Raleigh, North Carolina Portrait Photographer | Cary, NC | Apex, NC |
Oh my goodness, is this little girl SWEET! As I’ve watched her grow this past year she has always been full of smiles (especially for her mama and daddy!) Miss Maura is one adorable little girl and I am so glad that I got to capture her one-year-old-cute-as-can-be self. Love you, Maura June!
I wanted to post a couple of images from the Easter Egg Hunt we attended yesterday. J1 had a great time and was genuinely surprised by each and every egg he discovered. Happy Easter!
I love Brown. It’s my favorite color, which most people think is strange. I just find it to be perfect in every way– warm, earthy, and laid back. I’ve painted six of the rooms in my house varying shades of Brown, and I am almost always wearing an article of clothing or accessory that is Brown. Oh, and chocolate is Brown– so there you go!
It should surprise no one then, that I love this family. The BROWN family! I’m not sure if Brown is their favorite color, but I do think this family perfectly embodies why I love the color so much. They are also warm and laid back. I was also going to say “earthy” but I don’t want anyone to get the wrong idea. They are earthy in the I-think-they-are-real-and-genuine way. Not in the I’m-not-sure-if-they-take-showers way. They totally bathe. I’m pretty sure.
I enjoyed spending the afternoon with them a few weeks ago– we drank in the warm weather and played with their boys. Thank you, Brown Family!
I have some strong feelings about Photoshop, to be honest. I know it has been abused by some photographers– just think back to the Dove commercial from 2006. It has undoubtedly been used by some to sculpt the “perfect” woman, a standard that is crushing to those of us that exist in the 3D world. But I guess that isn’t really the fault of the software. I do use PS to remove stray hairs and the odd blemish. I try to refrain from making anyone look plastic, though– I like my images to actually reflect reality. Good exposure, white balance, focus and composition can go a long way to creating beautiful portraits!
However, I must say that I do appreciate PS for it’s ability to remove distracting elements from the image. I try my hardest to make sure that I am shooting thoughtfully– I avoid trash cans in the background, make sure there aren’t branches sticking out of the tops of anyone’s head, etc. But there are times (especially when shooting little kids!) when you don’t have the luxury of asking your subject to move a few feet to the right. And that is when I am thankful for PS.
Look at this shot– it’s SOOC (straight out of camera). It’s kind of an out-take, I guess. I just loved the difference in expressions between mom and dad who are making great eye contact, and the boys who are sooooo over having their photo taken by this point. Now, I’m all about rustic and I thought this brick was nice and textured. But holy cow that’s a lot of green icky stuff! I decided to try and see how much I could get rid of in PS and was very pleased with the result.
Much better. Now the focus is on the family and you aren’t thinking to yourself, “I hope they brought loads of hand sanitizer with them.” That is my goal with PS– to remove distracting elements so the focus of the image is where it should be. In this case, the focus is on this adorable family. Love.
I am very excited to announce that I will be teaching a short-and-sweet photography class in a few weeks! I remember getting my first DSLR several years ago and being overwhelmed with all the buttons and settings. I desperately wanted to take advantage of my camera’s capabilities, but I just didn’t know how. I tried reading the manual and even did some searching online, but I kept hitting roadblocks. It took sitting down with another human being and listening as she explained what ISO, aperture, and shutter speed actually meant. Since then I’ve done a ton of reading and practicing, but I definitely trace back my “Ah HA!” moment to that one-on-one interaction.
I think there are others like me– people that just need the basics explained. I am looking forward to doing just that on April 13th! See below for details and please get in touch if you’d like to reserve your spot!