Soul Sisters and an Update

Been gone a while, but I'm back with a recent project. I sure do appreciate friends coming forward and asking me to take pictures. They have to know how much I love doing it, and my hope is that they'll have at least one or two photographs they'll end up liking.

So here are a few shots from my most recent session... a couple of lovely sisters. We decided against an "on location" shoot since the youngest has a cast on her arm! That's okay... I love the up-close and personal facial shots anyway. Lighting was pretty good this weekend.

So here we are with the basic "together" shots:

 And clearly my symmetry was off with this one, which makes me SOOOO mad because I really like the shot! Yeah, I could crop, but the printing dimensions will be off....  :(

 I love seeing all of the baby teeth in this one.

 Just experimenting a little bit...

And here we go with the solo portraits. Here's the oldest...

And now the youngest...

And finally a quick shot with their very pretty mom. Could have done better with this. Wish I had taken more time to set this up better.

What lovely ladies! That was a fun session.

So...

Time to get myself a little more organized with my purpose and my goal. I finally received contact from Team in Training and they are having an informational meeting later this month (one that I cannot attend because I have a staff meeting at the same exact time that I cannot miss). Apparently, this session is for those who want to train for the Shamrock Marathon. The Nation's Triathlon is not listed.

I've been doing some thinking.

I would love to do another triathlon at some point, but I am worried about the expense of the equipment. I would need a new bike, probably some attachments, and a new wetsuit. I don't know if I can justify the expense of these things while we will be facing a pretty expensive year with our middle daughter in travel volleyball. My races this year sure added up too.

It is probably significantly wiser for me to sign up for the marathon. I will be mostly trained... just need to keep my distances up over the winter, if my body will allow it. I won't need any additional equipment (except maybe a new pair of four leafed clover shaped sunglasses).

Hmmmm. Need to come to a final decision very soon.

Sweet Cheeks

Have been busy the past couple of weeks... ran a 200 mile relay with friends in the wilds of Maryland and Washington, D.C. and celebrated my niece's first birthday. My camera has definitely been in use, but more for the "candid" side of life. That's okay... great memories are being created!

But this past weekend I needed to fulfill a promise I'd been keeping for a while. My good friend and colleague gave birth to her second lil' one a couple of months ago and I was long overdue for a visit to see her sweet new bundle of joy. I wanted to take portrait-style pictures of both of her beautiful girls as a gift. 

We were not blessed with great lighting this weekend, and truth be told, I was a little less than pleased with some of the shots. The girls did fabulously... I was the one with the problem. I will most likely ask for a "do-over" with this session, but here are some of what I came up with.

Look at the sweet cheeks on this little cutie-pie!!

And here's mama with her little newbie.

 She reminds me of a sweet little elf.

 And this is always a "money shot"... Daddy and baby. Wish we didn't have a quilt in the background. Anyone want to teach me how to use Photoshop?

Fall is really here! My favorite time of year for photos...

The Secret Garden

Last Easter my sister, her husband, and their new baby girl came for a visit and we decided to drive down to the quaint town of Manteo in the Outer Banks of North Carolina. My sister shares my love of photography, and we decided that it might be a nice idea to catch some shots of our beautiful girls in their Easter "finery." It's so rare these days that my girls put on a nice dress and a bow in their hair. Soon enough they will refuse to do it, so I have to take my opportunities while I can.

Gardens, especially in the spring, are such perfect places to shoot pictures of darling young girls in pretty dresses. We enjoyed our visit to the Elizabethan Gardens with the azaleas, roses, and tulips in full bloom. While I typically prefer black and white for most portraits, many of these shots had to be color of course. I am typically not a fan of the "classic pose portrait", but there's something to be said about it.

 Is there anything more touching than young parents and their beautiful baby? My sister and her husband are completely in love with their little girl, and it shows in almost every shot. This was my favorite of them...

And this photo reminds me yet again of how the unexpected moment often turns into the "money shot." We placed baby girl in a bed of tulips, hoping to catch her sitting pretty. But she promptly fell over and just stared at her cute little toes. One day when I get a hold of photoshop I will remove that gazebo thing in the background, but I love this picture.

 The next photo is a personal favorite, but not without faults. My two girls, three years apart, are peering into a fountain. I love the way the picture compares and contrasts them. They're both wearing the same outfit and hairstyle to highlight their "kinship." But one is much smaller and needs to boost herself up to see over the edge. I like that.

 The problem with the shot (and what I learned) is that shoes make a difference. I brought fancy shoes that were identical. But the girls thought they were uncomfortable and replaced them with their scrappy summer shoes so they could run about the garden in between shots. I never asked them to peer into the fountain. It was true discovery on their part and I caught it. No time to think or change shoes. But as I look back at the image I realize it's one of the first things your eye goes to. The difference in their shoes. It bothers me, but I still like the shot anyway.

And finally, my favorite of the day. We're still at the fountain and my littlest peers into the water. There are flower petals floating about. There is something timeless about this shot. It could have been a century ago, so I gave it a sepia tone to "antique" it. It just worked.

Gardens are such a fun and beautiful place for portraits...

Capturing A Friendship

Last fall we went on our annual camping trip by the river. It's a picturesque scene: the sunlight dancing on the water, the colorful leaves splashing our surroundings with color, the crisp blue sky... all the makings of a pretty photograph.

We are so fortunate to have neighbors and friends who like to go on this adventure with us. On the picture-perfect morning after we spent an unrestful night in our tents, the mamas of two best buddies approached me and asked if my friend and I could snap a few photographs of the girls together by the river. They wanted to have a photo the best friends could frame and put in their rooms.

How many of us have special photographs capturing our best friend at 10 years of age? I loved the idea. It's true, over time our friends may change and so do we, but we cannot forget those special ones and those special times. That can never change or be taken away.

Friendship is a treasure.

When taking photos of two best buddies, we thought about what the two share in common. What brought them together? In this case, cheerleading and tumbling were a common interest. So that just had to be captured too.

But at the end of the day, your best friend is one that you can kick back and share a quiet moment with... someone to soak up the sunshine with you, shed a tear with, and celebrate your triumphs... or just have fun doing nothing at all.

Who knew that a moment in time could be so precious? Thanks mamas, for such a great idea of capturing a friendship in photographs.