Flickr Friday: Glass

Glass, originally uploaded by Rekanyari.

There are several things that attract me to this photo. It has texture, atmosphere and sex appeal. There are so many tiny details that grab the eye. The smudged makeup under the eyes, slightly opened lips, steam and drops of water on the glass. Every girl sees herself in the shower just like this. You’ve had a long day; you step in the shower, and don’t bother to take your makeup off. It makes you feel sexy and seductive while you are relaxed and taking your shower in one breath at a time.

I love how Flikr has so much to discover.

Bentley and Company

Throughout this week I posted pictures of Bentley with his mama and papa. Now, it’s time to get the entire clan together. Right when we started to take the family shots Bentley was pretty much over being a model. He had decided enough was enough. We got a good 7 or 8 shots in before he was in full blown tantrum mode. However, the shots that we did get were precious. 

Well that wraps up the baby Bentley posts. I’m hoping that you all enjoyed seeing the little guy in his first photo shoot. Something tells me there will be more Bentley and family pictures in the future. Happy Friday everyone, have a great weekend!

Kendell and Bentley

Father and son, there isn’t anything like it in the world (well minus mother and child). There is a strong bond between a father and his son. They bond together through gender and something tells me that boys listen to their fathers more than they do to their mothers (correct me if I’m wrong). Seeing the way that Bentley interacted vs. the way that Gia interacted, it’s obvious that even at such a young age there is such a powerful difference between genders. The faces that Bentley makes are much more “leave me alone” or “don’t you dare try to wake me up right now” where as Gia is more like, “mommy please let me sleep longer” and “please hold me I want to cuddle” faces. This really showed the difference between the masculine and feminine side of things, it’s kinda of an eye opener to me. Then again, this is only with the two babies I’ve encountered, so who knows! Either way they are both the cutest little babes ever.


Any who… Here are some of the shots that I took of Kendell and his son Bentley.

The connection is very strong between these two. You can really sense how connected Kendell is to Bentley and vice versa.  

Thanks Kendell and Bentley! You guys were great models.

Rachel and Bentley

A few months back I had taken maternity photos of Rachel. The results were very pleasing and I anxiously awaited the arrival of Bentley so that I could snap some photos of him once he was born. Well, Bentley has arrived and I was given the pleasure of meeting the bundle of joy over the President’s Day Holiday weekend. I’ve had very little experience with babies. Bentley is only the second baby in my life and I’ve learned a lot about babies since my first encounter.

Bentley was a little fussy, but we got some great shots. Here are the best photos of Rachel and her newborn Bentley.

Thank you Rachel and Bentley for being great models! You two are beautiful.

B is for Bentley

Welcome to the world Bentley! Little baby Bentley was born on December 15, 2010 and he’s cute as a button! This little boy has more personality then I could handle. He cries like a gremlin and smiles like an angel. He’s a handful.

Throughout the day I took several photos of Bentley with his mama and papa. Those will be coming throughout the week, so stay tuned! One thing I learned from taking photos of Bentley is that babies are NOT easy to photograph when they are tired/hungry/all around in a funk. I felt challenged with Bentley, but in the end I think we got a lot of great shots. Stay tuned for more.

Flickr Friday: lisa

lisa, originally uploaded by Rebecca Naen (rlnaen).

There are several reasons why I love this photo. First, the lighting, second the motion and finally the softness of color. Do you see what I see? It's breathtaking.

Inspiration

Photo by Lola Rain

It can come from a lot of places. Some people are inspired by a beautiful landscape, a paper blowing in the wind or something as mundane as a lamp shade or a pen. Life wouldn’t exist without inspiration. People wouldn’t be able to blossom and flourish into who they are today and become artists.

I began to think about inspiration lately because I’ve been feeling uninspired to write blog posts. Often times it’s due to being too busy or too lazy. After a long day of working 8am-5pm, going to the gym and then making dinner, all there is left to do is shower and hit the sack. Where do people find time to do all this blogging? They are inspired! (duhh!) It’s what keeps them going. It’s a force that thrives from within! They are dedicated to creating and sharing what they do/love with anyone who will listen. It has made me realize that the lazy feeling is all in my head. I need to let my inspiration flowing and actually start on projects that I’ve been planning. I need to kick my inspiration into shape. It’s time to think positive! When you think positive, positive things will happen. If you tell yourself you can’t do something then you will stop yourself from doing it. If you believe that you can, there is nothing stopping you.

What it comes down to is this; it’s time to widen my horizons. I love to create things on my own, whether it is photography, cupcakes or a collage. It’s time to think outside of the camera. This leads me to the question…

What inspires me? Often times I’m inspired by random colors, shapes, textures and movement. “People watching” is a habit of mine that tends to spark a fire in me. Where are they going? What’s the rush? What’s on their minds? It would be great to capture that unknowing, unsteady feeling… (idea?)

What inspires you?

Shades of Red and Pink

You know it's Valentine's Day when it's raining outside and there are swoons of people lining up in front of the flower shop. This picture might not be as sharp as I would like it to be (I took it with my Android) but it gives you a feel for how many people are buying flowers today.

I’m guilty. I was the recipient of a BEAUTIFUL display of flowers this afternoon. They were delivered to my office and everything! The best part was the enthusiasm from the delivery man. A grumpy looking man walks into my office, looks around and says, “Who’s Natalie?” I jump out of my seat with an unusually peppy, “I am!” and proceed to walk over to him. He basically shoves the flowers in my face and says, “These are for you.” He turns around and walks out the door. I could tell that today is NOT his favorite day of the year. It’s ok though, because his delivery made my day and he made me laugh! So, as for me not liking Valentine’s Day or being impartial? Maybe I gave in. What girl doesn’t love roses and carnations?

Happy Valentine's Day!

It's the one day of year that your supposed to be loving and what not... As I said earlier about Valentine's Day, I don't hate it, but I also don't love it. However, I guess that means that I'll celebrate it? So, this year it's  my boyfriend and I's 6th Valentine's Day together (well, actually 7th, this is the day that we met)!! Ahh! We are approaching our 7 year anniversary, that's crazy. Anyways, we decided to keep it low key this year. He's going to make me dinner this evening and I made him cupcakes!

I figured it's Valentine's Day, so I should make red velvet cupcakes, right? Well, I searched tons of blogs looking for a good recipe and I finally found one that I was sold on. First I found a recipe on The Way the Cookie Crumbles for the actual cake part (I used the "Red Cake from My Grandmother" recipe) and then I found a simple cream cheese frosting from Confections of a Foodie Bride. Let me tell you, the combination is TO DIE FOR!! The results are mouth watering..

Best girlfriend ever???!!?! I think so. I HIGHLY suggest you make these. They are BY FAR the best red velvet cupcakes I've ever tasted. Happy Valentine's Day Everyone!!

Born This Way

I had to share. I've listened to it four or five times now. It reminds me of Madonna in the 80's. I love it.

Flickr Friday: Down the Tracks

Down the Tracks, originally uploaded by andertho.

It’s the time of the week for Flickr Friday! This week I chose a photo by Andertho and it’s breathtaking.

One of the things that make a photo worth staring at is symmetry and depth, this photo has both. You are given the illusion that the tracks go straight for miles on end. They lead down the center of the photo and force your eyes to follow the lines. The image is so still and peaceful, and then your eyes run into the movement of the birds. Is there a train coming ahead? One from behind? Why is this person standing on the train tracks? So many questions are left unanswered and that’s what makes it breathtaking.

Happy Belated Chinese New Year!

It's the year of the Rabbit! This is great news because it means that it's my year to shine! I was born in 1987 which means that I was born in the year of the fire rabbit. I don't know what that means but it sounds pretty cool to me. Any who, on my lunch break yesterday I decided to take a walk though China Town (in honor of the new year) to experiment with my camera a little bit more. This whole, "don't use automatic" thing is becoming pretty awesome. I'm learning a lot. I took a bunch of photos, some over exposed and some under. I actually really liked a lot of the over exposed photos I took. There is something about the white light that I like. Again, none of these are photoshoped.

Loving all the lines from the shadow.

Sad Flower :(

A little over exposed, but i love the bricks.

Drugs and sex are over exposed.

I love the over exposure in this one. 

a little over exposed, but it looks like the books are falling right at me. 

Practice makes perfect! They also say, (whoever they are) that if you don't use it, you lose it! That means no more being "manual-phobic" for me! I know I'm not near perfection, but its the road that makes the journey. OK OK OK ... too many cliches in one post. Happy New Year!

There's a First Time for Everything

I’m going to be completely honest with you all. Before this week I had NEVER taken a single photography class in my life. I’ve been “manual-phobic” and always shot my camera in automatic. The idea of switching my camera to manual mode kind of freaked me out. I never thought I’d be able to use my camera properly in manual settings. I think it was from a lack of confidence. :/

So, on Wednesday night I took a class with Isla Studios. I could never really afford to take a class until I found this great Living Social deal in my email inbox, 40% off a three hour beginner photography class! I’m USUALLY not a sucker for actually buying a groupon, living social or homerun deals, but I purchased this one without hesitation. I made an appointment and was scheduled for my first class!

This class was all I needed and more. The most important thing was that it gave me confidence to take my camera off automatic. I always knew words like, aperture, shutter speed, exposure and ISO, but I never took the time to figure it out. I guess I never thought I’d be able to get it right. This class cleared it all up and made everything so simple. If you have a fancy camera and never take it off automatic, this is the class for you. The instructor, Lindsay, explained things in the simplest way. The thing that I liked about her most was she was SOO excited to play with everyone’s cameras, she was like a kid in a candy store. You could tell she really has a passion for what she does. She inspired me immediately.

That being said, after I walked out of the class I was ready to start shooting! My camera battery was almost dead, so I waited until I got to the Muni station to play around. I wanted to capture movement, so what better then moving trains! My train was coming in 7 minutes and only a few trains passed by while I was waiting. Here are a few of my results of playing with shutter speed and aperture.

Keep in mind that none of these photos were edited. What you see is what you get. Going forward I’m planning on working on my “manual-phobia” and taking my camera off of automatic.  

Self Portrait Photo Booth... Again

Ok, so like I said a few days ago, I have a project brewing and I’m ready to give away a few more details!! I’ve decided to shoot a portrait series! I’ll be using 16 models (my friends) to complete this project. It will be a series of what I’ll call “photo booth” photos or a 4x4 portrait frame. Like this!

In order for my prospective models (friends) to loosen up and get comfortable, I decided to do my own self portrait session first. This way they get a feel for what to expect. It isn’t always easy to loosen up in front of other people and put yourself out there. I think this project will really get people to open up and see a whole new side to themselves. I couldn’t be more excited.

I'm Gonna Upgrade You

My new Mac Book Pro and my old, dead mac book :(

I don’t know where I would be today without my Apple computer. No joke people. Growing up I had PC after PC and every single one got a virus and DIED. When I started college I made my parents get me a Mac Book. There was no way I was going to get a PC for the four most important school years of my life. My little Mac Book lasted all though college, no viruses, no breaking down and if I ever had the slightest problem I just took my Mac to the Apple store Genius Bar and it was fixed!

That’s why there was no hesitation when it came time to purchase a new computer. My Mac Book was good to me, but old age isn’t easy for a computer. Five years had gone by and my little Mac Book was starting to lose its senses. After one too many “oops I dropped it” incidences it decided it couldn’t hold on any longer. The screen was basically dead. I had to hold the upper left corner in order for it to slightly function.

The time came for me to make the biggest purchase of my adult life, a new Mac Book Pro. Let me tell you, this was LONG overdue. I was using my “screen not working” Mac Book for about 5 months. I FINALLY saved up enough money to get my new computer and the rewards are endless. Photo editing is easier with the new Photoshop Elements 9 and I can see more colors more clearly. This is by far the best purchase ever. Totally worth it. Not to mention, the people at the Apple Store are BEYOND helpful and I was able to transfer all my data from my old computer to my new computer with Apple’s One to One program. I’d have to say this is one of the best decisions I’ve made all year! That goal list I made at the beginning of the year is getting easier and easier.

Speaking of Upgrades, I got this song in my head even though it has NOTHING to do with upgrading computers.

 

Self Portrait Photo Booth

So, I have this new project brewing. I don't want to give away too many details yet, but let's just say that this is a preview of more to come.