As an aspiring photographer, I am so lucky to be blessed with the most photogenic family in the Philadelphia Metro area. I've got 9 gorgeous kids from the age of 6 months to 13 years old at my disposal and I always have the camera in their faces. They're turning into quite the little models for me.
Here is 'A' working the fence for me.

And crazy 'J' loves to make funny faces for me and see his picture in my LCD.




















I caught 'D' in a rare quiet, pensive moment on the playground. I guess the sugar high from the party was wearing off.
I love this shot of 'D's shiny shoes with her little nails painted light pink!

Here's 'J' again showing me another one of his millions of silly faces.













Here is my little guy 'J' scoping out the candy 'D' had hidden in her party hat.

















This is 'D's' older brother 'A' showing me his "over the shoulder model look."









And the crazy boys 'P' and 'D' are never shy when I ask them to "show me angry" or "give me gang signs."





It helps to know the current lingo when trying to get a good shot of pre-teens. I wonder how many pro's out there ask their subjects to "give them gang signs, LOL" If you can cut out the hands, you can usually get a pretty facial expression on the "gang shots"

Lets talk about focus

What makes a great photo better than an okay photo? If you've got an interesting subject and a clean, clutterfree background, the most important thing is the focus. You can have the best picture in the world, but if it's out of focus you might as well trash it. I've been on a mission lately to improve my focus (in more ways than one, LOL) so I've been snapping pictures every chance I get.

Here are a few shots of my little guy who is completely focused on his favorite show "Diego."

I'm trying to get the focus to be at it's sharpest on his eyes. Please don't mind the sloppy face, drooling and healing bruises...he's a boy!

I love the concentration in his eyes in this picture. Give him a popsicle and put Diego on and I've got a captive subject for 30 minutes!

This one is my favorite of the set because the focus looks dead on (to me) and I love the side look out from behind the sippy cup.

I hope you've enjoyed watching my little guy watch TV! Hey, I've got to get my practice somewhere, right?

The Engagement Photo Shoot

Now that my blog is up and running, I wanted to go back and post a few pictures from my first official photo shoot. These are Engagament Portraits I did for "D" and "J" in June of 07. We shot these on the 10th street Beach in North Wildwood, NJ at sunset.



I love the look J is giving in this picture. Such a model shot! I also love the little bit of "ink" showing on D's arm.
This shot is so pretty because of the reflection caught in the sand. I also love the beautiful pink lighting from the setting sun.

I color corrected this one to really bring out the blue of the ocean and give a different look to the shot.

Thanks for being such great models D&J! I can't wait for the Engagement Party photo shoot!

It's about time I made my first post...

I have been stalking some amazing photoblogs in the past few weeks (like http://courtneyvickersphoto.blogspot.com/ and http://tumblebumblephotography.blogspot.com/) so I have to admit I've been a bit gun shy about launching my own, but I guess everyone has to start somewhere. So my first blog is going to be an ode to the summer sun.

Sunlight can be a photographer's best friend or worst enemy.

In this shot of a friend's sun dial, the sunlight is bright and inviting and you can actually feel the warmth emanating from the photo.

Yet, in this next one, the harsh sunlight streaming through the shady trees made this cute picture almost unsalvagable. It looks like the sun actually took a bite out of my son's left arm.

Here's one of Miss Sophie Lee lounging out in the sun as happy as can be:

And poor Mr. Noodle, who is not a fan of the sun, was turned almost purple by the harsh direct sunlight reflected off the blue house.

Thank goodness for Photoshop and my buddy Laura!

But my little man didn't mind the sunlight at all and found the perfect sunny spot in a shady yard to strike this cute "country" pose.

And one last one of the sun reaching out to say hello in my shot of a friend's Tuscan Terrace complete with chardonnay grapes.

Thanks for visiting!