The Wind Blown Look

Haven't had any "official" portrait sessions in the past week or two, but my camera's been getting a workout nonetheless. We attempted our annual campout this past weekend on the shore of North Landing River with friends and neighbors, and the weather was a little more than we bargained for. Cold wind gusts of up to 40 mph can really put a damper on things... but we put on our best faces and went into survival mode.

This spot is always so pretty. Without the overcast cloud cover, we usually see a magnificent sunset from the shore. Not this time.

And despite the wind kicking up sparks and embers that had us occasionally running for cover, the fire provided some much needed heat!

Thank goodness for delicious warmed, spiced wine for the adults and hot chocolate for the kiddos.

Hot chocolate makes everything mo' bettah.

Just some "here and there" shots of some of the kiddos. I wanted this picture of my son to demonstrate his lack of ability to drink a beverage cleanly. You should see him with Kool Aid. Almost a teenager and the table manners of a toddler... anyone have a napkin?

A friend from school, who came along for the first time this year. Wonder if he will show up next fall?

And a shot of my neighbor with his son on the shore. Yeah we missed the gorgeous orange sunset this year, but little rays of light poked down through the clouds and gave this image a pretty cool effect.

So... I attended my first Team in Training social/"meet and greet" last week. Seems like a great group of people. I have my training schedule all worked out, and once Thanksgiving is over, it's time to kick things into high gear. Updates on my progress to follow (for those who are interested).

Again, I want to thank those who have been so generous and donated to my fundraising effort. I am already a little over 50% towards my goal, and I am just so honored. This truly means the world to me. If you are interested in donating to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society in honor of my young cousin's battle please visit my fundraising page. And if I can take some portraits for you in exchange for your donation, please contact me and I will be happy to set a time up.

And thanks so those who have asked me to take family portraits for their holiday cards! More images to share soon...

First Project... Life's a Beach

Drove down to the beach last night with a fabulous family to try to capture some nice shots. It really was a beautiful afternoon giving way to evening. The lighting was perfect and a good setting.

I haven't had much of an opportunity to photograph these four kids together... and I have to say it was more of a challenge than I anticipated. The ages between the kiddos spans five to sixteen. It was kind of an interesting dilemma to try to get the older kids (who feel awkward posing in sentimentally sweet stances) to mesh with a very busy five year old who thought my shutterbugging was an infinite nuisance.

I realize the set of challenges those portrait studio people face as they stand there squeezing their rubber duckies, trying to make the kids look their way for a split second.

I didn't have a rubber duckie.

So I just did what I could and played around.

I found the best tactic to utilize with the busy little man is to just let him do his thing. He wanted to jump off the sand dunes. He wanted to run in the ocean. He did not want to look into a camera lens. I just followed him around and tried to catch those moments of lovin' the beach.

And he loves his big brother. Of the scenes that I tried to photograph within that hour, for some reason these were the easiest... the two boys playing in the surf...

And this was my favorite shot of the set:

I loved it because I asked the older brother if he could lift little brother up in the air... and the little one screamed "NO!" and he meant it. So it seemed like a lost cause, but they went ahead and tried... and note the look on the little one's face. Despite his protests, he loved it. And that's why I love it too.

Wow. These kids are growing up. Hate to be nostalgic here, but I've known these kids for 14 years, and remember this "little" one coming over to my house dressed in a superman cape, cowboy boots and a diaper.

He's practically a man now. When did this happen?

And these beautiful sisters... time may be marching on but when I look at their expressions in this photo I see the same little girls I've always known.

I took 102 shots in an hour, including the entire family and am only posting a small sampling here. I think with every "session" I do, I need to take note of what I learned. Yesterday I just walked out of there with no specific plan, just thought I'd "feel it" and see what happens. That's probably okay if you're working with one person, but not six. Have a plan, have some shots in mind. Some days the creative juices will be flowing, and some days it just won't be there.

I need to just keep snapping away, especially the moments between the poses. My favorites from this set were the unplanned ones. The PLAN was to have all the kids hold hands and jump off a sand dune. While the jump shot was cute, I loved the BEFORE shot... the one when they're laughing at how ridiculous they feel holding hands:

And of course with the little ones... it isn't worth it to push. They want to do what they want to do. I'd rather catch them running away from the camera and laughing than looking at the camera scowling. It's all good.

Teenagers... I'll never figure them out as long as I live, so just roll with it. Actually, these kids were awesome. Very few eye rolls. Guess they know me by now and accept my weirdness.

So my first session since "Picture the Cure"s inception is in the books. I liked the challenge of it. If nothing else, I hope the family will enjoy some of the shots. I saw a lot of smiles, even if they were as a result of feeling silly. I take what I can!