Newborn Session

Max

In August of 2013, I got to take pictures of my co-worker's newborn boy. He was only 6 and 7 weeks old. I had to split it up over two different sessions because Max was not cooperating with me. The first time I was there he just wanted to sleep. Mommy and I were being VERY mean with the tickles, pinches, and camera. There were LOTS of pictures of a not very happy Max.

So I decided that I would come back to visit at a time that wasn't nap time. Good thing my "day job" is a teacher and I was on summer break. That meant that we could pick a day and I could just wait for the "He's awake, come now" text that Mommy was going to send me. The second sessions went better, as far as getting Max to keep is eyes open. When all was said and done, I had plenty of pictures of Max. I must say, that some of my favorite ones were when he was sleeping. I just love those sleeping babies. How about you??

So cute!!!!

This baseball was a gift at Max's baby shower. One of the Jones daughters (see Photographing Teenagers post) is making a name for herself with softball. Of course she needed to make sure that Max was set on the right track!

Of course not all the pictures were of Max sleeping. Here are some adorable ones that I caught.

The scale that Max is laying on is similar to the same scale that his mom's dad was weighed in.

 Taking pictures of a newborn is hard work, but the results are so precious. Before I left I made sure to get a picture of the adorable little man with both his parents.

Max is growing quickly and still just as adorable. I am not sure when the next time will be that I take pictures of a newborn. But I definitely love that I got the chance to take pictures of Max.

More past sessions to come.

~Amy J. Gardner

Catching Up

Family Time

So, it's been WAY too long since I have been on here. Almost 1 year since the last posted session that I had. And the really sad part is, I have had 3 sessions and a photography class since then and I haven't posted anything. The good news is that at least Facebook hasn't gotten these pictures yet either...LOL.

Last July, my sister came to visit us prior to her convention that she was going to. During that time we took a sisters trip to San Diego to visit our family. One of the days that we were there, we traveled to Balboa Park to take pictures; mostly of Ashley, but of our grandma and great-grandma too. It was a fun time, because I was working with my sister and we could be a little silly. I also could be VERY sarcastic and she wouldn't get too mad ;)

Here are some highlights of that session:

What I didn't realize, was that my sister is a VERY photogenic person. She is so easy to shoot and I want to keep taking pictures. Ashley also loves being in the spotlight, at least with me, and didn't have a problem with me wanting more pictures.

Here is my sister with my great-grandmother (Big Grandma) and my grandmother (Little Grandma).

I gave them those names because I had to distinguish between which grandma and big=older. In actuality, Little Grandma is taller.

At the time of this picture, Big Grandma was a wonderful 97. Now she is just as beautiful at 98! Her and her twin brother are alive and smiling down in San Diego.

This trip was so much fun. The best part was that I got to do it again at Christmas time. My whole family went down for the holidays and while we were there, we were able to take our family pictures (I shot them with my tripod and remote) at Balboa Park. There are such great places to take pictures....John and I should have had some of our wedding pictures taken there.

More posts will come in the next couple of days. I really need to get the pictures up for you to enjoy!!!

~Amy J. Gardner

Brelin's Second Birthday Party

First Event Shoot

A couple of months ago I had the opportunity to be the photographer at a birthday party. My life then got super crazy and I never had time to sit down and get the pictures here. Now that it is summer, I have had the chance to play around on Photoshop and get the photos uploaded. Sorry for the delay!

This was my first event shooting. The experience was great and I look forward to the next event that I will be able to shoot. I was a little nervous that I wasn't going to be able to capture everything (now I know why photography companies usually have two photographers at an event - more eyes to see the happenings). But never fear, I figured I would just follow the birthday girl and take pictures of the event as if it was mine. So I came home with another 650 photos to sift through and find those perfect shots.

Today I am showcasing highlights of the event as well and the new skills I have taught myself with Photoshop. I must say, I have had some fun with this.

This birthday girl getting all dressed up before her guests arrived. Her mommy made the outfit and Brelin wore it well.

 It was a Dora themed birthday party and the colors and decorations were great. Of course the weather didn't work too well with the decorations. Below you can see the girls got some good use out of the balloons in the wind.

  The party was at a public park here in Vegas. Since there is extreme heat here, parks are now becoming more welcomed int he summer because there are splash pads for the kids to play in. This was my first time visiting a splash pad (seeing as I don't have any kids of my own yet, I haven't had the need to visit one). What a great place for a party! The kids sure did have a great time.

 After the splash pad it was time to eat cake and open presents. Brelin was ready for them both! I especially love the picture of her eating her cake. It's as if she was saying "Don't bother me. I'm eating my cupcake!"

 The car was the biggest hit for all the gifts. I was surprised at how well she took turns and shared with her guests. Of course their turns in the car were never as long as hers, but it was her party.

So, in all the party was a great learning experience for me.

Later this week I will be spending time with some girls that are interested in photography. Not that I know what I am doing, but we are going to go out and play with my camera. I am hoping to get practice right along with them!

~Amy J. Gardner

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