My Second Newborn Shoot

Little baby girl Lauren.  She is so precious.  At just a mere 6 weeks of age, and she already has swept away all that meet her.  Her proud parents are close family friends, so I was super excited for this shoot.

We did several outfit changes, feedings, and background changes.  When I arrived and saw her own blanket (pictured below), I was so excited.  The texturing, the soft and fluffy feel and look, and that bright raspberry red coloring was just gorgeous.  And there is nothing sweeter then baby feet!

How sweet, and pretty is this little baby girl!

That one above is probably my favorite from the day.  Her mom just loves the one below - the hat was handmade and purchased in a little shop in New Orleans by my mom - she is always on the hunt for props for me.  Thank you Mom! 

And this one of mom and baby is another of my favorites.

Rock on!

Capturing Angelicness

I started my photography venture shooting landscapes and the like, mixed in with my daughter and family. As my daughter grew and the more practice I got shooting her, the more I fell in love with portrait photography and less in love with landscapes.  I have found my true passion, photographing toddlers, kids, babies.  There is nothing like being able to capture these amazing special moments and having their entire soul, being, and carefreeness come through in an image.

One of my newly favorite subjects is my niece, Gianna.  There is something in her eyes that projects this angelicness  (yes, I tend to create my own words), even when she is in a rotten mood or being the typical 3 year old going through a transition, those eyes speak a million words.  I hope you see that in some of my recent favorites.

I have only been photographing for just over 2 years now, and only have 1 year of schooling under my belt (school is on hold while I adjust to having a second child and deal with my husband being deployed).  

My technical abilities may not be perfect, many professional photographers may find my images completely wrong and not view them as portraits.  But I pride myself on being different.  I am not a studio photographer that uses fake backdrops and numerous flashes.  I find that photography boring and stiff.  That's my preference.  I prefer natural light, natural backgrounds, and natural poses if any posing at all.

My style may be preferred and enjoyed by many, and not so much by others.  I consider myself more of a candid photojournalistic portrait photographer.  I may attempt to pose the subjects, but allow them the freedom to do their own, natural thing.  This allows me to capture their true self instead of a fake, stiff, posed self.  Comfort is my life -- if you ask my husband its a little too much a part of my life (I rarely get out of my lounge pants and tank tops).  This belief allows me to be stress free and enjoy a shoot, especially when children are involved.  Allowing them to be them gives you so much more.

this image is an example of what I mean.  It is not the typical portrait picture, but its one of my favorites from the day. She is having a blast and enjoying the freedom of being a kid.  Can't get better then that.

this above image was a natural pose she did on her own, all we did was asked her to sit on the pumpkin. I think she thought we were a little crazy and was so tired of sitting there but was a total trooper.

Flaws

Flaws are not always a bad thing, least in my opinion.  I know the majority of photographers out there require pure technical perfection.  I know I am not perfect, I accept that, and I rejoice the little flaws that make us special.  And that includes some of my images.

Today, I had the honor of being invited into a family friends home to shoot their two little boys.

Here is an image I took that in many ways is flawed, but there is something about this photo that I really like.  I know the focus is not that great on a portion of the baby, but I think it's what adds to the photo.  Maybe its just me that likes it.  Thats okay with me as well.

Family Portrait Mini-Session Giveaway

Its been some time.  Life is insane.  I have dropped school and have settled into my parents house for the duration of my husband's deployment.  I am nearing the end of my pregnancy, but have been dealing with complications the past few weeks which has made getting photos nearly impossible.

On occasion I run giveaways on my facebook fan page, so if you are not a fan yet - you should be!  http://facebook.com/jrzygirlphotography   I recently gave away a free mini-session for a family portrait session.  The winner had an amazing family.  We toughed out the chilly weather, and ventured out to a local field for some great fall colors.

Here are some images from that day. This family was so much fun! The kids are so goofy and relaxed, I could have shot them for hours.  I hope I get invited back into their world again.  It was a true treat.

I loved how these photos came out, and I love that I learned new things while I took these.

The one below is one of my favorites.  The colors are amazing, exactly what I wanted and was hoping for.

These two are just too adorable together.  That love for one another really shows.

Photography Props

As I am progressing in the development of my portrait business, which is no easy task, I am investing in fun props for my photo shoots.

As I learn more about my passions, loves, and preferences, I am learning that I love to shoot children and may end up specializing in this area.  Recently, I have purchased a few props for infant shoots.

The first item I purchased was this interesting blue bowl from Home Goods.  I still need to get this into a shoot, my first attempt didn't work out.  Our model had enough by the time we got to the bowl, but that is okay.  We will try again :)   Once I get a photo done, I will get this updated.

The second was this adorable crochet football hat.  I purchased this on Etsy from Cynsational Treasure
How cute is it??

The next two props were purchased on Etsy as well.  These were purchased from Two Seaside Babes

 I love them.  I still need to photograph the hat, but the blanket I bought is seen in the picture above and below.

My mother picked up a hand knitted watermelon hat while on her trip to New Orleans this past weekend.  And I have a tutu that I picked up at a craft show last month added to my list to photograph.  Now to find more models!

Word of the Day #1

I have been reading my Photo History book for my current class, and it has required the dictionary a few times.  And the newest word I looked up gave me inspiration for this blog.

Word:  bravura

Meaning: brilliant and showy technical skill

In honor of this cool word and its meaning, here is my bravura for today:

Oceanside Days of Art

Back in April, I did my first craft/art show.  This was at the Oceanside Days of Art in Oceanside, CA.  It is a fine art show.  And I am finally getting pictures up of my booth.

It did not go very well, and I think that was due to a lot of factors.  One was my location, since I was a first time exhibitor, I was put in the far back - pretty much the last spot - so the traffic was minimal.  Most people stopped and turned around at the corner before ever coming down to my area.  Another was the type of show and location.  The front end of the show (where all the traffic was) was mainly very high end, expensive art - $6000 - $20,000 for a piece of art.  Once a lot of the people saw those prices, they were not encouraged to keep moving along and see the other booths.

Initial Set Up:

And another factor was probably my booth set up.  It was not the greatest, yet not the worst.  I did an okay job for my first attempt.  I had a lot of wind issues that messed up parts of my display, and I learned a lot from this.

Final Set Up:

I have applied for another show, here in New Jersey, and should be finding out soon if I got in or not.  It is for September 4th, and I am already trying to plot an improvement in my display.  This show is a craft show and I will be combining my photography with my fabric eye masks.  I don't have all of my supplies here at my parents house, but a family friend has a tent I can borrow, my folks have the tables and chairs, and my husband is sending me a few of my supplies that fit into a flat rate box.  I have a lot of prep to get done, but am really looking forward to this show (hopefully I get in!).

Wordless Photo #8

Wordless Photo #7

Sea World Part 4

This past week, we ventured out to Sea World for the last time before heading to NJ.  I will be anxious to go again when we come back to Cali late next year.  I had not planned on taking any photos, I had even debated not bringing the camera at all!  But I am SO glad I did bring it, because a few amazing moments came available.

One of the first stops was the Beluga Whale, Polar Bear, and Walrus exhibit.  I didn't take any of the Beluga Whale and wish I had - there were some possible good shots.  It was just really busy.

Then we moved onto the Polar Bears.  And my goodness!  One of the bears was sound asleep right along the glass in this one corner. Once I made my way through the crowd, I was able to get these majestic images.  I think they are my favorites to date of any polar bear shots I have taken.

I think I could have stood there all day and shot away at this amazing animal.  I really wish it had been a quiet day there so I could have enjoyed the moment even more.

It is really hard to describe the adventure we had at the Walrus exhibit.  Each time I have gone there, there has only been 1 Walrus and he just kind of swims around being rather boring. This day had 2 of them in there, one being a lot smaller then this big guy and he was the boring one. The usual Walrus was full of fun and was totally playing for the crowd. He was hanging out in front of this one window swimming up and down, with each rise to the surface he would give a look to everyone and then start splashing at the window like crazy! It was really funny to watch. 

It was super crowded at that window as you could imagine. So, I had to go on the upper level and attempt to shoot around and over all the heads. It was rather difficult.  It resulted in images like this one. Most of the images I got are not as good as this one.

San Diego Zoo Part 4

It has been a long time since I have posted any photos from the San Diego Zoo.  I have had a lot of images sitting in my editing software program that I just have not gotten to looking at, well actually there are still I lot still in there.

Here are a few I recently pulled out, some of these I have shown before possibly.  But this time there are some new changes to the edits I performed.

The giraffe's were the first set that I looked at.

That baby was the cutest animal I think I have ever seen in person.  So majestic and magical.

I worked on the gorilla's afterwards.  And boy, did the edits I do this time really make them come alive and show such strong emotion.  There is no other animal that can radiate such strong emotions like the gorilla.  It is almost heart breaking seeing the emotions coming from these massive animals.

Tribute To My Dogs

I have been slowly going through my old images in my editing software in an attempt to clear it out and force/motivate me to get behind the lens again for some new images.

I have a bunch of my dogs that I took back in 2009, possibly even late 2008.  I love some of these images and thought I would share.

Here is our big guy Cody:

Cody and Tyler are 6 years old now, and are litter mates. We got them in 2004, at around 13 weeks.  They have even travelled part of the world.  We got them when we lived overseas in Africa, so they were flown from South Dakota to West Africa and back to the East Coast.  We have travelled across country to California to Washington DC and back to California with them.  It was not until 2008, when we lived in DC that they actually got to see snow for the first time.  And boy did they love it! 

Tyler is in the photo above facing the camera.

Portrait Website

Tonight I spent some time working on revamping my portrait business website.  I am really loving how it came out.  Every time I work on it, it gets better and better.  For doing this on my own, I think it's not too shabby.

Just in case you were not aware of my website, here is the link:  http://jrzygirlphotography.com.

I am excited at the prospect of building this business during my year in New Jersey.  Between my school courses forcing me to take images, a lot of family events going on, our new baby arriving, and having contacts to spread the word, I should gain a lot more experience this upcoming year.

Here is an image off my website, I just pulled it out of my editing software tonight - it was taken during August 2009 on our cross country road trip -- which seems to becoming a yearly event...

Odd Angles #2

Here is another old one I just re-looked at.   I love the angle and pose on this one!

Odd Angles #1

I have a love for odd angles when I shoot, especially when photographing children.  Course now that my bad knee is re-injured/acting up, I have no idea when I will be able to get a lot of these odd angles.

Here is one of my daughter on a swing with her daddy from a year ago.  Eventually, I will get all these older images out of my editing software and some new ones in there again.

Whirlwind of Changes, Again

After much debate and discussion, I am moving.  Since my husband is deploying in August or September for 12-14 months, I am moving my daughter and self to my folks house across the country.  Therefore, Jrzy Girl Photography will actually be located in New Jersey for awhile.

Between having a soon to be 3 year old that is highly attached and never really been apart from her daddy for more then a month, being pregnant, and having 2 large dogs, it was best we relocate where we can get the assistance we may and will need.

This move allows me to continue in my photography classes, and keep my businesses open.  And gives my daughter a lot of people to be around on a regular basis so the separation from her daddy is not so drastic.  It will be a long and trying year, but one full of fun and adventure.  Especially these last months of the year. We will be departing for NJ in late July, where we will be throwing a send off party for my husband right away. August brings my niece's 3rd birthday.  September brings a new baby (not mine!) to the family and my daughter's 3rd birthday party.  October is my daughter's actual birthday month, my cousin's daughter's 2nd birthday, and Halloween.  November brings my nephew's 5th birthday and Thanksgiving.  December brings my 5th wedding anniversary (first one spending it apart), the arrival of my baby, 3 birthday's, and Christmas.  I think in January we get a time to rest, though January or February brings my husband home for 2 weeks.

My grandmother has 6 grandchildren with birthday's spread out throughout the year. By the end of 2010, she will have 6 great-grandchildren with birthday's on top of each other.  If all goes planned, we will have one in August, one in September, 2 in October, 1 in November, and 1 in December.  In late July, we are hoping to find the gender of our baby.  The grandkids go: Boy, boy, girl, girl, boy, boy.  The great-grandkids go: boy, girl, girl, girl, boy, and unknown.  If we keep the pattern, I should be having another girl.  Though everyone but myself thinks it will be a boy.  We shall see!

It has been awhile!

I greatly apologize for the long month absence from my blog.  It has been an interesting month to say the least.

I had my art show in mid-April, which went horribly bad!  Not sure I will attempt shows again at all, but if I do it will be awhile before I can.  Right after that, I took my daughter to New Jersey to visit her grandparents.  Which you saw the photos in my last post from the photo shoot I did while I was there.

I came back to my husband away at training, so it was just the two of us and the dogs.  I was feeling really horrible and was beyond tired.  I could barely move from the couch for days upon our return.  I needed a lot of rest just from taking a shower, giving my daughter a bath, and walking the dogs.  Come to find out, I was not actually sick with a cold but instead pregnant.  It was a total shock, considering the doctor had just told us a month before this that it was impossible for us to have more children.

It took me about 2 weeks to get over the shock and to remotely gain back the slightest bit of energy.  I basically laid on the couch all of May.  Now I am 11 weeks along, and now that I am 2 weeks from the second trimester I am finally gaining some energy back.  Thank goodness!

So, I hope to have some new photos for you soon.  In mid-July, I am starting an Intro to PhotoJournalism course in my Photography program at school.  I am eager to see how this class goes and what kind of images result from it.

First Portrait Session

I just visited my family back in NJ for 10 days with my daughter.  She needed her poppy and grandma fix. While I was there, I got the chance to do my very first official portrait session.  Okay, so my first non-family paid session.  It was great.  Super challenging, and I learned a lot.  Loads to work on for future sessions.  Thank you so much Lisa for this opportunity, and am so glad you enjoyed the shoot and the images.  You are truly a great person.

So, here are some of my favorite images.

This is Lisa, her brother Jeff, and her dog Jolly.  Boy, adding a dog to the mix sure does add new challenges.  Challenges that I love!  

We did this in Asbury Park, NJ on the beach.  We found a bar attached to the convention center that was closed but had loads of great furniture on its patio that we used for props.  They were just perfect.

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We moved over to the other end of the beach and up on the boardwalk after those shots.  We went into the old Casino, that is just a shell now that people can run through.  Though, it does have the most interesting interior that makes for amazing backgrounds.

And my last favorite:

Wordless Photo #6

Wordless Photo #5

Wordless Photo #4

A Step Back in Time

I have been confused all day.  When my husband has a work day off, I get all messed up.  It has felt like a Saturday all day, but alas it is Friday.  I will be super confused come Tuesday, since he has Monday off as well.  After running some errands, we stopped at the mall to have lunch.  We have been really wanting to check out this unique place, but it has always been so busy!

It is called Farrell's Ice Cream Parlour & Restaurant.  There are two locations here in California and according to their site there are two in Hawaii.  We went to the Mission Viejo location, and from what I saw on their site, it is the only one that looks old fashioned and stays somewhat true to that old fashioned, hip ice cream parlours of the past.  I have a love for places like this.

Food was pretty good, but while we were waiting in line to be seated, I just had to snap some photos.  I am so glad I brought the new camera with me.  It was worth toting that heavy thing in my bag all day! I just love these lollipops!!  Here are my many versions of the shots I got.