This lovey gal (my baby sis) turned 18 last week!
Whaaaaa!!
So, I'm showing off her pretty face.
Mel needed some senior pictures, and sometimes having a photographer for a sister is a blessing and a curse. She definitely didn't get my "full service experience" (sorry Mel). We took these fairly quick all while I had my little 2 year old in tow. And to be honest, I'm pretty happy with at least getting a hand full of portraits for her.
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.
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
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
Portraits can be taken anywhere.... no really.
ANYWHERE.
In this iPhone snap (taken by the makeup artist) you can see the location wasn't anywhere scenic, and that there wasn't a "real" back drop. It was actually just a grey bed sheet!! I know, I know. So professional, right? But honestly, if you're taking close up portraits, just remember... It's not about gear or location, it's about position, and it's about light. (you can see an example HERE of a portrait taken on the modest of cameras)
In this case it was all natural light. We were on a covered patio and most of the light was coming from my left (you can see this in her eyes). I did use a white reflector on my right to give a little bounce back to her hair, but I didn't want the light to be completely even on both sides.
As you may have gathered in a recent blog post, I am a huge proponent of portraits. Whether you're capturing a portrait professionally or of your sister on a family vacation, a good photograph of someone you love (or someone you find interesting) will undoubtedly live longer than you, and THAT is powerful.
3 tips to take beautiful portraits anywhere:
1. Find the light.
Whether its natural or artificial. Light is what it's all about. Light can truly make or break an image, so try not to depend on post production. Editing the look of light will never feel quite the same as capturing it correctly in camera.
2. Connect with your subject.
This one is just as *if not more* important then good light.
Eyes don't lie. If you're subject is feeling nervous, or uncomfortable you're going to see it in their eyes. Give your subject a feeling of calm or happy (or whatever emotion you want to draw out) by talking to them. I generally give a scenario for someone to think about. Like, "imagine you're a *blank* in the *blank* finding *blank*..." It helps them get into "character" if you will, and forget their nervousness in the process.
3. Play with composition.
Whether it's with how you angle the shot, how you line things up, or how you fill the frame... PLAY! Sometimes it means adding things in (like colors, patterns, and textures) and sometimes it's simply taking it all away.
I hope you've found these tips helpful!
Just remember... light. connection. composition. You got this.
xo
Free time is such a treasured thing. In a life full of work, appointments, meetings, relationships, and laundry (ugh, laundry), having a moment to stop and do what we love is something we can't take for granted.
For my first personal project (that I'll be blogging) I chose free time as the theme, because let's face it... sometimes "free time" is more like a magical unicorn... it's just no where to be found.
Subject : Jess Fong | Free Time : Painting
Jess is a Campus Minister with Epic Movement and is based out of southern California. She has a beautiful soul, an adorable dog, a huge talent in the arts (featured below:), and makes the best breakfast evvaaaahh!
Oh! and she has blue hair... so she's basically the coolest.
What do you do with your free time?
Every once in a while I'll plan a creative shoot just for the heck of it.
Here are 3 reasons why I do (and why you should too!)
1. To try new things
2. To stay inspired.
3. To learn something new
Something I was wanting to work with on this particular shoot was harsh light, since it's not what I normally shoot in. A lot of my portrait work is shot in that "perfect", golden light. The stuff you find at the beginning and end of each day. The pretty stuff. The stuff portrait dreams are made of! But lately I've been testing myself with the not-so-perfect light. The harsh, direct, and (gasp!) mid-day light. To be honest with you that light scared me for a long time. I avoided it at all costs, and when I had to face it I would make it look like what I was use to, using scrims and diffusers and what not.
But to change my thinking I told myself "You got this, girl. You got this. Harsh light is your friend."
And so it was.
So here it is... a shoot all about uneven light, weird shadows, and moody "imperfect" portrait conditions. And of course some seriously gorgeous faces.
So whether you are a photographer, artist, writer, musician, or something in-between. Go create something for the FUN of it and end the year feeling inspired.
Big thanks to my beautiful models, Taylor and Allison! And my wonderful assistant Whitney! You girls are the best!
p.s. This will be my last post of the year! I'm taking the rest of the month to enjoy some quality time with my family and I'll be back in January! Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year! xo
+ THE STORY BEHIND THE IMAGE
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.
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.
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!
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.