My 1st blog photo lesson!  Let me make it clear that I am NO photography expert.  I did not go to photography school, what I know about photography I have taught myself through books and the wonderful world wide web.  I am not perfect, but I am trying to get better day by day.  

That being said, I get photography questions on a daily basis.  There are a few things that YOU can do to make YOUR everyday pictures just a little bit better without all the studying and research.

Today’s lesson – Turn OFF the flash, or direct the flash elsewhere.

I despise flash photography, you will notice that I don’t take many pictures inside or at night.  Direct flash makes photos very flat and lifeless.

Example of a photo taken with a direct (on camera) flash

Here is almost the same exact photo taken less than a minute later, same camera, same camera settings, same lens, the only thing I did was add an external flash and bounced the light off the ceiling instead of directly on Nj.

What a difference, huh?  It is still not a perfect photo, but notice that the harsh shadows are gone!  Sooo, turn OFF the flash during the day, whenever natural light is available.  And if you have taken the plunge and purchased a DSLR, invest in an external flash for night and indoor photos!

Did this help anyone? Let me know if you would like more mini “lessons” from me on the blog in the future!!

So my husband and a few of his co-workers have this annoying “thing”.  They will be talking on the phone to each other and all of a sudden one of them will blurt out “too busy” and hang up the phone.  Drives me nuts.  Well, most of their conversations make me want to pull my hair out – but this one oddity in particular is just, well….men….that is all I am going to say.

But “too busy” is exactly how I feel right now.  Busy, overwhelmed, overloaded, and spread thin!  I hate turning away customers, but what many people don’t know is that photography is my hobby and my passion.  Which is why I do it for others.  But to support my family, I also have my “real” career!  So I work 40 hours a week in marketing (which I also love!), I probably put in an average of 10 hours a week on the photography business, plus I have to give loving to my boys – all 4 of them (yes, I included the dog in that number).  In between all that, I have to squeeze in therapy for my neck because of the accident I was in this past May, plus regular day to day things.  Fortunately, the only thing right now that is suffering is my poor house.  Oh my poor, poor house.  To say that it looks like a tornado ran through it would be a compliment.

So enough about being “too busy“.  On to the good stuff.

Mini Sessions.

SUCCESS!  It was so.much.fun. Seriously, if I had the time and energy to do them more frequently, I would.  But I definitely plan on doing it again next October.  So let me know if you are interested, because I will only be accepting 8 sessions.

So….I promised I would never do this again, and I PROMISE that after this blog post I will never do it again.  Unfortunately, I am “too busy” to put together a dedicated post for everyone, so here are my favorites from a few of the mini sessions!

The H family, with their beautiful newborn baby girl, Grey  I can’t wait to see her again in January!

Mr. Jace just turned one!  Isn’t he adorable!  I hope Daddy who is overseas loves these

The B family has Who Dey spirit!!!!

My dear friends, the G family and their adorable children

And the beautiful H family with baby Gavin – couldn’t they be on the cover of a magazine?

Stay tuned for pictures from BB’s favorite day of the year