Zander Isaac

This little guy couldn't have come into a more loving family! His mama and daddy were so anxious for him to arrive safe and sound. I met him when he was just 7 days old, and he is perfect. His features are so handsome, I can't wait to see what he looks like when he gets bigger! He did NOT like me undressing him, and would only settle down when wrapped. We never really were able to get him back to sleep...but I'm sure he slept good for Mom and Dad after they left! :-) Thanks for stopping by!

Vacation, and the Henscheid Family

It's been just a bit quiet around here! Last week our family was out of town for our traditional summer boating trip. It was great to get out of town, even just for a few days.

We spent a lot of time playing with these darling babes:

 And enjoyed some pretty spectacular scenery!

While we were there, my aunt asked me to get a few quick photos of their growing family. No one got dressed up and there wasn't any matching or outfit planning for these photos. But with one brand new addition to the family, and one son leaving the next morning for two months of military training prior to his second deployment, perfection was not necessary.

After a few shots of the whole family, I wanted a few of my aunt and uncle with their four kids. This is when things got a little crazy!

All in all, I think our impromptu mini photo session was a success.

Now that our vacation is done, I'm looking forward to some great photo sessions and lots of time in Photoshop. Thanks for stopping by!

Depth-of-Field and Basic Photography

One of my favorite things about photography is that you can be as creative or artistic as you like! One of the first things I mastered in my photographic journey was depth-of-field. I learned how to use this simple, but often confusing, feature during a 2-day outdoor photography class at Boise State University. While our subjects at that time were flowers, running water, and bugs/butterflies, it can be used in portrait photography as well!

What is depth-of-field? DoF refers to the focus of a photograph, and how much of the image is in focus. I could get really technical to describe it to you, but this isn't the time for that. Just so you know what I mean though, here's one of my favorite recent images from this wedding, using a shallow depth-of-field:

See how only the bouquet is in focus, and the background is blurred? That's a shallow DoP. Pretty cool, huh?

So, is anyone out there interested in learning more? I'm toying around with a few ideas, and I need some feedback to know which direction to go. I'd like this blog to become more than just a showcase of my photo sessions. I've considered doing a series of tutorials teaching the basics of photography. I've also considered starting to offer classes (actual classes that would be held in person, on location) to teach you how to use your own digital camera, be it a fancy SLR or a simple point-and-shoot. And, I've also considered offering in-home consultations to help you learn how to make the most of your camera, especially when taking photos of family and special events, such as birthday parties.

But...I need to know which of these ideas catches your interest, if any. Below you'll find a poll...please take just a moment to answer the poll, and help me decide which direction to go! Also, this isn't limited to my friends and family (who are almost exclusively the only readers of this blog, thus far ;). I'd really love for this little survey to cover a broad base. If you know anyone, anyone at all, who might be interested in any of these ideas, please share it with them! In fact, if you share a link to this post on Facebook...I just might love you forever. :-)

I Heart Faces!

Those of you who have been around the blog for awhile know my love of photo challenges. :-) This week I'm entering a photo into a challenge at I Heart Faces. Isn't that a great title? The theme for this week's challenge is "props", and as with every challenge at this blog, a face must be seen in the photo. Fun!

This is a really tough choice for me...I LOVE props! It was super hard to decide which one to enter. I've decided to go ahead and enter one of the portraits of my own Brianna for her first birthday, because I LOVED these photos, but also because it was one of my own ideas that I haven't seen elsewhere (the lollipop, anyway). Now, that's not to say it hasn't been done before, which I'm sure it has, but I haven't seen any so I was pretty proud of myself for thinking of it! :-) And I have to send out a big thanks to Grandma McD for giving my 1-year old a giant lollipop for her birthday! I Heart Faces!

Ramos Wedding - Part 2

Here is part 2 of the Ramos wedding portraits. Forgive me for taking this in stages, but nearly 2000 images take awhile to sort through and perfect! Take another peek at Holly and Luis' special day!

Ramos Wedding - Part 1

*Go here for Part 2 of Holly and Luis' wedding!

Wow, what an experience! Holly and Luis finally made it to the altar, and it was awesome to be there with them! There are SO many great photos to sort through, this is just part one of their wedding portraits. 

Stay tuned for part two and the formal wedding portraits!

Partridge Family

 When I am preparing for a family photo shoot with a new family, I like to take a few minutes to find out what that family enjoys doing together. I then try to tailor the photo shoot to match the family's personality. When I was plotting with Eliza for this session, she mentioned her hubs hobby of kayaking and thought it would be fun to take the kayak out for the session, and thought we would be able to get one with the whole family in the kayak. I'm always happy when my clients have their own ideas for the session, so we set a date and made plans to do it.

Then came time to actually use the kayak in the photos. The kids were loaded up. Check. Then I asked Shaun, "Can we get the whole family in now?" Say what? Oops, guess we forgot to consult with the hubs before. :-) Thanks for being such a good sport, Shaun! I think it turned out perfect!

I hope you enjoy a look at the Partridge family on this beautiful, sunny, windy Idaho day!

 

 

Oh, and did you notice Eliza's sweet headband? Yeah, she made that. And we sort of sent it to a watery grave. :-] At least we were almost done before it went swimming! 

Thanks for looking!