…yes. It has indeed been a while.  It had just become more important with the busy wedding season followed by the busiest portrait time of year to keep turning projects out versus blogging.  I have so much to blog and share.  Hoping to to that, as well as get this site’s branding updated.  It desperately needs attention!

It’s cold out, but hopefully these little ones warm you right up. I swear I know some of the most BEAUTIFUL kids out there!

xo

dani

Lucky shots, I say.

xo

dani

you may recognize miss reagan from the first image on the blog header slideshow – i can hardly believe she is a whole year old. she’s a teeny little peanut and full of cute! i was glad the weather cooperated for us to get these, being mom was only in town from columbus for the weekend!

sorry for the crazy lack of blogging since summer, just too much going on here with work! i suppose ive got all winter to head up some major wedding blogging,eh?

xo

dani

I haven’t spent many saturdays (or weekends at all) for that matter with my kids since before school let out last spring.  Yesterday (saturday) I spent the morning with the Brown’s (see abby and greg’s wedding below) at the Alexa Brown Memorial 5K in Clyde.  I love when I get to spend time with them and their family and friends – they make me feel good about who I am and lift me up.  They are a great example of why we are on this earth.  I came home and spent the afternoon with my kiddos – Domino Rally was on tap for a few hours (and now that they are all over the house, I suppose today, too). 

Talking with a photographer friend of mine the other day about some frustrations and she directed me to a project she and others have been working on and I kind of had a “duh” moment – when was the last time I just took photographs of my kids being kids? Just playing, and “doing” and “being”?  So I did. I used to, and got caught up in all the other stuff I’m doing and I havent in forever.  I will treasure these and vow to do it more often.  These are how I remember my saturday afternoons as a kid.

I was trying to build a lengthly domino trail for Evan and I kept knocking it down (they don’t put lens IS in dominos, so my lack of steadiness did not get the job done!) and the conversation was as follows:

Me: Evan, I’m sorry. I just cannot get it to balance.

Evan: Mom, here. Read the directions.

Well, that’s the answer when you’re four.

Cant get life to balance? Read the directions. 

Not the paper directions, but listen to a friend, your instincts, get back to basics.  Keep the dominoes up in every aspect – work, home, family, personal time.  When one falls down, it kinda’ makes everything else lose it’s stability.

xo

dani

the moyer family :: 09.02.11

strength in friends.

strength in family.

strength in self.

 (love you jen)

xo

dani

This image was taken with 5d mark II + 24-70 – 2.8L lens, manual exposure @ 50mm, 1/1250 @ 2.8 ISO 200 in RAW format, in a shaded area at Eagle Isle

With the whites of her shirt, and not using fill flash, I have to (just like weddings) find a good balance of keeping the skin editable and not blowing out her shirt. 

If I cant do a custom white balance at the time I do my best in adobe lightroom by selecting the whites and adjusting – it isnt the best way and isnt always accurate but for this image, I adjusted the WB in LR and increased a bit of contrast and saturation then exported to .jpg and opened in photoshop.  I use the Patch tool to remove debris (also known as food, boogers, scratches, schmutz, blemishes, etc) from faces most of the time, and do it on a duplicate layer.  Flatten, save, and then ran a curves adjustment layer on the image to change the color toning to a slightly more vintage appeal – saved as a copy of the original. 

If you’re hitting your exposures near to the “T” in camera, your processing time is cut down – and getting it right in camera has to be your main priority – photoshop is your friend, but it is not the photographer!  Learn to do manual adjustments in PS – actions are fun and very useful when done correctly, but any reputible actions maker will tell you that they work best on a properly exposed, clean image as a base.

I had a crazy busy sunday work wise and before that, spent saturday turning 27 – I spent my birthday at the ZOO with the kids!  LOTS to blog!

Happy Wednesday! Hope you enjoyed seeing a bit of what comes onto my computer and how I work with it.

xo

dani

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday to you

Happy birthday dear Jen,

Happy birthday, to you <3

Probably one of those random things I ever did that was related to my job, but maybe one of the best.

xo

dani

I am 100% not a fan of Valentine’s Day.  I kind of feel like it’s silly to pick one day out of the year to send flowers or say “I love You” a bit extra.

We should show our passion to our loved ones EVERY day, and add the extra fun stuff on ANY ordinary day.   My cousin said it best, that she would rather get flowers any day rather than the day every other woman in America gets them.

BUT, like a lot of my readers – I have kids, and young ones.  These holidays are a big deal to them so I try to make it special.  School hypes them up with parties and candy, and then they come home to cupcakes and a little treat from Dad and I.

That’s the magic of these little Hallmark Holidays – an extra excuse to have the kids bounce off the walls in delight, and make cupcakes.

Anything for an extra chance to use sprinkles and make something fun and froofy (and since I AM the cupcake master, really delicious!) =)

I wonder what the drywall finishers in the house thought of me taking photos of cupcakes? TeeHee..

xo

dani

- George Eliot

When we are sad, we are in a depressed state of mine.

When we are elated, we are in a happy state. Not moving, static state.

This is the state of being a family, of three.

Amiee and Zeb will be married July 30, 2011.  We did their engagement session back in November, before Thanksgiving but I am just now getting around to sharing a few (okay, a lot) from their session.  Given the sun came out right as we finished, I was a bit nervous about the potential lacklustre of an extremely overcast and windy day.  I’m not talking gently cloudiness that is diffusingly pleasent, here, either.  The wind calmed and the sky opened up a bit and the perfect mix of color and memorable black and whites came alive.  I’m not a huge fan of too many black and whites when you’ve got beautiful color all around you, but some images are too timeless and simply call for a classic conversion.

Every now and then I get to shoot a wedding where either the couple, or the bride or groom has a child or children.  I get it that at times certain traditions or religious experiences frown upon it – but seriously? What in the WORLD is greater than a family coming together in this way? No, we do not need paper or a legal status to make a family.  But is sure is glorious when the joining of people, of families, is brought out in joyful ceremony and celebration.  I know first hand what this day will feel like for Amiee and Zeb (and Jr., as he’ll enjoy cake and dancing) and this is special.  When I shoot engagements for couples with children involved I love to have them come along.  I do not think it creats a “family photo opportunity” but a way for each member of this party to feel happy and comfortable. 

We are at best when surrounded by those who can see us when we first wake up inthe morning and still give us a smooch or a huge hug, so photographing everyone together preserves our  “at best”… at it’s best <3

There is no greater bond than that of the heart and mind – some people say it’s a blood thing – however the heart facilitates the life to our blood, combining it with the air we breathe when we laugh.

I share a special bond with Amiee.  We’ve met in passing via facebook and another client and friend of mine.  However we were both mutual friends of sweet Kelly – and I’ve shared moments of grief with Amiee that have given her a little space in my heart (not to overuse the word today).  I think once you cry with someone in A. walgreens and B. a bathroom – you’re friends for life.

xo

dani

Lots to do, lots to do.

Wedding weekend this weekend (YAY!).  I’ve only got oh… 9 different galleries to host by friday morning.  No stress! =)

It was obviously a busy last week with every make-up on the books and lots of next years wedding couples scheduling their sessions for late fall.  I am a bit tired, but not sure what that has to say for someone who’s up at 1:45 am and has to do reading group to a bunch of 1st graders in the morning… hmm!

The first two images are two girls I’ve known for a little while now, and one of the very first I ever photographed.  Littlest C. was under one year old at the time!  Oldest sister E. went to pre-school with my daughter and they were cute buddies together.  I always enjoyed their mother’s company, but as our girls went to different schools – we didn’t get to see eachother much.  It was crazy refreshing to see Mom and how much her beautiful, amazing daughters have grown up.

Baby B. is turning ONE here soon.  His session came in with some family portraits as well – dad was overseas when B. was born, serving our country.  These were their first family portraits and I decided to let them view them first before blogging them.  Thank you, Kyle – for your service to our country and for all of the sacrifices you made on our behalf.  Thanks also to technology; Kyle was even able to be “in the room” when little B. was born via computer connection.  I know very few military men and women but I admire each and every one of you who work so hard to maintain a family unit.  I cannot imagine what you go through, but I thank you.  B.’s mom was there for me at a challenging time in my life when I was in college, and I don’t know that I ever thanked her appropriately, but maybe only how I knew how to at the time. I hope she knows I am grateful. She’s a tough cookie, too.

Lastly, Jenny + Mitch.  I’ve known Jenny since… ohh…. well, our dads played softball together since I know for sure I was in diapers so I’m guessing it just goes back that far.  Our parents were friends growing up and we spent many a nights at eachothers houses while our parents would enjoy “wing nights”.  There was a lot of insane karaoke, hair-doing, and crazyness between Jenny, her brother, and my brother and myself (and a few others!) for years.  Then we all grew up (she’s a DOCTOR now!) and had our own activities to keep up with and life just happened.  I’ve had a lot of jobs or even just run-in’s with long lost child hood/high school/college friends and lately, they have just been such a pick-me-up.

Our lives may have went on in bewteen the times that we were in touch on a more regular basis…

…but it is always so cool to meet up with the people who, in one way or another, shaped who you became.

xo

dani