The big 1st

heatherfeather

Today was my youngest's 1st day of Kindergarten.... aaaand my first day home by myself... It was pretty nice that they had the kindergartener's start school 1 1/2 hours after the other kids, so that gave us plenty of time for a first day of school shoot. We only spent about 20 minutes, but with Mercy's natural smile and beauty, we got some real winners. Plus she was way more than willing to go along with it, since I had warned her about it for about 2 days.

1. She was sooo excited to finally have a lunch packed for her that matched her brother and sister's.


2. Then after we took the other kids to school, Mercy and I went outside for some pictures:


3A. The pencils: (she just had to have them in her hand for some reason.)


3B. She was so excited about making new friends at one point she said in her cute little way: "I will make lots of new friends, so I can not pick my nose." :rofl She is right, that is good sound advice and planning ahead.


4. This is all her own posing here. She is a natural "s" curve girl, I guess.


5. She has a really REALLY big smile. I think even her ears help out with it.


6. You can almost feel her excitement in this one. She was asking about
every two seconds if it was time to go to school yet. I helped her wait by making her some hot cocoa and sitting with her for a while.


7. I picked her up a little bit ago, and her first question was to ask if her little dog missed her. I did hear the dog whining a bit at the window today, but the real secret is that by the time I got home from taking her this morning for some reason I had to redo all my makeup. She sure is growing up quickly.


C & C always welcome and appreciated. Speak up now, ya'll.

chuckinsocal

Beautiful eyes and such a contagious smile ... and she looks like she's lovin' every minute of the shoot.

Great job!!!

Sam

Great shots!

Good color, and composition with the first 3 telling the story.

I think # 4 is my favorite.

San

Elaine

Heather, these are fantastic! She looks so excited! I think you have two #3s...I think my fave is the second #3.

Darren Troy C

Fantastic...she's a cutie!

ChatKat

The pencils! She is going to be an accountant! My kinda girl!

Cute series, beautiful images.

jpendley77

These are fantastic! One special little model you got there!

shatch

Very cute! These are fun and will be cherished for years. Love the color and compositions. Of course it always helps to have a great model!

heatherfeather

Elaine wrote:

Heather, these are fantastic! She looks so excited! I think you have two #3s...I think my fave is the second #3.

Now how did I do that!?! I am just itching to change it. Must... hold... back....

Thanks for the comment and the pointing my number issue out so everyone's comments made a little more sense.
She was excited too. We counted how many subjects her little mouth ran through in the less than 1 mile drive to school and it was over 10. Too funny and too cute.

heatherfeather

chuckinsocal wrote:

Beautiful eyes and such a contagious smile ... and she looks like she's lovin' every minute of the shoot.

Great job!!!

She is lovely isn't she. We always enjoy her smile (and her spunky personality is just precious!)
Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

heatherfeather

ChatKat wrote:

The pencils! She is going to be an accountant! My kinda girl!

Cute series, beautiful images.

Thanks Kathy! Always good to hear from you!

heatherfeather

jpendley77 wrote:

These are fantastic! One special little model you got there!

Tell me about it! She is quite the little poser, isn't she!

heatherfeather

shatch wrote:

Very cute! These are fun and will be cherished for years. Love the color and compositions. Of course it always helps to have a great model!

Thanks Shatch- I love hearing such a generous comment from such a great photographer! Makes me think I might be getting ahold of some things after all this time!

(and yes, good looks always help a photo!)

ShepsMom

Awww, she so adorable. I absolutely love 4 and 6!!!

nikos

Photo Composition
Photo Processing
Pencils, wide eyes, and big smiles for the first day of school... PRICELESS.

leaforte

Beautiful shots. Plenty of character and story. Thanks for sharing.

JimFuglestad

Heather, I love love love the first shot and the pencil shot. I think the pencil shot is a little hot on the fingers and could use a multiply layer and toned-down highlights, but I love it anyway - it's so First Day of Kindergarten.

Jim

pvrsvarma

Priceless Moments! Fantastic shot!

Cheers!

jeffreaux2

Beautiful. All.

Thanks for sharing!

Trevlan

Heather, all of these pictures are gorgeous. Outstanding work.

Can I ask you a question about your technique? Did you have an off camera flash? Or an on camera flash unit like the Nikon SB600?

I want to produce photos like these, but I have a feeling I need more than just natural light.

heatherfeather

Trevlan wrote:

Heather, all of these pictures are gorgeous. Outstanding work.

Can I ask you a question about your technique? Did you have an off camera flash? Or an on camera flash unit like the Nikon SB600?

I want to produce photos like these, but I have a feeling I need more than just natural light.

You can totally use natural light and get the same look and sharpness.
Use a reflector- In these I did use a tiny bit of flash with the 580EXII (on the camera, btw)with the Better Bounce Card (cheap homemade job) for fill instead of a reflector, but just the other day I did some without flash and got a lot of the same look and sharpness.
Here is one with just a reflector held just below the frame and tilted up toward my chin. She was holding it on the bottom and it was resting against my chest. I hear that foam core works a lot the same way with the same result, but haven't tried it. Reflectors and foam core are just a *bit* cheaper than a whole flash unit. And you can get some great results.


Also, change your focus point for the situation and put that point right on their eye or tear duct. And then HOLD STILL to avoid camera shake.

Grly

Lovely set! She is just adorable!

Trevlan

heatherfeather wrote:

You can totally use natural light and get the same look and sharpness.
Use a reflector- In these I did use a tiny bit of flash with the 580EXII (on the camera, btw)with the Better Bounce Card (cheap homemade job) for fill instead of a reflector, but just the other day I did some without flash and got a lot of the same look and sharpness.
Here is one with just a reflector held just below the frame and tilted up toward my chin. She was holding it on the bottom and it was resting against my chest. I hear that foam core works a lot the same way with the same result, but haven't tried it. Reflectors and foam core are just a *bit* cheaper than a whole flash unit. And you can get some great results.


Also, change your focus point for the situation and put that point right on their eye or tear duct. And then HOLD STILL to avoid camera shake.

I purchased a 5 in 1 reflector kit last night. I'm definately going to pick up the SB600 next month. I'll take some good shots this week end and post them. Nothing like yours, I'm sure, but practice makes perfect. :-)

urbanaries

ADORABLE set, Heather! Congrats on the big day. Mercy is just a beauty in front of the camera. #3 is adorable (I love detail shots like that!) but 6 and 7 of her are my absolute faves. Her energy like you said just jumps out at you. She will cherish these forever!!!

Trevlan wrote:

I purchased a 5 in 1 reflector kit last night. I'm definately going to pick up the SB600 next month. I'll take some good shots this week end and post them. Nothing like yours, I'm sure, but practice makes perfect. :-)

I can't believe I went SO long without using a reflector, either. I've only used it in the last two of my shoots....boy was I missing out. Big white foam core is great because it's cheap and you can tape multiple pieces together and stand on their own. I also just got a 5-in-1 and the portability and versatility just can't be beat.

heatherfeather

urbanaries wrote:

Big white foam core is great because it's cheap and you can tape multiple pieces together and stand on their own. I also just got a 5-in-1 and the portability and versatility just can't be beat.

So what color do you usually use? Mine is just a 2 in 1 silver and white. I find the silver is quite a bit too strong of a reflection. Even from far away it acts like a virtual spotlight. I end up using the white mostly. And to be honest, I always bring it, but find it is usually too hard to manage along with the camera unless I have a remote controlled light stand along with me. I have wondered about a gold one, and have seen some pictures with pretty good results from other people. The taping of the foam core is a great idea- I like the idea of it standing on its own- sounds convenient.

Oh and thanks, Lynne, for your really nice comments. It is hard to keep my brain focused on the photography comments, since she is just so precious to me and the comments about her cuteness are almost as fun to hear as the comments about my piccies. It is ALL good!

urbanaries

heatherfeather wrote:

So what color do you usually use? Mine is just a 2 in 1 silver and white. I find the silver is quite a bit too strong of a reflection. Even from far away it acts like a virtual spotlight. I end up using the white mostly. And to be honest, I always bring it, but find it is usually too hard to manage along with the camera unless I have a remote controlled light stand along with me. I have wondered about a gold one, and have seen some pictures with pretty good results from other people. The taping of the foam core is a great idea- I like the idea of it standing on its own- sounds convenient.

Oh and thanks, Lynne, for your really nice comments. It is hard to keep my brain focused on the photography comments, since she is just so precious to me and the comments about her cuteness are almost as fun to hear as the comments about my piccies. It is ALL good!

Oh for sure she is ADORABLE. Didn't mean to leave that part out!

The 5-in-1 is silver, gold, white, transparent white (a diffuser) and black (gobo). I mostly use the white, but I know the diffuser & gobo will come in handy soon. I've had a 42-inch silver/gold reflector for a long time and I didn't get much use out of it. The gold side in mine at least doesn't add enough light to be useful, just a gold coloring.

heatherfeather

urbanaries wrote:

Oh for sure she is ADORABLE. Didn't mean to leave that part out!

The 5-in-1 is silver, gold, white, transparent white (a diffuser) and black (gobo). I mostly use the white, but I know the diffuser & gobo will come in handy soon. I've had a 42-inch silver/gold reflector for a long time and I didn't get much use out of it. The gold side in mine at least doesn't add enough light to be useful, just a gold coloring.

Oh, you didn't leave it out, I don't think. That is what I understood anyway, thus my comment.

The 5 in 1 sounds pretty cool. I'll have to look into it! Thanks for the review on colors!

Trevlan

urbanaries wrote:

Oh for sure she is ADORABLE. Didn't mean to leave that part out!

The 5-in-1 is silver, gold, white, transparent white (a diffuser) and black (gobo). I mostly use the white, but I know the diffuser & gobo will come in handy soon. I've had a 42-inch silver/gold reflector for a long time and I didn't get much use out of it. The gold side in mine at least doesn't add enough light to be useful, just a gold coloring.

I'll post some pictures with the reflector this week. I think they help out alot.

I'll take a picture with the reflector and the same picture without it.