The holidays are a favorite time for many families because of the time to connect..and that was the case for the Yamaguchi Family. I love watching parents, siblings and grandchildren coming together for afternoon of laughter, silliness, and of course, photos! The Yamaguchi Family didn’t disappoint!

Oh, and did I mention this family is gorgeous?

enjoy the slideshow!

Holy cow! Where did January go? One minute, I’m working on goals for 2012 and the next thing I know, the first month of 2012 is almost over!

This has indeed been a crazy month.. with wrapping up holiday orders, album designs, wedding consultations, working on rebranding and restructuring the business, AND the worst flu bug to hit our house in years…its no wonder I’m a little behind blogging some 2011 sessions.

So, even though you’ve (hopefully) put away all your holiday decor and have quite possibly cheated on your New Year’s resolutions (hey, I can’t be the ONLY one…), take a moment to enjoy BABY Ashlyn’s 8 month BABY session. She’ll bring a smile to your face…

BABY Ashlyn, you have the biggest, brightest smile and I just adored photographing you during our 8 monnth BABY session!! I can’t believe how much you’ve grown and can’t wait for our 1 year session! Which will be here in a blink of an eye, the way this year is moving along…

Enjoy the slideshow.

Mayra wanted to make sure that her children were part of the engagement session with Ramon, because as she put it, we are becoming a family and this is just as much about them as it is us.

And that’s when I decided that Mayra could be my best friend!

Sam and I love connecting with our couples during the engagement session, and Mayra and Ramon made it very easy to photograph their love for one another.. meanwhile, the two adorable children had me at the first smile. And when I suggested throwing leaves on mom and dad, they’re smiles grew wider and a bond was forged. (Sorry, Mayra and Ramon if you’re still finding leaves. I know I just found a leaf in my camera bag the other day…lol) And Irvine Regional Park was such a magnificent backdrop, complete with train tracks and the most beautiful oak trees I’d ever seen.

Can’t wait to celebrate the union of this beautiful couple and family! And I’m really looking forward to more of these smiles…

Enjoy the slideshow…

I am so hooked on eyes! When I shoot a portrait, I pay attention to the eyes before anything else.. well, eyes and the light. In fact, I’m looking for catchlights in the eyes and thats what I’m going to hopefully share about in some sort of articulate way.

First, when I’m taking portraits I usually set my focal point on the eyes. If the subject is standing straight on facing me, which is not typically my favorite or flattering, I can aim the center focal point between the eyes and I can usually get both eyes in focus. When the subject is turned slightly away from me, which is a more flattering position, then I usually focus on the eye closest to me. However, if I’m shooting at 2.8 or less, I need to be prepared that the back eye will not be as sharp as the front. To fix this, I can adjust my aperture or fstop to say, 3 or higher, OR step back away from the subject, to get both eyes in focus, which is, of course, optimal!

Recently, I got a question about photoshopping the eyes and what do I do to the eyes to make them look so glassy. Well, if I’ve nailed the focus on the eyes AND there is good light on the eyes, I really don’t have to do anything. As I mentioned before, I used to go craaaazy with the photoshop to make the eyes brighter, the whites whiter and all that nonsense. But I was using photoshop to fix a problem with the photo because I didn’t understand how to look for light, and the end result…well, it didn’t look natural. It took awhile for me to realize that the more I got right in the camera, the less correcting I had to do in photoshop, which is now my goal.

Having said that, I do use an eye action that comes with the Totally Rad Pro Retouch action if I feel the eyes need a little boost, or when I’m touching up a photo for print or the web. Also, the Pioneer Woman has some great actions for free, including an eye fixer-upper-er. I do believe that is the technical name for it, too.

Take a look at this first example of sweet BABY Hailey and her gorgeous big brown eyes. Making sure there are catch lights in the eyes is so important, especially with brown or black eyes, because it brings the eyes to life..with sparkle! And I love me some sparkle.  In this before and after, the catchlight is from a large window.

I was setting up the shot and was testing my iso, which was at 800 and when I took the shot on the left, it was obviously underexposed. So I adjusted my shutter speed and took a few more, but when it came to time to selecting the photos, this made the cut, because of the eyes and her cute expression. My camera tends to shoot on the cool side, so I have created an action I use on pretty much all my baby photos to warm them up a bit and give the look that I prefer. So, for this photo, I adjusted the levels just a bit to bring up the exposure, used my warming action and then I barely touched up her eyes with the eye fixer-upper-er-er. I’m pretty sure that’s the technical name.

When I say barely, I mean I never, EVER use an action at 100% strength. When I brush over the eyes, my brush opacity is in the 20-30% range and then I lower the layer opacity a little more, just to make sure I’m not going over board.

Surely this post has gone on too long, but I have more to share on catchlights, so there will be a part two to this topic. I hope I haven’t scared you off with my non-technical jargon. I might have probably left something out, but I’ll keep trying!

Photo info:
Nikon D80
50mm
ISO 800
1/320
f 2.8
RAW

BABY Hailey is very easily one of the cutest doll babies I’ve ever worked with! She’s all soft, sweet, and cuddly..wrapped up in a tiny little package.. but don’t let her little size fool ya! We’ve got a diva in the making, with a smile that can fill up a room, eyelashes that go on for days, and expressions that had her mom and me doubled over laughing during our viewing session. I have a feeling, with Hailey, we will all be able to say, we knew her when….

An option all my BABY Collection clients have is to have me capture their first family portrait at home. Hailey was already 2 months when her mom found us, so we did a family portrait at home during her 4 month session and I LOVE these! This is what lifestyle photography is all about – real, intimate, emotional, simple. No staged poses, forced smiles or harsh studio lighting.. just real hugs, giggles and lots of tender moments. These are types of family portraits my clients and I adore.

wedding photographer, lifestyle, family, portraits, baby, infant, fontana, redlands, riverside, newborn, engagements, 

Animoto came out with several new templates for their slideshows and while I prefer to keep my slideshows on the more classic side, this theme seemed to fit Hailey’s session perfectly.. and mom just loved it! We might just keep it around…. check it out!

PS.. Hailey’s mom and I were trying to figure out the what language the scripty writing was.. French? Italian? Anyone care to decipher the words? I’ll be your best friend… ]]> http://www.carrievines.com/2011/10/baby-hailey-4-months-fontana-baby-photographer/feed/ 0 http://www.carrievines.com/2011/10/baby-brayden-4-months-yucaipa-baby-photographer/ http://www.carrievines.com/2011/10/baby-brayden-4-months-yucaipa-baby-photographer/#comments Thu, 13 Oct 2011 13:34:28 +0000 Carrie http://www.carrievines.com/?p=4819 NOTE: the images in this feed have been downsized or removed for copyright reasons. To see them in their unmodified state, please view the original post by clicking here.

I love the 4 month session because of all the expressions, but its also a lot of fun to see babies on their tummies…and BABY Brayden loved his tummy time! Just look at this handsome fella!

oh man, he’s killing me with this fisherman’s hat…so cute!!

Yucaipa Baby Photographer Infant Newborn Redlands Riverside San Bernardino Portrait Wedding Engagement
Check out his adorable slideshow!

Earlier this week, my mother in law had surgery on her shoulder. First the surgery was cancelled. Then back on again, then off and finally, at the last minute, back on. So my week has been a little off and everything I had scheduled got pushed to today. My calendar for today looks like a big mess, with new additions scribbled in and others scratched out. So I woke up extra early to tackle the day.

But then something happened. I started to feel ick. resentful. tired. bitter.

I just felt overwhelmed.

So I decided to steal an hour for myself this morning to make something that would take away those icky feelings. Pretty things make me happy and I need more pretty things around my house, so I decided to make an art piece.

Just for me.

I love it and it makes me smile, from the inside out. And I’m NOW in the right frame of mind to take on the day!

What are you going to do for yourself today?

Oh Ashlyn! Your smile lights up my world and makes my soul sing!

Baby Ashlyn is 4 months and getting cuter by the minute!!

Grandma was here to lend a hand.. How could I not take these photos?! LOVE the connection between these two!

The time is flying by! It is such a pleasure and a privilege to capture Ashlyn’s milestones!
Hugs and Kisses…
wedding, riverside, yucaipa, engagement, baby, infant, milestone, family, photographer, photography, redlands, claremont,
Enjoy the slideshow!

Dear Goetz Family,

How can I put into words how awesomely awesome you are? Sam and I couldn’t stop laughing the entire time during our family photo session with you at Yucaipa Regional Park. I went home with achy cheeks from smiling and giggling. And boys, you crack me up! The 5 minute fart-sound-face-off was by far the highlight of my family session career! But, my all time favorite moment, by far, was when I asked, “What’s your favorite thing about your mom?” to which the reply was, She’s beautiful, everyday.

My heart just melted. Thank you for reminding me what I’ve been preaching all along, but had trouble practicing myself. Our kids just want us to be present…and when they look back at their family photos, they will want to see mom step out from behind the lens and into the family photos, because they think she is the most beautiful woman in the world….everyday.

I came home from this session and made a promise to be more present in my family photos. Thank you, Goetz Family, for helping me to remember this.

Your photographer and friend,

Carrie

Yucaipa, Family, Outdoor, Natural Light, Yucaipa Regional Park, Wedding, Riverside, Engagement, Rancho Cucamonga, Baby, Photographer, Photography,
Enjoy your slideshow!

We are so excited about these Holiday Card Sessions and to be offering a great service to our clients. We know how precious your time is during the busy holiday season, so we have created a new system that will surely be a time saver. Each session will include an 60-75 minute appointment, where you and your family will have a fun outdoor mini photo session lasting about 15-20 minutes in our natural outdoor studio located in the foothills of the San Bernardino mountains. After we’ve had our fill of smiles and giggles outside, you’ll join us in our studio to browse thru our collection of holiday cards, picking out your favorite style. And here’s the best part – while you’re picking out your cards, we will be developing your 15-20 images for you to see, right there on the spot! You select the one to five images (based on your card choice) for your card. And voila!! You’re done!! Your cards will be ordered and delivered directly to you! How awesome is that?!

We are offering these sessions at our studio on a very limited basis.. morning appointments only and only on the days listed. Payment of $175.00 is due in full to reserve your date. Call the studio at 909-499-1701 to book your session!