friendships

I don't like the end of summer, don't get me wrong, I love fall, but it closes another time that seems to be rushing by. This is a small group of friends of my son's (he is the tallest) that are all going separate ways, beginning new chapters in their lives. Some serving missions, going away to school, adventures across the world, new and exciting, but I will miss the laughter, always the laughter. Wish them all well and hope that in a couple of years, experiences will bring them back together again.

sophie's frog

Sophie about fell, jumping out of the chair when she found out I was headed back down to the lake for another photo shoot. She was in for a real treat this time with something unexpected....a two foot long snake! This was her third frog... the first is somewhere in our van, yipee! and the second one we took to the pond, because her room started to stink and this third little guy, well he stayed at the lake. The snake was interesting, and if her brother hadn't chased it back into the bushes, that would been on her next pet list. I love her adventureous personality, and her girlish giggle. Her blonde hair is fading, which makes me sad, but her freckles will always be there.

Engagement

Lexie and Logan, what a great couple. I have known Lexie for a few years, being a friend of my oldest daughter and photographing her older sister's wedding, I knew they would be great to photograph, even though they called themselves dorky. My favorite was the top photo, easy and carefree. Lexie the "poser" couldn't do a serious one if she tried, a natural smiler- a word? I don't know, but that comes natural to her. Logan is a great compliment to her and I wish them well.

Sela

We went down to the lake to advantage of the beautiful scenery, unfortunately as the summer passed away the oder becomes a bit stronger. Sela was in a funny mood and thought she was still in Oregon on the beautiful beaches. The frogs were out and my youngest daughter, Sophie was thrilled. Of course she caught one and lost it in the car on the way home. We searched forever, but could never find it. Lovely. Won't that bring the lake smell right close to home. I sure hope it got out when the doors were open! Oh, by the way, she got another one when she came with me the next night. Yea! how I love that beautiful Tom Boy of mine!

photo tip: remember to turn off the flash and catch the beautiful evening light. Wear clothing that you really don't care about, so you can get down on their level. Don't worry, you will smell like the lake when you are done. It comes with the job.

Sarah and Kerry

Another fun engagement of a couple that were so fun to shoot. (That really sounds horrible!) Okay, snap shots of. Easy, relaxed, all around great couple. Congrates! Utah Lake is really beautiful if you can get past the smell and really slimmy water. I just tell everyone that I take down there to bring shoes that you don't care about and pretend that you are on the beaches in California, or in Oregon, after seeing my daughters photos from there. Next year, I will experience a real beach.

Grandkids

I believe every grandparents should proudly hang a photo like this up on their wall of their grandchildren. I told them to just pile in and this is one of several photos taken. What a wonderful, close knit family.

Photo tip- I don't think I really have one, except just to keep shooting, you'll find one that works out. The grandkids, especially like these, and for me, it breaks the ice and the laughter. Nothing better for me than to see and hear the family laughing together.

Mandy's Bridal

These bridals were taken at Tahitian Noni at the Riverwoods. Beautiful place: only draw back is the timing. 5-7. Both good and bad. I wish they would give you at least until 7:30. But I am grateful it is available. Mandy is beautiful inside and out. Again McKray her son, was only available for 3-4 shots. That was all that he had on his schedule. What a bummer. I have a hard time with digital getting the details on the dress. Sometimes they get blown out, especially in the full length. I will have to take a class or two on that subject.

When you have a bride with a sleeveless gown, sometimes the dress tends to "gap" at the top. I had Mandy twist towards me so it wouldn't be so noticable. You will see on this last photo I didn't have her twist. I was more concerned making sure it was sharp because I was across the pool, and my "escort" of Tahitian Noni was waiting for us to be done. It was 7:02 p.m. Two minutes past our time. She so wanted this shot and it really turned out better than I thought. I just wish I would had remembered to have her turn slightly. It still has a beautiful reflection. One thing to watch for is what is reflecting close to their head. The step in the bottom of the pool was really close. You as the photographer need to adjust for that.

One thing I learned from a portrait class was making sure the bride dipps her wrist. Have her bend it in towards her. It will appear smaller and not to grip the flowers, but to relax the hand. Make sure the arm has a slight bend in it. It relaxes her. Those are for the shots that she holds the bouquet down along the side of her. When shooting above the bride, make sure you watch what you are shooting down "into". I had Mandy raise her flowers, just to the top of her dress. Mandy tends to wrinkle her forehead. If she smiles naturally, her forehead relaxed. Don't be afraid to remind them and get them to laugh a bit. The photos aren't so stiff.

Make sure the bride relaxes her shoulders and lowers them. This will elongate her neck. Placing the weight on the back leg, when standing, the shoulder closest to you will drop, giving you a longer line and a happier bride. (Take a look at the difference between the center large photo and the small photo just above it with her son and see the difference between her shoulder lowered and the the one with it raised. Now, I realize I was at a different angle, but I was paying too much attention to McKray and not her shoulder. I definitely would have had her drop her shoulder and rolled it back!) They really need to stand or sit taller, especially right through the lower back. This gives them a longer body and beautiful lines. Oh.... Always learning.

Mandy Casey and McKray

This is a little family that is getting married next Thursday. McKray is your average active 3 year old that would only participate in literally 3-4 shots. He would rather play with his new Grandpa. It is always better to do what you can in photographing a child that doesn't want to sit still. Crying, arching, ect. will only make everyone frustrated. Get what you can, even if they are candids, sometimes the best anyway.

Mountains in Utah

I was asked to photograph this family for a cover of a magazine for a company. When they told me who it was, I said, "I would rather not." I have known Virginia Dixon for many years as a well-known photographer and nervous?, paranoid?...yes, but.... I was honored to meet this humble, happy, and grateful family. The mountains were stunning and the evening sky was cool, clear...perfect.

Photo Tip-wished I would have bent the little boys other leg. Feels a little to "leggy" in the one spot. Also, his right arm should have been pulled back, maybe in his lap. Watch the little things. Other then that, good.

Sunrays

This was a bridal I shot over the week-end. I was messing with the sun and really got it heavy on this one. I don't even know if I intended to use it...it was the first one, but I thought it might work with a filter on it. You can see that the original was really washed out and quite milky, but after the filter- "color toner" it worked, or at least worked better.

Photo Tip- I wished the bouquet was in her other hand, bummer. I didn't leave enough room around the photo to crop it more at an angle, but then again it was just a shot to see how strong the sun rays were. Next time.

mom and me

Hard age....keep going and put your camera on multiple shots. (right now my mind just went blank on the correct name)... in-between the crying you will eventually get a grin. It is exhausting, but worth it. Nik Color Efex Pro- Old Color filter-opacity to 70% and erased on the skin at 10% opacity. The fonts I used were Thirsty for Souls and James Fajardo. You can find them on freefonts.com. I used to use a font and a texture brush and erase tool to get the same effect. This is much easier!

Beautiful Maddie

This beautiful child's mother is from Peru and her father's side is Hawaiian and Italian. Awesome genes! If you are photographing a child around 10 months to one year....always have another person along to help get the child's attention. Betsy brought her mother, which was very helpful. Their attention is only a split second, it seems and with the grass and rocks to grab, we were all exhausted when we were done. Happy Birthday Maddie!

Kaitlyn & Kyle

Oh, how I love "smilie eyes" and a future groom that is crazy about his future bride. She had some great places to photograph around her home which resulted in some fun shots. These filters are from Nik Color Efex Pro. The following were just a few of my favorites.

Kylie Babe

Literally, almost all 200 of the photos that I snapped of this beautiful girl turned out. Beautiful girl, awesome lighting, white balance was great, with the exception of a few. Be careful what is around you that would reflect back at the subject. There is one place that a shoot quite often, and there is orange stucco walls on both sides and once in a while, it casts a strange coloring on their faces. Sometimes a lot of green will reflect back, giving a slightly nasty greenish-yellow haze to the skin. That is a real bummer. I have to bring my reflector more often to block off the color reflecting on the skin. Most of the time I don't have an assistant to help, so I don't bother, but it really would help. Correcting the problems before the shoot begins, results in much less time at the computer. Otherwise, a great shoot.

Blissful JOY

NIK Color Efex Pro

All three of these photos were done in different variations in Old Photo, in Nik Color Efex. It will show one color variation, then you click on the arrow and 5 color choices will appear. Try them all. What may not look good on one, will look good on another. Oh, how I love the options. So will your customers. If you still have Photoshop CS and are having a hard time trying to find 2.0, go to ebay. You still can purchase it there. I contacted NIK directly and they only have the upgraded version. If you have any questions with their product, they are great at answering questions and walking you through the process. Try the trial version for 30 days and see if you like it. It really is fun to see what you come up with. OH, Happy Birthday, Rach!

Sweet Location

This is at the Eldredge Manor in Bountiful. I attended a wedding there when I was still in Junior High, and I loved it then. Wow, they added on to it and the garden is wonderful. If the couple is having a civil wedding, I highly encourage the groom to come to the bridals so they have more photos. It is so difficult to take photos inbetween the ceremony and the reception with everything going on. This also gives them a chance to have photos of both of them to display at the reception. If you are creating an album, it helps immensely with variety. The bride is much more "giggly" if the groom is around. Just all around better.

Filters

The filter I used on this photo is from NIK Color Efex Pro 2.0. (They have a later version, but I still have Photoshop CS and am too cheap to upgrade at this time) The filter is called Old Photo. When I was still shooting film, by favorite was 3200 speed. It was really grainy and LOVED what it did for some of the photos. This is the closest I could find to replicate that feeling. I wish her arm was a bit more relaxed, but the kiss..... it worked. (I don't think Steph cared about where her arm was at that moment...) Anyway, this will be my gift for Steph and NIck. They deserve all of the happiness that will be coming their way.

Danica

What a cute girl. Always try some laughing photos. Sometimes it's hard for them to laugh and others are a breeze to get to show that emotion. "How do I get them to laugh?" It is really silly, but I just say, "Laugh". It kind of catches them off guard and they laugh right off the bat.

I personally love it when they laugh away from the camera, the shy laugh when they are a little uncomfortable and look at whom-ever they came with. So sweet and nice to have those candid shots and most of the time it is their mother's favorite. What a wonderful age.