LATE POST - Happy 6th Birthday, DJ Baby!

For some reason, this post didn't post when it was supposed to so it is a week late...

-------------------

My big baby boy is 6. Isn’t there a way to slow their growing down? I’m still scrapbooking his first year so it’s not possible that he is 6!!!

When I told him it was his 6th birthday photo shoot time, he was excited and couldn’t wait to get started. I was shocked, but ecstatic that he was so willing.

We headed to the backyard while Cody napped and got some great shots.

He was such a willing participate and in 10 minutes we were done! =) I am happy with what we got. This is the first time in a long time that he wasn’t in a hurry for the session to end! Thanks, buddy! =)

He is goofy like his mommy! =)

Of course, a birthday can’t go by without a picture with the blue bear. To see previous years, check last year’s post.

Happy Birthday baby boy! You are such a smart, young boy and you make your mom and dad so proud of you. WE LOVE YOU BABY BOY!!!!!!

Meet Dawsen

I had the wonderful opportunity to photograph this beautiful newborn, Dawsen.

I know you can’t tell by his pictures, but yes, he is still a fairly new baby. Just barely over a month old. I see a football career in his future. =)

Dawsen is an amazingly mellow baby. When I arrived, he was quietly napping.

Doesn’t his smile just melt your heart? I always wonder what babies are thinking about when they smile in their sleep. 

(I think it is appropriate to put a disclaimer here – MRS Photography cannot be held responsible for any feelings of “baby envy”. Should you find yourself longing for a baby please consult your partner. =) With that said let’s move on. LOL)

Isn’t he just the sweetest??????

Dawsen is so lucky to have a big sister like Adlih. It is obvious just how much she loves her little brother. From her sweet little kisses on his forehead to the way she just can’t be away from him for too long.  Dawsen, I hope that you will realize just how lucky you are to have a loving big sister like Adlih.

Really…how sweet can one little baby be????

TOES! 

I am amazed at just how strong this little guy is. He has been holding his head up since just a couple days after birth. GO DAWSEN!

This is my absolute favorite from his session!!! Doesn’t it just make your heart smile????

Thank you, Adlih and Dawsen, for allowing me into your lives that day. It was great to start my day with two cuties like you!!!

Workshop Assignment

I have said it many times before…my children are definitely the hardest for me to photograph. I think it is because they are so used to having a camera in front of them that they are growing tired of it….NAH! =)

One of our assignments before the workshop was to photograph a subject for 15-20  minutes and list what came easy and what didn’t come easy.

Because DJ was in school, I chose Cody for this assignment.

He had woken up grumpy and characteristic of his new 3 year old behavior, he wanted nothing to do with my camera.

These are all SOOC (straight out of the camera) so the lighting is not optimum. BUT I do like how it kind of reflects the mood that he was in.

 

He is signing for milk here. =)

 

As angry as he is at me, isn’t this such a sweet face?

Even when he’s mad he’s cute… 

And then he got tired of me and just left. =) Ah…to be 3 again!!!!

Portrait Session Special

I am still on a high from my Me Ra Koh Workshop weekend and I want to share my enthusiasm with you!!!

So…until July 10th….

If you have never had a portrait session with MRS Photography, but have always wanted to have one (you know you do! LOL), this is your chance for a great savings!

The first THREE " *new* families or individuals to contact me and book a session in July will receive a special rate of $50 for a one hour session! That’s right, HALF OFF a ONE HOUR session (am I starting to sound like an infomercial?).  Your session will include:

• 1 hour portrait session for up to 4 people
• Location of your choice
• Online Viewing of Your Images for up to 2 weeks
• $25 Print Credit

SOOOOO…email me at mrsphotography@gmail.com and if you are one of the first three families or individuals, you get to take advantage of this huge discount!

Existing customers, don’t shut the blog down yet…(Now, do I sound like an infomercial? I’m going for the Oxy Clean Billy Mays feel here! LOL)

If you contact me before July 10th AND schedule your session for before July 31st, you will receive a 20% discount off your portrait session.

This is a great chance to get those “summer” pictures in with your awesome tans and sun-highlighted hair! =)

Contact me to schedule your session today!

mrsphotography@gmail.com
707-439-3702

I Shot in MANUAL!!!

That’s right! I learned how to shoot in manual mode!!! I have been an AV shooter for awhile  now so Manual was outside my knowledge zone. Actually, I just was intimidated by it and didn’t think I could conquer it. I came, I saw, I conquered. =) 

For the 2nd day of the workshop, we went outdoors for a family session.

While watching MeRa demonstrate how to photograph a family of 7 (yes, 7), I happened to look to my right and saw this tender image of a father and his daughter. (They were also one of the model families for the day).

This gorgeous little guy is MeRa and Brian’s little one, Blaze. Isn’t he just adorable?

We were separated into 4 groups and each had our own family to shoot.

I was ECSTATIC when I was assigned to MeRa and Brian’s kids, Pascaline and Blaze.  These two are such naturals in front of the camera and made it comfortable for us to take pictures of them.

They each have such different personalities, but the interaction between them is admirable. I love the “love” big sister has for her baby brother.

As if trying to shoot in manual, metering light and photographing your instructors’ children weren’t a challenge, we also photographed MeRa and Brian with the children.

How do you photograph one of your idols without being nervous?

The answer was to just keep shooting!!! =)

Their family dynamics was refreshing. You could feel their love for one another and see how much fun they all have together.

Blaze striking a pose…

Hey Blaze, give me your meanest Batman look and pose!

Superheroes in the making…

  

Thank you, Pascaline and Blaze, for being such great teachers during this photo session! You guys ROCK!!!!!

What Are You Feeling Today?

Day 3 was THE single most powerful day of the entire trip. 

We started our morning by writing about how we felt at that moment. I don’t like to show my feelings so this was different. I used to keep a journal and write about my feelings, but abandoned that long ago when life became busier.

Oddly, the feelings were flowing so easily onto the paper and I found myself tearing as I wrote.

MeRa and Brian invited us to share what we wrote. A couple of the ladies shared their feelings and had us tearing because we could see ourselves in their feelings.

I REALLY did not want to share what I wrote so I didn’t volunteer. Then I remembered what my friends, Sharon and Carrie (previous workshop attendees), told me about being open and getting outside of my box and comfort zone.

So with tears streaming down my face…I shared. It was a bit uncomfortable to expose myself to women I hardly knew, but when I looked up to see others crying, it reminded me that I was not alone in my insecurities, my fears, my search for my identity other than someone’s mom and someone’s wife.

When you feel these insecurities and fears, it is hard to believe that others feel that way, too. These women helped me to realize I was not alone and that they had the same insecurities, fears and identity conflicts as I did.

For the first time in awhile, this workshop had given me the opportunity to be “Michelle” for a few days. I don’t remember the last time I had that identity. I love being a stay at home mom, but at the same time, I feel like I lost some of my identity when I stopped working full-time. 

I think this was the turning point for me in the workshop when I felt a sisterhood amongst us.

The rest of the day, although our last day together at the workshop, was AMAZINGLY powerful. We had a confidence in us that you can feel and smell. The writing exercise helped us get in touch with our inner feelings and I could feel the excitement, confidence and hope in everyone.

Thank you, MeRa, Brian and my Seattle Sistas, for helping me to rediscover Michelle, for building a new excitement for my photography business, for helping me gain just that much more confidence in my skills, for listening to my “feelings”.

It has been over a week since the workshop and not a day goes by that I don’t think about that weekend. It was more than just a photography workshop. It was therapy! =)

To make this feeling continue….I’m going to save pictures from Workshop Day 2 for another day….. =)

Me Ra Koh Workshop Trip – Day Two

In my last post, I forgot to mention the cool menus that were in my hotel room. I’m not talking about the room service menu either. I am talking about…

The Pillow Menu…YES…really, there was a pillow menu!

And the Spiritual Menu…

This was the day I had been waiting for. The first day of the workshop!!!!

We were greeted with Me Ra Koh Workshop tote bags with goodies and this beautiful folder.  (As a scrapbooker, I LOVED this handmade folder.)

After a few hours of learning, we had our first model shoots. There were 4 mothers there with their babies.

The group I was with were assigned a baby, mother and father. The baby was only 6 weeks old and as adorable as could be!

We first got to enjoy watching MeRa do her thing!

I was as nervous as could be. Indoor lighting is something I am still learning and the lighting in the museum was pretty challenging.

Although I had doubts on what I had captured, I was pleasantly surprised to see some images that I really liked.

Baby Finley just had THE sweetest face. The little guy did great considering he had a bunch of strange women circling him with our cameras! =)

Aren’t his cheeks just tooooo adorable?

This is my favorite image from the session. You can feel their admiration and pride for their new baby.

Thank you for being our models that day. You guys were so patient!!!

I’m Famous!

Well, not really.

BUT Me Ra Koh did post a blog entry about the workshop and the Seattle Sistas (that’s us, ladies!) and I am in both pictures.   Considering she has had over 350,000 hits on her site, I think that qualifies me as being famous, right? =)

Visit Me Ra's blog to check out the post.

Me Ra Koh Workshop Trip – Day One

If I could pick one phrase to describe my weekend at the Me Ra Koh workshop, it would be “life changing”. The workshop did not just focus on photography, but it also helped us discover the artists within us. I honestly didn’t even know I had an artist inside me!!!

Instead of bombarding you with images from the entire weekend, I will do a post for each day. =)

This was the first time I had left my family behind in a year so I was nervous and sad to be  leaving them, but excited and nervous about the weekend. I was meeting one of my photography “idols”, Me Ra and Brian, and going to spend the weekend with 17 women that I did not know (but came to admire tremendously).

While flying into Tacoma, I was shocked to find snow on the mountain tops still. It is June, right?

From the outside, the hotel wasn’t too exciting. It looked like a “pretty” hotel, but when I walked in, I was WOWED!

This was the entry

This chandelier was overhead the check-in area

THEN I went to my room and instead of getting settled in, I grabbed my camera to take pictures of everything. To say the room was beautiful is an understatement.

The first thing you see when you walk in is the bathroom…

 

(note…this is the same sink and faucet we have at this house! LOVE IT)

 

The bedroom area was amazing (warning – you will hear me use this word A LOT when it comes to describing the weekend!)…

 

My most FAVORITE part of my room were the glass lamps! They were lit inside as well and put off a beautiful glow.

When I checked in they asked if I wanted a mountain view. Of course, I said. And although I didn’t see any mountains, the view was of a redesigned and beautiful downtown Tacoma.

That evening we had a meet and greet at MeRa and Brian’s home. Brian kept us in stitches and my stomach hurt from all the laughter! Thank you MeRa, Brian, Pascaline and Blaze for welcoming us into your home!

That evening was our first chance to meet our fellow workshop attendees and it was an instant connection between everyone.

I was too busy enjoying myself so I didn’t take pictures that night. =)

When I returned to my hotel room, I was greeted by the most beautiful sight. The room was dark except for the beautiful light coming from the glass lamp. And they must have known my favorite color was pink because it gave off a pink glow. =)

I can’t wait to share the rest of my weekend with you…