Sunday, October 23, 2011

My Family (that I got to have because I married the best man ever...)

This is us! The whole lot of us. My hubs is the oldest of six and when we get together for our yearly family photos, it is pretty much a blast. For me anyways. I am pretty sure my kids don't love it until it is over. We took them in the new Myriad Gardens in Oklahoma City, and the new children's garden was a pretty good reward for my kiddos when I was all done making them smile for me. 

Ariel usually always takes our photos for us, I kinda am in love with this one. 

Here are the sisters. So beautiful. I am so grateful to be a part in this family, and I am really proud of our photos this year. The link is at the bottom of my blog page for my online gallery, just text me for the name and password, and then you can download them to your own computer and post them like crazy, as you wish, on facebook. 

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

The Windblown Lady Broncos

My daughter plays on the Lady Broncos Pitching Machine team. I was supposed to take their photos before their game on Monday night. YEA, Monday night. The night when the bottom dropped out, and within an hour it went from 80 to like 60 degrees, yea, that Monday night. 

Somehow, with some good wind in the face positioning, we were able to get some great shots. I am very proud of how these team and individual photos turned out. I don't know if it was my photography skills are how beautiful these girls are, but they turned out amazing. 

I feared for my camera's life with this shot, but it turned out so, SO cute. Thanks ladies! Your prints are ready and you will get them soon!

Monday, October 17, 2011

The Fabulous Hunter Family

The above is the divided Hunter Family. Each sporting their colors proud. Grammy is neutral, as you can see with her "House Divided" shirt. Love it. Speaking of love, I will say this early and get it out of the way, otherwise I will be talking about it the whole time... the Hunter's property is beautiful. And I am jealous. Not gonna lie. 

Brannon, on the bottom right, claimed this one as his favorite picture. Hmmm, I wonder why?

Well, this was an attempt at recreating an old photo. I don't think the slide was equipped this great task that we were asking of it. But, I like the end result of this photo. 

LOVE this property. (Sorry, I had to say it again.) We made the most of were the sun was on this warm fall sunday afternoon. 

Fun times by the fire pit. The kids are smiling because the promise of ice cream when the photographer was done with them is drawing ever so close! 
I had such a fun time shooting this family. I think there are some families that the world looks at and just wishes that they could be a part of something THAT fun and wonderful, and I believe that the Hunter family is one of those. Thank you again guys! Your link to your full online gallery is at the bottom of this blog page. Grammy has the name and password you will need to view them. Enjoy!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Soccer Teams...


I got to photograph two different soccer teams today, both YMCA teams. The kids did great! The younger of the two teams had FIFTEEN kiddos! And yes, I actually did get a few team pictures when every single one of them is actually looking at me. It was awesome. Then I took photos of the "Fire Breathing Penguins." (the coach said the kids call themselves that, awesome.) They were a team of twelvish year olds. So fun, they are actually the OLDEST team I have had the privilege of shooting. They were great, and I got to try a couple of cool new poses that I saw on Pinterest last night. It was a good day. My family tagged along and got to see a few on their friends that were on the younger team, and got to play on the playground at the twelve year old game. Then we ate Braums, and now I am tip toeing into TMI territory, so I am ending this entry. Thanks teams! I will have your prints ready soon!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

4 shoots in 3 days

I have four shoots this weekend and Monday. Three sports teams and one beautiful family of 14 people. I am so excited! I am married to a very handsome "realist", so I am aware that I will not always have four shoots every weekend. Even still, I am very grateful for every opportunity I have to photograph. I feel like I learn something new every time, and of course you get to meet new people and that is always fun. The sports teams are fun for me because I like the challenge of trying to remember all their names before the shoot is over. At least by the time I have seen their name on the order sheet, and typed it into my computer 5 times,  I know it. :) I am excited, and hope that this is only the beginning and that I am able to give each of my costumers a product that they love and are proud of, and hopefully want MORE of down the road. 

Saturday, October 8, 2011

The Gerding Family

I got to photograph the beautiful Gerding family this morning. It was a bit windy, but a great cloudy morning. For the lighting that I like in my photos, clouds are my best friends. 

We got a few great family shots. No one was run over, there is not much traffic on this road. 

I love baby hands. 

Carson was loving kissing on his baby sister.

Mommy told him a funny story that he obviously loved. We had such a good time. Thank you Gerdings! You can follow the link to my gallery at the bottom of the page, and see all of your photos after you enter the name and password I gave you. Enjoy!

Friday, October 7, 2011

RAW

I am a bit embarrassed to admit this right now, but I experimented with shooting in RAW for the first time yesterday. I read a blog (via Pinterest of course) that told me in detail the benefits of shooting in RAW. I had, about 2 years or so ago, asked a fellow photographer why her photos were so amazing, and the first tip she gave me was that she shot in RAW. Well, it sounded like way too much work to me, so I decided to stick what my normal size photos. Well, I was working on a PC at the time, and a little program called iphoto that came with my macbook takes the "too much work" argument down. So, after reading the blog I set my camera to RAW and took this shot of my eyeball by my window. Looks pretty cool. I am real curious to see how much more space it will take up when I shoot at my session tomorrow,  and I am excited about how much more detailed my photos will be. It is so fun to experiment and expand your knowledge on something you feel like already is amazing, and making into something uber amazing! Hopefully. I am a dreamer by nature, realist in everyday life. So, we will see!

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Wherever it takes me...

I have been spending a lot of time on building a good foundation for this little hobby of mine lately. I have business cards now, I got a cool new bag today for my camera and equipment, and OF COURSE my new cool wireless remote that I talked about yesterday. (I wonder if I can mention the wireless remote in every blog that I do on here? If so, it will need a cool name like "Wiro" haha, get it? WIreless ROmote?) OK, so new bag, Wiro, and business cards, things are happening in the house on a hill world. But, what is a photographer without people to stand in front of the camera and smile? All of you amazing people that want me to take photos of you are making this happen for me! And I am so grateful. If you like what I do with the photos, spread the word, please? I don't like asking for free publicity. But, today I will. :) You gotta start somewhere. I have heard my hubs say that a few times, and it is so true. I am excited to see where this little hobby takes me. And even if it only takes me to the zoo, downtown OKC, the Paseo, local parks, and people's backyards, I am good with that, TOTALLY good.

Wednesday, October 5, 2011

I got a new toy...

I take pictures for my mother-in-law every fall for her Christmas cards. I take them of our whole family, there are 14 of us. I love it, but every year I have to position us so that the place that I stand is easily RAN to after I press the delay shutter button. WELL NO MORE RUNNING FOR ME, MY FRIENDS. Sorry for caps, it was needed. I am excited. I got myself a wireless remote for my little camera. Yep, I will point, it will delay for 2 seconds to give me time to put my hand down, and I will no longer look like I just ran up 10 steps, cause I had. "That's what I'M talkin' about!" -Gru, "Despicable Me." (I could hold a whole conversation in movie quotes just so you know.)
 I would also like to give a shout out to the lady at Epperson Photo, she was quite knowledgable and quite tolerable of my screaming kid.

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Pinterest Inspired

This day I was on "Pinterest" looking up some inspiring photo tips, saw and few, and decided to have an impromptu photo session with my three kids. The best light was... well, in the bathtub in my bathroom! I styled their outfits to go with the color of my bathroom walls and did my best to get some good shots. My kids are so used to having a camera in their face that I don't always get the best "happy faces." My oldest girl loves it, loves to pose. My middle son, pretty much hates it, but he gives the best expressions. My youngest girl is 2. Enough said. Most photos of her will have a scowl on her face, period. But, her eyes are so amazing it doesn't really matter if they are angry eyes. :)

My first returning customer (that isn't family, anyways)

Baby Abby came and did an in-home session with me when she was 9 months old. We had done her first photos at about 3 months I believe in a local park. I didn't have anyone to watch my own kids the morning of her appointment, so I set up a little area in front of some windows and tried to get some good shots. My six year old helped with keeping her happy and entertained. She was a great assistant. 

Some old friends get married...

These two are some old friends that I grew up with. They are very precious to me. When I got invited to their wedding, I decided I would take along my camera, and my zoom lens and do my best to get some good shots of their vows. I then printed them off and gave them as my gift. SO fun for me. I hope they enjoyed them. 

My sister-in-law's senior portraits

These are taken at the park and surrounding area in my neighborhood. We wanted a real natural look, with the pop if color of the red gerber daisies. She was a softball player, so the bright yellow ball gave a great color splash as well. 

Brown Family

These are from last fall. What a fun family, and I think the mom styled everyone very well. They look great.

Senior portraits in the Paseo

This was my first time taking photos in the Paseo. I will be back! The colors there are amazing and so inspiring! Gayla looked amazing, and we had a blast doing them.

Shirola Family

I loved doing these photos. The family had the unique idea of having me take photos while they made their favorite chocolate chip cookies together. She plans to decorate her dining room with the photos.
I was randomly at a Lady Broncos pitching machine team game the other night, (yea, why would I be there? I have virtually NO connection to the team) and decided to take some pics! 
 Message me on facebook if you are a parent of one of the girls and I will give you the name and password you will need to see and download the photos of your little softball girl!
Follow the link at the bottom of my page to my gallery once you have obtained the name and code! 
(just wanna keep photos of our precious girls private)
ENJOY!

Abby is ONE!

Precious Abby, my first client, EVER! Thanks Kaycee and Kim for giving me the chance to photograph this fun girl! (and Kaycee you better be making plans to take her back to that zoo with a bathing suit on to play in that, oh so coveted, water area!) Here is a link for your direct download of her photos... Thanks again!
www.gallery.me.com/houseonahill#gallery