Remember when shooting indoors to turn all of the lights off and open up those windows.  Artifical light can create harsh shadows and yucky colors.  If it’s too dark to shoot in that room without lights and you have to shoot in there use flash.  If you don’t have to shoot in that particular room then try switching rooms to see if the light is better or shoot at a different time.  Watch your rooms to see which rooms get the best light at what time of day.  Natural light is the best, cheapest, and easiest light!

Here are a couple random shots I took of B yesterday.

2.8, 1/250, ISO 320

2.4, 1/160 ISO 320

Wow!  I’m so happy about the response to the Unposing Guide!  It’s been a lot of fun to work on and I can’t wait to release it in a couple of weeks!  I promise you are going to LOVE it!

Last week I talked about how I label my cards, but I wanted to let you know about an awesome product that I keep them safe in.  Meet the Pixel Pocket Rocket.  

It’s an awesome CF card holder that holds 10 cards (although I can fit more like 16 if I double some of the cards up) and secures around your belt loop and goes in your pocket.  I don’t ever go on a shoot without it.  Cards that are not  yet shot on go in with the label up.  Then when they are shot I turn them around so I know not to use them.  Cards never go in my pocket.  They go directly into my Pocket Rocket.  This way they are safe and on me at all times (I don’t remove it until I get home).  I’m too paranoid that they will get stolen!  When I was starting out my career working as a second shooter we got robbed at a wedding.  That photographer had her cards in her bag and the thieves took them leaving the bride and groom with only my pictures because I carry my cards on me.  Scary, huh?  So, for $16.50 I like the piece of mind of knowing where my cards are at all times.  Totally worth it to me!

ETA – To get a free gift from Think Tank (including a Pixel Pocket Rocket) with your purchase of $50 or more go here

I’m very excited to give you all a sneak peek at something I’ve been working extremely hard on…

More details coming soon!!!

This is the last and final tip for making your family session awesome!

I know family sessions can be stressful.  How do I know this?  Well, I get emails from my clients telling me how stressed they are  But, also I’ve been there!  You put a lot of time, and not to mention money, into the perfect session only to have your 16 month old miss his nap and be a cranky, grouchy, thumb sucking mess.  

Photo by Tara Whitney

It happens!  I should know.  It happened at our last family session!  But, the most important thing is to not stress and go with the flow.  If you and your husband stress then that will stress your kids out.  Just have fun!  Do what makes your kids happy and don’t force it.  And also, hire a good photographer who knows how to deal with these situations.  A real pro will have plenty of experience dealing with cranky kids and will know how to make it fun and stress free for everyone!

Are you scared of losing those teeny, tiny SD and compact flash cards?  It’s so easy when you’re fumbling around trying to change cards fast (especially at weddings and family sessions!).  My biggest fear is losing a card somewhere.  Yikes!

A couple of years ago I decided to write “Reward if found” and my phone number on the back of all my cards.  I figure that way a nice person will know how to contact me if they find one of my cards and a not so nice person may decide to do the right thing if there’s $50 involved.  Luckily (knock on wood!) I haven’t ever lost a card, but I would gladly pay someone to get it back.

Mom*togs can do the same thing on their cards and also on your camera.  Point and shoot cameras are so small these days and easy to loose.  If you write “reward if found” with your phone number on your camera at least there’s a chance you may be reuinted with it.  And if you’re anything like me, it’s not the camera that I care that much about, but the precious memories that are stored on my memory card!

Picking the location! I love it when my clients pick a location that has special meaning to them.  Whether it be the place you and your husband met, where you got engaged, where you like to hang out as a family, even your own home, if it has special meaning to you the pictures are going to be even better.  I love hearing the family reminisce about why the spot is special to them.  The more I know about a family the more I can do to make the session unique to them.  Do you really want to go to the same beach and park as everyone else in your hometown?  Make it fun!  Make it different!

I shot a family session last week at the very place the couple first met – the tennis courts at their college.  With baby number 2 on the way, it was so much fun to take their 2 year old back to where it all started.

That being said, you have to take into consideration where your kids will be the most comfortable.  If your kids don’t like sand and water, don’t take them to the beach!  I learned that one the hard way   I would suggest staying away from playgrounds and anything too distracting for kids at least until the very end of your session.  You want to make sure to at least get a few shots of the family together before the kids go crazy

Sometimes the best toys aren’t toys at all.  A callender from the dollar aisle at Target and price sticker can entertain for as long as a toys that cost 30 times as much!

50 1.2 – f 2.5, 1/100, ISO 500

*** I swear my child has clothes.  I just like to photography him nakey cause he’s so cute and we’re fighting a case of Roseola (yeah, fun) and I didn’t want his clothes irritating the rash

It’s official.  Brayden refuses to sit in his highchair.  

50 1.2 – 2.5, 1/160, ISO 125

He will only sit at the table.  Which is fine, except he’s a little too short and our chairs are very unstable.  See how sad and lonely his highchair is back there?

I really, really, really want this:

The Stokee Tripp Trapp highchair is like the Chanel of highchairs.  If I would have known what I know now I would have bought this as our highchair rather than buying a highchair that only lasted us a year.  The Tripp Trapp grows with you!  Brayden’s friend Kylan has one and B got to test it out at a play date last week.  He loved it!  He sat at the table for a prolonged period of time and ate like a big boy.  Kylan’s mom, Kathy, is a pro at finding amazing deals on Craiglist and that’s where she bought hers.  I didn’t have such luck.  

I love it, but $250?  Seems a bit steep.  If the wonderful people at Stokke wanted to send one on over though we would definitely put it to good use.  Until then I’ll save my pennies and keep searching Craigslist.

So, you’ve found the right photographer.  Spent a ton of time picking out the perfect outfits.  You’re stressed and worried that your kids will behave, the weather will cooperate, and that your husband will act like he’s having fun.  What next?  How about treating yourself!  I suggest to my moms that they save their next haircut for the day of the shoot.  That way their hair looks picture perfect.  

And while they are getting their hair done, why not schedule a makeup appointment as well?  Not only will that give you the confidence to know you look your best, but it will also make a huge difference in your pictures.  It helps your eyes pop, your skin look smooth, and  your complexion look great.  I always get my makeup professionally done when we have our pictures taken.  I’m totally hopeless when it comes to those things!  And I absolutely love it when my clients get their makeup done.  I can’t even tell you how much time it saves me retouching them and how much more natural it looks than photoshop.  If you’re not used to getting your makeup professionally done it can be a little shocking.  Ask the makeup artist to go a little lighter than they normally would.  I would also suggest going to a professional makeup artist rather than someone in the mall.  I’m not saying that the girls in the mall aren’t pros.  They are and a lot of them are great.  But, when you make a appointment at the counter you never know who you are going to get.  I suggest asking your photographer for recommendations of people they have worked with in the past so you know you’re getting someone who does great work for this purpose.

So, treat and pamper yourself on the day of your shoot!  I promise you’ll love the results!

Happy 19th month birthday, B Ball (a couple of days late)!  This month we’ve had so many fun adventures.  First, we went to the San De Lame-o Zoo, which was anything but lame.  I think it may have been the best day of your life so far.  You loved the monkeys (even fed one of them a bite of chicken finger), the hippos, giraffes, zebras, koala bears, and especially the lions!  Oh my gosh did you love the lions.  After that trip you finally started to roar like a lion.  You did not like the elephants.  When we tried to watch them you shook your head and said, “Go go!”.  You wanted nothing to do with the elephants.  But, everything else mesmerized you.  You even started saying koala after our visit.  Then we just took a long trip to Surprise, Arizona to Surprise your Uncle Kyle.  You did so well on the ride.  Slept almost the whole way there!  I love staying in hotels and having you in our bed because you wake us up with lots of “Hi!”s in the morning.  Not a bad way to wake up!  Then you did extremely well on the long  5 1/2 hour ride home.  It was a very fun weekend!  Here are some other fun facts about you this past month:

-  Your favorite number is 9.  You point it out whenever you see it.  I think 9 will be your soccer number.

-  Instead of saying “Buh bye” you just now say “Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!!!”.

-  You are the best smoochie and hug giver ever!  My favorite is when you get both me and Daddy in a headlock and we give you smoochies at the same time and you laugh and laugh!

-  You love watching UCLA football and can even put your arms up when we say “Touchdown!”.

-  When I ask you how old you are you say one and sometimes even put up one finger.  I don’t know if it’s coincidence or not, but it’s super cute.

-  You’ve learned so many new words this month, but some of my favorites are “twist”, “Mamaw”, “pool” and you’ve added sheep and horse sounds to your list of animal sounds.  You are repeating more and more of what we say so we need to start being very careful about what we say in front of you!

- You only want Mama to put your to bed now, which I love, but it’s been harder and harder for me to get any work done!

-  You can climb out of your crib  You only do it when you’re angry, but that’s no bueno!

-  You know where your eyes, ears, nose, head, hair, toes, and belly are.

-  You got your first haircut and DID NOT enjoy it.  I’m dreading the next one!

And even though you still won’t say Mama I love you very, very much!  Most especially I love our afternoon dances in the kitchen, I love playing hide and go seek, and I love tickling you!  Thank you for being my baby, but also my little bud.  I love you Brayden B!

Love, 

Mommy