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It really should be illegal for a pregnant mama to be this gorgeous. Leah was totally rockin’ her adorable baby bump and we were having a ball.

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So R+C Photography has it’s own little model.

Crystal had her baby!

First, I have a slideshow of the birth to share. It makes me tear up a little every time I watch it. The miracle of going from a family of 5 to a family of 6, all of the sudden…it’s just a little breathtaking. I was so honored to be able to be there for those special first moments. Crystal and Todd were their usual hilarious, adorable selves. Those two are so in love, it is refreshing. Leah (one of our friends who we met when she hired us to do her wedding!) and I were just giddy. I just cannot express what a surreal experience it all was, waiting to greet this tiny, fresh human being.

Of course, what kind of photographers would we be if we didn’t take every chance to document this adorable baby? Tenley is going to have the thickest baby book in town.

It’s also been a really good experience for us as photographers. We’ve been able to practice and refine and discuss and grow, in a very relaxed, comfortable environment. That is just one of the huge positives of shooting together. We can discuss each shoot and learn and grow from it. It is what keeps us on a constant upward path.

Here’s a sampling of Tenley Mae. Welcome to the world, baby.

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It’s been a busy couple of week.

1) Crystal had her baby. She’s absolutely gorgeous and expect some images of her and of the birth in the days to come.

2) We’ve obviously been shooting oodles of newborn photos. It’s like our own little personal workshop for ourselves. Love it.

3) Since Crystal has been recovering and settling into life with four beautiful kids, Rachel has been out loose on the photography world, wreaking havoc. Ok, not so much havoc. No, more like just making family portraits.

Without further ado, some of the lovely families I’ve been photographing.

The first family actually has a son who is in my two oldest sons’ class at school. I know the challenges of getting a family photo when there is a family member who has autism–which is why I, Rachel, am still working on getting a family photo of my OWN family…it’s like the cobbler with no shoes. So it is my mission to help these families. I have special rates for families with autism and I am aware of the challenges and am very supportive and adaptable during the session. So, if you’re a family blessed to have a family member with autism, call me.

This was also right before their youngest son had some fairly major surgery. I think having the images was a little bit of comfort and stress-relief. (If there is ANY way to not be stressed under those circumstances.)

Here is my sons’ friend. Isn’t he beautiful? Such open, expressive eyes.

Here is the amazing and responsible and sweet oldest brother. Such a good boy.

And the beautiful and sweet sister. Yep, she’s the princess of the family of so many boys.

The next family braved some rather threatening skies. It had been storming in Utah all week. (All month? Felt like it!) When we got there, it was not raining, but the clouds were pretty thick in a lot of places. It felt like it could rain. But then, the clouds would shift a little, then shift back. It was a little touch and go, it seemed, but we got the shots and there was no rain. Woo!

And this adorable 3-year-old had so much energy. She was such a giggly cutie. She made me work for some shots of her, but it was worth it. And it made me feel young. She was so fast. I should rent her from her parents to lead me in exercises. She would really be great. Loved the chance to photograph her beautiful, sparkling eyes.

Aren’t they an adorable couple? Sigh…I love it.

And we took advantage of the moment of blue sky!! (Look! Blue sky in Utah in MAY! I documented it!)

And the next family is my sister! So, yeah…I kinda gave her a deal. I just can’t help but smile when I look at the images. My baby sister is just too darn beautiful and she has an awesome family. Just makes my heart happy.

Awwwww.

Ok and this last one kills me. He kept saying little prayers, face all scrunched up and arms folded with an AMEN! at the end. Love it.

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Here’s some of the pictures from the photojournaling, but set to music as a slideshow.

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Every year, I take the opportunity to go and visit the autism classroom in my neighborhood school and do a little photojournaling of the day there. It is always a fun day full of those little moments that just make you smile to yourself. The teachers are amazing and patient, the ambiance is cheerful, but the kids are the stars of the show. They are so real. Their amazing beauty is so obvious.

This is probably one of the days that is closest to my heart and one of the days where I feel like my camera is fulfilling the full measure of why it was created. It is also a day where I feel like I am fully using my voice as a photographer, as I give these children a voice to express who they are.

They are wonder to me.

I have two autistic sons, and it is for them that I really learned photography. I just wanted to share a little of my special day.

Gosh, I love what I do.

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We are all about growing and learning. We love working with other photographers and discussing their thoughts on different techniques and ideas. It’s so energizing to see different perspectives and styles.

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It’s a hard life I lead.

I mean, I guess we all have to do our part, right?

I know, I know, you all pity me.

I have to go cuddle 4-day-old newborns. I have to snuggle them and coo at them and put little hats on them. Then I have to pose them and take pictures of their impossible sweetness. Sometimes, I even have to put little flowers in their hair.

Oh the humanity.

Just be glad there are people like me to take on these hard hard jobs.

Do you notice our new watermark on the newborn images? We’re getting ready to unveil our site specifically for maternity, birth and newborn photography. Pure Baby. We’re super excited, because after all: It’s a hard job, but someone’s gotta do it.

Of course I’ll still post them here too.

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We got to do Sydney and David’s bridals a week ago (and we’re super slow about blogging, aren’t we?) and we laughed and laughed. I know they say that laughter is aerobic and seriously after shoots like this one, I wonder why I am not skinny as a rail. I ought to be.

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Man, cameras these days. So smart.

There are so many options in making an image with a camera now. You can keep all of the control of the camera (this is what we do at R+C Photography. When people oooh and ahh over our cameras and say, “Wow, those must take GREAT pictures!”, we smile and say, “Yep, we taught them everything they know!” ), you can keep some of the control of the camera, but let the camera make some decisions, or you can let the camera make the decisions. Each way has pros and cons, and some models of camera will only allow a one or maybe two of these choices. A point and shoot is a good example of a camera that will usually only allow you to let the camera call the shots.

Sigh…so that means you have no control, right? If the picture turns out good, it was all the camera? And if it turns out bad, there was nothing to be done? Should we just sit in the corner and sulk?

Absolutely not! You have a lot more control than you think, even if the camera is on auto mode.

So, we know the camera is looking at the picture you want to take, and SOMEHOW the camera is figuring out what settings to apply to that image. You can’t usually SEE those settings, so how can you influence them?

That is where I come in! I am going to show you how your camera thinks! Once we learn this, we can apply it to other lessons. Once you’re “at one” with the mind of your camera, you’ll be able to have some measure of control in using even a point and shoot camera.

First of all, when a camera looks at a scene that you intend to shoot, it doesn’t really see the scene like you do. Say you’re shooting your kids at the park on the playground. There’s green grass, a red slide, a blue sky. Junior’s wearing a yellow shirt. The camera doesn’t see that. The camera doesn’t see colors. It sees TONES.

The camera sees the scene in gradations of brightness.

Ok, great! But how is it choosing the settings?

Well, the camera is looking at the whole scene you have framed and is averaging the scene to 18% or MIDDLE gray. It wants to pick the settings that will average the frame towards the middle of that pattern.

And lots of times, it works great!

But what if I want to shoot a picture of my kid standing against a black board, writing his name? Or something primarily black? (Or a VERY dark color.)

Is this a middle tone? NO WAY! But guess what? Your camera will let in enough light automatically to make it look 18% gray. So that chalkboard will no longer be black. It will be gray. Oh…and hmm. If that black is moved up the grayscale…then what do you think happens to all those tones (like skin, hair, etc.) that are LIGHTER than the black that has been shoved up the scale? Uh oh. It’s not good. They’re going to be WAY brighter than they should be. They might even get shoved entirely off the scale, into white nothingness.

We’ve all had those pictures right? The overexposed ones. ALL the detail is gone. Everything is just an icky, white blob. It looks bad on screen and prints even worse. All the details get shoved into the white category and they are gone forever. Let’s all have a moment of silence for our fallen highlights. *sniffle*

Ok, so that’s a time where our camera’s plan of making everything middle gray has failed us. D’oh!

Let’s think of another. And you all know this one too, I bet. Say you’re darling and precocious child is sitting in front of the bright window reading a book. It is an ADORABLE picture in your mind. The angelic child is framed by the bright window, it’s perfection! But…you take that picture with SO much of it SOOOO bright, and what happens?

The average of this scene is really white. Not middle gray. It’s at the TOP of the scale. So, the camera pushes allll that white, bright light down the scale to 18%. And what happens to the child’s face, which is pretty much in shadow? It also gets shoved down the scale. Suddenly you can barely make out the child for all of the shadow. Some of the details might even be lost to total blackness. *sniffle* Isn’t this story just SO sad??? All of these missing details that we could have had!

By the way, the above technique is a good way to get a silhouette. So if that was what you were planning…a silhouette of junior reading in the window, WOOHOO! (It’s always nice to know what you want to do and how to do it.)

Ok, so now we have an idea of what the camera is thinking. How it is trying to read the scene. This will help you choose lighting/color situations that your camera can better handle. (Or you can add flash to help even the exposure. There are pros and cons to using a small flash on your camera, but we’ll discuss those later.) One thing that is very hard for a point and shoot is backlight. In general, it is best to steer clear if you want to be able to make out the faces of the people in your picture.

But here’s my big tip for how to get a backlit photo with your point and shoot. But first, I have to share a secret. Shhhhh. Your shutter button is a double agent. Shhhhhhh. It lives a secret life. Not only can you push it and it will faithfully release the shutter and take the picture, it can also LOCK THE EXPOSURE!! So, all of what we were talking about above is the basics of making an exposure. We’ve learned how your camera determines the exposure it will use on automatic. SO now, let’s use that knowledge. If you know that you want your child sitting in the window to be properly exposed and you want the window to be bright, then walk up to your child’s face and fill most of the frame with it, push your shutter button halfway down and HOLD IT! This will lock what your camera is seeing as middle gray. It is seeing your child’s face this way. (Which is technically a little underexposed, but not THAT bad for a snapshot with a point and shoot) Now, back up and frame the picture as you would like to see it (again, keeping that button halfway pressed down.) Now, once you have the picture framed as you’d like it, press the shutter down the rest of the way. VOILA! Your image is now properly exposed! Or a lot closer, anyway. (What can I say? I’m an exposure purist. I can’t call 36% gray 18% gray. )

Would it work the same as the child against the blackboard? You bet. Pick what you want to be properly exposed and press that shutter button halfway down and reframe your shot and then press the shutter button the rest of the way.

Now that you know how your camera thinks, you’ll be able to start looking at what might happen if your camera is thinking the whole scene needs to be 18% gray. Sometimes it will be perfect, and sometimes it won’t, so that is where you can either lock your exposure, add some flash, or change your angle to the light.

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True confession time.

We love shooting engagements. In fact, I think they are one of my (Rachel) favorite types of sessions to shoot. The couples are just so in love and happy. It’s contagious. It takes me back to my newly engaged days of yore–way way yore. (Back in 1997. You know, last century.)

But this couple was so special to me. The beautiful bride, Sydney, is the daughter of my two autistic sons’ special ed teacher. He is one of the most amazing teachers I’ve ever met or heard of. He is so dedicated to his students and to his craft. The kids love him and he gets amazing things out of these wonderful children. And his equally amazing daughter would often come in and help in the classroom and in the summer programs and now she’s going to college to become a special ed teacher as well. What a great family that pays it forward every single day of their lives.

So I was just a *little* excited to shoot this session.

Ok, kind of funny story about this picture. (Well, ok, it is funny NOW.) We had them lying in the grass and it looks all warm and summery and like they are relaxing in a warm field…ahhh. But, not so much. It was COLD! And poor Sydney’s hands were freezing. So they got up and she was brushing all the tall grass of and then we hear, “I lost my ring.” And we all turn immediately. She was brushing the grass off and the ring flew off her finger into the tall grass.

As you can imagine all of us hit the ground in less than a second and started combing through the tall weeds. Luckily, within a couple of minutes the ring was found. But boy, that was heart-pounding.

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