My booger :o)

I am back from vacation and will have tons to share. Just a quick one for now...






Poor baby will be scarred for life.

Hello from Camas, Washington

Thanks Ruth for the invitation to join your circle of friends. I am in Camas, WA and gave up a great job a few years ago to do photography full time. Although can I really call it full time at this point? I guess I still treat it like a part time job although there are times that it is busier than others. You get out of it what you are capable of putting into it. I think that it is amazing how photography has evolved so that we can all learn from each other. I remember way back when after having my daughters picture taken by a very expensive photographer (my idol actually) asking everyone I could find in photography how to achieve that look. Well no one was able to help me, and back then it was hard to find books and such to explain things. Well I finally learned his techniques and realized that probably no one I asked even knew how to do what I was asking to learn. I think people are just more willing to share in the teaching, or at least willing to share what they know. There are many ways to achieve the same results. The internet is an amazing tool. I am happy to be here and open to learning new tricks. I have a web site http://www.studiokportraits.net/ and http://www.studiokchildren.blogspot.com/ and http://www.studioksenior.blogspot.com/ I hope it's ok to post these links. If not please just ignore or delete! Don't want to break any rules. Oh yeah also http://www.portraitcouture.blogspot.com/ and again thanks for the invite. I'll try to keep in touch! Tammy Kravitz

That is definitely NOT...

...a football!

ISO 1000, ss160, f2.8

newest member

just back from a recruiting campiagn..... Tammy Kravitz will be joining our little group. I met her from my photo forum. She will pop in here soon and tell us about herself. Her work is awesome and she will be a great addition. Welcome Tammy!!!

Just watching

ISO3200, ss320, f3.5

very sorry!!

I just need to applogize for not posting. If you know about club volleyball then you know I'm in over my head right now. I'm the club director of almost 90 girls and our parent's meeting is this Monday. So I'm swamped getting teams finialized and letters of commitment firmed up. Lining up all the stuff for the meeting. UGH! I'll be absent for just a bit while I take care of this. Then I'll be back and roaring. I'll still pop in at work and comment but I can't post pictures from here.

So keep posting! I appreciate those that are keeping at this!!!

Engagement Pictures

This was an Engagement Session that I shot in their backyard. It was quite fun.

More from my Shoot

Here are a few more that I took on Monday. I shot in manual with my 70-200 VR so I could really lower the SS and not have to boost the ISO any higher. I still ran these through Noiseware. So, I'm about ISO 1000, SS 1/20, ExComp +4, WB Auto, F2.8

Our quarterback...

...getting instructions from Coach.

ISO 3200, ss320, f3.2

Shooting with Beckstead

I'm so PUMPED! I just got home from a two day workshop with international wedding photographer David Beckstead. We spent ALL DAY Monday shooting with him and learning how to bring fashion and fashion lighting into our wedding portraits. I think everyone ended up with about 1,000 images. We had to choose our ten favorite and today he offered his critiques on how to improve (what should have been included, what should have been left out, dodging tips, burning tips, etc.) These are tree of the ten I chose a top favorites. I'll post a few more over the coming days. Gotta REST!

Just a few more from football....

...just because it's over, doesn't mean it's over :)

ISO 3200, ss320, f3.5

NOT a football player

Still working on football pics, but I'm getting kinda tired of looking at them...so here's one of my neice Maggie.

ISO800. ss125. f6.3 with flash.

ps....this is a cat toy :)

Waiting for Santa

Another Idea for my Christmas Pictures. I love the expression on his face, "It's soo long until Christmas".

Just for fun

This is my sister and her husband. They were hamming it up for the camera. I cought this one by chance, they were moving so fast thats why its blurry. But one of my favorites from their 5 min. session.

ISO: 200 AP: 3.3 SS: not sure

missionaries

The Missionaries came over this evening so I told them I would take some pictures for them to send to their families back home. Seeing that my son leaves very soon. I sure hope others take care of him.... :sigh:

End of the Line

Well, Exeter lost Friday night...boo hoo...But they had a good year when noone really expected them to, so heads up boys!

ISO 3200, ss320, f3.5

Holiday Shots

This is one of my thoughts for holiday shots, I have been working on different ideas. This is my son, having a ball with the lights. Dad the safety man was running the lights. These start to get really hot, so I was thinking of getting some LED's (less hot, more bright, and plastic= much better for kids).

Overprotective Much?

Another from my last wedding.

For the team

This is actually from last week's win; I'm still downloading last night's game!

ISO 3200, ss320, f3.2

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Hope you all had a happy day! We went and saw Enchanted. It is so cute. Well here are my two boys who posed for me so that I could be ready for my session tomorrow. I know it isn't technically correct but it's them!!! iso 100 f8.0 ss125 Three light setup. Gotta love my boys!!

And then there was me...

yeah I'm back again, here is a pic from my recent session, and yes her hair is all natural. Settings, manual mode, iso 1600( I don't know why I had it that high), f4.5, at 55mm, ss 1/1000

Happy Thanksgiving

This is a picture of my boys playing just after thanksgiving dinner at my mom's house. They were having fun playing in the leaves and chasing one another. I liked the look of the sun flare in this image, I know it's not a star but interesting non-the-less. I hope you all had a great thanksgiving.

SETTINGS:
ISO: 200 AP: f/2.8 SS: Higher then 100 I believe

The Playground

This is my try at Sports Photography :)

Sideline helper

ISO 3200, ss320, f2.8

Wacky Bride, Cont'd

See, I wasn't kidding about the argyle socks!

It's my Daughter's Birthday too!!

We had her party this last weekend along with the Family Thanksgiving feast. A house full of 18 people was quite busy, no wonder I didn't post;) Here is a shot of her cake.

Monday's Workshop

Lord willing, I'm spending Monday and Tuesday with David Beckstead, on of the top 10 wedding photographers in the WORLD. I'm so excited, and yet so intimidated at the same time. I spoke with his wife on the phone today and she was so personable, she made me feel better about coming. Lord willing, I'll learn LOTS and improve LOTS. To see his stuff you can go to

www.shootwithbeckstead.com

Wish me luck!

it's my birthday!!!!! but I won't say how old

Here is the Freshman team.

HUGE favor to ask my photog freinds!

Hey gals, having a bit of a downer week here. Just opened a pro account with Smugmug and had already gotten 2 orders (yippee yahoo) but when MY test order came back...the uniforms had a distinctly purple tint to them. I can handle a slight shift in color, but I can't have parents buying pics of their kids looking like Barney! Would you guys do me a favor....PLEASE (that's me begging)....would you download this pic and give me an idea what color you guys are seeing on your moniters? I know everyone's is different, but what I'm seeing on mine is what I see on the field, Royal Blue... and I don't know what to do to change them so the lab will print them as Royal Blue.

Thanks!!!

Also, would anyone like to give me a quick tutorial on how to calibrate my moniter and advice on (cheap) software to purchase towards that end?

BBall

Meg! I shot basketball tonight. My nephew was playing so I took my 85mm 1.4 to the game to see if it focused fast enough. It did fine, but this gym was a CAVE! I shot at High1 ISO with NR on low, SS250, f 2.0 I got a few pretty decent shots and a more that were trash. I'm hoping to play in a better lit gym soon.

Family Pose

I thought this shot turned out pretty good, even though my strobes were not agreeing with me and I had to dodge the background. What do you think?

Playoff Game...

...and we won (yea!) which means one more game...in which we will get creamed :(

...hey I'm not being negative, just realistic!

ISO 3200, ss320, f3.2

{Arya's Family}

Many of you may know me from shuttermom aka arya or from ILP as wiesephotography. I am married to a great guy and we have 3 beautiful children together. Aaron is our oldest and is 6, Sam is our middle son and is 4 and Miss Ruth is going to be 2 the end of December. They keep us pretty busy. I have a photography business that I am trying to build up and have been working at it for 2 years (first year it was mostly a hobby and now it's becoming more busy) I hope to be doing it full time in the next year or two. The picture is of my family taken by my mom in October. I got all the settings done incamera for her all she did was push the button. ISO: 200 AP: 2.8 (i believe) and SS: 80 (I believe)

as long as they aren't moving

This is my sports area!!! Posed and standing still. This is my memory mate for Sat.'s shoot.

Ok, Since you asked Ruth...

....Here are our 4 little ones (tee hee) Sam, Brad, Annie, and Wilson...all athletes, which is how I got into the world of sports photography. Not at all what I thought I would be doing with my..ahem...skills, but apparently what God is leading me into at the moment. I started by following my kids around to various sporting events (water polo, football, basketball, baseball, soccer, and softball) and eventually got asked by various parents and booster groups to do things like pics for the programs and team photos for yearbooks. So, after a year of being told I should charge (eek!) for my photos, I opened a pro account with Smugmug (having had a sharing type account for 6 months). I actually got my first sale last week and was thrilled! I have only had the DSLR for a little over a year (had to be dragged kicking and screaming into the digital world and now I LOVE it) but am already seeing the beginnings of a real business. Have done a few seniors and will continue to persue that end, but for now am getting a reputation as a sports photog. I'm also on the local newspaper's schedule of photographers tho I am still just a contributor...in other words I put the free in freelance :)

Don't know what the future holds but I'm having fun here and learning LOTS in the process. I especially love getting to know other photographers like the lovely ladies (aka great gals!) on this blog.

Welcome to Kim, Bethany, and Courtney....you're gonna have a blast here!

Funky Bride

This is a shot from my wedding yesterday. Bride wore her grandmother's wedding dress with a red (can't see here) skirt underneath and a hoop under that - then the SOCKS! I'm so glad my pictures came out! My camera was acting crazy yesterday. I had the focus point locked on center and it continued to jump around and it wouldn't meter correct in A mode AT ALL, so I shot everything on manual (I like to take the easy stuff in A mode, oh well).

girls basketball picture

ok I'll introduce myself!! hehehe I'm Ruth ya ok! enough :) I've had my business for a full year now and am even more excited now than I was a year ago. I've still got tons to learn and want to be doing this for my full time work in 4 more years. Why so long? Because I work for the government and I want to vest (for retirement purposes) before I leave. I have 5 kids, two married, one in college, one leaving to go on a mission for our Heavenly Father (for two years) in Jan. and a 16 year old still at home. My Cabanaboy, Kyle, is a volleyball coach and we both run a club volleyball for 8 teams...yes that is over 80 girls. I'm the club director and NUTS! I'm leaving you with my picture from today that I took at the high school girls basketball pictures....

Last Soccer Game

I can't believe the difference levels makes. The first is pretty true to what the game was like this morning....we needed a real 'defogging' here in the Central Valley! It was cold, damp, and the girls couldn't see to the other end of the field. So I leveled in Photoshop and added a bit of contrast...and tada!... I changed the weather :)

ISO 1250 (oops) ss1000, f5

Between the fog and the 110 degree summers, I just can't understand how you could move Kim ;)

{Cell phone picture}

I took this with my cell phone camera - emailed it to myself and worked it in photoshop to give it an old feel because the cell phone pic is low resolution and wouldn't look good without some help. I love the interaction and love seen in this picture. If I had gotten up and gotten my big camera I would have missed this moment. Enjoy!

"Peace Out my brotha"

SETTINGS:
ISO: 200
AP: f/2.4
SS: 1/60
Flash was used, bounced the light off a wall/celing, used my SB600 w/gary fong and my 50mm1.8 lens

This is what I got when I asked my oldest to stand in front of the camera for me. He went all gangsta on me and was like "peace out my brotha" and stuff...lol very funny really. I hope you enjoy!

Hello My Darlings!

Hey gals! I thought I too would pop in to introduce myself, but I think most everyone knows me already. My name is Bethany Farrell-Menchaca (aka bella on SM). I am mommy to 3 beautiful babies. Reagan is 5, Mason is 2 1/2, and Brooklynne is 5 months. My husband and I raise our kiddos in Leander, TX. Which is just a suburb of Austin, TX. :o) My business has been running for almost 2 years now, and is bigger than I ever anticipated or was prepared for. But it's been a blessing! Anyways, I need to get a recent pic of my family. We will be on vacation this coming week, so I will have lots to share of my family next week. I am leaving you with my rollie pollie Brooklynne. :o) Thanks for letting me join you ladies!

Another Fairy

Here is another one of my Fairy Shots. F5.0, ss 200, iso 100 with Nikon CLS speedlights on -0.7 and -2.3 exposure compensation, set up like strobes.

National Anthem....

...girl style :)

ISO 800, ss250, f4.5 with flash

one from recent

ok here is one from one of my recent sessions. d70, manual mode, 85mm, f2.8 iso 400 1/125

An Olde but a Goody

I took this picture this last spring, but I love it, his babysitter did his hair and he was so proud. Just thought I would share.

My introduction and a family picture

Well it seems as though I need to introduce myself, although some may know me. I am Courtney, mother of 5 (Azariah, Mackenzie, Ariason, Bridger, and Sawyer) and wife to Bryan. I have been at this photography business stuff for almost 2 years. Before that I worked in a hospital, nursing home and as an EMT/Firefighter.

iso 800 (yuck!) f 8 ss 125

shot is aperature priority (one less thing to worry about when shooting your own family)

my school magazine cover

Yes, Michelle you are great. This is another one of her templates. I did this to show the basketball captain as I am offering them for thier shoot this Sat. This is the captain..isn't she beautiful? All my seniors this year are stunning!

Halloween a little late

Ok, I know that I am a couple weeks late, but my daughter was sick and teething and getting pictures was just not working before Halloween. This is a little soft, but the smile on my son was priceless.

Ok Cindy...

...this time I tried flash (loved it/hated it) but my camera has a sync speed of 1/250 max so I missed a lot of action shots (pretty soft). Also, because of my tendency to have the focus fall on the net, I upped the f-stop to 5 to see if I could get the girls in focus on their net shots (didn't seem to work but not sure if it's a DOF issue or motion blur that's causing the softness). In this shot, I like the action that was stopped but I hate that the background is clearer than I get with a larger aperture. Sooooo, next time, I'm planning on trying flash, f3.2, and ss1/250 - tho I do believe my camera has the ability to override that number (maybe I'll have to read the manual tonight :)

ISO1000, ss250, f5.

Formal Introduction

Ok, Ruth... Here is my formal introduction. I am Kim Hightower,from shuttermom, but haven't been there in a while. My username there is Frcebwthu. I became interested in photography while in the Navy traveling abroad. I bought my first Digital Camera when I lived in Japan. Lately, I guess due to having Children myself, I have become very interested in Portraits. My husband and I started a business while I was still in the Navy in Lemoore California, in the beginning of this year. I have since have gotten out of the Navy, where I was a Nurse. We are now living in Denver, my husband is an Airline Pilot, and we are settling in nicely into civilian life. I have a job as a Case Manager, but really hope to do Photography full time one day. As you can see from my photo's we have two children, a boy that is almost three and a little girl that will turn one next week. Ok that is enough about me:).

from my glamor party

Here is my first magazine cover for my glamor session. These girls have waited so long...I want to have them done soon.

She is One!!

I am excited about this picture. But so sad that it is for her One year birthday.