Visiting local Greenhouse

Since I had to reschedule both my sessions this weekend due to the lovely and unreliable Indiana spring weather, “E” and I went to Wal-mart to get a few things, then we headed to Nelson’s Greenhouse just down the road to look at what they’ve got growing so far. I don’t know how many greenhouses they have, I’d venture to say they have around 7 greenhouses. Only a few of them had any blooming flowers yet, but they were getting fuller and fuller. They grow everything organically and everything you get from there is so healthy looking and it’s just awesome. Becky is so knowledgeable and friendly. I just love that place. So, with camera in hand, “E” and I looked around to see what they had.

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“E” was helping Becky and her husband hold the plastic in place. They were getting another greenhouse ready. 😀

Session at the Canal and Indianapolis Musuem of Arts

Last Sunday I had the pleasure of photographing a very nice family. Melissa was so nice and very imformative about the surrounding area. Her children, well, I just love them! So full of energy and willing to pose for me. I got so many shots of these beautiful kids.

We started the session on the Canal in Indianapolis, then we headed to the Indianapolis Musuem of Arts (IMA). This place is gorgeous! It has a cool LOVE statue there, as well as statues/sculptures of the numbers from 0-9. Also very cool. For more information about the IMA, click on the link below. In the blog post for the IMA for the Sunday we were there, they mentioned that they moved a huge sculpture to the IUPUI college, via helicopter. Now, I would have LOVED to have seen that.

http://www.imamuseum.org/blog/2009/03/25/up-up-away/

Now, on the photos.

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Easter session in Terre Haute

I met up with this family this past Sunday. We met at Dobbs Park in Terre Haute, then drove across the street to Sycamore Farms for a few shots of “E” in the pettiskirt I brought. I can’t believe how big she has gotten since our last session. Her hair is starting to curl and boy is her personality starting to show. This is such a wonderful age. They are learning new things, saying words…it’s just so fun. Here are some images to show you just how cute she is. I have a lot of favorites.

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Spending time with G’ma J

Anyone who knows me and my family will have heard of Grandma Janet. She is my husband’s mom and lives in Indy, (too far away if you ask us).  Janet is such a blessing to us and the kids. She is always there for us no matter what it is. We just love her so much.

We went up there this past weekend and really wanted some pictures of the kids and her together. We really wanted to get an entire family picture done, but with my sister-in-law moving, there just wasn’t any time.

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Next top model?

Just wanted to share some cuteness this very early morning. I just love it when “E” is in the mood to be all cute and poses for me. Just a little disclaimer though……she chooses the place she stands, if I direct……she walks away. (sigh) lol

New prop, the cup, not the bunny. = )

Circle Centre in Indianapolis

I last posted the session that I did with my sister-in-law. Now I want to show you some other photographs that I took while I was there.

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This is Lucas Oil Stadium where the Colts play. I love the Colts, so I couldn’t resist taking a picture of it.

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Love this! I am such a country girl so I've only seen people do this on T.V. He filled the area with wonderful sounds. I loved it.

If you are interested in finding out a little bit more, here is a link to the Wikipedia info.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Circle_Centre

Coming Soon…

This weekend is going to be busy busy busy! Here is what posts will be coming next week.

 

The “C” Family’s Easter session and “X” 6 month old session in Indianapolis

Melissa T and her children in Indianapolis

Emma’s Easter session in the park in Terre Haute

My husband’s families session (I’ll be in them too courtesy remote) in Indianapolis

The weekend of the 28th is going to be such a real treat. I’ll be photographing a fellow photographer and her family for their first official family portrait.

So, be expecting a lot of wonderful faces and families.

Family session in Indianapolis

On Saturday, I drove up to Indy to do a session with my sister-in-law and niece. It was a bittersweet day because on the 23rd they will be moving to Florida. I will miss them a lot. My niece brought her best friend with us and “M” was such a great helper to me. She held my stuff while I took the photos. Of course, since this two young girls have been best friends since 1st grade, I took photographs of them together as well for them both to have after my niece moves so far away. I really had such a great time on Saturday.

You’ll see more images in the days to come.

On the Canal

 

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“K” has wanted to take a carriage ride forever. She finally got the chance on Saturday

Circle Center

How to use a gray card

In yesterday’s post I showed pictures of my oldest that I did using the gray card to get the proper white balance. However, I didn’t include how to do that. So, I figured I would make a new post explaining how do use it. I’m by no means the expert on this because that set was my first time successfully doing it.

From what I read in the instructions, you can use the gray card to determine exposure, light ratio and color balance.  What you want is a peak right in the middle of the histogram. What I did for this set of photos I had her hold the gray balance card in front of her face. I switched my camera to manual focus and filled the frame with the card. Focused on the card then snapped a picture.  To determine a new white balance, select PRESET MANUAL and press the WB button until the “PRE” display starts to flash, then frame a white or gray object (or card)  full-frame in the view finder and press the shutter release button. The new value for the white balance will be stored in preset d-0. To copy a value from an existing photograph, (which is what I did) select preset  manual, and choose the preset where the value will be stored from preset d-1 to d-4, then choose select image and select the photograph you took of the gray card.

These are the instructions for the D90. I’m not sure about the D80 or any other model.

You want to make sure that you check your surroundings frequently as you photograph because if you move locations, the lighting conditions may have change on you. Someone once told me that when doing portraits for a wedding, using the gray card to set the white balance will help to avoid the “bluish” look in the white dresses.

B & H sells gray cards for around 11.00 dollars. I’ve included the link below.

http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/15633-REG/Delta_22010_Gray_Card_8x10_2_.html

Using a gray card

I bought a gray card and a reflector and hadn’t gotten the chance to really practice using it. I tried to use the gray card when I first got it, but couldn’t figure out how to set the white balance using the preset feature in my camera. Well, on this day, I told my oldest that I was going to try it and that I really needed her to practice on. I finally figured out how to use the image of the gray card. The images only needed slight post processing. I fixed what I needed to on her skin, maybe lightened up the image a little and sharpened. When I looked at the histogram, I did see a definite spike in the middle, which I think is the result that I’m to be going after.  The reflector is another story altogether. I’ve seen how it helps lift shadows from the eyes and face. However, being the one to hold the reflector and take the image is a rather difficult thing to do.