A Vacation Portrait Session

Recently J & D came up to to the Bay Area to visit with friends.  Since they were here from Port Hueneme (Southern California) where D is currently stationed, they were able to take advantage of my military discount (which applies everyday) and have a portrait session done.

With our friend H on makeup and acting as our impromptu stylist, off we went!  You can't tell by these images, but it was REALLY cold!  We were out and about at 9:00 a.m. to make sure they still had the rest of the day to spend with friends.

They were such good subjects and great sports about being cold - especially J out there in that dress!  They looked adorable and I was thrilled with the results of our shoot, which was a first for me for many reasons, including photographing someone in a push-up pose!

I hope you enjoy these images as much as I do - can you feel the love?

Molly's Portrait Session & My Softbox Experience

I recently purchased a couple of softboxes in advance of my session with Molly.  Boy, what a difference they made!  I can't believe what a difference it made - even outdoors.  It improved what I would even consider to be exceptional lighting conditions.



Molly was lovely as always.



She was patient, and so was Circa!



I am very pleased with how these turned out.



I love the way the colors of her tattoo stand out in this image.



This one was my favorite of the day.

Practice Session: On Camera Flash with Molly

I have added another momentous piece of equipment to my arsenal - a speedlite.  More commonly known as a big, honkin' flash that attaches to the top of your camera.

I bought one for my Mom for her birthday and of course we had to break them out on someone.  Enter my cousin, Molly.  She was free on Saturday afternoon for a little while, so we invited her over for a little sesh.

She was a great subject and didn't mind being photographed.  I mean, she's BEAUTIFUL so there's not much to nit pick about, right?

I also had some really cool software I'd been wanting to try, but needed some true portraits to give it a workout... How about some purple eyes?

I love this photo because the smile is as genuine as it gets.


Molly also has a really cool tattoo of an owl on her forearm.  I had to get a shot of it.  I also got to work out the new lens I posted about recently.  See that blurred out Molly in the background?  Yep - my fancy lens at work :)

I hope you all had a splendid Thanksgiving and were as fortunate as I was to spend it with friends and family.  With a little one, it makes the Holidays far more enjoyable!

Take care,

LadyD

A Few Candids

The other day, I was just hanging out at home and I looked out the window.  Lo and behold - the lighting was A-MAZING - the whole sky was a blanket of clouds and it as like my own personal softbox from God.  I grabbed my gear and the closest people and took these shots:

I am so pleased with how these came out.

These two were so cooperateive

Doesn't she look awesome for a spur-of-the-moment shoot?

To date, these are some of my best portraits.  I hope to be doing many, many more in the future.

A Lovely Girl and a Derby Hat

Recently our company closed the office and took us out for a day at the horse races at Golden Gate Fields.  There are some other photos related to Golden Gate Fields that can be found HERE, but that's a separate post altogether.

This post is about a lovely girl and the stunning hat she was wearing.  My dear friend looked absolutely stunning.  She had on a brown dress and really lit up the event like Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman - you know, that scene where they're at the Polo game?  Anyway, she really did take first place, in my opinion, for best dressed.

I do appreciate my friend for being such a good sport and really being herself when I pointed the camera in her direction.  She really is as fun and classy of a gal as she looks!

While some of these may not be *technically* the most perfect shots, I really like this set and I hope my lovely friend will be a model for me again in the future!