Photographing Teenagers

Calico Basin, Red Rock Canyon

This was my first time dealing with teenagers during a photo shoot. I am not saying that it was a bad experience, on the contrary, it was actually easier to take their pictures. They would listen and wait for directions, usually without comment =) and I wasn't trying to capture whatever I could. That means that I came home with few pictures per child because there were more usable pictures and less random images.

I got to take pictures of the Jones family. These are some of my favorite kids to hang out with - in fact it was like a Jones weekend!! Madi, Bryce, and Regan were great. We just went up to Calico Basin and walked the little path, taking pictures as we went. Since the Jones kids are older, and I was able to capture more usable images, I had a really tough time finding the images I wanted to showcase here. But, I did finally narrow it down to ten that I will share with you.

 I got the idea for this pose from a picture that my sister and I took about 3 years ago.

Wasn't sure how it would turn out when I took it, glad I did it.

 Doesn't she look like a movie star???

 Twins!

The Charlie's Angels pose was Bryce's idea. Turned out pretty nice.

As I look through the photos I take, I keep thinking that I have some really great subjects to shoot. I am learning and practicing the photography, and I still end up with some amazing shots. It really isn't me, it's the people. I am so thankful to have the opportunity to grow in a talent with my friends.

~Amy J. Gardner

Two Years Old!!!

Brelin's birthday pictures at Garden's Park

Here is the last photo shoot I did on Spring Break. It was for Lisa's granddaughter who is turning 2 at the end of this month. This was a great day at the park! Everyone was nervous that Brelin wasn't going to be cooperative, so there were lots of props brought to keep her interest. I was ready to just click away to make sure we found the perfect shot. In the end, Brelin was great. We didn't really have any problems. She even was totally okay with walking around the park with me while GaGa (Lisa) and mommy and daddy were behind us.

When I got home I was surprised to find that my camera captured over 600 images of Brelin!! Most of the images weren't usable but I still had to sift through them all. I managed to trim it down to a nice 113 images for the family. Of course, I won't be sharing them all with you. But I have selected a few of my favorites.

Whitney had gotten the most adorable hat for Breliln to wear.

And boy, did she wear it wonderfully! 

 I brought an Easter basket with eggs, seeing as it was right before Easter.

Oh man, was that a good choice. Brelin loved playing with the eggs. At one point she even dumped the entire basket out.

 

So I am looking through all the images that I have, trying to find the best ones, and suddenly something dawned on me....Brelin reminds me of when I was her age. I am not saying that we look exactly alike, but there are definitely similarities.

Check out these two pictures of me, and see for yourself. The one is of me and my grandma!

              

Yep, that's me when I was 2 (on the right) and almost 3 (on the left). Like I said, not exact matches, but similar, pretty similar.

 Brelin and Gaga!

Changing outfits with mommy. Brelin didn't like the way the grass felt under her feet. Whitney was having a difficult time getting her to stand so that the outfit change could happen.

 Smelling flowers.

I think one of my favorite moments of the shoot was trying to get Brelin to smell the flowers. She didn't quite understand what we meant. She would hold the flower (not to her nose) and then make the smelling noise. We would keep telling her to smell it, because she wasn't doing it right, and she would look at us like, I am! Finally, her dad showed her how to bring the flower to her nose and smell, and we were able to get the shot we were looking for. It was great!

 I love the smile. She was having a blast running with the ribbon.

 Playground time. Getting ready to go up to the slide.

 Swings....a girl after my heart. I love the swings.

No wonder Lisa posts pictures of Brelin on facebook constantly.

You can't help but fall for this face.

I hope you enjoyed these pictures. It was really hard to choose just a few. Lisa asked me, "How am I supposed to pick one?" I just smiled and said, "Oh I know what you mean." 

Keep checking back for more posts. I have a few activities that the family did over break to share and there are a couple more shoots coming up. Like Brelin's 2nd birthday party!!

~Amy J. Gardner

Year Birthday Pictures

Ella & Caroline at JW Marriott

Over Spring Break I had the privilege of taking pictures of Ella & Caroline again. The girls had turned 4 and 9, respectively, in January, and the yearly pictures needed to be taken. Raegan had picked the most adorable outfits for the girls and wanted to take them somewhere there were flowers. So we met at the JW Marriott Hotel in Summerlin. I love this location. I had only been there for a friend's wedding years ago and had forgotten the treasure that it was. There were some great backdrops that went wonderfully in the pictures.

Another great thing about Spring Break was that I discovered this great editing program (okay it's pretty basic, but I am still a novice with all of this) and I played around with it. So the prints below are ones that I have edited and put different filters on.

 There was this great swing and bridge set off to the side. Just perfect for pictures.

Caroline was such the model.

She was ready to change positions without me having to ask her.

Made my job so much easier.

Miss Ella was just a doll. This time around was so much more fun with her.

She had to cutest smile, but it was quick. I am so happy that I was able to catch it.

What adorable sisters!

This shoot was so much fun. It really makes a difference when you have great subjects to capture.

Now I am off to work on pictures of Brelin. My goal is to have them up by Wednesday. We'll see how realistic that is. The problem is that Spring Break is over and I have work I have to do now. Bummer!

~Amy J. Gardner