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♥

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!

i ♥ faces challenge "innocent wonder" | nappanee photographer

trying to pull myself out of a non-blogging, non-photographing slump, i opened my emails today and saw that
the i ♥ faces photography challenge this week is "innocent wonder". i immediately knew where the perfect photo was.

little miss girl was here several days ago & i snapped a few quick photos. she likes to go up to my table with the photo frames and check out the familiar faces, pointing out who's who, naming them all.

i love how she rests her little 2 year old chin over the top of the table.

and... i'm especially a sucker for a profile & the added bonus of a her sweet reflection☺

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 miss s | bourbon children's photographer

a couple of weeks ago i had the delightful privilege of photographing this little girl.
technically, i've photographed her once before, but that just wasn't quite the same!

i've decided that "S" stands for "sweetie", cause that's her.












i love the time i spend with children in front of my camera!
can't wait till i get another chance to capture miss s & her smiles again☺

mesmerized

i am mesmerized by her eyes...
i am fascinated by her cheeks...
i am captivated by her lovely disposition...


i have been charmed by this little one, my adorable niece.

love you baby girl!
xo

baby girl | nappanee children's photographer

can you say babelicious?


those big eyes & lashes...
those little teeth...
that drooly chin...

i'm in love ♥

friday favorite : nappanee children's photographer

another golden oldie from the wayback machine...


this is my pick today because:

• i just love this baby girl...well, not so much a baby anymore☺
• those eyes, those lips...so serious...
• the backlighting around her face
• yummy-liciousness

*this image was shot @ f5.0, 1/60, iso 100 with an 18-135mm f3.5-5.6 lens @ 78mm

i faces ♥ week 38 "blue" photo challenge : nappanee children's photographer

this weeks photo challenge at i heart faces is photos with lots of "blue" in them. digging deep into the archives, i think this one qualifies - lots of blue!

it's an oldie but goodie, once again... can't get enough of those baby boy cheeks!

so head on over to i heart faces and check out those "blue" entries.

friday favorite : nappanee children's photographer

this is my pick today because:

• i am in love with this photo! it has this bohemian feel to it, i cannot stop looking at it!
• not to mention the look of this sweet child here - come on now, i know you want to take him home! (i can hear his mother laughing..."yes, please take him home!") what a cutie this boy is!
• i have to confess, this was just what i call a "snap", very quick little sneaky shot, not really planned... but wow, i love it
• and who knew that a great bunch of weeds makes for a nice sparkly background?☺

*this image was shot @ f2.8, 1/200, iso 200 at 48mm with a 24-70mm 2.8 lens

can't get enought of the boys : nappanee children's photographer

just some fun shots of another one of my nephews, another "bub"...

i don't think i've posted any of this guy here yet (except for the shot of him crawling behind mom & dad on their wedding day), he's got a little brother i posted a couple of weeks ago in my friday favorite and i thought i should give him equal time!

this first one's an old one, he was just a beeb then, but i'm always going through my "extensive backlog" (ie: the thousands of photos that need to be printed someday) and i came across this one.

i like it ☺


and these are more recent, the boys came out with mom & dad to pick strawberries & spend some time on the big swingset. this guy was more interested in making sure little brother didn't get his new buzz lightyear than he was in having his picture taken ☺

favorite friday: image of the day

this is my pick today because:

• this is another one of my nephews...one of the bubs...aka: a cutie-patootie
• he's been out in my strawberry patch, testin out the the strawberries & the dirt
• he has a bruise on his forehead & this reminds me so much of the little boy...always a bruise or knot on the forehead at this age
• i know this one can ham it up for his mom & dad, but he's still mostly giving me that "why are you in my face" look...little does he know that's exactly what i'm going for! so serious...

*this image was shot @ f4, 1/640, iso 200 with a 50mm 1.4 lens

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!

the smith's: family photo shoot

memorial day weekend i had the pleasure of photographing this adorable little lady & her family!





she even sang & danced for me...

here she is with mom & dad...

and the rest of her family...

my thanks to the family for letting me capture a bit of your weekend - you were all such great troopers!

~apryl

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