Jordyn's High School Senior Pictures

I'm finally getting around to getting these posted for you all to see, and I'm so thrilled to share them with you. Almost a month ago I had the privilege to take Jordyn's senion pictures.  You see, Jordyn's family have been friends with my family for many years. They're a fun bunch of people.

It pretty much all started when Jordyn's brother dated my sister.  That didn't last long, but bonds were built.  Or the times when she used to help us cater.  Or the times when both she and her mom used to help us cater.  Then she became this hot shot FFAer that always did super well at the May Day Fair.

Jordyn is beautiful.  And smart.  And sassy.  And ohmygosh her eyes are sososoSO blue!  It was fun goofing off with her and snapping a few pictures along the way.

Jordyn has excellent taste in clothes and accessories...aka jewelry!  (Although you don't get a peek at that since she opted to not change outfits).  Just about every time I see this gal she has some sort of bold necklace on, and she pulls it off every single time.  Me, well, I pull off jewelry awkwardly.

Jordyn, I look forward to many more years of friendship.  And I wish you all the best as you move on in life.  Good luck at MJC and where ever you choose to go from there.

Portraits: Vincent the Eagle Scout

I had the honor of photographing a co-worker's son.  He had recently completed the the steps, earned the badges and merits, and finished his project to become an Eagle Scout.  Vincent is such a good guy, with a giving personality, and a great sense of humor...just like his mom! 

We wanted a location with an outdoorsy feel, and well, in the middle of the valley it's hard to get that.  So we stuck to the waterfall area of CSUStan.  Too bad it was spring break, so the campus didn't have the waterfalls actually running.  Oh well, we made the most of it and took some great pictures.

Vincent, I wish you luck in all of your future endeavors.  You're an outstanding young man that will go far in life with the values you've learned during your boy scout/eagle scout days.

Portrait: Craig and his Camaro

A couple weeks ago, a new friend of mine, Craig, asked if I could take some pictures of him.  Of course I said yes.  Then I hesitated and wondered how in the world I would take pictures of both Craig and his car, together, without it being all about one or the other.

Here's the assignment:  The school he works for is gathering pictures of all the teachers reading their favorite book. 
Here's the catch:  Craig owns a brand new Camaro.  A Camaro that he had painted to look like Bumblebee from the movie Transformers.  And his principal insisted that Craig's picture be taken with the car.

We found a more "industrial" area of Turlock.  It works.  Bright, shiny new car vs. old, weathered corrugated building.

Fitting that he chose a book on camaros...

Then we took a little drive to Knights Ferry.  Unfortunately, this was about as close we could get to the old covered bridge and the old brick buildings.  And yes, I got to ride in that beast of a car.  Car sounds too wimpy for it though. 

The sky wasn't the prettiest that day.  But at least it wasn't raining like predicted...

How about some more "fine art" edits...

I like this one, but then I don't.  What do you think?

Similar to the one above, but different.  Thoughts?

So after a few hours and a nice little drive, Craig ended up with some pictures to choose from to give to the principal for the school project.  I wonder which one he chose...

*post note:  this was supposed to post last week! and apparently my draft/schedule system is a bit confused.

Johnson Family

I have fabulous friends!  I'm just gonna throw that out there right now.  My friends, Jenn and Anthony, asked if I could take a couple pictures of them with their "dogaughters" for their Christmas card.  Absolutely!

I only took about 20 pictures, so here's just a couple...

 They're pretty people.  And the dogs are cute too!

You know what Dakota thought of taking pictures...?

To see the full album click here.

Co-Worker's Kiddos

Operation get caught up on blogging beings NOW!  Sometime ago, in mid December, a co-worker asked if I'd be interested in taking pictures of her kiddos for their Christmas card.  Of course I'm interested!  She knows I'm working on breaking into the industry on the side.  So one Sunday late afternoon (after the sun went down) I met them at their house and started snapping away.

Being that little E is adopted, I'm keeping things anonymous for googling purposes.

This shoot posed a couple problem:  lighting and activity level of the kids.  Being that I took the pictures inside, the lighting wasn't the greatest because it isn't natural lighting.  And quite honestly, I don't know how to properly expose the camera for low lighting.  I really need to learn!  And the kids, as adorable as they are, are active.  At 2 1/2 and 2 (E is adopted and J is biological), it's hard to get them to sit still long enough for me to take a slow shuttle picture.  And it was difficult to get them to both look at me at the same time. 

But, despite the challenges, I'm happy with how they came out.  So are Mom and Dad to E&J.  And they paid me!  Score!

So without any further ado...  Little E & Little J...

How do you get kids to sit still?  Give them things to play with!

Mommy tickle monster helped with this picture.  Can you tell that J is scrunching his body up in "don't tickle me" defense?

Uh oh!  Watch out E, she's coming after you next!

Such fascination with the light up ginger bread house.

She is such a doll! 

E had a quick outfit change.  Only because her mom got her 2 Christmas dresses. 

Time for candy canes!

Can-ee.  That's how they said 'candy'. 

Candy = bone, E = doggy.  She woofed and all!

Aren't they adorable!?!

To see the full album click here.

Portrait: Pam for TID Super

Last weekend I had the privilege of photographing Pam Sweeten, who is running for a spot on the TID Board. You see though, Pam didn't just happen upon me or hear about me from a friend of a friend. Pam and I go way back. Like she used to babysit. It was just a few years ago though.

Anyways... So Pam is running for TID's District 5 spot on the Board of Directors. And she's gearing up into full campaign mode. And with campaign mode comes numerous printed items with her beautiful, warm smiling face.

Enters me... Amateur Photographer Extraordinaire!

Pam stands for and represents everything agriculture. And well, here in the Central Valley of California, we're surrounded by it. So we started out in an almond orchard, then walked across the country road to a corn field.
Moving down the road we found a great canal. Perfect! TID=Turlock Irrigation District. Kinda what canals are all about. So we took advantage of the flowing water and had a little fun.
After getting our feet wet, literally. Silly me, I wore flip flops, in the country, where there soil is fine and clings like no other. So yes, I rinsed off a little too. Off to find some different back drops around Turlock.

Like the TID Building...
And the City Building.

All in all it was a good time. I learned that I really need to work on posing. But with this particular shoot it was a bit challenging. How do you pose someone running for an office without it being a boring head shot? Oh well, we went with it.

To see more pictures of Pam click here.

Engagement: Danae & Adam

A few weeks ago I was the recipient of a "I'm ENGAGED! Adam proposed at Disneyland." text. After sending my congrats, via text of course, I followed up with "Can I take your engagement pictures?" Then I realized I stuck my foot in my mouth because I really don't know what I'm doing, but figured it would be good practice.

And I recruited a friend to join me in the picture taking/practice experience.

I admit. I was freaked out! You saw my pictures from Kaitlin, they came out pretty good. I was satisfied with them. But these people aren't family. I can't boss them around and punch them. Don't worry, I don't punch Kaitlin...often.

So Saturday came. I took pictures. Mandy did most of the posing (my weakness and where I need to become stronger). Look at what I captured on my camera worried me, I was sure that maybe out of 400+ pictures I only got a handful of good ones. Boy was I surprised (at myself) when I uploaded and reviewed them.

Take a look...

I love these shots along the stone wall.

Danae has an infectious laugh. And Adam makes her laugh. They were so stinkin' cute!
Danae, you'll be happy to know that I will not be posting the nose picking pictures.

Um... HELLO! Does this not scream romantic!?! This may be one of my favorite from the day!

A little black & white action. Such a sweet, tender embrace.

The lighting... love it!

Who says you can't have a little fun!

Yeah for props and outfit changes! Danae developed the love of baseball, particularly the Oakland A's. Fortunately, she found a fellow fan to spend the rest of her life with.

And to finish things off, a little smoochy smoochy as they ride off in the sunset...

I can't wait until the wedding in November!

To see more pictures from Danae & Adam click here.
I have 2 more pictures to add. They are in my "upload to flickr que". Stay tuned...