Night Shooting

Alright folks. If you want to get better at photography or even get the push to do something more with your camera, I highly recommend Nicole's Classes. I makes me get out there and try new things! I love it!

This is fun stuff. Fun...minus the scary places you have to go. I went to a lovely place called Trinity Overlook Park....a place you're warned not to go because people get mugged there all the time. Of course I wouldn't have dared go there alone, so my family sat in the car while I got out and took a few shots. Our plan was to drive there, see if anyone was there, and see how we felt when we got there. Luckily there was only one couple, very normal looking, and they left as soon as I got out of the car. I tried to hurry, but I'm an amateur night shooter, so it took me a few times to get something I thought was worth keeping. By the time I was having some real fun and trying to get some even more fun shots, Brian drove the car up and demanded that I get in the car "NOW!" I hopped in and off we went. I was a little sad because the shot I was trying to get turned out fuzzy because I had to move it.....and it would have been a good one. Oh well. Better safe than sorry. I'm sure I'm glad I missed the scary drunk guy who sat at the park, looked over at me and started walking my way when Brian came to save me.

Dallas, TX Cityscape

Next we headed to Las Colinas to get the Mustangs. Luckily I felt safe here, so I left the family in the car and tried to hurry so they didn't think I got abducted (since we couldn't be close enough to see each other and Brian forgot his phone). It's so cool to me that it looks almost daylight. 

And.....more craziness! So fun! Brian has been such a good sport to help me all the time. :) I think they look better in black and white just because our walls aren't a great color for shooting, but oh well. Brian was pretty proud of his Wolverine. He's such a boy. :)

This turned out so much cooler than I was expecting. :) 

And Diane, my dear mother-in-law, who checks my blog WAY too much, don't show Monte. I'm sure one of those Dallas pictures will be his Christmas picture. :)

Hailey: 3 months

Gosh, this girl is so darn cute! She sleeps through the night and NEVER takes naps. You heard me. NEVER. Fine....I lied. She'll take maybe one (two on a good day) 10-20 minute nap during the day. Really though...that's a little absurd. I think she needs to have a talk with the newborn/3 month gods and get the info that 3 month olds take naps. Long ones.

*Since this girl never sleeps during the day, my house is always in chaotic disaster and gross, so you have been warned if you come over.

Other than her ridiculous non-napping, she is one hundred percent adorable, just like Claire and Jared. It's amazing how lucky we are. :) She is doing much better with nursing (I thought we'd never make a good pair), she loves to suck her squishy thumb, she loves to laugh and smile, she thinks sneezing (whether fake or real) is hilarious and will laugh everytime....and then she gets the hiccups from the laughing and gets mad about the hiccups, and she is very ticklish. Her hair is reddish brown and her eyes are still dark. Is dark a color? Well, today it is! We can't tell if they even have a color....they're just dark. Maybe we'll say that they're navy.

Claire loves her so much and Hailey is also quite fond of Claire. Claire will squeak and squeal when Hailey wakes up. Jared just likes to poke her eyes out.

We just love her and can't imagine our lives without our Hailey Girl!

(You'd better believe that we had a mini photoshoot. I'm in a photography class, dear people! I didn't get very many good pictures, so you better believe there will be Hailey: 3 months Part 2....all pictures. I'm hoping tomorrow yields better results with the hubster as my aid.)

These adorable yellow walls in our house weren't quite the wonderful backdrop I was expecting. We'll try for a different color someday.

Not a good picture, but that outfit is soooo cute!

 Gosh! If it didn't look like I was trying to strangle her, this would be SO CUTE!

Cut off her head, so we're showcasing those arms!  

And......she's had it. 

Happy three months old, darling child! We love everything about you!

Photography: Week 1

It's that time again where I bombard your life with practice pictures! I started taking my second class through Nicole's Classes last week, which has proved much more difficult with child number three already here. I have a hard time getting pictures because she wants to be held all the time; however, it is very nice to have a model that doesn't run around all the time. I tried to get Claire to be my model for my first assignment, but I just got some nice pictures of scowls and LOTS of sighs until her wiggly 3 year old body couldn't handle a moment more. I love the class as usual and am learning a LOT. Who knew that my camera could do so many things?! It baffles me to think that I have barely scratched the surface of that little thing that fits in my hands.

Our first assignment was lighting ratios. Hailey was the perfect model. This first picture is just because it was so dang cute!

Ratio exercise. It starts out light and ends up with one side of the face in darkness. 

These last three are a little underexposed....sorry. I was concentrating so hard on my light/dark sides of the face that I didn't really account for my exposure. Next time.

Our other assignment was to take a picture of a collection....of something. I have access to children, so I guess that's my explanation for not having something cool like THIS. 

Jared's favorite things

Claire as the aspiring Van Gogh