This cold weather we’ve been having lately is making me crave the beach and warmer weather. I mean yikes…it’s been freezing here in Texas! Doesn’t Mother Nature know that spring is supposed to be soon?!? And that we Texans don’t handle 19 degrees well? Well, I decided to have a little mental warm-me-up and take a trip down memory lane from our Florida trip in the summer of 2017. Ok, off to book our next warm get away!
Back in 2018, before social distancing was a thing, I attended an in-person class and shoot-out sponsored by Color Inc. This was a sequel to the shoot-out I blogged about here. For this one, the theme was The Greatest Showman. Chubby Cheek Photography and Sally Kate Photography again performed their magic and made this event so much fun. I highly recommend attending something like this when life gets back to normal.
Once upon time, pre-Covid, the world was able to get together and do fun things like styled shoot-outs and in-person classes. Since that isn’t happening right now, I thought that I’d share some of my faves from way back in the spring of 2017.
This particular shoot-out/class was sponsored by Color Inc. (who by the way is a fabulous print lab that is very customer focus based). The class featured Chubby Cheek Photography and Sally Kate Photography. These two ladies are masters in the styled children genre. It was so fun to see their ideas come to life and have the opportunity to shoot these nursery rhyme scenes. And you may notice a familiar little model in some of these photos as well…
Hi friends! Long time no see write. I’m going to try to be better about keeping up with this little blog. I know I’ve said that before, maybe I’ll mean it this time.
I figured it might be a good idea to do a “how it all started” post to get back into the swing of things. I’m often asked how I got started in photography and how I learned to use my camera, so here goes.
My love for photography started as far back as I can remember: setting up photoshoots with my Cabbage Patch dolls and my 110 camera. It wasn’t until after my first child was born that I was motivated to learn the art of photography. Having an engineering degree, I assured myself that I could certainly figure out a camera. And so I did, and my love of photography was sent on an exponential path.
I started out by reading books and doing research online. I took a local photography class and watched a lot of online tutorials. Soon, as luck would have it, I found out that a local photographer wanted to start teaching moms how to use their camera. Perfect! Sign me up! I also signed up for one on one mentoring with another photographer whose style I identified with and from that point forward everything “clicked” for me.
After that, its been a whirlwind of a journey. I’ve taken tons of online courses from Clickin’ Moms, Milky Way, Chic Critique, Chubby Cheek Photography, Plural Site, and others that I’m surely forgetting. I love to learn and grow, so I’m always looking for the next class to click my photography up a notch.
In 2017, I decided to prepare a portfolio submission to apply to become a Click Pro Master with Clickin Moms. I studied their grading rubric and practiced all categories from light, composition, color, etc. Finally, at the very beginnning of 2018 I took a leap of faith and applied. And guess what….I was accepted!! Excited would be an understatement. This has given me the opportunity to meet and collaborate with many other artists that are always willing to share their talents and knowledge.
I’ve more recently decided to offer a few small courses through Hellostoryteller. If you are interested in those or any tutorials I have written for Clickin Moms see this page.
So there you have it! That’s my story. Other than that…I practice. I shoot a lot. All the time really. I’m always learning and striving to get better.
Every year for Halloween we try to think of a fun group costume. (See previous years here.) The girls have fun playing the part, and I have fun making the costumes and documenting it all. I’ll be honest though, I do solicit the help of my family with these costumes on occasion. We’ll chalk that up to a family bonding experience.
This year my oldest wanted to be Alice for Halloween. My little one wanted to be a butterfly, so we had do some convincing to stick with a theme. Luckily, it didn’t take much convincing. As soon as we reminded her that the Cheshire Cat was PURPLE she was ALL IN!
This year’s location was quite the find! With all of the rain that we’ve been having, my two first locations were completely under water! However, it was meant to be because this location turned out better than I had imagined.
I give you…Alice in Wonderland.
Halloween is such a fun time for our family. What’s not to like? Kids get to dress up and pretend, I get to craft a costume, and everyone gets candy. Then of course comes the…PICTURES.
As I was editing this year’s Halloween photos, it made me reflect on what we’ve done in previous years. It was fun to run down memory lane and visit the ghosts of Halloween’s Past. Here’s a small sampling of what we’ve done. Happy Halloween!
Birthdays are my favorite time to do special styled shoots for my girls. But I fully admit that year 6 snuck up on me. Maybe it was all the who-ra-ra that surrounds school this time of year (sure, let’s go with that). So while I still plan to execute a personality portrait shoot sometime in the near future, I couldn’t let this one’s birthday pass by without capturing a few snaps. We danced, we sang, we picked a few flowers, and we told lots of knock-knock jokes. Her favorite: Interrupting Cow. It goes like this:
Knock, knock
Whose There
Interrupting Cow
Interrupting Cow W—MOOOOOOOO
Get it? She thinks she’s the funniest in all the land…
Hi, I’m Libby! Welcome to this little blog of mine. I absolutely love documenting the days of my blue eyed babes with the help of my camera lens. As a first blog post, I thought that it would be appropriate to post our annual bluebonnet photos. After all, nothing says Texas like a field of bluebonnets, and we’re Texans.
Every year, it’s always a guess as to where the bluebonnets will pop up. I mean, they are guaranteed to be thick along the sides of the highways, but that isn’t a very safe nor picturesque spot for photos. And then there are the ever-elusive private properties that you don’t dare step foot on for fear of being shot…because Texas. Ha!
This year, my dad found us the perfect spot not far behind his house. There were several patches, so it allowed us to chase the light, skip, have a dance party, and capture plenty of pretty pictures.
My little one was so excited to give her big sister the “puupil” flower that she picked. An entire field of bluebonnets and the purple verbena excited her most.
We also took some time to show them the “cat’s claw” inside of the bluebonnet flower. At which point they decided to take it upon themselves to scratch each other with the “cat’s claws.”
And finally, it wouldn’t be a Texas bluebonnet session without cowgirl boots. How cute are those adorable little boots!?! We wear them with everything. If you are interested, here is where you can find their cute boots.
Until next year bluebonnets…
blueeyesandbokeh.photography 