:: photo-a-day {MAY} | washington dc iphonographer ::

You may have noticed -- I've slacked off on my People Pictures exercises. I decided to take a break from the intensity of the People Pictures exercises and do something light and fun. For the entire month of May, I've been participating in the photo-a-day challenge started by #fatmumslim. Each day, I look at the list of topics for this month and take an iPhone photo of the topic of the day.

The idea is to share, share, share -- everyone is welcome to participate and share the photos on whatever social platform you'd like: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Flickr, Blog, Pinterest etc. One doesn't have to be super creative or be the most amazing photographer -- just the willingness to share with family & friends...or the world if you're so inclined :-)

Here are some highlights from my Photo-A-Day {MAY} album:

For the complete album, please visit my Facebook page. Tomorrow is the first day of June, so new list and new challenges. I will be posting a photo a day to my FB page.

Won't you join me??? Share your photos with me on the B+N {PHOTOGRAPHY} Facebook page and let's have some fun!

:: she's one | washington dc family portrait photographer ::

This was such a special session for me. I've known the dad all of HIS life -- he's my younger cousin, R! What makes it even more special is that he is now married to the beautiful, lovely S, and is dad to a soon-to-be-one-year-old gorgeous little A. Thanks R & S for a wonderful afternoon and a chance to cuddle with A :-)

Sidenote: R's dad is my dad's younger brother, and his mom is my mom's younger sister. Really not that strange if you think about it -- just means we have the same four grandparents :-)

Here is a peek of their session at the U.S. National Arboretum:

:: grass | washington dc plant photographer :;

I'm tying up a couple of loose ends, so no "People Pictures" this week.

Yesterday, as I was about to sit down for dinner with my family, I realized I hadn't done my "Photo A Day" exercise for May 14th (composite from the days of May will be posted here at the end of the month). Topic: Grass.

So I quickly pulled on my rain boots, bolted outside and started taking pics of grass/ground cover in our garden. I felt the vegetation needed some "oomph", so I enlisted the help of our trusty Swiss garden gnome (guarding our garden since 2001). I had w-a-a-a-y too much fun with our little friend.

:: exercise #11 results {people skills} | 30 people pictures ::

My most vivid memories of my mom always involve her sewing (my dresses), knitting (my stuffed toys) and drawing/painting (my BROTHER's art projects). She was a high school teacher back in the day, so we had her all to ourselves after school and during the summer.

To this day, I still bring my clothes to her for mending. I know enough to make small repairs, but nothing like the magic mom could do. Now when my children's clothing or stuffed toys "malfunction", they automatically put the item(s) in their backpacks so they can bring it to Grandmommy's house for mending.

For this week's People Pictures exercise & for Mother's Day, I decided to take some portraits of my mom. I wanted to make sure I document this important memory for me and my children. To set up the shoot, I asked mom if I could take pics of her while she helps me alter O's dresses. We chatted casually the entire time (about 15 minutes), and I think I've captured what are most important to me -- her generosity, her perseverance and her love of family.

Seeing her with my little ones warms my heart. I'm so glad my children will have the same fond memories of my mom that I had as a little girl.

Happy Mother's Day to the most amazing mom and grandmommy in the world :-) We love you!!!

:: exercise #11: people skills | 30 people pictures ::

SPECS

• Goal: Develop people skills.
• Tools: Camera and lens of your choice.
• Light: Depends on location.
• Location: Indoors or outdoors.
• Theme: MAKING THE CONNECTION.
• Duration: 30 minutes for photo shoot.

CHALLENGES

• Step 1: {Make Eye Contact}Focus your eyes, pause and connect with your subject
• Step 2: {Active Listening with a Friend} Actively listen and ask good questions.
• Step 3: {Where the Rubber Meets the Road} Photograph someone who interests you. Arrive early for the shoot. Greet the subject. Give her a small gift to show your appreciation.
• Step 4: {Cut to the Chase} Begin the shoot and keep it completely conversational. Keep her engaged with asking questions and listening. End the shoot early and thank the subject for her time.
• Step 5: {Acknowledgement and Thanks} Show your appreciation by following up with a handwritten note -- no texting or email allowed!

:: exercise #10 results part 3 {arms length} | 30 people pictures ::

Here we are, at the conclusion of exercise #10 of the People Pictures exercises. This is what I've learned:

• Empathy for my clients -- It is much easier to hide behind the big camera than to be in front of it.
• Bracketing exposures -- Since I shoot in manual mode, I had to set the exposure recipe intuitively and then tweak it to get it right. Although I usually use the center auto-focus point, for this, I put the AF on auto for better results.
• I definitely have a "better" side :-)
• Photoshop is a middle-aged woman's best friend.

I shot this image in my workspace, with the camera slightly overhead at arms-length. I used the lowest possible F-stop (1.2), in hopes of blurring some of the "no-so-desirable." Of course there is some "photoshopping", but I left the multitude of freckles alone for authenticity :-)

Happy Monday! Please check back tomorrow for the intro to Exercise #11!