Rissa's Senior Session - New Location

I love shooting at new locations! I'm constantly looking for new places to shoot, sometimes I see something that I look at every single day and it suddenly looks different and is a photo shoot backdrop! Sometimes I just stumble upon a place. In July my friend and I ran a 5k brew run in Bozeman, starting and ending at the Bozeman Brewery.  As we ran along I was looking at all these buildings and thinking "wow these would be great for a photo shoot!". Later that week Rissa's mom contacted me about doing her Senior Portraits and I said oh I have such a great place.
We didn't get to the shoot until just last week, so I had to revisit the neighborhood to make sure I wasn't in a delusional state while I was running!  I even arrived to the area early for the shoot and found more buildings to use.  We had to make some adjustments to my original vision because of the sun that evening and it was not giving us very many shady areas at the buildings.  The other side of the train depot had amazing colorful graffiti. The second building was proving very frustrating for me. I was doing the best I could but just wasn't happy with the light. I suddenly turned and looked across the street and the building with the tin sides and wooden steps was sitting right there just inviting us to come over!
We decided to head back to the train depot to see if we could use the green doors. The sun was so close to getting to the point that we could shoot we decided to wait it out. Just 15 minutes later it was perfect. Some of my favorite shots are from those last 15 min of shooting! It pays to be patient.

Mike Senior Session - Clouds are good!

Photographers talk about "the light" all the time and everyone loves to see those hazy, sunny images.  But what most people don't know is that working in that light isn't easy. Yes its gorgeous...when you have a reflector to bounce light back into your subjects face so its not in shadow. But it's also a challenge..finding the right place to put your subject so there's no shadows across their face, changing your angle every time the light moves a bit...just to name a few :)!
So when I have a shoot scheduled and its a cloudy day, I'm happy. Clouds are nature's soft box. It diffuses the light, it gives a more even light. It allows me as a photographer a lot more "room to move" without having to worry about where the sun is. Cloudy days also make colors pop, so I love a cloudy day in the fall for a shoot!
Mike was lucky to get one of those cloudy days. Actually we were lucky to have a dry shoot. I don't like to cancel due to weather until the last minute if at all possible (unless its windy, cold and miserable). It'd been pouring for a good hour and about 10 min before the shoot it stopped! I think it started to sprinkle as we finished up, but sometimes Mother Nature Cooperates.
Guys aren't always really into their portraits, but Mike did a great job and I really feel like I was able to get a lot expression and emotion out of our shoot!

On a side note....I usually pick out my favorites from a shoot pretty quickly as I'm culling them. But every once in awhile when I go back to get them to clients or create my blog, I see one that I can't believe I didn't LOVE the first time around! That happened today with Mike's....I'm really loving the middle B&W one below! 

Grooms Family

I do quite a bit to prepare for my photo sessions. I talk to my clients, find out their expectations, learn names, ages and interests of everyone involved so I can relate to them on a personal level. I hate to be a "stranger" putting a camera in their face and expecting them to smile and feel comfortable. So I like to take that time to make them feel comfortable. If I don't get to meet everyone before our shoot, I like to spend the first few minutes talking to everyone and getting to know a little about them.
I'm constantly looking for inspiration for new locations, poses and ideas.  I subscribe to countless blogs and newsletters with tips and tricks so that I'm constantly learning and becoming better at my craft. Before a shoot, I make notes on poses I want to do and try, I draw stick figure diagrams and I refer to it often each shoot. That's not to say I don't go off on spontaneous tangents during shoots, because believe me I do that too. I just like to have a little bit of a plan, whether any of it happens or not!
So Sunday morning before Cindy's shoot, I was prepared....and then I went to pick something up off the floor and gracefully poked myself in the eye with the piece of paper in my other hand and immediately I knew, I scraped my cornea!!! And the first thing that I said "NO!!!! I have a shoot in 2 hours!!!" I thought about trying to reschedule but I knew that one of her son's was only in town for the weekend and I also knew that it being adult children and I already had my preparations done that I could persevere and get it done!
I actually didn't feel too awful, I would just randomly have episodes where my eye would start watering profusely and I couldn't open it....so luckily I only had one during the shoot! Thank you Grooms Family for putting up with my slight disability that morning and allowing me a few moments to get myself back together!

It was a beautiful morning at the Headwaters State Park and we were able to utilize a couple different locations there to get some great shot!  Cindy is the owner of The Foxy Lady Salon in Bozeman. She believed in my vision for a shoot with her stylists and I'm so very thankful for that!

A Girl and her Horse - KD's Senior Session

When I met KD for our pre-consultation she was pretty laid back about our upcoming session, she knew exactly what she wanted,  some shots in a field and in the river, all with Rita, her horse! I told her we had to do some with just her as well! The day of the shoot was once again beautiful and we were getting some amazing golden hour light. We started in the field where I played with the light and how it was coming through the trees, using it to get that hazy light and then changing my angle to get less haze and more direct light. There was an old shed that was perfect (remember I'm a sucker for any kind of an old building!). KD is so comfortable with her horse, its as if she completes her. Actually its like they  complete each other.  This image is one of my favorites from this session...and its not just KD's love for Rita, it's the emotion that just radiates off of Rita. It gives me the chills every time I look at it. I did add a quote to this blog version of it.

 The light was fading quickly so we had to hurry down to the river. KD spends a lot of time here with Rita so they cruised in gracefully, meanwhile  I was trying not to fall down the embankment or drop my camera into water :)! I think we got some fantastic shots and even managed a few of KD alone! My daughter Lily was my "assistant" that evening and she equally amazed me with her horse skills. When we did solo shots, Lily took over Rita...I think maybe I need to get her lessons...KD?

Family - Ashley's Senior Portraits

A day before Ashley's shoot a friend of the hers offered the use of some old buildings on some private property and we were both pretty stoked. I had driven by them the night before but because they were on private property I behaved and did not trespass (this is not always the case for me ;)). When I pulled up to location on the day of the shoot, I may or may not have squealed in pure delight, did a little dance and kept say "OMG THIS IS AWESOME!"! I was in my own little photographer heaven. I love old buildings and random old things and then to be shooting as Senior as well? Heaven! Just a few minutes later Ashley and her mom and dad pulled up and Ashley was doing the same thing...this was definitely a good match!
I could have done the entire shoot at this location, in fact I had to tell her mom to keep me in line. I tend to get lost in my shooting and lose all track of time and we needed to get to our next location before we lost the light!

Once I forced myself to stop shooting at the old homestead, we headed to the river and Williams Bridge. We got there for the perfect Golden hour light! I loved that Ashley had some definite things she wanted to do, but was also very open to suggestions I had.  As I was lying down on the bridge getting some of my shots, her dad laughed and said she does the same thing. I'm hoping she'll tag along on some shoots with me so she can start learning more and someday follow her passion as well!

Every Senior shoot is different, some Seniors want their parents there, some don't. Ashley had both her mom and dad with her and she wanted to do some shots with them as well. Family is huge for Ashley  and that was very apparent thought out the evening.
Thanks Ashley, Melissa and Ron for allowing me into your lives and to capture Ashley's beautiful spirit!
 

Finding Passion Within a Passion

This last year has been an incredible journey. It was one year ago this week that the opportunity presented itself and I took the reigns of my own destiny and dove headfirst into my photography business. I can't say it's been easy or hasn't had its ups and down.  There have been tears, frustration and moments of feeling like throwing in the towel. But it's brought more smiles, joy and feelings of accomplishment. I'm so incredibly thankful for the support of friends, family, the community and my clients!

If you follow my blog you will know that during this journey I discovered that one of my favorite subjects is Seniors.  This also reminded me that while in school one of my other favorite units was fashion photography.  I decided to dive into that a bit. So I teamed up with a friend who is a new stylist at a new salon in Bozeman, the Foxy Lady Salon. Danielle and Miranda did hair and make up for six models and I did what I do behind the camera!  I had an absolute blast and am really excited about the images we got from the shoot.

I really love how much creativity and out of the box ideas play into fashion photography. We didn't go too crazy for this shoot,  but I have some ideas in my head that I would like to execute soon. So someday soon be on the lookout for big hair, bird cages, smoky eyes, and maybe even a goat...random, weird, different...that's why I love Fashion Photography.

I have to thank my sister-in-law, Amanda Cram for being my assistant that night, holding the reflector, moving hair out of faces and fetching step stools for me. Thank you to Cindy Grooms, owner of the Foxy Lady for believing in my vision and letting me take over your salon! Thank you to Danielle and Miranda for working late that night and also believing in me! Thanks to the models for doing things that might have made you feel uncomfortable because as you can see, it was worth it! I will be calling on you for my future visions...do any of you have a goat?

And that's one thing I've loved about this past year, following my passion and finding even more passion within that passion!

Dani

You might remember Dani from one of my earlier blogs. She was one of my Senior Models this year. We did a shoot early on for some advertising and we got in a Spring Session during Montana's short green time :)
Dani will be a Senior at Three Forks this year. I've known Dani since she was my oldest's age (9), wow! Can't believe she's a Senior this year. She's a beautiful young lady and was great to work with, even took getting hailed on during our Softball Session (I may or may not have believed her that it was actually hailing). 

Talbert Family

I love when my worlds collide! A couple weeks ago my kids were attending the Baptist church Vacation Bible School in the evenings. On Wed night I took a run on my way to pick them up so I arrived sweaty and tired. One of the Volunteers approached me and turns out she is a runner as well and so we started chatting and probably 30 minutes later her kids had sent a friend looking for her and my husband texted me because the girls "have been home awhile".  It's funny how that happens.
 I told her I was a photographer and the next day I had a message from her asking if I had any openings that weekend, her husband was going to be in town. Luckily I had kept it open due to running a half marathon on Saturday!  Kristy and her family live in Alaska but she and her kids spend several weeks every summer here in Three Forks with her Grandma. So bright and early Sunday morning we headed to a couple of locations I've been wanting to try here in town. We had a blast and they are such a gorgeous family!
I'm pretty stoked about the locations we used as backdrops, I really like them. We had some fun at the school as well. I love when the kids ask to do something and it turns out to be one of my favorites and mom's as well. They wanted to hang from the monkey bars for a "just kids" picture. Mom and dad helped the girls up and I said, "wait, lets do one of the family first" and I love it. 
But, my favorite was this: first I asked them to do a jumping picture forgetting the Kristy had just had knee surgery...but she was game for a small jump! And Theodis was NOT about the jumping so they said "fine you don't have to".  And as I was editing images, I texted Kristy and said "I think Theodis knew what he was doing with the not jumping thing" I absolutely love this image! Thanks Talberts for letting me get to know your family and Kristy, I am looking forward to running with you next summer!

Korich Family

Living in a different state than our family I know what trips "home" are like. They are busy...packed with visiting everyone you need to see, doing fun things for the kids, letting grandma and grandpa get quality time in. You can't really call them a vacation (sorry family in Ohio :)) because they can be exhausting.  But they are worth it!
I recently had a family shoot with the Korich's who were "home" for a long weekend to visit!  We had an evening shoot on a Friday and it was a hot one. They'd been in Bozeman all day and poor Macklin had to be woken up from a nap to head out to our shoot.
I always love to see what the reward is for the kids who I am photographing, I don't think I've ever had a session with 2-6 year old whose parents didn't come prepared with a reward for getting through the photo shoot. I should probably have beer and wine in a cooler in the back of my van for parents who get through the photo shoot...
Anyway, Macklin was going to get to go shopping for one some toys from his favorite TV show, but once we got to our location (William's Bridge) he also decided he needed to play in the river as a reward. We did the shots we were planning and then it was time to head down to the river to get some there and then let Macklin enjoy his reward. This was probably my favorite part of the shoot, because Macklin got his feet wet and then bam he was all the way in...shoes, clothes...all in! It was great and he was happy. Some of my favorite shots are of him in river!
Thank you Korich's for letting me be a part of your trip home! I really enjoyed getting to know your entire family!

Frye Family

I remember the day Lanette called to talk to me about doing her son, Randy's Senior Pictures. It was April 12th, my daughter Lily's birthday. I was running around the house while I chatted with her, getting things ready for Lily's party and trying to keep a 9 month old occupied and quiet so I could talk. My cell phone kept cutting out, we tried again from the land line and I'm pretty sure I hung up on her once. I kept thinking, this woman is never going to hire me, I can't even have a conversation on the phone. Luckily she works at home and has three kids as well so she wasn't even phased!
I was thrilled when she not only hired me to take Randy's Senior Portraits but also their family portraits. We met on a May morning at the ranch where they keep their 4H cows and we did a little location scouting! I learned that morning that the work that goes into preparing cows for photo sessions is probably more time intensive than it is for most people!
As she taught me a lot about cows/heifers/bulls/4H and I realized how much they loved these animals and I asked how they were able to handle selling them for slaughter I laughed and said "I have to tell you something" and in the back of my head I'm telling myself to shut up. I said, "I'm finding this pretty funny, because I'm a vegetarian. I haven't eaten meat since I was 14 years old!" If someone would have told me I'd be doing a photo shoot at a ranch with cows when I moved to Montana 14 years ago I would have said "oh no I won't"! Oh how times have changed :)! Luckily again, Lanette didn't say "this woman is crazy, she's not taking our pictures!"
That's what I love about this job, I get to meet so many people and I have learned so many things from people and families I have worked with....things I wouldn't have otherwise been exposed to!
We did the family shoot an early morning in July and we had a blast. They are such a loving family and I got to see the sibling ribbing and teasing and then also the moments where you see their love for each other. The families aren't the only ones that get something out of these sessions. I also gained a new babysitter for my girls (If Matt and I ever actually go do something ;))! And I gained a new friend, thanks Lanette!

Bailee

When I met with Bailee and her mom for our pre-consultation I told them about the location I was dying to do a Senior Session at and I was stoked when they said they were game! It's a bit of a jaunt from Three Forks so even more so from Townsend.
I love finding new and unique locations so I never mind a little drive time to a shoot! The evening light, the colors and the flowers was definitely  worth it. I think we all came out with a few mosquito bites, but I didn't mind! Bailee and her mom did a great job of picking outfits which would work well with the location. I've really enjoyed getting to know Bailee and her mom and I cannot wait until the second part of our session this fall :)!

Be Yourself!

Lets face it,  the majority of young men and adult men don't get real excited about getting their portraits taken. Snapshots are one thing, but going to a professional photographer, getting posed, having to smile, being told to look off into the distance looking forlorn just isn't their thing! But they do it, because their wife wants family portraits or they're going to be a Senior and their mom says they have to. So I try my hardest to make it painless, to make it kind of fun. I encourage them to have fun, be playful and I allow them to give me a hard time or roll their eyes at me.
I recently had Randy for his Senior Portraits. He plays baseball so his evenings are pretty busy and since mornings and evenings are best lighting a 7:45 am shoot was pretty early.  After a few shots, Randy asked if he could take some with his sunglasses on. I don't usually like to take portraits with sunglasses because it hides the eyes and the eyes are one of the most important parts of a good portrait. I asked him "do you wear them a lot?" and he said "yes". I said "Is that you?" and he said "yes". So I said sure, as long as we do some with out because your mom wants to see your eyes. Mom joined us a little bit later and I told her what we had decided and said "You know, that really is him". So you will see below a little sunglasses action. I'm glad that Randy spoke up and I think that's important for clients to do, if something doesn't feel right then say something, if there's something you want, speak up! Be yourself!
I think Randy survived and we got some great shots. I did hear through the grapevine (mom) that the whole experience wasn't quite as painful as he was anticipating. So that's good! Thanks Randy for being such a great sport! ....and he had to do it again 2 weeks later for family portraits! You'll see those on the blog soon too!

Sadie

As I talked about in my last post I have found a definite love of Senior Portraits and this week and next are filled with them! I was looking for a Senior Model in Townsend and my sister in law,  Amanda Cram a teacher at Broadwater High was able to help connect me with Sadie! Although I've only spent a few hours with her, she is one beautiful young lady inside and out! I'm so happy that I got to spend some time with her and we got some amazing shots!
We did a session back in March (you can see some of those images on my previous post) so that I could start doing a little advertising, but we also wanted to do some more when the spring rains made it a little greener! This past Monday we were able to do just that.
We found a spot by the creek with wildflowers and the sun coming through the trees that was pretty much perfect (except for that fact that we were indeed trespassing, but the property owner was just fine with us there as long as we weren't taking any "questionable" photos..."no sir, we are not!".  Hopefully he doesn't mind that we had to do a little landscaping and weeding! Sadie was a trooper for trying just about anything, including standing in the freezing cold creek and lying in weeds and dirt. I told her it would be worth it and it was! I am also happy to say that although close, I did not fall into the creek!
Her sister, Grace, tagged along and was a fantastic assistant, holding the reflector and carting my camera bag around! Thank you Grace.
Sadie definitely feels comfortable in front of the camera...your mom taught you well and she would be super proud :)
Here are some of my favorites!

What's my favorite?

I've always loved photography, I've always loved having a camera in my hands, listening to the sound of the shutter and capturing life as I was seeing it. I love old....old buildings, broken furniture, car parts, things falling apart, even old cemeteries.  So old was often my subject.  I still like to incorporate that into my portraits whenever I can. I'll be honest, when I would envision photography as a job, it wasn't as a portrait photographer, it was a wildlife & fine art photographer.
But then I had kids and I enrolled in the New York Institute of Photography and people began to become a regular part of my photography. Today, I love being a portrait photographer. I love meeting people and in a short period of time make them comfortable enough that I'm able to capture their personality and their true self.
So now that I have embraced and love doing portraits, there are so many categories...family, children, newborns, maternity, engagements, boudoir, weddings, seniors. I'm pretty new to this very saturated market of photography and I love working with all sorts of categories of portraits. Each one brings a different challenge and allows for different creativity.
 I see myself evolving into a more narrow field as I grow my business. I haven't decided what yet, and I don't know if I will decide or if it will just happen. But the one thing I know is that it will include Senior Portraits. I LOVE Seniors! I think Senior Portraits are such an important part of life, a sort of rite of passage. Both the Senior and their parents will go back to their portraits for many years to come. I just helped my dad create his "kid" wall at his home and he incorporated all of our Senior Portraits....we are talking portraits from 10 years to 30 years ago! But it was interesting to me to watch my dad's pride when looking at those portraits and then adding  our accomplishments since then.
I really enjoy working with both the parents and the kids during the pre consultations and through the shoots. It's fun to listen to them and hear what is important to mom and dad and what's important to the kids. Then finding a way to incorporate those both into their portraits.
I had two Senior Models this year, Dani and Sadie and they both have been so great to work with! We did some fairly early so I could get some advertising out. Just a couple weeks ago Dani and did some softball portraits and tomorrow Sadie and I will work together again! Here are some of the portraits from our sessions! I have 2 more Senior sessions this week and I'm giddy with excitement!

Baby Bumps

Here's the deal, I only post 1 or 2 sneak peeks on my Facebook page from each session. My intention for the last month was to post more images from sessions here on my blog with a little "inside story" about the shoot. However, I've been swamped and the blog kept falling lower on the priority list. But...I am on it now!
One of the sessions I did last month was a maternity session for Malori. She's such a beautiful pregnant woman. Her due date is one day and one year after my due date was for Elle so I know how she is feeling about this time in the pregnancy!
I personally did not get my own maternity shots done for my first two pregnancies. I'll be honest, I'm not a fan of being pregnant. I don't embrace my body, I don't feel fantastic and I'm always ready for it to be over! But with Elle, I decided that I wanted to capture my last pregnancy, I wanted to try and actually embrace my changing body this time. So I had my portraits done and I'm so glad I did. I remember looking at the images when I got them and thinking ugh, I hate my arms, ugh my face is wide. (I'm not one of those lucky ones that just gets a belly, I gain everywhere). But its funny because now every time I walk into Elle's room, I find myself looking at the pictures I have hung in there and I love them and I don't see the flaws, I see my belly and feel amazed that just a year ago she was in there and now I have an almost walking, almost 1 year old!
I didn't really mean this to turn into my story, but after my blog yesterday (if you didn't read it, scroll down and read it!) and what Malori posted on Facebook when she shared my link, I felt it tied in. So there's my story and here's what Mal wrote:
"Oooo Trisha Jones its a really good one! Everyone should read no matter who your favorite photographer is....pictures are the gateway to our memories! I didn't want to do my maternity pictures and found myself in tears the morning of wishing I had done them sooner, or that I had something else to wear etc etc but now I know I will look back when we are old and cherish one of the last last times it was will be just zach and I and use them to remember our love when their are times of difficulty ahead...."
And finally here are some of her session images!

Why you shouldn't wait.

I currently hate my hair, I still have 10 pounds to lose from my last pregnancy, Bella's hair needs cut, Lily's teeth are kind of crazy (she will need braces), I don't really have a lot of extra money right now. Excuses. Those are all the excuses I could have used to NOT get our portraits done. I said all of these things the morning I was running around trying to get all 4 of us ready and Matt even said "then why are you doing them now?". I didn't have time to answer him then, but I thought because if we don't do it now, I never will and there will always be something! I've been wanting to write this blog post forever because I hear this all the time. "Oh, I love your work, I will schedule a shoot when I lose some weight" or "when the baby will cooperate better" or "when the kids are older".

You shouldn't wait. You should schedule a session now. Not because I want your business (well I do, but this isn't for my benefit, it's for yours), but because it's important. To document your family as you are now. One of the reasons I hadn't written this yet is I wanted to go through some of my old family photos and scan them and post them with this blog, but I finally decided that's not going to happen anytime soon. So you will just have to imagine me with the big hair, braces, pegged jeans and my sister and our cousins in their Power Ranger Costumes taken by a professional photographer that our parents actually paid to have done. And bought the prints!  (There are definitely advantages to being 10+ years older than siblings and cousins).
 So despite the fact that 20 years from now you will all probably be enjoying a good laugh over the hairstyles and awkward phases of life you will also be treasuring these portraits, regardless of how you all looked at the time. Because it was you, then.

 I will be blunt, what if something happens to you tomorrow or even a year from now. Your children won't be looking at the portraits thinking "wow, wish mom had lost 20lbs before she got these done". They will be looking at their mom and how they knew her and they'll be so  thankful they have these great images! And even better 20 years from now when you get to pull the portraits out and show your grandkids what their parents looked like! Some of my greatest memories are pouring through photo albums at my great grandmother's house with her and looking at all the Olan Mills portraits of my evolving family throughout the years.  I can still remember the year I insisted that I had to wear a red t-shirt under my hideous denim shirt that matched everyone else...just to be different! I'm sure at the time my mom frustrated, but we look at it now and it was so me at that time in my life (and really still is me :)). 

So whether it's with me or with another talented photographer please schedule your family portraits soon. It's one of the best presents you can leave for your children and they will thank you!

After I had all these negative thoughts running through my head before my own "mommy and me session"
 a couple weeks ago, I absolutely love my portraits (even if my hair isn't my favorite style and I can see an extra roll here and there).  I am so glad I got them done and I cannot wait to get them on my wall. Instead of posting my own work today, I'll leave you with the link to view my portraits, done by Samantha Anne Photography! Thanks Sam!

http://www.samanthaannephotography.com/ClientGalleries/Families/Trisha/29776231_rSZM9Q#!i=2551247229&k=9wncn2j

Two of my favorite things.

My goal for blogging is weekly...I'm a couple weeks off, oops! But this blog has been in my head for the last two week. 
I've done the photography thing on the side for a few years now, but in September I put my all into it. So I wanted to share a couple things I've learned and love about my new business. The first is the people. I've had so much fun getting to know families that I either knew in passing or that I didn't know at all. Portraits are a very personal thing and my goal in my photography is to capture individual's & families in their natural way, when they are comfortable, have their guards down and their true selves are showing through. This is not easy always easy when photographer and subjects are strangers. Therefore, I like to take time to get to know my clients. With emails and phone calls before the session I can find out my clients expectations for the photo shoot are and just hearing someone's voice before meeting can be calming. The beginning of each session is spent chit chatting, getting to know my clients, letting the kids explore and relax a bit before I whip out the camera and say here smile! Miss Gabby didn't necessarily want to smile, I found out that she loves dogs so I told her if smiled for me I'd let my dog come in and visit...that got a smile!
The second part I wanted to share is how I love to find new locations and places for shoots. I get tired of shooting at the same spot, with the same backgrounds all the time, I want to continue to find new places and creative ways to use those locations so that each shoot is unique for my clients. I was struggling the morning of this shoot as to where to go for the outdoor portion. My girls and I were out to take the recycling that morning and just 2 blocks from my house something that I drive by on a daily basis suddenly looked a whole different way. One thing I remember in my early photography lessons is to look at your home town as a tourist. When you see something every day it loses its character a bit and it's just a building...that morning I became a tourist in my own town! I had my girls get out and took a couple shots of them with this building. I showed my clients and they agreed that they liked the idea and I'm so glad I saw this old building differently that morning. I really had a lot of fun with the Willett Family and I'm really happy with the end results! It's also always such a great feeling when you're client tells you "you captured our family perfectly" because that is my ultimate goal! Thanks Ashley, Phil and Gabby! 

 

Elle is 6 Months

I can already hear it now "There are so many more pictures of Elle than me". Well at least all of Lily's first few years are in albums. Sorry Bella's yours are still on the computer and scattered in boxes waiting to go in albums. Guess that's probably one of those "middle child" things, huh? When I was pregnant I bought scrap books and put all the keepsake things I wanted in the scrapbooks into tubs to put into the scrapbooks before the baby was born. Guess where they are now? Still in their tubs in the closet with the scrapbooks on top. At least I had good intentions, right? 
I actually thought a lot today about why I have taken the time to do so many more photos of Elle than Lily and Bella. I've always loved photography, I had taken classes before they were born. I decided it was confidence and experience. It was just a hobby then, I didn't have a business, I didn't pay attention to other photographers or think of new and different ideas then. I have several pictures of shoots I did with them, the white sheet in the background, a window for natural light, just very amateurish...which is what I was. I was learning. I'll make it up to them someday and shoot my grandchildren! You're a photographer if you didn't just flinch at that sentence!
Anyway, here are my favorites from Elle's 6 month session. I want feedback, which is your favorite? 

Inspiration. Creativity. Vision. Style.

Every artist, whether a painter, sculptor or photographer gets inspiration from everything around them. I believe our heads are always swimming with ideas for creating something new or capturing what we see in a new and interesting way. As a photographer I often look at my surroundings as I do from the viewfinder. Thinking about lighting, depth of field and how I would I would frame something.   We also get inspiration by looking at the works of other artists. My Facebook newsfeed is filled with the images of photographers, I peruse the photography Pinterest boards and my email inbox is filled with various photography newsletters. In the past month I’ve found myself overwhelmed with the information of Photoshop actions, editing information, prop sales and feeling as if I don’t have everything I need. I need to buy actions, I need to buy more props, I need to buy more backdrops.

Then yesterday, I had an “aha moment”! I was helping my little sister pick a photographer for her wedding. I am familiar with both photographers work as I follow them both on Facebook and their blogs. Both are talented, both have a similar creative eye, where they differ is in their editing.  One is more natural, one is more dramatic. We both agreed we liked the more natural better. And I realized, that is me;  that has always been me and has always been my vision. Capturing my subjects in their natural surroundings, in their vulnerable moments, in their natural interactions with each other – that is my vision, my style.  I like natural light and I feel it produces the most natural images. I like simplistic. I love finding places, buildings and interesting objects to use as backdrops for my photo shoots. That is my style.

That being said I also like to try new things and I like to offer my clients options, but I am not going to stray too far from my style and my vision. I do have studio lighting and backdrops so that a mix of natural light and studio light can produce great shots for the long winter months of Montana. I prefer to use this for small children only. I feel strongly that family photos and larger groups are done best in an outdoor setting . I like using props, in the right setting and when they don’t overwhelm the subject, but instead brings out their personality or adds a bit of interest to the image. But I also like the simplicity of  black and white of the subject alone, capturing the emotion in their eyes.  

So I think today I will peruse through my own images. Take inspiration from myself, before I let others get into my head. To remind myself who I am as an artist!