CT PhotoMemories: May 2011

Spring Wedding

Be sure to check out CT PhotoMemories Weddings to see more images of this amazing couple!!!

I'm always amazed and inspired by families that have twins...

The closest I have been to seeing a "household in action" with twins, is with my brother & sister in law...and I have the UTMOST respect for my sis...she is amazing with those boys...

So, when these cuties "strolled" (steered by mommy & daddy) into the park, I was giddy and excited to get some pictures of these sweet girls.

One thing I do know, that though twins may share the same birthday and some may even "appear" identical...that is (most of the time) the ONLY thing they have in common...

These girlies were no exception...when one was giggling, the other was cautious and checking out the situation...it wasn't hard to see their personalities start to appear almost immediately...

It was such fun just to play and get these little ones enjoying the outdoors and feeling the grass for the first time!

It was a wonderful way to spend the afternoon on one of the first SUNNY days in a long while! I think this little sis enjoyed it as well!

Time is flyin' by...

I met this sweet little girl back in November of 2010...

Six short months later and I can't believe how much she's grown...

There are some things that haven't changed though...

Her beautiful eyes...her contagious smile...that precious personality that is just bursting forth with each new month...

And it hasn't changed just how much she is loved...except maybe in the fact that the love keeps growing as well...

She just makes you want to smile!

I am honored each and every time I am called upon to capture this sweet one's happy face!

Photographing a Vacation

In the past, I've come back from vacations with less than stellar photographs...

Sure they "sorta" remind me of my visit, but more oft than not, I got a teeeeny tiny speck in one corner of my picture with LOTS of scenery OR, I got close ups of things that I couldn't remember where I was or for what reason I took the picture...

We recently took a trip with our girls to Colonial Williamsburg, Jamestown and DC. We had a couple of purposes in going...First off, we love history and the girls LOVE to dress up in this time period. Secondly, we wanted some good, quality family time...Because of this, I kept my camera close in certain situations and other times, I left it at the hotel so to be sure to just BE in the moment and not try to "document" every tidbit of our time away.

So what are some things to remember when you are on vacation...in order to get pictures that "tell the story" of your visit without having to sit through the "slideshow" and "explain" everything? Here are some tips that I discovered on the way...

1) Know your purpose: As I mentioned before, I wanted to come away from this vacation having had fun interacting with "history" but wanted to make sure we focused on "together" time..therefore, when I look back on this time, I want to remember those types of moments...so, when I start looking for "pictures" to capture, I keep this in mind.

Of course, you always want to get a cheesy, all together picture in front of the main "site" (in our case, the Governor's palace) And really, you're not going to be giving a photography lesson to some innocent and gracious by-stander who offers to take the picture...so, in some cases, the post-processing can add a little "oooomph" to your picture if it's not as great as you'd hoped...

However, for the rest of my "purposed-pictures", I kept in mind the theme of "historical learning" and "togetherness"...

When I set up my pictures (yes, there are some that I "pose) I think about the composition as well...in this one, I could have gotten their entire dresses and the whole palace green...but my focus was of our time together and so I opted for getting close up on their faces, the smiles that never seemed to wavor...with that palace blurred slightly in the background...

2) Tell the Story: This means that each picture (that I end up keeping out of the over 600+ that I took last week:) should be able to stand alone...I want to be able to not only look at the image and remember, but it should "say" something on it's own...I keep in mind what's in focus and what is blurred, I sometimes shift my subject to one side to show the "action" taking place...(***if you come to a SnapShop, you'll understand even more what I'm talking about here)

sometimes it even means focusing in on the little details of the day:

When we headed off to Jamestown for a couple hours, the girls changed out of their colonial gowns and got to climb around in the Indian boats and such...I wanted to capture their curiosity in different ways...at the same time, watching them take it all in...

3) Crop & Editing: As I took my 600+ pictures, I tried hard to make every shot out of the camera something awesome...but in reality, it just doesn't happen that way.. Yes, I get a few that are really nice, but more often than not, the sun came shooting through the clouds just as I had my settings ready for clouds OR I tripped over my dress and didn't get the angle that I was hoping for...not to worry, that's what photoshop is for...and if it can't help in certain situations, that's okay too:) The main thing is to enjoy, experiment, but most of all engage with your family...even if it means putting the camera down for awhile...that's why God gave us a brain and the capability to store memories:)

Both of these were taken in really low light...I will probably go back and fiddle with them even more by adding textures and such...but the point is, I had fun, my girls had fun and I have a few pictures that they can enjoy and will help them remember our time together as a family.

So to recap...when you head into vacation season this summer...remember to think about some things before you start snapping away:
1) know WHY you are there and think about how you want to portray those purposes in your images
2) tell the story through your composition...whether it mean tilting your camera a bit or focusing in on details...try to see "life" happening through your lens.
3) you can always try to "fix" in photoshop with cropping and processing the images, so don't fret too much if you aren't seeing your idea of "perfection" on the LCD screen.
4) put your camera away for awhile and just BE with your family...THAT is what is most important!

Happy Vacationing!!!

Colors...Twirling...Giggles and Smiles

This sweet family came to me via referral from a friend who knows my sister in law up north...goodness, social networking just completely overwhelms me...and yet, it is so special to find out connections and trace relationships back to a common starting point...

When I saw these two little girls climb out of their car, I just smiled...not just because I'm a mom to all girls myself, but it just always does my heart good to see "twirly" dresses and colors and to hear princess talk:)

They were all set to show me their twirling skills and I loved every minute:)

There is definitely something special about sisters...whether it just be that "female" understanding or the fact that there is a deep sense of loyalty...loves shows itself in tangible ways with sisters...

I loved watching this family interact and love on each other too...The girls were precious and I could have photographed them twirling and dancing all morning...but, then we would have run into some major dizzy spells:)