We could not find James Henry’s gloves anywhere so he wore pair of mine- He was a little boy in big gloves, and looked a bit like a lobster!

 Wedding photography incorporates so many aspects of art that I enjoy.  In addition to the usual elements and principles, there is portraiture, photo journalism, architecture, still life, fashion and even graphic design when I am creating albums.  When I started my portrait business I may have muttered the words, weddings and never, in the same sentence… I take it back! As it turns out, I kinda love weddings. So, to make it official I have decided to leap into the wonderful world of weddings, and bridal bliss by having a real deal weddings web site. It is still under construction, but check it out- just promise to come back when it is complete- Thanks! 

Buy Art! Help Haiti! This week when you buy an art print 100% of the profit will go to the Red Cross Haiti earthquake relief fund.

To view the prints for sale: go here: click on clients, enter the password: haiti  

The farmer’s market fruit images are super cute displayed as groups in kitchens (that’s where I keep mine).

Sale ends next Wednesday, January 27th.

Please e-mail me with questions katy@katysouthern.com Thank you! Happy shopping and happy giving!

I originally titled this post “Experiments in Natural Light”  but decided that may suggest that I gave children beer- Not true! So I renamed it- I should mention that it actually includes 1 yard of fabric, 1 bed sheet, 1 window, 7 precious children and a little CS4 Photoshop-

 I am always looking for fresh indoor ideas that allow me to still use natural light- I have also been wanting to incorporate fabrics in my work. Yesterday when James Henry and Eli had some friends over to play- I thought it was a great time to try out my ideas on some willing (well, most of them were willing!) models….

I drapped a yard of fabric over the back of the seat in our kitchen, turned the bench to about a 45 degree angle toward the bay window, turned up the ISO on my camera  (Canon 5D mark II) to 600 and set a custom white balance- I left the overhead light on by accident but I think that the custom white balance helped to cancel out any funny colored light that may have come from it-  here are the results-

I love that I did not have to use my flash! No yucky pinlights in their eyes or dark backgrounds- Not to mention that I spend a fortune in batteries each winter- I was so excited about my new home studio that I pulled a white bed sheet out of the closet and created a whole new set up-  Below is a snapshot of how it looked in the process of setting it up- The window is at 90 degrees here- It made better light at 45- (they are eating ice, in case you are wondering)

James Henry is of course one of the not so willing models… The other children don’t live with a photographer- I was pleasently surprised when he jumped on the bench to have a turn- It was not so perfect that he was wearing a blue shirt with the blue background but I ran a “pool party” action in PS and love the end results- Sorta vintage looking-

I “ironed out” the wrinkles in my fabric using the clone tool in photoshop. It was easy on the blue and the white but I could not do it on the polka dots- It caused a disturbance in the pattern so I just left them-

 Sweet Lucyon the white sheet- Technically, I “blew out” the right side of the image- The PPA (Professional Photographers of America) would probably disapprove- But I like it- I think that it shows a definate light source and that is what photography is all about- Well, one of the things that it is all about- It is also about having fun…

so here is, SUPER NOAH! I got my metering just right on this one and the colors really popped!! I thought that he looked like a comic book hero and thus added a little artwork to reinforce the idea- A big thank you to the precious models and my lovely assistant and friend Erica (she was the tickle monster who got all of those cutie smiles). Happy Wednesday and happy experimenting with Natty Light!

Everyone knows in Tennessee that when it snows, you better take a picture… It will last longer!  There is still a little patch on our front walkway. Buddy loves it! Snowdog was driving me crazy to go out to play last week. James Henry is still wearing his boots, just in case-

Eli’s six month portraits! He is the cutiest cutie ever- You’re probably not suppose to say that about your own children but, he is so cute! I could just eat him up. I find myself calling him things like Eli-Da-Be-li cause just Eli does not express just how darn cute he is- 

and then there is the cutie King- his big brother! Sometimes, just for fun, I torture myself and my children by trying to get a portrait of them together… Just one, one of them together…No luck- Someday I will… and when I do, I am going to order a ginormous gallery wrap of it and invite you all over to see it.

In the meantime, I’ll be undercover, shooting secretly-

The candids really are my favorites.  James Henry loves his trains, earning him the title, ”Trains Henry”. It is all trains, all the time with few exceptions.

He does love books, outside, his play house, paints and playdohs. He also loves his people. James Henry has really missed his aunts, uncles, grandparents and his many furry cousins (the dogs) since returning home from Christmas vacation. He made everyone, and even gave them shoes (well, some of us got shoes).  

 I love all of the end of the year count down shows, and top 100 list. I tried to gather my favorite images from the past year to showcase, but after several hours of sorting, and gathering, and reminising, I gave up! I just could not narrow them down. However, there was one moment in particular that was hands down the best… Eli! of course. Welcoming a new family member will certainly set 2009 apart. Happy New Year to you all. May you have too many favorite images, and amazing moments to count-

“For I know the plans I have for you” declares the Lord, “plans to  prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” - Jeremiah 29:11