Normally I photograph senior girls. Every now and then I'm lucky enough to photograph a senior boy. This guy… such a sweet kid. He's a fabulous tennis player and just couldn't be sweeter. Thanks for letting me take your pictures, Kyle!!
Riley {Colorado Springs Senior Photographer}
Riley's pictures were an absolute blast. She found an amazing field that we were able to finish up at. The sun was beautiful. The balloons were a little nuts but we managed a few good pictures from them. And Riley... Riley is so very beautiful. She's got amazing eyes and a perfect smile. I loved taking pictures of her! (And hanging out with her super fun mama!)
The Importance of Packaging {Colorado Springs Photographer}
I am a firm believer in spoiling. Raise your hand if you DON'T like to be spoiled from time to time. (Those of you with your hands up are lying! We ALL love it!!) For this reason I always give my clients a gift of sorts. I usually ask them to make a wish list. If they don't have anything on it (meaning they got everything they could ever ask for with the session) I will do a beautiful Christmas Ornament with their favorite senior image in it or something along those lines. I also have beautiful packaging. I have stickers with my logo on it that I slap all over everything (don't want them to forget you!) as well as boxes and bags for all of their images to go in. This is nice for a few reasons: 1) Keeps everything safe; and 2) who doesn't love to open a present?! Even if you know what it is, it's still fun to rip something open when a fun gift is inside! I mean, I'd be lying if I said I hadn't wrapped my own gifts for Christmas a time or two. :) (All us moms are guilty of it!)
The last thing I always make sure I do is to write my clients a thank you card to my client. Choosing a photographer is just that. They. Pick. You. Keep them happy and guess what? They will tell their friends!
The three best feelings as a photographer are:
1.) Knowing that your clients love their images.
2. ) Knowing that they love the prints they have purchased.
3.) Getting a call/shout out on Facebook saying how much they loved an unexpected gift.
Amazing Stacia {Colorado Springs Senior Photographer}
I absolutely LOVED this shoot. Stacia is beautiful inside and out. (I really had some outstanding seniors this year!!) She comes from a pretty cool mom, too! We were fast friends. Stacia was up for anything and was a champ about hiking through really tall grass in sandals. She kept the squeals to a minimum. ;) Stay posted for an additional shoot we did with her SUPER cute little brother and sister!!
Beautiful Anna {Black Forest High School Photographer}
When I initially met Anna she seemed quiet... reserved. But then, oh then... Then we had our session together. She. Is. DARLING! She's fun. She's outgoing. She was really comfortable in front of the camera, as well. We had lots of laughs and I'm fairly sure she was nice and warn out by the time she went home that evening. Thanks for the fun shoot, Anna!!
Aperture! {Colorado Springs Photographer}
As I mentioned previously (ages and AGES ago), three things are involved in learning how to take pictures with your camera in manual... which in my opinion is the ONLY way to get a picture to look the way you want it to look. One of those key ingredients is aperture. Aperture (commonly seen as "f/" or "F Stop") is basically what is in and out of focus. So, if you like the look of the background being out of focus, you will want to shoot "wipe open" as they say, or in other words, with a low aperture number. What that will do is help you create an image with the subject in focus and the background out of focus. You need to make sure you are focusing on the subject, of course. :) Something else you must remember is that aperture is just one corner of the "triangle". If you are properly exposed (you have the right amount of light coming into your camera so that your SUBJECT is lit nicely) and you mess with the aperture, it will "pull", so to speak, on one corner of the triangle. If you change your aperture, you will need to adjust your shutter speed and/or ISO to keep your triangle balanced.
- Camera settings: Aperture: f/1.4; Shutter speed: 1/250; ISO: 250
In the picture above my aperture was set at 1.4 (you will often see it like this: f/1.4). That is as wide open as that particular lens will go. Aperture is based on the lens, NOT the camera. (Shutter speed and ISO are dependant on your camera, unlike aperture). If you look closely, you can tell that I focused on the subject's right eye (my left). It is clear and crisp. Because I shot so wide open, even his left eye and ear are slightly out of focus. You also can't tell what is in the background (which in this case is a good thing :)). The red arrow is pointing to the arm of the couch that is he sitting on. You can't even really tell that's what it is.
Shooting wide open is a great thing... as long as you aren't shooting TOO wide open. People seem to think "the wider, the better". Not always. In fact, for me, rarely is wider better. You have to think of what you want in focus. I like my entire subject's face in focus. Both eyes. Mouth. Stuff like that. So, I generally stick around 2.8 or tighter. I DO like the background out of focus. Especially if you have nice pretty light back there. Bokeh is a beautiful thing.
You have to think about pictures you are taking of two or more people as well. If someone is standing slightly in front of the other person, you need to take that into account when setting your aperture. If I'm taking family pictures I NEVER shoot wider than 5.6. (Only made that mistake once.) So, my aperture number will be 5.6 or higher. You want to make sure that everyone is in focus. (there are, of course, exceptions.) I know if I was a client there's no way I would pay big bucks to have a fancy picture of my family if two of my kids were slightly blurry.
- Camera Settings: Aperture: f/13.0; shutter speed: 1/160; ISO: 4000
Ok, in this picture I focused on the same spot (can you tell he was annoyed that I was taking time away from the Wii?) The difference in this picture than the previous one is that I changed my aperture to f/13. That's much tighter therefore much more will be in focus and there is not nearly the amount of light coming into my camera as when I was shooting wide open. Because I tightened my aperture, I had to adjust my other settings to make sure he was still properly exposed. I changed my shutter speed slightly but most of the change came from the ISO. It went from 250 in the first picture to 4000. BIG change. But, that's what I had to do to make sure he wasn't nearly black. You can also tell much better what is in the back ground since I shot tighter (remember, more in focus). Obviously, both eyes are not in focus. There's a wadded up purple Tinkerbell blanket just past the arm of the couch. And who can miss the hubby's drying hoody? (laundry day.) Big difference from the first picture, right? In this case, I like the wide open shot better. :)
At the end of the day, aperture is a powerful tool. It is so much fun to play with and can completely change the mood of your image. Play around with it. You'll be shocked at how much more you'll like your images once you have a better understanding of it. Good luck and here are some more examples of shooting with a wide versus tight aperture. Notice the arrows showing you where the big changes are when the aperture is changed.
Sassy Sara {Colorado Springs Senior Photographer}
This girl was a BALL to photograph. It took us a while to acutally get the shoot done between her crazy school and work schedule and then her home Black Forest Fire burning down in the fire this summer. Her family has the most amazing attitudes. I went up to their amazingly beautiful 10 acres of burned land and took some pictures of it. I was so impressed with all of the laughing, smiling, and love they had for each other. They were doing nothing but looking ahead at the possibilities of things to come.
Stunning Taylor {Colorado Springs Senior Photographer}
This shoot. Oh goodness. Ya know when you have one of those shoots that is just magical... where every time you look at the back of the camera you get giddy? That was this one. Taylor is just beautiful. She's amazing. She's talented. She's humble. She's single. ;)I was so excited that the weather mostly cooperated and even when it was drizzling, we still got some amazing images!!
Professional Hair and Make Up {Colorado Springs Senior Photographer}
With my sitting fee comes professional hair and make up. It's hard to find someone you like in both of the categories but once you do, it's amazing. I've heard placing an ad on Craiglist works. I just asked around. I have found some really talented girls just out of Cosmotology School do help me out with hair. They go to my clients home and use enough product so that, even at the end of the shoot, their hair looks amazing! For make up, I have settled on the Clinique counter at Dillards Department Store. I think a lot of different places would work but we are a little limited down here in Colorado Springs. Because I use the Clinique counter (FREE!!) I am able to give the girls a $25 gift card to spend while they are there. That one seems to be a home run every time with the Senior girls!I have been very lucky to work with some naturally beautiful girls. However, the camera eats make up for lunch! You need to go a little heavy on the make up to really notice it. I have done it both ways, (with/without hair and make up), and let me tell you, I will NEVER go back. I am also one of those photographers that believes that Seniors should look 18... not 25. They can look 25 in their engagement pictures! ;)
Check out these "before" and "after" pictures. These girls go from natural beauties to complete knock outs! (Thank you Facebook- - and my beautiful seniors- for the "before" images!)
The Teen, the Tween, and the Puppy {Colorado Springs Teen Photographer}
I had a lot of fun shooting these guys. Their mom is amazing. She's one of my sweet, sweet friends. She'll never be able to get rid of me, the poor thing! She was Carter's Kindergarten teacher when he was diagnosed with Leukemia. She was one of the very first people who knew he was sick. She noticed things that maybe a normal teacher wouldn't have.
She has taught my middle child as well and we can't wait until it's Preslee's turn! Her kids were so sweet and put up with my turning, shifting, adjusting during the entire shoot!
The Big FOUR! {Colorado Springs Children Photographer}
I'm sure I'm not the first mom out there that has nearly gone gray looking at what should be a toddling, drooling baby and realizing that said baby is now running, talking up a storm, has opinions (more than you care to hear), and is turning 4 years old. My baby just turned 4. And, yes, I know that I'll blink and she will be getting married. So, I've chosen not to blink. :)
Munchkins!~ Colorado Springs Children Photography
This shoot was SOOO much fun! It was rained out once and on the day we actually ended up going we went back and forth all day long over the weather. Mama and I both were THRILLED with how the weather turned out for us. It. Was. Perfect.
The kids were fabulous. Grandma (who, for the record, did NOT look like a grandma!) came along to help. Drool from teething didn't matter because we played in the water. Sunlight was beautiful. Honestly, we couldn't have asked for a better day!!
To make it even better, the awesome Mom that goes along with these two darlings works for me. She does all of my ordering sessions with my clients. (And she gets glowing reviews from them all!!)
S'mores: Capturing Everyday Moments~ Colorado Springs Children Photographer
A few weeks ago we decided to break in the backyard fireplace and make some gooey S'mores. The kids absolutely loved them! Who doesn't love a throw back to your childhood, am I right? I took the opportunity to snap a few pictures with my "real" camera since I all too often just pull my iPhone out of my pocket and use that. (I blame Instagram!)
I want to make sure that I remember to capture these little moments. The details of these day to day activities WILL eventually go away. My kids will grow up. The cute little dimples are their knuckles will someday get wrinkles. Comforting the bad dreams in the middle of the night will turn to them rolling over and falling back to sleep on their own.
Because of this, my New Year's Resolution was to pull out the big guns and try to take more pictures of my sweet family; no matter the background; no matter the light.
Location Hunting~ Colorado Springs Photography Tips
As photographers we are always (ALWAYS!) looking for fun places to shoot... places that will inspire us... places that are unique and all our own... places that when people see the images they say, "Where did you take these?!?" Well, look no further! I'm here to give you a few tips on location hunting and finding those prime spots that will be all yours!
1. Always be on the prowl. When you're out and about, watch what you're driving past. You just may find a hidden jewel you've seen a million times.
2. Don't look for the Taj Mahal. Some of the best places I have ever discovered have been dinky places on the side of the road.
3. Don't be afraid to ask! If something is private property give it a try! It's amazing what people will do for a warm plate of chocolate chip cookies!
4. Look to the Internet. Often times you can find really amazing places on flickr, Instagram, or even Facebook.
5. Ask fellow photographers to go location hunting with you. Raise your hand if finding an awesome new place makes you pee your pants just a touch. (Trust me, everyone's hands are high in the air). Your photog friend may see a vision that you would have otherwise missed!
6. Watch the light. Light can be sneaky! Always moving around on us! Sometimes an otherwise boring location turns into a magical photographer's oasis at certain times of day. There are places I won't shoot at in the evening (you know, during that blessed golden hour?!) because they just don't work with the light the same as they do in the morning.
7. Don't be afraid to move things around. Break a sweat and drag that tree trunk across a field to where the light is yummy!
Here are some images of a shoot I did a while ago. My photographer friend and I found this location on the side of a busy road... there was even a bright blue dumpster there!
I'm Featured on Chic Critique!~ Colorado Springs Photographer
I LOVE this photography forum. It's called Chic Critique Forum. It was created by a good friend of mine, Kelli France, and I have become really involved in it. I was super excited when they posted a blog post on location hunting that I wrote. (It will also be appearing on my blog shortly.) So, take a second and head over there and check it out. And if you're a photographer looking for a good forum to learn and grow, that's a pretty good place to hang out! So many amazing people to learn from!!
Nature Walk~ Denver Children Photographer
On a fairly warm Sunday afternoon our little family went on a beautiful nature walk at Cherry Creek State Park in Denver. It was just beautiful. We saw all kinda of things like a "beach" (a lake), fish bones, deer tracks, rolie polies, and lots of other things that would entertain kiddos for hours. With our favorite family past time being exploring beautiful Colorado, it was great to see a completely new park we haven't been able to enjoy yet.
This picture of my sweet three year old just makes me giggle. She has such a skip in her step. It's just so her... she has such a big, fun personality.
LDS Baptism~ Denver Mormon Temple Photography
Carter got baptized on Saturday! In our church we wait until the ripe old age of 8 to get baptized. The reasoning is that by 8 we recognize the difference between right and wrong and are ready to make those choices on our own. I remember when he was diagnosed when he was just past 5 1/2. We were trying to explain to him how long his treatment would be. We told him when he was baptized he would almost be done. Turns out we were off by a year but that's ok. :) The important thing is that the baptism is here which at that time, sitting on the hospital bed with my very sick son, it felt like this day would NEVER come!
Twins!~ Colorado Springs Senior Photography
I really love photographing twins. I love photographing identical twins even more. My amazing sister has identical twins that I photograph at every possible turn. These twins (Sarah and Mary Kate) are just as darling (although twice the age as my nieces!) They were so cute together making each other laugh and driving each other nuts! It was just perfect!
An Image I Love~ Colorado Springs Children Photography
I love this image. I love her clothes. I love her hair (especially since she won't ever let me do ANYTHING to it aside from a pony tail). I love the light. It's just a favorite I had to share.
My Twin Nieces~ Provo Canyon Children Photographer
My identical twin nieces are just darling. They have more energy than a pack of wild animals and I am fairly certain can, in fact, bounce off the walls. They were the first born grandchildren on my side which makes them all the more special. Last summer, while we were on vacation in Utah at Aspen Grove (love that place!) we went out for a few minutes up Provo Canyon and took some pictures of them in their baptism dresses. It was so much fun to see them all dressed up and ready to pose for me!