Baby Love

In early November my cousin, Jenny had her second baby! She is a darling baby girl named Lydia. She was such a tiny little peanut when she was born. I saw Lydia just a few weeks later and she had grown quite a bit but was still such a tiny.

 Lydia with Jenny her Mama

 Here is My Aunt JoAnn with her daughter Jenny 

with her daughter Lydia.

Precious!

Lydia's big brother, Samuel loves her so much. He was so sweet towards her. When I was taking pictures of Lydia he kept coming over and loving on her. I started hearing this little humming sound. Then it started sounding like someone saying awwwwe awwwe... Then I realized it was Sammy! He was making the "cute little baby awwwe" sound over and over. It was so darling I could die. Every time he hugged her or loved on her he would do it. While I was editing these images all I could hear in my mind was awwwe, awwwe. He is so precious. 

Lydia with her big brother, Sam

Lydia enjoyed us right until about the time we thought we'd put her on her tummy and then in a split second she was completely done with our idea of what our photo shoot was going to be like. When I had my first baby girl she cried for the first twelve weeks straight and I would have never attempted to have pictures taken of her professionally.  But sometimes a mini shoot is just what you need. I shot for about ten minutes and was able to get several beautiful images Jenny will have forever. In the intern I was able to capture some darling images of Sammy that I'll share with you next time.  A photo shoot doesn't always have to be "somewhere" or for hours, it can also be quick and easy in a safe and relaxed environment. My goal is to capture moments of your life not the whole thing.

Many Thanks to Jenny, JoAnn, Samuel and Miss Lydia for letting me spend a little bit of time with them in this moment that wont ever be exactly like this again. 

oxoxo

Beautiful Light

At the end of fall I had the opportunity to meet with my cousin-in-law, Mallory at her family's stables for a little late afternoon photo shoot. I really think the best thing about late fall early winter is the amazing light. It's just looks so clean and crisp. The sky is so very blue and the shadows reach across the ground with such effort I can hardly stand it. 


On this day it seemed to be perfect as the light shone lazily through the yellowing tree leaves and their shadows stretched across the trails. We walked along quiet trails and chatted about Halloween costumes, taking a couple of shots here and there. It was fun, relaxing and so wonderful to be out there I had a hard time going home. 


Even in Southern California we have beautiful places like this where we can slow down and take some time to smell the... hay.

 How cute is this cowgirl with her pink hair?? Love it!

 This was my favorite shot of the day.

 Mal's eyes are such a crazy green, they are gorgeous!

 I'm loving her smile in this one. We had such a great time

and it really was effortless on every level

 You all know how much I loves me some flare! 

It was everywhere!

 Love the light in his tail.

 When we walked around a corner and I saw this spot

I could not believe the light. It took my breath away.I 

couldn't get there fast enough.

 My cousin, Matt was with us and I was so happy to 

take a minute to include him in the shoot. They're a

darling couple.

 FALAARRRRRE

It was a great afternoon and I found a secret to a great shoot that day. When Mallory and I talked about what type of shoot we wanted to do I knew in my head what I wanted the images to look like. Over the next few weeks I searched 1970's photography because I knew I was seeing flare, yellow/orange and backlit highlights on hair. I gathered images and imagined what I wanted so when I arrived the canvas was already in my head. As they say, luck favors the prepared and that day I felt really lucky as the images fell into my camera.

Why Does Photography Cost So Much?

One of the things that causes me stress as a photographer is charging my clients for photography. I realize that sounds funny being that it is the only way I can pay my bills but for some reason it causes me stress. I have a feeling many self employed artists feel the same way whether you're an interior designer or home contractor. If you don't actually show up with a product or sell a tangible item people have a hard time understanding what they're paying for.


This stress is doubled when someone interested in hiring me calls or e-mails and starts the conversation with the phrase, "We don't really have a budget for photography." I actually would love to ask why they are contacting a photographer then. As a side note, let me just say the only thing you will keep from an event is the photography, it should be good. If you're getting married all you get to keep is the bride/groom, the rings and the photography. Those things should be really good.


I become even more perplexed when I see adds on Groupon type sites for photography specials. I just saw one yesterday for an on location shoot for $46.00. What? I don't even understand that, it said it was a $275.00 value(good price). How does one go from $275.00 to $46.00? If I charged $46.00 for a shoot I would have to sell my camera to pay my bills. It cost me $40.00 to get my camera cleaned. You can't even rent a camera for $46.00. I can't imagine why a photographer would devalue their work that way. Unless they are going to hold your images hostage after they've got you in the door and then charge you hundreds of dollars for prints or digital image files. One should think long and hard before entering into a deal that looks too good to be true.


So let me break it down for you. Here is what you are paying for when you hire me for an average one to two hour shoot, on location with your family or friends.
On every shoot you are paying me a wage to be there with you at the beach or in the park, or even at your house taking pictures. I am at work during that time just like the guy who goes to his office, he is getting paid to be there working. I am there working. 


At the end of the shoot I go home and load all the images I took of you into my $7,000.00 Mac computer because it is far superior in photo editing and art. I then pull each image, usually around 200 of them, into my Photoshop program that cost me $899.00 5 years ago and has an update of about $130 to $150.00 every year or so to keep it current.
During that time I am again, working. I'm looking at every image that brings out your personality, and shows who you are. I edit each one with the skill and knowledge I gained from going to college for four years. 


I've spent hours and hours in the dark room, computer lab, studio, and in the field learning how to see you in a different way than your uncle Bob who just bought a camera to shoot your wedding. I've spent hours moving lights, chasing light, and learning how to control light, whether from the sun, moon, flashlight, or studio light. 


I have purposefully framed each image I captured of you, planned how I was going to edit it as I took it. This is what makes the difference between a snapshot your friend took of you and an image a photographer has taken of you.


After I spend an average of four hours going through your images I burn them onto a DvD that I bought and put it into a plastic case that I bought, or print images for you on paper that I bought (all things I will be paying taxes on.)using my $1,500.00 Epson Printer that holds nine ink cartridges at $55.00 a piece to replace. It holds nine because it is specialized in black and white printing, unlike your sisters HP you hope to print on when you get your DvD from me.


As a consumer portrait photographer I will show up to your shoot with an average of $10,000.00 plus of equipment, including, cameras, lenses, lights and other stuff like bounce boards and Memory cards. I have to pay to maintain all those pieces of equipment, including that computer and printer. I also keep my training current, paying an average of $100.00 a training class. Photoshop World this year cost me $500.00 to attend. Every time I meet you somewhere I drive my own car paying for my own gas. I also give you the freedom of doing what you want with your images without ever charging usage fees. You may have found me on my website that I pay to maintain every month. 


When you are paying your photographer it's mostly an hourly fee and experience, and you are rarely paying for all that overhead. Working for you is actually an expense for me.


The crazy thing is I still feel bad charging for a sitting. I second guess myself every time I quote someone a fee and they don't call back. I want to say ok, I'll do it cheaper! I think that way because I really love my job. The bottom line is I love taking pictures and editing and printing. I love it so so much and it rarely ever feels like work. When I'm out taking pictures I'm never thinking about what it's costing me. I'm just thinking about you. I'm looking at you watching you smile and love on your family. I'm seeing the precious little gift that your child is or seeing that look in your mother's eyes as you walk down the aisle. I'm engulfed in the beauty of the light on your hair, or dancing across your face. I'm there having what I think should be an awesome experience with you. It should be fun and relaxed, and not about money. However, I can't be the one providing that service and paying for it too.


I described for you what I do in six hours of work if I charge you $46.00 for a photo shoot I will be making $7.60 an hour to pay all my bills and overhead. I would have to ask myself why I went to four years of school and spent thousands of dollars on equipment to make less than minimum wage. The product I'm selling last forever, it has the ability to stop time. It can be sent around the world, make people laugh and cry. It can change the minds and hearts of people and I just think that should be worth more than $7.60. 

Thank you for joining me on my soapbox!

I got this picture here 

Halloween

Halloween has come and gone. I think the best thing about it is it marks the entry of the holiday season. I love Thanksgiving and Christmas! I had to pull out all my Christmas cookbooks and craft books to decide what I would be making this year to decorate with! I can't wait to make cookies and crafts and presents!! It's the best time ever and the cold in the air is making it just that much better!!


Hello Halloween! Thank you for bringing in the wonderful holidays full of family and love!!


What are your favorite things about the holidays?? 

 Enjoy Emma's Lala Loopsy costume! We made it the day of Halloween, just like I did as a kid. 

Heart's Desire (A Repost Because I Needed the Reminder)

This is something I posted in the beginning of my journey of being an artist. I thought I would repost it, mostly to remind myself of these blessings. Enjoy.

Art, wonderful art, you call to me in the morning and sing your song to me in the evening. I have heard your calling all my life yet pushed you aside for the sake of money and security. My heart craved for you in the desert of my life. My insecurities strangled your quest for my heart.

Yet you called after me day after day, year after year and decade after decade. This gift God planted in my heart burned with a lifetime desire. I was taught that art would never provide for me or my family. I was told to leave the art to someone else, so I did.

Oh my beautiful art you squeezed through the cracks of my life for 40 years, showing your fantastical light in the dark corners of my heart. You made promises to me and whispered your desire to occupy my life.

Still, like a soldier, I carried on in a world of green wool and concrete. Hate and discontent engulfed my hours of work but in my home art began to seep through the walls and swoop down from the ceiling. Until that day, that wonderful when heaven was disguised as hell and God closed the door that separated me from my entire life. While I was alone in that empty room He took my heart in his hands and then He took my hands into His heart.

God changed my hands from a fighting, struggling, and strong woman into the hands of a servant, humbled and broken. It was in that weakness that I was given the gift I yearned for all my life. God created me to be an artist and now He could bless me with purpose. I began to walk in the shoes created for me when I was a child who saw the dew on a flower and the sparkle of water on a blade of grass. I again see who I am.

I entered my life again and this time I brought with me a sort of "Pandora's Box" filled with the beauty in this world called art. It's a world filled with love and hope and destiny. It is saturated with acceptance and freedom. I walked into my home and placed the box in my kitchen. When I opened the box my beautiful children embraced everything in it as though it was a box of dress-up clothes. They pulled the art out and wrapped themselves in it and they threw it around like confetti and glitter and each one of them painted their bedroom walls with it. My heart soared because I knew they were in love and I knew they would never have to suffocate art from their lives. My passion has taken roots in my home and my life and it grows like ivy through my motherhood, "daughterhood", sisterhood, and friendships.

Art my wonderful art, you call to me in the morning and sing your song to me in the evening.

Eyes, The WIndows to the Soul

Last month I spent 3 days at Photoshop World in Las Vegas. I learned so much over the three days I thought I would never stop working, as soon as I got home! Well, in true procrastinator fashion I allowed my life to get in the way of trying out all my new tricks.


Today I decided to try out something I learned from Fay Sirkis. She is an amazing artist and has a beautiful heart. She taught a class called The Eyes are the Windows to the Soul. In this class we learned to edit the eyes in an image to bring life and soul to them. I loved seeing what she had to teach and her technique brought about fantastic results.


One of the subjects that came up in her class was the need for a tablet during this type of editing. Well, I just don't have one. Ok, I take that back, I do have one but it's a baby and well out of date. When Fay was asked if we really needed to have a tablet, she answered by saying, "Yes, you need a tablet because you are painting and you wouldn't paint with a bar of soap, would you?" Well, today I tried out her technique and yes, using my mouse to do it was very much like painting with a bar of soap.


So here are my first attempts at Fay's editing technique for eyes, remembering I will never excel at anything if I never start trying. 


Original image:

Amanda has beautiful eyes and it's never very hard for me to 

get a great image of them. They have nice specular highlights

in them and good detail.

First Attempt and "painting" a beautiful eye:

I definitely feel this look is much more dramatic/clean 

and has a much more commercial look. 

Second attempt: Went a bit lighter this time, with my bar of soap.

 Amanda is going to like this one since I decided to try out my 

Scott Kelby Eyelash Brush! I have to say I'm in love with

this easy to use, lovely brush that actually adds a set of 

 eyelashes in such a natural and elegant way! Beautiful!
Right eye: Drama
Left eye: Less Drama

The number of new tools I came home with from PSW Las Vegas is ridiculous and I hope to get to share more of them with you. Tell me what you think of these eyes. Are they too done, not done enough? Do you love the lashes? Are you happier with a more lifestyle/natural eye? 

Photo of the Day 10.11.11

At my house we don't always follow the Photography rules. We don't always take great pictures, but we ARE always taking pictures. This one is taken through the ring of a ring flash, you can see it around the edges. That's just WRONG but, I likie. I also like that It is  common for me to take a picture of my child wearing a sundress and earmuffs. Perfect sense if just boring! I also love that brown spot in her eye, it's a piece of her Dad.