love her | nappanee photographer

this girl rocks my world.
she is magical, i tell you - in the very best way possible!

it's like having one great big piece of eye dessert, getting to spend a little camera time with her.





this girl does not disappoint, not for one moment. i can barely keep up with her!

i love her new haircut - it so fits her. she's a no-nonsense, roll-with-the-flow girl & i love that about her.

she's a breath of fresh air, this one.
gonna breathe in as much as i can get☺

can't get close enough | nappanee photographer

one of my favorite quotes regarding photography is:

if your pictures aren't good enough, you're not close enough.
-robert capa

so it makes it very convenient that i love a good close-up! i actually have to think outside my own little personal "box" to back up and take something other than a close-up.

i generally shoot with a prime lens, so there's no zooming for me.


at first it might seem weird getting so close, but soon it becomes second nature. i've always got about 3 feet to work with, so i'm not exactly on top of my subject.... but i am pretty snug...


(yes, there was a moment i thought this one might take a bite out of my camera...)


i nearly always frame my shots in camera. i rarely plan to "crop creatively" in post processing. so if this is what i want, i get in there....


i've just come to love getting really close. there's something about framing a face & gobbling up those eyes...


and that nose and those lips...


so if you want your photos to capture the heart & soul of your subject, get in there! get close, forget about those background distractions and fill up your frame with those wonderful faces!

6 month old beauty | nappanee children's photographer

this little girl hardly knows me without the black box in front of my face.
she's the newest of my 14 nieces & nephews and the most regularly photographed by me, to date.
and that's ok because mommy & i both love photos.

and babies aren't babies for long, so there's no such thing as too many photos, right?!

i love baby hands and feet, and baby roundness....

what a precious face....

when i think of her, this is the face i see...

and lest anyone think she's a boy, we added a flowery headband...☺

thank you sweet baby, for tolerating your aunt with the camera, once again!

xoxo

aunt apryl

she makes me smile | nappanee children's photographer

seeing this little one just makes my day!
she has a wonderful disposition & she's a doll.
so luvvy & sweet right now.

i truly miss this age with my boys.

and...
i have always been in love with this angle of view.

i have a similar shot of my oldest when he was little.
i called it his "alfred hitchcock" pose. the mostly bald head & the huge, droopy cheeks.

oh, how i love that!

i love the eyelashes.
i love the exaggeration of the cheeks & the pouty lips.


but i love this one just as much!

love you pretty girl!

xoxo
aunt apryl

happy today | etna green children's photographer

these are making me happy today...

baby fingers & toes....


and adorable profiles with soft, kissable cheeks...

yummm...♥

little f is growing up | etna green children's photographer

ever since i took her pictures in the beginning, i've been wanting to spend some time taking more.

mommy says that as soon as the camera comes out, she'll have nothing to do with me.

i started out in front of her and she dodged me left...


i went to her left & she dodged me right...


i popped right back in front & she looked over my shoulder like i wasn't even there!

she's one smooth little operator, this one!

just you wait little girl... i'll be back to getcha☺

xo
aunt apryl

a discussion with a 4 yr old | nappanee children's photographer

a couple of weeks ago we stopped by my nephew's on his 4th birthday. as per usual, i took my camera along in case the opportunity arose to snap a few shots of anyone cute.

this boy was doing his thing.
playing in the dirt because apparently dirt is more fun than the sandbox for some such reason or another.
and playing in the dirt is one of the things that boys do best, so we have to let them do that, especially on their birthday.

so i planted myself there next to him and started chatting & snapping in between.

mr. c was seriously working on setting up a barn with some cows & pigs.

i guess that dirt doubles for bedding, food, saw dust... whatever you happen to need at that moment.

at some point, mr. c looked up and said something like

mr. c: "why are you takin' pictures of me?"

to which i replied something like

me: "cause it's your birthday & i thought that might be kind of nice for your mom to have pictures of you on your birthday. is that ok???"


mr c.: "no."


i guess serious business should not be interrupted by the sound of the shutter clattering.
ropin' up your cows and all, that's very serious stuff.

so i'm thinking, "great. he's really gonna make me work for this!"

these 4 yr olds, what can we do with them?

we can bribe them, that's what we can do with them☺

me: "so, maybe if i can get some nice pictures of you, i just might have a birthday present for you..."

wow... magical... look at that face!

me: "seriously, is that the best you got?"
(i see no reason to beat around the bush with these people - 4 yr old people, that is)


me: "oh yeah... that's what i'm talkin' about!"

mr. c: "so about that birthday present... "

me: "just exactly how many birthday presents could you possibly need???"

me: "ahhh... that many. well i suppose 1 more won't hurt you!"

☺

so, thanks little buddy, for the pictures.

hope this 4 thing turns out to be just great!

love,

aunt apryl

xo

ps. mom, that's chocolate cake around his mouth there. if you want me to, i can get rid of it, course i thought it was sort of cute! boys with clean faces... do those exist?

beautiful girl | nappanee children's photographer

i'm like a kid in a candy shop with this girl in front of my camera. i could just eat her up! i knit this hat just to take pictures of it on her pretty little head.

i don't know about you, but i'm in love ♥

kisses, girly-girl!

sisters : etna green children's photographer

i have 13 nieces & nephews from my own siblings. with my 2 boys, there are 15 grandchildren (plus 1 on the way) from the 5 of us kids. out of the 15, there are 6 girls.

these are the big girls. or maybe i should say the older girls... that's how i catagorize the kids in my head. we have the big kids & the little kids... the teens & the munchkins. something like that☺

this is what happens when your aunt stops by unexpectedly & says "hey girls, let's take some pictures!" mom's in a panic because they're not exactly in perfect picture mode, but i just wanted to capture them right then - no big deal.

these are their "we can be beautiful without smiling" faces...

but then we're back to laughing because it's hard to be so serious when you're trying not to smile☺

don't they look as if they like each other?

this one below i look at and i think... LOVE....

this one is a personal favorite... so sweet...

and last but not least, we got one with her dog. now, i'm not a dog photographer, but that's a pretty good tongue shot, right?!


thanks girls, let me know what you think!

xo
apryl

birthday girl | etna green children's photographer

can hardly believe it... but it's official, today she's 6...

happy birthday little firecracker!
love you,

xo
aunt apryl

farmboy | etna green children's photographer

nothing like a little brown-eyed farmboy on a monday morning...

friday favorite : etna green children's photographer

this is my pick today because:

• i call them the "lovely ladies" - my two oldest nieces
• they are lovely, aren't they☺
• these girls are more than willing subjects...i just love that!
• the ladies seem to get along really well & had so much fun letting me take their picture together... this day we were all about getting them together
• not one but 2 beautiful sets of eyes

*this image was shot @ f2.8, 1/400, iso 320 with a 50mm 1.4 lens