home photo shoot

about a week ago i went shopping with my mom and sister (Brook) at a new fabric store in town. we decided to meet there to have a little time to ourselves, and for them to help me pick out new fabric for my outside cushions. they were worn and faded from last summer. (if you didn't already know this, it is MUCH cheaper to recover pillows than to buy new ones every year). i am THE WORST at measurements and anything to do with numbers. so yards and feet get me every time, at the fabric store or anywhere else for that matter. that is where my mom and sister helped out a lot. i found some really cute blue and white stripe fabric that matches perfectly with our new umbrella. so i was set and was SO HAPPY with the price. while we were there i also came across some black vinyl fabric. it was only about $2.99 a yard. so.... thinking it might be a good backdrop for home photo shoots, i bought 4 yards. our shopping time was over, mom had to get home to dad, and Brook had to get home to her millions of kids. i thought we might be able to go to dinner or something, but i guess that will have to wait for a different day.

the next day i set up my new vinyl fabric in the kitchen. and moved the table and chairs out of our little breakfast area. (we have a lot of light in that area and i wanted to make the most of it). i dressed the boys in overalls, no shirts and this is the result.

i would love to say my boys did exactly what i told them to do when i took these pictures of them .... but that is not the case. i bribed them with icepops. it worked great for Peyton, but with Jayden.... not so much. same picture with different editing.it helps to have the TV on as well. it distracts them. i love pictures of the boys when they are looking at something other than the camera.again, TV is on. i think it was sesame street.this one is my absolute favorite. see how he's looking towards me but not AT me. i love this! the lighting turned out best in this one. all of these (except the first photo) were taken without the flash. i am really proud of all of them.this picture i LOVE but had my ap way too low. i wish it would have been more clear of Peyton. they were cracking me up.obviously the bribery of icepops doesn't work as well with a one year old. i call this one photo shoot fail, although it's as cute as ever, and i had it framed. ok so a few days later i decide since i did SO well with the first 'home photo shoot' i would try again. instead of setting up the fabric on the back wall of the dining area, i decided to use the same space but hang the fabric so the boys were facing the window. (hoping for some good catchlights). the photos turned out ok. the lighting, (and catchlights) were great but i really don't like how the lighting made the backdrop look, you could see every fold and wrinkle in it. i darkened the backdrop when i processed them, but i still don't like what the light did to it. AND i blew my whites in some of these. ugh!Jayden was having fun with the chairs so i used them as a prop. not my ideal prop but i was going to do whatever it took to get at least one happy picture of him.again with the chair. oh well, he had fun. see how the sun made the backdrop look off and blah? yuck. but Jayden had fun so that is all that mattered to me. next time i do this i hope to have a speedlight and might set up the backdrop like i had it the first time.ok these next two pictures i am not thrilled with at all. i LOVE the boys in them, but with the backdrop, lighting, and processing i totally FAILED on these.

fail #1fail #2i know i could go back and reprocess them.... but, honestly i just don't feel like it, AND it made me learn for next time. my goal is to take GREAT pics, not to take regular pics and make them great with processing.

so.... i will stick to my goal and keep practicing.