If I were possibly thinking about traveling to one location outside of California to do some shooting this summer where should that be and why?  I’m thinking about taking a long weekend and going somewhere new to shoot.  I’m looking for a place that’s totally different than Orange County.  I want barns, old buildings without fences, and no beaches!  Please leave a comment with a location suggestion if you’d really be interested in booking a session.  I get emails asking me to travel all of the time, but I want to see if the interest is really out there.  The shoot can be whatever you want it to be.  Family, engagement, head shots, just because, whatever you want!

When Brayden was 10 months old we went to our good friends wedding in Ohio.  I was so looking forward to taking pictures of B there.  Barns!  Cornfields!  Long, empty roads!  And then I got sick.  I was so bummed.  But, I still ended up going out and making my poor baby freeze while I tried to get a few shots.  Can you believe this is the same kid?

B wanted to let everyone know that he’s okay!  No permanent damage  You can just see a little bump on the left side of his forehead.  It actually looks worse in person, but it’s a big improvement from the night it happened!

Canon 5D, 50 1.2

f2.0, 1/320, ISO 250

I’m still Formspringing.  Come on over!

I’ve gotten a few emails recently asking about me and how I got started in photography.  It’s not a very exciting story and I really don’t like writing about myself.  I can write about a lot of things, but when it comes to myself I get writers block.  Because I’m pretty boring.  So, I’m jumping on the bandwagon and opening up a Formspring account.  You can go there and ask whatever you’d like.  Want to know what my major was?  Where I went to school (you should ALL know that!)?  What it was like to work at MTV?  What my training in photography is?  Why I want to be best friends with Britney Spears?  Go on over and ask a question and I’ll do my best to answer them.

I’m warning you.  It will probably be boring though.  Because, like I said, I’m pretty boring.

On another note, we had our first traumatic injury yesterday.  B ran into the side of the door and ended up with this (taken with my iphone).

I didn’t think it was going to be that bad.  He runs into things all the time.  But, when Chuck told me not to look I knew it was bad.  I almost threw up when I saw it.  It scared the crap out of me.  How am I going to deal with having a crazy boy and all the injuries that come with it?  If I couldn’t stomach a knot on the head how I am going to deal with blood and (knock on wood) broken bones.  Ugh.  This is the part of being a mom that I do not enjoy.

I’m starting a new segment here on Mom*tog called “Mom*tog of the Week”.  Well, hopefully it will be a weekly thing  Let’s see if I can keep up with it!  Basically, I want to feature Moms who have an interesting product (photography or mom related) they’d like to review, have a super cute picture of their kiddos, or just an ordinary Mom who has something interesting to say.  I want Mom*tog to be a place where we can all connect rather than just having to listen to boring old me day in and day out  If you’d like to share a topic or would like to nominate someone to be a Mom*tog of the week then email me!

Our first Mom*tog of the week is Brandi Blaha from Virgina.  Brandi is the mom to two very cute little boys and has recently started her own photography business.  Brandi left a comment in the flash post talking about an interesting product that I thought would help a lot of Mom*togs shooting with on camera flash, so I asked her to write up a little review on it.  Thanks Brandi for taking the time to write this!

PS  If you’re on Facebook can you pretty please take a second out of your day to vote for this?  You can read more about why you should vote for it here.  THANK YOU!!!

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I was so excited to be asked to talk about the LightScoop on MomTog!  I am a mom of 2 boys under the age of 5.  I have been a professional photographer for 10 years, working for high volume school photography company.  After years of people asking me if I have my own business I’ve finally made that big leap.  It’s a very exciting time for me.  You can check out my photoblog at here.

The LightScoop is my most favorite new toy.  We have all enjoyed post after post about using Flash and how challenging it can be to maintain that natural light look when relying on available light alone is not enough.  The trick to good flash photography, in my experience, is to use the minimum amount of flash required.  I often use fill flash when shooting outside as well, if the situation allows.  However, the LightScoop will only work indoors.

I snapped of few pix of my son in the tub so you can see the difference in the overall appearance of the photos.

The first shot is with the pop-up alone.  You can see the light is very harsh and also cause shadows behind him on the wall.  The shot was taken on Program at 400 ISO.

The 2nd image is with the lightScoop and give the appearance of ambient light in the room, which by the way has no windows.  This shot was taken with the recommended setting:  800 ISO, Shutter Pref f-stop 200 with the pop-up flash on 2+.  You can adjust the power of the pop-up flash on most DSLR’s.

I love the MomTog Blog because it’s for all levels of photographers.  Just like anyone else I like to take simple candid photos of my kids at their birthday parties and on holidays and just for everyday fun.  I’m pretty sure my kids are photographed on a daily basis.  I found myself relying on my tiny Canon Elf during these situations as I was always disappointed with the results of my DSLR with the pop-up flash when shooting candids indoors.  That’s when I found the LightScoop and it has allowed me to LOVE my DSLR even more.  It’s a lightweight and compact bounce attachment for the pop-up flash on your DSLR.  It’s genius if you ask me.  It can also be used in professional applications as well.  For instance, I recently photographed my friend and her 9 week old baby girl.  It was night time so there was no light coming into the windows.  I plopped them on my couch next to a floor lap, snapped in the LightScoop and shot away.  The results are amazing.  The lamp allows for some nice size catch lights in the eyes (without which the photo would lack punch) while the bounced pop-up flash lets soft light flow down around them.

You can purchase your own LightScoop online for less than $40.  I own the standard, they offer a Warming Lightscoop as well but I don’t think that’s necessary.

After reading my post on cropping a lot of people asked where they could get 8 x 12 prints.  A lot of smaller, mom and pop, photo labs will print 8 x 12 prints.  I have a local printer that I go to when I’m in a jam and he will print any size I need.  If you’re local in north Orange County, Fullerton Photo is a good lab that will print them.  And it’s a super cute place to hang out too!  Apparently Costco prints 8 x 12 prints too.

I checked with our newest sponsor, Color Inc Pro Lab, and they also print 8 x 12′s.  Check them out!  There’s no minimum order and if you use the promo code “Tag10″ you get 10 free 4 x 6 prints!  Score!

And just in case you are wondering, I’m so over this weather.  We officially have cabin fever!  I have a new found respect for people with kids who have to suffer through real winters.  We’ve had 3 days of rain and have 2 more left until we see the sun.  If we just had a BASEMENT then we could have a great big play room.  I really want a basement.  I get so jealous that the rest of the country gets basements.  I see all these rad houses with basements on HGTV and I really want one.  But, then I would probably never go in my basement because I would be scared of earthquakes.  Okay, I’m getting off topic here.  I tried to teach B that jumping in puddles was fun, but he didn’t get it.  He jumped this one time and then was over it.  He said it was too cold and then ran back inside.  Wimps, I tell you!  We have very thin blood here.

Up until Monday we’ve been having very nice weather in the OC.  I don’t want to brag or anything, but we’ve had temperatures in the 70′s and 80′s.  We’ve been enjoying Disneyland and play dates outside.  Shorts and flip flops.  It’s been awesome.  And then yesterday the weather was not so awesome.  Tornado warnings.  In Southern California.  The weatherman on the channel 9 news actually said that we should get in our basements.  What basements???  We live in Southern California!  Who has a basement?  It really was an exciting 30 minutes.  Everyone was freaking out over this alleged tornado.  And then the bad weather blew through and the blue sky came back out.  If you’re from anywhere but Southern California you would have laughed at us yesterday.  The rest of the country sees all the time.  We’re wimps.

Since the weather has been so great we’ve been spending lots of time in our backyard working on our garden.  Chuck decided to get Brayden his own watering can so he can chores.  B loves it!  He loves to do things himself.  He even has his own flower pots that he is responsible for watering.  Here are some pictures I took of him.  This was the week before the big tornado of 2010.

These pictures were taken about an hour before sunset, which is my favorite time to take pictures!

Shot with Canon 5D, 50 1.2

f 2.5, 1/1000, ISO 125

Same settings as above.

f 2.5, 1/800, ISo 125

And he even indulged me and sat for a minute and smiled for a picture!  And I apologize for my son’s hair.  There is nothing I can do about it.  It’s out of control.

f 2.5, 1/400, ISO 125

Last Friday we had one of those days.  One of those days where I can’t even write a short blog post because B is screaming at me and threatening to take a pen to my wedding albums.  One of those days where I actually said, “If you don’t stop screaming I will turn this car around!”.  One of those days where he woke up at 5am and took his nap two hours early, which made for a very long day.  There was a lot of this going on.  All before noon.

And when that is going on sometimes the only thing that keeps my sanity is to get my camera out and just laugh at him.  Don’t worry.  It’s not child abuse.  I try the hugs and the I love yous first.  But, when those don’t work I get my camera out.  Because it makes me feel better.

When Chuck came home for lunch he took B out for a walk.  When they got home B came walking up to me with a big smile on his face.  He looked up at me and said, “Mama.  Fower” and handed me a little yellow flower.

And I magically forgot all about the horrible morning we just had.

I received 17 entries for the UNposing Guide contest.  Between them, they donated an additional $970 (1 very generous person donated $500!) for the earthquake victims in Haiti.  And the winner is…

Sarah S.  She was the 4th email I received.  Thanks for all who donated!

That’s how much money WE raised!  $3068.50 donated through the American Red Cross and will go directly to Haiti.  That’s 33 UNposing Guides in 32 hours (7 purchased with a 10% off code if you’re checking my math).

Thank you for caring.  Thank you for making a difference.  It’s amazing what we can do when we come together to help those in need.   Happy Friday!

I’ve gotten a lot of emails or comments saying that you would love to buy the UNposing Guide and donate to the earthquake victims, but you can’t afford to do so.  If that’s you,  here’s a contest for you!  Donate a minimum of $10 (if you donate more you will get extra brownie points with me!) to any reputable charity where the money is going directly to Haiti.  Email me a copy of the receipt (drew at drewbphotography dot com).  Please black out or blur any pertinent info that I don’t need.  I just need your name, charity name, and donation amount.  Contest ends Sunday at midnight.  The winner will receive a copy of the UNposing Guide!  It’s that simple!

Please go here to view a list of reputable charities where the money is going directly to Haiti.

My friend Julie blogged about her friend who is in Haiti and was there for the earthquake.  Kristen is there with her 10 month old baby girl.  She was there visiting her adopted son when the earthquake struck.  Her husband and other kids are back home in the States.  Her account of the earthquake and the aftermath is so compelling and heartbreaking.  She doesn’t know how she is going to get home or when she will be able to get home.  I can’t even imagine what she is going through.  Please be thinking good thoughts for Kristen and her kids, the other American’s who are stuck there and are trying desperately to get home to their families, and, of course, all of the other victims of the earthquake.

Please check back later today to see how much money we raised!  I’m so humbled by all of your generosity and compassion.  It’s amazing to see what we do when we come together to help those in need!