The many faces of Macie Paige

I wonder what it is about chunky, roly poly babies that makes my brain get a little fuzzy and my mouth start to salivate a little.  Is there some physiological reason embedded in the female brain that causes this to happen? I once got so frustrated that my 3 girls were fighting over anything that was pink, that I googled "little girls" and "color pink" to find out WHY they were so enamored with this particular shade. Turns out there are a myriad of theories about why little girls and women gravitate towards pink. Many of the theories centered around women being gatherers in ancient times and pink being a sign of ripe fruit. Anyhoo- I'm wondering if there are similar theories about fat chunky babies and why they cause women to get all mushy inside and say things like "I just want to eat her!" They are absolutely delicious!

Although I love these pictures that were taken at my Jude's 2nd bday party, they just don't do the rolls justice. Good thing we have another shoot scheduled for July. I can't wait to get my camera on the pure chunkiness of Macie. I've told Mom she needs to put Macie on a diet of vanilla shakes and chicken wings until the shoot to ensure the same level of roundness.

I do love how storyboards like the one above display. Sometimes pictures are more effective when displayed in groups. This one is a 20x10 and captures the many expressions of this little sweetie. 

Backward Blogging

I took these several weeks ago, so I am backward blogging these pictures! In the second pic, Jack's mouth was full of goldfish, but I absolutely LOVED the photo... so the only way I could hide the bright orange goldfish was to convert the picture to black and white :)

A Lesson in Cropping

One of the common subjects I have a difficult time articulating to my clients is how cropping affects their pictures. It is much easier to illustrate with a few pictures. The majority of pictures I will give clients in their online gallery are displayed in a 2:3 (vertical) or 3:2 (horizontal) ratio. Occasionally a picture will just lend itself to a different shape, so I crop it in a square picture (for example). So, assuming the picture I have shown you in your online gallery is in this 2:3 ratio (which 99% of them will be), you need to keep this in mind when ordering. If you like the picture EXACTLY as it is and want zero cropping to occur, you will want to order a size that is in that 2:3 ratio. Such as 6x9, 8x12, 12x18 etc.

See picture of my Kaylee below.  It does not have a lot of negative space at the top and bottom, meaning the top of her head is pretty close to the top of the picture, and there is not much of the tree stump she is sitting on taking up space at the bottom of the picture.  It would look good in any of these sizes (4x6, 6x9, 8x12 etc.) and the exact proportions of the picture would remain intact.

Now, let's examine how the picture will look if cropped into another common size, 5x7 (picture above left). It still looks OK, but I much prefer the 2:3 ratio, as it leaves a little more negative space at the top and bottom. If you wanted this picture to display on a table and wanted something close to a 5x7, the 6x9 would probably be a better option.

Now if the picture is cropped into another common size, 8x10 (picture on top right), it just doesn't work. Part of her head is cut off as well as her hands and the tree stump she is sitting on.  You lose the impression of where she is sitting, and I don't know about you, but I like the tree stump she is sitting on, I think it adds a lot to the picture. A much better option would be 8x12.

(However, sometimes artistic cropping is desirable and all rules are thrown out the window. But not in this picture.)

Which brings us to another quandry.

Where in the heck do you find 8x12 or 6x9 frames or mats?  Do you have to then pay extra for custom framing? NO! In the Houston area, one of my favorite frame stores is Aaron Brothers. They carry all the funky sizes in a lot of different colors and styles. There are also a myriad of online retailers (like this one here ) that sell frames in "off" sizes.  Of course, you could always buy the print on canvas, which comes ready to hang and won't need to be framed.

Stay tuned for more display tips!

Happy Birthday to My Little Man

That's my guy on the right with his homie Jack, who was born a day before him.

Happy Birthday little man. I can't believe you are two. Now would be a good time to stop growing. I'll even commit to changing your diapers for the next 20 years if you will slow down.  What's that you say? You WILL stop getting bigger and your cuteness and curly hair and dimples will be preserved forever? Right on.  Thank you for listening to mommy.

Baseball and Apple Pie

I wasn't even planning on taking pictures of little Ethan, but he was HAMMING it up for me during another shoot. My camera, as you can see, was LOVING him. Oh, how I love, love, love short blond hair and blue eyes and missing teeth on little boys. The combo is just so All-American and sweet and innocent and WONDERFUL to me.

Help Wanted

                

Mom's RULE!

I'm so stinkin jealous I don't have any pictures like this with me of my kids. I am resolving to give my camera to my husband today, set it to automatic and instruct him to snap away so I can get some pictures of me and my kiddos. 

HAPPY MOTHER' DAY!

Although I love this picture...

It's missing a vital element. And that is- because it was not taken vertically, you miss out on the most wonderous chunky monkey thighs this side of the Mississippi. I'm talking rolls people. Love em. They are really a sight to behold.

Sharing the Love...

I can't get enough of this organization's music. They have generously allowed me to use their music on my website, so I will be loading more of it soon.

Dare you to watch the video and NOT smile, even THOUGH the music isn't even in English. Impossible.



Chanda Mama from Playing For Change on Vimeo.

A Beautiful Morning in The Heights/{Houston Baby Photographer}

Carly's neighbor told me I had one of the toughest jobs in the world because trying to coax a 1 year old to look where you want them to look and to smile on cue is pretty much impossible.  Which I most definately agree with. But I would venture to say that children provide you with the most natural and candid moments, which make for even better photography!  Here Ms. Carly got SOOO excited when a friend and her dog unexpectedly walked past our shoot during their morning stroll. Thank YOU friend!

PS:  Everyone's got those words that they can just never remember how to spell correctly. As evidenced by the above, "definetly" is one those words for me. ARGH- must get dictionary and figure that word out.

Some Practice Shots/{Houston Children's Photographer}

{SQEAL!} Rented a new lens to see if I liked it before I had to mortgage my house to actually buy it... I'm in love!  It's a little tricky to use and is going to take a lot of practice to get used to it... since I already made up my mind to sell half my clothes and my husband's golf club to be able to afford it.

Here are some of the first few pix I took with it (which are already some of my favorite pix of Kaylee!)

ALSO. If you like the music on my site (the rendition of Stand by Me), then I encourage you to go to the Playing for Change website . This organization released their first album this week. In their own words,

"The album demonstrates that regardless of our religion, race, gender, or political views we can unite through music. The time is now to unite as a human race and this global collaboration driven by your love and encouragement is designed to lead us in that direction."


If you want some serious goosebumps, head on over to their site and sample some of their music. I can almost guarantee it will be the best 5 minutes of your day today.



And here is something you don't often see photographers do on their blogs (since they only typically show their best pix).  This is what I normally get when I try to take pictures of my own children.  Poor things are probably pretty tired of having a camera stuck in front of their nose every day. 

Enjoy the lovely outtake of my Kaylee ;)!