Environmental Portraits

Our assignment for this week was to take Environmental Portraits, which is photographing a person in their natural surroundings to portray the essence of their personality, rather than merely a likeness of their physical features. I had four fabulous volunteers, and we had a ton of fun on these photoshoots! I took lots of pics, but I'll just post two of each person. (Thanks again everybody!)

Now, normally I'd tell you who these people are, but if I was successful in this project, you shouldn't need an explanation ;)










These last couple are just us having fun at the hangar :)

Welcome, Elizabeth!

My beautiful niece, Elizabeth was born on Saturday! Please join me in welcoming the 8lb, 7oz bundle of joy into the world. Congratulations, Melissa & Bill, we can't wait to make the trip home to meet her!

In honor of her arrival... baby shower invitations! They chose the pink & aqua one in front. Let me create some for you too! :)


(click image to enlarge)

Ordinary?

I love taking something completely ordinary, and looking at it in a new way, paying attention to how the light hits it and brings out its shape, and capturing its significance & beauty. One of our assignments for this week was to use directional & diffused light to show pattern & texture. I was in my office thinking of what to take pictures of for class, when the sun peeked through the clouds, came through my window, and hit a paper clip on my desk just right... and out came the camera.

Orchids

As promised, the lovely orchids from the butterfly exhibit. Makes me really want spring/summer to arrive! Wait - isn't tomorrow the first day of spring? Yay!





Lady's Slippers are orchids too. And, they're the Minnesota state flower. And my grandma's favorite. :)

Changes...

If you happen to be browsing at the same time as me tonight, this page might look pretty goofy... I'm experimenting with different templates :) Hang tight! And thanks for being here! -Kristen

UPDATE: Aaaaaaannnd.....done. For tonight. Crap - it's 11:30! Bedtime, y'all!

** ps - what do you think of the layout? Love it? Hate it? Easy to see/read? Impossible? Let me know! **

Tropical Flowers

Let's all dream about the tropics for a few minutes, and try to forget that there is still snow outside :) These gorgeous flowers are from the butterfly exhibit - there's more where this came from - orchids are up next!

Butterflies

My friend Nikki invited me along with her daughter to Meijer Gardens last weekend, where we got to see (and photograph!) the butterfly exhibit. It was amazing! If you haven't gone, and you're here in Grand Rapids, go! There are butterflies everywhere, along with birds and some of the most gorgeous flowers, all in a warm, sunny tropical setting. The butterflies are beautiful, and happily, not afraid of my camera :)






These last two pics turned out so cool - the butterflies move so fast, faster than the shutter speed I had set. It resulted in this cool motion effect where the butterfly is kinda there, but kinda not. I love it!

Over grapefruit and long strides

I often find myself immersed in deep conversations with myself over grapefruit. No, not conversations about grapefruit, but rather conversations about things that have been on my mind, or things I have shoved to the back of my mind... all while I'm peeling my daily grapefruit. Steadily peeling back the thick skin, then rhythmically peeling the white from each individual wedge, one at a time, skin in the trash, fruit in the bowl, skin in the trash, fruit in the bowl... My mind wanders. Lately it's been venturing over into my thoughts on sense of purpose. What we're here for, what I'm here for, what I'm meant to do, what's my calling. I haven't come to a conclusion yet, but this song keeps popping in and continues on repeat since I only know a few words... "Something's callin' me..." And before long, my grapefruit is peeled, and it's time to head back to my cubicle and get back to work, back to reality. Ah, but blissful moments they were.

This afternoon while out walking with my dog, I again let my mind wander. We were actually headed down the road to drop off Colin's announcement cards (yay!) Rhythmically walking, arms swinging, shoes hitting sidewalk, breath in, breath out, little Lexi trotting along in front of me... And what should pop into my head? "Something's callin' me..." Callin'. Sounds like Colin. Then baby Maya pops in... Maya, Colin... My Calling? This epiphany strikes me. A smile spreads across my face, and my step quickens. Maya, Colin. My calling. As I let this thought roll around and savor the idea, I notice a bright green bush near the sidewalk up ahead, revealing itself as the snow melts and the frozen earth thaws, bright green against the dirty & dull spring grass. It's holly.

Imagine. As I was walking, smiling to myself at the thought of my calling, I came across Holly. How wonderfully deliciously intriguing...

:)

Sorry, that got a little long... Back to those announcements. Here they are! You know you want some of your own... ;) Call me - let's take some pictures!

Colin

Colin, this adorable 4-week old baby boy, came over last Saturday afternoon with his Mom & Grandma. He's going to have a big personality, he has some great facial expressions already! Thank you so much, I had a lot of fun taking his pictures. Congratulations again on your adorable baby boy - here is your sneak peek from your session!

Maya ~ 3 Weeks

On Saturday morning, I got to hang out with the adorable baby Maya and her beautiful mom. Maya is so tiny and sweet, she was wonderful to photograph! We had a great time, and I think she did too... well, as long as she didn't have to be in a basket ;) Thank you again, and congratulations on your first baby! Here's your sneak peek!