The Proposal

I got the opportunity to be apart of a marriage proposal the other day on a portrait shoot. Brandon called me up wanting to surprise his girlfriend. I told myself I wasn't going to do any shoots this December but I just couldn't resist being apart of this!

Doesn't he look so happy? He was pretty nervous.

Mandy was so surprised. She thought he was going to wait until the spring. She was pretty happy too!

So sweet!

Brandon was hiding the ring in this sock. The ring made this hole in this sock...luckily it didn't fall out! That would have been bad!

This is Mandy's "I can't believe you" look.

Mandy's Beautiful Ring.

Congrats you guys! Good Luck with everything!

Delay in Photo Tips!

Hey Everyone! I just wanted you to know that Friday's Photo Tips will be back in January! Sorry about that! Things are just crazy right now and I don't have much time to come up with outstanding photo tips for you. But I promise when they're back they'll be AMAZING!

Photo Tip #2

Hey Everybody! Sorry this is a little late. I've been feeling under the weather this last week and have been resting during my "free" time instead of doing what I need to be doing. Anyway here's tip #2. It's a little more of the technical side of things but it's worth a million bucks. I hope it makes sense...sometimes these things are kind of hard to explain!

Tip #2: ISO. Understanding how your ISO works can help your skills as a photographer whether your taking photos of your kid playing soccer or trying to capture the fireworks on 4th of July.

What is an ISO? ISO is the film's or sensor's (in digital photography) sensitivity to light. ISO is represented by a number - 100, 200, 400, 800, 1600, etc. The lower the number, the less sensitive it is to light. The higher the number, the more sensitive it is to light. ISO also represents your "films" speed - how fast or slow your camera will take a photograph.

How will adjusting my ISO help me? Adjusting your ISO to the lighting your shooting in or even the subject your taking will make a huge difference in how clear your photograph will turn out.

When to use a High ISO (800 or above is considered pretty high)?

• When you are in a low lit environment. Turning your ISO higher, allows the camera to take the photograph faster, eliminating the chance of blurriness or camera shake.
• Higher ISO are required if you wanting to take photographs in a low lit area without a flash.
• If you are taking photographs of things in motion

There is one disadvantage to using a high ISO! The higher your ISO, the more grain and noise your image will have. So, if you are in a situation where you can use a low ISO (well lit areas, low motion, still subjects) then I suggest you keep your ISO around 400 or even lower.

Here is an example of a situation I ran into when having a high ISO came in really handy - A few summers ago, I was in Italy. I was in one of Rome's many cathedrals that forbids flash photography, trying to take photographs. The problem is that most of the cathedrals aren't always radiating with light and my images were coming out blurry from my slightest movement. Bumping up my ISO, making my camera more sensitive to the available lighting and therefore bumping my shutter speed, allowed me to capture images blur free.

Here's an image from a church in Padua, Italy I was able to take using a higher ISO.

One other helpful hint: If your shutter speed is below 1/60 of a second then your chance of camera shake (blurry images) is much, much greater. Try bumping your ISO to get your shutter speed faster. OR use a tripod to stabilize your camera.

In most cases you can think of it this way: Higher ISO = Higher Shutter Speed

Most new point-and-shoot cameras have the ability to adjust your ISO. On my point-and-shoot, I have the ability to change it from normal ISO or a High ISO. All DSLR/SLR have the ability to change your ISO.


IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND SOMETHING, DON'T BE AFRAID TO ASK QUESTIONS! I'M MORE THAN HAPPY TO HELP!

Twins

Aw, Twins! I love these two twins that I have the wonderful privilege of seeing every week at church. Wyatt and Avery are about 8-9 months old and so dang cute. I can't get enough of them. I literally would laugh out loud when I was working on some of these photos. The shoot was a challenge but I loved it. Here are some of my fav's:

Avery was very interested in my camera.

Maybe she'll have a future in photography?

Wyatt - Don't you just want to eat him up?

I LOVE this photo of Wyatt. It shows off his chubbiness so well!

Avery makes me want a little girl SOOO bad.

Doesn't she just look so sweet-hearted?

Smiling!

The Family - you gotta love Asay's

(especially when you're an Allen)

To see more of Avery and Wyatt, Click Here.

10 months old

Today, Leon is 10 months old! I can hardly believe that my baby is not such a baby anymore. I'm having so much fun watching him grow and develop. He is getting such a personality.

Leon is all boy! I'm telling you, this kid loves cars, balls, dogs, his radio flyer rocket (I'll have pics and hopefully video of it soon - it is so dang cute), rough housing, being outside and all those other little boy things. He is always messy. He is always so curious. He is constantly on the move...never ever still. He hates taking naps. He usually will not cuddle with anyone except on the rare occasion - like this morning which melted his mommy's heart and made her day as he rested his head on her shoulder while she sang to him. sigh.

I took him to the doctor yesterday for another check up. He's gained a whole pound within 3 1/2 weeks of being on formula. I can see his little chubby double chin coming back and it makes me grin.


Here are a couple of family pics we recenlty had taken by Lindsay Russel who goes to church with us. More are on there way.

Things are super busy around here. And things are just going to be getting even more busy - Chritmas, kitchen makeover, Christmas decorating, much needed cleaning and organizing, editing a ton of personal photos that have been neglected over the last two months. I'll try to do a better job of posting some more pics of the kiddo...I haven't done such a good job of it lately. I have so many things I look forward to posting, so stay tuned!!!!

Friday's Photo Tips: Tip #1

I know lots and lots of people LOVE photography...I do too!!! I thought it would be a fun addition to my blog to teach you some simple tricks so you can improve your photo-taking skills! However, this doesn’t mean that if you get good you get to stop hiring me! Okay? OKAY! I'll be posting these tips on Friday's as often as I can. Here I go...

Tip #1: The Rule of Thirds is an amazing but super easy trick used in design. Using this trick can make an ordinary snapshot into an interesting, beautiful photograph. The Rule of Thirds is a compositional guideline. In fact, it is probably one of easiest things you can do to make your image (weather it’s a painting, a photograph, or graphic design) better.

Here’s how you do it:

Think of your image to have a grid of 9 equally spaced squares.



When you are snapping a photo, imagine this grid in your viewfinder as you compose your image. By placing your subject or an important part of your subject on, close to, or even within one of the intersecting lines, you create greater interest, energy, and just a more creative composition for your photograph.

Here are some examples:

FYI:
1) This rule doesn’t have to apply to everything. You can totally get cool images without using it. You also use it pretty loosely and still get good images. It's just a good/easy guideline.
2) This is also a good rule to use when you are cropping an image.

Whitney - Class of 2010

Remember Whitney? Here are a few more of my fav's from her senior portrait session. I have no idea how I'm going to only pic a few to put on my website. She's such a beautiful girl...which makes me job 100 times easier.