Of course, I was doing more this summer than just taking trips and photographing plants. In May, I photographed high school senior Riley’s graduation and party (we also took quick family photos after the graduation ceremony). It was fun for me to do something different AND helpful. Riley’s family had enough on their hands! They told me I should advertise this sort of thing because it was such a great experience for them to be able to relax and enjoy graduation and the party without having to worry about taking pictures. Of course, they took some of their own photos, too, but without that sense of urgency to capture every little moment. Anyway, since they probably aren’t expecting to see their photos on my site, I’ll just share this picture of the cakes:

 

Also in early summer, I took some head shots for Steve, a soon-to-be published author, for his upcoming book. My church’s exterior is white, so it reflects light well and fills in shadows on the face. As with most portraits, it is imperative to illuminate the face evenly and eliminate hard shadows. This is even more important with head shots, which are all about faces. It was a little bit cloudy outside, so that also helped. (Honestly, cloudy days lead to really, really nice portraits!)

 

In June, I photographed an anniversary party. Pablo and Maria Luisa were celebrating their 50th anniversary at the Ontario Armory. We finished taking pictures with the family before the party was set to begin, so I had a lot of time to snap photos of all the lovely details, like this beautiful cake and the favor boxes:

 

In July, I shot engagement portraits with Justin and Annie. I’ll post more later, but here’s one for now:

 

Summer also proved to be a good time for me to learn new techniques. I’ve been wanting to improve my macro photography–primarily for details like rings at weddings–so after I purchased some supplies I practiced with my own wedding ring. A clear glass marble also turned out to be a fascinating subject.

 

The latter half of summer, I focused on preparing to photograph a new pictorial directory for my church. It was quite the adventure! It was a ton of work and I had to learn so much in a short amount of time, but it was still fun. Well, it wasn’t fun when my husband began having migraines a few days in: we planned for him to review everyone’s images with them in another room so that I could continue shooting the next family at the same time. However, when he was in too much pain to see straight, I had to do both jobs. Most of those double-duty days I managed to keep up with the schedule. But even when I didn’t, everyone was very gracious and understanding (except one couple, ha ha!). That was such a relief. I truly have the best church family. Here’s what my set up looked like:

I borrowed a variety of chairs from around the church, even a bench from the drama closet. I also brought a step stool from home. Most of the time, I was the one using the step stool! I’m pretty short, so when I was photographing taller people–especially if they were standing–I needed to get up higher to make sure I left enough room above their head. I didn’t know exactly what the church directory would look like, so I wanted to leave enough space for cropping.

 

Meanwhile, Ryan was preparing to propose to Courtney. It happened to fall during the time I had my lights and everything set up at the church. So after he popped the question and she said yes, they took some fun pictures. Hooray!

 

So yeah, that’s what I’ve been up to lately!