Most people assume I constantly have a camera in Lydia’s face and that I must have a gazillion photos of her. The truth is, sadly, no! Between nursing, shooting for clients, trying to establish a presence in a brand new location, and taking care of laundry, dishes, etc. I hardly ever get my camera out to photograph my own daughter 🙁 When I do, however, I want the images to capture who she is at that moment. Whether the photo places where she is developmentally or when it was taken depends on the week and time of year. I post these images weekly for the benefit of family members near and far on my personal Facebook page, usually on Fridays.

I also want photographs I take to help me grow as a photographer! After reading this post on clickin moms that addressed specific ways to improve your lifestyle shots, I decided to employ some of their suggested techniques. In the image here, I focused on perspective, peeping “mom”, and finding the light. Some other techniques mentioned are frames without faces, leading lines, negative space, and framing. I hope to have more examples using these techniques soon!

For a long time I had a million excuses not to focus on improving my lifestyle photography: studio light is my forte, I only have a 50mm lens, I have east/west facing windows in my house, Lydia never stays still, etc. I am so happy to have finally broken free!

People also ask if I edit my personal photos. The answer is yes. I have the software and I am extremely detail-oriented 🙂 Usually no major edits. This photo had some chromatic aberration in the high contrast areas around her fingers and arm (you know, the annoying purple or green fringe that appears when your subject is placed against a brightly-lit backdrop), so I fixed that and called it good.

Looking forward to more posts like this and I hope you are, too!