Perfectly Natural Photography

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Super Fun Family Session With Silhouettes

I was so glad when my friend Keri contacted me about doing a family session with her. Especially because she was as excited to get silhouettes made as I was!

We got lots of shots before the sun set, too.

Some of the boys each by themselves.

And then came the challenging, but super fun part of getting the silhouettes!

I just love these, Keri and Zac, and hope you do, too!

Use the form on the contact page to schedule your session or to get more information.

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My Little One Is So Kind To Me

A. is usually so accommodating; he’s my “go to” kid for practicing.

B. and S. will usually work with me, but - surprisingly - have less of an attention span. Well, if the TVs on or they are involved in something else.

I guess that’s why A. is so accommodating; he’s still easy to distract.

So I’ve been practicing on him lately; in-camera and in-computer.

He’s so adorable in this funky disco hat!

At first he actually didn’t want me to take his picture in it, but when I put my camera away he threw a fit! Here I captured a tear still on his face.

Today he let me take photos of him playing on the stairs. Notice he’s gotten his hair cut since the above photos.

He’s a very dramatic little boy, too. I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes an actor one day!

See this angry face?

I asked him to do it; it’s not real.

But it’s not exactly like his angry face… he’s got a tiny bit of a smirk.

Can you see it?

Coming up next… more maternity silhouettes and then some family photos from a session I’m doing tomorrow night.

Use the form on the contact page to schedule your session or to get more information.

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To The Girls I Met At Savers Today

I hope you take me up on that free session! You’ll get a CD of your photos as well.

All you’ve got to do is show up and have fun!

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A Tween In Old Town

I love working with kids of all ages, and was super excited to have a session with a tween.

Especially when I heard that she was interested in having some “urban” photos taken.

K. was a trooper, too! We walked around Old Town for almost two hours, taking pictures anywhere that was interesting.

She had lots of fun…

but it also got a little tiring, and - according to K. - boring.

My favorite place was a little alley, where we found lots of garbage and broken glass, and… beautiful clematis!

Hmmm, that was taken at the end of the session, when we were all getting tired. I did get quite a few of her smiling, and looking at the camera, but I can’t share all the photos here.

I was so glad we were able to incorporate one of her favorite items. This amazing, colorful cape was made for her by her mother (she’s a seamstress whose work you’ll be seeing more of here).

Do you recognize any of the locations? I’ll let you know if you’re right or wrong.

100 points to you if you get the location of that alley correct.

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I’m So Excited!

I just had to share my news.

A few days ago I submitted an application to join Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS).

I nervously waited to hear back from them.  Not patiently, either.

I asked other photographers if they thought I met the requirements (because I answered ‘no’ to several of the questions).

I was told by a few that they had answered ‘no’ to those same questions and gotten in. That got my hopes up.

I asked other photographers how long it took for them to get an answer.

I was told by one it took two weeks for an answer; another waited a month to hear back!

I sure was hoping that it wouldn’t take that long for me to - hopefully - be accepted, because there’s a training in July that I’d like to attend.

But I planned on it to take at least a month, and maybe more.

I got my answer yesterday, and as you can guess by the title of this post, I got in!

Thank goodness NILMDTS has gotten caught up or gotten more help so that I didn’t have to wait so long for my answer.

I know it will be hard work, but I know it will be so worth it!

I am so grateful every day that all three of my beautiful, funny, silly, smart, wonderful, amazing kids are in my life. I feel that this is some way that I can give back for all that I have.

Not one to write a post without sharing a photo, here’s a recent one of my three kids. I’m claiming that they’re jumping up and down in excitement for me.

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Walk Like A… Ballerina

I’ve always wanted to capture shots of my daughter walking on her toes.

She doesn’t do it the typical way. She walks on the tops of her toes.

Like a ballerina!

Here she is on her way up; toes already curled under.

Here she is on her toes.

The foot on the left isn’t as high because she was getting tired. I’d had her do it over and over, and from different angles, so I could be sure to get the right shot.

Have you ever tried walking on the tops of your toes?

If not, try it! It’s not easy.

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Pleasing Fungus Beetle

The strong winds blew this bug into our yard recently.

His color was amazing, and along with his size made him very obvious on the sidewalk. He (am I being gender biased and calling it a “he” ‘cuz it’s blue? ) had been stationary but started to move - quickly - as I stood over him. I ran in and got my camera to snap some pix of the kids holding him.

He moved quickly and I didn’t have time to set my aperture, so most of the photos weren’t in focus. LOL On the photo above and below, he’s on A, my 3 year old. Just for size comparison.

I did some quick research online and found out that he’s a Pleasing Fungus Beetle, genus Gibbifer. They eat the fruiting bodies of fungi, and apparently

are rarely seen except by the dedicated mushroom hunter and entomologists.

I feel even more fortunate to have seen this one, now!

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Maternity Silhouettes

I have been having so much fun doing these; both taking them and processing them! They’re tricky and poses are limited, but the challenge is part of the fun.

I’d been inspired by another photographer’s photo of his own wife, and knew the instant I saw his photo that I wanted to do the same.

The first night out (the two photos above and a few below) we had a short window of time between storms to get shots. In fact, we had to run out of there when a crack of lightening hit as we were talking and getting some other shots.

But the sky added so much interest and drama to the photos.

The first mama had brought her husband and her 13 year old “baby” with her to the shoot. Can you see her in the bottom left hand corner?

Ribbons had actually been tied up to a bench not far away and broke free. I saw her and grabbed this shot just in time. I let “Mom” and “Dad” know after I took a couple more shots.

I loved this one the moment I clicked it! Even in that moment I could see that his lips were perfectly positioned so that we could see they were pursed… it’s so sweet!

Because the weather the first night was being so oppressive, my next “model” and I decided to do her photos a couple of nights later.

Boy was the sky different! Beautiful, clear skies with the clouds spaced far apart. We even hoped and waited for clouds to move where we needed them. LOL

She had even brought along her toddler, but he was too excited about the stuff going on around us to stand in a way that would look good in silhouette.

Unfortunately, we finished up just as the sun was setting and the light was golden. Still, I wouldn’t have been able to capture the sun directly behind her. It’s a trade-off, I guess. Golden sky or glow from behind?

We waited long enough and got some clouds, though they were off a little from where I needed her to be for silhouette shots. Still, I enjoyed the slight bit of detail I was getting around the edges of her body.

Not *true* silhouettes, but these turned out to be some of my favorites from her session.

I can’t wait to do silhouettes with everybody: kids, couples, families! What do you think? Are these the kinds of photos you’d like to have?

Keep a watch here (sign up for email updates in the top right hand corner) ‘cuz I may post that I’m having a Silhouette Photo Session and have people come for a few minutes of photo taking.

Use the form on the contact page to schedule your session or to get more information.

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So Many Wonderful Kids

I was recently invited to take pictures for a local school, and I jumped on the opportunity.

I had such a great time, too! They were all beautiful, funny, wonderful, amazing children!

My heart wouldn’t allow me to create traditional style school pictures, and I was glad the parents accepted, even appreciated, that fact.

I spent about 5 minutes per child, capturing all sorts of emotions from most of them.

I was pleasantly surprised to find out that I knew quite a few of the children at the school, too!

And those I didn’t know, I learned a lot about.

I had so much fun talking with each of the kids at the school and taking their pictures. There were several challenges - cooperation-wise and weather-wise, but I can honestly say that I enjoyed every minute I was there.

I truly hope I get invited back! And if your kids are at a small (local) school where my non-traditional style might be well received, please feel free to recommend me to the administation.

Sorry for the photos being all different sizes… it has to do with the size of the photo I used for the web, as well as my blog resizing to make sure the photos fit.

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Birthday Breakfast In Bed

My daughter has been asking for breakfast in bed for months. She had gotten the idea from some TV show that it was some sort of lavish event; that people who got breakfast in bed were being doted upon.

She’s right, of course.

I have a dislike of food in beds just for practical reasons, and food is generally not even allowed upstairs (it’s really not allowed out of the kitchen, but they break that rule daily, and it keeps them happy while I work on photos, etc.).

Back in March I told her she could have breakfast in bed for her birthday. She held me to it.

For the third year in a row, this was her birthday “cake”:

Yep, that’s a round of cheese. The Colorouge from MouCo, to be exact. If we have it for breakfast, it’s shared between the three of us who love it.

She wanted us to close the curtains while we sang, making it even more difficult for me to get sharp photos.

For her birthday she gets one all to herself.

Last year she shared with her little brother.

This year she ate the entire thing herself.

Ya know, I wonder what show she was watching when she learned about breakfast in bed. I think I need to be more careful about what she watches.

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