Sleepover with Grandma Marie

11.20.09
Grandma Marie and Grandpa Larry came into town for a very special Family Announcement (and it has NOTHING to do with MY little immediate family, AND, my sister-in-law is already pregnant, so don't get ANY ideas! Surprise announcement to come in the next few posts! I am SURE you can't wait!!!) and Trey was treated to two nights of sleepovers! The first night Trey and Grandma Marie camped out on Trey's floor, and the 2nd night they slept in Trey's comfy bed! Thank You Grandma Marie for spending such quality time with Trey!

Sorry the picture is awfully fuzzy!

Trey, the willing model

11.19.09
After our little photoshoot with the "M" girls, I was wanting to take more pictures, and asked Trey if we could stop by one of my favorite little barns to take his picture. Talk about a sweet boy, he said, "Sure, I'd like that!" I love him!

Here are some pictures I took. This little barn is right next to our chapel and SO old and fun!

Assignment #2

My first experience "posting" pictures for my photography class was a bit nerve wracking and scary, but I am so glad I did. I took the class to receive feedback and knowledge, and that is exactly WHAT I got!

We have been asked not to edit our pictures at all! So, this is my assignment, in the "raw" so to speak. (not taken in RAW yet, but I will get there with some experience!)


Mr. T

Miss M
When posting pictures, we have to evaluate our work and describe what technique we used, what rules we tried to accomplish, and what we thought we could do differently.


"Miss M" picture

This picture was taken with an ISO 200. The subject was swinging on a rope swing, so, it is a little on the out of focus side. I also have to admit that I have been having a difficult time not centering my subject in the middle of the picture. I love the lines of her beautiful blond hair, somewhat repetitious in nature, as well as curved. Her left eye is close to the point of intersection in the ROT rule. The afternoon was relatively bright which made positioning the subject difficult when trying to eliminate shadows.

"Mr. T" picture This picture was taken with ISO 200 on a shady evening around 4:30pm. I believe this picture displays the ROT rule with the subjects eyes the main focus. I wanted a bit of a contrast, with the picture shot with a vertical angle and the horizontal lines of the bricks. This picture was taken on a busy street downtown and had many distractions, such as cars, lamp posts, and fire hydrants. Therefore, to simplify the picture, I took it vertically.


Response from TA Kimberly:

When incorporating the ROT on a close up portrait, it is perfectly okay to center the subject and place the eyes across the top, horizontal line of the ROT grid. Placing the subject off center can work as well, but you want to try and not cut an eye in half...either include all of it or none of it. She's got excellent eye contact with us, the viewer. Her blond hair frames her face very nicely. It looks like the bottom portion of the image is in focus with her face being a bit soft. If you can change the focus point on your camera, you might consider doing so to help get the eyes in sharp focus. A moving target is a bit of a challenge :0)Wow! Mr T's eyes are excellent! They are sharp and clear, with great focus and color. He's got wonderful eye contact with us. You did a great job of removing most of the distractions...the brick wall distracts us from the subject just a bit, you might consider having the subject stand several feet away from it to help keep all our attention on him. I'm glad you chose to shoot this vertically, that generally works well for close up portraits. I love those eyes!One thing you might keep in mind when your subjects selects their clothing...our eye generally goes to the brightest area of the image first, so any bright or white color draws our eye away from the subject's face. Keep up the good work!TA Kimberly

And a response from my classmate "Mary Ann"

Rebecca,I really like your pictures! I think you did an amazing job on Miss M in getting it all so much in focus! Would have been nice to see the other eye as Kimberly said, but for overall composing it is a good stop action from my point of view.And Mt. T is good ROT composition and has such an engaging expression!Good job!

Miss M1 and Miss M2

11.19.09
I can't get enough of these beauties!


I really like how Miss M2's arm frames her face. I would consider this a "natural frame" if I was to submit this to my photography class! This was also taken "mid-flight" while on a tire swing!
Little thing had no idea I was snapping her picture!
Look at that girl work it! Her hands on her hips, working her hair, amazing!

I was showing my mom these pictures during our Thanksgiving holiday and she couldn't get over these girls. Especially this lovely Miss M1.
This picture was also taken "mid-flight" on the same tire swing. That swing was quite the attraction!

After looking at these pictures of Miss M1 she said, "She is going to be a knock out. Actually, she already IS one. They need to keep their eye on her and lock her up!!!" Meaning, boys will be knocking down your door Jessica in just a few years. ACTUALLY, they probably already are! I know of two boys, without naming names, who have had a crush on this little lovey since Kindergarten. Anyhow, not to worry mom, The "M" girls have a very buff dad who probably can pack a mean punch and watches his daughters like a hawk!

The "M" girls take TWO

11.19.09
The light was a bit harsh, and we were trying to shoot around a blue plaster cast (can you tell which girl had the cast?!), but these girls were much too fun. I wanted to keep going, but I think my boys were driving their mom NUTS!

The harsh light almost ruined this picture, but I still think it turned out alright!
ALMOST a merger behind little Miss "M" head, but we all know these girls don't grow trees in their hair!
I LLLOOOVVVEEE how little Miss "M" was looking up at her big sis. LOVE IT!

Good Golly Miss _ _ _ _ _!

11.19.09
After taking pictures of the "M" girls a few weeks ago, their mom and my sweet friend Jessica asked if I could take some pictures of their little sister Miss "M." She actually hinted on HER blog that she would like some pictures done of her little one, and of course I jumped at the occasion! We went to the Draper's property, and this is what I got!

This is Jessica and my favorite picture of Miss "M" and her older sisters. She knows who's boss!






Thank you Jessica for pushing around Tian and corralling Trey. Trey just loves your girls and can't get enough of him. And, really, who could blame him?!

The Drapers

11.19.09
We have some of the sweetest families in our ward. One of which has the perfect property for pictures. I took the Toll's Family pictures there, and this afternoon, I was asked to take pictures of the little "M" girls, including their youngest sister! I got to the Draper's a little early just so I could snap some pictures of my little men before the girls arrived!

Sweet little Tian wasn't too thrilled to be held tightly to the ground! He was more interested in all of the cows grazing in the field in front of him!

Trey loving the tire swing. Yes, this picture was taken in motion!

Tian MUCH more happy once he was free to watch the cows!

Thank you Draper's! You are wonderful!

Toll Family

11.15.09
The next few (I should say MANY) pictures are of two very special people! When I was pregnant with Trey, I was frantically searching for someone who could watch him on the two days I went to work. Miss Michelle was an answer to our family's prayer. Her and her two sweet, caring, loving children, Taylor and Tanner, took Trey, and many other children, into their home and loved them as if they were family.

Our lives changed last March when Miss Michelle took an opportunity to better her life and her children's lives. We mourned Miss Michelle leaving, but moved on with our lives. We have stayed in touch, and this last Sunday I was given the sweet opportunity to take pictures of Taylor and Tanner! (I also took a picture of the three of them but Miss Michelle made me PROMISE I would not post her picture on my blog!)

This was one of my favorite shoots! We went to seven different locations, and unfortunately, the sun went down way too quickly! I don't know about them, but I was LOVING every moment spent taking their pictures!


Taylor is so loving with her younger brother. I don't think I was EVER as sweet as she is!

They are so loving with each other.

Such beautiful eyes!

Here is the beauty herself: Miss Taylor! Watch out highschool boys!

Taylor didn't know I snuck this picture!
Look at that genuine smile, all natural!

They each brought props: Taylor's was an Ipod!

Justin wishes I would have turned the bench around so you couldn't see the torn portion of the upholstry. I thought that added to the picture!

Mr. Tanner, the ladies man!

I submitted the above picture to my teacher for my photography class lesson 3 assignment. She couldn't get over how beautiful Tanner's eyes were! AND, she loved his eye contact!

Tanner also brought his Ipod and his bike!

Sorry for all of my picture posts; I just couldn't choose two!

Thank you, thank you for the evening of laughs and beauty!