Fun Family Session

Had a great session with the G. family late Wednesday afternoon.  What a pleasure to get to know them better!   We went to a beautiful spot called Lake Woodruff that I had never been before. 

     

Here's the little slideshow below of the finished portraits. I hope they're pleased! I had so much fun!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Since we were only able to meet up in the late afternoon and would have limited time before the sun set due to daylight savings time, I thought it would be a great time to practice the silhouette shot that I had been reading up on. For my first time, I was pleased for the most part at how it turned out and look forward to improving on the technique in the future.

Until next time,

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms!

Denise

Simply Amazing!

Two words to describe my first birth photography experience!  It really was my ultimate favorite of all sessions that I've ever done since I started seriously persuing family photography over 4 years ago! I think I might be hooked. I'd definitely do it again in the future! To Jennifer and Falco, thanks for allowing me to capture this most intimate part of your life. I hope I will have recorded moments you will treasure and leave you with feelings of great joy whenever you look at the pictures! ♥

It was so awesome!! The Lord worked it all out!! I was staying up waiting to send my husband off to work when I saw her post shortly after 1am or so. She felt like it would be very soon, so since my husband was still here, I woke him up an hour early and he took us to their house. We even beat the midwife there!! Thankfully our children went back to sleep in the beds that they had waiting for them on our arrival! The following are of the birth and then little Sophia at 12 days old!

It was a great birth that took place at home. Jennifer was beautiful and just seemed to glow. she was so peaceful and just so serene...on the outside anyway. I think she was amazing!! At 5:31am she told me quickly that it was time for me to exit so she could start pushing, I ran to the clock in the living room to take a pic, thinking she'd be pushing a while, and not 60 seconds later, I heard the gush of water hit the floor and the baby crying at 5:32am!!! Awesome! awesome! awesome!  I was so pleased!! Amazingly, the midwife is also a photographer! http://www.karenbove.com/ and she gave me some great adjustments to make to my camera settings!

                           

...and 12 days later!  I truly have a greater appreciation for newborn photographers! Had fun during our newborn session, but Miss Sophia was wide awake and very alert just about the whole time! I did manage to get a few with her dozing off, but she wasn't in a deep enough sleep to be able to do any planned poses.  Sure is a sweetheart! 

I was able use some of my props I'd been collecting and was especially pleased with the look of the headbands with the flowers I had gotten at a craft fair a few weeks ago from http://www.petalbowtique.com/. If you have little girls, or are looking for a great gift idea for little girls, please check her product line out!

I was excited to finally try out this great little valise I picked up last year!



 
Would love some feedback on what you think!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,
Denise

Babies, Seniors, And A Wedding Coming Up!

A little while back, just before I was able to take those courses, I had the priviledge of doing an impromptu mini-session with 4-week old J. As you can see, he easily captured my heart in the process within just a matter of minutes! What a sweet face! He had the greatest expressions while awake and I was able to catch this one. Love it!




Here are some of the more formal ones once he fell asleep...



Perfect Little Hands...


And Sweet Little Feet!

In the next several weeks, I will be doing, not only my first Senior session, but also, a Wedding! And after that, I will be doing not only a couples shoot, but later in the summer, my first maternity/family session followed by my first birth story session! So for now, that means tons of research time so that I will be thoroughly prepared. Busy! Busy! Busy! but great for building my experiences, as well as my portfolio!

Well, as for the upcoming wedding, the equipment needed has been rented for several days prior to the wedding for lots of practice time. I was also fortunate enough to be introduced to a couple with vast experience for doing weddings and so appreciate all that I will learn from them in order to do the best possible job. I realize the enormous significance of this special day, and I so want the bride and groom to be pleased. So, prayers will be much appreciated in the next few weeks!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

Spring Has Sprung With A New Excitement!

Wow! It's been awhile since I've posted, but it's not because I haven't been busy practicing! I finally got the 50mm portrait lens I'd been saving up for, and am enjoying it immensly!! I also signed up for a couple of mini-courses this week, and can hardly wait for the knowledge I'll gain from them!

I got to take my very first photography class last night, and left so encouraged and excited about the possibilities down this road. I learned so much in just 2 hours!! What a great class!! I took 7 loose leaf pages full of notes. Can't wait to put it all into practice!! I finally found out what I was doing right and what I was doing wrong! The whole time, whenever I'd get something that I hadn't quite gotten learning on my own, I'd just about get goosebumps, I was so excited!! After class, I got great feedback from the instructor. He was so helpful and encouraging! I feel reinvigorated, because at times I wonder if I really have the potential to go professional with this someday and it just gave me that boost to go on with it!!

I am so excited to be doing several photo shoots in the next few months, including a couple of engagement shoots, a couple of family shoots, a wedding, and even a birth story shoot!! I look forward to them and the experience I'll gain, especially after having the much needed courses I'll have taken by then!! More sessions + More experience + More learning = A much better prepared photographer (Me)!

I've gotten a few more props lately and couldn't wait to use them. I've taken up crocheting again, and have made a little hat and matching mini-blanket for this shoot. I used yarn in a Brown/Blue/Burgundy/Turquoise mix to go with the dark wood weaved basket I got the other day.

A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to do a mini-shoot for new parents of a beautiful baby boy! They are for the same couple I did a shoot with last fall. I hope they like the results, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with them once more!

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thanks for dropping in!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,
Denise

My Two Minute Shoot!

Each year as they grow, I want to take a comparison shot of our children. Here is the one from last year.

As you can see, we struggled a bit...

But all in all, it went pretty well.

This time, with our son being a curious almost toddler, I knew I didn't have time to waste, but I didn't think I'd have to work as quickly as I did! I took about 2 minutes to shoot these pictures before the little one got restless! Surprisingly, I managed to get a few good ones out of the 6 or 7 that I was able to take.

This last one, I actually took at a relative's house. It was completely spontaneous and she didn't have a chance to smirk before I took it.

I'd be interested to know if some of you do yearly shots and where, or maybe what they might wear each time. I've heard of some wearing their dad's tie or mom's dress and the fun of seeing them grow into it. Just curious!

Ever Leaning On His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

I've Been Inspired!

I'm so pleased to have been introduced to the fantastic work of Nadia this past week. I love the whole feel of it! It makes me excited about learning all that I can to produce my best work possible, when doing a photo shoot for my clients.

I was able to purchase one of her texture sets today for my 'toolbox', and couldn't wait to show you how it turned out!

Before, in just plain black and white...



And after, created with one of the textures from her Nadia-Stalgic set #2

It gives the portrait an old-fashioned vintage look to it. I like the graininess of it. This was my first time to practice with it, so, although it's nowhere near as beautiful as Nadia's work, I'm sure going to enjoy practicing.

Well, until the next time I get bitten by the blog bug,

I'm Still Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,

Denise

An afternoon at the beach...

I took the following shots back when our computer wasn't working, and so I never had the chance to post them. So, with their permission, I wanted to share them with you.

This wasn't a photo shoot, but just my observations of them as a family(personally, one of my favorite families) while we spent a couple of hours at the beach.

From new experiences...

...to droopy drawer experiences.


I thought this would make a cute picture of their son about to stand up. I didn't notice until after I uploaded the photo, that he was actually looking at his own reflection. So this shot, which turned out pretty nice, was actually quite by accident, a really cute accident.


Memories from a great time at the beach!


Great time with great friends!

Leaning on His Everlasting Arms,
Denise

2nd photo shoot with my new camera!

I was going to pick just 20 for the slideshow, but I found it too hard to choose. This was such a fun family to work with! Thanks again, J, for allowing me the opportunity to capture these precious moments for you and your husband, Z, while he is away in Iraq. I hope you are pleased.

Just a note about the tree you will see with the heart carved in it. It originally had a J+E in it, so I just played around with it on Photoshop Elements 5.0, and switched the 'E' to a 'Z' so that her and her husband's initials of J+Z would appear in the heart. Just thought it was a cute idea to experiment with.

As always, your comments, and especially constructive criticisms, are so very welcome!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Finally, this is just a collage I was playing around with. I like how it turned out.

Thanks for taking the time to peek at my photography journal!

Leaning On His Everlasting Arms,
Denise

Just My Cup Of Tea!

Just got a new prop! Isn't it cute? There is also a blue version which I'd love to have, but I'll save up for it another time. I figured this would be more adaptable for either a boy or a girl.

Even cuter now...and yes, he's wearing a diaper =)

Just experimenting...a little milk and sugar Just my cup of tea!

Just for fun...Just the milk and sugar again =)

P.S. Came across another frog the other night...

Thanks for stopping by!

Leaning On His Everlasting Arms,

Denise