Tips on not-quite-so-new-newborns

If you want "newborn" photos I recommend the earlier the better, but of course you can take them ANYTIME.  These are of P at 1 month of age.

• Take pictures of everything, are they asleep, are they crying, you'll like them later!
• Take the props with you.  The little duck shows how small she is, and the pacifier shows how hard we worked to get a decent photo. :)
• Light their little eyes.  Make sure there is a light source in front of them.  I take most of her pictures in a chair that faces a sliding glass window.  That makes her eyes have those catchlights, makes her look alive and like she's something special.
• No need for socks.  Unless you have amazingly cute socks or shoes, just leave them off.  You'l miss those tiny piggie toes one day!

But again, just TAKE PHOTOS.  You can do it!  Just give it a try!

Newborn Pictures at Home

Bundle them up!  This pictures shows how amazingly adorable the baby can be in all those cute bright blankets you got for your baby shower.  They're just the right size, and they won't be great for long, so you might as well use them now! :)

Go naked!  Sure, don't post them all over the internet (and this one isn't actually my favorite, but it's the best one that's fit for internet consumption) but the little belly button, those crackly fingers and toes.  They're gone all too soon!

Get those cute little baby parts.  Have a part of an outfit that you just love!  Zoom in so you remember it!  Don't forget those precious little hands and feet!

And finally, don't forget some great backgrounds.  Of course, look for fabric cheap at Joann's.  Look for one color fabric.  The one on the left is a fuzzy fabric and the one on the right is just an old blanket.  Dark fabrics work great, and of course, the black fleece from J's works wonders!  Also, I used a quilt that I made for her as the background in some of these.  Have a blanket your grandma gave her?  Take a photo on it, so that when you give it to her someday it will have extra meaning!  Just TAKE THE TIME to take those pictures.  I adore these pictures of P and while I thought I was a little frivilous doing a photo shoot almost daily I am glad I did. 

Photo of the week

Here's my favorite photo of the week:

I am a big fan of taking care of every day objects.  Flowers, my mixer, stuff around the house that I love.  This one is of my front door planter.  Isn't it cute?

Just make sure the item is evenly lit (I tend to only use natural light), figure out if you want only one part in focus (a small apperature) or the whole thing (larger apperature).

For this one I thing I used an apperature of around 2.0... I didn't want JUST the orangy flours to come in focus, but a little bit more.  You can see that some of the other flowers aren't in focus, and that's cool.  Ta-DA. :)

How Do You Do those Monthly Portraits?

Yes, it does look like my baby is floating in a black nebula.  Thanks for asking. 
She's not.  At least not in the photos. :)

I just take black fleece that I bought at Joann's (look for a sale, or use a coupon to get the best price, of course).  I bought 2 years, I'm pretty sure.  I just drape it over an overstuffed chair.  In the beginning I kind of shoved her in between two pillows so she'd prop up, but now I'm just hurrying to take a picture before she runs off.  Easy Schmeezy, and I love to see how much bigger she's gotten!

Photo of the Week

I really want to get my camera out more, and Sunday was just SCREAMING for a photo:

That's P's new easter dress from a dear friend from my shower LAST YEAR.  I'm so glad she bought it, I still adore it today.  But, that's not really what this blog is about (mulling over a fashion blog for baby girls, as if I don't already have ENOUGH blogs!).  The lesson to be learned here:

Get them out, take their picture, be done.

Kids don't want a 2 hour photo shoot.  They don't care if you get the shot, they just want to be done.  This is one of the very first shots we took and it's the best.  I worried that P clapping might ruin it, but it makes it all the better.  It shows everyone, how goofy and sweet they all are.  This entire shoot took about 5 minutes.  I did a couple with P alone (really, how could I not?), I did Drew and the kids, I did the kids alone, and then Drew did one of me and the kids.  I'm just going to add those here just to prove I try and get a picture with my kids at least once a year:

A couple of tips for quick spontaneous shoots at your house:  Find a spot in the shad without a lot in the backround (you'll notice the nice gas meter on the back right in Drew's shot, I should have cropped it out, but I am apparently very lazy and blind today.

AND DO IT FAST. :)

oh, and have a baby girl, because she will totally up the "cute" factor of anything you're doing. :)

Hospitals, Picture the Pain

Let's face it, hospitals are pretty boring places.  I find, after my first baby I'm pretty well bored out of my mind, and trying to savor it before I go home to complete chaos.  It's a great time to take pictures of those little babes.  Their faces all scrunchy, head all coned, face read and spotted.  Let's face it -- they're not getting any smaller. :)

Some of my favorite shots are done in the warmer.  It gives a really "medical" feel to it all:

This photo was taken by Drew, as I was having a little mending done on myself at the time.  My main thing for my husband was to not use the flash, if at all possible.  Keep checking the LCD to see if they're coming up blurry.  I have some other similar shots (taken by moi) here.

Take a picture with the people who helped you:

This is my nurse Kelly.  Sometimes when I look at this photo I realize people do nice things for other people.  Of course, for me it's more of a "pay it forward" kind of a feeling.  I don't mind taking pictures with my patients, and I wish I'd had pictures of our nurses on the other two (although I look at them a little less favorably, Kelly did a great job).

Grab a picture of your surroundings. 

I like how this one captures my surroundings for those 2 days.  Plus, the tags on her legs, her cord clamp, the funny hospital T-shirt.  It totally captures her little hospital life. 

The hospital, oddly enough, has dramatic portrait lighting. 

Most hospital rooms have a window in them.  For these shots I just did them on the bed, and made sure she was looking at the light (sometimes you have to turn them around, since they sometimes get their heads in a certain position and really like it that way).  I like how she's in the nasty hospital bunny blanket and how tiny and amazing she looks.  I sure love my little subject.  I'm glad I got some good shots in the hospital. 

How'd You Do That?

While I am NOT ready to get back into the business end of photography, I am ready to get back into taking pictures and posting... even pictures of things that aren't P.  Although, she is awfully cute, and I'm sure she'll make an appearance or two, or three... :)

I'd like to take some of the pictures I particularly like and put them on the blog saying why I like them and what I did to set-up the shot.  Surprisngly, this is the picture I picked for today.

I'll tell you why I love it:

1.  Spencer is getting into that "ugly photo" stage.  They are self conscious about how they smile, they have lose, or lost teeth, they're just funny about having their photo.  Luckily, Spencer's not fully entrenched into that phase yet so I still have a few more months before I cringe with EVERY shot of him (I did that with Conner for about 1st and 2nd grades, really).  The main trick is to distract them with something else.  I think we were talking about some of the suess books he'd read at school.

2.  The background.  Yes, that is our water storage barrel and a tiny tree that we transplanted last year and we are just hoping it stays alive.  Now, I also did this shot (to the right).  The background isn't obvious and the focus is mostly on his face.  But, there's something happy and great that shows the "background" to your life.  I often take pictures of the kids int he front yard and we've seen our tiny orange tree (obviously, the Ericksons REALLY want to grow oranges, and aren't having much luck yet) grow up in those photos.  Have I ever realy done a shoot of our orange tree, no -- but it often gets mentioned as we watch our family movies.  And yes, the water barel is also a part of our life.  Just not one that is very fun to empty.

Easter Pictures

All pictures shot at the Central Park. Lovely this time of year.

Baby C

Here's Ms. Chloe in a more natural-y/less squishy type phase. She's just a week. We tried to re-create some from big brother's shoot, that was only 16 months before. Good luck to their parents. :)

Douling photographer

Want me to come doula and photograph your delivery? Stay tuned for Ms. Chloe's newborn shoot soon.

Weddings

Now, I will state that I don't do weddings. Too much pressure, and you need a LOT of equipment -- but if anyone ever wanted me to do candids at a wedding I'd be more than happy. This particular one was for my cousin, and I had a great time catching the details and the moments the regular photographer would most likely miss.

Two and two

Could this family be any more perfect? Two boys, two girls.

Here she is!

Meet Noah

Miranda and Andrew, he's ADORABLE, congrats you guys!