Thanks for dropping by!

I thought I’d do something a little different today. I am going to share a few images and how they came about.

The first is this awesome couple right after they spoke their vows and were on the way to their reception.

When the bride and I planned out her day, she wanted to make sure one of us (either me or my assistant, Jensen) was on the trolley with them. No problem, I thought–I will gladly take that role, and send Jensen on ahead to take the early reception images. So…we boarded the trolley—IN THE RAIN. Oh–their are cute images preceding this one–umbrella, kiss and all, but this is the one I want to focus on (forgive the pun). I was sitting up front on the ice chest (sure that isn’t supposed to happen), but I needed one shot of the trolley full of bridal party. Anyway…I was just observing, just looking for opportunities, and fell upon this when viewing through my lens. The newlyweds were so into themselves, they never even knew. It was shot less than a week ago, and has quickly become one of my all-time favorites (and that is saying a lot, since I have photographed weddings for 15 years). For those who are camera techy–my Nikon D4 settings,  on this gray day, inside the trolley, with natural light, were as follows: ISO 1250, f3.5, 1/200, at 24mm with 24-70 2.8 lens.

The next image to share is this one on the beach, just a couple of nights ago, when I had a family of three in front of my lens.

I had had just a short opportunity to speak with the Mom of this little one before this beach session that was booked only 2 days out. This family was visiting our beautiful island, and were only here for a short period of time. With all my beach sessions, I always like to take a little something along, for the youngsters, especially, to give them something to look at besides me. I don’t like for all the images to be of the subject looking at me. That is true for little ones as well as bigger ones. 🙂 Anyway…I asked the Mom what they would be wearing and she told me. Then she texted me, a few minutes later, the day of the shoot, and told me she had a little red with floral top outfit she could bring along, and I said, please do. As I was gathering my starfish, shells, little white chair and white balloon, I looked around at my eclectic collection of props and spotted the little wagon. Then, I went into my balloons and found a cool red and white polka-dot one. So…I added these to my little arsenal for this particular beach session and went to the beach. The little red bucket was already in the ‘arsenal’. (sometimes little ones need something to sit down with at the beach, even if for just a nano-second). We had come close to the end of the session, and, after changing her first outfit (little white dress)  into this one, what you are seeing here, came to my head. This is exactly what I had in mind at that moment and not a moment before. I did not know how it would pan out. I didn’t know if she would be sitting by the wagon, holding the wagon, or pulling the wagon. I didn’t know if it would be in the foreground, background, or right beside her.  That is how my mind works. Any of those scenarios would have worked, but this is the one that actually came about based on her awesome energy and her ability (at 2!) to hold the balloon in her left had, pull the wagon with her right and take off running across the beach. I just happened to catch her looking back at the wagon. Totally non-posed, and pretty much totally unplanned. That is how most of my photography is. I do have things in mind, but I go with whatever the mood is at the time to capture memories. Again, for those who are techy, using my Nikon D4, the settings, in natural dusk light, were as follows: ISO 1000, f3.5, 1/500 at 160mm with 70-200 2.8 lens. And, a special thanks to Jensen, who had just finished showing this little gal what to do.

The last image to share this day is from a recent family session. The star of this image is Dorie, the yellow lab.

She is a beauty, and I am pretty sure she knows it. She stood right there, in front of me, with her family behind, as if to say–‘see them, they are my pack’. This image is pretty self-explanatory. I was referred by another of my clients to this family and loved being with them. It is not all the time I get a family of six, with 4 grown up children. The Mom had asked if the dog could be in some of the images, and I said of course (we are dog lovers around here–ours are beagles and Beagle/Bassett mixes). So, Dorie was in her fair share of images. I always look for and take an opportunity–and did not want to miss this one. When she sat down right in front of me, and I saw the family was in the background, I repositioned myself for best composition,  and quickly yelled (yes, with ocean waves, I had to use my outside voice) for them to hurry and stand close to each other and look at Dorie. It worked and I have a series of these, with this being the middle shot. Techies, here you go: Nikon D4s, ISO 640, f3.2, 1/1600 at 70mm with 24-70 2.8 lens. These settings because I know how to shoot beach shots to get the family in the background on a semi shady/sunny early evening on Amelia. 🙂 And, again, a special thanks to Jensen who was watching this one between shots and also making his famous ‘doggie attention getting noises’.

So, there you go. Three images, all taken within the last 2 weeks. All totally different scenarios, but all very spontaneous, because that is how I shoot. Yes, I shoot traditional shots with faces forward, looking at me, because there is definitely a place for those. But, I also shoot these, because they have a very special place in my heart. And…they seem to win over my clients, too.

And, now, I will just share a couple more with no explanation about how they took place. But, they were spontaneous, too. Capturing special moments for a lifetime of memories is something to achieve. It is something to chase after, to work toward, and that is what I strive to do with everyone who graces the front of my lens.

Have a great day!

Blessings….

Pam

PS…In honor of Mother’s Day that is just around the corner…a few extra special moments…