What Makes An Image "Frame Worthy"?

When it comes to photographs (or anything really) it's not about perfection. 

This image is blurry and grainy and you can't see their faces. It was snapped as my daughter was running and laughing with her Aunt on a sunset walk back to the car. We had just finished up a family dinner by the ocean on our first night in Marco. The mood was happy and relaxed, and it was a moment I wanted to remember. 

I often get asked by clients on what makes an image "frame worthy".... and to be honest the first few times I wasn't so sure on my answer. Is it when everyone is looking at the camera? Nope. Is it when the lighting is oh-so-perfect? Not necessarily.

So what makes an image "frame worthy"? Emotion. 
How you feel when you look at it.

And when selecting a photograph for a room, think of how you want the room to feel. Do you want it to feel happy, calm, romantic, or moody? I believe what we surround ourselves with, affects us. Whether that's for the good or bad. People, objects, art, these all contribute to how we will feel in a space. 

This photo sparks a sense of happiness and mystery. And I love that.

Might be blowing this one up soon. 

Baby Wells

I have to be honest, I rarely photograph newborns anymore. But when your best friends little sis (so, like basically your little sis;) has a baby, you make an exception.

Welcome to the world Wells Peter! You are so loved, and so so cute.

Project Free Time | Jade Bavishi

Meet Jade...

Jade is a gentle soul with a love for people and veggies. She is a full time medical student and the founder of Project Somalia. Her happy spirit is contagious, and I loved photographing her in her beautiful, modern bungalow that she shares with her husband in the heart of phoenix. 

Subject: Jade Bavishi | Free time: reading (studying) on her hammock + tea time

(see more project: free time here and here)

Project: Free Time | Elijah Atkison

As you may have seen at the end of January I shared about my new series, Project: Free Time. Now, here's the thing about that project... it heavily relies on my (and others) free time to make it happen. Ha! Who knew!? Well, I'm happy to say that I'm here with the second entry!

Meet Elijah...

Elijah is a musician, entrepreneur, and all around cool guy. Something he likes to do with his free time? Hang with his adorable wife! And if you've ever had the pleasure of meeting Whit, you know what a gem she truly is. I'm in no way exaggerating when I say these two are the best of people. 

Subject: Elijah Atkison | Free time: Bike rides around town (with his pretty gal:)

Find more about Eli's work at: Fosterson and Worship Support Network.

Hope you're all enjoying this beautiful spring!! With all the good weather and pretty colors lately, I don't want it to end!! 

xo

Tea Time with Angela

It's Thursday! And I'm throwing it back to some shots I took in 2015 of the adorable Angela.

These images make me want to start a new book, and sip yummy tea, and have some serious chilllll tiiiime. 

Speaking of chill time, I'll be taking a little break from the blog next week as I'll be spending some quality time with my guy in honor of our anniversary. 

xo 

The Importance of a Portrait

+ THE STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE

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I've always seen value in portraits, and started taking them of my sisters when I was really young. My mom always joked that she never had to take pictures because I was always already doing it. I loved seeing the progression of how my sisters would change, but I never TRULY understood how important photographs really are until about 4 and a half years ago when I lost my father. All of a sudden it was like I was in search for pictures of him, and pictures of us together.  It was like the few photos I had of my dad, the ones that were sitting in a box gathering dust were invaluable now that they were all I had left of him.

I again became aware of this importance when it came to having a baby of my own. At just a year and a half she has grown and changed so much already and I want to remember all of these beautiful little moments that could easily escape my long term memory.

I realized how important it was for me to have photographs of my loved ones. To remember the sparkle in their eyes, the smile lines, the freckles.... to capture who they are this very moment in time. To leave a legacy that can be held onto for generations to come. 

And really, it is not the photograph itself. It's what the photograph represents. A beautiful being that has lived a life to remember, a father, a mother, a best friend, someone who sings in the shower, or snorts when they laugh, or the little tot that refuses to eat vegetables, but knows how to make your heart skip a beat.
The people who make us who we are, and who we want to be.
The ones we'll never forget. 

This. This is the importance of a portrait.

And this is why I do what I do.  

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The story behind the image:

This photo was taken of my (then, 5 year old) sister over 11 years ago in the back seat of my dads old '57 VW bug. The widows were down, the wind was blowing, and it's safe to say the sunshine state didn't disappoint that day. I was sitting in the front seat while my sisters were in the back. The light was good, so I turned around and snapped a couple shots of my littlest sister looking out the window. 

The quality of this photo is not the greatest, as it was shot with my first ever digital camera. It had a whopping 3.2 megapixels... yes, your iPhone has almost 4x that amount. I also had to scan it into my computer, because all I have of this picture is an old and slightly wrinkled 5x7 print. But, despite the low quality of this image, it's one of my favorites because it reminds me of a bright, happy summer day as a young teen. And also because it reminds me of how cute my baby sis was. A sweet, beautiful, quirky little girl who loved life.

If you see a beautiful moment happening in front of you, a moment that you want to remember, whip out a camera and capture it. And if you're a little hung up on "what kind of camera" you have. Try to remember this wonderful piece of advice that has stuck with me from the moment I had heard it...

"The Camera is the Least Important Element in Photography".
-Julius Shulman

Because the truth is, if you find the right light and the right composition you'll find a beautiful photograph.  

Courtney | Pretty Mama-to-be

This is Courtney. A beautiful mama to be, due this summer with a baby boy! 

Courtney is a sweet, animal loving soul with a passion for good tea. (That's probably why we're such friends;). She and her husband Sky have an amazing vegan tea truck (Imagine Tea Leaf) in Austin, TX. that I highly recommend trying out if you're ever in the area.

Wishing you all a beautiful weekend!

 

Behind "the shot"

This is my good friend, Rebecca. She's a beautiful soul with a talent for music (find more HERE!), and we could laugh about pretty much anything when together. 

We had been talking about shooting a cover for her new EP 'Skyrocket'.
We planned it out and had a vision, but the journey to get there was anything but easy. When it comes to getting "the shot" it's a different story almost every time, and I thought sharing this story would be a great way to show that there really is so much behind a photograph.

So, here is goes...

We pulled up to an abandoned building, and walked through (really) tall grass to get to an opening. We then climbed over a 6 foot wall and went up 5 flights of stairs, but the door to the roof was locked. So I ran down the stairs and ran up the zig zag of the ramp (it was a parking garage) to get to the roof and unlock the door. Right as we were about to get started, we noticed we were both COVERED in green stickers from the knees down (thanks, tall grass). There were so many on Becca that they made that yellow skirt look like it was in a bunched up knot to the side. Not the "flowing in the wind" look we were going for. It took about 25 minutes or so, but we finally got them off, and got started. Becca bravely stood on a kitchen stool. I would snap, wait for a gust of wind, then snap again. We moved to each edge of the roof to find the best light, and finally, we got the shot! It was messy and exhausting, but totally worth it. And the Thai food we gobbled down after, was very much well deserved. 

And yes, we laughed a lot. But it was mostly the "umm, how is this happening!?" kind. 

Also, I now want Thai food.

PYT Beauty Shoot

Behind the scenes with AW from Alexandria Whitefeather on Vimeo.

A little behind the scenes video of one of my shoots from last year. This was a crazy 15 hour day, but it was a lot of fun. Big thanks to Chris Alfonso for the video!!

Katie | Tampa, FL

A few edgy portraits of a super cool chick. How cool is her hair!?

 Makeup by PYT Beauty.