okay- it's been a while.  But I needed to post these pic of the two cuties from last week.  I got a new lense (big sigh....so happy) and couldn't wait to use it!  I learned a ton from this session and from the post production.  Here they are!

 

Eli's newborn

So I gave a good friend a baby shower gift of newborn photos.  I was really looking forward to doing another newborn.  His name is Eli, he was sweet-I was having a hard time to decided which cute photos to pick! 

He was a great baby, and was asleep almost the entire 11/2 hours that I was taking pictures and moving him from postition to postition. I love my new white noise app!   

I always feel bad for the mom that has to endure the super warm (okay, sweaty hot!) room, but when I saw these photos- it's worth it!

Family photo locations in Southern Utah

These are family photos that I took last fall- okay so I'm slightly behind.  I thought that I would do a post on great places to take a family photo in Southern Utah.  I think it's sad that photographers guard their locations like fort knox, but with a little snooping ( and quite a bit of driving!) I've found a few that are used often!

1.  The photos for this family are taken at the Jacob Hamblin home (Santa Clara Drive) ,then a shed located just after there on the left.  I love the peeling paint and the white brick on the side with the sign.

2.  Orchards-  For this family I went to the Santa Clara Orchard (Santa Clara Drive- turn at the post office sign, go to the end of the road and voila!).  My sis- in- law also took hers at the church orchard in Hurricane, and they turned out great.  Either would be fabulous in the spring (with blossoms) or summer (with more leaves), but the yellow turned leaves were great also.  We were kinda pushing it in November...

3.Brigham Young Home-(downtown Saint George)- great porch, white picket fence, trellis, and shed door.  Watch out for dappled lighting...

4.Daughter took me to the "blue house"- it would be great for a photo.  It's the seven wives inn close to the Brigham Young home.

5.  Ancestor Square-It's where pizza factory is downtown (it's where I took my neice's engagement photos).  Great lighting and different places to pose.

6.  Pioneer park(it's the park with the "dixie" hill).  Great for posing with red rock.

7.  Lds Temple- next place for my fam, but I think I'll need to rent a wider angle lens to get what I want.

8.  Main street park-(on main street between tabernacle and 100 S.)-  Great with small children- use the carousel and the water for great shots of happy kids!

9.  Alley behind 25 Main (the bakery at 25 Main street- you never guessed that!)- I also used this for part of my neices engagement session and part of my son's senior photos.  It's a shame that they are covering up the great old brick that was there!!!

10.  Red Cliffs State Park (after you drive under the freeway, turn to the right and park in the dirt parking lot.)  Great for that desert/red rock group photo.  Head down to the stream for some great shots on rocks/logs in the shade.  There is also a old deserted house that is only partly standing- I took this for my sons session and it was great.

11.  Sand Hollow and Sand Hollow resort.  (Sand Hollow reservoir).  Love the water??  I took these photos of my sister this last fall (when it was cold enough for the boater/swimmers to be absent).  Just watch out for windy, windy times- it can be sorta blustery!

12.  Tonaquint Nature Park- (Tonaquint Park on Dixie Drive)- Great place for family pictures as well as engagements.  Took these engagement photos there and loved all the different places to go.  If you go with small kids, take a couple of quarters to feed the ducks.

We live in such a great place! 

dance pictures

last month I helped my son with his homecoming pictures. The pictures at the dance are always so expensive, and more cheesy that anything. It was a lot of fun, but I want to remember a couple of things for next time.
1. remember that what ever time you tell them- add about 30 min. It's hard to get a group of teenagers to meet at the same time and on time, especially when they have to pick up their dates, get pictures at the girls house, etc. Be patient. And when any couple arrives, don't wait- start with the couples that are there.
2. try to pick a spot for pictures thats centrally located. This was a spot in front of a nice gated community near most of kids homes. I went and looked earlier in the week to make sure that it would be okay at the same time of day for light. (and it was still different- could have used less shadows- thank you!) But the boulder was nice, something for the kids to pose around...


3. I want to be more prepared next time with fun poses. Last time I did dance pictures, the kids had all of the poses that they wanted to do, and they had so many, I ran out of time. This time they were asking me what they should do, and I went blank!

4.It helped to have a "slope" area for group pictures. That way all the boys in the back could be seen. I'm glad we took a couple of poses with just the guys/girls.


5. last but not least- big mistake- I let the girls take off their shoes thinking that I would crop it out and it wouldn't be a big deal- lot's of great shots with bare feet sticking out! bummer....

horse shoe bend

On our trip to lake Powell we decided to take the hike to Horse Shoe Bend. Again, been to Page thousands of times, but never been. Loved it enough to take the whole family back the next night. If you want to go, there are a couple of things to know.
The parking lot is a couple of miles south of Page. From there, you hike 3/4 mile to the lookout. Not for the faint of heart- no railings, and a 1000 foot drop off. Don't get too close, you think that the stone is thick, but at the edge it's pretty thin.



picture at dusk of horse shoe bend with the Colorado river below. 1000 feet below!




Chelsea at one of the look out spots- she was making me a little nervous... (but a great shot none the less)





Photo taken on first trip at 11 am. not sure which one I like the best- the river in this one or the deeper colors at dusk.

Antelope Canyon- WOOOOW!!!!

This year our lake Powell trip was a little different- no pictures of the canyons uplake (long, long sordid story of broken outdrives and parking at the dock for the whole week). But hey, it turned out to be great! My family has been to "the" lake for the past bazillion years, and every year I've wanted to go take the tour of Antelope Canyon. But no time! This year we finally made it, and wow- it was spectacular! I can't recommend it enough. Here are some photos that I took in the slot canyon with some things that I learned along the way.



I couldn't get into a photography tour- all full- and we called a month ahead of time. But we showed up at the gate ($6 parking) and then paid for a regular tour ($25).Hint- Cash only,so be prepared! Tours start on the hour and run about 90 minutes. Be there early so that you get a spot. Best light in the summer is between 11 am and 2 pm (when the sun is high. Any remember that it's a slot canyon, if there is any chance of rain (especially in the summer, when afternoon monsoons happen often), they will close for safety.



BE Patient! There are a lot of people in the canyon during the day. If you want to get a shot of the canyon, wait for your group to go ahead, take the shot quick, then run to catch up so you don't miss anything.



Our tour guide was helpful with taking pictures, pointing out places that were good for pictures. He was nice and tossed a lot of sand for our group (it's the sand in the light that produces the light beams in the photos).



Take a tripod and shutter release if you have one. I used a kit lens (18-55mm) but would have loved to have a wide angle. Goes without saying- don't try to change your lens in the canyon with all the sand flying! no flash, and raise you ISO (our tour guide suggested 800). I mostly shot these in manual mode.



Last thing I learned- take as many pictures as you can handle- you never know which one you'll fall in love with!

Carli

Who doesn't love freckles- Seriously! Took these portraits at Sand Hollow and at Red Cliffs State Park. What I learned? Life is a lot easier when your subject wants to be in front of the camera. Carli could have done this all day, which helped to get great pictures of her.