Triumph!

I mentioned in the previous post that I would delve into the topic of getting this child to smile, so here it is:

It wasn't that he wouldn't smile. He smiled plenty for me (remember I prefer the pensive look anyway). The problem was that he gave me these infinitesimal, brief, fleeting smiles. They were as cute as all get out, but I couldn't get him to keep one long enough for me to capture it...and I'm fast!

Truth is, I think he did it on purpose. It was almost as if he knew what I wanted and was taunting me with these cute, brief little grins and smirks which quickly vanished from his round, little face.

Well. No thirteen month old is going to outsmart ME! No siree. I can play a mean hand when I have to.

And I had to.

And I was triumphant! I got a full-on, teeth shining, nose wrinkled smile.
Actually his dad got him to smile. I just took the picture.

This is the evilness that I'm talking about. Just look at that cunning little smirk and tell me he doesn't know what he's doing.

Oh. He knows.

Here's the pensive look I was talking about. He's contemplating the great mysteries of life while snuggled in his momma's arms.

Then dad roughs him up a little.

These last two are some of my favorites...ever. My favorite part about the above shot(s) is that I didn't have to coerce this father into playing and acting silly with his son for the pictures.

He just did it. On his own. It was great to capture some genuine father-son and mother-son bonding.

Thank you, Kneppers.

I knew this shot was exactly what I wanted when I took it. I showed it to mommy Knepper and said all excited-like, "THIS is what I'm talking about! This is awesome!"

Just ask her. I really said those words. That doesn't mean anyone else has to like this particular shot. I just love the serious but not angry expression on mom and dad and the fact that little M is looking away, sort of disinterested in the whole thing or maybe a little worried.

It speaks to me.

And this one? Well. What is there to say, really? I think it speaks for itself.

B

*Here's the video of their session. View it in HD if you can and you can also view it full screen if you so choose. Click here to see the proofs from the session the old, boring way.

Knepper Family Sneak Peak...

This little guy was just too cute!
Mercede was brushing my hair while I was editing this one (I know, I know, I have "the life") and she said, "He is soooo cute! I love his eyes!"

I had to agree.

However, I think it's his sweet little lips that are the clincher for me. Would you call them heart-shaped? Whatever you call them, they are just adorable. This face cracks me up.
Love the bold colors in this one. So cheerful...AND I got a smile out of him (more on that when I finish their session).
I love this! I've used this box lately for toddler shoots because it's bright, cheerful, and fun.

I'll be honest. It's also because it keeps the little varmints (or angels, depending on how you wish to view it) contained to some degree.

His pose in this one seems to indicate that he doesn't necessarily enjoy being held captive. :)

And this is the whole, cute little family. I love the face he's making and how he's leaning into his mommy.

Cute!

Hope to have them finished up today but definitely by tomorrow.

B

Me: "Hey Brayden!"

"I've got an awesome idea!"

"Let's take a picture of you with an XBox controller, sitting in a game chair, looking into one of my lights to make it seem as if the light is coming from a t.v. that you're playing a game on!"

"The idea came to me from a recollection I have of an old Maxell speakers advertisement of a guy sitting in a chair in front of his speaker with the sound blowing his hair and tie backwards."

"Trust me. It will be cool."

"Sit here and act like you're playing an awesome video game..."
"Okay. You look a little bored. Could you make it seem like you're really interested in the game?"

" Hmmm. That's a little better...but I need a little more emotion out of you. Maybe act like you're losing the game..."

"Umm."

"Wow."

"That's a little scary."

This is really how this happened. Maybe not in those actual words, but pretty close. I like to keep it real.

I have another shot of the Bray-dog that's just a WEE bit scarier but I won't post it until he gives me the thumbs up. He'll see it tomorrow. I hope he says "yes" because it's very entertaining.

Here are some shots from the session that are a little less scary...

This last one is my favorite. Click it and then click "Brayden" to see the rest of the pictures from his session.

Up next: The Knepper Family

B

Did you know you could grow carpet?

I have been without all three of children for one week. In fact they should be rolling in any minute now from a trip to Gatlinburg with their grandparents.

Did I use my "extra" time to blog?

Obviously not.

To catch up on my reading?

Nope.

I used it to clean. Clean, clean, clean.

I cleaned so much that the tips of my fingers hurt. Seriously. This wasn't just "cleaning house". It was so much more than that. I wiped out every cabinet (throwing away spices I'd hung on to for over 10 years), cleaned behind the stove and scrubbed the grates (hence the sore fingers), wiped down the walls and baseboards, cleaned the trashcans, and pulled out the fridge and cleaned behind it.

Which is wear the carpet comes in. Unbeknownst to me (or my family) we'd been growing a nice plush carpet of dust bunnies congealed with who knows what under the fridge. I was shocked and appalled. I would consider myself a decent housekeeper. How did I not notice this carpet of funkiness before?

I also found something I thought was a rather large rock but turned out to be a petrified potato.

Tell me. How DOES a potato get behind the refrigerator? I have no answer for that question.

What does that have to do with these pictures?
Absolutely nothing.

These are just the last few shots of Mariah and Ashley...

from our day of trashing dresses.

I thought that since this IS a photography blog...

and they probably want to see their pictures,

that I'd post them.

These shots with the fake eyelashes were taken after a whole day of shooting. I was tired. They were tired. It was 11:00 p.m.

And none of us had ever attempted to use fake eyelashes or take photographs of someone wearing them, so considering the obstacles we faced and overcame, I think they look pretty stinkin' cool.

These last few shots were taken by the "other photographer". He doesn't have a name...he just goes by "other photographer".

Okay. He has a name. It's Russell Middleton. We work together on rare occasions...though we mostly just argue about whether Canon or Nikon makes the better camera.

Canon...duh.

I also created his website for him. The link is in the side column if you want to take a peak.

I love this shot! The coloring and angle are awesome.

We're obviously not in heated competition with one another since I'm posting his pictures and creating his website.

Our styles are so different that we can both shoot the same subjects on the same day and get entirely different results (as you can see from the above pictures). That makes it easy for us to get along. That, and the fact that I'm a very patient person.

His work has a definite artsy edge to it and mine is...well...I'm not exactly sure what mine is.

This shot is pretty awesome...Mary Poppins! Come back!

And this one totally rocks! It's called vector art and if you know how it's done then you would totally appreciate the time and effort that was involved in creating it.

You basically select each and every color in the image and then paint it in. See how many colors are in her leg alone? I'm impressed...and I will try this.

Some day.

So my time without children was spent cleaning, working, trying to re-create my website to make it more easily accessible for the general public, and cleaning some more.

Oh, and I did give myself a pedicure with french tips.

I was going to take a picture of my prettified feet and post them for you to see, but there are a lot of weirdos out there...

B

Bray-Dog

Also known as Brayden, came in Sunday night for his senior session.

I've known him since he was just a little whipper-snapper so I took great joy in antagonizing him while we did his shoot.
This shot was his idea...he wanted his fingers blurry to make it look as if he was playing some serious guitar.

I'll give him credit for the idea, but I AM the one who had to execute it. I should get credit for that.

Right?

Right.

His dad wanted this shot. I like it...but he might look just a wee bit creepy.

I guess boys like to look creepy sometimes.

His mom wanted this shot. I like all the blackness.

I know. That was a deep thought, wasn't it?

What can I say? I'm just a deep thinker.

And how can you not like these last two shots? A teenager. A BOY teenager. Smiling.

It's practically unheard of.
Where there's a will, there's a way.

B

Another first for me...

A baby that wouldn't go to sleep.

He was awake and looked like this when I took the first shot from the session at 2:26 PM.
He then continued to stay awake despite numerous efforts at bouncing, feeding, changing, and trying to convince him that there really wasn't anything very interesting going on...that he wouldn't miss anything if he closed his tiny little eyes for just a few minutes.

I only needed a FEW minutes. I promise.

He wouldn't have it.
He stayed alert and curious and looked pretty much like this when the last shot was taken at 3:56 PM.

I was intrigued by this wakeful child. It was another challenge met and successfully hurdled.

After seeing the end result of his images I'm thinking maybe I should start trying to wake my babies up instead of get them to sleep.

Hmmmm.

Now about his sister...

Not only is her cuteness practically unbearable, she's also very entertaining. I won't give away her cute little 3 year old secrets on the world wide web so they can come back and embarass her when she's in high school, but she had us in stitches. Several times.

And just check out her poses! I told her to sit in the chair and had her put her elbow up on the back. The rest?

All her.

Her poor, poor father.

B



Here's the video of their session. If you want to see it full screen right click it and select "Watch on YouTube". You can also see their images here under Reutzel Family if you don't want to watch the slideshow.

Seriously.

Is it physically impossible to fix something with super glue without getting it on at least three of your fingers?

I feel like a messy kindergartner.
B

That's a wrap!

Yippee!

I finished up another session. This one was a little bit easier on me because I didn't have as many to edit as I usually do. They still ended up with 31 super cute proofs plus 2 storyboards but I normally have double that amount.

What was different this time?

The seemingly happy, content, easy-going child pictured below just decided he'd had enough about halfway through.

"Enough!" he said. Well, he didn't really say that exact word but we still got the point. Trust me. We got the point.

He was done, so I was done.

My worked to the bone fingers thank you, sweet child, for revolting. They needed a break.
Not really. I enjoy this too much. It's my only creative outlet.

Besides...typing and rolling the wheel on my mouse are about all the exercise I'm getting these days, so my body needs it to build muscles. Muscle burns fat you know. I NEED muscle.

I won't acknowledge the fact that I would only be building finger muscles. It's better than building NO muscles at all!

Maybe I'll do one sit up before I go to bed.

Baby steps.

B

Click here and go to "Simmons Family" to see the proofs from the session and right click the video and select "watch on youtube" to view the video without the right edge missing. I'm working on getting this glitch fixed.

Repeat Offenders

I had a session with this cute little jabber talker in June of last year.
His sister was in on the action too.

They came back last week for another session and MY how they've grown!

This one cracks me up. It's as if he's trying to look disinterested in the whole photography scene.

Come to think of it, he WAS disinterested in the whole affair. He was more interested in being anywhere that myself and my camera were not.

Her cute little giggle sealed the deal on this shot...for me anyway. She was trying so hard to keep focused while her brother ran amock.

Awwww. How sweet.

A little less sweet here but definitely shows us some of his personality. Crazy boy.

I know I do this pose a lot but it's so stinkin' cute! I love it when I can get in close and just see my subjects face without a bunch of clutter and background information. It's just the subject...plain and simple.

This storyboard came to mind the instant I saw these images...they just begged for it. I'm not sure everyone will get the whole "cat" thing, but I love the simplicity of it.

I hope to wrap up the rest of this session today or tomorrow, so stay tuned.

B