Little Miss C | Chicago Newborn Photographer

I can't tell you how thrilled I was to do this in-home newborn session!  Little Miss M was late in arriving, and I almost felt like her mom, waiting, waiting, waiting.  (Trust me, her mom felt every minute of that wait much more than I did!)  She finally made her appearance, and four days later I visited her for her very first portrait session.  :)

I love this vintage look for Miss C, especially with the crate in the picture.

Isn't she precious?

She slept so sweetly throughout our time together.

Baby's feet are incredibly wrinkly and red.  I love putting these shots in black and white.  After a lot of maneuvering on my part, I captured a sweet shot below.

 

 Mama and baby

After getting Miss C arranged in this really cute basket, her arm flopped over the side.  Her mama wanted to move it, but I wanted to try just a few shots.  She looks plumb tuckered out, and adorable.

We helped her get situated more comfortably, and I caught some super-sweet shots, even without headbands, flowers, or other props.

The below is possibly my favorite shot from Miss C's portrait session.  Although I have the shot in color and vintage, I especially love the black and white, and how the light falls across her face.  Dear me, I've fallen in love!

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Photog Class -- Pose or Candid

For today's photography lesson, I'd like to continue addressing the subject of, well, the subject.  :)

Whatever you're shooting--person, place, or thing--there are a few more things you can think about before you look through the viewfinder.

Think about how you want to portray your subject.  How you can show your subject's personality through your photo?  Do you want to capture your children's personalities?  The playfulness of your dog?  The excitement of a sports game?  The hectic atmosphere of a city street scene?  I think one key way to capture these things is based on this quote I recently read:

The whole point of a good photograph

is to show what is going on in your life at the time.

Joel Sartore, Photographing Your Family, page 125

Take a posed shot.  Then take a candid one.  It seems that whenever a camera is pulled out, someone hollers, "Look at the camera!  Smile!"  Those shots are fine if you're taking a portrait shot, maybe for a special occasion or to document an event--to show that these particular people were all there.  But if we truly want to capture what our life is like at that moment, as in Sartore's quote above, I encourage you to take the candid shot.

In the candid shot, the subject is in his/her/its natural environment, doing something he/she/it normally does--playing together, talking, reading a book, participating in a sport, etc.  He (and I'm using he so I don't have to keeping typing he/she/it) is not necessarily looking at the camera.

Danny is voting for the first time...

 The girls are enjoying their new baby sister for the first time...

My dad is "overseeing" the carving of the turkey.

No pose in the below shot, either.  Even though the scene is backlit (not great for capturing faces), Jacob and his grandma were listening to the conversation going on in the room.  I saw Jacob's sweetness and love for his grandma.  I saw my mom smiling because she knew I was clicking away with my camera.  I'm so glad I captured this!

I wanted to capture the people in the above shots in their moments, enjoying their moments.  Those things were going on in their lives, and in mine.  I feel that I captured what was going on in my life at the time.

All that being said, go ahead and pose a shot.  Older kids and (some) adults are good at posing for you, in the way you want them to.  Check out Thomas below.  The family room was a mess, and he needed to pick it up.  I asked him to pose on purpose, and that was the face he made.  I love it.  :)

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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My Week With the S Family

One of my Project 2012 weekly blog posts featured my time throughout the week with the S family, while dad and mom were at the hospital having a baby, and again so dad could go back to the hospital a few days later to bring mom and baby home.  I photographed most of my time with these four wonderful children.  What an amazing, wacky, fun time we had together!  And our time together ended on such a sweet note, when baby sister came home.  So, in pictures, here is my week.

Headed to the park

Underdog!

Playing on the rocks

Trampoline time

The farming game (I was losing miserably!)

Master R made pancakes for breakfast!

Pizza slicer as pancake cutter--innovative!

Daddy's home, and showing off pictures of their new baby

Daddy/daughter time on the porch

Waiting for Mommy

Gifts from the family for Mommy and baby

More gifts arrive!

Mommy and baby are home!!

Three sisters

Welcoming Little Miss C

The below is a beautiful shot of mom.  I can't believe she just had a baby; she's still glowing!  I know the picture is blurry, but this is the only shot I have of her.  I didn't even take it, since I was too busy holding/adoring Little Miss C.  Throughout the week, I had let all the kids (except little E) use my camera.  I kept the settings on manual mode, too, and they took some great shots.  Miss K (big sister in the above image) is, in my opinion, a budding photographer, and used my camera the most.  Although her mom was slightly alarmed at her just picking up my camera and shooting, Miss K took the below shot.  So don't think about the blurriness of a shot captured by a six-year-old!  Yes, six.  Not bad, huh?

Up next--photo session with Little Miss C.  I can't wait to share the images; they turned out simply beautiful!  :D


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Project 2012 Week 21 -- May 20-26

Project 2012 -- Week 21

May 20 - May 26

How to Link Up With Us

1.  Click here to read the Project 2012 Guidelines, and to get the code to place in your blog.
2.  Fill out the little form below (insert the URL of your blog post, not the main URL of your blog).
3.  Please visit others' links and leave comments; you will receive visits and comments in return!

My Week 21 Photos

I didn't use Ellie that much this past week, but I did get some good images--mostly from my gardens.  This first image is of three of the guys unloading firewood given to us by my parents.  It makes me happy to see my guys working together, and it makes me happy to think of the fires we will have in our fireplace next winter.

[141] Unloading wood

[142] New stack of firewood

It seems that I'm pretty good at gardening with my camera slung over my shoulder.  :)  I spotted the below in my teeny-tiny strawberry patch (five plants strong!).

[143] Strawberry blossom

Upon seeing all the blooms on my sage plant, I've decided to transplant this beauty into part of my flower garden.  I have a whole jar of rubbed sage from last year, and I have yet to use it.  Any ideas of what to do with sage?

 [144] Blooming sage

My green bean plants have emerged!  I planted French filet bush beans this year, since my pole beans didn't work out so well last year.

[145] French filet bean sprout

What was barely in bud one day was in bloom two days later!  My threadleaf coreopsis is so pretty after a rain--or after the shower of my watering hose.  :)

 [146] Threadleaf coreopsis

My variegated beard tongue is apparently a bee attractant.  They don't seem to mind me snooping around with my macro lens.  I caught some super-crisp shots of bumblebees, but I liked this one best.  This bumblebee is actually taking off, which I didn't even realize until I saw the series of shots I took.

[147] Bumblebee takeoff

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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April Showers

April showers bring May flowers.

April showers also bring April flowers.  :)  Here are some from the little gardens in my front yard (which is much prettier than my backyard).  I love all the color that spring brings with it!

Brunnera (Siberian bugloss)

Heuchera (coral bells "firefox")

Heuchera (coral bells "black beauty")

Daisies

Variegated beard tongue

The below coral bells is really and truly that vivid color!  And its name reflects it, too.  I have a shade garden my friend single-handedly dug out for me, right between the wallkway to my porch and the porch itself.  The garage sticks out on the left, blocking the morning sun, and since it faces northeast, it doesn't get any sun the entire day.

When my friend and I planted things in the dirt here, I had a hard time finding perennials that worked in complete shade.  I started with one or two perennials, my friend gave me some from another friend (I didn't know her well at that time), and eventually I filled it in with a perennial here and a perennial there.  I'm so glad I found the coral bells below.  They really like their special spot in my front yard, and they've grown into monster plants.  I'm going to divide them next spring and help my mom plant them at her and Dad's new house.  :)

Heuchera (coral bells "marmalade")

Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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Beauty in the Backyard

Here I go again, encouraging you to trudge outside, close to home, to see what you can find.  Here are some sights from my own back yard.  Even when I don't have a car, I can find something beautiful if I look.  :)

Some day soon, I'll have strawberries from these little plants.  I can't wait!

My chives are thriving.  I let them go to bloom, since I love the vivid purple flowers.  They're great to capture with Ellie.

My green onions--which came back from last year--were getting ready to bud and bloom.  I dug them all up, since they were almost as fat at leeks.  They taste amazing.  :)

Another section of chives was just beginning to bud.  I love the rich colors of spring.

I also love native woodland flowers that grow anywhere, all by themselves, without any help from me.  This columbine sure fits the bill nicely.

My older brother Matt has kept his old trailer in our back yard for several years now.  I think I've taken a picture of this tire each year, too!  It does make a great shot.

And that's what I found in my back yard.  :)


Treasuring life's moments,
Christine

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