Epic Moment - Captured!!

jeffreaux2

Aside from my other photography endeavors I have shared multitudes of family photos here on Dgrin over the years. Through that sharing (and by others of you sharing the same types of shots) we have enjoyed the luxury of watching some dgrin kiddos grow up here on this forum. If nothing else, watching the tranformations at least highlights the importance of capturing lifes little moments as they scream by faster and faster.

Today was another of those days in life that sentimental me recognized as an epic event. Pictured left to right are my daughters...youngest at left, oldest at center, and my wife at right. Oh and she grabbed up Maggie (the mini schnauzer!) for this spur of the moment photo op. A few seconds while dad (me!) ran to grab an always at the ready dslr before they all ran out the door...using my amassed photography skill to "guess" at an exposure setting while quickly ushering them to more favorable natural light....as the seconds I had been granted for the capture are rapidly ticking away. All this as I tried to check my own emotions even if I wasn't able to do a good job of it. I worked last night, but was summoned from my slumber to carry and load a new television that we bought Tina for Christmas into her car. My youngest and my wife were leaving to go purchase books for her new semester at school. Another day of our normal "chaos". But on THIS day, Tina is a few days away from her 22nd birthday and was just leaving for her final semester at Nicholls State University. The last time we have to pack her car for the trip back to Thibadeaux, Louisiana. She will graduate in May with a degree in Biology - pre med. We are super proud of her even though each and every milestone tastes bitter sweet knowing that our "little girl" is quickly evolving into someone wholly new.

Heres my girls.... a quick and dirty natural light environmental portrait.


...and here are a few of the shots that Tina did for a Christmas ad campaign for a jewelry store in Houma, La. A studio in Houma shot these.

zoomer

Good stuff. Thanks for sharing....I can so relate to the "seconds I have been allotted" comment .
The ads in the book look amazing.
Excellent photos of a beautiful young lady.

adbsgicom

Very sweet spot of natural light in the house, Jeff! Great shot of your girls

reyvee61

The beauty of being a father......that we are photographers as well ...the moments...they will be forever frozen in time!

divamum

So many of those moments that we all try to nail... you just do it better than a lot of us! Very sweet indeed. The jewellery ads look amazing! Is she considering doing any more modeling, or was that a 1-off as far as she's concerned?

Icebear

Three gorgeous women. Lucky you.

jeffreaux2

adbsgicom wrote: »

Very sweet spot of natural light in the house, Jeff! Great shot of your girls

Thanks Andrew.

There is a single open space that serves as foyer, livingroom, dining room, and kitchen. The southern AND north facing walls are mostly windows. It makes for some seriously great natural lighting. My wife even commented on the light in there when we were househunting, and she is NOT a photographer.

In this shot the girls are quartered to( more or less) and about five feet from the front doors. The doors each have a window stretching from about mid thigh to around 8 feet in height and facing north. The driveway apron is out there too adding its non direct bounce to the mix.

jeffreaux2

divamum wrote: »

So many of those moments that we all try to nail... you just do it better than a lot of us! Very sweet indeed. The jewellery ads look amazing! Is she considering doing any more modeling, or was that a 1-off as far as she's concerned?

Oooh I wouldnt say Im any better than anyone else at capturing these shots than anyone here. We each have our own methods and styles I suppose. I do feel fortunate during a rushed shot like this that I have had enough camera time and am intimate enough with the gear to be able to snatch a passable image on the fly. I literally guessed at an exposure setting as I walked from my bedroom back to the livingroom with the camera. Positioned them to face the light. Counted to 3. Spoke the dogs name. And rapid fired three identical frames that luckily landed inside the histogram and scooted to the right of it the way I like to shoot. Lucky for sure but not entirely pure or dumb luck. Very satisfying!

These shots are actually from a second go round for this company. The first. Time was purely for billboard work. She got a call back last fall to shoot for new billboards and other ads like these. Its been a fun and profitable diversion but she hasnt considered modelling as a career. Though i believe she could swing it if it were her desire.

I still havent seen any of her billboards in person. They have run about 5 different photos on a half dozen billboards between Houma and New Orleans. Crazy.

Hackbone

They grow up sooooo fast. Nothing but warm fuzzies going thru me, thanks. Great looking group, you are very lucky and a great father.

Mitchell

Lovely!! A nice (and rare) moment captured. Thanks for sharing.

jeffreaux2

I have a couple more examples that show off a little of the light play in that area of the house.

Here is a recently completed woodworking project I completed. I have photographed the loudspeaker set in very nearly the exact spot where the girls were standing. Yet another hobby for me....



...and a shot across the room on the dining room table.....



That entire project is chronicled here (link) ....if your into woodworking and or audiophile quality music reproduction.

Below, Tina is sat only a couple feet from where the shot above was set up. You can see the light falkl off as it approaches the corner of the room.



and again....same spot at dining area window. As far as natural lighting in a living space....to me this is really a delicacy.




...and some shots of this room before we moved in....

The corner straight ahead is where Tina sat for the two previous shots. You can also get an idea of the door windows. In my OP, the girls were standing about 5 feet back from the doors against an unseen (in this shot) wall that holds bookshelves and fireplace.




THAT's where they were standing!:D


and this shows the windows across the back of the living space....sort of. I think I need to re shoot the interior of the house now that it is furnished!

adbsgicom

Wowzers....

jeffreaux2

adbsgicom wrote: »

Wowzers....

????

The woodworking?

The interior natural light?

The two shots of Tina?

Swartzy

Right on Jeff! What a beautiful family! Thanks so much for sharing as we are allowed to experience your blessings What a wonderful gift!

jeffreaux2

Swartzy wrote: »

Right on Jeff! What a beautiful family! Thanks so much for sharing as we are allowed to experience your blessings What a wonderful gift!

Thank You!


Very much!!!!:D

rhondavid

I have always enjoyed viewing the shots of your beautful girls and wife. It is amazing how quickly they grow up. Excellent shots for the ads too.

Very familiar with Nichols, Thibadeaux, and Houma. Oldest daughter married young man from Raceland who was student at Nichols. Moved her from Bham to Thibadeaux when they married. They later moved to Houma where she worked at Terrabone Hospital and he worked at Sam's. They move to Bham a few years later but his folks are still in Raceland so they make that run every couple of months.

jeffreaux2

rhondavid wrote: »

I have always enjoyed viewing the shots of your beautful girls and wife. It is amazing how quickly they grow up. Excellent shots for the ads too.

Very familiar with Nichols, Thibadeaux, and Houma. Oldest daughter married young man from Raceland who was student at Nichols. Moved her from Bham to Thibadeaux when they married. They later moved to Houma where she worked at Terrabone Hospital and he worked at Sam's. They move to Bham a few years later but his folks are still in Raceland so they make that run every couple of months.

Hey THATS awesome!!

It sure can be a small world, eh?:D

ChatKat

Beautifull, Jeff. Yes, we have watched a few kids growup.

heatherfeather

She is so gorgeous! Congrats!

I sure don't look forward to this stage of life... It is killing me that after this year I will only have one kid in elementary! It goes so quick.

Elaine

Love it...your gorgeous family and your shots of them over the years, shared along with your photographic learning and expertise. Beautiful wood work as well! Congrats, Jeff!

Shima

Your family is always so photogenic, and wow! What a great model Tina makes!! She should definitely keep up with that in her spare time.

jeffreaux2

heatherfeather wrote: »

She is so gorgeous! Congrats!

I sure don't look forward to this stage of life... It is killing me that after this year I will only have one kid in elementary! It goes so quick.

It gets worse.

It seems like we were attending elementary school plays just yesterday.

My oldest, my son took me fishing last week...in his boat.

Tina...of course will graduate from college.

Our youngest is applying to nursing school.

Life....at the speed of light.....eh?

divamum

Seriously. We start high school next year, and I wonder where my baby went!!! Even harder with only one (you don't get any do-overs :giggle )