Baby H....

Princess H came into the studio today for the first time. I've known her forever - even before she was born - and I photographed her mom's maternity session. She's simply beautiful! We had the best time today, even though Miss H decided not to sleep at all! But we did manage to get her to sleep for about 10 minutes so we could catch a couple cute ones of her!

She'll be back when she's 6 months old so you'll be able to watch her grow up with me. If you join my Facebook group, you'll be able to see the rest of her session as soon as they're all edited.

Until next time,
Ally

P.S. The first image totally shows how DONE H was at the end. Notice how she's shakin' her little fist at me! LOVE that!

The "A" Family's Sneak Peak

A few weeks ago, I met a really nice lady who walked into the studio and asked me about photographing her, her husband and their grandchildren. Today, they all came in and did we ever have a great time.

"H" had all of us laughing through out the entire session with his awesome sense of humor. He is truly in love with his wife and it was really pretty special for me to see this family at work. "E" tried really hard to reign in all the boys (H included!) to get some really great images for her wall. Well, it worked and we got a bunch of great ones.

"A" and her younger brother "J" totally reminded me of my own kids. It was so funny to see how they related to each other and even though "J" thought it burned when I asked "A" to put her arm around him, I could totally tell that he really does love her!

Then there was "J" and "J". What a couple of amazing little guys! Big "J" was just about the sweetest young man EVER and was such a trooper. He kept going and going even though he really wanted to go down to Toys 3! Little "J", I think I totally fell in love with. There was at least two times that I counted that he came up to me and grabbed my legs from behind with a great big hug.

Don't even get me started on how fabulous all these kids moms were. WOW!!! It was pretty easy to see how these boys and one young lady got to be as wonderful as they are.

I think I can honestly say that when they came in at 9:30 this morning, they were clients. When they all left at about 12, they were friends.

Thank you so much, "A" family. I had a great morning! What a great way to kick off my weekend!!!

Until next time,
Ally

A photo secret to share...

So, I've been thinking that it'd be kind of interesting to share some of what I've learned throughout the years about photography. Here's one of the most important bits, I think.

Take a look at any magazine. Check out the cover model. Of course that person looks beautiful and all, but check out the eyes. What do you notice? In every single photograph the person has some sort of white light in the eyes. Sometimes, they're square. Sometimes circular. They can even be shaped like an octagon. The point is, they're always there. Those catch lights make the model look alive. If a model is lacking those catchlights, the eyes look "dead." Not exactly a look most people are going for, unless of course they're photographing in the morgue for forensic photography or something.

The other type of catch lights are called "Pin" lights. Those are found in images that use a pop up flash or the flash on the smaller digital cameras that most everyone has. Those pin lights aren't bad...just different. Pin lights almost always show up in the center of the pupil as alittle orange dot. Most true professional photographers know how to use the flash correctly to avoid the pin lights, which in my opinion, look amateurish.

A professional photographer will have catchlights in the model's eyes (from studio lights) at either the 10 o'clock or 2 o'clock position (or somewhat close to that). If that photographer is shooting outdoors, the catchlights will have much different shapes or may not even have a true "shape" at all. Just some really nice light in the eyes.

That's one thing I"m always striving for and one thing I've learned to look for. Nice, good catch lights. So whether you choose to work with me or anyone else, be on the look out for cool catch lights. In my opnion, it's one of the differences between a professional and an amateur.

Until next time,
Ally

The "S" brothers...

Were just so cute and a blast to work with! I have a sister so I've not been truly able to see how two older aged brothers are together. These two had me in stitches! They were cracking me up with their antics and their conversations, too. It was so much fun to see how close these two guys are to each other and how much they genuinely seem to LIKE each other.

Even though the session didn't go exactly how mom and grandma planned, I was still able to get a bunch of really great images. These are just a few and I usually post the images that are great, but not my favorites. With this session, though, I think I'm going to have a really difficult time trying to figure out which ones AREN'T my favorites. They're all that good!

What a couple of cute, sweet boys. I can't wait to come back in to the studio tomorrow to edit some more of these!!

So glad grandma won that gift certificate! I think it was a win-win-win!

Until next time,
Ally

A's senior session

Meet A. We had THE best time working together. He just "got it" and was completely comfortable in front of the camera. I don't think we had any bad shots! Makes for a very difficult time editing, ya know?

A definitely came with some locations in mind, too. So now I have even more awesome locations to select from! Woo hoo! A was a major trooper and didn't even seem to mind getting rained on and scratched up while getting to a pretty cool brick wall! LOVE that!!

With his amazing sense of style and his ease in front of the camera, I'm going to have to stop blogging about him and get back to editing! This was a session that was jam packed with style and personality!

Be on the look out for some more on my Facebook group page!

Until next time,
Ally

J's senior mini session sneak peak

This is "J." He's a perfect example of a truly multi faceted person. He's an accomplished musician, active in his high school's band as the drum major and is incredibly smart and talented. We had a great time shooting together and he was such a trooper! We schlepped all over the exterior of the mall to scope out some great locations to work in and we found some nice ones...but those are going to remain hidden for just a little while longer!

J kept us steadily entertained by talking about his eclectic music tastes and even introduced us to a couple new bands that we'd never heard of before. Just another thing to add to the music wish list!

I can't wait to get to editing the rest of J's session - there are a ton of really nice images from his session...And I just can't get enough of his baby blues! **SWOON**

Until next time,
Ally

L's Senior Session sneak peak

L was referred to me by my current ambassador and she assured me that he was great. Well, she was right! L had me cracking up left and right!

First off, he's an incredible person. He's really into the theatre and athletics, and anything Raider, which automatically hit home with me since I'm a Raider, too!

We had such a fun time together from the clothing changes to the mini voyeur (she was all of about 2 years old) who had her eye on L when he was changing his shirt in the front window...I can't wait to work with him again. OH! And it doesn't hurt at all that he's a pretty darned good looking guy!!

There'll be more images of L on my Frameable Faces Facebook group. There are a ton of really great images - send me a friend request if you want to check 'em out!

Until next time,
Ally