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I love photographing first birthdays. That age is just so fun and full of wonder and excitement. You should know, if you book a first birthday with me, I will be taking bath shots after they have their cake because in a few years, those are the shots you will look back on and say "Awe, remember when they were so little we could bathe them in the sink?" or "Remember how every time we bathed her she used to try and drink the water from the faucet and would throw a fit when we turned it off?"
Oh my goodness, when I pulled up to this house and saw all the amazing windows I think I might have actually drooled. This house was a photographer's dream, huge big windows everywhere and white walls, I mean the light was a dream, and thank goodness because this day was so overcast with flurries, so I was nervous how much available natural light I would have. That's the downside to doing lifestyle sessions, you never know what the lighting situation is going to be, but usually all I need is one good window. As for this family, they were just so much fun to photograph, they were laid back and so sweet and really just a joy to be around. Even crying little Olivia is just adorable! Don't you love the face of a newborn crying? Is it just me? I don't like that they are upset but the conviction and emotion that they emit is just amazing at only a few days old. They certainly know what they want!
So I know I have talked about this a lot, and you might not want to hear about it again, but I seriously LOVE doing indoor lifestyle sessions in my clients' homes. Here's the thing, you feel most comfortable in your home, which lends itself to getting more natural photographs of your family interacting and being together. Kids, especially very young children, feel more comfortable in their home. When the children are comfortable the photography session goes really smoothly and who doesn't want a smooth and easy photography session. And since the kids are relaxed, mom and dad become relaxed; win, win, win, I say! I think most people hesitate to do an indoor session in their homes because we all get hung up on the things we don't feel are "picture worthy" in our homes, maybe it's not as clean as you want it to be, or there is an area of your home that you don't really feel is decorated well, or you have messy kids, like me, and your house is always a little bit of a mess. I get it, I live the same way you do, but your house doesn't have to be perfect for an in-home session, I promise you. I tell clients to tell me the rooms that are off limits, for me that is my office, it is so horribly overcrowded with crap, I would NEVER want it to be photographed, but my kitchen can be de-cluttered in about 5 minutes and gets great light. Plus a lot can be cropped out, trust me, that pile of clothes over in the corner of the room gets hidden by the bed. But being at home can be so wonderful because I get to capture your baby carrying her blankey, or that arms up that they do when they want you to lift them out of their crib, or the way they like to make silly faces in the hallway mirror. These are the images you will cherish when they are older and their blanket that they had to take everywhere is now somewhere under their bed collecting dust because they haven't needed it to sleep in 5 years.
Last year I decided to try my hand at a 365 project, where I would take a picture a day for 365 days. It was actually 366 days since 2016 was a leap year. I started out strong, but by September I had lost steam and gave up all together. My main issue were days where I was not inspired and felt like the photograph was more of a chore than exciting. I also found that it was hard for me to keep up with uploading the photographs each day and editing and posting, so I would let a week go by and then feel overwhelmed. I have learned that when I am overwhelmed I don’t plow through, instead I bury my head in the sand and walk away, which is exactly what I did in September. So you may be wondering why I would choose to do this to myself again. Am I a glutton for punishment? Do I like to set myself up for failure? No, it is because I need to challenge myself in order to stay motivated. This year I decided to take on the 365 project to actually finish it but more than that I want to push myself. I want to try out new lighting, low lighting, new techniques and this pushes me to do that instead of procrastinate. It forces me to see things differently, take my camera with me when I go out, and document our days. Another part of my 365 project is to do a portrait a week project. I am trying to take a portrait of my kids each week. I want to be able to capture all their silly faces, changes that occur, their moods, etc. and this sounded like a great way to do it.
I hope you will follow along with me. It helps to keep me encouraged if I know people are following along. Also, if you are doing a 365 please share it with me. If you have any ideas for me to try send them my way as well, sometimes I get stumped and having some suggestions would be great.
I hope you enjoy my January photos. I will be updating the blog at the end of each month, and talk about what I learned, what went well, what failed, how I hate myself for doing this lol, you know that kinda stuff.
You can follow along on my 365 project on flickr My weekly portrait project is also on flickr
I am very far behind in blogging. I don’t know why I find it hard to blog, I love sharing my sessions and I know this is the best way to do that but I guess it is just something that tends to fall to the end of the list of priorities. Well, at least I finally got around to this blogging this session.
Also, I am running a special at the moment. Book a newborn session before March 31st and you will get a free mini-maternity session. Baby does not have to be born by March 31st but the session must be booked with a contract and deposit.
