Last week Chuck had Lasik Surgery so Brayden and I had to find a way to occupy ourselves in Newport for a couple of hours while we waited for him.  I decided to take him down to Balboa Island to ride the ferry.  On a side note, every time I say “boat” to Brayden he does this funny little chuckle.  He’s an odd boy.  Back to my story, so he loved the ferry and the water, but the Fun Zone was closed so we walked all the way over to the pier.  The only other time Brayden has been on a pier he was pretty young.  I pretty much had a panic attack when we got out there.  What happens if the pier collapses?  He can’t swim.  What if there’s an earthquake?  A tsunami?  What if his stroller falls off the side?  Needless to say, we had to leave.  Well, I for some reason forgot about my fear of piers until we got all the way out to Rubys (probably because I really wanted a chocolate shake).  While inside the whole restaurant started to shake.  I tried to stay calm and I looked to all the other people to see if they were calm and they were.  So, I calmly asked for a lid for our shake and we went on our way.  B didn’t seem to have a problem with the pier.  Or maybe he was just too interested in his shake.

Taken with my handy dandy Canon G10.

Remember those big changes for Mom*tog that I keep talking about?  Well, they are in the works now and we’re switching hosts and doing some other things.  So, if Mom*tog goes down or you don’t see your comment appear don’t freak out!  

Stay calm!

In other news today we are heading down to San De-Lame-O for the day to go to the San Diego Zoo.  I’m so excited to take B.  He’s so into animals these days that I really think he’s going to like it.  Have a great weekend everyone!

Do you ever get all your kids or family together to take a big group photo only to find out later that some of the people are out of focus?  

Frustrating, right?  The likely culprit… your aperture is probably too low.  Unless everyone is standing on the same plain then the people behind and off to the sides will be out of focus.  A lot of people think it has to do with the way they are focusing.  Nope.  Probably aperture.  I always shoot groups at an aperture of 3.5 or higher to ensure that everybody is in focus.  You can read more about aperture here.

When my friend Jamie’s son, Aiden, was around the same age he needed a haircut.  His hair was getting long and I kept telling Jamie he needed it cut.  Just cut his hair!  It took Jamie awhile because she knew once she cut it he wouldn’t look like a baby anymore.  He would be a big boy.  Well, now I completely understand.  I apologize, Jamie, for thinking you were being dramatic because now I completely understand what it’s all about

So, I knew Brayden’s first haircut was going to be traumatizing.  But I had no idea it would be this TRAUMATIZING!   All I wanted was the iconic picture of baby sitting in the airplane, sucking on a lollipop, looking into the mirror as the first lock is cut.  That’s all I wanted.  Apparently it was too much to ask for.  We sat Brayden in the airplane and he liked it at first.  Until Zari (the very nice woman who cut his hair) tried to put the smock on him.  That’s when he lost it.  Numerous lollipops were thrown on the floor.  The screaming (oh, the inconsolable not being able to catch your breath screaming) started.  I tried to put him in my lap.  That didn’t work.  Chuck put him in his lap and poor Zari had to work around him.  I sang “The Noble Duke of York” about 27 times.  Somehow Zari was able to work her magic.

So, here’s the before:

And the after (still looking a little dazed and confused):

My favorite part?  The back of his neck.

But the front isn’t so bad either

He’s such a big boy now!  I swear today he said a whole bunch of new words and said “oink oink” for the first time too.  He’s growing up too fast!

Mom*tog opened it’s doors just 6 months and 12 days ago and yesterday we reached a milestone… 1000 comments!  I don’t even know what made me think to look, but I caught it at 999.  How exciting!  The lucky 1000th commenter was my dear friend, Polka Dot Bride (you should seriously go read her blog cause she’s Australian and that makes her rad!).

I want to thank everyone for their wonderful comments and very nice emails.  It totally makes all the extra work worthwhile when I know I’m helping so many people out.  I do get the occasional “Tell me how you (fill in the blank).  I feel I deserve the right to know everything you have spent the past four years learning in 100 words or less” emails and they are discouraging.  No introductions.  No thank you’s.  Just people who feel they are entitled to anything and everything.  I get it.  I’ve put myself out there so maybe I deserve those emails.  But, my original goal with Mom*tog has always been to help mom’s take better pictures of THEIR kids.  Not to help professional photographers take better pictures of other people’s kids  If I’m helping other pros out there than that’s great.  But, that’s not what the goal of this blog is.  I think I can also say now that a new goal is to help inspire other’s to fulfill their dreams.  To show them that becoming a professional photographer while being a mom is a totally realistic goal.

Please keep the emails and comments coming.  And please do send your questions.  But, just remember when writing your emails that I am a real person who has real feelings and a little “please” and “thank you” always go a long way

Thanks, Mom*togs!  You all rock!

My friend, Trista, sent me this great video by the amazing Zack Arias.  I needed to hear a lot of what he has today and I think a lot of you do too.  I especially loved what he had to say around the 8 minute mark.

I get so many emails asking me where I found certain props or where certain locations are or how I achieve my look.  I think the key to being a great photographer is to be you.  Look to photographers for inspiration, but in the end be you.  Not someone else.  In the photography world there are certain “rock stars” (and especially in wedding photography).  I think the whole thing is so silly.  They are wedding photographers… they are not curing cancer or finding a solution to global warming.  They are shooting weddings.  And while that’s an awesome way to make a living it’s not rocket science.  Sure, look to these people for some inspiration, but look elsewhere as well.  Look to other types of photography.  Look totally outside the world of photography.  Look at movies.  Look at everyday life.  Look at fashion.  Look at photographers who aren’t considered “rock stars”.  There are so many awesome photographers out there who don’t get the same recognition  as the same 10 photographers who are on every “best of” list.  Step outside of the box and be different.  Be you.  That’s what made those photographers so great.  They are being themselves.

And be patient.  It takes time to be good.  And it takes even more to be great (I should know cause I’m not there yet!).  We all start out the same way.  Sure, some may get there faster than others.  But, just like Zack says we all suck at first.  It’s true!  You want proof?  You can go visit my first blog.  I don’t know why it’s still live.  Totally embarrassing, yes.  But it goes to show how bad I once was!

Happy Friday!

So, there are going to be BIG things happening here at Mom*tog!  Big, really fun, awesome things that I’m so excited about!  In the past I’ve received several emails about people wanting to hold contests through Mom*tog.  Well, I wasn’t quite ready for them and I may have been rude and not responded to those really awesome people.  I’m excited to say that I’m now ready for the contests!  So, if you’ve emailed me in the past please email me again!  I promise I won’t be rude this time  Thanks in advance!

Had one of those days yesterday where everything and everyone was annoying me.  B got beat up at Gymboree… by a girl.  Here mom annoyed me.  Had to go scout a location after Gymboree.  Brayden napped in the car.  Naps in cars annoy me because that means no nap at home later and no break for Mommy.  The lady at Nordstrom Rack stood too close to me in line.  She kept getting out of line to shop and would say, “I’m behind you.  I’m behind you, right?”  She annoyed me.  Drivers on the freeway annoyed me.  What’s the point of using a turn signal if everyone ignores it???  My internet and photoshop are going too slow to let me get any real work done.  My computer annoyed me.

So, what’s a girl to do when she gets annoyed?  Get her camera out and take pictures of something she loves.  That makes everything better.  

Brayden loves bananas or nananas as he calls them.  He loves them so much that for awhile all food was called nanana.  The boy eats so many bananas it’s crazy.

Just wanted to start off by saying that all of your Mom*tog buttons look so pretty on your blogs!  It makes me smile every time I see one

We haven’t had a question from a Mom*tog lately.  I got this one this past weekend and thought it was a great one.  This is from Abbie:

I don’t know if this question has been asked before but I was flipping through some of your images and saw one of a couple sitting on a burned tree.

My question is, how do you get people to do things, such as that, where they are going to get their clothes dirty? Does that make sense? I’m not asking only in reference to that one image but to other images in general that I see on your site and other photographers sites as well.

I get asked this question a lot when doing my mentoring sessions.  This is all about building trust with your clients.  If your clients trust you they will do whatever you ask them to do.  For the most part this isn’t a problem for me anymore.  I’ve built my business up enough where people come to me for a specific look.  But, a few months ago I booked a last minute shoot for a past client.  Her Grandma was in town so they wanted to do a 4 generation family shoot.  I personally don’t like big family shoots with extended family, but I liked this client and couldn’t say no.  I had this rad field with mustard flowers that I wanted to use.  I warned my client that it was a little bit of a walk and asked her if Grandma was okay with that.  She said yes.  Well, to make a long story short the shoot was a bit disastrous.  Grandma didn’t want to do the walk.  Mom told me that the flowers weren’t flowers, they were weeds (hey, it’s the closest thing to wild flowers that we have in Orange County!) and they wouldn’t do anything, but stare directly into the camera.

This shoot was a great reminder that I needed to remember to prepare my clients for their shoots.  I let them know that they will by lying and sitting in grass and dirt so they should wear something that they are okay with getting dirty.  I also ask them to prepare their family as well.  99% of the time it’s the woman who books me.  I ask her to tell her husband/fiancee/ significant other that my sessions are lifestyle sessions, not portrait sessions.  They don’t have to say cheese for every shot because a lot of what I do is getting the family to interact with each other.  I also suggest that they show their husband / significant other my blog so they can get an idea of what their session will be like.

Lastly, because my business is based on referrals a new client will have likely seen their friends pictures and will already know what they are getting themselves into.  It’s all about building trust with your clients.  If they trust you and have seen their friends awesome pictures then you will be able to get them to do almost anything

I never win anything. Concert tickets, free vacations, door prizes. Nope, nothing. I consider myself a pretty unlucky person. Well, that is up until last December. First, I won a FLIP Video from Southern Weddings!  I absolutely love that thing by the way.  So portable and so easy to use!

Then, last spring, my friend Kathy told me about a contest that Babble Playground was having.  It was for the best sleeping baby picture.  I entered this picture and then forgot about it.  

Then I get a call from Kathy one afternoon and she was giggling and saying something about how I won.  I seriously never win anything and to win a gorgeous (and very expensive) glider from Monte Designs!  See, when I was pregnant I really wanted a nice glider.  And I almost got one.  But, due to me being stubborn and a hormonal pregnant chick I never got one.  Now I have one.  And I love it.  We’ve spent so much time reading books to Brayden and rocking him.  I love to sit in it with him after he wakes up from naps.  

If you’re looking for an amazing glider I would highly suggest checking out Monte Designs.  They are comfortable, functional, and super stylish.  Yes, they are pricey, but totally worth it in my opinion!  I got the Vola model in the bonded leather, which you can see here.

We ended up getting a white one, which makes me a little nervous with a boy.  But when he discovers markers I think I may move it into our room.  For now there is a strict no crayon policy in his room!

Thank you very much to Monte Designs for such a generous gift!  And thank you to Brayden for being my good luck charm (and very handsome subject)!