Since they are an online retailer (there is no brick and mortar store), it was a fun challenge to shoot their warehouse.

Some of the challenges were limited space to move around, low light, and the images needed to be landscape-orientation.

For an executive headshot, we moved this old piano into the warehouse to use as a prop.

[Specs:  This shot was taken with a 30mm at f/1.4, ISO 640, 1/500 sec.  The window light was on the right of my subject and I used a reflector to his left to fill in the light on his face.]

My favorite part of shooting this company was learning about their business and the people who work there.  For example, I learned that most of the employees are musicians!  Being at SheetMusicPlus.com allows them to be in the music industry while they play their instruments or work on their music in the evenings and weekends.  So cool!

[Photography Tip:  Learn about your subjects, whether you are shooting a family, a wedding, a model, or a business.  It may help in sparking your creative vision for the shoot and build a relationship between you and your subjects.]

So let’s say you’re at a location when the sun is fairly low in the sky.  Now what?  Where do you shoot?  Is the quality of light the same everywhere?

Whether you’re a hobbyist or a professional photographer, the question is the same:   How do you “find the light” at a location?

It’s the same sun, the same location and the same time of day, yet the light varies depending on where you are, what direction you shoot and what surrounds you.  Simple and small adjustments can change the outcome of your image.

To give examples of the various kinds of light, I chose a park with hills, trees and buildings; and walked around with my model in the afternoon for about half an hour.  I’ve marked where I took my shots in the image below.  I did not use a reflector or flash.  It was just me, my camera and my model.

Should the Sun be Behind You or Your Subject? 

We started at Location A where there was ample light.

If the sun is behind your subject, you get warm “back light”, which brings color and attention to your subject’s hair.  It will also create a bright outline of your subject, which is especially nice for maternity, children and Senior portraits.

With my model in the exact same position, I moved to the other side of her, so the sun is now behind me.  The image looks and feels completely different.

Her hair now appears jet black and the image looks cooler.  I notice more texture and details because the light is shining directly on my model.  Overall, it is a good image, except for the glaringly harsh shadows on her face!

Depending on whom you are photographing, you may not have control over where your subject will be, like in the case of young children.  It would then be up to you to make slight adjustments to improve the lighting situation or make the most of the type of light.

Here, I corrected the harsh shadow problem by having my subject turn her head.  Voila!

Open Shade

In Location B, I saw a large flowering bush that blocked the direct sunlight, but allowed enough light to illuminate the area.  This is called “open shade”, and it produces even lighting and softer shadows, which is great for portraits.

Mixed Light:  Shadow and Sun

Both images below were taken at Location C, just steps apart, but the quality of light was vastly different.

Sometimes I like dramatic light – where shadows are very dark and the light is very bright – when I want my image to focus on a pattern or the architecture or to create a particular mood.

For a portrait of my young model, I preferred the contrast to be less dramatic.  So we walked along the same side of the building to a doorway that was close to surrounding trees.  With a narrower range of dark and light, the portrait still had interesting shapes from the mixed light, but they were more subtle.

Engulfed in Light

There are times you have no choice and there are times you may just want to:  shoot directly into the sun.  In fact, fully immerse your subject in it!  (Location D)

To keep your subject from being underexposed because your camera sensor will read that this is a very bright image, you can use a flash or reflector, or adjust your camera’s “exposure compensation”.

This image below was shot at ISO320, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec, and +1 exposure compensation.

Once you realize that sunlight is different even in the same location and same time of day, you can learn how to “find the light” that you want for a particular image.

They are in the subtle details, like how the mom’s hair bulges from the tightness of her son’s hug.

My favorite detail of this image is the father.  It’s the way he is smiling while he looks downward, as if to give his wife and son a moment of privacy.  Or maybe it’s a smile of pride in his family.  Whatever the story is, this image makes me think…

And feel.

[Photography Tip:  Be aware of the people and things around your main subjects.  Sometimes people's reactions to whom you are shooting is what makes the image extra special by giving it layers of emotion or stories.]

This week’s I Heart Faces theme is Hugs and Kisses.

When I was younger, it made me happy to receive expensive gifts, like extra-long special order roses and fancy dinners, because that meant I was loved.  Over the years, it meant less how much someone spent and became more about the meaning behind the gifts.

Today, I got a pair of fuzzy slippers that look like I stuck my feet inside large teddy bear stuffed animals (it makes me laugh walking around in them), lots of drooly kisses, and hand-drawn “I love you” cards on construction paper.  To top it off, I found out I got accepted as a volunteer photographer in an amazing non-profit organization, Inspiration Through Art!

The mission at Inspiration Through Art is to help provide and capture memories for families who have a child who is suffering from a serious illness or life-altering disability.

My heart is happy.  I really couldn’t ask for anything better.

For the past couple years, I have been searching for the perfect volunteer opportunity that combines my 2 favorite things:  art/photography and helping children.  Though I am already busy throughout the year photographing children and families, this work is different.

It pains me to think there are families who ooze love out of their pores for their kids, but have enormous medical bills because of their child’s illness or disability, so they cannot afford to have custom photography.  Or maybe professional photography never came to mind because they needed to face heavy emotions and extra duties each day.  To provide these families with artwork that show the love in their family and their child’s unique personality would be such a privilege…for me.

I am so humbled to be accepted as a photographer with this organization.  What a great Valentine’s day gift.

I’ve learned that it is important to love freely and be open to receiving love.  That is the best gift of all.

xo,

annie

Like all 7 month old urban babies, Lilah packed her morning full of activities.  Lilah began her morning with milk and giggles, and then it was off to do some baby modeling…

A Diva Outfit

After a little creative redecorating at the K’s home, Lilah had some solo shots in her diva outfit:  her birthday suit and a hairclip! 

I wanted a shot of her little baby bum and thought this perspective would be more interesting!

It highlights the contrasting textures of her soft skin with the rough carpet.

Lilah’s furry brother, Ramsey, liked to check on her once in awhile.  He is such a good big brother!

Musical Talents

Then she played a little riff on the piano with her dad.

Then there was some play time before heading out…

Flying, Blowing and Kissing

I love the light and the natural expressions of the K family playing together in this shot.

[Photography Tip:  This photo is also a great example of how coordinating outfits can tie the image together.  They have just the right amount of coordination of pinks, browns and beige...even down to the wall and furniture.  Because of this, the photo acts similar to a monochromatic image where you focus on the expressions because the colors aren't distracting.]

Discoveries

The beauty of simple discoveries — like how a flower looks when the wind blows and the feel of your father’s face — are precious.

Around the Neighborhood

The sun disappeared just before we headed out and I am so thankful for that, otherwise this sweet family shot would’ve been drenched in harsh shadows.

I love this family photo because everyone looks happy and, heck, the colors are just so darn pretty. 

After this action-packed morning, Lilah was ready for her nap, which, by the way, did NOT involve rocking, soothing, feeding, reading, white noise machines, singing or anything.  We arrived back at the house and they just put her in her crib.  Done.

My jaw was on the floor.  Can Lilah be any more amazing?!!

Lilah is on my Baby’s First Year plan, so I get the pleasure of seeing her and her charming parents again in a few months.  I can’t wait!

Once I left the Corporate World, I was a teacher for a few years.  My desire was to teach in a public school in an economically challenged urban area.  I viewed my role as a Teacher to be far more than just infusing academia into the lives of my students.  I made it my goal to use my time with them as a special opportunity to help them in their lives.  Whether it was to help them navigate through a particular hardship, teach them to make good decisions, or believe in themselves.

It is similar to how I find parenting to be now:  you do what you can to give them life tools, but then you let them go… and pray they learned something!

The Barbie Project

When I taught Middle School Math, my spin on my lesson plans was relating Math to the “real world”, so students could see how math could be applied in different jobs as well as life concepts — beyond simple arithmetic.

For my older students, I focused on business and had a project on the stock market.  For my younger students, we had a project on scale, ratio and measurement, called The Barbie Project.

Yep, I subjected all my students to working with Barbie dolls for a couple weeks!  They had to measure them and draw them (with the same proportions), but scaled to a real life size.  The results were astonishing, and the students were just as puzzled as the adults when they saw the results with their own eyes.

What people interpreted as a gorgeous representation of an American beauty — Barbie — turned out to be something of an Amazonian freak of nature!  I can’t remember the exact measurements because this was ages ago, but she was something like 6 feet tall with a 10.5″ waist, 44″ chest, child-size head and child-size feet!

REALLY?!! 

My students and I enjoyed discussing what Barbie would be like if she were real.  Hmmmm….she’d probably be in a wheel chair because she wouldn’t be able to stand up or even hold her head up.  We all agreed that Real Life Barbie would be highly UNattractive!

We talked about the definition of “beauty” and how it shouldn’t be defined by the media or even the people around us.  We talked about how there are many different definitions of beauty.  And the most important definition is our own.

[Please note:  This blog is not to frown upon Mattel or any other toy manufacturer, but I used this Barbie project as a segway to discussing how the media influences our perception of beauty.  How can our little girls (and boys) grow up to feel beautiful when they see images, drawings and dolls that have unrealistic traits and measurements that they can never live up to?]

Better Than Barbie

Now, let’s fast-forward:  I stopped teaching after 3 years, got married, moved and had a baby.

Fast-forward to yesterday:  One of my former students volunteered to be my model for a photoshoot.  I haven’t seen her for about 10 years!  I first met her when she was ELEVEN!

There are so many things that was cool about seeing her yesterday.  For one, I got to see how she turned out as an adult!  She is bright, charming, independent, thoughtful and creative.  I don’t even need to mention that she is beautiful.  Just look at her photos below!

What blew me away is what she told me at the end of her shoot…

She said that she thinks about my Barbie lesson during the times she doesn’t feel good about herself.  And that makes her feel better!

She said that the lesson is something she will remember for the rest of her life.  And she thanked me.

I am incredibly humbled and touched.

I think the most gratifying feeling in the World is to know that you’ve made a difference in someone’s life.

“Hello, World!!!”  (That’s my blogsite and brand talking!)

I’d like to thank Kim from Madilu Designs for putting up with my self-professed Perfectionism disease, my husband for coding my beautiful blogsite… and I’d like to thank the Academy.  heh heh.

Out with the OLD:

In with the NEW:

The reason why creating my new brand took so long was because I wanted something that was fresh, clean, modern and sophisticated.  It had to be something that would match all aspects of my business — from lifestyle photography of children/families to commercial and event photography.  That’s quite a tall order!

For my logo, I wanted an icon that represented my creative style — emotive and natural — yet also symbolized my reason for starting my photography business.  (If you want to read about how I started, it’s in the first part of my feature in the September 2011 issue of Kodak Exposure.)

In the icon, there are 2 sets of leaves, one representing me and one representing my dad.  Together, they form the shape of a blossomed flower.

It has been almost 11 years since my dad unexpectedly passed and I had to plan his funeral with my brother.  He never met any of my 3 children or got to attend my wedding or even met my husband.  He didn’t get to witness my career change into an Art field, something he encouraged me to pursue since I was a child.

I think about him every time I am sad and when something great happens to me… and a million moments in-between.  Thing is, I also realize that it was because of his passing that pushed me to pursue my dreams.  So I feel blessed to be able to take something positive away from something sad and tragic.

When I look at my logo icon, I see life and love.  It reminds me that happiness is what I make of my life, not what happens to me.  So I am proud to present my new blogsite and branding to you all.

Do something you love every day, my friends!  It doesn’t have to be your career; the “small” things are just as important.

xo,

annie

Though the number of votes may vary over time since voting is open, the favorites were abundantly clear… though some were a surprise. 

(If you haven’t seen all my favorites that made it into the albums or you want to cast your vote, go to my Facebook business page.)

BEST OF 2011:  THE MOST DELICIOUS LIGHT

#1

#2

#3

Tied for #4

Since I love to laugh, it is imperative to show my favorite FUNNY photos of the year.

The image that received the most number of votes was astonishing! 

WHAT THE?!!!  It’s the shot of my own kids?!!

BEST OF 2011:  FUNNIEST PHOTOS

#1

#2

3-Way Tie for #3

It could also capture an emotion or the essence of a relationship.  Or tell a page of a story.

Below are the Best Moments of 2011, based on viewers’ votes in Facebook (as of today*).

If you’d like to cast your vote or wanted to see ALL of my favorite moments of 2011, go to my Facebook page!

*Votes can be added any time, so the Best Of images may change.  The voting process is open to all and with no deadline.  This is just a way for me to see what people liked!  For all those who participated, thank you!!!

#1

#2

#3

#4

#5

#6

#7

#8

#9

Triple Tie for #10

I will be posting more “Best Of” albums on Facebook, so make sure you “Like” my page to stay in touch.  I wanna know YOUR favorites!

I really do.

The benefit of this is it gives me big photography muscles for when I shoot other people’s kids!  

So after the tiring mini-shoot of my monkeys in jammies, I turned off the lights, launched a kids game on an iPad, placed the iPad in the middle of my bed, and let the big kids have at it!  They didn’t even notice I was taking photos of them.

By shooting my kids in a dark room with one small light source, the focus was entirely on their faces.  And the images are “moody” because the color of the light depends on what is presented on their screen at the time of the shot.

The First

I don’t know if this happens to you, but sometimes, my favorite is the first.  My first bite, my first shot, my first time hearing a song.

This first shot is my favorite.  It’s the softness of the light, the color of light, the kids’ hand positioning and their expressions.

[Specs:  Nikon 24-70mm/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, shot in manual, handheld.]

Room Size

Here’s the shot right afterwards.  By panning out, you get a sense of the room size and the relative grandness to the kids.

[Photography Tip:  When shooting lifestyle portraits or events, it's nice to get close-up shots of the people and the details, but it's also important to get a shot of the area to give perspective to the event or the lifestyle shoot.  Do this no matter what the lighting situation is.  Even in a very dark room with fast-moving subjects, like a dance floor, keep your camera steady, drag your shutter a bit and you can get a shot of people dancing with some cool motion blur.]

[Specs:  Nikon 24-70/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/25 sec, shot in Manual, handheld.]

Attention

I love their seriousness and attentiveness.  Now, if only they’d pay attention like this when I talk to them! 

[Specs:  Nikon 24-70/2.8 lens, ISO 400, 24mm, f/2.8, 1/20 sec, shot in Manual, handheld.]

Photography Notes & Challenge

My thought process:  I knew I wanted to shoot at ISO 400, which allows for some motion and isn’t very grainy.  I also knew I wanted to shoot it wide open, at f/2.8, so I’d get the full amount of light from the monitor and any details in the background would get blurred out.  I only played with the focal length (though the 3 images I chose here happened to all be at 24mm) and the shutter speed.

Since I always shoot in natural light, I thought it would be a fun challenge to shoot with only artificial light that I could not control.

If you haven’t already, try this out!  You can use anything:  a flashlight, a cell phone, a candle, a desk lamp.  It doesn’t have to be an iPad.  Just find a willing participant and turn off the lights!

Whatever you shoot, always have fun!

xo,

annie