And then I realized something about my photography. About how much joy and gratitude play a role in it. About how, if you cannot find joys in the simplicity of life, you cannot capture them with your camera.

You see, I am a joy junkie. In my shoots, I want to find that joy. I want to get that moment when you let down your guard and let me in and share with me. I crave that.

And I believe that for you to do well with photography {or your other ventures}, you will also need to seek out that joy. You will need to appreciate the small gifts and be patient enough to wait for the big ones. Once you are able to do that, you can relax and let yourself feel those moments. It is hard to describe this feeling, but try it sometime. Try to feel the joys in the task in front of you and I think that your work will change. And so might your life {big statement to throw in at the end of a paragraph, I know}.

I know that you may want some technical advice by now in these shop talks. You know, talk about lenses and light and Photoshop and printing, but that will have to wait for now. Because while these things are incredibly important, learning how to not worry about them is important too.

And just to share two of my joys with you, here are Bella and Abe. Can you feel their joy?

How I got this shot? This is called “panning” and is all about your shutter speed {and patience}. I first determined the correct shutter speed for how much background movement I wanted. Too fast a shutter speed, and the background would not show enough blur. Too slow, and the elements would not have been recognizable. So, play with the shutter speed and check the viewfinder on the back of your camera to determine your personal preference. I was at 1/60 here.

Then you want to be sure that all of your subject is in focus, and that your aperture is not too wide. I was at a 9.5 here. I am never at a 9.5 {I like a very narrow depth of field – i.e. very blurry backgrounds}. However, in this case, I knew that the motion would give me the blur that I needed so I didn’t worry about that. Plus, the swing was moving around so much that I needed to have a very large focal plane so I could catch the kids in focus no matter where the swing took them.

Once you have all of that determined, you then need to move with the subject. Yes, you need to pan! I planted my feet and body so that I would face their resting position directly from the side {Does that make any sense?}. Then when Luke swung them, I kept my feet planted and moved my camera with the kids at their speed.

Finally, you need to take lots of shots. I took over 50 of them swinging to get this one good one. This was especially tricky because you have two kids to look good and have their eyes open and you have a swing that spins, so sometimes I would get a shot of their backs. Remember that whole patience bit?:)

Good luck…

I read so many books and blogs and websites and sometimes all the information was too much to process. I was so overwhelmed with conflicting opinions and people telling me something because they had their own motivations.

The more I dug, the better I wanted to become. I didn’t want to be the type of photographer who does cheap work and doesn’t care. I wanted to get better. I still want to get better.

I know that some of you are like me.

Yesterday my family and I were out enjoying the beautiful snow-melting weather when a woman approached us saying that she reads my blog. {I was beyond flattered!} After some chatting I learned that she herself loves photography and strives to improve her skills. As I love tech talk and helping people, we decided to set up a time to have a play date with our kids and talk shop.

And I decided to do something on my blog that I have thought of for a long time. I decided that I want to start talking shop with you too. Not because I am better than any of you. Not because I have all the right answers. Not because I am so wise that the world would be missing something if I did not post these blogs.

Just because it might help someone out there. Just because I enjoy sharing what I have learned.

So, my next shop talk blog post will be about never putting your camera away until the very end. Not simply the end – but the VERY end. You will see what I mean…

And the images of Megan and Ben’s engagement session were beautiful. 

Of course, as their photographer I will take some of the credit for the beauty of these images. I work hard. However there is the big beauty in these images that comes directly from Megan and Ben. It is in their joy to be with each other. It is in the comfort of their touch. In the sparkle of their eyes.  The clutching of their hands. They have such joyful easy laughter that shines through in their images, and that makes them beautiful. And…their good looks certainly help too!

It was an absolute joy to photograph Megan and Ben. They are so full of kisses and laughter. They are true naturals in every way – with the camera, with me, and most importantly, with each other. 

I am so excited to photograph their big day in August! Does your dress have a pocket for tissues, Megan?

Aren’t they a good-looking couple? They will have some beautiful babies together someday (that one was for you, Ben!)?

No shortage of affection between them…

Megan happens to live next to one of my favorite hang outs. If you have not eaten at Broder’s, then you are really missing out in life. It is one of their favs too so we had to include it…

And of course we also had to hit up the bridge where Ben proposed. How romantic…

My favorite image of the day…

Megan’s daughter, Abigail, joined in on the fun too! To see her excitement for the day and her love for her mom and Benny were touching to say the least…

Abigail loved this worm (and the two others that she found during the shoot)! She was excitedly chatting about taking them home as her new pets. She wasn’t so excited, however, when I suggested she put one on her nose (everyone has their limits I guess). A little patience and persistence and we had success. Of course afterward, this was the shot she was telling people about! 

And then when you open your eyes, you will see the reality – it’s a construction project. Holes in the ceiling for track lighting. Ladders. Painting supplies. A broom and shopvac. The incredible smelling soaps still on the backdrop after yesterday’s shoot. You are in a place where you will be taken care of and should leave feeling better than you came, but it is not a super fancy space…yet! 

Everything has a reality.

Like my broken lens. During yesterday’s shoot, I heard a loud bang in the other room and quickly went to check on my kids. But not before setting my camera and favorite lens down too close to the edge of the backdrop. When I heard the thud of my camera hitting the floor and turned to see shattered glass everywhere, I nearly had a breakdown!

Instead of crying, I called my dad. Then I called National Camera. Then I went to National Camera – and found a wonderful reality. I didn’t break my lens. I broke the filter on my lens! Yes, the $22 filter that every camera salesperson recommends you buy to keep on your lens at all times to protect it. National Camera said that my filter took the force of the blow and that my lens and camera body seemed fine. I have yet to use them, but I am optimistic! 

I hate to keep giving out advice, but seriously folks, when the salesperson at the camera store tries to sell you a filter for your new lens – BUY IT! I want your reality to be a good one too.

One more note: When I mentioned walking into my office with your eyes closed, I didn’t really mean that you should close your eyes and walk places. My son tried closing his eyes and running yesterday (ah the mind of an almost two-year-old!) and missed running into a pole by a hair. Yup, keep your eyes open!

It was painful to take this image. The white flecks are bits of glass…

One of my product shoots of the day. It is a living will program and my client said that I can keep the product after the shoot. When I realized that I actually probably do need something like this, I must admit that it made me feel a tad bit old! Wills and life insurance and all that stuff are necessary (especially when you have kids), but actually thinking about it doesn’t fit the girl in her 20s that I still think I am!

My other product shoot of the day – simplyneutral’s new soaps (the fun shoot that made my office smell like a dream)! I love these new soaps! They made me feel more the age I think I am.

Please forgive my lack of posts. I have no excuse other than home construction and sick kids. You see, when my little Abe threw up at the dinner table over Mother’s Day weekend when my husband was out of town, I took the night off. And when my computer has been moved all over the house to temporary offices (I am now typing this in my dining room), I was not very productive. And I hope that you can understand and laugh and roll your eyes with me and know that this is just temporary. That soon I will be back to my old self, because that’s how us blog buddies should be! 

I will, however, leave you with a little sneak peek now. Just to assure you that I am on my way back to the blog road.

Enjoy this little sneak peek of the oh-so-cute-and-in-love Megan and Ben’s engagement shoot. These might be some of my favorite two of the day. I know that I should build up to my favs, but I am not that patient!

More to come soon!