We have had some crazy weather for Arizona... no outside portraits in a few days, but still doing my photo a day project (gives me a reason to take a break from the boring bookkeeping I have been doing in preparation for taxes - yuck). Anyway, here are a couple from the last two days. My dog KC and I have a standing playdate every afternoon that I do not have a session, and the rain yesterday caused us to cancel the outside playtime. Habits are hard to break, so at 4:25 she went to the door and looked for Jake... I'm sure she would have been happy to play outside and just couldn't understand why her humans were not as thrilled about it. The other photo is from this morning. We were BETWEEN storms for a brief period, with round three on it's way, and I captured these cool clouds with a bit of blue showing before the gap closed up and the rains came again. We don't get to see these clouds often, so it was fun to capture them before they "disappeared".
"Rainy Day Blues"
"Between the storms"
"The best thing to do when it rains is to let it rain"
Today's personal photo of the day is from a parking lot in Cave Creek. Old rusted out Dodge truck... cool colors and lines. I love getting up close to capture details like this. It was an overcast day today (a rare thing in Arizona) so it helped keep colors more saturated in the photograph.
I love dogs, and these two cuties came over for a playdate with my dog, so I grabbed my camera for my photo of the day project... enjoy a few of the images from the playdate! Sorry to those of you in cold climates (I grew up in Chicago so I KNOW what you are going through) but it was 70 degrees and sunshine for our playtime here.
How CUTE is that face?!
Jake the wonder dog catching his tennis ball...
Taking a break...
MY interpretation of the above image... the dog LOVES his tennis balls!
A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself.
Since your eye goes to the brightest area of a photo, it is important to not let anything be brighter than your subject.Here is an example to help illustrate this point.This cute little subject was in front of a pond and the reflection from the sky was very bright… so in the first image your eye goes to that bright spot in the lower left corner (as well as the blown out area of her hair) rather than to her face.To help in this situation I moved to my left thus moving that bright spot out of the background.I do know that when working with children you have to work quickly and there are times when the mood and expression is right and you grab the shot before you have a chance to fully assess the background. Yes, it is possible to fix the first photo in Photoshop, but if you can learn to look for these “hotspots” in your camera as you are composing the picture it will save a LOT of post-production time when working on the images.
Bright areas in image distracts from the subject:
Moving a bit to the left helped move the hotspot out of the picture to improve the photo:
I have been having fun creating custom photo greeting cards again this year for my clients (and don't even ASK me where MY family photo greeting card is? Maybe I can get that done this week sometime). Anyway, thought I'd share of few of the cards being sent out this year. This is just a sampling of cards that are either a two-sided flat card, or folded cards (backs not shown in these samples). I am hearing back from clients that the cards are a BIG hit, and people always love to see the images of the kids and family. Anyway, enjoy this sampling... and remember that whatever the occasion (holidays, birth announcements, graduation, parties...) Spicer Photography can create custom cards that will WOW you friends and family!
Front of card Inside spread of folded card
Front of a flat card (back has family photo with names)
A whimsical card front and inside spread shown above...
A nice sampling of images on the front of a flat card
Perfect for the Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star tee-shirts these girls were wearing...
Why send a Hallmark greeting, when you can send a very personalized "Spicer Greeting Card" instead! When you care enough to send MORE... Anyway, hope you are enjoying this season and I hope to help you create your custom cards next year.
Every holiday season brings memories of the past as well as wishes for the future. In these moments of thoughtful reflection we learn acceptance for life’s trials while we give thanks for the beauty that surrounds us.
It can also be a time of stress and frantic activity. This is especially true at time of year for most portrait photographers, as we rush to meet the holiday deadlines of our clients. But even amid the hustle and stress I think it is important to go out of our way to extend random acts of kindness toward strangers whenever possible. It could be something as simple as holding the door for someone, or a smile and a kind word. Even just taking the time to say THANKS to someone for something they have done for you.
So at this time of year I give thanks to all of my clients for the trust they have given me to capture their memories. I hope all of you enjoy this time with friends and family, and take a moment to extend a random act of kindness toward a stranger today. Thanks again to all my wonderful clients, friends and family. Have a Happy Thanksgiving.
Hi! I'm Pam Spicer... I am the owner and Photographer for Spicer Photography located in far north Scottsdale, Arizona. My specialty is photographing children, families, high school seniors, pets, and executives. I am married to Jerry and we share our home with our golden retreiver KC. Thanks for checking out my blog! I hope you will check back often to see what's new at Spicer Photography. Oh, and it would be really cool if you tell someone else about my work and help spread the word. Thanks!
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neela commented on February 7th, 2010
LOVE,LOVE,LOVE this!!!! Gorgeous! Nice shot!