Photo-a-Day Challenge

  Lately, I've been lamenting over the fact that I'm really not that great of a blogger. I don't often have any regaling tales of my life to share, and seeing as this is my photography blog, I really feel like I need to keep up with at least a weekly post.

  To help myself get into the groove of becoming a better blogger, I have decided to embark on a formidable journey: a daily photo challenge. It's seems to be a trend nowadays for people to commit to monthly photo challenges, so why not give it a shot? I think it would be fun to get my creative juices flowing by posting a photo a day!

  As I'm sure you've noticed, I've already missed three days. Four, if you include today.

  Better late than never? ;)

  I was going to attempt to catch up by posting the four photos I have missed so far in the challenge, but Blogger seems to be having issues (again) and it isn't allowing me to upload pictures at all. I'll try again tomorrow, I suppose.

  In other news, I've done a bit of updating on my website! If you haven't already seen it and you're interested, check it out HERE.

The Kings {Family Portraits}

  Clouds, railroad tracks, and a splash of yellow.

  This photo shoot contained all three and it was such a fun variety! The canola field was perfect for capturing some beautiful family portraits. I have so many favorites from this day; it's hard to choose which to display!

 

 

Isn't she adorable in those boots?! :)

 It's not often that I find a couple as crazy as my parents, but here you go. ;) I love these two!

What a beautiful, awesome family!

Cody {Senior Portraits}

  It was a rainy, grey, and humid afternoon...

  My favorite kind of weather for a photo session!

  Cloudy days are really the best days to hold shoots, mostly for the fact that the sun isn't out to cause any trouble. Lighting is much more consistent and you don't have to worry about your subject squinting on account of the sun being in their eyes.

  So, it was a perfect day for a portrait session (though I suppose it could have been less humid for my taste. Long hair and humidity isn't pleasant for a photographer, let me tell you. ;)).

  Here are a few of my favorites:

 

 Such a great session and a great guy to work with! Congrats on graduating this year, Cody!

Nash & Keeley [Children's Session]

  About a month ago, I had a photo session in the not-so-Spring weather with a couple of my cousins. It was their last day visiting in Oklahoma and despite the fact that it really was quite chilly outside, they wanted to make sure they got through the shoot. They were definite troopers!

  It was a fun photo shoot and I'm so glad I could capture some great photos for them before they went back home.

 

 

 

 

 

  This last shot is my absolute favorite out of all of them! The sweet sibling love conveyed in this picture just nearly makes my heart melt. :)

New Lens

  I think I mentioned a few posts back that I managed to get a new lens.

  I've had it for a few weeks now, but it wasn't until just a couple of days ago that I finally got to really test out its features. After much cajoling, I succeeded in getting my mother to use her as a model while I fiddled with the lens to see what it could do.

 

   Let's just say...I love it!

  The main reason I purchased this lens was for its ability to set a low f-stop, which is how you can make the background more blurred. As you can see in these pictures, I opted for a rather low f-stop (I love my backgrounds creamy!), while my mom's features are still tack sharp. If you were to zoom in onto her eyes, you'd be able to see her individual eyelashes and the unique splay of colors in her iris.

 

 

The Verdict:

I give this lens a double thumbs up! It's perfect for portraits, and while it's capable of giving you a wonderfully bokeh background, it also maintains an amazingly sharp subject. It is definitely a new go-to lens for me.