cycle of stress but it doesn’t need to be.
I met this family the other night and they wanted a family photo on their porch swing. I wanted to make it fun. I did not want all of them to just sit and smile. Yes, I posed them but its not the traditional sit and smile look and I love that. It’s fun, stress free and it captures their family personality.
My daughter saw these photos and asked me to schedule a photographer to do our family photos like this because she thought it looked so fun. She is right, this is how a family photo should look, something that represents YOU. The next time we have a family photo session, lets have fun; bring things to express your personality, things that have meaning to your family.
Its, Spring! Well, at least on the calendar. 
A few weeks agao I met this sweet family for photos at the North Carolina Museum of Art for some family photos. How cute are they??
The blog title sounds like a bad pick up line, huh. “Hey Baby, you like Fiiiine, what’s your setting?” Ok, back to serious… Many aspiring photographers or people with dSLR cameras ask me what camera setting I use. I can never give an answer because there are so many variables. I use so many settings and its all dependent on the light. It’s not top secret, I am not trying to be elusive. Now you are probably really curious… if you really want to know, my go to setting to start if I am using my 70-200 lens outdoors is f3.5, 1/400 ISO 400 and I adjust from there, depending on number of people in the frame and the light.
Here is an example of a photo taken literally 10 seconds apart from each other. While my camera settings remained the same, a cloud crept over the sun and completely changed the look of each photo. I edited these photos exactly the same as well.
I happen to like the pose of the photo on the right and I happen to like the flat light for this pose only.
What’s my point? My camera settings are not what changed the overall look of this photo, it was the light. So when you have a camera that you want to learn more about, you need to consider your lighting because that is what will guide you to the appropriate camera settings.
And for fun…
Well, as promised, I kicked of the Spring season today with photo sessions. I will make a full disclosure here…I am nervous before all photo sessions. True. This morning was worse because its been a few months since my last session; the weather was cloudy with a chance of showers but the radar was clear so all systems go! Then…I was chillaxing waiting for my family to arrive and it started raining. Seriously?? The radar LIED. But, my sweet family were sports and just carried an umbrella. Going with the flow is critical for a successful photo session.
Since I last saw these guys, they have welcomed a new family member and the smiles were endless from all. It was a lovely morning. I even got to sneak in a few unsolicited hugs with my little friends–its the little things that make us photographers happy.
More to come…
Do you know about the Elf on the Shelf? Of course you do. He has been popular for years now. I am typically a few years behind the times. I always saw said Elf at Target and wondered what it was but never was curious enough to figure it out. Well, thanks to social media, I know more about the Elf than I ever really wanted to know. So this 2012 Christmas season, I am feeling really confident about my level of Elf knowledge.
Then…I touched it. Who knew you cant touch the Elf? Obviously, not me. Thanks society for not letting me in on that important secret. I was taking some photos for a holiday card for some friends and the little boy wanted his photo with the Elf. Sure thing, buddy. I picked up the Elf from one side of the tree and moved him to the side the boy was facing. He yelled at me, “DON’T TOUCH HIM!!!” Okay. Sorry. I just thought it was delicate or something. No, I drained the Elf of his magic. Nice job, Jo! So, now the Elf has not reported back to Santa how awesome these kids are because (their Mom was too lazy to move it) I touched it. Now, I have so much magical power that I cannot contain my awesomeness. Oh, I am a tortured soul.
Well, here is a photo from the session before I ruined Christmas…I call it (Mostly) Silent Night
Happy Holidays! And if you are even more out of the loop than I am, don’t touch the Elf. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
It’s that time of year where I become incredibly behind in blogging photos from sessions. I lose track of who is where on all of the social networking sites. My computer is a scattered mess (well, maybe its always like that). But the end is in sight! This was my 3rd to last session of the year. Not that I dont love what I do, but its nice to take a break from the madness called photography and start a whole new madness that this month has to offer. And now, my season is complete since I have seen these lovlies. :)
These guys are oldies but goodies…one of my first clients. I met them in my first year in business, I think. I always have a smile on my face when I see their name approaching on my calendar. Ahh.
Those two portraits make these kids look all angelic and calm. But rest-assured they keep me laughing with all sorts of improptu shenanigans. If they are not a comedy team or something when they grow up, I will be shocked. Love them…and they love these sort of improptu shots.
And every pair of sibling should roll in the grass goofing around, hugging each other. I mean, look how cute it is!
I love it when Dads, and Moms, spontaneously spin their kids until they are a dizzy mess. I remember being the spinee and the spinner…so much fun. 
We found a tractor. Seriously. How cool is that for an alomst two year old to have full command of a tractor five times his little size? And, double bonus, it was my favorite photo of the session AND Mom’s!
Of course, there is the family Christmas card photo. I love these guys. This Mom is one of the best Moms around. All of these four guys are lucky to have her…and they know it; warms my heart. I want to be like her someday.
And then, at the end of the session Dad wants me to photograph him and his team at their next Tough Mudder next summer. Sweeet! I secretly want to be able to one one of those so being the photographer will let me get my feet wet (haha!!!). After all, that is how I ended up hiking about 30 miles in one day…
Sisters rock my world. I LOVE photographing them. I always wanted one of my own–even more so after I finish a session with sisters. One is usually a camera hog and one usually cant be bothered with the camera; this is true for kids and adults. Regardless of how different they are, or how much they think the other one gets on their nerves, you can see how much they love each other without them even trying. They automatically curl up with each other, they know how to move with each other, its really a treat to work with them.
I LOVE the colors of this underpass.
And one of my favs…
The week after weekend mini-sessions are usually pretty busy, in a lazy sort of way. I essentially grow roots from sitting on my sofa with my computer on my lap. I usually only get up for coffee or screaming kids. Blogging, well, I usually get to that a few weeks, after I have pulled the roots out of the furniture. This time, I love the photos so much that I want to show them off and I am not waiting until December! Check them out…
