365 Project | Day 11 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

I had a newborn photo shoot this morning {sneak peek to come soon} and the family was running a little late, so I decided to be in front of the camera for once.  I set up my light in front of this nice neutral backdrop I hadn't used in a while and snapped a few pics.  I had my trusty 50mm 1.4 lens on again, and no, I didn't have a remote.  I took it the old fashioned way - holding this Canon 5D Mk II with battery grip {can you say 4+ pounds!} out in front of me as far as I could without a) dropping the camera or b) dislocating my shoulder.

I have to say it was quite fun and eye-opening.  I felt dorky and had to warm up to the camera.  I looked at a few of the first photos and almost threw up in my mouth.  I'm not kidding.  The angle was terrible.  But, then it was fun just playing with looking a few different directions, angling the camera different ways, and moving my free hand around to {pretty much} keep it busy so I wouldn't feel as stupid.

It was a good exercise for me.  I would rather be safely tucked behind my camera while you, on the other side, are exposed :).  It was a good reminder to me of how you feel when I have you set up with the lights and big camera {all pointing at you} and then start taking your photos.  No matter what I say or how silly I am with your kids when we start the session, its nerve-racking.  You're trying to be cool about the whole situation {how is my hair, are the kids looking/behaving, is my husband even smiling?!?}, but really your probably not.  That's why my favorite photos, 99% of the time, are at the end of a shoot after we've had a ton of fun together.

So anyway, maybe I'll take a self portrait every few months or so to see how I change through this year, and I'd like to do a family self portrait.  Look for it sometime this Fall!

365 Project | Day 10 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

Isaac and I were out enjoying the afternoon sunshine.  Unfortunately, after perusing around our front yard, I noticed how many deciduous plants we have.  Our front yard basically looks dead this time of year except for the grass, moss, and few other plants.

I decided to try taking some "macro" photos with my 50mm f1.4 lens and settled on one of our prettier plants this winter, lavender.  And a bonus was the beautiful backlighting with the winter sun much further South.

I loved how the sun flare and bokeh {blurry background} turned out in this photo:

365 Project | Day 9 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

I didn't feel too creative today, but I did exercise.  I just started running again after a 2-month hiatus and it feels so good to pound the pavement and get my heart pumping again!  I had my music with me - an iPod shuffle - and I LOVE it.  Running wouldn't be the same for me without music.  I used to have a much bigger clunky Nike apparatus that I would strap onto my arm and it would hold - maybe - 60 songs.  Times have changed!  I can't even feel the weight of this little shuffle, nor will I hear a repeat song thanks to the 1 GB hard drive.  Thank you Steve Jobs!

I'm reading his book, by the way.  Fascinating.  You should read it if you haven't yet.

So here's my shout out to running and the shuffle:

365 Project | Day 7 & 8 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

I thought I'd lump two photos together from the last two days since I didn't get around to it Saturday.  The first is from a photo shoot yesterday.  This 6-year-old boy was an absolute doll and his sweet side comes through in this photo with a very genuine expression.

This is today's photo {Sunday the 8th} - Ella had a neighbor friend over for a play date during our lazy Sunday afternoon.  They let their imaginations take over as they played - literally- in every square inch of our house!

365 Project | Day 6 | Seattle Portrait Photographer

Hi!  Well, I did take this pic yesterday but didn't get it posted quite in time.  I captured this quiet moment between Isaac and Dad bonding over an iPad game.....