Sit, Stay, Good Dog!

I recently met up with Sona and her human for a portrait session at their home.

Sona is a gorgeous golden retriever with a sweet personality and a great doggy grin.

Sona was a great example of a fun dog… she was well behaved (though really didn’t understand why she couldn’t just flop with her rear end at the camera) and she gave us a fun range of expressions too!

 

Dan & Angelica: Engaged!

Way back at the end of May I photographed Dan & Angelica’s engagement pictures at the beach, and just now realized I never blogged them!

Which is horrible, as I loved their images.

However, as we’ve just completed their Wedding Guestbook/Photo Album from the session this means I can blog some of the design pages too, so it all works out!

Dan & Angelica are getting married in Hawaii this September.  Luckies!

Also, Click on over to the Carlson Photography Facebook Page to see their session slideshow!

 

Hair Clips Galore!

Recently, at a local photographer meet-up, I learned how to make beautiful flowered hair clips and headbands for portraits (and for all occasions of feeling pretty!)

Despite a second degree glue gun burn to my left thumb (thank goodness I’m right handed!) I’m now hooked on the crafting art of hairbows.  Within days of the meet-up I went out and purchased the basics of hairbow crafting, and now I’m making flowered hair clips embellished with rhinestones, pearls, buttons, and more… and I’m saving my favorites for portrait session use!

 

Tiny Newborn Girls

Alexis and Emily were tiny when they were born; just 5lbs 2 oz and 3lbs 12oz.  But every little bit of them is adored by big sister Isabella & Mommy & Daddy.

I came to their home when they were just 3 weeks old (and still tiny!) for their portrait session.  Both babies fed, started drifting off, and then got the hiccups! It was another 30 minutes and another feed, burp, and diaper change before they were calmed down and sleeping happily and ready to go.

But once they were ready, it was photo time!

Val Weaver Dance 2011

Another year, another amazing show!

July 8 & 9 was the Val Weaver Dance Center‘s annual Recital and it was an inspired showcase of tap, jazz, ballet, Irish, & hip hop.

Great music that sticks in your head combined with stellar choreography, fun costumes and dancers excited to showcase how hard they’ve worked (and how much they’ve learned) since last year…

The full gallery of images is available in the online proofing shopping center, but here’s a few favorites!

My Weekend with TAoPaN

Photo Courtesy of Kelly Ross Photography; West Springfield, MA

This past weekend was The Art of Pregnancy & Newborn Photography workshop with Ana Brandt in Tustin, CA. I was on staff for this two day extravaganza in which 50 other photographers from across the US (and some from Canada) came to learn about the details that go into perfecting Pregnancy & Newborn imagery.

Day one was lecture and then pregnancy hands-on work with several mommies to be who came in to help us out. For the afternoon photography work, I constructed 4 different studio set-ups that could run simultaneously in the shooting area. Each mini studio had their own backdrop and lights and the photographers were able to move from station to station quickly in order to minimize down time.

Photo courtesy of Artful Images by Nancy; Bend, OR

Here’s a video clip from day one that I managed to snag… click here to view on the Facebook page.

Day two was newborns, and I modified the sets with some new mini backdrops and we brought up a lot of fun props and hats and blankets for everyone to work with. I spent most of the afternoon helping pose the sleeping infants and showing photographers how to set up the poses while soothing the little ones to sleep.  With that many photographers and that much going on, there was no time for me to shoot too, but I’m showcasing a few images of poses & sets that I created for the students to photograph.

Photo Courtesy of Kelly Ross Photography; West Springfield, MA

Photo Courtesy of Mia Clara Photography; San Diego, CA

Photo Courtesy of Marseilles Photography; Central Coast, CA

That evening we headed to the beach, which was high, high tide and suddenly cold and overcast. It was sunny when we left the studio… but that didn’t stop us!  We found the only dry spot on the beach and released the children… I moved from group to group  helping with setting adjustments (the beach is a whole new set of light and contrast conditions!) and getting them started with posing ideas.  Of course, being the true professionals they are, their finished images look like it was a bright & sunny day!

Photo Courtesy of Cactus Sun Studio,  Edmonton, Alberta (Canada)/Sedona, AZ

It was a great way to close down the workshop, just hanging out en masse at a signature California location and photographing for the fun of it… and saying goodbye to the new friends and colleagues we normally only see online in the TAOPAN members forum.

So there you have it! 21 hours of photography in 48 hours… it was intense, exhausting, and oh so rewarding to be a part of the TAOPAN experience.

Group Photo! I’m not there… I shot this one. Thanks for lending me your camera Judy Shanahan :)