Trying out some Textures

Just playing around with some textures. I think I like them. Let me know what you think.

The Girls

Outtakes

I set up the studio in the house to play around with my 3rd light that had arrived... Riley didn't want anything to do with it but Kate and Abby played along... we had lots of fun... and of course, what is a photo shoot without some silly "outtakes?!"

The S Family

Mrs. C asked me to take photographs of her beautiful family. They all looked so nice and were so much fun to spend time with. You can see just by looking at these pictures how much they all love each other. They too are getting ready to leave England. I hope these photographs can be a reminder of their time here and of just how little their little girls are. They do grow up so fast!

Trying new techniques...

Look Mom! No hands!

On one of my favorite photography sites http://www.ilovephotography.com I found an incredible photographer in New Zealand that uses his flash in such a unique way that allows both the sky and the object of the picture to be exposed correctly.

Think of pictures where the subject is too dark with the sky looking beautiful or the subject looking just right with the sky being completely blown out when you know there was a beautiful blue sky with fluffy white clouds when you snapped the shutter. He was kind enough to share his technique on the site so I decided to try it out on the kids in the front yard. My technique still needs some work but I think I'm getting the idea... and I'll never get better if I'm not out there shooting and trying to expand my comfort zone. Go check out his site and you will appreciate how great these type of pictures can look....

http://www.stateofthenation.co.nz/

My Three

I took all three kids out to get some pictures of them together. Kate and Riley are so accustomed to my camera in their face that some bribing was necessary to get them to willingly participate. However, Abby thought it was good fun to pose for photos so I was able to get lots of her. It's good to have a photographer for a step-mom when you have a myspace page! :)

Chaplin D

My friend Lisa's Chaplin had orders and was down to his last few weeks in England. She wanted to present him with a framed portrait along with a key verse. She asked me to attend the service and get some shot of him in his element during his last service here at Lakenheath. I never did get to see the finished product all matted and framed with the verse but hope that this gift is a great reminder of his time here and all the people he got to know along the way.

We are leaving early!

I haven't updated here in a month. A lot can happen in the amount of time. Abby has come and gone. We miss you sweetie and hope you are enjoying Frontier Days! And our orders got moved up to October 1st. (Originally we were leaving in March '09 and then it was changed to December and now October!) We found out as soon as we got home from our vacation so Jason and I have been cleaning out all the clutter and deciding what to ship now and what to save for later. It has been a long month but I am happy to say the movers came today and our house is much emptier than it was. However, because we are not leaving until October I kept all my studio equipment to be shipped out later. So I still have the ability to do indoor and outdoor sessions. If have talked with me about scheduling a shoot but we haven't set a date, now is the time to do it. I will continue to take appointment through the month of August and into the first week of September. Just shoot me an e-mail at judyrichardsphotography@yahoo.com if you want to get those pictures done before I have to pack up and leave for good. I have had a few shoots since I updated last. Plus, I worked hard to take lots of pictures of the kids while Abby was with us. Enjoy and hope to hear from you soon.

Canary Islands

It has been a busy couple of weeks. First my step-daughter Abby flew in from the states and then we took our summer vacation in sunny Fuertenventura, one of the Canary Islands. Here are a few of my favorites from our week. The beach and the villas beyond. Moonlight on the ocean... Let me introduce Abby. She stays with us every summer and then again at Christmas. I tell her it is my job to take 6 months worth of pictures in only 6 weeks. I'm sure you will be seeing lots more of this beautiful face in the weeks to come. And this is all we saw of Kate all week. She loves to snorkel and swims like a little fish.

Riley stayed in the water pretty much the entire time.

Goofing around.

On the last day we went to the zoo and got to hold this snake.....!

Little J

I had the chance to take a walk in the woods with this little guy. He just turned three and his mom wanted to remember this sweet age. All my "babies" are a bit older and it was so fun to see the world through his little eyes. We looked at the ducklings and climbed over hills and studied one black slug for a very long time. He was great about stopping to let me take pictures as long as while we were walking we got to hold hands. Such a sweet age!

Lisa

I had the most amazing opprutunity to work with an author- in- the- making. My friend Lisa just finished two Christian books and needed a portrait for the book sleeves and her web site and asked me to do it. Here are just a few of the pictures we took. I'm not sure yet which one she has picked for her book. In her own words this is the information on both books. The Solid Project By Lisa Marie Anderson Available at Amazon July 2008 The Very Last Day By Lisa Anderson Illustrated by Lisa Marie Anderson (for children) Available from Amazon July 2008 These works are the teaching of the anointing of the gleaner- Jeremiah 6:9 This is what the LORD Almighty says: "Let them glean the remnant of Israel as thoroughly as a vine; pass your hand over the branches again, like one gathering grapes." I look forward to seeing the books in print and reading them for myself. She doesn't have her website up and running just yet but I will post a link as soon as she does. Best of luck Lisa!

On to Saturday...

My new bag :)

And on Saturday... I set up a booth at the Lakenheath Intermediate School Bazaar. It was such a fun experience to meet and speak to so many people who are looking for family/senior/ and or children's portraits. For all of you who took my card and are now checking out my blog... "it was nice to meet you." Please call or e-mail me soon and we can set up an appointment. And because I think it is so important to support other military families and entrepreneurs like myself I would like to mention a wonderful lady I met yesterday... her name is Christine Swanson. She sews the most beautiful handmade handbags. I picked up mine yesterday and just love it. You can view her store at http://www.sewthoughtful.etsy.com/ . Looking forward to hearing from you soon.

Mother/Daughter Evening

The girls are part of a club called the BGs. It stands for Beautiful Girls and is a club that helps to teach them to value themselves and see themselves the way Gods sees them. Friday there was a mother/daughter evening at BGs and we were all asked to dress up for the occasion. I still had the studio set up so I snapped these right before we walked out the door.

I don't get on this side of the camera too often. Thanks so much to Jason for this portrait of me and my little girl who is growing up way too fast~