Mermaids, End-of-Summer Rain, Umbrellas, and Flash

I took thousands (seriously), thousands of pictures of the girls in the pool this summer. As the summer neared its end, I found myself getting a little bored with it. It's hard making the same scene look different and interesting day after day. This boredom has forced me time and time again to try different techniques, change my perspective, put on a different lens...anything to change it up a bit. Over the past month, I found myself hitting this wall a lot, so...i broke out the flash! Woohoo, let me just tell you that I love flash! I'm in that phase right now where I really know nothing technical about it (beyond what I need to do to make it work). To be honest, I find a lot of joy in this phase...eventually I'm sure I will educate myself out of it (but we always come back around, don't we?), but for now, I'm having fun. I know enough to know that "direct" flash is viewed by some to be a bit of a photography faux pax, but I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little charmed by the blatant use of flash ;-) Anyway, Plumpy has always asked to take "cool" pictures of her in her mermaid tail so I thought a really slooooow shutter and flash, might just do the trick. It actually started to rain too, which made it even more fun; flash always adds an interesting effect to rain. There are also some from when she had a friend over and they were swimming at dawn...the flash here was not just for fun, but for practical reasons too...to add light ;-) The very last image is a double exposure...I've been playing a lot there too; I find double exposures to be very challenging! So, the first few are normal, everyday pictures, without flash. Everyone after that has some element of flash (with the exception of the last image)...I think some of these are probably a bit weird, but I really kind of like them anyway. Enjoy!

A Few of My Favorite Things...Photography, Languages, and Beautiful light...

Our house can be a challenging place to take photographs. With the exception of a couple rooms (and only at certain times of the day), without artificial light, it's quite dark. About a week ago, Piggles was playing in our bedroom just before bath time. The sun was setting outside, casting the most beautiful filtered backlight into the room. I was taking her picture when she decided that she also wanted to take pictures. I gave her my little Ricoh GR, set it to snap focus, and let her snap away. She told me to stand by the wall..."like a flamenco, mom...yes, like that...but make a pretty face. No, never mind, not like that, the light is nicer on your face when you're on the floor. Go on the floor." I posted those pix here too ;-) It's amazing to me how much they absorb, even when I don't think they're paying attention...though, I must be honest, the flamenco idea was all hers:-) I went downstairs and found Plumpy sitting in my study (the other room with beautiful light), studying Russian. Quite a few of the girls she does gymnastics with speak Russian, so she's taken some interest in it lately, but she's always been interested in other languages and cultures, something both handsome hubby and I also enjoy quite a bit. I've also noticed that she's obsessive, like me, when it comes to learning new things (well, things she finds interesting ;-)). And so, there she was, studying Russian, getting photographed by her little sister (and her mom, of course), in beautiful  light. There are few things I enjoy more in this world than photography, languages, and beautiful light...and here they were, happening all at the same time, in one of my favorites rooms, with my favorite children (I might be biased) ;-)

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Nattress Family Storytelling Session - Riverview, Florida

I read somewhere some time ago that a photographer falls a little bit in love with every family they shoot (photographically!). The more I do this, the more I believe this to be true. Not only are they allowing me into their home, knowing full well that meltdowns  and / or messes are likely to happen, but also, there is just something so relatable and bonding about spending that much time with another family. This family is particularly special to me, because I can relate to them so much. Dad is active duty Navy and mom is a stay-at-home-mom to two sweet but rambunctious boys (as boys should be!). Between deployments, and sea duty, and TDYs, dad has spent a bit of time away, while mom stays home to hold down the fort. I've been in both of those positions and so I know the challenges that accompany both roles; certainly neither is easier nor better than the other.  This was just another day for them: breakfast, hanging out as a family, playing inside a bit, playing outside a bit. This was also the first time I've shot a family with two children (besides my own) and I had tons of fun doing so!  Plus, they also have two cats who were seriously the coolest. One is sure he's actually a human (or a dog, perhaps?) and the other is all cat...she wants attention (or food) when she wants it ;-) I had such a blast with you guys...thank you so much, Nattress family!

Tims Family Storytelling Session - South Tampa

It amazes me every time a family allows me into their home to document their daily lives. It's so personal and intimate, and this family really welcomed me with open arms. I knew when Mom told me the rest of the family should just be waking up by my 8:00 AM arrival that this was going to be a great session, and that she understood what I was there to do. Grandma was in town visiting from out of state and dad had the day off, so I had the whole family: Grandma, Mom, Dad, and sweet baby Melody. It was like any other day: waking up, visiting daddy just as he was waking up, breakfast, and splash pad. Thank you so much Tims family, you were all so gracious and kind; I had such a great time! 

South Tampa Family Documentary Session

I put out a call to see if any Tampa Bay-area families were interested in allowing me into their home to document their daily lives...life as it is, every.single.day. No coordinated outfits, no crazy housecleaning, no posing...none of it. The "R" family was my first session, and let me just say that I couldn't have wished for a more amazing family to document! There was no hesitation, no awkwardness; they just went on with their business. We talked about plays, and musicals, and music in general...we talked about raising children and living in the Tampa area. Mom (also grandma), who lives with her two adult daughters, {almost] teenage son, and 20-month old grandson, was the one who had contacted me about the session. Like most households with a toddler, family life largely revolves around the toddler, whom they sweetly call "the little prince."  On this morning, they made pink pancakes, read the alphabet book, watched a little bit of a movie, and then went outside to let the baby play. I was just enamored with the amount of love and connection that existed between each family member. Being welcomed into their home so warmly and openly just blew me away. Having the privilege of documenting just a little bit of that kind of awesome, was, well...pretty awesome. Thank you "R" family :-)