The weather here in Southern Utah is so dramatic & cool! It changes quickly from sunny to rainy, and sometimes it can be both at the same time. I took this shot one afternoon last week from my back door. The color of the mountain behind us was a striking yellow, and the sky was all gray. Notice the double rainbow? It was the most beautiful rainbow I have ever seen. This was shot with a wide angle (18mm) at ISO 250 f7.1 1/80 sec.
I just love these portraits because they are so unique and fun.
Can you guess what this family's favorite baseball team is? They went on a family vacation to Boston a couple of summers ago, and even the kids became fans.
I love it when I can photograph a family that isn't afraid to let loose and have some fun...even if that means dog-piling Mom!
Kellie was such a good sport throughout the session, and you can see how much her kids love to be with her by the way they hug her.
This session was shot in the brightest part of the day,
but I like the way the contrasts work here.
You can still have a "traditional" family portrait, yet make it highly personal to add to the artwork in your home. It's great when the family has one particular interest, such as baseball...but this can work for most anything.
Aww! Does this family adore each other or what?
I want to thank Darby & Dalton for being so much fun during our session...I love you guys!
I frequently get asked by friends & family for advice on purchasing a new digital camera. I find myself giving the same answer again and again, so I thought I would post it here for anyone else who might need some help with this question.
The best place to get great information is B&H Photo and Video...they have a ton of information on every camera imaginable, as well as customer ratings. The customer ratings are detailed, and come from a variety of photographers. I go there all the time just for info, even if I don't end up buying from them right then. The link is attached below. B&H has great customer service, as well as the best products available for both amateurs and professionals alike. They ship fast, and everything arrives in good shape.
There are many great cameras out there...I personally favor Nikon, but Canon makes a great camera as well. The best recommendation I can personally give you, is to read your camera's manual. Yes, it's a little dry, but you will learn how to get the most out of your camera, by reading what the manufacturer wants you to know about your particular model. Also, there are a few books I highly recommend to beginners as well as experienced photographers: Understanding Exposure, by Bryan Peterson; The Digital Photography Book, versions 1, 2, and 3 by Scott Kelby. Understanding Exposure is by far the best book out there for beginners...easy and fun to read, with dozens of examples throughout the book. It is worth the minimal cost, to be able to learn how to make your camera work for you! Hope this helps!
If anyone is interested to know Sunny's favorite camera...it is without a doubt, the Nikon D3S. This camera rocks my world! The low-light capabilities are truly amazing. It can go to 100,000 ISO and still be crisp, with very little noise. This camera is more than most people would ever need or want, unless you are serious about shooting professionally...it's a bit pricey, but oh so worth it!
We had the opportunity to have another 4-legged kid at our house this week. Our friends took their kids to Disneyland, and we got to have their dog at our house. She is a 2 year old Boxer, named Nacho, who outweighs our 8 year old Boxer by about 20 pounds! She is full of spunk and super sweet.
She kind of makes our Chloe look a little homely (but don't tell her I said that!) since she is so pretty.
Chloe tried to keep up with Nacho, but she could hardly walk after running around with her the first day. Unfortunately, she has arthritis, and some old injuries that prevent her from being her true Boxer self at full capacity.
Go dog, go! Nacho has endless energy. She also likes to drink out of the toilet (ew!), and she even hopped in the shower to get a drink. I always keep fresh water in the house for the dogs, but I guess she prefers other tastes.
Boxers are a great breed for families...they have tons of energy, are fiercely protective of their families, and extremely gentle and tolerant with children. (plus they don't shed much) We adopted ours from a Boxer Rescue organization, which was perfect because they matched us up with the perfect dog for our family. Plus, we rescued her from being euthanized in the pound.
Of course, we also love our Yellow Lab Indy. He is totally passive, and just lives to eat and be petted! He was also rescued, only from the local animal shelter.
Consider including your dog in your next family portrait! They add a warm and personal element to portraits, and if they are a part of your life, why not include them in your session?
"Until one has loved an animal, a part of one's soul remains unawakened". - Anatole France
I had the opportunity to photograph this cute family, with three little red-headed girls.
They must get their red hair from their mommy, who also has beautiful hair!
They have a sweet little baby girl named Maddie...her chubby cheeks and bright blue eyes make everyone around her smile :)
Her big sisters love her so much... look at how they hug and kiss her
The oldest girl, Jill has the most beautiful face, and a sweet personality to match.
Her younger sister, Maren has dimples and is giggly and wiggly!
You can see how much Maren loves her big sister. She gave her a kiss on the cheek, but Jill said "yuk!"
They were so well behaved, and just wanted to play with me!
They had me dancing, jumping, singing, and behaving like a monkey (per their request!).
What adorable, playful little girls...even though they were having fun being silly, they would sneak in a hug every once in a while.
I love photographing children...they are uninhibited, playful, and usually completely honest. These girls were no different!
To see more images from this session, go to my Life-Illustrated Facebook page (click here to watch slide show).We share 8 little hens with our friends. It has been a very fun experience being this close to a food source. Don't worry, we are not planning on eating these birds! We do love the eggs they give us everyday though.
The Ameraucanas lay a blue or a green egg, which is SO cool!
The color of the egg is determined by their cheeks.
I have to note that these were all taken with my new groovy, bendy LensBaby...and don't you love the narrow focus and blurry edges? I am having so much fun with this new lens.
Well these girls sure do give us some yummy eggs! They are fresh, organic, and much better tasting than the store-bought version. They also eat all of our table scraps, bugs, worms, and oh styrofoam (although I don't think they are technically supposed to eat styrofoam...did I mention they are incredibly dumb?)
While I was at WPPI in Las Vegas I was able to break away for a quick shoot with these fun girls. They are best friends, and one of them happens to be my lovely niece, Patience. We had a great time playing at the park!
I love Patience's eyes in this picture...she looks so beautiful.
Alyssa looking like a super model here! Love the view of the Las Vegas strip in the back.
I love the colors in this image. I used a texture brush on the flowers to give it a watercolor feel.
Alyssa had these rockin' strappy heels on, and she slipped them off to show her personality. She is sassin it up in the background!
Patience has the most infectious smile :)
This photo really shows Alyssa's carefree personality.
One thing I have learned is that when there is too much noise, clutter, and over-scheduling I become completely useless. All of that distraction keeps me from being able to see over my own nose. It's kind of like having a dirty windshield when driving - if you can't see out of the window because it's all smudged and cloudy, then you can't see where you're going. When my life gets too cluttered and cloudy I can't see where I am going, and I stay in the same place. It takes simplicity and a clean environment to have clarity.
I'm not only meaning just having a clean house, or desk, although that is certainly key. But delving deeper into the issue of having long-tern clarity, being able to see where you're going means taking a closer look at the other types of clutter we can have. For example, I get dozens of e-mails daily, dozens of catalogs, magazines, phone calls, etc. I won't even go into my kids' schedule and stuff they bring home from school! Someone is always needing me or wanting me for something, and if I am not disciplined I can become totally bombarded with noise and clutter in my own head! Yes, there are certainly daily things I must do in order to get work done, pay the bills, take care of the kids, etc. But the more I eliminate, the clearer I think, and the further I see. Wow, this is totally getting deep here!
There are goals that we all have, things we want to do before we die. But if we let clutter into our lives, we will never be able to reach those goals because we won't be able to see past our mess. I am learning to stick to a routine in order to get the daily necessities done, but in order to create possibilities for my goals and dreams, getting rid if some things is proving to help. For example, I only watch one favorite tv show per week, rather than mindlessly looking for entertainment. This alone gives me so much more time to entertain myself creating beautiful images! Another thing I have tried to do is only check my e-mail twice per day (admittedly, this is a tough one!). This way I can focus on other things throughout the day, and when I do check and respond to e-mails, I am giving them my full attention, and it takes me much less time to get through them now. Keeping my kids' schedules simple has also helped because my kids are less stressed and have more time to talk to me and to have free time at home. When we are running here and there all the time, we all get grumpy.
In my workflow I have also found some wonderful tools which have changed the way I do everything, and have made my photography business a joy rather than a drag. Let's face it, no matter how much you love something, if you spend all of your time doing grunt-work (ie:sitting at the computer) your passion will fizzle out. So my fizzle-proofing for my workflow came from the fabulous Kevin Kubota. Not only is he one of the top wedding photographers in the world, but he has helped so many other photographers get to the next level with his awesome products and workshops. I had the privilege of taking a 2-day class with Kevin at WPPI. It was an intense workshop, covering many areas of the photography business. This class totally rocked! We had some incredibly talented people in the small group we were in, and the best part was that we had Kevin Kubota and his wife Clare all to ourselves for 2 days! He taught us so much in such a short time, and it was the best class I have ever taken. Okay, I am digressing...so the thing that has helped simplify and streamline my business is the Lightspeed Workflow. If you are a photographer who feels overwhelmed and frazzled by all the un-fun stuff that comes with being a busy photographer, then you must check this out! I cannot say enough good things about this product - it will change your business, I promise. I don't get anything for saying how much I love Kubota Image Tools. I just want to see people enjoying their work, and improving their business the way I am. Remember, keep it simple and clutter-free and you will be able to see your goals in front of you! Happy de-cluttering :)
I took our dog Indy on a 5 mile walk/run this morning. Once we got into Canyon Park, Noah hopped out of the baby jogger, and Indy off of his leash. I had two happy boys since it was supposed to snow, but didn't. Instead we had blue skies with fluffy white clouds.
It felt so good to breathe the fresh cold air. This was my maiden voyage run for the new year...I've been a little lazy since the start of the holidays.
It's days like this that make me wonder why I don't rush outside everyday. It is so quiet and beautiful out. There's something about being outside in the winter...I think because everything is asleep, it is more quiet and beautiful. The sky has a brilliant blue hue, against the red rock, and the trees look sort of purple-y.
There is a small waterfall towards the end of the paved trail, which looked so cool because it had chunks of snow and ice hanging over the water's edge. I tried to slow my shutter speed down as much as possible to get that "misty-dreamy" water look, but couldn't slow it too much since I didn't have a tripod. It still looks pretty though. I shot this at 1/15 F10 ISO 200 in RAW (of course!) I like this black border with white key line, added by Kevin Kubota's Action Packs. In this image i also used Radiant Landscape & Smokeless Burn from V2. If you don't use these tools, you are really missing out...they make my life so much easier. Got Action?
Look at all the colors just in one small area! Amazing.
Can't fake a smile like this! (Again, I used the V2 Action Pack...Digital Fill Flash on Noah's face)
So we had a cold, happy walk. Indy was super tired by the time we got home... he definitely needs more exercise. It is so neat that we live right in the middle of town, and within minutes, we can be out in the canyon, off the leash and away from it all. Hmm...looks like that storm might be headed our way finally... or not! Ask me in 10 minutes. That's what I love about the weather here in Southern Utah - it is always changing.
It is difficult to explain my slight obsession for food. We must eat to live, so everyone does it, but does everyone love it the way that I do?
I have learned to love food that is good for me, and I sort of admire a fresh blueberry, or a bright, green bunch of string beans. Yes, I am serious...so? Is it the color of produce? The textures? I am not sure why I can admire something so common as food. Perhaps it is the work that went into producing it and providing it for my table. Whatever the case, I do think food and feeding my family is a beautiful thing.
Food is also fun to photograph. Sometimes when I am about to eat something delicious, I can't help but grab my camera. The object will be consumed, so I guess I feel I can immortalize it by means of a picture. When I was first learning the ins and out of photography, trying out new lenses, and experimenting with lighting ratios, I would often use food as my subject. It never moves or gets bored, and it generally looks great in the camera!
The crazy thing about blogging is that I can write whatever comes to mind. My readers may find it tedious and odd when I choose my topics, but hey - I am all about being myself! The truth is, people hire me for being me. When it comes right down to making a decision to hire me or another photographer, a client will choose the personality they like. (Am I sounding all know-it-all like?) Blogging is a freeing exercise because I can cover areas I am interested in, and people can either read my posts or just enjoy the pictures...even if they are a little nutty. (uh, sorry, I couldn't resist)
I believe life is too short to try and be someone else...what I mean is, if I decide that fruits and vegetables are beautiful, then why not share it? My posts are all about how the simple goodness in life brings the most satisfaction and joy. And yes, good food brings me joy!
