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100% Self-Esteem April 29, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Parenthood, Photography, Princess Hannah , 4comments

This picture of Hannah was my test shot for David’s golf magazine cover a couple weeks ago.

I seriously cannot get over how dang cute she is.  She LOVES to be the test shot for my shoots.  Loves it.  I could probably do a blog post containing test shots for lighting with her in them holding a gray card.

My friend Rebecca suggested I put Hannah on a magazine cover of her own and suggested some of the articles below!

Just the other day, I asked Hannah how she got so dang cute and she very confidently told me, “Jesus made me this cute face!”  Later that day, I noticed her run into the bathroom, and I asked her if she needed help (assuming she needed to go the the bathroom) and she replied, “NO!”  A few minutes later, she was still in there and when I asked her what she was doing, she replied, “Oh, just looking in the mirror.”  I said, “Are you just looking at how dang cute you are?”  and she said, “Yes mommy!  That’s exactly right!  I’m just lookin’ at how dang cute I am in the mirror!”  (Can you tell we tell her she’s beautiful?)

Honestly, to have 100% self-esteem.  It must be AWESOME.

College Grad April 28, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Friends, Photography , 2comments

This is my friend Annette.  Remember her?  Beautiful, lovely, easy to photograph, Annette.

She graduated from BYU last week!  She majored in Broadcast Journalism, and now she’s off to bigger and better things in life.

Maybe you’ll recognize her on your local news station this fall!

Congratulations Annette!

UP! April 27, 2010

Posted by Emily in : My Handsome Husband, Photography, Princess Hannah , 5comments

This weekend, I got to use a studio to shoot some pictures for an assignment.  I really wanted to use some equipment I don’t have yet (strobes, and soft boxes) so David called an old high school friend who has a studio not too far from our house, and asked if I could use it for a couple of hours.

You know what?  It never hurts to ask!  He was done shooting in his studio for the day, and he was excited to see David.   With such short notice (three hours tops to use the studio including commute time, coming up with a concept, booking a model, and shooting) I asked Hannah if she wanted to be my model.

I normally don’t photograph my kids for school assignments for various reasons (this could be another post) but she was happy to step in and help me in a pinch!

Seriously, this girl loves to be photographed.  In fact, she’s always my “test” shot when I test the  light for my shoots.  She’s always there when I’m photographing, holding reflectors and asking lots of questions.

When we dropped by a party store to buy some balloons, she literally squealed the entire time we were in the store, and the entire way to the studio.   It’s hard for little bodies to contain all the excitement they feel for life!

When she held the umbrella, she sang, “Singing in the Rain.”  ADORABLE.

Seriously, look at this face.  I know she’s my kid and I’m sure I’m biased, but she is SO STINKIN’ CUTE!  This was one of my test shots while she’s holding the gray card.

What a professional model I tell you.

Overstuffed Weekend April 26, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Photography, Thoughts , 4comments

Oh!  I have so much to share from this weekend which was jam packed!

I saw an old friend, photographed a wedding (sealing ceremony), took some graduation portraits, and had a fabulous time photographing Hannah in a studio I got to use.

Oh my.  I seriously don’t know where to begin.  I have a couple of deadlines I need to meet this evening, but I think right now I’ll nurse my headache and post details about my fun weekend later.

Yeah.  That sounds good.

Roomies April 23, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Photography , 3comments

These girls are college roommates at BYU.  After discovering my work, they contacted me to photograph them before they all go separate ways this summer.

Is it just me, or do freshmen in college look younger and younger every year?

And now, this is how you can tell they are really, really good friends:

Yep.

This was their idea.

On Pointe Part Deux April 22, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Photography, Princess Hannah, Projects , 7comments

Let’s not beat around the bush: these girls are BEAUTIFUL and they weigh like TWO POUNDS.

To top if off, they are also fun to be around!  They are Hannah’s ballet teachers, so of course, they are celebrities around our house. She saw them star in the Nutcracker in December, so she’s been star struck by them for months.

I’m working on a final project for one of my classes and I knew I wanted to incorporate a theme around these girls (and a few more ballerinas. . . the project is still in progress . . .) so here are several images from our shoot.

I sketched out what I wanted them to do in this frame, and since my stick figure drawings were practically chicken scratches, I had do demonstrate what I had in mind.

Ahem.  Me.  The NON-BALLERINA.

I’m pretty sure they wanted to invite me to take Hannah’s ballet class since that would be about my skill level.  They obviously posed much more gracefully and beautifully than I did.  :)

They are both so photogenic, and beautiful, I think every frame could have been posted.  :)

See this one?  I told her to spot into the lens so I could capture her head still but the movement of her body.  Get this, I totally demonstrated a pirouette to her (please don’t ask me why since she is the professional!)  in my FIVE FINGER shoes and guess what?  It was the best pirouette I’ve done since I quit ballet in the eight grade.

And one more just for fun:

I love outtakes.  :)

Oh my.  It was so much fun!  There will be more images added to this shoot (as soon as I shoot them!) and I’m super excited!

On Pointe April 21, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Photography, School , 4comments

Oh my.  I have lots of fun pictures to share!  (I’ll post them when I have them all edited.)

For now, this is a  peak at what I’m working on:

Gosh, too be that skinny, toned, and graceful.

Maybe in my next life?

He Made the Cover! April 20, 2010

Posted by Emily in : My Handsome Husband, School , 5comments

OK, so the real story isn’t that exciting . . .

For one of my classes, the assignment was to shoot a “magazine cover” using a softbox.

Well . . .

I don’t exactly have a softbox . . . (it was optional for the class, I opted not to get it right away)

So I had to improvise using a diffusion panel, which works well, but it’s still not a softbox.

Anyway, this is the magazine cover I came up with:

Why did I pick to shoot a “golf magazine?”  It certainly isn’t my love for the game, or my natural ability at it either.

It was CONVENIENCE.

AH!  Did I just admit that?

Let’s see:

And so, the concept for my magazine was born.  :)

I asked my father-in-law if he had any “golf” magazines I could look at (for research and ideas) and his jaw dropped to the floor and he replied, “Are you serious?”

Yes.  I guess it is that shocking that I would be asking to look at golf magazines.

Now for the set up shot:

I used two hot lights with beauty dishes to light the background (if your subject is lit and your background is not, a white background will turn a shade of gray which I certainly did not want) and one hot light with a beauty dish and a white diffusion panel in front of David.

Let me tell you, our garage is one poppin’ place around 11:00 PM on weekend nights.  :)

Deep Thoughts by Hannah April 19, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Parenthood, Princess Hannah , 3comments

“I’m a friend of hers!”  (Telling me about her new friend on the playground.)

“I don’t want to make you a grandma!”  (Stressing about her future children.)

“I took a tiny nap!  ( This is what she told me after her 3.5 hour nap . . .)

“That little boy said, ‘Hi little girl’ (in a silly low voice) and that ruined my life!”  (Such a drama queen!)

“I want to learn how to read so I can sing with the ward choir!”  (Isn’t this the reason we all started reading?)”

“That song is on your website!  It also works as a pretty song!”  (Listening to Cold Play on the radio.)

“Your bed is probably not much softer than mine is.”  (Explaining why she should sleep in her bed for nap time.)

“Did I just lie?”  (Catching herself.)

My all time favorite conversation this month:

“Mommy, why do you not talk nice sometimes?”

“Like when?”

“When I don’t listen to you . . . or when I’m lying . . . or when I’m not obeying . . . or when I don’t sleep when I’m supposed to . . . then you don’t talk nice.”  (Well, if there ever was a reason to not talk nice, those are probably good reasons!)

My favorite saying this month:

“Mommy!  I don’t want you to get grey hair!  Then you will be a grandma and that means I will be a mommy!  I am too little to be a mommy and you are not a grandma!”

Future Residence April 17, 2010

Posted by Emily in : Thoughts, Utah , 3comments

The most common question I’m asked is, “Does David want to practice medicine in Utah?”

Here’s the thing, we’ve been gypsy’s for FOUR YEARS now.  We’ve lived in a few states (Utah, Arizona, Texas, Kansas, and New York) and honestly, we are quite open to going some place warm.

Utah is beautiful, but it’s cold eight months of the year.

I really love living near family, but I’m not sure I can live in such a cold state forever.