bitting, party of eight | nappanee family photographer

this summer i did a very quick (30 minutes or less) photography session with my brother's family. my sister-in-law needed a few photos for a local magazine article she was writing, and here are some of the shots that we got.

we didn't have much time, but i love the idea of "poses" that bring out the personalities, and even with eight people in one photo, i think this one comes pretty close...

although she didn't get to use her headshot for the article, i have to post it because, as my youngest once said while he watched me editing her photos...

"she has such a cute face!"... and a beautiful smile and heart to go with it.

thanks guys - it's always a pleasure♥

baby #6 | nappanee pregnancy photographer

my sister-in-law is due as we speak.... yesterday, to be exact.
but her babies like to cook extra long like mine did, so no new babe yet.

i was very excited to do these belly shots with her because this is probably the last one & these are the only photos like this that she'll have.
and personally, i think she has the perfect baby belly, don't you agree? ☺

these are a few of my favorites...

see what i mean about that perfect belly?

this was fun jamie, can't wait for the baby next!

xo
apryl

very pretty, very pregnant | nappanee photographer

if you heard it, you heard right...

i had a very pretty, pregnant lady in my house last week having her belly pictures taken!

this is just a teaser 'cause i'm not quite ready to share more, but look for them soon - hopefully before the bun's out of the oven☺

i am thankful

in all of my inability to deal with the holidays closing in on me, it has occurred to me that i need to focus on what the holidays are about, whether i'm really ready or not.

i've always got a lot to be thankful for. i could make a big long list of all the "things" i'm thankful for, but i'm going to focus on what's dearest to me.

this man & our marriage. he's the center of my world & i'm blessed by how much he loves me. we've been married 17 years & this spring will mark 20 years together. yee-OWza...☺

this boy...the firstborn...the apple of my eye. we have entered a new dimension with a teenager in our home & lucky for both of us, i'm liking it☺

and last but not least, this one...the baby...the spice in our lives. he keeps it lively around here and we love that about him.

right here are the greatest blessings in my life. i'm so thankful for them. god granted my heart's desire with these 3 and somehow, i could not ask for more☺

he's the man...

this fine man, rockin the bears hat on the beach celebrates a birthday today.
i use the word "celebrates" lightly, i suppose, because i'm sure he'll put in the usual 12-14 hours at work & come home to a late dinner just in time to go to bed!

but he IS the man!
he is the man for me & for our family.
he's the #1 provider & spoiler of us all.
and we wouldn't know what to do without him.

and because i know how much he loves it when i post a picture of him here, i'm sure he'll be delighted to see this one!

*this, by the way, is his "take it & get it over with" pose.
seriously, i wonder where my kids get it from?

so happy birthday babe! do your best to enjoy your day!

xo

the wells family : nappanee family photographer

a few weeks back i had the chance to photograph friends from church, a family of all adults - wow! that was something totally new to me! this group was a fun one...they really know how to laugh together!




thank you wells family - you guys were a joy to capture!

maternity session : bourbon photographer

a few weeks ago i had the privilege of photographing a friend of my sister in law while she was spending some vacation time in the area.

maternity photos are new to me, so we went back and forth about different ideas we had, poses we thought might work.

these are a few of my favorites...

thank you summer, for the opportunity to capture these memories of your pregnancy!

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because:

• it's father's day weekend - happy father's day honey!
• this is the most recent picture of all the guys together...note to capture more of these!
• eveyone looks genuine here, even dad...which is unusual
• it's my 3 guys...love them!

*this image was shot @ f8, 1/80, iso 800 with a 50mm 1.4 lens

and in honor of father's day....

me & my dad circa 1970...

i have to start off by saying that this is possibly one of my favorite pictures of me & my dad. it's kind of a no-brainer since there are a total of about 2 pictures of "exclusively" me & my dad...this one & a formal one taken at my wedding.

*lesson here: take pictures of your kids, together & separately with their dad (and mom for that matter) so they have these meaningful photos to cherish in the future!

ps mom: i hope you're working on your photo composition☺

ah well, i still love this photo, it always makes me smile inside & out when i see it.

happy father's day dad!

xo

apryl

i ♥ faces week 23: sepia toned

this week's challenge at i heart faces is sepia toned images. i am not a huge sepia person, i prefer just a tad bit of brown/maroon tone to some of my black & whites (that might sound kind of gross, but it's not!), but this actually gives me the chance to use pioneer woman's "sepia tone" action .

look at this little bub. i like to call him "bub" because this is what i call little cute guys like him. it's what i called my 2 "bubs" and still sometimes do. in fact, the big boy probably thought that "bub" or "bubba" was his name for quite a while...who knows.

but look at him, isn't he just a doll? i try to tell this to his mom when he's terrorizin' her!

and this one.

he doesn't like to have his picture taken. he really hates it. and he hates that i post his "likeness" on the blog.

i tell him he looks fine & i wouldn't post something that didn't look good. i don't think he really cares what is tell him though... but this is a new one & i liked it. and getting him to look at me... him & toddlers. hard to keep their focus on me!

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because:

• it's my sister-in-law on her wedding day & i think their anniversay was this week! congrats guys!
• i really like this pose, see how she's turned slightly with her shoulder toward me rather than straight on & her head's tilted...that's a very flattering, feminine pose
• i shot the wedding totally on auto, probably having pretty much all the default settings on my camera set "as is", so i rather enjoyed editing this photo...it provided me many challenges, it was shot in the shade & underexposed, just to name a few of the things i had to correct in photoshop - but i like that because i am always learning something new about photography & how to get it the best i can in camera right from the start

*this image was shot at f4.5, 1/60, iso 100 with an 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens at 57mm

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because:

• these are my men & they look sweet
• this is a typical thing, boys on top of dad...if you're on the ground, you're game...
• this is a really soft image, but it kind of works here (note to the wise: don't hand hold images at 1/6 of a second if you want them to be sharp!
• i actually took this photo straight with the horizon straight across, but i like the crop this way & i'm not concerned about a crooked horizon
• a note from my son: he is not naked in this photo! he's concerned that since he wasn't wearing a shirt & you can't see his shorts, someone will think he's in the buff, but he's not...so now you know

*this image was shot at f3.8, 1/6, iso 100 with an 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens at 22mm

the bitting 7: family photo shoot

as most of you know, i'm just starting out with my photography business, so when i got a request several weeks ago to shoot a family, it really hit me that i hadn't done any family sessions for a while & that i might be really rusty...it's not the same as working one on one with someone, so i was a tad nervous.

so, i called my sister-in-law & said "i need to take some family photos of you guys sometime this week!"

see, i knew she'd go for that...at least i know i would...so we worked it out that same night.

she's so nice to go to all the trouble for me. getting 5 kiddos ready, not to mention getting my brother to cooperate...that's a lot of work!

so here they are...some of the much anticipated images from that day. i hope that everyone else likes them as much as i do!

these guys are raising angus beef, so i thought it would work to have the family standing out by the gate to the pasture because this is their life right now...

here's a quick snap of 2 of the girls, these are the moments that make you scratch your head as a mom...one minute they're yelling & fighting with each other...the next...

here are a few of the family... mom had some good posing ideas...i like suggestions a lot!

apprarently, 2 yr old little boys aren't excited about shots where everybody squeezes in on top of them...


some of mom & dad...they make for one good lookin' couple...

now this here is why there's five kiddos...☺

and a few of the littlest people...i've been wanting to get some time with this one for a while...this girl can totally work it in front of the camera...

hard to believe she's just 5 yrs old...

and the baby boy...there's a story behind this hat...i guess sometimes he even likes to sleep in it...but don't you just look at those eyes & think "i need to take him home!"...

thanks guys...it was fun & you all helped me out a ton...

xoxo

~apryl

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because:

• this is my youngest brother, his bride & their oldest son...they asked me to take their wedding photos a few years ago
• i had no idea what i was doing...
• taking wedding photos was stressfull & made me sweat like crazy
• ps... i am not a wedding photographer...those people are brave souls
• this is one of 2 whole shots i had thought up before the wedding, i wanted them walking away with their son following after them, he was not real sure about the grass, hence the bear crawl he's doing...
• the little guy's so cute in this shot...it seems like a keepsake to me!
  

*this image was shot @ f4.5, 1/80, iso 100 with a 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens at 52mm with fill flash

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because...

• these are my guys...i love em'
• this was a spontaneous shot, didn't set it up, might have had to tell them to stay that way for minute though...:)
• i took this the first week i had my new dslr, very excited, not really taking very good images though...practice, practice, practice

*this images was shot @ f4.0, 1/20, iso 200 with an 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 lens at 20mm

i ♥ faces week 18 "laughter"

this week the theme at i heart faces is laughter.

sad to say, but i could only remotely think of a couple of shots i have that actually capture someone laughing! i think this is sad, so i'm going to try & work on that.

for the kids category i had this shot in mind...it's my niece - she is a f i r e c r a c k e r! i'm digging the 70's faded look processing & i thought it worked for this image.

and for the adult category, this one was easy. i photographed my brothers wedding & this was fun...

so hop on over to i heart faces and check out all the great entries!

i ♥ faces week 17 "hats"

this week, i am entering a few images into the "i heart faces" blog contest, this particular theme is featuring photos of faces with hats.

i actually had more than one good option for the kids category, so it was hard to pick, but i have loved this one since i took it in the fall.

this is a shot of my lovely niece with nice evening sun, that "golden hour" lighting that makes eveything nice and warm, this is one of my favorite types of light to capture...

and my entry into the adult category...i'm going to get flack for this one, i'm entering this photo of the big guy

if you haven't been, head over to the i heart faces blog today - you can enter your photos on mondays & tuesday, with a new theme each week. check it out!