Sweet Children

Children, are some of my favorite subjects to have in front of my camera, they are a never ending source of laughter and they always keep you on your toes.  You always have to think creatively while photographing children. Some children are so photogenic, and don't even know it because they have such a distaste for having their picture taken.  I've found those are usually the kids that actually do the best in front of the camera!


I have a group of children I babysit on a regular basis.  The youngest one I have actually photographed since she was just tiny little baby.  So it was especially nice to FINALLY got her brother and sister in front of the camera too. They wanted to take surprise photos for their mom who was celebrating a birthday, so that is exactly what we did. They were all so cooperative, even the toddler! They were so fun, and so adorable.  They let my assistant Amanda and I set up cute little themes for each of them and they were totally into the whole idea, ok ok cept for the brother, he wasn't too fond of the idea, but he did awesome and his facial expressions were awesome.


Their mom loved the photos and was smiling from ear to ear when presented with them.  That makes it all worth it!
























Mahala

Golden Afternoon

It isn't a very often occasion that I am the one in front of the camera.  I used to love being in front of the camera and did so often.  However, I'll be the first to admit that after three children I tend to shy away from being in front of the camera, which is honestly kind of a shame.  So I've been working on my own self confidence when it comes to being in front of the camera and putting away my own insecurities or meeting them head on.  If I want to be a good role model for my children, I need to be confident in my own skin.  That doesn't mean not be healthy, but I must also love who I am at the moment, boost my own self confidence.

Also I want my children to have photos of their mom for when I am dead and gone from this earth.  I have very few photos of my own Mother who hates having her picture taken, thankfully she is still with us but I do not have many photos of her.  Photos of my late Grandmother are even farther and few between.  I have no photos with my Grandma except for a couple when I was very small.  She was another person who hated being in front of the camera.  It is sad to not have photos of my Grandma who meant so very much to me (and who would have celebrated a birthday on Jan. 3rd). 


So I allowed my friend and hair and make up artist, Amanda to attack my hair for photos a couple of days ago. She also got the opportunity to work behind my camera and get more comfortable behind it. Below is the result of our afternoon of camera fun.  Since I really love to focus my time and attention on pet photography we thought it would be fun to include my fur girls into the photo shoot and we got some great shots with them.















Mahala

Starlet

The F.E.Y. Photography team has grown a bit over the past year, rather than being a one woman show, I've had the extreme pleasure of welcoming my husband to the team.  Also, I've been able to add my best friend Amanda to the team as well.  It's great to have extra sets of hands around when I need them! Makes things a little less stressful. I still handle all of the editing and processing of photos. 



My husband, Kenny is mainly hands on when it comes to the volunteer work I do, assisting with the shelter dogs, and even helping get shots of the dogs that I need, which is a HUGE relief because sometimes there are several dogs I need to get to and not enough time to get to them all, so to have an extra camera around helps wonders.  He knows the shots I need to go, and he does a good job.



My assistant Amanda, handles hair and make up and does a good job.  She also helps me keep an eye out for little details I might miss in a photo (a flipped earring, popped color, twisted skirt, things along those lines).  She helps me corral and organize children during photo shoots and helps me make them smile and look towards the camera.  Another enormous help!



Amanda also happens to be one of my number one models. I have the awesome opportunity to get my hands on some of the most adorable little dresses, and she does fantastic for the photo shoots that I have in mind for each dress. She's patient and handles my bossiness! HA!




Recently we did a photo shoot I called "Starlet" because she reminded me of just that, a Starlet from back in the day. She did her own hair and make up and I rummaged through my vast jewelry collection and she provided the beautiful J. Crew dress. We turned up some music and had a wonderful afternoon.

Hair and Makeup: Amanda
Dress:  J. Crew
Jewelry:  (I have no idea they are just ones I've had for ages)
























Mahala

Blame It On The Weather Man

It is very important to never believe the weather man.  Or at least make sure to quadruple check the weather every single day to make sure that the person isn't going completely bonkers with what they are telling you the weather is going to be like.  Especially if you live in the completely out of it's mind state of Missouri! Where the weather never knows what the heck it is doing.




It was SUPPOSED to be 43 degrees today and sunny. Beautiful, like yesterday and the day before.


Instead, it was 32 degrees, cloudy, and WINDY! Not exactly my ideal day for an out door family photo shoot.




However, that's exactly what was scheduled for this afternoon. 


Three handsome little boys that I have known since they were very young, were scheduled for a fun family photo shoot. 




Instead...we all almost froze our butts off for just a few photos.


They were tough boys, they held it out for a few minutes! We got a few great shots and called it quits.  Declaring we would finish this up when it was several degrees warmer!

















Not too bad for literally only being out there for a few minutes! It was quite cold!


Mae

Behind The Lens

The weather has been unseasonably warm and gorgeous for this time in January so I've been taking total advantage of that as I am sure most people have been! Sure it means it's a little muddy and wet but I'm willing to wade through the mud and yuck for a little mid January adventure!


Sunday I 'braved the mud' and ventured out to the dog park where a gang of PAWSOME friends were waiting.  One little lady in particular was waiting for her adoption photos, Tinkerbell is such an adorable young lady, but she is constantly on the move.  Thankfully I was able to grab my friend Amanda to come along with me as my assistant.  She's used to me dragging her along! She's either used as my human tripod or has to help me wrangle dogs for photos. Thankfully she's a great friend who handles my bossiness and pickiness very well.  She also understands my back up cameras so that helps a ton too! It's always nice to have another camera on hand, she was able to nab several photos I missed or got them from angles I wasn't able to get. SO between the two of us, we got some good shots of Tinkerbell, and her friends.

Miss Tinkerbell had to investigate the other camera.

Tinkerbell takes watching the other dogs at the dog park VERY seriously.

One of the rare moments she actually sat down for a few seconds.

Every time I turned around handsome Ollie here was sitting down posing for the camera. 

Had to make sure I got Ollie's "good side" you know.

This is Joe, he's in an "end of life" foster home.  He'll be there until he passes away.  Just living out whatever time he has left (he's a super old boy) but he still enjoys sitting in the leaves at the dog park while all of the other young pups run around. He's had a long battle with flea allergies, and found himself at the local shelter. Thankfully he found himself an awesome foster home and is enjoying be free, and his flea allergy is doing a lot better too.

This tiny little guy has a BIG personality and doesn't back down.  He was full of spunk and lots of fun loaded into a little dog!

After we were done with the dog park we decided to drive on over to the other part of the lake.  The lake is partially frozen over and the lake here is also a HUGE part of a migratory area for ducks and geese that are on their way to or from their migration destinations. We had fun getting some photos of the geese and ducks out on the luck. It's  very calming and picturesque out there with all of the geese and ducks just doing their thing and just taking photos of nature, doing what it does.



















Unbeknownst to me, while I was getting photos of the geese, my friend thought she'd be sneaky and get some photos of me off in my own world. However, to be fair, I started it because I got some funny shots of her when we were at the dog park, so I guess fair is fair! After all, some of those behind the scene photos can be really funny sometimes. A little "behind the lens" look you know?

I had no clue she was taking my picture while I was getting pictures of the geese.  This is how one dresses when going to a muddy dog park full of muddy and wet dogs.  You dress comfy and you don't mind a little mud!

My dear friend and assistant, is quite the little sneaky lady. 

My friend and assistant Amanda get some kisses from Cindy Lou (who is a local animal shelter dog who was just stretching her legs for a bit at the local dog park). 

Tinkerbell staring at Amanda wondering what on earth she's doing.

I was able to go back out again yesterday as well with my husband.  We had fun watching the geese and getting a few more photos of the geese while we were there.  It was nice to have some quiet time just him and I. Usually life can be so hectic and noisy.  Kids and dogs, chores, and schooling, in and out of the house to go do this or that, work, and Girl Scout meetings.  It just gets "noisy".  So it's nice to slow down and just focus on the honks and squawks of the birds.


I have to get my gear together here in a few and make sure everything is clean, charged, and packed up and ready to go for the family shoot I'm doing later this afternoon. Looking forward to it!

Mae