She made my job easy...

Well, this had to be one of the the most enjoyable senior sessions I've done to date. She made my job easy - she is adorable and sweet, and knew how to pose for the camera. What more could I ask for! :)

She is working at a local camp this summer, so we had fun walking all over the camp to get some great shots...well, except for the daddy-long-leggers. I'm sure I left with some of those crawling in my hair... :)

Miss M - I really had such a hard time narrowing down your shots - there were so many that I loved! Here's a few "sneak peeks" for you until I get your gallery up!

Rule of Thirds

I had a question on my Facebook page as to what the Rule of Thirds is.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Akron-PA/CB-Portraits-Custom-Photograpy/18009662963

It's much easier to understand with pictures to visualize, so I'll post some here.

The rule of thirds is about training your mind as to where to position your subjects within the camera frame. Our natural instinct is to place them dead center with their head in the middle of the frame, because that's where our eyes naturally look. However, although this might be our natural habit, it isn't what is most pleasing to the eye. It's the sure sign of a "snapshot."

What you need to do to understand this is draw a rectangle (i.e. your camera screen) and then divide the rectangle into 9 equal rectangles by drawing two lines going down and two lines going across. The 4 intersecting points of these lines are what you use to align the subject in your photograph.

When looking through your camera lens, envision this grid and its intersecting points, and position the camera so your subject is placed on one of the points. In portrait photography, eyes are a big thing - so, for visual interest, I usually always place the subjects eyes on one of the intersecting points (or lines) of the imaginary grid. Try it! You will be surprised!

Notice the baby's eyes...


Notice the far shore line, the boat, and the couple...


Can you find the points of interest in these next two?

Family of Four

I really like family shoots because I enjoy trying to capture the personality of the family. This family was actually the winner of a session I donated to a silent auction benefiting our church's missions trips.

They were up for anything - which was great! I think they thought I was a little crazy sometimes - but it was fun! They are a neat family, and their love for each other shows through in their pictures. Here are a few favorites from the session.

Clayt & Laura

Clayt and Laura couldn't have picked a more beautiful day to get married! They got married on the lovely grounds of the Millport Conservancy. Courtney and I had a really great day with them!
These two were so funny - they weren't so much into the lovey dovey intimate moments, as they were the practical details of the day. They have been dating for a good amount of time, and I think they were just READY to be married.
Here's a touching moment we captured...


Laura was such a stunning bride!


The guys were good sports. Thanks for not dropping the camera Clayt! :)


This is Laura holding her adorable niece. The baby's parents are missionaries in Japan, so I think this was the first time everyone had met her.


Laura's dad and grandmother having a great time on the dance floor!


The cupcakes were delicious! I had to laugh when the DJ came over to us and said, "they are about ready to cut the cupcake!"


This last one is my favorite I think! Clayt and Laura, it is evident how much you love God and eachother. Thank you for letting us share this special day with you!

Love is in the Air

We had a great time visiting family on our recent vacation to Oregon. My cousin really wanted some pictures of her and her husband (and their very furry baby). So, I did a rather spontaneous shoot of them. It was fun - they were such good sports, and it was so evident how much they loved each other! Here's few...

To the West Coast and Back Again!

Well, my goal was to post a blog letting everyone know we were leaving on vacation, but that obviously didn't happen...as we are back now! :) We took a trip clear across the country to the West Coast to visit family in Washington and Oregon.
We had a great time! I was apprehensive about how our kids would do - but they really surprised me and did a great job. Here are a few pictures from our trip....

One reason we went was because my grandmother isn't doing well. I know she won't remember us b/c of her illness, but I'm glad we have pictures so my kids will always have the memory.


My cousin's son just couldn't stop giving my daughter hugs...it was so funny!


We really wanted the kids to say they have "touched the Pacific Ocean" - so we made sure to get to the beach while we were there. It was FREEZING outside unfortunately, so we didn't stay very long.


We visited the gorgeous Multnomah Falls with my aunt and her boys.




We drove around a lot on our vacation! Poor tired kids! :)


This picture isn't the greatest, but it is meaningful to me...I have a picture of me and my cousins together in the bathtub when we were this age...about 25 years ago!

Here's the latest little bundle I photographed. She had a rough start...I think she is going to be a very modest young lady, as she did not like her clothes off one bit! :) But she calmed down and then did great!

I had done mom's maternity shoot: http://bonnie-cbportraits.blogspot.com/2008/03/baby-bump.html

However, I wasn't expecting to do the baby pictures so soon. This little one decided to give her family a big scare. She was born via an emergency c-section, 4 weeks early, after the doctors realized the cord was wrapped around her neck with a large knot in it. And now, she's a perfect, little miracle with an amazing family to love her.