Always Remembered, Never Forgotten

A decade ago an event happened that changed the lives of countless people - families broken, parents lost, sons and daughters sent to war, panic, honor, pride, and an overwhelming sense of unity began again this day 10 years ago. Today we remember those events and honor the people who have fought for our freedom. Today we thank God that we're Americans and we have such amazing people to keep us safe from things such as what happened a decade ago again.

Today, we remember.

Always Remembered, Never Forgotten. 9/11/2001.

Over exposure.. Is it a good picture?

Lately I've been finding a lot of photographers on Facebook, the internet, and even just looking at photos in books so that I can teach myself about exposures. How a photo is exposed is a huge part - if not the biggest  part - of having a "good" photo. I spent some time out at a local Botanical Garden last week with the company I had in town and got some awesome shots. Now, I'm not perfect - not by ANY means - and I don't think that ANY photographer has mastered the art of exposures to perfection either. Yes, it may take a few shots to get the "good" shot with the "right" exposure, but personally as a photographer I believe that only my best work should be out there for the public to see. In this entry I am going to show some of my not so great work and explain to you my frustrations with some other photographers I've seen around lately...


Over exposure has got to be one of my BIGGEST pet peeves in the photo world. Some photographers can get a decent photo with it being slightly overexposed. I've got a few that I'm a fan of in my own portfolio that aren't perfectly exposed... But they were not something I captured the first - and sometimes even the second - time, good photos take time and lots of attempts. In this day and age, most people work with digital so it wouldn't kill anyone to take that extra moment to ensure they've got the right camera settings in an imperative moment to be able to capture the best photo they possibly can!

This photo of my daughter is much more overexposed than my typical work, but you can still see detail and it's not "too far gone" to be able to see the most important part of the photo.

This was hazard of me taking a photo in the shadows and turning around and taking a picture of my daughter in action in the sun without checking my shutter speed first. Once I realized I had taken this photo, obviously very OVER exposed, I then changed my settings and got the following photo.

Again, slightly over exposed but the details and color are much more vivid and closer to being what I was looking for in a photograph of my daughter. The hardest part I've found about photographing my daughter - or even children in general - is they don't stay still for long! They're not like adults where we say "Okay, ready? Say cheese!" and they sit there until the photographer says "O.K. - Great shot!" If you can get them to sit and look at the camera for more than 2 seconds you're ahead of the game! Lucky for me my daughter was VERY highly amused with the water she was playing in so I was able to get a decent photo that's still slightly over exposed, but - in my opinion - came out to be quite a wonderful picture. 

Overall, it's a good series of pictures. But, in the end, I wouldn't put up the first photo - and quite possibly the second - in my portfolio, they're not my best work so why in the world would I want to show them off to prospective clients?!  Doesn't make sense to me! The saddest part, to me, is I've seen photographers who have taken photos that look similar to the following photo and call it a "good" photo and put it up in their portfolio!

Yes, you can see SOME of the detail, but when that's a person that's so incredibly over exposed you can't see any of their features, details, or the fact that they are different from whatever background they've got behind them! (This is another photo of mine that's a hazard of going from shadow to bright light.) The best exposure of this sitting area I got was the following picture.

There is detail in the sky, detail in the mulch, detail in the sitting area, and you can see that there's a difference between the sky and the bench area! Definitely something I wouldn't mind people purchasing or seeing when looking through my work.

I'm still working on perfecting the exposure of my photos, as you can well see, but I am in no way going to place anything that's less than my best in my portfolio. In the end, just watch your shutter speed - especially when going from dark to light - and you'll be able to get a wonderfully exposed photo that will show all the details and beauty of a child, family, or even just something as simple as scenery!

Soooo long!

Hello faithful followers!

I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. I had company come in from my hometown for a week and we were bussssyyyyyyy! I do have quite a bit of pictures to post from our time together. She allowed me to practice a little boudoir photography, and we also got an amazing and fun beach shoot in while she was here. I love trying new things, and learning new things as well - we can never know too much about any subject, especially photography!

As soon as I've got a few moments to sit and edit up a quick sneak peek I'll post a few photos for you to feast your eyes on!

For now though, I'll leave you with an un-edited photo of my princess watching the waves roll in on the beach!

About the Photographer

Here's a little bit about me, the girl behind the lens.

I am a 23 year old mom and wife, currently residing in Virginia Beach but originating from Connecticut. I love living somewhere new and experiencing all life has to offer. I miss my family a great deal, but I also love being independent and living on my own.

Photography is what some would consider to be a "new" passion of mine as I had other life goals and dreams, but new or old I am very much eager to explore the possibilites this new life venture has to hold for me.

I went to school for 2 years for Veterinary Medicine, I've loved animals my whole life and saw it fitting to attend school for this major. The 2 years that I was attending college I didn't feel as though I was really "all there", I didn't feel like I was achieving everything in life that I could - something was missing, but what? It took me until somewhere around the end of my Sophomore year in college to realize that Veterinary Medicine was no longer my passion, it was something that was expected of me because it'd been a goal for so long - I was worn out, in a way, and knew that it was not a good sign to be so drained on a subject I'd spend the rest of my life doing.

After a short trip, and a new "point and shoot" camera, I easily figured out what exactly I was missing. I was missing art, creativity, and above all else - photography. Science is great, it's a security blanket of sorts for me - there is always a "correct" answer with calculations and a very defined way of doing things. Being a "logical" person of sorts a good portion of my life, it makes me feel comfortable in a way to know there's always going to be a "correct" or "incorrect" answer to any mathematical or scientific question. Sometimes, though, that's just not enough.

Art, on the other hand, doesn't have ANY restrictions or ANY specific ways to do things. With such an open book of options and a hugely wide array of possibilites and outcomes it's the exact release I needed from all the science and math stuffs I'd been focusing on my whole life. Photography is a way for me to put myself out there and to make others happy - and making people smile is the best feeling in the world for me. It is a way for me to relax, and to keep myself outside and enjoying the beautiful outdoors on a regular basis. Photography allows the capturing of special moments, beautiful memories, and the ability to sieze emotion like no other.

This is a new and wonderful adventure for me, it's my passion and love coming to life! I sincerely hope everyone will enjoy following me and getting to know me over the course of time. If anyone has any questions, comments, or interests in purchasing any of my still photographs or inquiring about a photo shoot with me please don't hesitate to contact me at my e-mail address!

I look forward to hearing from you all soon! :)