Babies & Children: Natalee Johnson

Don't you love how she spells her name?

Let's give you a dose of cuteness on this Monday:







I told you! Cuteness overload..

With her daddy...



and with her grandparents!

I hope this makes you want to reach out and tickle those little toes!



Just look at those gorgeous eyes...



Beautiful girls!



You have to see how Bethany and Kylan love on Natalee. When they make her laugh, she has the cutest spit bubbles! You know you're adorable when your spit makes people go "awww." And as individuals, Kylan and Bethany are a blessing to get to know.

In case you didn't have enough pink or cuteness in your day -- now you do! Thank you Bethany & Kylan :)

p.s. I don't know how many of my readers create slideshows of their clients or their own children, but I have FINALLY put a small collection of the SWEETEST baby songs. I am NOT talking about "I Hope You Dance" or some other old school song. While I'm not trying to hate on Ms. Womack (I realize some oldies have associated memories), the times are changing and there is amazing talent you have to dig for. I suppose it's a personal preference, but I've gotten a lot of positive comments from parents about the music I choose and decided, why not share it? You can see examples of my videos here.

I was going to post it on a Photography Forum online (Open Source Photo) instead of my blog, but it will depend on the reader's response (since I don't know how many of my readers are actually interested in baby songs :). Give me a head's up if you'd like me to send you the list of artists and songs via comment or e-mail! Do you have a baby song you love? :) Happy Monday!

I'm already talking Christmas...

I know some of you have problems with people who are already decorating for Christmas and it isn't even THANKSGIVING!

Ok -- it used to freak me out when CVS went from selling Halloween Candy one day to Christmas balls the very next day! But the issue isn't the decor itself... just how ridiculously fast time can pass. It scares me too, feeling like my kid will be 2 one day and celebrating her quinceañera the next. I don't have kids. See my point?

However, there are many firsts this year: I'm a newlywed (since May!), my first time living without roommates = complete access to home decor (apparently husband DOES have opinion, dang it), and finally decorating for a Holiday! I've never, ever, decorated for any Holidays because I would go home to Texas or celebrate with Jose's family in Alabama. And because crafting takes time, I have to start now!

Color palette:

Very necessary for those "ooooh, that's cute! I could probably make it work" shoppers (i.e. me).

Oh wait. I did say budget, didn't I? Dang. Budget: $130. That will definitely turn the "that could work" shopping to "will this REALLY work?"

That color palette probably looks strange BUT, it's working with my budget. As some of you may remember, my wedding colors were red & teal. You can imagine how MANY teal and red home accessories I have from the wedding. I will explain the other colors with pictures.

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I love clustering whites and ivories (or champagne) colored items. Definitely adds to the "white" Christmas feel. I will probably do this with the dining table and use teal as an accent color.

Another example:

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We have a fireplace!! Ok, can I just tell you how wack that is? When we first looked up places to live in Phoenix, EVERY unit, townhouse, and apartment had a fireplace in it! Oh well, I'm happy about it :)

I'm a fan of the whimsy..

Garlands are pretty popular for weddings, parties, and overall decor. I'm considering making a snow flake one.

A more sophisticated approach...

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A quirky, Ale approach:

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And let me tell you about the projects I'm going to take on. Clustering Christmas balls!!

How cool?! I'm going to hit up Goodwill and the dollar stores to collect as many to attempt making a wreath.

Orrrrr... a chandelier!

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Probably not. That looks way intense. But it still makes me excited.

Mismatched plates for table setting. Again -- Goodwill, here I come.

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And last, I'm not a fan of the plaid, but I'm a fan of the concept:

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Fabric balls! Get some beautiful fabric, styrofoam balls, and they would make a cool coffee-table centerpiece, don't you think?!

Hope that gave you some inspiration and ideas! I'm actually really excited about decorating because not only is it our first Christmas, but my BROTHER is coming into town to celebrate with us!! Yay! I'll keep y'all updated on the actual progress.

I'm curious -- will you be having a real, fake, or no tree this Christmas? Apparently there's this thing here in Phoenix where you can get a license to cut down your OWN Christmas tree. And I'm not talking palm trees here!! REAL trees! We are thinking of doing it :) Happy Friday!

Roles of a Second Shooter: Creative Live Notes with Jasmine Star

Do you see the difference in this photo:

and this one?

The same moment, but different angle. The first set of images of "the first look" is done by the head photographer of My Creative Vision, and the second photo is captured by the second shooter.

Before we go into details, let's cover the 10 basic roles/rules of a second shooter according to Jasmine Star during the Creative Live workshop. Oh! In case you hadn't read part I, I'm sharing my Creative Live workshop notes and this is part II :)

10-Dress Appropriately: Work-style uniform. "I wear dresses when I shoot. I prefer black."
9-During same day slide show, do table-round shots!
8-Gather the family during formals. Help propel the first shooter. Main photographer is getting head-on, classic photo. Second shooter takes in-between moments (flower girl picking nose, couple looking at each other, etc.).
7-Take care of vendors. Say hello to DJ, band, florist, etc. Spark conversation. Make sure everyone has water.
6-Offer to carry bags.
5-Get water.
4-SMILE.
3-Find NEW angles. Think like the first photographer, shooting from a different angle.
2-NEVER pass out your business cards. Ever.
1.-Leave your ego at the door.

-Clarification BEFORE ceremony. “What is it that you want to get out of the day?” Do they pay? If they don't, can you use the images (you took) for your portfolio or just online studio? Can you reproduce/edit images? CLARIFY TERMS with main photographer!
-Become involved with online forums. Involvement with the community. "When my name came up, I was part of the community."
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So back to the angles. The best photos you can provide a photographer as a second shooter is an angle THEY cannot be at.

Here is another example from Sarah Postma:

This is literally giving the bride the opportunity to see what HER MOM is seeing and how she's reacting. You see these often with the father giving the bride away. The action and reaction. I refer to this as the "money" shot. Ok, not really, but if I had captured that I would've sang "moooneeeyy" in my head.

And what was my first second-shooting experience like last year? Besides being a slightly nervous mess -- I was... a slightly nervous mess. I remember that the bridal party shots were pretty challenging to get creative. I kept telling myself "don't get in HIS shot! New angles... new angles..." I didn't want to distract the bridal party, but I also didn't want all of them to be at this angle:

However, sometimes it worked out nicely...

And in the end, though the open field during the bridal portrait shots was challenging in finding "new angles"... I walked away with some very valuable photos. As the main photographer positioned himself near the groom at the end of the isle before the bride arrived with her father, I captured this...

It might not seem like such a special photo, but to my photographer it was. I don't remember the reasons he was so relieved to see this photo -- but the point is that I provided him with a moment he wasn't situated for and I was. Thank you LORD it was exposed correctly! I mean, this was my FIRST wedding and I'm probably taking 30 million photos. The grass, the chair, the splinter in the chair, the ants having a rally.

There's so much I have yet to learn when second shooting-- especially during formal portraits, both as a second and main shooter. Those are probably the most challenging to be really creative on since they are what they are -- formal. Blegh.

But then, if you are able to push your creativity through those stiff moments, could you imagine what you would get during the moments outside of that? And that is what Jasmine Star inspires us to do. Prepare yourself for those "in between" moments that your clients really want to see. Anticipate them. Because in the end, you are the one who is telling their story and the moment doesn't wait for better exposure.

We'll cover Posing & Lighting notes next!

Jose Vidal: Discovered

Haha... like the title?

Like I mentioned before, the price of being married to a photographer is that you will appear in front of the lens many times. Test shots, experimental shots, photoshoot ideas, etc. Lucky for me, Jose is quite the model! Not the same results when I need help crafting hair pieces... but I'll take what I can get :P



Somehow, I was once again shooting at NOON on the dot. There is no desire in me to shoot at this hour, in fact I avoid it at all costs. But I had time restrictions, so I did what I could. This is when you make your model wear sunglasses.



Love this shot!






We left the mountains to head to some thrift stores and buildings I spotted on the way...




When I saw this place, I thought: GOLD! Jose, pleeeeease get on those chairs! We dart out of our the car, I set my camera exposures first with some test shots, then yell "go!!"



Looooove.



Though I have to admit -- it didn't look like anyone was going to kick us out anytime soon. So we kept playing :)



My friend Lauren in high school always made comments about masculine hands and how much she loved them. I was like "ew, veins and bulkiness? ... I dunno." Jose has masculine hands. I get it now, Lauren! Who knew how much character hands could add? Besides opening impossible jars.

I'm a lucky girl!



Thanks for dreaming with me, love :)

Cotton Candy

Aside from the extremely annoying pollen that coated my car yellow, the trees in Georgia are something I'll always miss. First of all, they're insanely TALL, and these particularly giant trees wouldn't just appear near parks -- they would be in your BACKYARD. Growing up in Texas, trees weren't exactly a pinnacle in the Lone Star State. Everything might be big in Texas, but certainly not the trees.

And now, my entire environment has transformed from green to dirt. There isn't really any change in Arizona during the Fall. Why? Because we don't have actual TREES! (Ok, not many). Welcome to... Miami? Yep. We have palm trees. I LOVE THEM!! Granted, I am still completely new to this state and I know they will probably get old by next year. However, at this moment I feel like I'm at a resort!! I associate palm trees with vacation! Sad will be the day when they get old, because then what will I associate with vacation?

Even MORE amazing then that? The sunsets....



So that's my Fall, you guys. I don't get to see the beautiful trees of the East Coast changing from their green to hues of yellow, red, and orange. But almost every evening... I get to see the sky burst into shades of purple, orange, and pink. My own cotton candy Fall.



Have to thank Jose for accompanying me as I scouted for locations for an upcoming outdoor-Christmas shoot. And speaking of, I will hopefully have Part II of his photoshoot up tomorrow!!

Tomorrow will be packed because I leave in the morning to meet with another photographer to play with... THE 5D MARK II!!!!!!!!!!!! It's like Christmas for me. I'm serious. I've been wanting to play with the video function for SO LONG. I'm honestly afraid to even get my hands on it because it will be so hard to let go. After that I'll be heading to the Johnson's for some bebe pics! Hope you enjoyed some cotton candy! :)

Because I'm a last minute girl

Yes, I came up with the theme and the second the words came out of my mouth I regretted saying them.

I'm the kind of person that has to have "themes" to parties. It helps me plan, decorate, and have specific ideas. Last year, for example, the theme was "Mad Hatter."

However, last year I actually planned ahead of time. Wait. I guess that's a contradicting statement since planning requires things to be done "ahead of time" in general. The point is I had gone all out...



Tea pots (filled with hot chocolate), flowers in vases of different sizes, funky chandelier, fabrics of many colors, playing cards, and other crazy trinkets. This included a marshmallow tree I made for the hot chocolate being served!



This year the extravagant decorations would have to be saved for only one holiday, and I'm saving it for Christmas. Plus, the party was at Kristin's so I was liberated from decorating. But for soooome reason, I STILL waited until the day before the Halloween party to come up with a costume for the theme I selected this year: Masks.

I debated just buying a cute mask and wearing regular clothes. Then Jose brought up the idea to "interpret" mask. I raised my eyebrow. Interpret? Yeah -- like you can dress up as an air freshener and say that you are "masking" odor. I married a smart man my friends. While I wasn't interested in dressing like an air freshener, we brainstormed the theme: masculine. Mask-culine. Just go with it!

Originally I was going to wear some slacks, a fitted vest, a tie, slick my hair back in a bun, and a mustache. Jose said that didn't sound masculine and was more chic, if anything. I argued that masculine didn't have to be ugly either! And what about Jose's costume you ask? He clearly wasn't going for masculine. His was going to be a FACIAL mask. You know, the kind you get at a spa.

Men crack me up. I was thinking out loud about what Jose could wear on his face as a "face mask" and with the most confused look he asks: why don't I just wear one of YOUR face mask things? To which I inform: Because, love, those things aren't meant to be worn for *four* hours. Unless you want your skin to peel off at the end of the night, we're going to have to come up with something that your skin can tolerate for that long. This is coming from the guy who said to just use vanilla yogurt as a substitution for vanilla EXTRACT. I love him. A lot :)

So here we were at the Halloween store, the night before the party. Luckily I was only responsible for planning the entertainment (and some food) and not decorating or I'd be running around like a crazy woman. We hit the jack pot at this store! There were SO many masks and little accessories so you didn't have to buy a $40-80 costume. And then I stumbled on the hat section and saw... a MATADOR HAT! Translation: bull fighter's hat.

(One of my Spain photos.)

YES!!! You can't get anymore masculine than THIS!

So there he was. My costume. I bought my $7 hat, and a $3 mustache and the rest of the outfit I'd make at home (free!). I like to work the cheap way! All I needed was: tight pants (jeggings!), red fabric (check!), red ribbon to embellish the pants (check!), and a ruffly top (check!).



Thank goodness for Arizona hot weather! I would definitely not have had any warm tops for this costume.

SO, I cut a strip of the red fabric to create a handkerchief for my neck. Then, I took this thick red ribbon and taped it down the side-seam of my jeggings. Don't you love when you get a lot of use from just one thing?!



After using the strong, double-sided tape, I sewed a VERY lose seam on the ribbon for easy removal.

Tada!



And of course, I didn't get any formal pictures of me in it, but DO have some that our friend Seth took of me.

I swear, I almost wore my red heels. But then that would have really been pushing masculine:

(those who attempted to dress up)

Here I am playing minute-to-win it and am sad to not be sporting the mustache. It didn't come with adhesive (?!) and no tape was strong enough to hold it.



And I didn't forget my husband! As I was sewing my jeggings, he asked me for some thread and I wondered what on earth he needed to sew.

Ahem. Clearly, to sew the cucumbers on to his glasses.

At least we found green make up at the Halloween store. Or else I don't know how he would have re-invented or reinterpreted that one.

Hope you had a cheap and fun Halloween too :)

Creative Live Notes with Jasmine Star - Part I

***PART II is up now****

Would you freak out if you were given the chance to follow Jasmine Star around on a wedding shoot? Clearly we would. And that is pretty much what we got to do at the Creative Live workshop! Minus thousands of creepers literally following Jasmine in person.

Consider this one of those moments that you can copy my notes. No awkward-tricky elbow hiding. These goodies are for me to share with YOU. Forgive my grammar!! They're notes people. Starting with....

A Jasmine Star Wedding Walk-Through:

Here, Jasmine covered shooting a typical wedding day. Regardless of how many times you have done this, these reminders are incredibly valuable. I feel like Jasmine emphasizes how important it is to personalize the day. It goes like this....

-Photographer arrival: Arrive 15 minutes early. Need extra time to greet bride, meet mom, etc.

-Bride preparation: If your bride doesn’t have make-up on, DON’T photograph. "I never ask the bride for things I need to photograph. Ask the maid-of-honor and request things from her: 'I need dress, shoes, jewelry, garter, & purse.' I shoot a tight shot of dress, pull away, horizontal, and vertical. I shoot shoes however long until I get the shot. STYLIZE the jewelry. Work it into her purse or garter. Combine elements to help tell the story. STYLIZE veil. Get shots of bouquets –both bride & bridesmaids. Shoot hair designer & make-up artist = marketing. Photograph gifts or notes because it helps personalize the day. If I transition from details to make-up, a good transition shot is a photo of the make-up table. Helps bridge the gap to tell a story. Photograph the bridesmaids -- then bride when make-up is done. Sense comfort when she is getting dressed. Ask if she’ll mind getting photographed. Explain she is in safe zone. Shoot candids of people dressing her. Candids putting on garter and shoes. TELL THE STORY. Capture the moment after the final dressing. The 'deep breath' moment.”

-Groom preparation: 2nd shooter. Get candids of guys hanging out. Photo of tux in hanger. Shoes, cuff links, gift from bride -- any other details that stand out. Guys want to look cool, girls want to look beautiful.

-Photos of Bride & Groom: 10x10 – 10 photos in a 10x10 space. What can you make of it? Will these photos reflect your style? This applies to engagement sessions as well.

-Shooting first look:
Schedule a time and establish first look in advanced. Have the groom stationed and set up. "Example of what I might say: 'Laura, Billy is standing out there and waiting for you. Hold on just a minute and I’ll be right back.' When I talk to Billy, I set up my camera shots. Go back to Laura, tell her how excited Billy is to see her and tell her to come out in one minute. I run back to my spot and I’m ready to photograph. When they see each other, LEAVE THEM ALONE. Give them some minutes. When they turn to us, that means they’re ready. Then I bring the bridal party."

-Bridal party:
"I try to be creative, but depends on how much time I have. I’m only choosing ONE photo. I introduce myself. Bride and groom in middle, girls by bride side, boys on groom side, ask them to “squeeze, squeeze, squeeze” –they laugh, I capture that. Then I try a creative photo. Then bride with individual girl photos, and vice versa with groom.”

-Detail mode:
Immediately go to ceremony and take photos of OVERALL,untouched location. Isle flowers, guest book, communion, any signage. Photograph EVERYTHING else before it’s touched. "I’m looking for LIGHT. Before I even assess the photo, I shift my body in relation to it. Light first and everything else will follow."

-Ceremony:
"I stand towards the front. I like to stand behind preacher where Billy (or groom) will stand. Second shooter at the back. Make sure to get the photo from BEHIND when bride is walked by escort/father."

Let's all say it together– ANTICIPATE emotions!


-Family Formals:
Couple, front and center – add EVERYONE on both sides. Start peeling people away. Extended family, immediate family, bride’s family, groom’s family. IF time, individual photos of mom + bride, etc.

If time left, individual portraits of bride + groom. Second shooter gets cocktail shots.

-Reception details:
Overall room shot with everyone cleared out (so must get BEFORE reception starts), overall tablescape, REMOVE salt shakers & sugar packets & butter. Stylize your shoots. DON’T leave sparse. Need menu cards, settings, specialty glassware, are centerpieces the same? Cake –tight vertical and wide vertical. Cake topper. Horizontal shot. Photos of band playing. Shots of sweetheart table – brides NEW name. "Grand entrance – I shoot with 50mm. Use off camera flash, bounce on wall. Know what doors parties are coming from. I rotate around the dance floor. Find good light. I only shoot first dance with 50 or 85mm. Same with parents’ dance. Ambient lighting for dance floor with 24mm."

-Formal shots:
Cake –50mm. Bouquet & garter toss –shoot wide. And make sure to get departure shots!

"KNOW about your bride! You need to know your designers. Vera Wang? You better know she spent money. Melissa Sweet? Shoot it vintage. RESEARCH!! Be educated about what you’re doing because your client cares."
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Main idea? These notes and this entire workshop weren't for you to shoot just like Jasmine Star. She is making everyone realize that we photograph PEOPLE. People care about the details, about their story, about every emotion that has gone into planning and having a wedding. About LOVE. When I photographed my first wedding, the first thing I asked my bride was if there were any handmade or heirloom items incorporated in her wedding. From that question alone people will tell you ALL of the important items in their wedding -- even if they're not handmade.

I chose my wedding photographer because of how much care she put into every detail. If I poured hours into making paper flowers, I want a photographer who is excited about me being crafty and making sure those moments will not be forgotten. Take care of your clients and they will take care of you.

Hopefully you can take away something bigger in these notes than just what lenses and poses work best because I believe that's what Jasmine would want too. Next set of notes: Role of Second Shooter. Feel free to share your thoughts and own suggestions! :)