Category Archives: Photography

2 Year Pictures and a Sister Shoot

Posted on September 16, 2012 by Becki M.

Isn’t she just gorgeous?

I mean, I know I’m her mama and mama’s always think so…but she’s super-dee-duper cute.

And now she is big.

She was super-dee-duper small. Like, 5 lbs, 12 oz kind of small.

After small, she got..well, not small. Like, 20 lbs at 6 months kind of not small. By 1…she was round and fluffy, like a “puff ball”, as Jackson would call her.

The baby is all gone.

She sleeps in a big girl bed and speaks in complete sentences. She knows her alphabet and can count to 10. She loves to sing songs, and just this morning when I went to get her out of bed she says,

“I want to dance today, Mama!”.

She has been my introduction into “the terrible twos”. I’ve never had one of those before. I thought the 3rd was supposed to be easier? The difference, though, in getting a “terrible two-er” when you are three kids in is that instead of just seeing how frustrated it makes you, you can understand and appreciate the passion that drives them.

She is very passionate.

London came along with us.

The two of them are basically inseparable now.

I think London has gone through a growth spurt, because they used to almost be the same height. Maybe now the twin question will stop? {probably not if they keep walking around like this}

Can I tell you how unbelievably blessed I feel to have two precious girls? Sisters are the absolute BEST! I’m so happy that they sometimes let me pretend like I’m one of them.

But only sometimes. 🙂

I love my girls. I am one lucky Mama.

Milestone Pictures – Downtown Gilbert Railroads

Posted on April 5, 2012 by Becki M.

About a month ago, I was all geared up to take London’s 3 year and Brooklyn’s 18 month pictures together.

Then the Great Plague of 2012 hit, and everyone was sick for a month.

It ended up working out pretty well, because during that time Jackson turned 6. So, I decided to just get all three of them done at one time. Whilst doing it I realized that probably wasn’t the smartest idea on my part; the kids weren’t focused and if I had done it one-on-one, I probably would have ended up with more shots. However, doing it this way gave me great rewards…such as the picture above.

I’m just going to say it: my children are adorable. 😉

Brooklyn: 19 months. Adorable, squishy ball of fun. She is a very tall girl, sitting at 34 inches (just 2 inches shy of her big sister…trust me, I get the “are they twins?” a lot!) and 24 pounds. She is wicked smart and very expressive. She loves to sing and dance, color, and can be frequently found with a baby doll or stuffed animal under her arm. This child is addicted to her blankie and her binky, much to her mother’s chagrin (but, hey! she’s the baby! who cares, right?). You never would know now that she had a developmental delay, as she gets exactly where she needs to be in record time. She is the life of our party.

London: 3 years. Holy moly, this girl is SPUNKY! As I’m writing this, I’m reminded of how we used to call her “spicy pepper.” A girly-girl sparkly princess to her core, she glitters and glows. She still has her charming fairy voice, and is my super polite, always compassionate, tender-hearted little soul. She knows all her letters and the sounds they make, can count to 20, and is learning how to make and follow patterns. She will start preschool (at home) in the fall, and she is VERY excited! She loves to dance, color, and can usually be found near her kitchen set in the playroom, preparing delicious treats for her family!

Jackson: 6 years. No longer are his updates about traditional milestones; we’ve reached the “boy zone” where, well…he’s made it all. His milestones are now focused on bigger things, like learning to ride a bike on his own and mastering multiplication. His current interests are weather, human anatomy, and volcanoes. He is currently planning on writing the National Hurricane Center to request that his name be used to name a hurricane in the future (there has never been a Jackson). He is finishing up second grade (six weeks left!) and is looking forward to our week long vacation to San Diego this summer. He plans to rock it at Legoland. 🙂

1,3, and 6. All such great ages, really. Each one of them bring their own jazz and spark to our family, and I really couldn’t imagine life without any of them. I love my precious babes!

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Posted in Brooklyn, Jackson, London, Photography, The Kids. Bookmark the permalink.

DIY: Wood Floor Drop (for photography)

Posted on March 1, 2012 by Becki M.

I’m lucky enough to have EXCELLENT lighting in my house. Like, crazy good lighting. Most of the time it annoys me, actually…no one should have to wear sunglasses in their own home. 😉 But when I want to take photos, it is pretty much perfect.
There is a spot in my front room (which is the playroom/schoolroom) that I love to take photos by. There are two huge windows right behind me and then another big window to the left, so plenty of light streams through. The wall is blank with a very neutral tone (which I rarely use…I almost always use fabric as a sort of backdrop) and I usually have pretty good luck in this spot. The only thing that has been a thorn in my side is the tile floor.

It is currently trendy to have wood floors in studio photography. I can see why; they are seamless, have no wrinkles, and just look nice! Was I going to rip out my tile and lay down wood flooring? Yeah right. If I’m gonna spend $2k for photography, its going to be on lenses, not flooring. You can buy wood floor drops, but those can run anywhere from $100-$150 dollars, before shipping. And I’m not a professional! I just like to take decent pictures! So, I got the bright idea to make my own!

If I wood (ha ha ha!) have known how easy this was, I would have done it a LONG time ago! Total project cost was around $32 dollars, and it took about 30 minutes to put together.

Supplies you will need:
Laminate tile squares with adhesive backing in your choice of finish. I found these at Home Depot in the flooring department. They were .88 a square and I used 20. You could use more or less depending on the size you want.

Foam board ( I used 6 from Walmart) OR a piece of plywood/PDF cut to size. Either will work, its just a surface to attach the tiles to.

Once you have all your supplies, just adhere your tiles to your choice of base! Could this be any easier?!?!? When I finished, I flipped it over and used packing tape on the seams of the foam board to add some extra support, but if you use a seamless piece of wood, you won’t have that issue.

So much better than the tile!!! I can’t wait to put it to good use!

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Posted in Brooklyn, Photography, Tips, Tricks, Tutorials. Bookmark the permalink.

Artistry

Posted on January 20, 2012 by Becki M.

I don’t take enough photos.

No, really. My obsession with photography is almost a sickness. Shooting with a DSLR can be a bit…finicky. I REFUSE to shoot in auto, but that means that I have to take the time to find just the right aperture/ISO/fstop…blah blah blah, right?

So I miss moments like this. Ones that are so tender and cute you could almost feel her squishy cheeks on your lips. This picture is far from perfect. It’s grainy because I had to have my ISO at 1600 because I don’t have an external flash (if you use flash, you have to use external so you can swivel it away from your subject and avoid the “white out” look from a direct flash hit). Its a touch out of focus because the ISO was so high and the shutter speed so slow that any movement from my hand would send things a bit fuzzy.

But you probably didn’t see any of that until I told you.

What you see is what I should see…a baby who isn’t a baby anymore practicing her craft of coloring.

So, I’m going to take more photos. And I’m going to try really really hard to not care about grain or focus or anything like that. I’m going to care about moments and time and how fast it all goes.

So be prepared for an onslaught of horrible photos.

But first, this one. ‘Cause it ain’t so bad.

Family Pictures 2011

Posted on December 29, 2011 by Becki M.

Greg and I have been married for 6 years. In that time, we’ve welcomed 3 children. Things moved very fast for us in those first few years; several job changes, two college degrees for Greg, buying a house, the babies…it’s a lot to shove in such a short amount of time. What we’ve never shoved in is family pictures.

Now, I love photography. I love how photos forever capture the moments your mind doesn’t have room to keep. What I don’t like is how much it costs. So, I’ve been putting off professional pictures for years (and by professional, I mean a REAL photographer, not JCPenneys or the like) knowing that we would just be adding more kids. Looking back, I really should have done it. I should have done it every single year, because they bring me such joy to look at. I will forever have these moments frozen in time, with Brooklyn’s shining blue eyes and dimples hiding in her fluffy cheeks, London’s wide eyes and wild hair, and Jackson’s absolute rebellion in smiling for the camera. When I look at them, I’ll remember how sweet they all were, and maybe 15 years from now I’ll be able to recall the sweet smell of Brooklyn’s hair and the sword fights between Greg and Jackson. I’ll hear London’s fairy voice chiming in my ear…the sweet sounds of memories.