So my sister in law ( my brother in law’s sister) that’s right, right?
Anyway! She’s over here at the house and we all had breakfast and my sister said that she doesn’t have any pictures of her baby girl Indiie. So we took one of those boppy things that babies sit in and a sheet outside and took a few shots :)
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
This was by far one of the hardest shoots I’ve done to date. I’ve done huge wedding and event photography. I’ve even done similar shoots with my own nephew and niece…
Coby on the other hand, an awesome, energetic, fun and extremely quick child, was INTENSE. There wasn’t one second he stood or sat still. I’m used to at least having some kind of control with my subjects. So, what was I supposed to do?
I took a second, stopped looking through the view finder and just watched him play. I’ve always been told to ask myself, why am I making this photograph?
And so I thought, these photos that I was trying to make aren’t about creating a nice portrait. It was all about showing who COBY IS. So I just tried to capture him playing, simple as that. This is exactly how I would want to remember my kids, not just all smiling pictures that were intentionally posed. I want REAL memories, things that bring up feelings and embarrass them, but make a mother or father cry 10, 20, 50 years down the line. Which is a huge reason why I absolutely encourage a tangible photo album. It’s ALWAYS amazing when you pull one out, and everyone knows right when they see it…it’s time to sit together and remember the best of times :)
Here…is COBY.
What a great kid :)
Check out this time lapse of the time we spent together. These are straight out of the camera so you can see how quick this kid was…
COBY = 1 | Canon 5dmkII AutoFocus = 0
Soo! Every once and while friends or other photographers will ask me what gear I use, I don’t have anything too intense. Some of the gear I have is expensive, but I didn’t get it all at once and you shouldn’t either! Really take the time to know what you need and what you can do with your current gear before spending a butt ton of money on new toys. It’s always great to get new things and I WISH I could afford more and better things, but I totally appreciate my current gear and I haven’t hit an obstacle I couldn’t really overcome with what I have now. I haven’t even hit its full potential. I’m just not there yet and when I do need something, I just rent it :)
Always rent a backup camera if you only own one!
I hit a lot of topics in this video, it’s super long but take what you can from it for how ever long you can stand watching it. In my eyes, I’m by no means AMAZING, I just figured knowledge is knowledge, no matter where you learn it from.
If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me, I’m all about making new friends and if I don’t know the answer…we’ll learn it together. I love helping where I can, anytime I can. I know this isn’t pro by any means but it’s a new start for me.
Bags: www.undfind.com
Song: J Boog: Let’s Do It Again
Ninja Gear: I’ve collected a ton of it since I was a kid…haha
Over the weekend, me, Lara and her mom went over to the South Coast Botanic Garden for a little senior photography session :) That place is always beautiful, just watch out for the bees! We all had a great time, it’s such a tranquil and relaxing place to just enjoy, I’ve only been there a few times but it’s hardly ever crowded. On our way out we did see someone carrying in a huge baby blue wedding cake, I would love to shoot a wedding there, there’s plenty of spots for elegant and fun, group or couple portraits.
The woman of the day, Ms. Lara, is absolutely beautiful. She’s a dancer and very intelligent. She’ll be headed out to college into the medical field, she’ll be a keeper!
Check out a few favorites from the day!
I’ve gotten questions as to how I deal with shooting in harsh light or in the middle of the day…there’s a tip at the end ;)
*1 Tip that anyone can try to help with avoiding harsh shadows at anytime of the day is “Camera-Subject-Sun” Always try to position your subject between you and the sun, it gives a nice rim/hair light :)
Happy Shooting!
I will never forget being a kid and going absolutely crazy hunting for these little plastic multicolored eggs full of teeth rotting GOODNESS! Do you remember painting eggs and drawing crazy faces on them? …mine were super saiyan 3′s
What ever happened to doing that? I hope people still do that with their kids.
Over the last weekend I was able to meet up with a high school friend and her daughter, also a made a new friendtographer! Stacey Shipp at www.StaceyShippPhoto.com She’s an amazing child and portrait photographer. She was nice enough to let me tag along with my friends and shoot as well :)
The Awesome Stacey Shipp at work :)
She was amazing with all her props and we had a lot of fun with the amazing light in the Palos Verdes hills. She’s also rockin a ShootSac while I was rockin the UNDFIND over the shoulder photo bags. (I’ve put it through hell already and my review/thoughts will be coming soon)
Me and Daran have been friends for a long time now and she’s always been absolutely beautiful and just a great friend. Everyone needs a friend you can have emoji only conversations with it. She’s pro. :)
A random moment I got right in her face with a 50mm :)
We waited to meet up with Stacey off the side of the road next to an equestrian area that we had to get out and check out.
Somewhere off on Palos Verdes Drive East, I think.
When Stacey met us up, we all hopped in the our cars and drove a very short distance to this amazing little location with hills, wild flowers, talls grass and amazing light. Here is what I was able to come up with!
Little Mary with a real bird ;)
Amazing mommy, daughter moments <3
Easter is coming soon! I hope everyone is stockin up on those eggs and candy! Let me know if you need Super Saiyan eggs -___-
David Sno
Yesterday evening, I was bombarded with STUFF to do, just random stuff, you know the stuff. It almost kept me from going to the OC SMUG, which is a meeting of photographers to talk about marketing, branding and all that good stuff. Well, long story short, I pushed that stuff aside and sat in traffic from Torrance to Costa Mesa and made it, a little late, but I made it!
I’m sooo glad I did, I was able to hear a lot of great information being put out by Justin and Pye from Lin & Jirsa, two great guys and very inspiring. They also own a company called UNDFIND that produce photography bags, namely the ONE bag system. Well, they brought some to the meeting and I was able to pick one up!
I’m on my way out to take the kids to school but here is what I’ll be rolling with, and I’ll give more detailed thoughts about it as I use it. I’ve got a full weekend, so lets see how I like it! :)
Hopefully this helps me go into BEAST MODE
What is not not shown is the 5D Mark II with battery grip and 28mm 1.8
I think I’m going to have to take the grip off… We’ll see.
STAY TUNED!
I had the amazing opportunity to get together with stylists and the Owner of Studio Platinum Salon in San Pedro. It’s a nice little place with well thought out decor and a really comfortable atmosphere. They asked me to come by and do some quick head shots for their new website, soon to come, and of course I did! Unfortunately for myself, I don’t have hair to get done, but if I did… I’d probably make my way over here, I mean come on, can’t deny these women are beautiful :)
We just stepped outside, it was high noon with harsh light so we just stepped into the shade thanks to an awning, took a seat on the planter and shot away :) gorgeous day in sunny California.
I’m BACK! In my hometown, Torrance. I had a bit of work this morning taking some photos of a friends brand new salon here in the South Bay. I’ll have those up shortly, I highly recommend him, so I’ll definitely put that up as soon as I’m done with them :)
After that I was able to go pick up my nephew from school :) I decided it would be a waste of a day to just take him home, he asked if we could go to Target to pick up some Pokemon Cards and I said, “BOY! I’m going to take you some place better!”
We went over to Redondo Beach Pier where I grew up having fun with my sisters. It’s a shame how kids these days just want to stay inside and play video games.
But we had a blast! Check this cool kid out.
When we first get there I thought, let’s make this a little more interesting. I asked him something that even I, still to this day, keep wondering…”If you had a superpower, what would it be?” HAHA.
First answer: The Classic.
What’s the first thing you do when you go to Redondo Pier…GET CHURROS DUH!
And of course, he saw a store full of toys, can you guess what he was looking for?
ohhhh yeah.
This kid is ballin!
We walked around and I always remembered there was this awesome kite shop there, they had these really cool windmills(?), the things you stick on your lawn -__-
DOUBLE RAINBOW! :)
We found a dead pelican, for everyone’s sake, I’m not going to show the picture. Good news, we also found big, very much alive ones too!
The only logical step next when you find birds…CHASE THEM!
He knew we were gunnin for him.
Once Mukai realized things dirty things were going to fly away to fast, he decided he thought of another perfect super power to have:
I got him tired and of course when you’re out having fun, kid’s always pick when you’re furthest from anything to find out, they’ve gotta pee. So we headed back to car and one last look at the ocean and he decided on one last super power:
Today was a good day.
It’s actually not even over! I’m headed over to Te Varua Ori, a Tahitian dance group for drumming practice.
FUN FACT: I used to do Tahitian dancing and drumming. Also the Samoan Fire Knife dance.
And so, we’re off :)
Told you this kid was ballin.
Leave a comment below with the super power of your dreams!
Allen kept prodding everyone in the house to get some Pho. It’s raining, cold and we’re all hungry but who actually wants to DO ANYTHING when the weather is like this?! 4 hours and 1.5 movies later… Here is where we are :)
If you notice I have a crappy camera bag on…if anyone wants to donate a bag to me, I’d gladly accept. I take my camera EVERYWHERE, seriously, ask anyone I’m with. This next statement would make most photogs cringe, I hardly keep a lens cap on it. A photojournalist friend I met in Atlanta asked me, “how do you take pictures with a lens cap on?” He was ALWAYS ready, and I was to always be ready when opportunities arise. We all know they can come and go in a flash. How else do you grab amazing moments like this:
MAGIC.
I <3 You Christa :)
Good night world! I’m driving back to the South Bay in about 6 hours for a shoot with this amazing Salon. Stay tuned.
David Sno
It’s POURING in San Diego! What’s going on!?
Well, we were going to go out and shoot but nobody wants to go play in this weather. So here is how we spend our morning :)
My cousin Allen is an amazing artist and all around great person. If you need any graphic design work, logos, wedding invitations, save the dates, any design work! get in touch with Allen at HOLLER@ay-ar.com
How do you spend your rainy days?!