Portrait Practice

I've been at this photography thing for a couple of years now.  I really enjoy it!  I've captured so many beautiful moments of Brenna's life that will last forever.  However, most of the photography I do is "life" photography, just snapping pictures of what looks like a good time.  Very seldom do I purposely venture out with the main objective of portrait photographs.  I've maybe taken Brenna out 3 time to try and capture posed, planned portraits and even that hasn't been in the recent past.  I will be attempting this again soon, for the sake of a Christmas card photo, fingers crossed.

So, its always good practice and a nice challenge when friends ask if I can take pics of their kids.  I have no intentions of ever taking this any further than a hobby, but its fun to play photographer sometimes.  Here's a few shots of some beautiful kiddos that I got to pretend with recently!

I've done both of Grace's brothers pics a couple of time, so it was time she got her chance behind the camera!

Fun with the Gholston's

My how time flies!  One year ago I was snapping newborn pictures of Baby Arran and now he's about to turn 1!  So that means time for more pictures.  We got together with the Gholston's for a playdate.  The girls got to play while the boys went to work on photos.

It's hard to believe this little guy is already 1!

Back in Business

Unfortunately, we've been out of commission for about 2 weeks due to sickness.  Brenna caught a virus that eventually turned into pneumonia.  Thankfully, we caught it early and avoided a hospital stay, but it knocked her down for quite a while.  Because of that, we missed out on the entire week before and most of the Spring Break.  But we're back in business now and making up for lost time.  It's been a busy week and I've got lots of pictures to catch you up on, so come back soon!

One thing we missed while we were sick was our very good friend, John's birthday party.  Shellie was crazy enough to trust me with his 3 year old pictures.  Shellie and I have struck a bargin when it comes to pictures.  I take pictures and she takes care Pickles and Moose while we're away on trips.  Since I really like to take pictures, I think she gets the dirt end of this deal; literally since her part involves a litter box.

Here are a few of my favorites from John's 3 year old shots.  I love his belly laughs!

Practice with John

A couple of weeks ago, Brenna and I got together with Shellie and John for a quick photo shoot / play date.  The kids love just walking down the creek trail collecting sticks and picking flowers.  I warned Shellie that I wanted to bring along my camera for some practice shots with John and she was nice enough to go along with it.  I like to practice with John because his light skin, blue eyes, and blond hair require a whole different skill to photograph and especially edit.  Needless to say, I get alot of practice on the other end of the spectrum.  Here's some of my favorite shots of John from the day.  He's such a cutie!

Lightwriters - Another Photography Class

Last week I had the pleasure of squeezing in another photography class.  This class was given by a Houston area photographer that was recently voted one of the top five photographers in Houston.  Allison Carlino did our family photos right after we moved to Houston and she's scheduled to update those for us again in October.  She's a fantastic photographer and I love to follow her work.  She offered a 3-day course that she calls Lightwriters where she covers all the basics, does photo critiques, and even brings in a model for shooting practice (with a camera, I mean).  I really enjoyed the class, got some great ideas, and learned some new techniques.  She was very complimentary of my photos and encouraged me to take the next class, which is sorta like a preparatory course for those going pro where she covers more advanced techniques and the in-and-outs of running a professional photography business.

I told Allison that I couldn't devote the time to another (and much longer) photography class right now, but that I wonder consider joining next summer when she taught it again.  She invited me to join her as an assistant photographer for a wedding shoot in the coming weeks.  WOW!  I would love that!  But, that prompted a conversation about getting into the photography business.  I must confess that the thought has crossed my mind on more than one occasion that this could be a possible opportunity for me when Brenna starts school (elementary, that is).  I'm constantly improving and I figured with continued education and practice by then I would be able to produce a product worthy of a price tag.

However, talking with Allison was very enlightening.  We discussed the initial investments required to kick-off a photography business, the financial payback, the time commitment involved, and the always important work/life balance thats required.  I won't go into all the details, and she was very encouraging about taking the plunge.  But, I just don't think the business end of things will fit into our family right now.  For now this will just be a hobby that's limited by how much my husband is willing to fund it each year.  I guess I'll just have to be satisfied with taking pictures of friends and family.  But that's ok, it just so happens that they're my favorite people!

Oh!  And here's some of my model shots.

Meet Our New Friend!

A very good friend of mine recently had her third child.  Bless her heart, she's a trooper.  You've seen her other two children on here repeatedly.  Well, now its time to meet Baby Gholston! He was born Tuesday, June 24th at 2:05 AM weighing in at 7 lbs and 10 oz. Welcome to the world little guy!

The End - Photography Class Lesson 7

Well, my photography class has come to a close.  It is with some relief.  While I enjoyed the class overall (despite the wanderings of our instructor), Tuesday's were just about more than I could carry.  Brenna and I would hit the ground on Tuesday morning for Bible Study at church at 9:30 AM; we'd get home just in time for lunch and a nap.  After naptime, we were up and moving again for Brenna's dance class.  Following dance, we had just enough time to swing by somewhere and pick up something to eat, have a quick dinner with daddy, and then it was off to Photography Class until 9:30 PM for me.

The first couple of classes I had to explain to Brenna that she couldn't come with me (which is a rare event).  I told her that Mommy was learning to take pretty pictures of Brenna.  By the 3rd session, Brenna asked "But how can you learn to take pictures without Brenna?"

I did get a nice surprise on my last night of class.  I won one of the prizes for the La Centerra photo shot.  And for all my efforts, I received a whopping $10 gift card!  My instructor told me the only thing I could buy from La Centerra for $10 was a $20 glass of wine during half off happy hour!  Anyway, he said they may be in contact to use some of the photos on their new website. Here's the winner!

La Centerra - Photography Class Lesson 6

We were all surprised to hear we had extra incentive during our photo shoot on Tuesday night.  Our teacher had spoken with the manager of La Centerra to inform him that the class would be shooting there that night and the manager offered 2 gift cards to the best two photos from the group, including an entry to a $1000 shopping spree raffle to be held later in the spring, and the potential for your photograph to be included in future advertisements for La Centerra.

So, the whole class trudged out to the square, set up tripods, and got busy.  It was fun trying new techniques.  I've never shot at night before and let me just tell you, its alot harder than shooting during the day.  It took me several tries before I could even get a focused imagine and then several more before I could include enough light to make it visible.

When it was all done and I downloaded the pictures back at home, I was fairly impressed with myself.  I was able to capture two different images with a couple of new techniques that I learned in class.  We each get to submit 2 photos for review.  While I don't think I'll be winning any photo contests with these pictures (the composition is not as creative as I would have liked them to be) I'm just satisfied that I successfully mastered the techniques.  Here's what I got.

Water in motion technique                                              Light painting w/water in motion and starlights

Now I'm Having Fun - Photography Class Lesson 5

For this lesson we met on Saturday morning so we could get some daytime practice in.  I really enjoyed it.  It's the first time I've actually tried to focus on the composition of a picture without someone distracting me (no names mentioned.....)  I think I got a couple of good shots.  It was fun justing looking around at the things you see everyday and finding a new and interesting way to capture them through the lens.  We shot inside a history class room, in the barn, in the barn yard, and around the pond.  There was plenty of stuff to see.  Here's a few shots from the day.

I just liked the look of the old boots.  They were hanging from the ceiling of the history classroom.  Those and the coffee grinder were really the only two things that caught my attention in all those historic pieces.  Being from south Mississippi, there was really nothing I'd never seen before.  I could see most all those old pieces of farm equipment in my Pappaw's storage shed back home.  I took the picture of the coffee grinder just for Ms. Doris.  I think you should get one of these for your kitchen and make Marcus grind you fresh coffee every morning.
There were chickens, but they really didn't want to cooperate.  Actually, there was an ugly incident with another photographer that made it clear that the chickens were in no kind of picture taking mood.

Ahh, Now We're Getting Somewhere - Photography Class Lesson 4

At last, a chance to put our learnings into action.  It seems that our talk is finally dwindling and a time for action has ensued!  Ok, maybe that last line was alittle dramatic, but I was so happy to finally put my camera into action with what I considered a worthy opponent (i.e. not the three sisters, as our teacher so lovely refers to them).  At last nights photography class we had an opportunity to photograph the Cinco Ranch High School Orchestra performing on stage at the Performing Arts Center.  In general, these low light, stage lit scenes are some of the hardest to capture.  This gave me an opportunity to put into practice some of the things I've learning in class, as well as exercise my equipment capabilities.  God bless my telephoto lens (and my dear husband, for buying it for me!).

Here's a few of the shots I came away with.  Admittedly, I would have preferred them to be alittle more crisp in some places, but I thought overall the lighting worked out well.  Practice makes perfect and I'm glad I had this opportunity, as Brenna's dance recital is coming up in May, and I know I'll be facing the same conditions.

Still Not Sure - Photography Class Lesson 3

Well, I've just completed session 3 of my photography class and I'm still not sure whether this was a worthy investment.  The jogging pants and t-shirt is the staple attire for my instructor, and he continues to wander aimlessly over less than informative topics.  Example, we spent nearly 20 minutes discussing the error of a Japanese tourist would died of a antelope attack shortly after photographing the animal with flash photography at short range.  Hmmm, what can be learned from this experience?  Don't use flash photography within 50 feet of an animal weighing more than 300 pounds or can run faster than you.  How long did that take?  15 secs, 30 max!  Need I say more.  How long should you kick a dead horse.  20 minutes is alot to lose in just a 2 hour class.

Still, I can't say that I haven't learned anything.  I did enjoy his rundown on lenses and lens capabilities.  This was with mix emotion through, as it dawned on me during this lecture that I should shorten my expectations of my own photography.  Not due to lack of skill (oh, I never doubt my own abilities, I call it confidence, but I know some of you would say arrogance.....) but due to equipment.  Eventually I have to face the facts that this is indeed only a hobby and determine at what point the cost of this "hobby" out weighs the benefits.  I enjoy photographing Brenna and our friends and family.  It makes me happy to capture images that make me smile or remember.  That's what I want to get out of this.  So, with the exception of one more lens purchase later down the road, I think I've hit my equipment limitation.  So from here on out, it's just honing my skills with said equipment.

I am including a few shots from our last class.  I prefer not to elaborate on the pictures, as they seemed a lost cause from the beginning.  If fact, just by the pictures I've post so far from my photography class, it would seem I'm getting worse instead of better.  Here's the pics.  I'll let your mind wander.....

The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY! Photography Class Lesson 1

Well, as all of you know I've become a bit of a picture taking fool lately.  So, in and effort to improve upon my foolishness, I decided to take a photography class with friends.  Our first class was this week and I had been very excited about the prospect of what new and interesting techniques I would learn.  However, the overall first impression was a bit of a mix bucket.

The Teacher - Upon first glance, I was a bit worried that this man could possible know anything about photography or teaching in general.  He was dressed in a much too tight plain black t-shirt that hugged his enormous belly to bear thread.  The t-shirt had been hastily tucked into a much too small pair of jogging pants that didn't leave much for the imagination.  It was apparent that he had no concern for appropriate dress and I was stunned to hear that he had once owned his own photography business.  Well, as the old saying goes, you can't judge a book by its cover.  He was indeed very enthusiastic and knowledgeable about photography.

The Classroom - This was just a regular old everyday classroom that was no different the the millions of others across this great country.  However, something has obviously changed in the last 10 years in the manufacturing of students desks.  After sitting for the length of the 2 hour class, I felt I may need someone to get a can opener to get me out.  Why is it that in college I could sit for hours, fully attentive, and ravenous for knowledge as I listened to lectures on thermodynamics and reactionary chemistry (you believe that right, ravenous......) but now I feel like a sardine that's just been released from his aluminum prison.  Not that I've ever given much thought to continuing my education, but this experience has assured my that my classroom based learning days are over.  Looks like it online tutorials from here!

The Class - As a mention, the teacher is indeed very enthusiastic.  I'm not entirely sure if this is to our benefit.  He started the class by saying that we would be doing a flash exercise later, which I thought sounded interesting.  However, his enthusiasm drifted into the first camera ever invented, past photo shots concerning cafeteria women, and demonstration on how to build you own monopod.  It's seems he has trouble focusing his enthusiasm.  So, we didn't even pick up a camera until 5 minutes after 9 pm, at which point everyone hastily snapped a few photos leaving no time for discussion or review.  My hopes are that as the class continues there will be alot more picture taking and alot less talk.

So, here's my first photos from photography class!