Communions

May was super busy with Communions!  I am finally done with the last one, so I figure create one blog post for all.

Taking pictures of First Communicants has been tricky, to say the least.  I want to get the most I can, within what the child will allow.  Not all the girls below were so cooperative, and if they were, not for long!  Most 8 year olds do not want to be bothered with pictures for long anyway.  LOL.  My other worry is for each one is - how can I make this set look different than the last?  I do some of my favorite basic stuff, and then use the scenery and the light I am given to try and make each shoot different.





                                                                     alyssa

                                                              lauren


                                                                  alexa

brianna

               
                                                                     kiera

Arizona

I only wish I could get my butt to Arizona right now!  Hopefully in October.  Them be the plans internet.  You see, one of my bestest friends in the world, Robin, moved there right after she got married, I mean literally, car was packed on the wedding day!  Since then, I have only been able to see her twice.  Since that last time, she had Dominick.  You can find them here: http://wheredreamsreallydocometrue.blogspot.com/  That time was not too long ago!  He is so cute!  OH, I could just eat him up!   They came to visit and stayed with Jaime, her younger sister.  And Eddie, their older brother came down from Canada!  It was so great to see everyone in one room since I last did at the baby shower.  I walked in...  saw him and was like - It's all about Dominick!  lol.  Never mind my long time friends.  (Sorry guys, but I am sure you understand!)  Since her trip, Robin has found out she has another turkey coming soon!  :)  Dominick will be a big brother around Thanksgiving!

Yummy mush!

Always the busy bee!!

 Loving his faces!!!

 Chatting about the ball (I think)

And his silly face...oh the faccia!

On the Catwalk

The time is finally here!  Time to finally see Bon Jovi at Nassau Coliseum.  I heard he is taking a break from touring/recording for a bit after this tour is done.  I hope the break isn't too long. 

My daughter and I get there early to make sure we park where we would like to, but also to stop off at the McDonalds and eat something quickly.  I was meeting Antonia - Tyler's mom before the show started for a bit.  I got to hang out with her a bit.  Then we went into the arena.  We walked around the entire area, and decided to use the bathroom before going to our seats.  As we are standing there I hear - HEY LADY!  My friend Justina who I was also going to try and meet up with - but never heard back from her, and I figured she was driving.  YAY!  (Justina just moved back from Oregon... so it has been a little bit since I have seen her)  Short lived reunions, but still great!  On to our seats... Now it is time to find out exactly how the seats were set up!  And as I had hoped, towards the middle of the catwalk, NO SEAT IN FRONT OF ME!  I couldn't have been happier!  Well, except for when Bon Jovi was singing and came directly to my camera for a moment!  Amazing!  http://youtu.be/_tQTEcQaS90  He did 3 songs on the catwalk.  Such a memorable night!

       

                                          

                           

                    

                

Sophia Nicole

I had the pleasure of shooting Sophia Nicole, in a pretty impromptu session. Her mom contacted me on Thurdsay, and then Sunday I was at their house holding their beautiful baby girl.

I do not shoot babies often. I do have the patience - but I do not have the props that I would like to use. I really wanted to use a tutu, so I asked a fellow photographer for some help. She suggested I make one! Shelby, that was a super great idea! Thank you so much!

Off subject for a second - Shelby is a photographer in Florida, in the St. Cloud/Kissimmee area. She is amazing! Book her if you are ever down there!!
http://photographybyshelby.com/index2.php#/home/
Looks like she just updated her website too! I cannot wait to look at it!

Sophia was eating as I arrived, and mom & dad told me that she falls right asleep and sleeps for about two hours after she eats. I guess little Sophia had other plans for me over the next three hours! As I held her, I did not want to put her down. She was too cute! She was also gassy. I was able to lay her on her back, but anything to do with the belly, she just wasn't having it. I managed to snap off a few shots though. She kept trying to sleep, but the gas just kept on coming. By the end of the three hours, she was hungry again, and ate before some final shots of the family. With the few outfit changes and little bumps along the way, we got some great shots I hope her family will cherish for a long time to come!

OH, and that tutu? Amazing! :)

Tyler

His mom and I went to JHS together.  Literally, we had not seen each other in 23 years!  (That sounds so scary!!!)  But seeing her was like we never stopped hanging in school.  She looked the same, and her son - amazingly cute!  His name is Tyler.  We decided to go to a park that had access to a beach in Oyster Bay.  I hung out with my other JHS friend, (coincidentally they each did not remember each other!) and then was on my way.  I got there to find out there was construction all over the place, but thankfully the area we had in mind to take pictures was not affected.  Too bad they don't tell you that on their website.  Tyler was shy at first, but he opened up quickly to me.  I heard he never does that!  Go Tyler!  He was a pleasure to shoot, and I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship for Tyler and I!  And Antonia - hanging out is now a priority!  I cannot wait to create new memories!

 I know the next few go over the "lines" of the center, but I didn't want to make them smaller.  (It is a pet peeve when this happens, so if you see it in the future, I just didn't like the photo any smaller.  So until I can change the setup to contain a wider situation, this is it for now!)

Ra Ra Ooh La La!

Trying to catch up!  Don't want to leave everyone hanging for too long.  It is so easy for my mind to just say...Nah, we don't have to do that today! I want to though, but don't.  It is definitely hard when you are busy, to keep up with all the little things that go into this business.  I always ask how the big guns do it.  Then I remember this is usually their only job!  I have two others.  My day job, then Mommy.  I could never have started this while my kids were younger.

So the first of the two concerts was the Monster Ball.  Lady Gaga for those of you who are not familiar.  It was amazing!  We originally were going to wait from 6am, because we had general admission tickets.  But it was pouring!  So we left at 12:30 and got there... there really was not many people!  Thank goodness.  The rain scared them off for a bit I am sure.  So after waiting about 7 hours, they finally started to let us in.  We ran down and to our places.  I picked the front of the stage, front row with my nice Brianna, and my daughter and her friend stayed back on the catwalk a little bit.  Perfect for when she came up.  I had the camera, and they did not.  I wish we were allowed to bring in DSLRs!  OH MY that would have been fantastic.  I got some great shots!  Thank you Mother Monster for allowing cameras! :)

1st time out

One month?  Oh no!  We must not let that happen often!  Definitely not. It is not like I haven't had anything to write about!  I have been so busy the last few weeks, and there really isn't any sign of a break until after I get back from vacation in July.

Last we left off, I had yet to get the 7D.  As of now, it is sitting in my lap, waiting for the busy day ahead.  Today I shoot Alexa's Communion.  The anticipation was building all week for me because the forecast said rain all weekend, and through much of next week.  Looking this morning at this map, it looks like we are going to be good for the entire morning!  Just cloudy!  (a secret YAY!)  I definitely prefer the clouds to the harsh sun of last weeks shoots.  Tomorrow, I have a shoot with my little friend Gary at the beach.  I am not so sure the rain will be as forgiving then.  We all have no other plans for tomorrow though and just need that hour of no rain, and we are jumping to action!  60% is surely not 100%!

How is the 7D?  Wonderful!  It really compares to the D90 more than I thought it did prior to getting it, but it is exactly where I should be on the other side of the scope, so I am extremely happy.  Now I can plan my next steps into Full Frame, and be happy about it, instead of settling for a camera I did not like.  The controls are different, but I pretty much found everything I needed right away.  Now to find all that extra goodness. :)

first picture taken with the 7D