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!

 

Where's the Ghosts?

I love Ghost Towns and have not been ghost town hunting in awhile. While I prefer the non-maintained ghost towns, like Comet or Elkhorn, I won't shy away from one that has a little help, because there's still old stuff there and it's still cool! The girls and I headed down to Bannack State Park today. We had a great time, Bella kept asking the whole way there, when we were going to see the ghosts and are they nice or mean ghosts. Not sure if she ever saw a real ghost or not, but it wouldn't surprise me if she did and had a whole conversation with one and didn't share with me!
Here are a few photos from today. I usually tend to turn to Black and White, especially with these types of shoots, but tonight I wasn't feeling the B&W as much. What do you think?

On Display!

My work is featured and for sale at the Side Saddle in Three Forks during the month of August! If you are local, please stop by and take a look. I've posted most of the photos available there! Let me know if you're interested in any prints and pricing!

Amazing

Yesterday I left Red Lodge, MT and drove the Beartooth Highway for the first time ever! It was amazing and so beautiful. I'm not sure I could do it with someone else driving because I'd be looking at the cliffs and drop offs way more and be freaked out. Bella and I would both have to be on dramamine as well! But it was gorgeous, so here are few pictures!
Pretty soon I'll be up there in the snow!

Some of the road I just came up, this picture doesn't begin to show what the switchbacks are really like!

View from the top!


Since I was headed to Cody, I then took another scenic highway the rest of the way, the Nez Pearce Highway. Again gorgeous and with all the rain and moisture it was incredibly green. I loved the contrast of the yellow flowers, green grass and the red rocks of Wyoming.