What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails, and puppy dogs tails
That's what little boys are made of !"
What are little girls made of?
"Sugar and spice and all things nice
That's what little girls are made of!"

This little boy was so much fun to work with, what a little model! The shoot started out bright and early and he was quite asleep, but after a bit he woke up and everything got much more fun. Thanks for such a great session!

Sneak Peek pt. 2: Sarah's Family

Sneak Peek: Sarah's Family

Christmas Time = Bokeh Extravaganza

Ok kiddos, get out your primes.

You can pick up a 50mm f/1.8 for just about any mount for about $100 and it is just one of the best bang for your buck lens purchases a photographer can make.

Bokeh adds a little magic into your photos! Christmas time is the perfect time to grab some bokeh shots because there are lights in dark areas everywhere!

Pick a subject, like my friend Kris here, and give yourself a short depth of field by knocking that aperture down in the f/1.8-f/2 range. (You will have to compensate with a longer exposure time, so either skip the coffee for a steady hand or bring the tripod along.) (Or lean on something, be resourceful!) When you focus on your subject it will throw the background out of focus creating a bokeh effect if there are lights back there.

There is a much more scientific and accurate way of talking about this, but it's early, I have only had three cups of coffee, and I am just so excited about this photo that I couldn't wait another minute to tell you guys about it.

So put that 50mm prime on your Santa list and let's get some bokeh action going.

The shot I snapped above is at f/2 at 1/20th at 200ISO, D700+ 24mm f/1.4 prime.

Senior Portraits

Sometimes we're lucky enough to get handed that one perfect session. They are on time, they brought a few different changes of outfit, and when you threaten to tickle them they give you completely legitimate smiles.

This was the case with my Senior (Class of '11 Tomball High School!) from last Sunday. I was elated when he told me he brought his mascot uniform with him!

Hard Work

When you can look off towards the horizon and know that there is a goal out there that you need to accomplish, hard work and determination are the best ways to get there. They might not be the most fun, but you just have to push through.

I am lucky enough that my "work" is really fun, so keeping my head down and working towards my goals isn't so bad. =)

December has been a month full of family portraits, photos with Santa, cute kids, and helping a friend plan a wedding...... All while somehow managing to work on my vintage camera sales, planning my upcoming visit to Europe, and maintaining enough communication to make sure all of my friends are aware I am still around.

I am going to start the year out big by going to Copenhagen, Milan, Geneva, and Berlin, with a possible stay in Amsterdam. I have an unreasonably large amount of photo projects planned for myself! I will be sharing those completed projects one at a time as I complete them.

Hard work and determination brings the best result!

Turn Off Your Auto Focus For A While

I dare you!

It is time to go back to the roots some. I miss my SLR. I started shooting on a Pentax K-1000 that my mother gave me when I took my first photography class. (Twelve years ago, yuck, holy cow, let's not focus on that.)

Everything on that camera was manual! You set your shutter speed, your film speed (ISO for you no-film digital types) your f-stop, and last, but not least, you slaved over your completely manual focus lens. BUT!

When you finally got it all right down to the last detail, weren't those photos gorgeous? It's one thing to get your DSLR out and just go snap happy, but it is a totally different feeling when you know you are limited by the number of shots on your film so each one gets that extra bit of thought and planning that is unnecessary in digital photography.

I am a dinosaur.

Switching to primarily digital from film was painful. I just recently sold my Rolleiflex and I feel like I mailed one of my kids away. Painful!

We have to stick together, we dinosaurs, and find things that will help us cling to our roots and continue to have thoughtful and lovely shots with our seemingly endless supply of digital exposures.

So let's take a day, switch our lenses to M from AF, and see what happens.

Comment with some photos you took, I would love to see them!