More Maternity Shots

Since most of you don't get to see Karen very often I am adding a few additional images from our most recent maternity shoot. Her progression has been very amazing to watch and photograph.

Some of you will like this, and others will think it's total cheese. But it's always better to shoot something you kind of like than to not shoot something you could have loved. Get it? I like it. It might be hard to see, but it's one of our ultrasound images showing the baby's upper body (face is pointed up). As always, you can click on the image for a slighltly larger version.

Karen really liked this lighting setup that just reveals that outline edge of her body. I love how this pose allows the light to fall on her face. Just gorgeous!

Now we switch to the white background. I sometimes direct Karen in terms of posing to get the process started, but it never takes long for her to start busting out those "America's Next Top Model" moves.

Karen and I share a moment. And by moment I mean the two seconds waiting for the camera timer to go off! It was tough to decide whether or not to convert these white background images to black and white. The low-key shots with the black background look best black and white, but I kind of like the original color versions for these. So I included one of each and you can decide for yourself.

That's all for now. Maybe in a week you will see some baby photos! Thank you all for your encouragement and support. We'll keep you posted!

Baby Countdown!

We finally found some time to take some nice maternity shots with real lighting, etc. We love the shots by the beach but Karen knew she wanted some great black and white images. Of course, we forgot to get me in a few shots until we had switched backgrounds but it worked out well.

I like mixing low-key (dark background, dark clothes, emphasis on shadows, etc.) and high-key (bright background, white/light clothes, etc.) to get two very different looks.

Some nice shots of Karen alone. These are shot with the main light in an umbrella off to her side. Another flash is aimed at a reflector on her right side to act as fill and a final flash is up high and behind her to act as a hair light. The "fill" and "hair" lights help separate her from the background.

Now we switch to some high-key shots. This lighting scheme produces a much brighter and lighter feeling image. I might do a "behind-the-scenes" post about this setup later but the background is a white sheet hanging from a frame I built. A flash is fired into the sheet from behind so as to make it look pure white. Some light from the background spills on to Karen, but a light in an umbrella adds the main light on her.

And we remembered to stick me in a few. I still hadn't changed from work (I just took off my shirt) but the white undershirt and light pants worked out great.

We hope you enjoyed some of the latest pics of Karen! I've had a few requests to show some more images from this session so I will be posting them soon.

Sylvia and Lauren

At age twenty four, Sylvia gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. She named her Lauren. She had a picture taken of her and her new daughter that she treasures to this day. Now that Lauren is twenty four years old, Sylvia wanted have another set of pictures taken. She hoped to incorporate that original baby photo somehow. This was a great opportunity for me to capture some images of a mother and daughter who obviously care for each other very much. I was confident these feelings would be apparent in the images; I just had to allow them to be themselves.

We started out with some simple shots just to get them used to me and the camera.

These are kind of out of order, but I wanted to jump to these ones first since they were Sylvia's main motivation for the session. The original photo is hung on the wall behind them. I lit Sylvia and Lauren so that the background (including the photo) would be in shadow. I then used a second snooted light to concentrate a beam of light on the photo to help it pop but still not overpower the main subjects.

After getting the above image, I wanted to take a slightly different approach. Sylvia and Lauren are closer to the photograph enabling me to light both the subject and background evenly. I kept the snooted light on the photo and warmed it with an orange gel.

We played around for a little bit with dramatic lighting and some more serious expressions.

A nice closeup of mother and daughter.

The boys watched the World Series while they were "on deck." Sorry, I couldn't resist. Sylvia poses with her two children (Lauren and Reese) and her son-in-law David.

While I was there and the lights were set up we went ahead and shot several individuals and groups. Here Lauren and David share a silly moment. I get the feeling there are plenty of those with these two!

Lauren volunteered for a few individual shots. Thanks to Reese and David for assiting with this. David was holding the hair light up high and Reese was manning the reflector.

I had a great time with Sylvia and her family. I hope we accomplished what she had envisioned an then some! And I bet she never thought her back room could double as a photo studio!

Karen Maternity

Karen and I went for a quick walk on the beach last night. It was nice to get some fresh air and enjoy the sunset, but it was also just an excuse to go to our favorite pizza/Italian place Jo-Jo's. Karen and I keep trying to find the time to do her formal maternity shots with studio lighting, etc. but haven't yet. We agreed to shoot a few quick shots while at the beach just to take advantage of the nice scenery.

The original plan was to just shoot silhouettes like this one, but once we were out there we tried a variety of styles.

This was actually right as we were leaving the beach walking back to the car. The sea oats, the pink sky, and the moon all combined to form a very interesting scene. The image is slightly underexposed because I think it adds to the feel/mood of the scene. Also, if the scene was exposed for Karen, the sky would have been washed out and lost most of its color.

And you know I couldn't resist incorporating a flash into a few! I told her I wouldn't bring any lighting but I slipped a flash into my pocket just in case. I'm glad I did! All the proportions are kind of exaggerated here because I am so close and using a very wide angle lens. I would usually prefer to step back and zoom in, but I had to hand-hold my flash (didn't bring a stand). In order to get nice directional light coming from the side I had to hold out the flash as far as I could while being very close. If I was far away, the flash would be head-on and not as nice.

The due date is in two weeks! Hopefully there will be another maternity set posted before the little guy/girl arrives.

Women Build

I made it up to the Habitat for Humanity Women Build for one of their recent work days. I mainly wanted to check on the progress of the house, while also getting a few more shots of Pam in action.

To see what this "Women Build" thing is all about, you can go to the official site, or you can see all of my related blog posts.

Pam occasionally visits the site with her two sons so they can see the progress on the house (they are too young to be allowed to help during construction). On their most recent visit they went around and chose their rooms. Apparently one of the boys thought he should get the master suite. Seen here is "Mom's Bedroom" although I don't think this will actually be her room.

Lots of the volunteers have been writing messages on the walls as well.

One of the HFH project managers walks by a message from Pam and her boys to all the volunteers: "TO ALL WHO WORK HERE, OUR HEARTFELT THANKS! PAM, MICHAEL + RYAN."

Pam supports one end of a roofing frame while the volunteers attempt to lower it so it can be moved to a different section of the roof.

Pam at the work site.

Pam takes a minute to step back and survey the progress.

The ladies move a wall before it is set in place. A beam reads "A House Filled with Love."

The house is coming along and expected to be finished around February. I will be sure to keep you posted!

Rett's First Birthday

OK, so some of you are going to say "What, pay a photographer to cover my kid's birthday party? I'll just take a few photos myself or give that job to Aunt Clara." But then you have to check on the grill, replenish the plates and napkins, greet and mingle with your guests and most importantly enjoy yourself. Inevitably, the camera stays in your pocket or in your purse and you are lucky if you remember to snap one shot of the birthday boy with the cake.

Kids grow up fast and photos from this period become priceless keepsakes to enjoy for years to come. I like to imagine an adult Rett going back through an album looking at these pictures with a big smile on his face.

Now I will hand it over to Rett so he can personally guide you through his first birthday party.

Hello? Is anyone out there? Oh, hi there! My name is Rett and I just celebrated my first birthday with the help of lots of friends and family. We had this AWESOME photographer there that took tons of pictures so my mommy and daddy could concentrate on having fun. Thanks to everyone who was there. And if you weren't there, hopefully these pictures will make you feel like you were.

I love my mommy (adults call her Karen). Even though I was real busy playing with everyone I still managed to find a few minutes for mom.

Here is one of my friends. So far I've learned that boys like to get dirty and I must say, I am getting pretty good at it myself.

Mom and dad set up this great inflatable bouncy thing. I am not sure everyone realized you were supposed to just stand inside and bounce up and down.

Grandpa's arms are so comfy! And Aunt Emily gives the best high-fives!

Aw, mom, you shouldn't have! It's my own personal cake to destroy!

Eeeewwww...I guess I am just not in cake mood right now! Don't worry everybody, I am not sunburned. Eric was using available light for this shot and that red is from a "focus-assist" light on another camera. I like it! I think it goes well with my sinister look of disgust!

Oh man, I love bubbles. They are so fun! And ladies, thanks for the support. I can walk on cobblestones and I can play with bubbles but I haven't quite mastered both at the same time yet.

My dad is great. After the pinata was busted, he made sure to get every last bit of candy out for all my friends.

Thanks for stopping by everyone! I hoped you enjoyed this glimpse into my first birthday party! Has it been a year already?! Wow, time flies when you're having fun! Bye!