One of the reasons why I wanted to move from our last apartment to this one, was the increase in natural light. Someday I look forward to living in a home, where light enters the living space from four sides instead of one (I guess we do have on window on the side of the apartment so almost two), but I do my best to be content with what we have now.

Living in this space means I have to look harder to find well lit spots for taking photos. I thought I would show you a few of my favorites for the still life shots I create for the blog, in hopes that it might inspire those of you who are feeling frustrated by your own still life photo adventures at home. For those of you who are posting photos of food you’ve cooked, try moving your dishes to different areas in the house that have natural light (if you are taking your photos during the day of course!) if you have a dark kitchen like I do.

First, the two spots I use in the living room.

Here’s a simple photo tip that can make a big difference when you’re taking indoor photos without flash. Strive to use one type of light source when you can. In the photo on the left I had both the artificial overhead lights on, as well as light streaming in from the windows. Our apartment is already fairly dark ( ), and I didn’t get around to dressing in my outfit and taking these until later in the day than I would have hoped, so there really wasn’t enough natural light for me to leave the overhead lights off if I wanted That Husband to take the photos for me without seeing blur from shaking hands. I left the white balance on auto, leaving my camera confused. Should it be measuring for the daylight or the artificial light? As you can see it, did a rather poor job of choosing, and I’m not willing to take the time in Photoshop to try to fix the skin tones (usually I would just go with black and white in a situation like this if it was a photo I deemed worth keeping, but I want the whole series to be in color).

The photo on the right was taking at noon, with plenty of light streaming in through the windows. Much better right?

Of course this doesn’t apply if you are going to use flash, as your flash will overpower your other light sources and white balance won’t be an issue. And because every situation really is so different (I’m not trying to sell this as a universal rule, just hoping to suggest a solution for those who are frustrated regarding the color of their photos!), keep in mind that sometimes you can have both artificial light and natural light in one room, but one can overpower the other and you won’t have the awful color issues I’m having with photos like the one above on the left.

This shot from Kelli Nicole’s blog is a good example of how one light source can overpower the other. I don’t know for sure, but I’m guessing that the artificial lights are on in the house, she just chose to take her pictures in a spot with plenty of sunlight streaming in so there are no funky skin tones to be had!

The moral of this post? Pay attention to your light sources, and try not to mix when you can manage it. If mixing is something you can’t control, I suggest finding a nice black and white conversion that you like and using that when you can. Much easier on the eyes than that blue and red mess you see me trying to get away with above!

Oh my goodness how I love seeing all of my planning come together…

I’ll tell you all about my hair and makeup drama when I get the rest of the photos back. It was a good splurge for me though. I felt so pretty!

TH came for a small portion. We nuzzled extensively and then and attempted to fly a kite from the dollar store.

My “field of pinwheels”! I love love love how this idea of mine turned out.

Balloons are so overdone when it comes to portrait sessions, but now I see why. Canvas worthy, no?

All credit for these goes to the adorable and incredibly talented Bethany Jackman. I’m both sad and glad she’s moving so soon. Her move to Boston is what is spurring her to edit these so quickly, but it means we aren’t going to be able to hang out (as we should, Bethany and I are really good together). More photos to come soon!

I’ve known for a really long time now that I wanted to have a photographer document my labor and birth experience, in fact, I started emailing birth photographers before I had decided on a midwife yet! Being a photographer myself I have what I like to think of “discerning taste” (really I’m just picky and opinionated), and I knew there weren’t going to be many available people in the Dallas area who do birth photography on a regular basis if I waited too long to schedule.

I came really close to working with Lynsey Stone Photography, one of the best birth photographers in the Dallas area, but she’s so good that her services were out of my price range and her packages didn’t quite fit what I was looking for. I wanted to take a moment to sing the praises of Lynsey though because she’s so incredibly nice! Even though I’m not one of her clients, she emailed back and forth with me with advice on midwives in the area, and recently sent me a message on Facebook to ask how my pregnancy was going. This is one of her birth shots, isn’t her work beautiful?

I hadn’t had much luck in finding someone else that fit the look I wanted, when my midwife mentioned Keri Duckett Photography as one of her favorites. I really loved what I saw on her site, and her package included a disc of images that I can use for blogging, something that’s really important to me as I’m brimming with excitement to share this experience in detail with all of you! I’ve spent lots of time since then browsing her site and imagining what my own photos could look like, as I always do when I hire a photographer for something (everyone else does this too, right?).

I’m hoping she captures moments like this with That Husband:

The first few seconds of life:

My first moments with baby:

and TH’s first encounter with baby:

Our first time together as a new family:

and of course a few portraits of our brand new little person!

Less than 60 days and those ladies will be ME!

Would I photograph births myself? I do love birth, and I’ve photographed one, but committing to be an official birth photographer is difficult because it means you have to be ready at any moment within a one month period to drop everything and rush off to take pictures. Although I might head that direction in the future, for now I’m not ready to structure my life that way.

Yesterday I woke to the sound of my upstairs neighbor looking out his window and exclaiming “Look at all that snow!” That Husband was in a rush to get out the door for an early morning meeting (I had to go with him to keep the car since I had my midwife appointment that day) and so I threw on some snow attire, grabbed my camera stuff, and drove out into the madness with him intending to grab some photos in the snow before it all melted. Which it will, in like a day I’m sure.

These horses make up the largest equestrian sculpture in the world, which is something I’m sure I would appreciate a bit more if I was a bit more educated when it comes to art. I wasn’t the only one out-and-about in the freezing cold to take pictures though, while I was shooting from this angle an actual line formed behind me. A line!

P.S.-Maternity shoot has been delayed a few days. I would have pranced in the snow for hours, but I know That Husband wouldn’t have enjoyed it, a friend who was going to second shoot cancelled, and my makeup/hair artist cancelled on me as well. Tuesday is the big day now!