Stafford Family Preview

I think this is now the fourth session I've done for Rhianna and family; I am not complaining!  Bianca and Daisy are so sweet and it's always fun doing sessions for your friends (I definitely don't get as nervous!).  Today we bundled up (well Bianca, Daisy, and I were bundled; Rhianna and Stan braved the cold in just sweaters!) and headed to Meadowbrook for a family session.  I was really bummed it turned overcast.  I know, I know...cloudy days are great, right?  Well not really at sunset.  I really wanted to get some sun-kissed photos...oh well.  I haven't gone through the whole session yet but so far, I think the photos turned out pretty well. 

On a separate note....I'm getting really tired of using Blogger for my photography...limited picture space and for whatever reason, the photos are not as crisp when they upload.  I am exploring my options and hopefully I can get something started after the new year.

You Could be Pinned

I've seen a lot of people start pinning their own creations on Pinterest (mostly things they are selling on their Etsy store).  I figured I would join the bandwagon by pinning some of my favorite pictures from my blog.  Fact is, my photography board on Pinterest is my most popular board (200 followers!).  Why not get my name out there a little bit more, right? (Still not quitting my day job though...I think I'm still a better teacher than photographer ;) )  So fair warning, if your picture is on any of my pages, I might pin it and (hopefully) you'll see yourself on Pinterest.

Taylor's Three Year Pictures

Taylor turns 3 in a week and a half (I know, crazy, right?) and since today was somewhat warm, I decided it would be good to try and get some pictures done.  We went over to the arboretum because I didn't want to go to a place that had a park and therefore make it less likely Taylor would cooperate.  Somehow I don't think it would have mattered where we were; she wasn't going to cooperate regardless.  By the way, I only speak ill of my subjects when they are my own children ;).  Now I could have gotten a lot more pictures- in fact I did.  But I made a total rookie mistake.  I forgot to check my camera settings when I turned it on.  Well, that's not entirely true.  I did check my shutter speed and my focus, I just completely ignored my ISO.  I think it's because I rarely change it.  But apparently last time I used my camera I did change it (oh yes, we were at an indoor party) to 500.  So high ISO, flash with diffuser= totally blown out pictures.  I'm seriously kicking myself (over and over and over) because I really did get some adorable shots of Taylor running towards me with this big grin and I don't think there's anything I can do to save them.  Boo.  But lesson learned.  Always check ISO first (and you know this isn't the first time I've done this; you'd think I'd remember by now!).  Actually I just turned on my camera to make sure it was set back at 200 ISO just in case I don't remember to check next time.
Anyway, we tried taking a few more pictures at home once we realized Taylor wasn't interested in napping.  Those weren't so great either.  Nothing wrong technically; just Taylor didn't want to cooperate of course!  I'm very curious what other photographers do to get a strong-willed child to sit down for a nanosecond.  Putting cute little critters around my lens doesn't work.  Obviously making silly sounds doesn't work as she's not a baby.  Even bribing her with fruit snacks didn't work.  I guess we did manage to get a few and a few is better than nothing.  Maybe we'll get blessed with another warm (hopefully not so windy!!) day and I can try again.

I don't know why she kept putting her hand in her mouth

I am three- hear me ROAR!