I have to share a little secret with you all, when I schedule a day of mini sessions like this I get so incredibly nervous before the big day. I worry that I’ll have a major camera malfunction right before the first client shows up or maybe all of the sudden neither of my cameras will turn on! Oh gosh, maybe I’ll run out of funny things to say or worse yet my brain will suddenly stop functioning altogether and I’ll have a creative meltdown with no ideas flowing between my head and my camera. I know, I know, it sounds silly but having so many different little personalities to work with during such a short time, one right after the other… *whew* it’s scary! Of course the moment I pick up my camera and start playing around with the children all of that fades away. I think that’s how I know I’m doing what I was meant to do, being a photographer I mean. I absolutely love being in the moment, making little faces light up and capturing those perfect moments in time.

I’d also like to take a moment to publicly thank Kelly, my wonderful assistant. GIRL, YOU ROCK! Thank you SO much for all your help! She was right beside me the entire time – melting in the heat, grabbing gear as needed, holding massive scrims over her head to keep the sunlight hitting where I wanted it to be and not where I didn’t. Not to mention having to be my comedic side kick for a few of the tougher nuts to crack. <grin>

When I wasn’t barking orders and making her hold large awkward things over her head for extended periods of time I let her play with my back up camera a little bit to capture some of the behind the scenes fun. I thought you might get a kick out of some of the strange spots I end up in trying to get ‘the shot’.

…like in the middle of a stream on a 12 inch rock…

… or peeking out from behind the bushes to surprise you (yeah, I’m tricky like that sometimes) …

… I think the end result is worth it though …

… some little ones just show up to the party full of smiles and ready to go …

Don’t I have the most beautiful clients? <sigh> Stay tuned to the blog, more sneak peeks are coming soon!

We’d like to interrupt your regularly scheduled blog surfing for a little tooting of our own horn…

Lifexpressions Photography has been selected for the 2009 Best of Fort Myers Award in the Photography category by the U.S. Commerce Association (USCA).

The USCA “Best of Local Business” Award Program recognizes outstanding local businesses throughout the country. Each year, the USCA identifies companies that they believe have achieved exceptional marketing success in their local community and business category. These are local companies that enhance the positive image of small business through service to their customers and community.

THANK YOU! I am honored.

I knew the session would be a challenge given the ages of the boys and the lack of duct tape in my camera bag. Luckily this Mom & Dad are two of the most wonderfully patient, calm, take-it-as-it-comes type of parents I have ever met. They don’t need, or necessarily want, some unattainable “perfect” family portrait. You know the kind where everyone sits like little angels and smiles for the camera on cue. That’s fiction! Life with two toddlers (soon to be three) is messy! They’re loud, they don’t stay in one place for more than a millisecond, and <gasp> dare I say it, they’re sometimes whiny. But oh gosh are they ever cute and if you take a deep breath, let them be who they are and let me capture that for you – you might just find yourself with a true portrait of a family in love. I’d like to dedicate the first two shots I’m sharing to wonderfully patient Mommy and those of you who email me thinking I just walk in the room and everything magically comes to order and the scene practically sets itself. Trust me, it ain’t always easy – but it sure is funny!

Mom and Dad seem to understand that with love, laughter and occasionally suffering through The Doodlebops together, they can survive all things.

It was just one week after our session together this family was dealt one of life’s most difficult hands. Their unborn child has been diagnosed with hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a very rare type of congenital heart disease which will require several surgeries throughout his young life, the first of which he will undergo at just one week old. Now that you’ve learned a little about this very special family, please take a moment to stop by their blog to offer your prayers and support as they make their way through this very difficult time.

Happy Sunday! We had such a fabulous time during the Festival of Lights celebration in downtown Fort Myers last night. The photo series above was taken while we waited (sometimes not so) patiently for the parade to start. It seems my daughter has entered a ‘Take my picture Mommy!” phase which, after 3 years of bribing and whining, is totally ok with me. Heck, even her silly cheeseball faces are welcomed and encouraged!

The 5K runners were seriously impressive. I was crouched down near the finish line watching the runners round their final corner, I admire their stamina, I don’t think I could do it!

Runner 261, you look entirely too happy to have just ran 4+K, I’m thinking maybe that smile is because you see the finish line over my head. *giggle* Lookin’ good ladies and gentlemen, congratulations to all! Don’t worry, somehow I managed to avoid getting run over.

Little Livie spent much of her time stuck to Papa like glue. Everyone who knows me, knows that I’m an emotional person, I think you almost have to be to do what I do. But seeing my Daddy hold my baby girl always makes me mushy.

After some exploration of the local crafts being sold and displayed it was (in the words of my 8 yr old) FINALLY time for the parade to start. It really wasn’t that long but at 8 years old 20 minutes seems like a lifetime!

The police motorcycle stunts were amazing! You could feel the wind from the bikes brush against you as they criss crossed and made their way down the street. Great show guys! I wish I had more photos of your stunts but you were just too fast to focus on in the dark! I did however catch this dare devil coasting down the street. You sir, seriously impressed my youngest boy – shame on you! That child does not need any encouragement! *giggle*I added a little vintage touch to the image, it looks like something right out of an old newspaper.

Being the impatient mother that I am, I finally got tired of sitting there waiting to see my own son come marching down the street so I did what any other mother would do. I tracked him down and embarassed him by taking his picture in front of all of his friends. *giggle* I know, I’m evil aren’t I? Even though this is his 5th year in band, this was his first time joining in with the marching band and he looked so handsome, so ya see, I just had to! Totally justified if I do say so myself.

One final note for my photographer friends, the 5D Mark II totally rocked my world last night! All the parade images were captured long after sunset using just my trusty 5D markII, my 50mm 1.4, and the available street lighting. For referance, the image of my son in uniform was shot at 1/125@f2.8 ISO 6400 with just one street light behind me to illuminate his face a bit. Rock on Canon, you know I love you!!

The sun managed to make it’s way behind a few clouds as I was shooting which opened up a rare opportunity for me to capture a few shots of the family with the old lighthouse in the background. Normally the sun is right next to the lighthouse and much to bright to be suitable for portraits (unless of course I was working with a team of assistants and had those portable strobes I’ve been eying *hint*hint*). Today I had the pleasure of working with a very a lovely family vacationing all the way from Canada. While we were chatting I learned that tomorrow is actually Mom’s birthday!! So, happy birthday Mom! I hope you enjoy this little sneak peek into our session, the girls were delightful! I can’t wait to share the rest of the images with you all!

So, I’m sharing a quick one today, this little guy is Adrian. He recently visited the Naples area for his first birthday. Now obviously he brought the family along with him, but I’ll share more of them later. Mom swears up and down this little guy wasn’t enjoying the beach at all in the days prior to our session. In fact, if I remember correctly there was mention of tears and meltdowns as soon as the toes hit the sand. Well, let’s just say that was NOT the case when I arrived that day. In fact, I’d say this little man thought the sand was de·li·cious! *snicker*

This is one of those shots that when you first look at it you can’t help but to giggle out loud. You know, the kind of giggle that sneaks up on you and makes you snort when you laugh. Yea, that kind of funny!

Ok, just one more because he’s so stinkin’ cute! I need a caption for this one. Something that reads, “Who me? I didn’t eat the sand, honest!”

I purchased this fun little Sigma 15mm fisheye lens back in December (tax write off ya know) and I hadn’t had a chance to play with it even once until today. Some of my friends might even call that lens neglect and call in the CPS (Camera Protective Services). ha ha I have to admit, I’ve been spoiled by my Canon L glass to this point so I wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from the Sigma line and the fisheye aspect was totally new to me. New toys are great for pushing me to try new perspectives and reaching a bit farther artistically. They challenge me to look at the setting in a new way and I love a good challenge!!

I’ll start with these lively, slightly distorted and completely adorable shots of the little water baby…

It’s a big, big world little girl!

And a more traditional style image of sweet Berkly for Mommy and Daddy…

Photo above © Design Focus Studio of California

I’m home from California! First let me say, brrrrrrrrrr - That’s a Florida girl’s first impression of San Francisco, though I hear they’re expecting a heat wave this week, I was freeeeezing! Cold weather aside, I was so happy to spend time with a few dear friends that I don’t get to see often nearly enough. We had a ton of fun, photographic evidence has been included for your viewing pleasure. The One Light Workshop was a fantastic learning experience, teaching me a few new skills and helping me discover ways to improve current ones. Today I am behind the desk working hard to finish proofs for a few very patient clients, until then, I hope you’ll enjoy this fun look at San Francisco from the perspective of a few nutty photographers.

Below I’ll introduce my photographer friends {aka: the enablers} Left to right: Connie Groah of Barefoot Photography, Pam Biasotti of Pam Biasotti Photography and Theresa Stanton of Design Focus Studio.

“In The Box” © 2008 Barefoot Photography of Maryland

Yeah, I guess you could say we’re a wild bunch – but we always manage to make people smile – that’s a good thing!
“I See The Light” © 2008 Pam Biasotti Photography of California

Lovin’ that sun flare Pam! I didn’t know I had such long legs either, dang, how cool is that?!

]]> http://lifexpressions.net/blog/terrilyn_naples_florida_photographer/im-baaack/feed/ 1 http://lifexpressions.net/blog/naples-fort-myers-family-photographer/one-tough-cookie/ http://lifexpressions.net/blog/naples-fort-myers-family-photographer/one-tough-cookie/#comments Fri, 04 Apr 2008 22:41:25 +0000 Terrilyn http://lifexpressions.net/blog/2008/04/04/one-tough-cookie/ Meet sweet little Lila – awe, isn’t she a beauty!? Lila was visiting Naples (with her Mommy & Daddy of course). The morning of the session she welcomed me, almost immediately, with a big smile. So I thought to myself, “Self – this is going to be a breeze!” Ha – famous last words! It seemed as though the sight of the camera made that sweet smile disappear. I’d put the camera down, she’d laugh and giggle, I’d pick it up and get this -

Oh yes, it is a perfectly beautiful expression but I knew she had this really cute smile hiding in there and I was determined to catch it. Especially considering the fact that they had traveled to the area and would be heading home soon. At one point Mom leaned over and said, “Grandpa’s going to meet us here, he always makes her laugh.” Well, Grandpa arrived alright – with reinforcements!

Mom emailed this photo to me after our session, do you see the line of people trying to elicit a smile from this one little girl?? Let’s count them shall we? 1..2..3..4..5..6.. I lost count! Surely this crowd could find Lila’s elusive smile and make her giggle with delight.

Yeah, that’s me, elbows in the dirt, bottom in the air.What a flattering pose eh? Note to self: Must refrain from sticking my fanny in the air in front of clients. Not my best angle to be sure! With her own personal entertainment crew at hand, surely Lila would smile now…

Nope. Not a chance.

So what do you think? Did I ever catch Lila’s sweet smile for Mom and Dad?

Ha, of course I did silly! Was there ever any doubt?

I received these photos in my mailbox last night and they made me smile so I thought I’d post them to the blog to share with you all. I am always so honored when new parents place their trust in me, especially with something so precious to them.

Tiffany was born prematurely, weighing only 2 lbs 12 oz, and as a result had to spend some time in the NICU. She’s doing just fine now, small but mighty would be my assessment of her personality. This little one knows what she wants and exactly how to get it. She clearly has Daddy around her finger already!

Now I just couldn’t share without including Sneak Peek for the new Mommy & Daddy. This was the resulting image from the scene above:

Tiffany…sweet as can be…