Anna and the Beach Boys

During our annual Christmas card photo shoot, which by the way my friend Anna is the photographer, we had to let the boys run around to "get their sillys out".

These happend towards the end of our photo shoot. The boys were being very sweet together, and I was able to capture just a couple of them giving each other smooches. Anna had let me borrow her camera for a moment, and it proved to be a good moment.

I do have to say, Anna is a great photographer herself and she always gets more than one good shot when she photographs us, which delights me.

I often get the comment, "You must have great shots of your sons". Well, no... not really. They see me with the camera so often that when I want them in the picture they scurry off to their favorite hiding spots. I do enjoy when they are in a great "frame" of mind and I have my camera ready.

Like these...

Newborn Excitement

My most recent photo shoot was out in Salinas about 2 weeks ago. It was to highlight the new addition to this family. I was really excited to photograph a baby as this was my first time with a true "newborn".

I was, however, a bit nervous due to the fact that I had to get it right. Why? Because after today, that little boy would never be that little again. So I had to capture him then, the first time.

I was very pleased when I arrived to find excellent ambient light in their westernly exposed kitchen dining room. I had "perfect" lighting, but I still bumped up my ISO for some of the low light spots I found in my view finder. Unfortunately, I bumped it up a bit too much and didn't realize it until I got home and found all the noise in post process.

However, the more I look at those noisy pictures, I do like them. Not all of them are that bad to not use, but the self-critic in me justs wants to re-take them all over again. After some gentle editing, I found a few that I really love.

Here are my favorites.

A new way to communicate

I have recently noticed that after each photo shoot, I have at least one or two photos I want to share with everyone on my website. I want to express how and why and the feeling and the silly story that went with the photos. But it is hard to dictate that on every picture on my website. Nor is it really a good idea to, seeing as my website is more of a portfolio, than a story.

So, here I am. Joining the hundreds of thousands out there... blogging!

I'm new to it, but I'm sure I'll settle right into it in no time. Please enjoy my stories, as some of them will most likely be about you and your photo shoot.

I will more than likely share about my family as well.

Happy reading!

Melody