Caitlin and I were very good friends in our late teens and early twenties. 

I was thrilled to have the opportunity to photograph this old friend's little family. 

The Railroad Museum in Lomita, Ca was our location. 

And it was a wonderful afternoon! 

We've come along way since our old days running the town. Random Vegas trips.
Meeting for dinner whenever we wanted.



I don't think either of us would trade what we have today.
Its what we've always wanted for eachother.





Its the best kind of world to have. I think!









Being in the midst of a family whose love for eachother is unique and real, is one of the best feelings.

What is even better is watching A Mommy look into the eyes of her baby.



Its the ..





' I will climb the highest mountain, swim the most dangerous seas, turn a truck over...



I will die for you' --- kind of love. 

This is what I love to capture. This is what feeds my passion for photography.



Its these kinds of moments that remind us...

Life is really, really good!





This afternoon, I saw a friend of mine as a Mommy. And she is right where she belongs!

Thank You Caitlin. This was a beautiful afternoon. And your family is gorgeous! 

xoxo

To see the rest of moments captured on this wonderful afternoon, click here!

If you'd like to schedule your session, email swilkinsphotography@gmail.com

***

That link is directly to my facebook photography page.

Of which, we are officially at 138 "likes!"

AWESOME!

I had a contest this week, asking for everyone to pass on my facebook info, and comment on the page. One commenter would then be picked by random for a free photoshoot!

I had a grand idea of how I would announce the winner.
I'll be using it next time, so I wont fully give away all the details.
But I will share some of the details included my beautiful little people and a hat with some names in it.

That didn't work out.
 A teething one year old, and sick two year old left me with the very boring option of simply saying ..

"" COMMENTER #2 : YOU ARE THE WINNER. ""
Congrats Mandy Chretien. 

By the way, I did the hat and name thing alone. Was. Not. The. Same!

If your wondering why I didn't do it the 'savy, technical, up to date/ 2012 - kind of way?'

I'm bringing old school back people! Drawing names out of hats is really, really cool. And I still have a phone from 2008 and I couldn't find a 'random number' picker -thing on google.

Anyway!

Thanks to all who participated, and getting those likes up.
We gained 26 likes.
And it was all because of you!
Your support truly means the world to me.
I can never thank you enough.

Mandy,
Can't wait for our shoot!

Happy Weekend To You All!

Photography Bootcamp Week #1

I am in week two of my "Photography Bootcamp."

This class is aimed to educate those who own a DSLR camera, and want to get to know it inside and out.

In other words - being able to capture a perfect image based off the functions and controls of your camera, instead of depending on a editing software.

Learning about shutter speeds, ISO's,  Apertures ( F-Stops ) , ect. was week one.
It was a lot of numbers. Which was really, really intimidating to me.
I HATED math.
 No, let me rephrase that.
I HATE MATH!
 I hate numbers. I hate that there is ONLY ONE way to solve any problem.
Its not my thing.

So seeing all of these numbers and the letter F attached to some of them.. " its similar to a fraction."
And " Remember High School Geometry? "

Thankfully I wasn't the only turd in the class who despised the subject!

Anyway, I got through it. Almost!

We were instructed to shoot in P- program.
Which means I am in the manual part of my Mode Dial. ( vs being on complete Auto! )
Its semi-automatic, which means the camera makes the decisions for me,
but I can override the camera's choices.

I was beyond thankful for this, since it took me sometime to really figure out the details and functions of these controls. ( It was the number thing that was scarring me! )
 I knew once I got it, I would have it!
The problem was getting there!!!!

Our first assignment was applying what we learned.
( Although I was thankful we HAD to be in P mode, I was frustrated with myself because I didn't feel challenged enough. Knowing I was handing over these images that my camera captured on a automatic setting, didn't push me to fully apply my understanding of the subject. )

AND ONLY doing it with your camera. Not altering the image what-so-ever.
Although cropping is allowed ( only this week! ) and making it Black and White is ok too!

And here it is!

* Please note that the images are slightly altered because of photobucket.
Photobucket is my host that allows me to make the pictures you see on this blog --larger!


Image One.
Fast Shutter. To stop the action. Find a subject that you want to freeze.

ISO 200 ; 53mm ; Fstop 10; 1/500 sec


Image Two:
Slow Shutter. To blur the action. Show the dynamic movement of the subject you are capturing.

ISO 1250 ; 28mm ; F/ 3.5 ; 1/20 sec.


Image Three and Four:
Create two images of the same subject. One stopped and One blurred.

Image Three:
Fast Shutter. To stop the action, freeze the subject while the backround is blurred to show the dynamic of the movement.

ISO 250 ; 56mm ; F/4.5 ; 1/80 sec.    ( the only negative thing about this image was the light! )


Image Four:
Slow Shutter. Stop and Blur your subject showing the dynamic movement, while freezing the backround.

ISO 800 ; 80mm ; f/5.6 ; 1/80 sec



All images were passed! Although there is no "failing" as he emphasizes that this is a
"learning process."  He was very happy with all the images I submitted, so that was pleasing!

So now I'm in full manual, trying to apply what I've learned, and NOT relying on my camera to make the decisions for me.

I'm a "hands - on " learner if that makes sense. This is what made me fully grasp and understand the concept of this madness. At least in the lighting aspect!


ISO 6400 ; 28mm ; F/5.6 ; 1/1250 sec


ISO 6400 ; 28mm ; F/5.0 ; 1/60 sec



"Bathtub Madness" --- I.E. A great time for Mommy to learn some things on lighting =)
And how to adjust all of it - manually~!


ISO 6400 ;28mm ; F/5.6 ; 1/320 sec


ISO 320; 38mm ; F/5.6; 1/20 sec


ISO 320; 38mm; F/ 5.6; 1/20 sec



I adjusted the shutter and Fstops, which didn't blow out their skin so much.

ISO 320 ; 30mm; F/ 3.5 ; 1/100 sec


ISO 320 ; 30mm ; F/ 3.5 ; 1/100 sec    ( do you see the expression in the girl's eyes?! Geesh! )


Once I got it.. I was able to just shoot!





And then I applied the "stop action." Fast shutter.  This was in TV mode so although I chose the shutter speed, the camera sets the F-Stop. I put it on Black and White because I liked it! =)

ISO 320 ; 30mm; F/3.5 ; 1/10 sec  ( too bad this wasn't taken a week ago! )



And this is exactly what I thought about the entire process of this learning adventure! 



Til Next Week!

Double The Love!

 If you haven't noticed, I've been on and on about the Sandoval Twins. 

When Mommy was pregnant with them. 

When we hosted her shower. 

How we couldn't wait to meet them. 

Well, here they are!

Alex and Emma Sandoval. 

Enjoy =)