Trees....I love Trees

I have a serious obsession with trees....I want to stop, sit, take pictures of all trees.  Trees with leaves, trees without leaves...it doesn't really matter...Just trees!  Today I am going to share some of my favorite pictures that involve trees.  

 

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord,
    whose trust is the Lord

 He is like a tree planted by water,
    that sends out its roots by the stream,
and does not fear when heat comes,
    for its leaves remain green,
and is not anxious in the year of drought,
    for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

No faces....

I know when most people think about photos they think about faces.  Who doesn't love a beautiful photo with a sweet face smiling back at you?  I know I do, but for this blog I thought I would look outside the box of faces and see what I could come up with for a few photos.  There is something intriguing about a picture that is faceless.  I think it would be incredible to do a whole shoot with someone and never capture their face full on.  It makes you step outside the box, get creative and have a chance to express the person without their face defining them or the picture.  So I thought I would start experimenting with this idea...and my girls didn't mind being my subjects cause they didn't even have to look at the camera....it was a win for everyone.  

A little photo fun with Preslee

Happy Tuesday Friends!!!

Playing Around

I love this picture of my daughter....Preslee.  She is 7, sassy, strong willed, sweet, and stunning.  So I thought I would play around with it a little today.  I love a good color photo, but there is something wonderful about black and white also.  

Anyone have any thoughts?????

The Stanfords

So I adore taking pictures of my own kids and thought I would give them a break and extended it out to others.  I was blessed that a friend of mine Rachael Stanford let me borrow her 3 beautiful girls.

Meet Emily

Meet Eliza....

And meet sweet baby Evelyn...

They were so much fun to take pictures of.  Eliza is the funniest little girl and Emily is so sweet and such a good big sister!!

My two favorite pictures...

I will admit it was a challenge for me to work with a 3 month old baby....as we all know they don't do much but lay there and look irresistibly cute.  I have been blessed to have another friend from high school who is going to let me play with her 3 month old next week and I have been doing some extra research on how best to photograph them.  

Thank  you Rachael for letting me borrow your girls!!

It's been a year....

It's been a year since I bought my DSLR camera and I can't say enough how much I have fallen in love with it and photography.  I, however, don't think my kids have fallen in love with my camera as much as me....most of the time these days when they see me pull it out there is a lot of  "oh no" and "not again" and grumbles.  

I am going to use this post to display my pictures and show my growth in photography over the year.....

This first set of pictures are some of the very first I took of my kids with the camera.  Super cute picture (how could it not be with those 3), but the make up has so many things wrong with it.  First my kids are looking into the sun and second I have them coming over the bridge with cars in the background instead of going the other way.  None the less, this picture is proudly framed in our home.  

Here are a few more from the first shoot also....

I originally purchased my camera to just "use" little did I know that after this first use I would fall in love with being behind the camera.  Since this first time using my camera I have done a lot of research and educating so that I could use my camera, light, and subject to the best of my ability.   

 

This is just a small sampling of pictures I love.  As I look forward to the coming year of picture taking I am excited about embarking on photography of other people besides my children.  I know they are super cute, but I am sure everyone is tired of seeing them.  LOL.  Many of my sweet friends have agreed to let me borrow their families so that I can continue to practice and grow.  

A very special thank you to a dear friend...Kristina McCaleb with Kristina McCaleb Photography.  She has answered questions, given advice, critiqued my work, pointed me towards resources.  She has played a huge part in my growth process.  
Also Laurie Campbell with Laurie Melissa Photography.  Such a dear friend also that has pointed me in the right direction so many time.  
Please check their facebook pages out if you have not already...you won't be sorry.  And if you are in the Garland/Mesquite area or the Duncanville area book a session with them.