Little Miss Chloe

Chloe was such a joy to take pictures of! She was such a good sport through all the outfit changes and pictures! It rained so much Wednesday that we barely got any pictures done, but Thursday turned out to be a beautiful day and we found a beautiful place for photos. Here are the ones I liked the best...

Her Daddy just joined the Marines and is away at boot camp, so we thought we would do a special picture just for him!

Aperture Settings for Portraits

A few weeks ago I came across an article about aperture settings for portrait photography. It said a good rule to follow is to set your aperture according to the number of people in a shot (2=2.8, 4=4.0). This is something I had been wondering about... I hate taking a family photo where some people turn out blurry and others are in focus. I decided to try this theory out for myself and these are my results:

I didn't see a huge difference with 2 people in the shot. I think I should have shot the second picture at f/2.8 and I think it would have worked much better!

The theory worked better with these photos. They all look pretty clear in the second photograph.

I saw the biggest difference with these photos. Everyone in the bottom photo is much clearer than in the top. However, I like the background effect in the top photo much better...I guess it's more important to have everyone in focus than to have the background blurry.

All in all, I think this theory is a pretty good rule to follow, or at least somewhere to begin when taking portraits.

Jessica's Senior Portraits

My little sister is not so little anymore...sniff, sniff. This year has been a big turning point in her life...she got engaged this summer in Paris to the man of her dreams and she is graduating college in December!!! I can't help but think of her as that 6 year old little girl who played barbies and dolls with me, or that 12 year old girl who became my best friend...but she is 22 now! I'm so glad I was able to take her senior pictures, we had tons of fun  and laughed our way through the session! I love you Jess, I hope the next chapter in your life is everything you ever hoped and dreamed it would be!

Old Olympus vs New Canon

I finally upgraded and bought a Canon Rebel T3i and an awesome lens (50mm 1:1.4)!!! Whoo hoo, I am soooo excited to have a Canon, but I am even more excited about the lens! I decided to put the Canon and new lens to the test against my old Olympus. Wow, the Canon and new lens took the lead with little effort! I highly recommend getting the 50mm 1:1.4 lens!!!

Here are just a few examples of how my new Canon rocked it!

The Olympus and Canon were set at maximum exposure with a shutter speed of 1/4000 and ISO 400.

 The settings were maximum exposure, shutter speed 1/80, and ISO 400.

 Wow, I can't believe the difference in these pictures!!! For years I had been so frustrated when taking photographs indoors...all this time it was the lens.

The last three pictures were all taken at maximum exposure, 1/80 shutter speed, and ISO 400. Huge difference in the veil...amazing!

I shot the first two pictures with both cameras at the exact same settings (aperture 4.5, shutter speed 1/1000, ISO 400). Even with the same settings, the Canon still beats the Olympus! Wow! I am just beyond thrilled with my new camera and lens! I can't wait to use my new Canon during photoshoots, I will be posting pics soon!