It's been a fantastic year, and I am looking forward to a fresh start in 2015! As you've probably noticed, I haven't been blogging here on Typepad much lately. I have decided that I will now blog exclusively on the blog attached to my Squarespace website. Paying two monthly charges for a blog and a website just didn't make financial sense any longer, and I love the Squarespace blogging format so much, especially since photography has become such a big part of my world.
Anyway, I will have to request a redirect through Bloglovin' for those of you who access this blog through their reader service, but I will be redirecting the domain flyoverlifestyle.com to my Squarespace site within the next day or two. I am working on making the transition as seamless as possible for you few loyal friends who have been patient with my long absences. I still plan on doing lots of personal writing as well as featuring the photo shoots I have been a part of.
I had the opportunity to photograph this wonderful couple last weekend. They have such amazing natural chemistry, they were a joy to photograph! To see more of their shoot, visit my blog at Flyover Photography!
This post is a model call in celebration of the MC1R gene. I am looking for men, women, and children of all ages in the Springfield, MO area who would be willing to model for me for an art project in late September celebrating that most wonderful of recessive traits - the freckle. If you, or your children, would be willing to participate, contact me at flyoverphoto(at)gmail.com
We are making our way through South Dakota, and will be enjoying our last day of discovering this beautiful land tomorrow. There aren't many words to describe the experiences we've had here. Pictures will hopefully tell the story instead.
Sarah has a deep soul. An old soul. She is passionate about the environment, about safe and humane farming and food sourcing, and about helping people. I met her a few years ago, and she impressed me very much with her depth, her beauty, and her spirit.
Sarah is home working as an intern this summer, helping to campaign against the Right To Farm amendment here in Missouri. This deceptively-worded document does anything but help farmers and consumers, and has everything to do with money and big business. If you live in Missouri, please vote NO and help raise awareness in your constituency.
I think these pictures sum up how I see Sarah - grounded, majestic, yet ethereally beautiful. The final photo is my first attempt at a stitched vertical panorama using the Brenizer method. It is composed of 9 separate images, and took me four hours total to edit in Photoshop, but I was so excited by the results. I cannot wait to use this technique again. This overpass is one of the most beautiful I have seen - with its length and symmetry, it almost reminds me of the movie "Inception."
So, I'm really putting myself out here with this one...
Two years ago, when I picked up my husband's little Canon Rebel XS and started taking pictures of cats and flowers, I was completely clueless about photography. Most of my pictures were just okay at best - blurry around the edges, too dark, horizons all over the place. I never, ever thought anyone would want me to take their picture. Much less offer to pay me.
This photography thing has taught me a whole lot about the world. About people, about their stories, about what is most important in life. I never expected to fall in love with portraiture. I'm a classic introvert - and people, while I love them, scare me just a little. Did I ever think I would be anything but an amateur photographer? No, and I even wrote a blog post about that just a couple months ago. I was never going to be a professional photographer. No way. Not for me.
But, here's the thing:
Sometimes your plan, and God's plan, are two different things.
People started emailing me and texting me, asking me if I would take their pictures. I made excuses, saying I'm not good enough, that I just do photography for fun. I took a few friends' pictures for free, just because I love them. Everybody else, I referred on, and kept taking pictures of cats and flowers.
But, the truth is - I had caught a bug for taking pictures of people, for seeing their soul through the lens of my camera. And then one of my pictures was picked up by a local magazine (you'll see that next month) and I figured out that Serendipity was calling my name. And why not? Serendipity led me to my day job, which I'm still passionately in love with, and have no plans of quitting.(Rest easy, hair clientele!)
I have several shoots in the next few weeks which will really test my chops. I still have a lot to learn. I expect I will be learning the rest of my life.
I'm not going to try to change the world or get famous for my photography. I'm not doing weddings, and I'm not doing this every day. But I am now "semi" pro. And as terrifying as that is to say, all signs say go.
If you'd like to check out my new photography site, I'd be flattered. You can find it here.
For my very first editorial concept shoot, I wanted to evoke the golden, summery feeling of the late '60s - the era of Joan Baez, Loretta Lynn, and Joni Mitchell. Kayleigh brought a romantic vulnerability to these pictures. It was really hard to cull any of our shoot, because she is incredibly photogenic.
And what a sport! She didn't hesitate at all when I asked her to do some uncomfortable things - like lie down in a thatch of scratchy weeds and wildflowers. She has a true performer's heart, and understood what was running through my head with hardly any direction.
To achieve this sun-streaked, faded album-cover look, I relied upon VSCo presets from film packs 3 and 5 in post. If you long for the nostalgic feel of photos of the past, I can't recommend these film packs more highly. And of course, shooting in a magical gazebo field at sunset doesn't hurt, either. Most of the shading and lens flare were natural, but I did add lightleaks to photos 1 and 13 above to increase the feeling of nostalgia.
On a side note, the custom guitar that appears in these pictures belonged to my dad, a great musician in his own right.
Model: Kayleigh Rose (Thanks to Kara, her mom, for assisting!)
Shooting concerts can be quite challenging. I had my first experience with shooting live performances back in March for our town's annual Mardi Gras celebration. I learned a lot about how to shoot(and not to shoot) in low light during that experience. It's something that takes lots of patience and practice, and really helps you get to know your camera.
I was pretty excited when Kayleigh and her mom asked me to shoot her fundraising concert for Grammy Camp at a local coffee house, because this is an area of photography I need to grow in.
Grammy Camp is a yearly immersion camp, in which talented young singer/songwriters are selected by merit to participate. Kayleigh was one of only 30 kids to get this opportunity to travel to New York and learn from music industry pros. Travel costs are pretty expensive, so her family and friends all pitched in to organize this fundraising concert - including a live auction of donated goods and services.
Seeing young people do something they love is pretty amazing, and especially when they are willing to put in the work to get their gifts out there. They rocked the house, and I know Kayleigh is going to make it in the music industry.
I think the key, at least for me, with shooting live performances, is to not focus on the whole of the experience, with lots of wide angle shots, but to curate the details and elements that come together to create an accurate documentation of the passion and intensity that musicians have. You have to shoot a lot of pictures to capture the best facial expressions and moments. Most of what you shoot will end up in the waste bin, but there are many moments that will stand out - so it's worth the time to shoot in burst mode, then comb through hundreds of frames to find those perfect shots. I'm learning to be a better editor.
I love black and white photography. The VSCO presets - especially the Fuji Neopan and Fuji FP Negative presets in VSCOfilm 3 and 5 were used to edit all of the monochrome shots above.
Lenses: Canon 50mm prime (f/3.2 and f/3.5) and 55-250mm EFS zoom(f/4 and f/5.6) ISO 500 Shutter speed 1/100
Support Kayleigh Rose's music career via Facebook or YouTube
The thing that I find most rewarding about shooting portraits, is that after the self-conscious walls begin to fall, and your model becomes comfortable with you - you get to see a glimpse of their soul.
Kim recently had her hair colored bright blue, and asked me to document this fun-loving change to her looks. As we talked and I shot her pictures, I found out that she hadn't sat for a photographer sinch high school. That surprised me, as she was very photogenic and warmed up quickly - this was only a 20 minute long shoot!
Kim is a little bit rock n' roll, a little bit pin-up girl, and a whole lot of fun. She messaged me this after I sent her the edits:
"These were exactly what I wanted-fun, feisty and you made me laugh doing them. I feel great about myself looking at these - pretty and strong, and more confident! Thank you for that...I see my mom, and it made me cry."
The feels. Oh, the feels!
As a novice photographer, the fact that people would ever even trust me to document their lives at all is...humbling. It's a privilege, and one I hope to never treat lightly.
Finding photo locations that are both accessible and picturesque can be challenging. And then, there are the unexpected places like this one - a gazebo in the middle of an open field, surrounded by wildflowers. I have no idea who put this gazebo here, or why - but they must have loved it enough to plan it out carefully. Four paths from all sides led to it, but there were no other buildings around. It's a mystery I would love to untangle.
This vintage dress is made of the ultimate summer fabric - seersucker. It is cool, easy to care for, and comfortable.
Dress {Vintage}
Cardigan [H&M - old}
Shoes {Thrifted}
Basket Bag {Vintage - thrifted}
Ring {Akira Chicago - old}
Beads {Vintage - swap}
Earrings {Target-old}
Bracelets {bottom pic - top to bottom: Lagos, JCPenney, gift}
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