Thompsons, again!

This one didn't quite turn out the way I pictured it (and maybe sometime we'll recreate it the way it is in my mind), but after cropping it and playing with the color a little bit, I really like the wintery-passionate look it has. I love how Marissa's hair is blowing in the wind and can you see the snowflakes? That was only the beginning of our snowstorms in Washington.

I couldn't decide if I liked this one better in color or in black & white. I still don't think my color photos are showing up as colorful on this blog as they look when I'm editing them in PhotoShop. Again, there's a Pioneer Woman post I need to re-read about color profiles for printing and for web...

Marissa and Paul said they have a few pictures of the two of them walking this very same pathway from their wedding to their honeymoon suite. I love the idea of their very same feet walking the very same path just two years later, this time with their baby in their arms instead of a bridal bouquet.

I love how cozy they look in this picture. And how Cooper is the only one looking at my camera.

This may have been right after Marissa told Paul that the face he was making made him look like a jack-o-lantern. And then Paul said it was just his hair that made her think of a pumpkin.

There's little Daisy again, this time in a warm pink vest. :)

This was also a recreation of an earlier picture. They have an ADORABLE engagement portrait in this same location on the Cedarbrook campus. That portrait is in color and is a vertical shot (I have one like that too, but I liked this one better ... and I know Marissa likes black & whites).

That blanket Cooper is snuggling with is special. It was handmade for him by his grandmother. Isn't it beautiful?

Another cozy family moment.

At the end of the shoot, Cooper was getting cold and tired. Actually, we all were. Here's Mommy soothing him.

And after the Mommy snuggles, he's happier!

2nd Thompson shoot

So Marissa, Paul & Cooper and I met again for a second shoot last week. Our first session went rather long because we started at their house and then went to Cedarbrook, the place their wedding was held two years ago. Little Cooper had had enough by the time we started taking pictures outside in some pretty cold temperatures and I really wanted to give the family some better outdoor pictures. I did more research and actually jotted down some specific shots I wanted to get for them and here's what we came up with that second day. We went back to Cedarbrook and it was even colder than the first day but this family is made up of some pretty patient team-players! I'm much happier with these pictures ... I hope they like them, too!

I've got more pictures I'm still editing from this shoot. There will be one more Thompson post coming after this one, plus a few more of Meredith and baby Joss. Keep coming back. We're still snowed in here and the hubby and baby are giving me some good computer time so I'm hoping to knock out a few more posts before the day is over. Stay warm!

Snowed in

We're totally snowed in here in the Pacific Northwest. James and I had a family weekend down in Olympia where there were 14 inches of snow (and more in some places). We drove the slippery drive home last night and I'm getting back to editing all my pictures from last week. Marissa, Paul and Cooper have been really patient with me, as the second day of their shoot was on Wednesday and I've only shown them one sneak peek. I'm still getting all of Meredith's pictures finished too. So stay tuned ... more are coming soon.

More Joss

I love Joss' blue eyes! Meredith really likes the black and white pictures ... but I had to post some here in color to share her daughter's deep blue eyes. Joss has grown so much even in just the past couple of weeks. Meredith and I are part of a Mommy group that meets weekly and it's so fun to see how much the babies grow from week to week. I hadn't seen Joss in a few weeks and she's getting to be such a fun little girl!

I've got a bunch more pictures to edit, including a few of Meredith and Joss in front of the Christmas tree ... and then some from a second shoot I did with Marissa, Paul and Cooper on Wednesday. Things have been so busy around here with the snow and the holidays. All good, fun things though, so no complaints here! Thanks to everyone for being patient as you wait to see your pictures!

On a personal note, we went to see Santa yesterday. I have pictures from that too ...

Joss

I only have a second and I haven't finished even going through all the pictures I took of Joss this morning, but I had to share this one. She's laying on a special drum that belongs to her dad. Aren't her blue eyes just so pretty? I'll post more from today when I get home later tonight...

Paul, Marissa & Cooper

Look at this handsome boy! This is Cooper and he was a champ through a pretty long photo session this afternoon. Marissa and Paul wanted a family picture to send out with their Christmas cards and wanted to take their pictures at the place they were married. It was beautiful! They were married in January 2007 and on the day of their wedding, there was snow on the ground. There was definitely snow today, too! Brrrr. We didn't last too long outside and we're going to go back soon (maybe Wednesday) to do more pictures outside.

I really like the warm, sunset lighting in this one. And at first I was bummed that half of Cooper's face is hidden by his hood, but now that I look at it again, that is kind of a cute little detail!

I've seen pictures of Marissa walking down this same hallway in her gorgeous wedding gown. We had to stop here for a few shots.

Marissa and Paul signed their marriage license on this very same piano. Cooper just thinks the holiday wreath stuff is cool.

At Paul and Marissa's home, they have a bunch of framed black and white pictures on their family room wall. So I turned a few black and white. But Marissa, if you want to see any of these black and white ones in color, I have those too!

Marissa thought Cooper might be teething. He had a rough time part of the afternoon and always stopped fussing when she let him chew on her finger.

I meant to take the whole family's picture from up above, but this one of Daddy and his boy was just perfect.

Here they are in front of their family Christmas tree at home. That's little Daisy (they call her Doodle) on Marissa's lap. She was a bundle of energy. I liked her instantly! Not everything in this picture is perfectly in focus ... and I'm really bummed about that because there's something so special about a family picture in front of the family tree. This was a big challenge for me today ... with lighting not always bright enough, I had to have my aperture open REALLY wide. And that meant that not every face was in focus in every picture.

I like the effect of that glass tabletop in this one. And how snuggly the family looks, all holding on to each other. Poor Cooper ... that tooth must be really pushing its way through!

I love this one. I don't take enough far away shots, I don't think. Sometimes it's just so refreshing to see the whole picture. What a good lookin' family they are, huh? And how pretty is that sky behind them? The only thing I would change here is I wouldn't cut off their feet right at the ankles like that. Whoops.

There are a lot more shots I feel we missed because we got to that second location later in the afternoon and lost most of our daylight. I'm excited that Marissa and Paul are up for meeting there again to try to get some more pictures of their family in their beautiful wedding location. I so love taking pictures in places that mean something to the people involved. It's fun to hear their stories and I just think the pictures mean that much more.

Again, I learned a lot today. I can sum it all up in three points.

One, I need to buy an external flash for my camera, so when someone wants a picture in a place with poor lighting, I can give them the shot they want, in the place they want (even if the lighting is too low). Even though I still prefer to always keep my flash off, I think it would be good to have it if I really need it.

Two, I need to find a better way to multi-task. I need to make babies laugh and look at me at the same time I change my manual settings and push the shutter release button.

And three, I need to have a repertoire of cool poses in mind if families aren't sure how to stand when I lift up the camera. This I've known for a long time; it isn't something that just came to mind today. I've been gathering ideas for awhile. Today was just different because outside, there weren't any places to sit because there was an inch of snow piled on every surface. And nearly every inch of ground was covered in a thin layer of ice. So we had to be very NOT one with nature today. I'm always searching for inspiration on photo blogs and wanting ideas for new angles and poses (and non-poses ... more "candids," which have always been my preference). I don't want all my pictures to look the same, family to family. Each session is totally different and I want my pictures to reflect the individuality of each family/couple/person.

Thanks, Marissa & Paul! You have a gorgeous home and a beautiful family. Thanks for letting me spend so much time with you today! See you again soon. And GO COUGS! :)

Nicole & Jesse

One of the things I'm most excited about is taking pictures of couples (and doing engagement portraits). Jesse and Nicole let me take a few of them after we were done getting pictures of Ashleigh and Mackenzie. They really wanted to recreate a favorite picture they had of the two of them. They wanted the waves behind them, so that's what we did. They were super easy to shoot -- really comfortable in front of the camera and they "posed" so perfectly. :)

Seriously, could the sea gulls have come at any better time in the picture above? I love it! The birds were working the camera, too.

This picture above was taken at a strange angle ... but I love how they're looking at each other. I should have framed this one differently. Maybe I need to crop it differently and see what I can come up with.

Yeah, so these are all really similar shots of the two of them. I wish we had thought to do more couples' pictures earlier in the day instead of just right at the end. Next time!

All in all, it was such a fun day for me! Thank you so much, Nicole and Jesse, for letting me spend the afternoon with you! Tell Ashleigh and Mackenzie they did an awesome job. They're beautiful little ladies.

I learned a lot today. After going through all of my pictures, I see that I tend to tip the camera and take pictures at a certain angle a lot. I need to change it up and take more pictures just straight on. Horizontally. I want to plan ahead of time for some general poses and plan in more fun activities so we're not just walking and posing. I like to capture real interaction ... especially with kids, the best stuff is the stuff you don't purposely try to direct.

Also, I'm a sucker for accidentally leaving my aperture at its lowest setting (I'm having a love affair with my 50mm 1.8) and then not checking it for a long time and only altering the shutter speed. I need to remember that when I'm taking pictures of a bigger group of people, that a really low aperture is not a good idea. There's no guarantee that each person in a big group will be in the exact same plane (the same distance away from my camera). With a really low aperture, that means that not everyone will be in sharpest focus equally.

Whew. Bed time finally. I have two more shoots coming up -- one on Monday and one on Tuesday. More pictures coming soon!