Month: February, 2011

And the snow came… {Monroe, WA child and family photographer}

February 28, 2011 · 9:21 pm

We’ve had a snow filled week. And, now it’s turned into rain. I kind of feel like an “all or nothin” kind of a gal. If it’s going to snow, let it DUMP and stay around. If not, then bring me some sun. Oh well… It did dump on a particular few days last week, but later in the day, it was all gone.

On one morning last week, the excitement in our house was telling. The kids were glued to the window, watching it fall. So very pretty. So, we took advantage, bundled up, and headed out. On this day, we had a third little munchkin with us. I have been watching a little guy one day out of the week. Mr. K has been fun to have around and Ben has sure enjoyed his manly company!

Just a few pics!

Grateful {Snoqualmie Valley, WA child and family photographer}

February 23, 2011 · 10:20 pm

This weekend was lovely! Great weather for February… SO, Saturday evening, I headed South to meet my beautiful friend and her family for an outdoor portrait session! Although, I do love spending time with my family, Saturday’s late afternoon drive, was a pleasant surprise to my little self. I took in our beautiful valley, as I drove down Hwy. 203 and enjoyed some alone time. Me, Taylor Swift’s new CD, and God’s creation. I passed grassy fields, winding rivers, old bridges. I took in the birds chatting away, as I sat at the stoplight in town. I watched the sun light up the trees, as I drove. It was just what I needed. I thanked God for His beauty and got excited about the session ahead and what we would capture!

K and I go WAY back… to old Western days, when we were college roommates together, along with three other gals. These four friends have been a constant in my life and I am so thankful I have such dear friends as these. Ironically, two of the original five are long distance, so it is rare, but a HUGE treat, when we all see each other! How I long for Christmas get togethers, to see my kindred spirits again!

I AM fortunate to have Miss K nearby! We get together often for play dates and I always love spending time with her! She is my creative buddy and we can chat for hours about sewing!

She had a GREAT vision for her family’s session, suggesting we start with some pics of little B and his ONE year old self, and then heading to Snoqualmie’s old railroad tracks for some shots there. I threw in the idea of heading to a new location, one I haven’t been to before, and OH, and I am glad we did! Snoqualmie Point Park! A-MAZING! The evening couldn’t have ended better, as the sun was JUST setting and lighting up the mountains behind them! What a majestic overlook this place is. I will definitely be coming back… I just get giddy when I have such a beautiful backdrop in a family session!

Anyway, J family! It was fun and I hope you enjoy your sneak peek… Love you, Kel. I am so thankful for you.

**This family will receive a FREE 5×7 with their print order, if they receive 10 comments below this blog posting!

I must have been really funny to these two=)

Get that art UP! {Monroe, WA natural light child and family photographer}

February 19, 2011 · 9:45 pm

I have to admit something to you.

Are you ready?

I have a couple of main spots in our house where there is NOTHING on our walls!

Here’s the the crazy part…

I am a photographer. I take LOTS of pictures. I am visual and I am inspired by so much {ie. color, fabric, texture, light, people, love, etc. etc.}. If you don’t believe me, check out my pinterest page! Another photographer I know recently described pinterest as “crack to a visually creative person.” I laughed hard when I read this. SO true! Seriously, if you are visual like me, you NEED to check out pinterest. But beware, it’s addicting.

And, this same drive in me to SEE things, also goes with me when I walk into other people’s homes. One of my favorite things to do when I walk into a friend’s home is to look at all of their pictures and art! I love just seeing how other people live and love through their images they have up and in frames! Makes me smile.

So… WHY do I have a serious lack of portraits up in certain parts of my home? It may be because I need to paint. Yep, our one main spot, where everyone hangs out, is covered in white walls and nothing more. Above our couch, lies two small drill holes, left from two sconces that were taken down last year when we moved our room around to create more space. I STILL have done nothing to fill those holes. I STILL have yet to paint. AND, I still haven’t hung any pictures up in that space. All fall on filling the holes first, I guess.=)

I have ideas. Oh YES… my mind is OVERFLOWING with ideas. But, I need the action to do something.

Enter this post. I am giving MYSELF a challenge. Along with ALL of you… to get that art UP! Up on our walls. In frames. On canvases’. OFF of our computers. Let’s think outside of the box, here people! There are LOADS of creative ways to display your treasured family images in your homes… in fact, on my pinterest page, I even have a helpful board to show many of those ways. Check out my “Photography on Display” board and you will see what I mean!

And, that is why I am NOW offering several different collections to clients! When I found these fabulous wall display templates, I was so jazzed and KNEW I wanted to show these to you guys as well! These are SO great because they SHOW you what your image will look like on your wall, hung alone, or in groups. If you are investing in beautiful family portraits, why not display them properly in your home, for you and others to see for years!

“But, how do I KNOW what will look great up in my home,” you ask?

Well, let me show you…

The ever popular 8×10 print.

hmmm… doesn’t really do that image justice hung solo, now does it?

Let’s try an 11×14.

Nope… not quite the ticket.

How bout a 16×24.

Getting better, but still no dice.

20×30?

Yep… lookin good…

But, wait… hold the phone!

The beautiful 30×40!!!

WOWZERS! SO great to visualize how these images will look on your walls and in what size!

And, like I said, I am now offering up Fine Art Gallery Wrapped Canvases, sold exclusively in collections!!! Don’t know much about Gallery Wrapped Canvases’? Well, let me tell you a little about them…

Gallery wraps are the classic and timeless option to display your images. Gallery wraps are mounted on a 1.5 inch wooden stretcher frame and are printed on canvas substrate. Group your images from your session together to create one beautifully visual wall display that comes ready to hang!

{All images below from recent sessions}

For those of you who prefer to frame your pictures, I am also offering Print Collections!

More info on our Display Collections can be found HERE.

SO… As you can see! Doesn’t that art look A-MAZING when it is displayed and OFF the computer! Makes me want to put something up! And, I think I will! In the next several months, I plan on doing something about my blank walls! I’ll post a little before and after here for you all to see! And, I give you that challenge too!

Get that art UP!

Ducks and a little mover {Bellevue, WA child and family photographer}

February 15, 2011 · 8:30 pm

I met up with this family on Saturday for a re-shoot from a previous rain-out… Little M was ON THE MOVE! He just turned two and he is just all boy and full of joy! I thought it was adorable that he was so into the ducks… Mom brought some crackers to feed them and he had so much fun with that!

Hope you enjoy your sneak peek, R family!

**Show them some love… They get a FREE 5×7 with their print order, if they receive 10 comments below this posting.

Feelin the love {Monroe, WA canine photographer}

February 14, 2011 · 8:49 pm

We had a fun day today! The kids woke up to waffles with strawberries and powdered sugar and they were Oh so happy! I made a trip a few days ago to the dollar store and snagged an ULTRA cheeseball Valentine’s vinyl tablecloth and also a couple of red plastic champagne glasses with hearts on them. And, of course, I couldn’t resist grabbing two metallic heart balloons for the kids! Ben walked out of his bedroom surprised at the sight of our kitchen table all decorated with red and pink. He seemed really happy to be sipping orange juice this morning out of his champange flute. And, when Grace woke up, she was ALL about the balloon, tied to her chair! We had a yummy breakfast {minus Jeff since he had an early work meeting} and exchanged homemade cards.

My mom drove up later in the morning and we enjoyed a quick couple of hours out and about doing a little shopping at the outlets, minus Ben and Jeff who stayed home for boy time. We picked up some cute Spring and Summer shirts and shorts for my “grow out of everything so quickly” boy!

Then, it was back home for PB and J sandwiches cut into hearts and nap time. My mom stayed for just a bit to visit and help me clean up after the kids went down.

Later in the day, we headed out to the gym and to pick up a heart shaped pizza from Papa Murphy’s!

With all of the festivity, can you believe that I wasn’t able to take ONE single picture of all of the pink and red around our house!?

I did, however, take this…

Those that know me, know that I HATE folding laundry. Often, it gets done, but then sits on our couch for a day, until I finally get around to folding it. Guess Mr. Chase found my big laundry pile quite cozy to snuggle up to and take an afternoon snooze.

Before and After {Monroe, WA natural light photographer}

February 9, 2011 · 10:08 pm

I thought I would try something a little different with this blog posting… I have learned SO SO much over the past three years about photography! So much of it has been online reading through tutorials, asking questions in forums, and looking at other photographer’s work. I have seen my style change and have really learned from my mistakes, both in camera and in processing. And, I continue to learn! That’s the beauty of this journey… Anyway, I thought it would be fun to humbly give back just a bit! Not because I have all of the answers, but because I know how much it helps to SEE another photographer’s process…

Case in point, take last week. I had been reading a ton lately on “back button focusing”. I won’t go into detail trying to explain it. Check out this article if you are interested in learning. I had been reading that this technique tends to improve your focusing, hence giving you a sharper image. Who doesn’t want that? That is what I am after 100% of the time! So, I changed some settings on my camera and gave it a go, practicing on my kids. When I entered into this past Saturday’s session, I felt comfortable enough with it, that I thought I would continue on and was pleasantly surprised with the results. There seemed to be far less throw aways than usual. I believe I am hooked on back button focusing! Truly, it seems to help a ton when I am chasing after a moving child!

Here is an image where I think back button focusing {and a fast shutter speed} helped:

In this image, this little cutie pie was sitting, but moving, while clapping his hands. I may not have gotten a good focus on his eyes if I hadn’t locked in on them {back button focusing}. I then re-composed, adjusted my exposure, and took the shot. Like I said the fast shutter speed I was at helped as well. And, the natural reflection from the surrounding buildings and the sidewalk and sky helped to bring out the catchlights in his eyes too! ALWAYS after that IN CAMERA {sometimes, not possible with a moving child, but if I can lead them to a well lit area, then I will most likely shoot away}.

Here is my info, both in camera and in processing {if you are interested}:

ISO 400. 50 mm. f/2.8 and 1/1000sec.

**sidenote re. processing… I spend a great deal of time on each image that I edit. I don’t batch process through my images {partially because I don’t know how and partially because I DO want to spend that extra time working on each individual image}. I am all about detail. I am sure my workflow will get faster and faster as I continue to learn down the road. However, my goal is to capture a correct exposure as best as I can in camera. That seems to be getting better and better, the more experience I have… which then lowers the time I spend in post-processing. Also, I realize that all of us have different tastes in editing. I tend to gravitate towards a softer, more natural feel, but for this image, it SCREAMED color to me, because of the yellow wall, the blue suitcase, and his blue overalls. I wanted to play up that, rather than soften this image. SO… enough of my rambling… here is what I did:

Organized in LR, opened in Photoshop
Played Soft and Sparkly baby action by Pure Photoshop Actions… Brushed on the gentle eye pop/details @ 30% opacity.
Used the brush to soften some of the redness in his cheeks and forehead.
Played Look at that Color baby action @ 100%, masked out his face a bit.
A bit of a color pop in curves.
Sharpened.
Flattened.

And, there ya go… Again, with this image, it didn’t take me long. But, often I try different things, only to find it is not what I am looking for. And, this helped, since SOOC {straight out of camera}, this image came out pretty good.

Hope this helps!

Kelly
xoxo

Overalls and a big smile {Snohomish, WA natural light child and family photographer}

February 9, 2011 · 8:47 pm

I met this sweet mom through our MOPS group… We met up this past weekend to take some family portraits and some pictures of their adorable and SMILEY one year old! This little guy was a hoot! Full of smiles and such a personality! I am sure he will make a great big brother to his new sibling to come…

I had a lot of fun with this session! Historic DT Snohomish is becoming a new favorite location of mine. I am loving the great colorful textured walls, the lines in buildings, and even the riverfront close by. We had a great time exploring it all! AND, we lucked out on NO RAIN too!

Hope you enjoy your sneak peek… This family will receive a FREE 5×7 with their print order, if they receive 10 comments under this blog posting!

Playdate Fun {Monroe, WA child photographer}

February 1, 2011 · 9:20 pm

Grace and I had a fun playdate with my sweet friend, Michelle and her daughter, Brooklynn this morning. Jeff had the morning off, so he took Ben to run some errands, while the girls played with our cameras! My friend, Michelle runs a photography business here in Monroe as well, so we played in her in-home studio with her super cool soft boxes and our two little girls! We joked that we should of had a video camera running, since it was SO funny trying to get our two daughters to sit still for one second to take their picture. Grace is JUST getting into that phase of not wanting to sit still for very long, so it was quite comical=) Anyway, thought I would post a couple of the images that I took from today’s fun. We’ll have to do that more often!