Holiday minis 2014

Perspective

Who loves going to the fair?

I did.

Unfortunately, as an adult, I have to worry about work, money, time, and little feet running off, so it's just not as awesome as it used to be. In fact, it feels like a chore just to get everybody ready and in the car. This year, the tread actually separated from one of our tires while we were driving to the fair so that was an added frustration which almost kept us from attending.

But when I was a kid, I loved going to the fair. I would be excited for a month leading up to it. I wanted to ride the rides, play the games, feel the music, eat the food, and just experience the whole adventure. Oh, to see life through the eyes of a child. <3

So when I started imagining what I could do with my camera and a little bit of knowledge at the fair this year, I really had to search my memories for the right perspective. I spent quite a bit of time preparing but nothing beats just letting the eyes take over.

 

 

Dance Like No One is Watching

The dress was originally worn to a wedding by her grandmother while dating her grandfather over 40 years ago so we had to dust it off and see if it fits and it did - beautifully!

One photo with one subject but it spans the generations.

This is a submission for www.rocktheshotforum.com with the theme 

"Dance like no one is watching"

Ivan is turning one!

Ivan's first birthday is this weekend and he was already looking 

quite fantastic at our photo shoot last weekend.

Happy birthday, buddy! 

 

 

Fractal Sky and Friends

I LOVE my friends. They're all rock stars, don't ya know? Well, okay, not every single one of my friends is a rock star but most are definitely pretty freaking awesome.

I was so thrilled to be invited back to photograph Fractal Sky live band at Webby D's last week. I am always so excited to hear from Aaron because low light photography is such a challenge for me and I can really see how much I have grown as a photographer. I honestly cannot express how proud I am of this amazing DJ who also happens to be a pretty nice guy He is easily on his way to becoming the next big thing and I sincerely appreciate him thinking of me whenever he plays shows. 

Much love bro. <3

 

The Photographer's Daughter

I love getting THE shot. You know - that exact moment where there's a nice warm glow, a bright blue sky, great colors and everyone is sincerely smiling. 

That's my picture perfect dream.

Unfortunately, not every photo is perfect. Maybe the lighting isn't great, somebody blinked, the exposure is off, or one of a million other things that could go wrong. As a photographer, I do everything I can to avoid all of these potential problems by being aware of every detail that comes through my viewfinder. This means it can be quite easy to disconnect from everything else and focus on getting THE shot.

As my daughter's second birthday was quickly approaching, the obvious choice was to do a special birthday photo shoot. I went through a few ideas before I settled on a paint splash, gathered supplies, and requested a little assistance. (Thanks hubs!) Sadie was absolutely enamored by her new ability to color on herself but boy did she like the red!

If only we could all spend all day rolling around in edible paint!

A couple of days later was her birthday party and all of our friends and family came to our home to celebrate. Everybody had a blast but several people were amazed to find that I had opted not to have my camera out. I laughed it off with most of them but didn't realize how obvious it was until my husband even asked me about it.

Well - I just wanted to be present. I wanted to have time to stress that the skies opened up and poured buckets starting when the first guests arrived and only ending after the party let out - but because guests were getting soaked, not because that meant I would have to figure out where to get more lighting to make the photos look better. I enjoyed being a hostess, friend, family member, but most importantly, a mom to a beautiful little darling who was marking a milestone in her life.

Big thanks to baby bro-in-law for snapping this with my phone just so we could have a recent family pic!

The fact is that I adore photography and believe it is the only way to make a single moment physically last. But let's be honest. Do I really need to have a photo of her opening every individual gift bag or eating every bite of cake? No. What I do need is to make sure that I'm involved IN the memories of my little girl really enjoying her birthday....and NOT from behind the viewfinder.

Fun and fashion with lovely ladies

Two of my nieces came to stay with me last week so OF COURSE I had to shove them in front of the camera. Honestly though, we had a blast! I took somewhere around 500 photos but these are my absolute favorites. 

The sister session with awesome outfits was definitely a win!

 

<3 Sarah