6 Month Wellness Check

Saturday, May 3, 2008

You had to admire my blissful ignorance when I so enthusiastically said to bring your camera to your next doctor visit as if it was the easiest thing in the world to do.
Today was Kendall’s 6 month wellness check.
It was quite different from her 4 month in that the exact second I put her down on the table she started to whimper. We are having our bit of separation anxiety these days! The whimper escalated to a cry, I soothed her, back to whimpering, crying, soothing. Repeat. Very different from her last visit. I nixed the documenting idea within a minute of walking into the doctor’s office. A record for me, I think.
We still tried. We had to at least try. I’m so happy we did. My heart melts into a pile of mush when I look at those two images of daddy and Kendall. I could look at them together like that all day.

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∞   ··   Category: Personal   ··  

Passion, Obsession or Addiction?

Friday, May 2, 2008

People are often surprised that I take photos that don’t have kids in them. I actually take photos ALL the time of just about anything. Take today for example. I was sitting in my office plugging away and I saw some special light coming through the window. I had had to grab my camera and capture it.

I got up close and personal with a micro lens. No method to my madness it just happened to be on my camera. The first shot I aimed my camera towards the sun. That big bright circle? The sun. Love it. The second shot was seconds later shot towards the grayish blue sky and technically underexposed a tad for effect.

Nothing special in the grand scheme of things, but enough to keep the photography juices flowing.

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∞   ··   Category: Personal   ··  

May Already

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Can you believe it? Before we know it Summer will be here and then Fall and then … I won’t even say the “W” word. I’m still sick of the last one.
Yesterday I was bemoaning the fact the our magnolia which bloomed last week was already losing its flowers. They leave so soon. Then this morning I was pleasantly surprised by new blooms from our plum tree. This is what is so great about this time of year. Everything appears to be continually refreshed. It gives me an unheard amount of energy. Look out world!

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∞   ··   Category: Personal   ··  

Mini Sessions (or Lack Thereof)

Wednesday, April 30, 2008

Over the past few weeks I’ve received a few emails regarding whether or not I would be doing mini sessions this year. The short – no, I’m not.
The long – I had planned on doing mini sessions last year, but I booked up faster than I thought and then my pregnancy complicated things. It simply never worked out. I apologize to anyone who was anticipating these sessions. At this time, I don’t have any plans for 2008 mini-sessions.
There are still some doubts in my head about having these types of sessions in the future at all as I’m not entirely sure they fit into the way I shoot. I thoroughly enjoy developing a connection with your wonderful children through the course of an hour or two. I think that’s what gives my work that extra bit of “heart”.

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∞   ··   Category: Announcements   ··  

100% Pure Awesome

Tuesday, April 29, 2008

I’ve photographed adorable “N” three times since he turned 1. It is so amazing to be able to witness a baby turn into this fascinating little person.

And if you think this session looked like fun, you have no idea. There was running, jumping, peeking and booing. I was in desperate need of a nap afterwards. Where do these kids get the energy?!?

This door is famous … I photographed it so many times. That deep green and urban texture is irresistible.

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∞   ··   Category: Recent Work, Toddler Portraits   ··  

Location Scouting

Sunday, April 27, 2008

Went location scouting today for an upcoming high school senior portrait session. Very excited! I’ve had these spots in mind for a bit, but I’ve been holding them in my back pocket for the right session since they aren’t necessarily toddler friendly.



Nearly forgot to mention my location scouting accomplices, Mr. Dawn M:

And, our little darling Mini Me (she already has two cameras, toys but still!):

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∞   ··   Category: Personal   ··   Tagged: chicago high school senior photographer, location, portrait, scouting, senior photographer chicago

Did you notice it’s Spring?

Friday, April 25, 2008

Somewhere between late night feedings, frequent diaper changes, going back to work and thinking I couldn’t take one more day of Winter, Spring sprung! Just in time too. I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve been feeling cabin feverish for far too long.
The other day I took a few minutes to photograph some gifts from Spring in our backyard.

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∞   ··   Category: Personal   ··  

She’s Oh-So-Darling

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

One year olds are among my favorite age group to photograph. They take a healthy amount of energy to shoot right, but the rewards always outweigh the effort. These were shot on a very cold day in February, so we stayed indoors and played for a few hours.

I fell in love with her tousled hair. So fun and playful just like her!

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∞   ··   Category: Recent Work, Toddler Portraits   ··  

Hard at Work

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Most of you know that I work out of my home office or car depending on the day. What you probably don’t know is that I have an extremely loyal and trusty assistant. Right now her number one job is to make me smile first thing in the morning. She hasn’t missed a day yet, so I’m not too worried about the 3 or 4 nap breaks she takes everyday. She’ll come around eventually.

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∞   ··   Category: Mom Hat, Personal   ··  

Photoshop Action: Color & Contrast Enhancer

Monday, April 21, 2008

Ok. This one is for photographers. I’ve amassed quite a collection of photoshop actions, but I tend to use the ones I’ve created myself the most. Why not share’m? There’s nothing crazy impressive going here, just a simple color and contrast boost.

This action creates two layers one to increase contrast (without affecting color) and the other that boosts overall image color. I often use it on my color images to add a bit of pop. The default setting with the opacity of both layers set to 50% adds a nice subtle contrast and color enhancement. In my humble opinion, that’s really all a well exposed image needs. Looking for a little more pop? Simply increase the opacity of either layer.

Download the Action

If you like this action, please say it out loud by either leaving a comment or noting as such when you use it. This will help me decide if these “shares” are worthy of being shared!

Here are a few samples with the action applied, color set to 75% opacity (maybe a bit too much, but I wanted to show the effect). Mouseover to see the image straight out of camera.

This action was created using Adobe Photoshop CS3. I think it will work with most modern versions of Photoshop, but I’m not sure. Remember this action is complimentary and consequently I won’t be providing any support for it. That means if you don’t know how to install actions or use them, please don’t email me for help. Try a google search instead. Google is your friend.

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∞   ··   Category: For Photographers   ··