Ran over to the Chicago Botanic Garden to take in some fall goodness with the Morharts. I just had to snap some photos of their cute family.
My beautiful girl is getting old - 12 years old this year. She's still my lap cat. Has to be sitting on or next to me at all times. On a lazy Sunday morning these are the faces I get. How can you resist?
A few years back (in the heyday of Flickr groups) I finished a couple of 52 week projects focused on self portraits. I ultimately took on the 365 project after completing those, but no way could I keep those self portraits. How many times can you process a photo of your own face, you know? But looking back on those couple of years documented got me thinking I should pick up a self portrait project again to see how I age. I'm going to do a monthly portrait so as to not overdo the "selfies" and how much do we really change week to week? So this is January... Am I the only one that makes funny faces when taking portraits?
I had quite the photo taking weekend - yesterday architecture and today people - family photos for my friend Jen. It was super fast as the older one was a little on the fussy side - oh to be two... I got a few cuties, but find that my lens does funny things at 2.8 and that super frustrates me. I get back to the editing room and think boom, perfect shot, but no something's not in focus .. grr. Anyhoo.. Aren't they the cutest little fam?
May 11 : upside down : the adorable Miss Em.
sweet small group this morning, the first of several workshops... and such a treat to spend time together, savoring how to photograph our lives in a beautiful way.
Source: san diego lifestyle photography
I had the great opportunity to attend a photography workshop by the amazing Stacy Bostrom back in early February. I was so excited to meet Stacy - having followed her photography blog for many years - and she was as lovely as I had imagined. I arrived to her home - bright white and perfectly California chic - she showed me around and talked about the goals for the day. The other ladies arrived and we made introductions and stocked up on refreshing beverages and off to the materials we went. Stacy was a great teacher - thoughtful to each of our individual skill levels.
After some talk through the technical aspects and how she shoots - higher iso - we were greeted by three of the loveliest little girls who would be our models for the next hour. She split us up into different areas to test our skills and what we had learned. One bedroom that was bright white and filled with incoming light (the perfectly dreamiest room to shoot) then off to another room that was much darker (small window, but great mood) and then off to the back yard with full sun. For an added challenge for me, she sent me into a different white room that had dim light. She split us into groups with each of the girls and they were great - must have been intimidating to have two or three people with a camera in your face saying do this or that. This little beauty was a natural. My favorite images from the class by far. Almost no editing required at all on these either!
I was able to shoot with fabulous lenses she had rented - the 85mm and 50mm 1.2 - they are so much heavier, but are completely dreamy. Crazy enough, we were all Canon shooters - so that worked out great! While I knew most of the basics, I did learn a bit about her Lightroom editing and we were able to completely save an image in post! I have used the Lightroom tips quite a lot and it's probably my biggest take away from the class. 
The images of this girl with beautiful curls and big brown eyes is another great example of the editing I learned. While I really love it when the images straight out of the camera are perfect, sometimes post production work just makes an image. This is the true difference that a photographer brings to the table ... don't you think? 
That said - even someone with a lot of experience can still get it wrong. This is my biggest problem - seeing that everything is perfectly in focus through the viewfinder. I tend to rapid fire and not take enough time to be sure that everything is in the focal plane. The middle image below is perfect ... except for that right eye, grr! 
Outside we went and that's when things are just so much easier. I prefer sunny to shade, but for sure with the sun behind - no one wants hotspot highlights on their face! Overall my experience with the workshop was fantastic. I wish I lived closer to California so I could attend more! Stacy will continue to inspire me and I truly look forward to her blog updates - they so perfectly depict a southern California lifestyle. Maybe one day I will find myself on the left coast.
Back in frigid February I skipped the Chicago blizzard for some beach time in San Diego to see my fabulous college roomie Karen. As a bonus, I got to meet her beautiful daughter, Emerson. Karen wanted some pictures so we dolled her all up to see what we could get. Let me tell you she's a natural for the camera - full of fun faces, big bright eyes and perfect little piggy toes.
March 12 : my happy place : behind the lens in a new city capturing the beauty around me.
Jan 20 2015 : window : freaky window display in the Gary Graham store in the village. #nyc Actually, I saw a lot of alternative heads on mannequins in window displays all around the city.
Jan 17 2015 : jump : this was an interesting prompt for me today. A real challenge to be able to take a shot of yourself and jumping. I went down to the beach to see what kind of landscape was down there and actually ended up loving the fact that the mounds of sand covered in snow met the clouds and you could really not tell where One stopped in the other began.
So then I had another idea of jumping in water puddles, I always see fun pictures of this I wanted to give it ago myself. It proved much more difficult than I had imagined, but I'm pretty happy with this outcome.
