So the kiddos and I went to town today to meet some friends for a Pumpkin Playdate. I hate to admit in all my years of being a parent, I’ve taken my kids to the Pumpkin Patch once and that was when Maddie was 2.5 and I was pregnant with Haidyn. So, not much of a tradition around here… I guess it’s kind of hard when it’s supposed to be fall with 85+ degree temperatures outside. BUT… Today we did it… Went to the patch and we had fun! Granted it was warmer than it should be for fall clothes, but we made the best of it.

Here is a little bit of our hour of Pumpkin Playdating…

Playing in The Maze.

My bunch… Obviously, 2/3 of my group still have PKS–Photographer’s Kid Syndrome!

The Entire Bunch–a difficult task to accomplish while subjects are wearing fall clothes in summer heat. Oh and sun is still severely bright. But still fun!

Little Man was digging all the pumpkins… The poor workers probably had to spend a while just putting them back where they belong after he kept dragging them off.

My beautiful girl!

Two of this dude… He was liking my camera (for once)! He’s a busy bee, so I know mom has a hard time getting shots of him.

My little princess! Notice anything new? Yep, she got her ears pierced! She wanted them like big sissy’s so we went this past weekend.

This is little dude’s big sister. Doesn’t she have the cutest little puppy dog eyes?

And her other younger brother (the middle child). So similar to my middle child (in so many ways)!

Just a snap–middle child was bringing Caleb all these pumpkins. It was cute because he kept motioning for him to bring more to him.

Our outing almost went off without any mishaps until Little Man decided to walk and trip on the skids. So he’s got a nice gash in his forehead along his hairline. We pretty much ended our time there after that and came to the house for more playdate fun and dinner. One more mishap of Haidyn falling and skinning her chin… Nothing like facial boo-boos the day before a family photoshoot! We might have to post-pone that… Oh and yes, I’m playing with my display borders… Trying to figure out what I like best!

The “L” Family was quite lovely actually! I ‘knew’ Miss “L” through a friend, but had never met the misters of the family. I had a lot of fun and they were great with the several scenery changes we did. They even let me practice a little ‘Urban’ shooting with them.

I won’t keep you waiting any longer now… Here are some of my favorites from our session. There are so many to choose from, I had a hard time narrowing them down!

An urban shot!

One of the many family shots! Love the textures in the barn in this one. How cool would this one look in a canvas? Hmm… I might just have to test it out and show a sample later!

The misters!

Mrs. “L” and her not so little mister. I love the interaction in this shot. I processed this one with my vintage wash. I think it added to the mood of the moment.

Mister “L”… He (forgive me if I get this wrong) just turned 10 or is about to turn 10!

One more of the family!

Thank you again “L” family! You all were such great models. Oh and we can’t forget Sweet Little Miss “L”. She was so sweet and just went with the flow. I know she’s looking off in this last image, but it’s still one of my favorites.

I’ll be in touch when your proofs are ready!

The “L” Family was quite lovely actually! I ‘knew’ Miss “L” through a friend, but had never met the misters of the family. I had a lot of fun and they were great with the several scenery changes we did. They even let me practice a little ‘Urban’ shooting with them.

I won’t keep you waiting any longer now… Here are some of my favorites from our session. There are so many to choose from, I had a hard time narrowing them down!

An urban shot!

One of the many family shots! Love the textures in the barn in this one. How cool would this one look in a canvas? Hmm… I might just have to test it out and show a sample later!

The misters!

Mrs. “L” and her not so little mister. I love the interaction in this shot. I processed this one with my vintage wash. I think it added to the mood of the moment.

Mister “L”… He (forgive me if I get this wrong) just turned 10 or is about to turn 10!

One more of the family!

Thank you again “L” family! You all were such great models. Oh and we can’t forget Sweet Little Miss “L”. She was so sweet and just went with the flow. I know she’s looking off in this last image, but it’s still one of my favorites.

I’ll be in touch when your proofs are ready!

As you’ll see from my note in the post below, something went wonky when I posted the pics after using Raw. I’ve fixed the pics (well 2 of the 3–I’ll fix the other later), so go check them out!

Because I did this fast, I didn’t add the black border I usually put on my images for the web. What do you think? Sometimes I like the border because it frames the image, but sometimes I think it distracts from the image. Maybe I should do a smaller border? More white? Hmmm…

I’ve learned that Nikon (which is what I use) shoots with black undertones, therefore black is an accent color for their images. And Canon is the opposite with white.

So, looking at the updated pics below, what do you like best? Black border, no border, or a new border that isn’t so big/bold?

Thanks! And don’t be a stranger… Let me know you looked at what you honestly think!

As you’ll see from my note in the post below, something went wonky when I posted the pics after using Raw. I’ve fixed the pics (well 2 of the 3–I’ll fix the other later), so go check them out!

Because I did this fast, I didn’t add the black border I usually put on my images for the web. What do you think? Sometimes I like the border because it frames the image, but sometimes I think it distracts from the image. Maybe I should do a smaller border? More white? Hmmm…

I’ve learned that Nikon (which is what I use) shoots with black undertones, therefore black is an accent color for their images. And Canon is the opposite with white.

So, looking at the updated pics below, what do you like best? Black border, no border, or a new border that isn’t so big/bold?

Thanks! And don’t be a stranger… Let me know you looked at what you honestly think!

Edited to say… Wow! I did this post late the other night and my eyes must have been tired because now I see something went wrong when I posted my edits. They are not near as sharp as I see in Photoshop. Back to the drawing board. Excuse my poor examples here… I’ll re-post the pics when I figure out what went wrong! Okay, fixed two, one to go, but gotta get ready to pick Miss Maddie Moo from school, so be back later.

Raw? I’m sure you’re asking, what in the world is RAW? Well, it’s actually Camera Raw. You know when you set your camera to Fine, Normal, or Basic… Raw is actually a step up from Fine. It actually does as it’s called… It captures the image in it’s raw state so in the long-run you can tweak just about every aspect there is… Choose the wrong WB (white balance)? Underexposed? Overexposed? No problem, just select one of the other settings and tweak to your liking when editing!

Actually Raw scares me… or it has in the past. Today I ventured into the raw setting. Of course I was just practicing on my kiddos out front, but I can definitely see how it would be useful. I was also shooting wide open (smallest aperature possible) while still trying to get tack sharp images. Not just crisp, but so crisp you can see every detail in their face.

I definitely got it in this one… Ignore the setting! Old carseat sitting on floor of garage. Heck, it held her still (no she wasn’t buckled in), it was just a fun spot to sit! Oh and don’t even get me started on her hair… Poor thing inherited mommy’s fine locks. This one is actually maybe a tad hard to tell since I didn’t crop in any closer, but if you could zoom into her eyes you could see how detailed they are. You can practically count every lash!

Not as sharp as the first, but pretty darn close. I can count lashes and see the tiny fine hair falling in her face.

This one isn’t as sharp as the other two, but still great. I just thought she looked cute leaning over the seat. I’ve found a new sweet spot outside and I get great catchlights without any reflectors… Well, no man-made ones, just the natural ones!

I’m sure this post isn’t very interesting to most of you, so just ignore for now. Or just ignore the text and check out my cuties! 😉

I’ve been on a practicing streak, trying to fine-tune my skills and gearing up for this holiday season. With that in mind… Have you booked your session yet? Don’t wait any longer because I’m booking up and I’d hate for you to miss your opportunity. I’ve got some great designs this year that I’d love to put to use for your holiday cards. Email me today!

Edited to say… Wow! I did this post late the other night and my eyes must have been tired because now I see something went wrong when I posted my edits. They are not near as sharp as I see in Photoshop. Back to the drawing board. Excuse my poor examples here… I’ll re-post the pics when I figure out what went wrong! Okay, fixed two, one to go, but gotta get ready to pick Miss Maddie Moo from school, so be back later.

Raw? I’m sure you’re asking, what in the world is RAW? Well, it’s actually Camera Raw. You know when you set your camera to Fine, Normal, or Basic… Raw is actually a step up from Fine. It actually does as it’s called… It captures the image in it’s raw state so in the long-run you can tweak just about every aspect there is… Choose the wrong WB (white balance)? Underexposed? Overexposed? No problem, just select one of the other settings and tweak to your liking when editing!

Actually Raw scares me… or it has in the past. Today I ventured into the raw setting. Of course I was just practicing on my kiddos out front, but I can definitely see how it would be useful. I was also shooting wide open (smallest aperature possible) while still trying to get tack sharp images. Not just crisp, but so crisp you can see every detail in their face.

I definitely got it in this one… Ignore the setting! Old carseat sitting on floor of garage. Heck, it held her still (no she wasn’t buckled in), it was just a fun spot to sit! Oh and don’t even get me started on her hair… Poor thing inherited mommy’s fine locks. This one is actually maybe a tad hard to tell since I didn’t crop in any closer, but if you could zoom into her eyes you could see how detailed they are. You can practically count every lash!

Not as sharp as the first, but pretty darn close. I can count lashes and see the tiny fine hair falling in her face.

This one isn’t as sharp as the other two, but still great. I just thought she looked cute leaning over the seat. I’ve found a new sweet spot outside and I get great catchlights without any reflectors… Well, no man-made ones, just the natural ones!

I’m sure this post isn’t very interesting to most of you, so just ignore for now. Or just ignore the text and check out my cuties! 😉

I’ve been on a practicing streak, trying to fine-tune my skills and gearing up for this holiday season. With that in mind… Have you booked your session yet? Don’t wait any longer because I’m booking up and I’d hate for you to miss your opportunity. I’ve got some great designs this year that I’d love to put to use for your holiday cards. Email me today!

I saw this quote today and thought it was quite appropriate for this profession I so love to do…

The artist’s world is limitless. It can be found anywhere, far from where he lives or a few feet away. It is always on his doorstep.
-Paul Strand

It kind of opens my eyes to it all… Pun intended!

And I leave you with a pic of a tiny flower I found the other evening just steps outside my front door.

Pretty neat huh? Especially how you can see each individual petal.

I’m sure by now you know our routine… Play outside while we wait for the evening to pass or for daddy to come home. Whichever comes first. Daddy has actually been working pretty late, so our outdoor time is to keep my sanity while waiting for bathtime and bedtime to get here.

Today I worked on shooting wide open. Basically it allows more light in, but it also gives you a blurred background to put more focus on your subject.

I also worked on creative cropping. Here is the original un-cropped.

And the cropped version… Don’t you think it makes her face stand out more? I’m the queen of close-ups though! Plus I doctored her teeth a little (she needed to brush!) and her eyes to make them stand out.

Another with creative cropping…

Did a little or should I say a lot of photoshop to this one… There were houses on either side of him in the background, so I got rid of them! They were too distracting.

My driveway after the end of an eventful evening of playtime.

I think I need to get out more… maybe go beyond the yard! It’s just so easy and we don’t have to go anywhere… We can come and go as we please!

As you can probably tell by the title, the triplets came back to visit! Actually they’ve been back several times and we’ve been their way too, but we haven’t had a ‘session’ since their 4 month session.

Here are a few of my favorites, but I’ve got many more to go through… So I’m sure I’ll have new favorites once I do!

Finally, a group shot!

It was fun! We made a day out of it and I’m exhausted, but it was all worth it when you see all those smiles!

Whoops… I see some burning I need to do to my background, but I’m too tired to do it tonight… Just ignore for now and I’ll re-post later once I get those fixed!

Okay… Still didn’t fix my background, but I had to post a couple more… I tried a new b&w method on these.

I had to share this little storyboard I created… Typically I wouldn’t show my ghetto set-up, but I had to share Caleb peeking through our backdrop and then the final product afterwards!

Once again, so much fun!