Through My Lens

Eric and Emily Engagements

2012-03-07T10:44:00.000-08:00

I always enjoy doing engagement sessions. There's just something fun about hanging out with a young couple getting ready to dive into life together. Makes me feel young again :).

Fresh from Heaven

2012-02-27T16:57:00.000-08:00

These cute kids are the offspring of my good friend Leslie. I've photographed them a few times over the years and it's fun to see them grow up. The occasion for the photosession was the birth of their much anticipated and wanted rainbow baby, Ella. For those of you uninitiated, a rainbow baby is the baby born after loss. We managed to snag a few family photos as well, though for the first half of our session, when we had the big kids all dressed up and cooperative, Ella was decidedly unhappy about the whole process. I had to wield my baby magic skills to lull her into a stupor for the latter portion of the shoot. Our patience paid off and we got some great shots.

WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! (Sorry - this one just cracks me up. And the one below is the uncropped variation of it. In my attempt to get just feet, I asked Kaitlyn to hold her arms up. I failed to notice Talmage's hands down. The photo turned out rather comical, I think. Perhaps not exactly what we set out to get, but funny.)

Few things are more beautiful than a mama with a newborn.

Miss Ella is a chunker. Have you ever seen such delicious rolls?! She was nearly 10 pounds at birth, far bigger than any of my own.

There are a few shots in here that really made me giggle, and my kids insisted that I post them. I should have a caption contest to see who can come up with the best one. (Dadgummit, woman, put your camera away! Enough is enough!)

Here I am starving practically to death and all I have is my lousy fist to suck on.

(A moment of inquiry. I'd like to know what's going on in her beautiful little noggin.)

Oh this! Feed me! This plastic thingy ain't working!

Leslie did a belly cast shortly before she delivered. She's a petite superathlete, so her belly is ALL belly. It was fun to compare baby + belly = how exactly did it all fit in there?

Asleep at last! What beautiful little girl.

Because every woman should feel beautiful

2012-02-11T20:51:00.000-08:00

This is my gorgeous friend. Her husband is deployed at the moment, so she wanted some photos just for him. I was happy to oblige! You see, I think every woman should have some photos of herself that make her feel pretty and fabulous. And I think every husband needs those same sort of photos of his wife. Keep the home fires burnin'!

The M Family

2012-02-07T21:39:00.000-08:00

I met this beautiful family a few months ago when their twins were born, and was actually able to photograph the birth. It was an amazing experience, one I will never forget. One twin passed away shortly after birth, and with the help of my NILMDTS mentor, Julie, we were able to record every minute of his precious life. The surviving twin, little L, spent many weeks in the NICU. Julie invited me to come along to the studio for his newborn shoot, an offer I was thrilled to take her up on. My camera was not synced with the studio lights, but I was still able to snag a few shots bouncing my flash to augment. I'm resourceful that way :).

Julie working her magic. Space heater and binky in the lower right corner - very important elements in keeping a wee little one happy!

This ring belonged to his brother. Right after we placed it on his finger, his hand naturally fell into the "I love you" sign. So glad I snagged this shot!

Running out of patience with all of this silly business... He was so calm through the hour of shooting, actually. Just not sleepy. It was a pleasure to see him again, one of the little silver linings in doing NILMDTS sessions :).

Little Baby L

2012-01-20T15:02:00.000-08:00

This darling little peanut is so cute! Her mom and dad graciously allowed me to come and bring a friend who needs practice with shooting in hospital situations to come take her pictures.

The R Family - Sneak Peeks!

2012-01-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

These are some of my favorite people! Their mom wanted to do some photos as a gift for their dad, so we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather (still a bit nippy to be in short sleeves...) and did a quick outdoor session.

I only choose the safest locations...ahem.

Professional Photo - My Lovely Sister

2012-01-08T09:51:00.000-08:00

My brilliant sister is nearing the end of her medical residency, and will be starting her career in a few months as a family physician. She needed a professional portrait for publicity purposes for the hospital she'll be working at, and I was happy to oblige.

A balmy January photosession with 4 moderately willing boys

2012-01-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

This is my husband's brother and his family. Their boys don't exactly jump up and down for glee when photoshoot time comes around, but I think they've learned over the years that if momma ain't happy, ain't nobody happy, so they'd better cooperate. It was a bit of a circus getting them all in non-holey jeans and clean shirts (flashbacks for my mother in law, I'm sure, who also raised four boys). We found a place at a nearby park and whipped through the session in under 30 minutes. As far as I can tell, nobody died or even suffered lasting injury from the experience, and they *might* have even enjoyed it. Just a tiny bit. I cracked up over the series of the next 5 photos. I encouraged them to squeeze in together, and here's what I got:

In the end, we got quite a few with everyone smiling. Score!

My oldest nephew received his Eagle Scout award later that day, in addition to a whole slew of other awards. He's a pretty awesome kid!

Mom and dad. I love the red scarf. It adds such a nice little pop of color to the group shots.

This one converted to black and white rather nicely. Thanks for letting me take your photos!

My favorite subjects

2011-11-20T20:48:00.000-08:00

For several weeks I've been intending to take photos of my own kids. I kept waiting for the perfect weather to happen on a day that they'd all been recently bathed and we had time when the sun was in the right position...yeah, it just doesn't happen when you wait for all of the stars to align. My kids are off track this week, though, so I made time. My kids are quite agreeable about such things, so I loaded them up and headed to a nearby old barn. Last time I shot there (a year ago), there was a nicely worn dirt path to get from the road up to the barn. This time around it involved serious bushwhacking and waging battle with stickery weeds. A few tears were shed and I had to whip out my pocketknife tweezers to pull out thorns, but everyone survived. 10 minutes of cooperation netted these images and I'm pretty pleased.

I have to confess to having a mental block toward family photos because I hate that someone is always missing. When we shoot our whole family, I always where a piece of jewelry to represent our Elizabeth Jane, but I haven't figured out what to do when it's just the kids. Sigh. I know she's there in spirit. Probably perched on my shoulder sticking her tongue out to make the kids laugh. Without further ado, I present my charming and good looking children (and I freely admit to being biased).

Miss sassypants struck this pose all on her own. She is my merry sunshine girl.

Sibling love....

IronMom - A Fun Maternity Session

2011-11-15T16:00:00.000-08:00

My good friend Leslie, who happens to have kicked butt at the St. George Ironman Triathlon last year, asked me to do some active maternity photos for her. I love that she had a really specific vision of what she wanted - definitely quite a different photosession for me, and lots of fun! We then went to another location and did some more photos in "normal" clothes, and with her kids (a gift for her husband).

Color? Or Black and White? I liked em' both. Notice the fancy pancy minimalist shoes.

The little monkeys got chilly while we were shooting. The wind kicked up, and it was pretty bitter. I couldn't resist this shot.

The S Family

2011-11-01T21:07:00.000-07:00

I go running/swimming/cycling with this cute momma several times per week. They're a fun family, and I love their coordinating outfits. It's fun for me to photograph family and friends!

Darling Baby H

2011-10-18T12:16:00.000-07:00

This little one belongs to a friend of mine. I fell in love with the blonde hair and blonde eyebrows immediately. She has the most dainty, girly cry. Very, very cute!

A nice yawn to finish things off. Thank you for allowing me to come photograph her :).

B Brothers

2011-10-03T20:42:00.000-07:00

I love the expressions in this one!

Same with this one. Must have told a really good joke :).

Parting shot. The bell and the ducks provided much entertainment during this shoot.

First Peek for the B Family

2011-10-03T16:38:00.000-07:00

I worked these little boys hard. The location I chose involved walking from place to place, something that I grossly underestimated the distance of since I run it all the time. They did great, though!

The P Family

2011-09-28T21:29:00.000-07:00

9 little wiggly boys + 13 adults? Sure! Despite the size of the group, this shoot went really quite smoothly.

We moved around to different areas of the park during this, so the lighting varies a lot. A tad frustrating to me as I edited, but it's real life :).

Grandma and Grandpa and a whole passel 'o boys. Aren't they cute?

This outtake CRACKED ME UP! Had to post it.

Sneak Peek - Beautiful Baby A.

2011-07-31T22:26:00.000-07:00

This little one is a double rainbow baby. Her mama has two angels. It is always a privilege for me to photograph newborns, and even more so when it is a baby after a loss. Thank you, Nikki, for allowing me to snuggle your little piece of Heaven.

Couldn't decide whether I liked color or black and white better on this one...

There are many more in the queue to edit - just trying to catch up on angel sessions right now. Hope you like these ones for starters!

The C Family

2011-06-22T16:36:00.000-07:00

I met this family a year ago when they found out that their baby had a very poor prognosis. You know how you bump shoulders with some people and immediately know they are a kindred spirit? Yeah, these guys are awesome. I adore their kids. Especially this one with her sassy pink glasses. She loves all things pink!

I learned a lesson in this shoot. When I'm doing groups, I always try to figure out who is going to be the one that I have to keep an eye on. I thought it would be the youngest. Instead, their darling boy was the culprit - dozens of otherwise great photos graced with a goofy smile. I call those real life shots :). He's a kick in the pants.

I love this black and white conversion. It turned out that N. was hard to photograph with her glasses on. I'm glad I got the top shot of her with them, but we took them off for the rest of the session.

H. is a beautiful girl! I can only hope that my daughters will grow up to be as pretty and talented. She's fun to be around.

I asked E. where he wanted his photo taken. He immediately chose the stump. Of course!

This darling boy melted my heart the moment I met him when he was one day old in the NICU. That luscious blond curly hair and lashes...oh I can't resist him! He's just adorable.

Thanks for the fun shoot!

Father's Day for the C Family

2011-06-19T15:04:00.000-07:00

...because every day with this sweet little fellow is a gift.

Sneak Peeks for Greg and Megan

2011-05-23T15:22:00.000-07:00

After two reschedules for lousy weather, we finally snagged the perfect evening to do engagement photos. It's so fun to shoot couples! Hope you enjoy these, Greg and Megan!

Buttery baby and cute sisters

2011-04-18T15:24:00.000-07:00

I had the delicious pleasure of loving on this chubby mellow little guy all weekend. Utter bliss. I've never had a particularly squishy baby myself, so I rather enjoyed Mr. J.

This little girly is about 3/4 mischief and 1/4 sparkly fun. But the fun is really really fun!

Living in Phoenix = barefoot as much as possible. Especially in the spring when it's *only* 95 degrees...

Big sister has gorgeous eyes and hair!

Did I mention how chubby this darling baby is? The rolliest ankles I've seen in quite some time.

When a boy gets desperately hungy, he just might have to resort to eating his shirt.

Young Love - Kyle and Liz Engagement Session

2011-03-08T11:14:00.000-08:00

I have to preface this post by saying that engagement shoots are SO MUCH FUN! It's not exactly hard to get a young lovey dovey couple to pose. Or to act like they like each other. I grew up with Kyle, and in fact, I even remember when he was born (which either makes me old or him young...). Kyle and Liz make an absolutely delightful couple and I am thrilled for them to be getting married.

(Thank you to the anonymous stranger who didn't shoo us away from borrowing their porch for 60 seconds...)

Maternity Session - Sneak Peak for the S Family

2011-02-27T21:08:00.000-08:00

Snowflakes

2011-02-27T21:02:00.000-08:00

Who can resist a snowflake on the tongue?

Beautiful Baby Blues

2011-02-26T21:00:00.000-08:00

Playing around with some new photoshop actions - this top one is done with MCP Fusion. The lighting in this room was irresistably beautiful, and with a smiley baby plopped in the perfect place it was easy to get some great shots.

These two are touched up with Perfect Portrait, one of my favorite action sets.

Four Generations

2010-12-30T10:29:00.000-08:00

This family braved a very chilly morning at Wheeler Farm to capture four generations together. Grandma-Great is pretty much the cutest little old lady ever.

The sun came out at the very end of the shoot, of course.

Lots of Cousins

2010-12-27T21:23:00.000-08:00

I think this is my very favorite photo from the whole session.

Little guy slept all the way through the tonka truck portion with his bigger brother. At the very end, he woke up, and was all smiles.

All I can say is that it's no easy feat to get 8 kids looking at you and generally smiling all at the same time. I have great sympathy for anyone that attempted to photograph my family growing up (I have 11 brothers and sisters).

Tips and Tricks

2010-12-11T10:43:00.000-08:00

I have lots of family and friends that have gotten interested in photography just like me, and I thought I'd share a few things that I have learned. I sincerely appreciate the advice of other experienced photographers over the last year and a half that has helped me get to the point of being able to affiliate with NILMDTS.

I was speaking with a friend in the neighborhood a few days ago and he expressed his frustration about not being able to get the kind of images he hoped for with his Canon Rebel. I have been shooting with the Nikon equivalent, the D40, myself, so I totally sympathize. (Though I did just get my hands on the Nikon D7000 yesterday and am super excited to increase my capabilities - the ISO range on it is amazing.)

If you're new to photography and only using the kit lenses, you will be thrilled at the difference you'll see in your images by switching to one with a lower aperture. I bit the bullet a year ago and purchased a 50mm/f1.4 lens, and it lives on my camera most of the time. It can handle low light situations so much better, plus I can shoot images with beautiful bokeh, that effect of having the subject in focus and the background blurred. Most kit zoom lenses offer a low end aperture range of 3.5-5.6, but you can only get the aperture as low as 3.5 when your lens is at one of it's range. I love my 50mm lens, but I have thought many times that a 35mm lens would be maybe even better. When I do hospital shoots, in order to get the whole family in the frame, I am often standing against the very back wall. A bit wider angle would be nice.

In any case, it is very worth the investment to get a lens capable of lower aperture. There are a number of "off" brand lenses out there that tend to be less expensive than the brand name ones, so look around and read lots of reviews before leaping. Amazon generally has lots of very opinionated reviews on all of the lenses I've looked at.

To learn how to shoot better images, I recommend reading Understanding Exposure. I go back to this book frequently. I know there are lots of other fantastic books out there besides this one, so hit your local library. Also, you just simply have to shoot lots and lots and lots and lots of pictures and not be afraid to tinker with the settings. I shoot in Manual mode 90% of the time. Over the last year and a half, I estimate that I've shot somewhere around 15,000 images. Don't underestimate the power of practicing.

The next big thing is post processing. I cannot stress this enough. My dear husband got me Photoshop for Christmas last year and I haven't looked back. It is not an intuitive program to use, sadly, but I have spent many many hours and edited thousands of pictures this year and finally feel like I'm starting to get the hang of it. I was looking back through pictures from last year and was pleased to see the progress I've made. I find it easiest to focus on one thing I want to learn how to fix, search for YouTube videos of tutorials and watch/pause/edit/watch/pause/edit my way through it. There is a lot of free stuff out there if you do enough looking.

If you have Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, a great way to edit is with preset action sets. I've downloaded The Pioneer Woman's sets and used them plenty, but my absolute favorite website that is just loaded with awesome presets that work for both programs is The Coffee Shop. Perfect Portrait is one of my most often used action sets. The lightbulb went on for me when I saw the before and after shots and realized that even pro photographers with gazillion dollar cameras don't get spectacular colors and clarity right off the bat.

Last of all, let's talk about prints. I learned a hard lesson last year when I sent my family photo for Christmas cards to the local Walgreen's photo lab, simply because it's nearby and easy to go pick up. From the top of the stack to the bottom the coloration went from pretty decent to decidedly green. Horribly green. We all looked ill. I have had similar experiences at other convenience/big box store photolabs. They simply don't calibrate their equipment very often. For all of the families that I shoot, I highly recommend ordering prints from MPIX. The quality is significantly better, their prices are very affordable, they offer a wide range of options, including canvas wraps and specialty papers, and the website is user friendly. Most of the time they turn orders around in under a week and you don't even have to leave the comfort of your house. Do yourself a favor and get a good print of the picture you've invested in.

Little guy smiley

2010-11-29T15:12:00.000-08:00

Delicious round cheeks~

The world's fastest photoshoot

2010-11-27T15:12:00.000-08:00

5 kids + less than 20 degrees outside + impending dinner time + one grumpy toddler just woken up from a nap + the sun just went down = a really really fast photoshoot. My sister and her family came into town for the holiday weekend, and she really wanted to get a group shot. We pulled up to the curb next to this neato bridge a couple miles from my house, piled all of the kids out, snapped away furiously for 5 minutes, and got back into the car. Total shoot + editing time = less than I usually spend just driving to a normal shoot. Perfect. Even better, we got this top one with every single person smiling nicely and looking at the camera. SCORE!

This one is a keeper for sure. Out of all the silly face pictures I've done, this is my favorite.

The V family

2010-11-25T10:02:00.000-08:00

This photoshoot is a prime example of the faster the better. Certain nephews of mine who shall remain unamed don't like to smile very much. I knew that I'd have to be quick before the window of opportunity closed and everyone got grumpy. We rolled out of our cars and 25 minutes later were completely done. Relatively painless, I'd say. I have to confess that the very top photo is one that I took earlier this summer. Little guy wasn't feeling like holding still for very long the day of this shoot, so we figured we'd let him off the hook since I already got a good one.

The R Family

2010-11-23T18:56:00.000-08:00

These fine folks are also very good friends of ours. I did individual ones of the kids that turned out great, too. I enjoyed the creative aspect of doing the water reflection images as well as the candid ones of them playing with the fishies.

We were just getting ready to leave when the kids found this pipe and started climbing all over it. Had to snap a picture, of course :).

The D Family

2010-11-14T21:33:00.000-08:00

I have a really soft spot in my heart for this family, and this young man in particular. He's the same age as my Ethan. He and his brother are special needs, and he is more severe. I have been his church teacher for quite a while and have enjoyed figuring out what makes him tick. He gives the best hugs. Just don't ask him to make eye contact with you :). This was a challenging session in that regard, so I was quite pleased to come up with a few group shots with everyone facing forward and even smiling.

Oh this loveable monkey...he has the most irresistable eyelashes ever. Positively luscious.

Mom and dad are great friends of ours, and we had the pleasure of going to Hawaii with them a few weeks ago. Aren't they a cute couple?

Gorgeous Mama

2010-11-09T19:09:00.000-08:00

The E Family

2010-11-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

We spend a lot of quality time with this cute family. Jacob was our general contractor for a massive remodel (and did a fabulous job, by the way, so if you're considering a large scale project, I'd be happy to pass along his info), and Emily and I kid swap to accomodate our nursing work schedules. The lighting was awesome and the subjects perfect - a very enjoyable photoshoot.

Proof that photoshoots aren't all that serious....

Sneak Peek for the M family

2010-11-04T14:31:00.000-07:00

I'm a bit behind on editing, but hoping to catch up over the weekend. Here's a quick one of these three cute girls in the mean time :).

The S Family

2010-10-17T10:22:00.000-07:00

Gorgeous family, gorgeous weather, gorgeous leaves. Loved this shoot!

A photographic tour of paradise

2010-10-05T16:30:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Kauai and I had 500+ pictures on my memory card to sort through. These are some of my favorite shots. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do!

Miracle Baby A. - July 2010

2010-09-18T11:57:00.000-07:00

I met Baby A.'s mom online on a support forum for families who have opted to carry to term despite a poor prognosis. This sweet little fellow had a heap of odds piled against him that were staggering to say the least and was not expected to survive past birth. A.'s mom asked me to come up and take pictures of him in the NICU when he was just 24 hours old, worried that his time was limited. I fell in love with him immediately. He's a gorgeous little kid, and so sweet and soft.

A.'s mom and dad know that I have been seeking out opportunities to take photos in a hospital environment and I am indebted to them for allowing me to be a part of their son's life. He was in a little curtained off NICU bed when I shot these, with very poor overhead lighting and lots of monitors and machines in the way, so it was a great challenge for me.

I was also limited by A.'s poor tolerance of being moved. Position changes had to be few and very careful.

I am pleased to say that he is still very much alive and now home with his family, a miracle indeed. These pictures are posted with the express permission of his parents.

Oh the curls! - Spring 2010

2010-09-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

Excessively kissable cheeks.

Laurie and Josh - April 2010

2010-09-14T21:29:00.001-07:00

You should see the outtakes from this picture...completely hilarious.

Lexie and Jason - February 2010

2010-09-14T21:25:00.000-07:00

Brothers - September 2010

2010-09-03T11:49:00.000-07:00

Just did a quick session this morning at Draper City Park for my friend Wendy. A wiggly three year old and hungry baby meant that we had to be quick on our feet. More to come later!

Hey Jude - May 2010

2010-08-31T12:31:00.000-07:00

This little guy has been a bit fussy for his momma since birth. The day we did these photos, we were too busy chatting and missed out on the window of opportunity to shoot while he was still sleeping and peaceful. Hence the next two photos. A couple of weeks later, we were out at the park together and he was calm, so I did a very impromptu shoot and managed to get the bottom two showing his happier side.

Baby Ainsley - June 2010

2010-08-31T12:24:00.000-07:00

Sophie - June 2010

2010-08-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

My kids - August 2010

2010-08-31T12:12:00.000-07:00

Baby William - July 2010

2010-08-31T12:07:00.000-07:00

My delicious red headed nephew :).

Baby Parker - July 2010

2010-08-31T11:55:00.000-07:00

Baby Rebekah - August 2010

2010-08-31T11:49:00.000-07:00

Baby Hudson - July 2010

2010-08-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

Pretty Mollie - July 2010

2010-08-31T09:12:00.001-07:00

This is my adorable niece. How could you NOT take a picture of her?

Howlett Cousins - July 2010

2010-08-31T09:10:00.000-07:00

Welcome (and a little bit about why I do what I do)

2010-08-31T06:58:00.000-07:00

A little over a year ago, I dove in to photography when my hubby purchased my first digital SLR camera. I say first because I have since learned that photography is a bottomless pit of possibilities when it comes to equipment. There's always something cooler, faster, and with better sensors coming out. In my bag, you'll find a Nikon D40, SB600 flash, 50mm/f 1.4 prime lens, 18-55mm and 55-200mm zoom lenses.

One of my biggest goals in honing my skills has been to be able to give back what was given to us, and that is the gift of infant bereavement photography. It's been 4 1/2 years since our Elizabeth was born, and we were the first family in Utah served by Julie Williams in her role as a photographer for Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, an organization that provides compassionate photography services for families experiencing the death of their child. Julie is a marvelous woman, the kind of person that you meet and realize that you want to grow up and be just like her. When someone originally suggested the idea of taking good photos at the hospital to me, I thought it was a bit strange and had the potential to be uncomfortable. Once Elizabeth was born, though, my husband and I both realized that we had such a tiny window of time to record her life and that it was so, so important.

Because of a communication breakdown with our nurses, Julie didn't actually come to the hospital, but we took dozens and dozens of photos on our own camera. She graciously edited them for us, and then came to the funeral home to take some professional ones. We are so grateful for every single image. They tell Elizabeth's story in a way that words can't express. They validate her existence, her place in our family. You may read Elizabeth's story by going to our infant bereavement support webpage, Angel Babies, and clicking on the "Stories" tab. Elizabeth's picture collage is linked at the top of her story.

Since that time, I have realized how fleeting life is and how important it is to document it, even the ordinary day to day stuff. I blog about it. A lot. I take lots and lots and lots of pictures as my groaning hard drive can attest. I take every opportunity to practice my photography and editing skills, and the pictures I will post on this blog are those of friends and family that have graciously agreed to be my guinea pigs. I am particularly grateful to my friends that have allowed me to come into the hospital shortly after birth to practice in conditions that I will face during infant bereavement sessions. This blog is primarily my portfolio to gain acceptance as a NILMDTS photographer, but will also serve as a general portfolio. I hope you enjoy it!