Bridals....first attempt!

I had my first experience doing a bridal session. My cousin got married last Saturday and she let me practice on her. I have decided that I don't really want to do weddings or bridals very often. It is way too much pressure and stress for me. They turned out very nice for my first time though. Some better than others, of course. Isn't she gorgeous though? She had a beautiful dress. I was a little disappointed because I should have corrected for how white her dress is, but haven't quite figured out the gray card thing yet. Oh well...it will come. Enjoy the numerous photos.

All grown up!

My Aunt is in town for my cousins wedding (BTW, I'm supposed to take bridals for her.....ahhhh! never done that before. Sooo nervous!) and she has some lenses that fit my Canon. So, I decided to take Eden out and finally do some realy 2-year -old pictures. Isn't that sad: she turned 2 in January and I never had real pics done. Better late than never, right?
I am starting to realize how much she looks like a little girl now instead of my baby. It's crazy! She is beautiful though. These are some of my favorites. I had a problem with camera shake because I was using a telephoto lens, so that was a little annoying. I don't like using a tri-pod though, so I am going to have to learn how to not shake, or increase my shutter-speed...one of the two. Let me know what your fav's are though because I need to get some printed.

Speed Session

So, my brother and his family came to visit last week with their 3 kids. We had a lot of fun, but it was sure crazy! We kept talking about going out somewhere to take family pictures for them, but never got to it. So, instead, we did a mega-speed session before church on Sunday. The pictures turned out pretty good considering the lack of good light and good back grounds. I am actually not posting their family shots because I didn't like the background it them...way too busy. The rest of them turned out okay, but I would definitely like to have some more time next time around so that we can get some good lighting and good backgrounds going on. Aren't they cute though? We will just have to have you come visit again, guys! Thanks again for letting me practice a little on you.






I am also signed up for some Photoshop classes and am getting my hands on a version of Photoshop (I'm not sure which one yet) from Jer's sister. So, hopefully I can learn how to post-process outside of basic Picasa. For now, this will have to do.

Summer Days

Ahhh, the days of summer. Kids running around half-dressed, covered in stickiness from whatever they deem worthy of their indulgence, and parents stressed about getting them to bed in time and finding a moment of peace to themselves.
My brother and his cute family are here visiting from Seattle. So, we decided to wear them out yesterday by taking them downtown to the museum and the fountains. Then, we topped it off with a mini-family BBQ at my sisters. The kids were exhausted and the parents could barely move. It was worth it though (or so we keep telling ourselves). Seriously though, it was fun and we have had so much fun having them visit. I need to get more shots of their kids, but these are a few from the last week.
If you can't tell, I was in the mood for black and white, and just messing around with the coloring. Still no Photoshop (which is fine because I am not disciplined enough to learn how to use it right now), but we try.

One of the best things about summer: bare feet!
I was going for the old-school look here....what do you think?


This is one of the first shots of my niece where I realized that she really is growing up and is not a toddler anymore. Crazy!
Could you enjoy a Popsicle any more than this??? Thank goodness for a hose at times like this.

I need (okay, REALLY WANT) a telephoto lens!

The first shot is a left-over from the first post, I forgot to add it, but think that it is beautiful of my niece.

We took Eden downtown to the Gateway fountains. If you haven't ever been, it is a great place to shop( not that I shop there....it's pretty pricey) as well as let your kids run around....just make sure you bring a change of clothes or a swimming suit for them. She was a little nervous at first, but once she got used to the idea, she was running all over the place.

The lighting was a little hard for me , and I have decided that I really need to discipline myself to save up for a telephoto lens. I get frustrated sometimes (often) because I want my pictures to look like those that I love on other blogs, but I am at a loss as to how to get them to look that way. I guess it will just come with practice and time. ....hopefully.

Family BBQ

We had a fam BBQ to celebrate the 24th, which is a holiday in Utah. It was stressful for the most part because I was "in charge", but if you know my family at all, there are way too many Chiefs, and not enough Indians if you know what I mean. Despite me being stressed, I had to bust out the camera to practice on my family. We have only girl grandkids in Utah, the boys all live outside of the state, so I haven't had much practice with boys. Girls are hilarious though. Check out my niece in her princess crown and earrings. Her new thing is pretending that she is a bride 24-7.
I attended a class for my Canon SLR and learned some little things that I could change with the settings on my camera and I have loved the difference! Before, I had a hard time with coloring but with a few of the right clicks and wallah...color!


My sister and her girls. They are so cute!
This was my niece copying Eden's funny face:)
I really wish I hadn't cut off her head on this one, but I really liked the effect of focusing on her hand.

Practice makes....???

Well, I went to my photography 202 class and didn't get a lot of things out of it, but a couple of points were new to me. So, I decided to come home and experiment on Eden while she did one of her favorite things: make a mess! Although she is 2 1/2 now, she still insists on using her hands to eat most things. She LOVES eating yogurt and by the end of it, she is basically covered in it. It is pretty funny though. I took a few different shots and have been experimenting a little with the Photo-shop demo.
Check out those eyes! I love them!
I love her tongue in this one.

To top it all off, she insists on coating her hair in yogurt at least a little.