Had a very busy week and weekend with Holiday pics.
First up is the Daniels family. Abbey was referred to me by my brother-in-law, Colin-- who will be my assistant photographer at some weddings next season. They went to art school together! The husband is Joey and their adorable little girl is Zooey. We started at Olin Turville Park where the light was awesome and everybody was in a great mood! We had some trials and tribulations
at our next stop-- the Capitol building. The lighting was atrocious and my flash had nothing to bounce off of because of the cavernous nature of the building. Between that and the crowds-- because of a Christmas singers
performance that was not listed on the Capitol's events page-- we aborted that part of the shoot and headed back to their house. I got some great shots there!! Abbey is a wedding planner and is also going to be kind enough to suggest me to her clients!! Thank you!!
Next in line is one of my bead partners in crime, my co-worker Cathy!! Had a fun shoot with her son Airik, her boyfriend Brad, and his two sons Kevin and Brian. Of course, it's always a riot with Cathy around. We got in line and moseyed on down to the Overture Center on State Street in Madison-- which is only a couple of blocks from their awesome, nearly-lakeside apartment downtown. The wide open spaces, barely any right angles, and vast expanses of white walls made for a great lighting arrangement. Since it's already pitch-black nighttime at 5:30pm in December in Wisconsin-- I was a little worried! After some great group shots there, we stopped by Brad's work where they have this awesome vintage looking wood paneled hallway. I had some photoshop fun making composites and making some of the photos look even more vintage-y.
Third on the roster was a kill-two-birds with one stone, a trip to a Christmas tree farm with my family, where we chopped down our own tree. I also planned a couples shoot for my sister Laurel and her husband Colin (the aforementioned assistant photographer.) We were so lucky to be able to go today, during the first snow of the Winter. Specacular natural light (1/400th of a sec at ISO 400 and F/5) and the snowflakes in the air (though a nightmare for lenses) are a magical touch that is so hard to fake in photoshop well. This pic is the crown jewel of the day-- and maybe even the peak of my photographic endeavours!! I absolutely love it. I saw something similar on pinterest a few days ago, and had tried to recreate it during the Daniels' shoot but it didn't quite work the way I wanted it to. I knew it needed to be outside, with just the right size candy cane. This one is even better than the inspiration and I am just pleased as punch!! There are tons of great pics from the shoot today -- I couldn't wait to edit this one and get it up-- so it's the only picture I have finished from this shoot. <3 <3 <3
And last but not least is this adorable passel of kids from the Holum family. Their mother, Sara, is the sister of Abbey from the Daniels family pictured above! I visited their home this afternoon and had a very fun, very informal shoot in their living room and front yard. The youngest is Ila Grace and she warmed right up to me and sat next to me on the floor and couch as I photographed her brothers, Keegan and Lucas (from youngest to oldest). Luke (in blue) had on the most awesome Christmas sweater with skulls on it. Right on!!
I'm looking forward to editing the rest of the photos from today. I've gotten really efficient at editing-- what used to take me a couple of weeks now only takes me a couple of days. Of course, as my shooting technique improves, very little work goes into touching up anymore. Sometimes an image speaks to me and I want to jazz it up a bit but I have been generally happy with what's been coming right off the camera!! It's a great feeling.
I might actually get my annual letter and xmas cards done!! Woohoo!
Next in line is one of my bead partners in crime, my co-worker Cathy!! Had a fun shoot with her son Airik, her boyfriend Brad, and his two sons Kevin and Brian. Of course, it's always a riot with Cathy around. We got in line and moseyed on down to the Overture Center on State Street in Madison-- which is only a couple of blocks from their awesome, nearly-lakeside apartment downtown. The wide open spaces, barely any right angles, and vast expanses of white walls made for a great lighting arrangement. Since it's already pitch-black nighttime at 5:30pm in December in Wisconsin-- I was a little worried! After some great group shots there, we stopped by Brad's work where they have this awesome vintage looking wood paneled hallway. I had some photoshop fun making composites and making some of the photos look even more vintage-y.
And last but not least is this adorable passel of kids from the Holum family. Their mother, Sara, is the sister of Abbey from the Daniels family pictured above! I visited their home this afternoon and had a very fun, very informal shoot in their living room and front yard. The youngest is Ila Grace and she warmed right up to me and sat next to me on the floor and couch as I photographed her brothers, Keegan and Lucas (from youngest to oldest). Luke (in blue) had on the most awesome Christmas sweater with skulls on it. Right on!!