Surprise!

Boy do I have a surprise for you!

In an effort to be easier to track for potential clients and have an easier URL to remember, I'm moving :)

www.photographyjustbecause.blogspot.com

I won't be deleting this blog because it means a lot to me as I started it when I was pregnant with my little man, but all new blog posts will be found at the new blog! It will still include my business and personal blog posts! Enjoy!

And P.S. Don't forget to bookmark the new blog!

Raisin' little people~a come with me adventure in potty training.

We are in no way, shape or form potty trained. Darin has yet to potty in the potty regardless of how often I make him sit down on the potty. BUT we're are trying and I thought it might be fun to do a "come with me" style raising a little person (that's I've since re-titled raising little people, because I'm about to be raising little PEOPLE and not just a little person, which seems so crazy to me!).
So here on my blog, we'll document things we try that work and that don't. We have our little potty set up in the downstairs bathroom because that's where we spend 90% of our day. Darin sits on his potty every time either mommy or daddy go to the bathroom and we encourage him to go too. And tonight, he was just too stinkin' adorable, so I took pictures and just have to share them.

Photography wise:
50 mm 1.8, f/2.8, 1/200, ISO 1600 (because it's kind of dark here at 8:30PM, hehehe)
I shot in RAW and adjusted the white balance in ACR because the lights in our house come off very yellow. Resized and sharpened for web.

As you can tell, he's mostly interested in playing with the "wee wee blocker" (that helps him direct his urine towards the potty and not all over my bathroom) which is what he's looking for in ALL of these (even though you can't tell and it looks like he just knows what he's doing in there)







and I was caught... Oopsy.



Now, mommies of potty trained (or training) little people, do you have any tips to share?

Details, details.

Whenever I do a photoshoot, homecomings, second shoot a wedding, families, etc I LOVE to capture the details. The small details that might be forgotten later on down the road. I'm in the process of editing the second homecoming I shot while in North Carolina, and here are some of the details that stuck out in my mind. Just wait til' you see how they start to mold together for a very fun story!

straight off the presses

Took a small break from my to do list and got this of my sweet sweet little man. I'm working on understanding the manual function of my camera better. My ISO is higher than I would normally use, but it worked better for the light going on in my living room at the time.

50mm1.8 lens, f/2.8, 1/250, ISO 1000

These girls make my job easy.

I've been blogging this homecoming for weeks now. I just keep falling more and more in love with this family. Bethanie means the world to me, and to capture these memories was such a blessing. Plus, I blogged our dear Kayla and her daddy the other day (just a few posts down) and had to share one of sweet Haylee and her daddy too. It's only fair, ya know. I have a sister, and I know things have to be done fairly :)

10 on Thursday?

Yes, that's right folks. I forgot on Tuesday, so here it is on Thursday. It still goes. T for 10 and T for Tuesday. And today it's "to do list" style.

1. Finish editing pictures from North Carolina. --Work in progress.
2. Clean my house, because my ILs are coming over for dinner.
3. Cook dinner (Cheeseburger Soup, a la the Crockpot lady--www.crockpot365.blogspot.com)
--check
4. Do a load of diapers. I love that I haven't washed diapers since Saturday and still have enough for the rest of today and probably some for tommorrow. --check
5. Knit some. A day without knitting is a day, well, without knitting. --check
6. Take a nap, if I have time.
7. Shower.
8. Chase the monster around and hope he finds an interest in cartoons SOON, so that I can get some editing done. --check (kind of)
9. Clean up the mess, the monster made while I just told you that last part. --check
10.Start working on the guest room, because I have a visitor coming in just a few short weeks.

No pictures for now. Maybe later, I'll come back and add some. But I've got to get to work, and this is now my official to do list for today. Watch out for what I actually get accomplished!

wordy wednesday.

I was going to do a wordless Wednesday post, and just post these pictures:


but then I realized, I have way too many words inside of me to do a wordless post. Plus, I like to explain the stories behind my pictures. I think that is part of the magic in photography, capturing the stories.

These were taken the other morning in my room. I never realized the wonderful light my bedroom got! Darin learned a new trick, I was folding laundry and came into my room to find him on my bed playing with (read: eating) my chapstick. So I grabbed the camera and played with him. I've had a "bam!" moment photography wise. I LOVE my 50mm lens. It doesn't take blurry pictures and my camera is not broken as I once thought. Shooting at 1.8 is not good for toddlers, and pictures of them will come out blurry. Wide open is fun, sometimes... But sharp pictures are more fun, all the time.