I feel like it summer turned into fall this week. Daylight savings only added to the feeling. I know, I know, the rest of the country has had snow for months, but I’m excited to break out the scarves and boots! It’s like a tiny change of seasons…we go from the 80’s to the 60’s!
Anyway, this is my last hurrah of summer-ish sessions for awhile I think!
I bought this bucket a few weeks ago and the flea market and was so excited to find the perfect baby with the perfect hat to take it for a test drive. Oh…little Marco…one day you’re going to wonder why your parents let me put you in a bucket. 🙂
I also took a drive out to Palos Verdes to a new resort… Terranea One of my clients from the Bay Area (when I used to live there) made the drive down and chose the resort as the setting for their photo sessions. It was gorgeous…I need to find an excuse to head out there again!
I’m wrapping up my photo sessions with the gold settee. This was the last set of mini-sessions and we ended with a bang! So many cute photos came out of these sessions!!
And the bucket makes another cameo…this time as a stool!
Now that Halloween is wrapped up and in the bag, it’s time to think about Christmas! I’ll be at Rascals to Rebels again November 12, 13, 19 and 20. See the following dates and times:
Sign ups are at the store, so go buy your holiday outfits and sign up for a free photo session. These go quick, so go today! (This event is for children only…sorry the backdrop isn’t big enough for families.)
Here’s a bit of what I was up to last week…
I was at the Seal Beach pier when one day when it was bright and sunny. Ten minutes later the fog rolled in, then back to sun. The weather was crazy and indecisive that day!
I also had a last-minute location change when I found out there was a race going through the park I was supposed to be shooting at. Love thinking on my feet!
And a gorgeous evening photo session in one of my most favorite fields ever!
When I was first starting out, I remember watching a photographer that I admired and it was shutter click after shutter click, hundreds of them. For those of us that grew up with film cameras, it’s a transition from the feeling of being limited to the amount of film you have on hand. Digital blows all that out of the water. I know there are people who stick to their guns about really contemplating each shot, framing it perfectly and not going home with loads of junk images that never see the light of day. But, people, I photograph children. And they do not wait for me to frame them perfectly and they also don’t care how many images I ‘waste.’ Sooo, I fire away. I keep shooting the entire session. Even when I feel like I’ve got the shot, I try to squeeze in just one more good one. Sometimes, it’s when the camera leaves my face that the stars align and everyone relaxes into the perfect shot. Let’s just say I have a quick trigger finger. 🙂
I also shoot during the get-to-know-you that happens at the beginning of a session. I’ll be talking to the child, asking them questions, raising the camera to my face, then back to chatting and so on. Once we get into a groove, the natural expressions just start rolling. Sometimes, kids like to take a new smile ‘out for a test drive’. They’re not really sure what I want from them, so they just start trying things out. I’ll even show them the back of my camera…of course everyone loves to see themselves. We just keep talking and interacting until BOOM that look, you know the one I’m talking about, it just happens and I know I’ve got the shot. And that’s when I’m glad I didn’t give up.
This post will have to be short on words because I’m a one-woman show this week and lots of photo sessions to run around to! Here’s my week in pictures:
I’ve been hinting here and there at a recent project that just wrapped. Blue Christmas trees and hot pink snow flakes can only mean one thing…Oilily! If you’re not familiar with the brand, it’s European children’s clothing and it’s all about the unexpected. Lots of mixing prints, layering and details like you can’t imagine. So, I when I got the opportunity to style and shoot a few pieces from their Holiday line for the splash page of the website, I was on color overload! I kept referring to my friend Laura, who pushed me to take it over the top and I’m so excited with the results.
If you want to check out the splash page on the Oilily site, click here: Oilily USA
Sometimes when I show up to a photo session, it will take a baby or toddler a little bit to warm up to me. They might be wondering who is this lady with a black box in front of her face? Those first few inquisitive moments can definitely yield some of the best photos. It’s those inquisitive eyes looking straight into the camera. But, sometimes, their eyebrows give them away.
Do you remember that part in Toy Story where Mrs. Potato Head tells Mr. Potato Head to bring his angry eyebrows?
I used to just skip past these pictures during the culling process. I thought the eyebrows ruined the photo, but then I started to think. Those are just shadows. I love everything else about the photo. Why can’t I just get rid of the shadows. ENTER CLONE TOOL. Now I should stop for a second and say, I don’t think he looks angry…just a furrowed brow. 🙂
Okay, back to the clone tool. I took a screen shot so you can see which tool I’m talking about.
Since I’m all about being fast, the shortcut for this tool is S. Hold down alt and click what you want to cover up the area you are working on. So, in this case, I clicked on the area of his forehead above the shadows. Then click on the shadowed area (without holding alt down) to cover up the area. I like to use about a 30% opacity, so it looks natural. Then just keep going over the area, until all the shadows are gone. (oh and you’ll notice I used the same process to get rid of the scratch on his nose.)
Here’s the finished result. No furrowed brow, only inquisitive eyes. Photo saved!
Believe it or not, this blondie has an Asian background on his dad’s side! We took a few of him in a cultural outfit, that are just so cute.
The events that unfolded this week in Seal Beach have left us all a little shaky. Knowing that the future is uncertain. Wanting to hug our spouses and kids just that much tighter.
My heart aches for all the families affected. It makes me look at all these family photos from this week in a whole new light…
