It's gray and raining here in Houston so I thought I share some "sunshine" in the form of little 3 year old Lily.  I hadn't seen her in about a year so it was a treat to see her again.  One of the joys of my work is seeing the kids and families grow up together over the years.  It's  a beautiful thing to witness.  Lily is about to get a little sister too!

I think this dress was my favorite and I love all of her expressions.  I can't remember what I said but check out how she's looking at me!  So funny...

This was when I asked her if she could see my eye through the camera lens.  By the way, she kept saying "Yes I can!"

So pretty...

She had a great time dressing up too.  I have a handful of these big fluffy tutus at my studio and the little girls love them!  They instantly starting dancing around.

Happy Tuesday everyone!  Thanks Elizabeth and Lily!

This past weekend I had a class here at the studio.  It was a basic digital photography class.  Hopefully a few of my students came online today to check out The Monday Lessons.  Looking for the handouts from the class?  Email me and I'll send you a link to download them.

For those of you who may be new to The Monday Lesson, I wanted to point out a few highlights.  The following lessons are some of the most important ones and everyone who is learning would benefit from reviewing these a few times.  To browse all of the lessons easily, go to the left column and look for the category "The Monday Lesson".  Click on that it will pull up all the lessons that I have posted here.

Depth of Field / Aperture / F-Stop

Shutter Speed / Controlling Motion

Composition / Rule of Thirds

Keeping it Simple

Focal Length

Flash Diffusion- Modify Your Flash!

Expressions

File Quality- Camera Settings

ISO & Noise

Your Light Meter
 

Next week, I will be answering one of your questions as my Monday Lesson for the week.  Please email me (farrah@farrahbraniff.com) with your questions and I'll get to work.  This lesson is for you guys!  Let me know what your struggling with and I'll do my best to help clarify things. 

Thanks for all of your comments and positive feedback.  It means a lot.  If you would like feedback on some of your images, please post them into the Monday Lesson Flickr group and I'll take a look!

Have a great week!

Being pregnant is the ultimate experience in hope.  It's 9 months (and often part of a lifetime) spent dreaming, wondering and hoping.  You take this giant leap into vulnerability.  The love that you have for your children, even before they arrive, is so deep and so strong.  I never experienced fear like I have since becoming a parent either.  All of a sudden it all matters so much more.  I now have a strong connection with words like unconditional, primal, hope, loss and vulnerable.

And my husband...seeing him become a Father has changed the way I feel about him as well.  I love him so much more.  Our relationship went from being elective to being imperative.  Like everything else, it all matters so much more.  Before I felt like we were two people in love choosing to join our lives and now we are inexorably partnered in this real, deep, substantial life.  No matter what befalls us, we will always be linked by our children.  It's beautiful and I'm so grateful.

Today's images are of the lovely Elizabeth, who is knee belly head deep in hope and joy as she awaits her second baby girl.

So, the photo has absolutely nothing to do with the class...well, that's not 100% true.  That picture has something to do with one of the goodies that you get from me if you attend!  Anyway, I am teaching a class on Sunday (October 12th) at my studio.  It is a basic digital photography class aimed at teaching beginning photographers how to use your fancy-shmancy digital SLR camera.  If you stare at your Canon Rebel, baffled, wondering what the heck all those letters and icons mean then this is the class for you.  It will be a small class, which means lots of personal attention and time for questions.  It starts at 10 am and goes until 4 pm with an hour and a half lunch break.  You get a goodie bag, a gift certificate from me and lots of good info on how to improve your picture taking.  We had one of our attendees cancel at the last minute so this is your chance!  Give us a call if you're interested! (713) 255-2882.

It's holiday card time everyone!  More than any other time of year, the fall (and the holiday season) inspires people to get family portraits done.  One of the biggest questions that clients ask is about what to wear.  Today I am going to show you guys some images and give examples of clothing choices that work well.

One of the big questions that you have to answer, especially if you are talking about a holiday picture, is what do you want to have on your wall?  Or are these images just for a card?  For example, Santa hats and reindeer antlers may look really, really cute on your card but probably not as cute as the main 2008 image in your family gallery.  This can even be true with Christmas inspired dresses or sweaters.  There's no right answer except what your taste dictates.  If you want to have a holiday feel but don't want the image to be strictly a holiday picture, you might just do it with fall colors or holiday colors.  You can also do a few shots with the cute hat or sweater vest and then take it off for something less seasonal.

If the images are destined for the front of a holiday card, keep in mind that you can have the card background reflect the holidays and keep the clothing more universal.  For example, like the pictures above and below, use a holiday inspired color in your clothing choice and then finish it off with a great card design that reinforces the holiday feel.  The image below would look great on a holiday card but would also look timeless in someone's family gallery.

When it comes to family shots, it gets a little more complicated because you have more people to dress.  Here I think the first question is whether or not you are a formal or casual family and which of those looks you want to put forth.  Here the family dressed up and gave a nod to their heritage by choosing the kilts.  The other thing to note here is that, although they do not all match, they are coordinated.  There is a theme and it makes it so much easier on your eye.

If you consider yourself more casual, then the next image may be more your style.

With new babies I think it helps focus the attention onto the baby if the parents wear simple and uncomplicated clothing.

When photographing a newborn, keep in mind how small they are.  It's hard to find clothes that fit when they are brand new and often the clothes overwhelm the baby.  Watch out for collars that will stick up and block their faces.  For example, button down shirts with collars are terrible on babies who have no head control because the collar covers them up.  Personally, I think brand new babies look best in solids or clothes with very little pattern.  For the most part, they also look better with only a diaper cover, swaddled in fabric or with nothing at all.  Hey, when else can you parade around naked and everyone just looks on thinking, "oh how cute!"?

When you do pick out outfits for your kids, always have them fit!  As parents, we always buy a little big so they can wear it longer but big in a photo just looks weird.  It will make them look too skinny and small if they are a newborn and just slouchy as they get older. 

If fashion is part of who you are as people and as a family then you may want to go a different route.  If you love bright colors and funky clothes then that is probably what you should have in your images.  In this case, you still need to coordinate but you can be more bold in your choices.  Always remember, this is a picture of you and your family.  It should reflect who you really are.

The main thing I want to say is that you do have to think about clothing choices.  It will make a huge difference in the pictures that you are taking and the ones that the pros take as well.  Think about keeping the images simple, think about colors and plan what you will wear and you'll be much happier with your results.