Never Dull

Many shoots are scheduled down to the minute. Very calm, organized, very detailed ......sigh. how boring. I love my shoots with clients! Yes we form a game plan but I always explain to my clients they are not only receiving photos, but possibly also an adventure. Exciting locations, messy props, and unexpected guests....usually with 4 legs or wings (not planned). Tonight in our maternity shoot (a super sweet client  who was 9 months pregnant and brought along a friend for our shoot!) Three young ladies wandering through the grass and field with not only birds singing around us....no.....tractors and trucks revving, tires spinning, and smoke rolling over our heads. A huge local tractor pull was being held just on the other side of the parking lot, BUT thats not where this story is going. As we laughed and ventured bad to the car, our feet sifting through the tall grass watching tiny tree frogs hop in front of us an no legged guest decided to cross in front of us, then turn away then come back towards us all while I screamed and instantly hid behind anyone near me....yes, my poor pregnant client screaming as well while her friend tried to calm us with the fact that it was a grass snake. I don't care. it was a snake and coming straight towards my flip flop bare feet with my favorite  bright blue nail polished toes. We couldn't stop laughing of course after it happened replaying the moment over and over all the way back to the car. Silly enough though as a true photographer I never want to miss a moment....so I snapped this image right after it happened. Oh goodness. Never a dull moment!

Hmmm.....What Should you Wear Today?

I think most every photographer can agree that some of the most common questions and concerns we hear during consultations are "what should we wear?" or "what looks best?" Coordinating outfits can be one of the scariest parts of getting ready for family, couple or even group photos. It doesn't have to be a monster though that you avoid until the day before your shoot scurrying around the house between everyones closets. Let me break it down into a few very simple steps that will have anyone becoming a fashionista!

1. Color palette-Take a few things into consideration. What colors do you want hanging on the wall? Red white and blue can be great for  photos in July or red and green for Christmas, but remember you don't want Christmas photos up all year long! 

2. Don't forget to go through your closets before you head to the mall. You'll be surprised what you can find in everyones closet! Sometimes clients only end up buying one item instead of a new top, new pants for everyone! A great way to save some money :)

3.Start with a pattern top or dress-this can be dads shirt, moms dress or a kiddos top or dress. Use this clothing to find everyone outfits to coordinate! Sticking with only 1 pattern is always safe. Too many people in patterns can begin to get messy and overwhelming.  

If you are doing a large family photo think about this, maybe you don't want 1 person to wear a pattern top, but you CAN use that top as inspiration for the groups outfits.

                        

*notice in each row 1 top is patterned

4. If you REALLY can't find matching shoes and your doing an outdoor shoot in the grass, no sweat! Bare feet for everyone can make things a little more casual and comfortable.

5. Don't be scared to layer! Adding a scarf, bow, headband, nail polish,jewelry,  jacket or sweater can really take it up a notch! One more tip about nail polish, make sure its all on or all off the day of pictures, chipped nail polish can become very noticeable.

6. Remember to be comfortable. I know people say "beauty is pain" but I have to disagree. If you wear something that doesn't feel right, its gong to show in your photos. And don't forget the kiddos too! If it doesn't look comfortable and they don't like it, its really going to effect their mood on picture day. 

   

Colorful Cutie

    

Kids photos are not something that every photographer loves doing....I ABSOLUETLY ADORE DOING KIDS PHOTOS!!!!! Maybe it was all those years of babysitting through high school and college, but kids are my favorite :) Being around so many kids Ive grown to truly see that even when they are young they truly start to show their own unique personality. This is something that I find to be so much fun to capture. Im really not a fan of posing kids because quite honestly it just doesn't work. Nor am I a fan of switching heads around, or smiles, or eyes. Its not that I can't do it, its more that I find it to be quite creepy. Id much rather let kids do their own thing, explore throughout the shoot and thats when parents and I agree we get completely real moments. Their real smiles, body language, and those cute little quirks they have :) I always give parents a heads up in their consult...."now I want you to know that moms plans on picture day are NOT kids plans on picture day" Its truly rare and has almost never happened that I have a perfectly behaved, excited child who wants to pose, loves the camera, doesn't have a runny nose, and gets a little tired during the shoot. That rarely ever happens. And I want you to know that is OKAY. Especially at a young age getting pictures taken with a big camera, with lights or with a stranger is pretty scary. In this shoot Miss Addy was not a fan at all of the lights but her parents and I worked together to make things fun for her! We praised her, played with her, and yes Im pretty sure I remember some silly dancing going on behind me :) I want you to know that Im prepared for it all. Ive had criers, been puked on, peed on and even pooped on during shoots...all by small children of course! haha. I also love having the littles come meet me with you during the consult so I'm not a completely new person to them when picture day arrives. I even make sure to help make some kind of bond by being the lady with coloring books and teal suckers :)  I love working along side parents to catch those little thing alike runny noses, or a slobbery chin that we simply wipe off and carry on. If a little just isn't enjoying themselves we take a break from photos and color or explore where we are. Then I simply begin again by following the child and letting THEM lead the shoot. It never works when the parent or I try to be in charge and tell them how to sit, stand or look. This shoot I loved when the mom saw the big blue chair in the studio and asked if we could use it. Mom knew that Addy loves running and jumping on their couch at home and the chair just made her light up when she got to sit in it. Im not the kind of photographer to be bossy. Besides, YOU know your child best and we get the best images when we all work together! Kids photos aren't supposed to be a photoshopped perfect child from a magazine or from a tv show. Kids photos are supposed to be of your beautiful child you brought into this world. Those sweet smiles, wrinkled noses and dimples. 

Bugs & Bubble Gum....and more Bugs

Sarah, what a sweet heart! I could just wrap her up and bring her everywhere with me, but I'm not a wierdo like that. So I let her mom keep her :)

We had such a great senior shoot today mixing it up with a little urban, indoor as well as natural. Of course we kicked things up a notch and first used her hand made background I finished today made of 4000 hand dyed coffee filters (which we both LOVED!)

Then we met a bug, a giant bug, a giant bug with wings....and claws. Claws on its face. yes. its face. THEN we met more bugs.....LOTS more bugs. oh gnats, and mosquitos, you never fail to show up to a shoot. Of COURSE we ended on an awesome note.

 GLITTER!!!!!! so much of it! You know its a

 good day when your client, your, your hair, 

your camera and in turn, your car are covered in

 glitter :)

 Days like this make me love my job 

even more. Great people, great adventures, great

 conversation and great photos keeping the

 moments of today forever. Thanks Sarah for

 being such a FUN, energetic and sweet client! 

And always remember......"leggins"

Pinterest Junkie....I dont care

Is it wrong how much I pinterest? Probably. And yea, some people rebel against it....saying its telling people HOW to be and trying to make people think they have to be perfect and when it doesn't work out it makes you feel like crap....which often times it can do that. Heck, Ive had my fair share of good ol' pinterest fails....and man were they doozies. For me though, pinterest is seeing so much art and creativity out there and pushes me to strive and improve. I can't tell you how much inspiration and motivation I get from Pinterest and I love finding new photographers, businesses, etc on there! And I can't tell you how many times Ive learned something new or even a trick or tip. So yes, Im admitting it. Im a Pinterest Junkie....and I really don't care :)

Poised Whitney

 

Oh my other spontaneous shoot today :) What a great shoot for me to come back to work to! As I said before, I was feeling so inspired and my next individual shoot isn't until Wednesday.....I just could wait until then. Whitney and i met up with her wardrobe in the back of her car. We picked outfits in the parking lot and headed out to the fields. A perfect sunset (giving us awesome light) was JUST what we wanted and were lucky enough to get! I couldn't get over how easy Whitney was to work with....I didn't even have to give her direction, she knew exactly what to do! So many times we laughed because I just couldn't get over how great her images were turning out :) I soon learned that she was a fellow ANTM (Americas Next Top Model) Junkie....THATS where she learned all her great modeling. hehehe. We ventured along the highway and got a few honks from some complete random people and a strange look from a guy on a bicycle....but thats how we roll. Just Whitney and I today on this shoot.....along with about 5 million bugs and gnats (yes gnats are bugs but they deserve their own category all together). I quickly learned that the bugs meant I couldn't continue to chew my gum.....hopefully while I DID have it in my mouth I didn't catch any bugs in it. YUCK! *reminder, always pack bug spray in the shoot bag. Thanks Whitney for being my spontaneous shoot model! I had a great time!

Miss Riley

Today I felt such a great deal of inspiration I couldn't help myself. I HAD to do a shoot! Miss Riley was my lucky little model :) We talked about oh so many things. We found ourselves adventuring through a cornfield and down a grassy path to her favorite spot.....where there was dirt and rocks, because those are her favorite, along with deer meat (her favorite food, which her mom looked a little confused about, haha). We tried berries and picked flowers and steered clear of the little colorful bugs....we don't like those.  She sang me a song and told me stories and some that made her mom and I both quietly laugh together as she danced and twirled down the path ahead of us. This little girls imagination and humor makes me smile so very big. Her gentle kind spirit though, warms my heart. So young but so graceful, especially in photographs (except picking those those really tough flowers we had to put all our body strength into and pick the whole plant! )  Miss Riley I had such a great adventure with you today!