Wednesday, October 22, 2014

Just Imagine Photography, a mom with a blog.

My photography career began out a love for the arts...specifically painting.  Unfortunately with five kids (and one on the way) painting is a messy and time consuming (but mostly messy) hobby I have little room for.  Photography lets me get to have the creativity I love while simultaneously gathering amazing memories that my family will enjoy forever. 
I have a vision,  that some day in the future I will have a collection of amazing photos that I can put together in a really cool photo album that will be more than just a dusty album on a shelf.   But how do you get those kind of pictures?  A majority of you probably hate even the thought of family pictures.  From the outfits to the tantrums...pictures usually equal stress for mom. 
What if it doesn't have to be that way at all?  You don't have to have a perfectly posed picture with everyone in matching attire to make an amazing picture.  You don't have to have thousands of dollars in photography equipment either.  Sometimes, all you need is the right attitude about what you are trying to accomplish (and a camera of some sort of course).
My guess is that what you want is memories that show your kiddos and the happy times they had growing up.  So instead of trying to make them smile for the camera or say cheese or pose in some manner they find forced...photograph them doing the things they like to do.
This picture for example was taken on mothers day weekend...they were muddy and half soaked in the river but they were having fun.  It's not perfect...but when I asked them to blow me a kiss they were more than happy because they were having fun, and I love it.   These are my favorite kinds of pictures I have of my kids...more than any "perfect" picture in a studio. 

Monday, December 30, 2013

Think Photographers are Overpriced? Think Again!

Thursday, October 31, 2013

Not just pictures...Fun projects for the whole family!

Here is a fun site with tons of cute projects and ideas.  Photo ideas and more....
Have a great site you'd like to share...post it here and make sure to link to the respective owner.
http://www.playathomemomllc.com/

Saturday, September 21, 2013

Great DIY backdrops

Check this out for some great ideas for DIY backdrops...simple and inexpensive...my favorite combination.
http://www.itsalwaysautumn.com/home/2013/6/10/20-fantastic-diy-photography-backdrops-backgrounds.html

Fall Fun

Fall sports have begun and with it brings crazy weeks of practice, games (2 soccer and one football) and a lot of driving.  And of course the best part.... Tons a great photo ops.  Bring on the crazy....

Thursday, September 19, 2013

I'm a Photographer?

  I'm a Photographer?

family photography yakima
Why the question mark....Well lets just say I like to call myself an artist.  I am an art major (at 32 years old) after all.  I have loved art as long as I can remember.  Photography is relatively new to me and the longer I do it the more I realize I differ somewhat from other "photographers".  I have made note on several occasions of photographers tendency to critique others work on a technical level. And, although I understand there is a lot to master, as an artist I am drawn to images that I like. I don't zoom in 400 times so I can see that they got one freckle out of focus because clearly they were not using the correct lens for said photo.  I read one photographers claim that one should beware of photos that have been adjusted to different colors or black and white as this is a sign of trying to mask technical flaws.  Maybe that is true...but, maybe just maybe, I like black and white and filters and I turned the clarity down during processing on purpose because I personally like the soft look in some cases (so shoot me if I don't hold the same value to a perfectly crisp shot of the eyes at f/11 and "ruin" it by blurring it a little). Is it important for your photos to be great?  Of course it is.  But, who decides what is great?  Master photographers? I suppose so, but I am not really good at following rules as it applies to photography.  I'll use whatever lens I want and hey....maybe I wanted a freckle out of focus...so what.  If there were an "artographer' I would be that instead.  A photographer who does not follow the rules, and is all the better for it.  How many "perfectly" shot landscapes do we need to see anyway?  What if, I say forget your rule book...I will do as I please.  No one ever did anything great following the crowd.