Wildlife Encounters

 

A Total Lunar Eclipse

I wasn’t sure I would make it…but I certainly was going to try.  For crying out loud…how many people get to see this kind of thing!!  And due to the weather in most of the country last night, we were quite fortunate to have a pretty clear view!!

So a little about this rare event and then I’ll share my photos!

This was a total lunar eclipse…rare in itself.  What made this one even more amazing was that it fell on the same day as the winter solstice…and event that has not happened in over 300 years [372 years to be exact].  

What is a lunar eclipse:  It is when the earth passes directly between the sun and the moon, casting a shadow on the moon. 

So here are my photos attempting to capture this rare cosmic event:

This was around 1:30 am EST…a beautiful full moon…but no signs of the eclipse yet!At 2:21 am EST, you can see the partial eclipse as the earth begins to pass between the sun and the moon.By 3:02 am EST, the eclipse is just about complete.  the gorgeous reddish-brown color is now visible.  Also, if you look closely, there are now visible stars in the image since the moon is no longer bright. This is just minutes later…3:04 am EST…just playing with the manual settings and changing the exposure. The final shot…3:05 am EST!  I didn’t stay up to shoot the back half of the eclipse…this was way past bed time!  Hope you enjoy!!

Garcia-Pons Family – Christmas Session

Can you tell I love this family…I get the privilege to photograph them a lot and I love it!!  This mom is so much like me…love photographs and truly understands the importance of capturing life’s little moments!!!  These are the tangible memories we have to look back at when our little ones grow up!!  Priceless!  Plus, as an added bonus, she lets me experiment with all of my crazy ideas!!  Sometimes, they works…sometimes not!  But this time…I got exactly what I was going for…wait until you see the follow-up photos when the kids are a bit older!!

I absolutely love how these photos turned out!!  It was a great session…we all had fun!  And I love the shots…some of them were posed…and others were natural and stunning!  Raw!

Newborn and Infant Safety

I can’t stress this enough!! NO PHOTOGRAPH is worth endangering a baby.  Newborn photography is so popular and we see so many awesome and creative shots these days of newborns [with incredible neck strength] amazingly holding their own heads up….and the fabulous hanging shots.  PEOPLE LISTEN!!!!  These shots should not ever be attempted without lots of extra hands on deck!  And, if you don’t know what a composite shot is…you probably should not be attempting these shots yet.  And sometimes, baby just isn’t quite still enough or asleep enough to try them anyway!!!!  Lots of cute shots, amazing shots, can be captured without pushing the envelope.  SAFETY always comes first.
I had a recent session with a newborn.  We really wanted certain shots…some were awesome…some didn’t work.  I certainly could have tried repositioning and tried the shots again, but safety comes first [and Mom’s heart rate should always be considered as well]. 
Here’s an example:I have gotten lots of comments on this photo!  And so many people have said in their comments, “Oooooh!  I have to try that pose next time.”  That the gist…so I caution…yes, it’s a pose, but there is a lot you don’t see.
Here is the original: This is the SOOC shot.  I would never attempt this shot without the finger for support.  It’s what happened in Photoshop that took the original image seen here to the image above. 
This is not a joke!!!  This is exactly what I started with.  Yes….it means work in photoshop.  But SAFETY is the top priority!!!!
For more info on newborn photo shoot safety, see these articles:
Newborn Safety with Guest teacher Michelle Haley
Words Are Not Enough Photography

Beautiful Baby E

I was so thrilled to meet this tiny bundle of joy…I got to capture Mom’s belly a few weeks earlier, and getting to see her on the outside was amazing.  She is perfect and gorgeous!  She was quite alert at the beginning of the session and really didn’t appreciate me messing with her.  But she finally drifted off to sleep and let me get some amazing shots.

Long-Nguyen Session

These are some of the cutest and goofiest kids around!  I just love them!  Bring out the camera, and they turn it on!  So much personality! [and it shows!]  I was honored that Mom [a childhood friend] asked me to take portraits of her kiddos!  We met in Orlando when I was home late last month and she picked an amazing location!!!

Thank you so much for letting me play with you guys!  I had so much fun…hot, sticky Florida humidity and all!  Maybe next time, we can get Dad to play too!