THE PETERSENS

I was excited to shoot my 2nd maternity session this past month for some dear friends of ours.  The difference between my first one and this one was the involvement of small children.  It is no easy feat to get two small kids to look at the camera at the same time and then actually smile.  Hopefully next time I will be better prepared!

Otherwise, the shoot was a ton of fun.  I always love taking pictures at Joyner…the barns with their cool wood textures, the stone wall, the tall grass fields, and big trees.  Joyner has it all.  It also helps that this family is absolutely adorable and sweet together!  Here’s a peek at some of the photos…

Do you remember this sweet girl as a 2-week-old?
Well, now she is so much bigger!  I got the chance to take her 3-month-old pictures and let me tell you, this sweet baby girl has captured my heart.  She has crazy hair, kissable cheeks, endless baby rolls, big and captivating eyes and a fun, laidback personality.  It is amazing how quickly newborns grow and change into interactive little people.

I had the awesome honor of taking engagement pictures for this sweet couple.  They are from our church and Ben and I have watched their relationship grown from friendship to love in the past few months.  It’s a beautiful thing!  We are excited to watch them get hitched this summer.

On another note, this is the first engagement shoot I have done on my own and it had its challenges!  Here are five things I learned:
1.) Shooting on “P” was really restricting.  After this shoot, I moved onto shooting on “Av.”
2.) I had never shot on the seminary campus before, so I felt really uncomfortable there.  Next time if I know that I’m shooting in a new location, I will make sure to scope it out first.
3.) Don’t run away from the light!  Photography is all about light, right?  Well, as a newbie, I’m pretty scared of it.  I went for shaded locations, but could have really turned out with some gorgeous pictures if I hadn’t been such a scaredy-cat!
4.) Directing people and getting them to feel comfortable in front of the camera (so that more natural, unposed shots can be captured) is not an easy thing.  My photography friend, K, is so gifted at this.  I, on the other hand, have a lot of growing to do.
5.) Don’t rush!!!!  When looking through my images after uploading them, I found many of my pictures could have been better if I had taken the time to frame well at the shoot.  My subjects can wait while I adjust my settings–I do not need to feel rushed!

Well, that’s about it.  Wanna see some of the pictures now?