Mario and Henry had a photo together from Henry's birthday (his REAL birth-day) that remains one of my favorites. Mario was holding Henry in a quiet moment, just looking at his new son's features by the window. It still makes me cry. So, when I saw Mario and Henry in front of another window today, I couldn't resist. It was such a perfect moment yet again. Mario and Henry now have TWO of my favorite photos...

Nolan, you might remember his Sweet Cheeks session from awhile back. Well, he just turned one year old and I was lucky enough to get to hear his laughs again. I swear, he remembered me. I just know it, because he was all smiles despite missing his afternoon nap. Jill, here's a sneak peek at his sweet cheeks again (I was seeing how many "ee" words I could fit in one sentence).

This post is mostly for my fellow photographers and blog stalkers...but others might be interested too. Like politics, the internet is full of debates on which style of photography is the best way. I had some great conversations about photographic style at this weekend's wedding, which got me to thinking about *my* style. My favorite photos are of emotions. Emotions (at least the true ones) don't come out of people when they are awkward, stiff or uncomfortable. So, in every way, I would say that the success of my photos depends on my abilities to get someone to relax, especially when that dreaded big black camera is pointed in their direction. So, I guess that's what I would consider the first component my style. The second phase comes in the actual picture taking with things like shutter speed, aperture, flashes, etc. I try to use as little equipment as possible with one purpose in mind. I believe the less "stuff" I have around me when I take a photo, the more relaxed people will be...it's less intimidating when there's no lightstands, reflectors, boom arms, etc. Of course, there are situations where I have to use a flash...and I do. BUT, in general, I will try to avoid it for as long as possible. The last phase comes in taking that photo and making it special with post-processing. I actually use two programs for all my editing; Photoshop CS3 and Lightroom (beta 2 version). Between the two programs, everything you see about my photos is usually done in about 30 seconds to 5 minutes per photo. Longer if the kids are pulling at me to do something for them :) So...what kind of edits do I do before most people even see the photo? Here's a rare look behind the scenes of an edit...I actually remembered to stop and save the in-between steps. Straight out of the camera, this is what the photo looks like. It was extremely overcast this particular day. I had Kristin lit with a mini-softbox (just had to use a flash due to the overcast, dark skies), but also because in this particular case it was for formal bridal portraits which are traditionally not all about emotions...so a little bit different than my usual shooting style. I kept it deliberately underexposed just a little bit so I didn't lose any details in her delicate dress and veil. Then, I did some edits to "warm" up the photo a bit, added a lot of contrast, and desaturated it too. Some corner darkening was also applied to add a little vignette. Her face was brightened just a touch to highlight her beautiful face. Next, I did a little skin smoothing and brightened the whites of the eyes just a touch. It's really starting to look nice now! Final touches are optional. In this case, I added some texture layers to the image to add warmth and interest. And one other mystery edit, if you can guess what it was...you win a gold star! The final editing is taking the tilted horizon out of the background...just to make it a nice and clean. And one more fully edited shot of Kristin and Shawn to show off that awesome sky we had to work with!

While I was in San Diego last weekend, I visited Don and M.E...M.E. is one of my aunt's best friends. Before meeting her, I knew I was already jealous of the time that M.E. gets to spend with my aunt doing nice things like lunches, going to the gym, kids' soccer games, and such. I know that M.E. is getting to hear my aunt's laughter, her funny quips, and on some great occasions she gets to eat my aunt's INCREDIBLE cooking. But, now that I've gotten to hang out with M.E., I can understand the friendship and now I'm just plain jealous of both of them. It's people like them that make it hard for me to be away from San Diego and my family and friends.

Tillery was born yesterday.  A perfect 7 lbs, 5 oz.  Soft, slightly reddish hair.  An affinity for being swaddled and held.  And, these incredible sweet little feet.