rules...

so most of us know there are rules in photography, rules that separate a snapshot from a portrait, but what are those rules? most of us know about the rule of thirds.. but ever wonder what the "other" rules are? i came across this site through ILP, and thought it was pretty interesting. so go learn those rules so you can purposely break them!
RULES
oh, and since i haven't posted anything in a while, here's one from a mini-session today!

~Hope

10 month old {S}

This is the third time I've photographed this little beauty and this time, she kept me on my toes with her mobility. She wants to walk so bad... and is very close.

Postcards

I jumped at the deal for the 100 postcards from Overnight Prints. Here is what I put together.

I am intending to distribute it to florists and bakerys! Got any other suggestions? Anyone else print any.. would love to see them!

{Austin Photographer} 6 days old

This sweet little punkin was my newborn session this week. Another girl (3 in a row each week this month)! I had spent the night watching some videos on You Tube and this session just went so much smoother. For some reason I was more relaxed than I have been lately. It helped that Miss A was very sleepy and bendy and gorgeous. Here is one of my favorites so far.

Three day old {L}

Same baby as below, at 3 days old:

Birth Photography

Born Sunday, January 25th @ 9:38 AM

A Newborn Photography link

I saw a link to this on OPS and I thought I'd share it here. There is some good info on newborn photography in here! There are also links on the side to other videos that might be helpful.

http://www.lookgoodinpictures.com/episodes/all/55

Experiment!

I haven't put myself out there business-wise since November and haven't even picked up my camera much since then. I hit a creative wall. It was time to get back to it so while I am revamping everything, I started looking for a new subject. Lucky for me, my baby brother just got engaged and they wanted to do photos before he goes to bootcamp next month. We spent 8 hours together, most of it spent walking, and got to try knew stuff. It was so great to have a willing subject! Anyway, my point is that when you get in a slump, take a break to regroup if you need it and then try something new. Whether it's off-camera flash, a new location, a new post-processing technique, or even just a different time of day. Here's a few of my faves:



Kayla Renckly

The Long Road

The Long Road to nowhere. This is the road that doesn't lead to the Ghost town in Baxter TX. Baxter TX. Where is that you ask? Well I would tell you that it is 10 miles out of Athens TX. Now several people here in TX have asked. "Where is Athens?". That makes me think that everyone here lives in a city cave. If it ain't big, we don't know where it is. (I hope that came out sounding texan.) Anyway. Here is the road that was supposed to lead to a ghost town. It didn't. We never did find the ghost town. You can see more pictures from our trip to Baxter at my new blog: www.destinationinspirationimages.blogspot.com.

Maternity - I really do work!

I've felt stagnant for awhile, it's good to post some actual "work". Before this session I had quite a few "bad" ones, felt horribly untalented, uncoordinated, etc as I was working indoors due to the cold and fumbling around with the speedlight. I was pleased to see these turned out well.

The thing with me and images - beauty - people are just beautiful, all people, all people are equal in an image because you can look into their soul. My clients take my breath away because of their beauty, and I don't mean their looks. Looking into their soul through photography inspires me, and I hope they are inspired by what they see. If I've moved them, I've achieved my goal.

Great Photoshop Magazine - Photoshop Creative

If you can get hold of one of these magazines, do so - very inspiring and  well worth every penny (or cent!).  I am in the UK so I subscribe and every month I am amazed at how much they pack into each and every issue.  It comes complete with a CD with free fonts, brushes, textures, hi res stock image and more.

I know it is sold in the States, I have heard that Borders stock it.

Here is the website to wet your appetite.

Photoshop Creative

Magazine Content Page

Calumet Photo - Free shipping until Feb. 2nd

Calumet Photo has Free UPS ground shipping until Feb. 2nd on everything. No code needed! Time to stock up on the heavy stuff..like seamless especially the 107"!

Let me know what ya bought:) Have fun shopping!

Anyone need some new papers??? :)

So being cooped up indoors in the freeeeezing artic is NOT fun!!! Nope NOT at all!!! So lately i've been dabbling in paper making!!! A fun new addiction to be sure!!! :P I don't find myself very inspiring at ALL lately so i've come to SHARE!!! Let me know what you think!!!! I'll share a few new ones every few days! I'll try to at least!!! Today i'm thinking some polka dots are in order!

http://www.mediafire.com/?sharekey=1322a057392d85f291b20cc0d07ba4d2905c66d57f07ee79


Let me know if anyone has issues with the upload ok??? Happy Tuesday!!!

My favorite newborn prop is on sale....

I purchased this fun bobble blanket from Target awhile back, and just noticed that it went on sale.
I just love the texture of this one, so fun and and so comfy and soft for baby. :-)
Check it out here - Target Bobble Throw
And here are a couple of my recent newborns using this throw -

{Central Ohio Photographer} Stephanie Moon Photography

Hi, I just want to introduce myself. My name is Stephanie Moon. I am a mother to a 4 year old boy. I have been married to my wonderful husband going on 13 years! (can't believe it's been so long). I started my photography business a little less than a year and a half ago. It is slowly growing. My interest in photography started shortly after I returned to Ohio 8 years ago after living in Maine for 3 years. Now how I wish I was into photography while in Maine. I hope to go back someday and capture the beauty of the area. Anyway, I mostly photograph children and families but my true love is horse photography. I have been picking up more work in that area. I do love children's photography though and will always want to do that as well. So I hope I can contribute something to this blog. I have already gotten a few great tips here, so thanks everyone for sharing. You can visit my site and blog here: www.stephaniemoonphoto.com

What makes a photo perfect?

That is a question I have asked myself a hundred times.....What makes a picture perfect? Is it the lighting, the smile the environment? Everyone of us might have a different answer for this, but for me I think the answer is, why does it have to be perfect? Life is far from perfect so why do our pictures always have to be perfect? If it makes your heart smile then that should be good enough, right? Of course there are exceptions, for example, doing shoots for clients, you don't want them to be blurry, underexposed or overexposed, ect. But sometimes I think we (well I do anyways) always think that every picture has to be perfect. I for one need to work on this & just remember that we are learning all the time and not to get frustrated if you don't get that perfect shot! Just be grateful that we will have these memories for the rest of our lives & our children's lives!

I thought I would share a couple of pictures of my little ones! I hope you enjoy!!

Sue Ann Holland - Athens, GA

So, Heather is threatening to kick me off if I don't post soon... :-P

I haven't posted yet because I haven't felt all that inspiring lately. You all know how it is this time of year... after the Christmas crazies are over and it's cold out and everything is just so blah...
Thankfully I have had some business going on though and that's what's keeping me going, getting me through the dreaded winter slump.

I guess an official intro is in order and then later when I'm feeling much more inspiring I'll come back and post again. I'm Sue Ann Holland and I run Holland Photography in Athens, GA. I bought my studio lights two years ago and have been working hard over the last two years to grow and improve as best that I can. I'll post my site link in a bit and you all can decided for yourself (although if you think I need to hang it up than by all means, someone tell me...nicely of course! LOL!). I do both studio and location photography - some days I prefer studio because of the control, some days I'd rather shoot outside because of the almost limitless possibilities.

I have a wonderful husband and two kids - Gabe (3) and Layla (14 mon). They are my life. I also love the outdoors - we love to camp, hike (well, when I was in shape that is), fish, hunt, etc... just enjoy what God put here for us to enjoy you know?

I'm just going to post ME here and then a link to my site. Feel free to check me out and thanks for having me here!

National Association of Professional Photoshoppers

NAPP is a great resource for anyone who uses photoshop. It is $99 for the year which makes it a bit over $8 bucks a month...such a deal but right now use the coupon code BHNAPP at checkout for $10 off your NAPP membership and a free DVD - Adobe® Photoshop® CS3: Automating Photoshop for Photographers. There are online forums and Photoshop user magazine is included in your membership...best of all NAPP members get FREE shipping from B&H! How cool is that? Just think of how much it costs to ship your items (it was $17 alone just to ship my camera!) and NAPP will easily pay for itself!
Enjoy:)
<3 Heather

Shutter Sisters: One Word Project

Amongst the many blogs in my blog reader, I came across this today. I know many people do the 365 thing. But this takes it one step further. A 30 day challenge, you pick one word and focus your shots around that word. check out the details (and get lost in the inspiration) here: http://shuttersisters.com/home/

LuLu Lamb

I got my hands on the cutest little chair, can't wait to use it on some newborns!! This is LuLu Lamb, a babystyles chair, and I have to say that I think I am in love! I tried to get some pictures of my little guy with the chair, and while I got a couple it seemed that our cat was more into the posing than my son (I also was able to get a little practice in with my alien bee, always a bonus!) So, most of these pictures of are the cat! I have another chair coming as well, it's a bear, and as soon as he arrives I'll be posting some pictures of him as well!

Iowa's Indiana Jones

I admit - I get tired of taking winter pictures because my kids are wearing the same thing in them. It's not like summer when no matter when we shoot they are all dolled up in dresses or something. But with winter, for me, it's hard to be inspired when sweet faces are covered in the same fluffy hats, scarves, and coats.

....along comes Iowa-Indiana Jones - my wonderful neighbor. Ya know the one who helps you with small projects that your husband just can't seem to get to - he's helped me with dozens. On this particular day he had just finished snow blowing my and another neighbor's driveway (I'm one of the few on my street who still uses a shovel). He's already so full of character, this hat just added to it.

watch for those moments of perfect light

I just HAD to snap this pic of my little one today. The light was too perfect to pass up.

Blogs of Photogs

Do you love looking at other artists work for inspiration? I do! Check out Blogs of Photogs Mary chooses a new great photographer[s blog to showcase each week! You might want to grab a cup of coffee because your sure to be browsing for awhile!
<3 Heather