The World According to Angie

Triple Trouble

Shot with Nikon D300s & Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 @ 48mm; 1/60s at f/5.0 and ISO 800; diffuse natural light with no modifiers and no flash.

My brother & sister-in-law make beautiful babies. Their three girls are gorgeous ... but they're definitely triple trouble! Gabrielle Ilene, Lyla Mae, and Ivy Michele Lee. So sweet!

(And yes, it took me about 20 frames to get this one where all three of them were looking at me and smiling. Lyla likes to stick out her tongue and make faces, Ivy is squirmy, and poor Gabby was doing her best to keep the other two in line.)

But this shot made it all worthwhile!

Micaiah + His Mommy

I visited Micaiah in the hospital the day after he was born. A year later, he's one solid, sturdy little guy ... and his mama is completely in love with him. I can't say I blame her!

Shot with Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens; 1/250s at f/4.5 and ISO 200 at 70mm. Shot using natural light in San Antonio, TX on 21 November 2009.

Mmmm ... it's that new baby smell!

While in San Antonio this weekend visiting my folks, I did several photo shoots for friends of the family. Saturday morning, I got to play with Carissa and her friend Ashley, as well as Ashley's 10-week-old son, Konnor. When I asked her how she felt about "naked baby" and she replied, "I love it!" I knew we were in for a fun shoot. I'll be sharing a handful of images from this shoot over the next couple days. This one really made me smile ... Konnor is such an adorable little guy!

Shot with Nikon D200 + 50mm f/1.4 Nikkor lens; 1/100s at f/1.4 using overhead natural-light fluorescents and diffused flash.

Lovin' his Uncle Jim

I caught this quick, candid moment between Logan and his Uncle Jim on Halloween morning as they played catch - y'know, like, "catch the baby".  Logan loves that game... and his Uncle Jim.

 

Fiercely Independent

Audrey & Chris call Logan "fiercely independent" ... and this photograph goes a long way to documenting that side of his personality. At 15 months, he's quite opinionated about what he wants to do and when he wants to do it. Can you tell?

Shot with Nikon D200 + 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 Nikkor lens; 1/160s at f/5.6 and ISO 200 at 145mm. 

Toddler + Slide = Magic

What do you get when you combine a toddler, a slide, and flexible parents? The magical photograph above.

Logan had never been down a "big kid" slide before, so this was a complete experiment. Lucky for us, he loved it.

To capture these, I used a combination of my new zoom lens (Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 with VR and SWF) and my favorite fixed 50mm f/1.4 (which I used for the first photo in this post ... capturing his expression when he got to the bottom of the slide by standing right over him). I should have been shooting in shutter-priority mode, rather than aperture-priority - it would have eliminated the blur you see in his feet above - but I vascillate on whether or not I like the effect.

 
The one thing I'm sure of, though, is that the trick to dynamic photos of a toddler is finding something they enjoy and allowing them to do it, while you chase them with your lens. Just make sure you're wearing lace-up shoes, and bring a change of clothes. Some of the best shots require kneeling, crawling, or sitting in the dirt.

What Generation Gap?

Logan just hangin' with his grandparents, who were visiting for the weekend from New Braunfels.

Shot with Nikon D200 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens; 1/1600s at f/1.8, ISO 600, using natural light on an overcast day. Edge burn applied during post-processing using Photoshop CS3. 

Looking Up to Daddy

I'm learning that, when shooting a toddler, one has to be both patient and always at the ready to fire off the camera. This photo was the result of that patience and of being down at Logan's level. I didn't much care where the adults were ... I was following him ... trying to capture the world through his eyes. And even though Chris's face isn't in this photo, I think it manages to capture an aspect of his relationship with his son quite nicely.

Shot with Nikon D200 + Nikkor 70-300mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, 1/90s at f/5.6 and ISO 200, using natural light on an overcast day. 

One Happy Little Guy

At fifteen months, Logan Reed is one happy little dude ... except when he's not. We had a bit of a challenge at our photo shoot, since he's mobile, fiercely independent, and rather opinionated about what he wants to be doing at any given time. But I did manage to catch a couple great smiles from him ... including this one.

Shot with Nikon D200 + Nikkor 50mm f/1.4 lens; 1/100s at f/16, ISO 600, using natural light on an overcast day.

Goddard Family Outtakes

Annalise was one unhappy camper when we tried to take family photos. I asked her mom and dad to cry right back at her in an attempt to make her smile.

It seemed to confuse her more than cheer her up, but it sure made for some funny out-takes! A big thanks to Stephanie and Abel for being willing to have a bit of fun and be silly for their sweet girl.

The end results were certainly worth it!