finck family

for the past month-ish i've been housesitting for some folks - and let me tell you, i'm going to be spoiled ROTTEN when i have to go back home/start renting an apartment/live anywhere but here. the house itself is a perfect mix between southern plantation home and williamsburg classic, not to mention that the grounds it sits on are like something out of a novel. it is complete with two dogs, two cats, a horse named gambler and a hammock swing under a very large, very picturesque oak. GAWGEOUS.

the ONLY (and i mean ONLY) drawback to living here is that i don't have internet (what? people live like that?) which makes it difficult to post things like sneak peeks and these posts. i also don't have my big computer that i use for editing, so it's been difficult getting photo-related things accomplished besides the actual photographing.

having given my excuse for being seriously MIA on the interwebz: i give to you..... THE FINCKS! summer, a fellow tribesman [hark!], contacted me a couple of months ago about the possibility of taking family portraits in richmond for her. i couldn't have been more excited, especially when she informed me that there would be lots of kids!! i. love. kids. probably more than i love chocolate. that's serious ya'll.

when everyone started getting out of their vans and SUVs, i have to admit... i was intimidated. there were SO many of them. but as soon as we started talking i relaxed, because these are some of the nicest folks i've ever met!! honestly, these kids are adorable and they have the sweetest dispositions and quirky personalities - i wish i could've spent more time with them!

summer asked me to meet them at grace lutheran church, where her father is a pastor. i got there early and explores a little :)

i had a feeling we'd end up here...

ok, let's just cut to the chase and meet the clan :) now, this is a lot of people. and to get everyone looking at me and smiling took some SERIOUS doing - i can't thank my extended-family of helpers who tagged along with the models enough.... THANK YOU!!!

grandkids!

aaannnddddd a few more individual family shots:

let the games begin :) this is drew, and he loveloveLOVEd to pose for me, but i think i like this picture the best just because he looks so uninhibitedly happy - he was smiling at summer!

future model? i think so.

precious much?

miss bella grace

this is luke, and for some reason this reminds me of the lion king... ssiiimmbbaaaa

this was taken as i was running backwards... so it's a little blurry unfortunately

yes. they brought balloons. favorite people ever? quite possibly.

you tell 'em luke :)

brotherly <3

the end :)

thank you finck family!! ya'll are truly wonderful :)

benji *PREVIEW

things that i'm COMPLETELY JAZZED about: this photoshoot. he's on his way to Oklahoma, I'm spending my lunch break blogging his sneak peek <3

finck family *sneak peek!

yes, this is real life. people this adorable really do exist.

more balloons and babies and swings and preciousness soon to come :)

keepin it real ;)

hey ya'll! i just got back from vacation [key west. holler.] and i'm completely rejuvenated and tan and smiling :) UNFORTUNATELY my computer died while i was away (i'm posting this from my parents' desktop... so no pictures sadly), but my new computer will be here soon and we'll be running at full force and designing albums and editing pictures and making magic happen!!!

in the mean-time, i thought i'd post a little bit of what i'm 'about.' i've been formulating a business plan and one of the things you have to do (or so i've read) is include a statement addressing what your business goals are etc. obviously, being the spacey, non-business oriented person that i am, i took this to mean 'what do i want to capture in my images, what messages do i want to convey' instead of 'i will target this market and provide this service and be a boring person who should wear suites.' i'm ok with it.

here's a little snippet:

caitlin elizabeth photography exists to capture little moments in all their glory and record history in the making; not the things you see printed in newspapers or broadcasted on national networks, but personal histories. love, joy, happiness, kindness, bliss. i want those in-between moments when couples aren't posing, they're loving - when siblings aren't smiling, they're laughing together - when families aren't pretending to have it all together, they're being their goofy, quirky, little-kids-with-their-shirts-untucked-and-ribbons-untied selves. caitlin elizabeth photography is all about the real, the unseen - because to me, that is beautiful.

~

so when you're trying to figure out what you want for your babies 1-year pictures, don't limit yourself to what you've already seen done. want to take a washtub outside, fill it with bubbles and rubber duckies and let her play for an hour? perfect. or take a bike ride with your husband and kids for family portraits? fabulous. what about a drive in movie in an old car? or playing basketball? or putting on nerdy glasses and going to the library? or getting out on a boat? or going to a baseball game? or putting on your camo, grabbing a gun and heading off into the woods? i'm not knocking the traditional... if that's what you want, go for it! the bottom line is: you have to be comfortable and it has to be YOU. if you're afraid of heights don't suggest that we go hot-air ballooning, but if you love fourwheeling, grab your helmet and let's go!

use yourself to inspire the feel and setting of your shoot. be it an engagement session, everyday portraits, senior pictures or a family thing, make it yours. because that's when you get real images. i'm all about keeping it real ;)

want to know more about me? check out: http://www.caitlinelizabethphotography.com/about.html

baby you're a firework

ohmygoodness. i was going to sleep last night and i just kept thinking about all of the 'stuff' i MUST get done in the next few days. so this blogpost is going to be twofold: an 'instructional' on how to take pictures of fireworks and an 'i need to be held accountable' post... here we go!!

i was blessed enough to spend the long holiday weekend on the eastern shore with some pretty uh-may-zing folks. there was sun, water, boating, beer, food and fun... and of course fireworks!! fireworks offer a perfect scenario in which you can play around with your camera and get some interesting pictures. as i was experimenting, this is what i found [these pictures are by NO MEANS professional, but i thought i'd share what i captured]:

1. keep your ISO at 100. fireworks emit super bright light, so the colors will just be over-exposed and look completely white if you jack up your ISO.

2. keep your aperture small. my f-stops in these range from 16-22. if you use a wider aperture too much light is let in and the picture will be over-exposed, with little to no definition in light patterns or color.

3. long shutter speeds are key. in an ideal situation, you would set the camera to BULB (this just means that the shutter stays open as long as you tell it to) and use a shutter-release cable to trigger your shutter. these little jewels decrease the likelihood of 'camera shake' which happens when pressing the on-camera shutter release and increase your chances of capturing crisp, sharp images by not touching the camera itself. none of these pictures were taken with one of these cables, hence their less-than-ideal sharpness.

4. if possible, set your focus to 'infinity' - i had a little trouble with this one, and it's why you don't see any of the 'tails' of the fireworks that you see when they are first set off. i couldn't get my focus straight so i had to wait until the firework started to go off before my camera would focus on anything... kindof a fail, but a learning experience nonetheless

5. i had my white balance set to 'daylight' -3... aka 'night' - i don't really know if that was the right thing to do, but it's what all of these photos were shot with!!

6. i can't believe i almost forgot this: a tripod is absolutely necessary. if not an actual tripod, a makeshift one (you can put a bean bag on top of a fence pole, as long as your camera has a stable, stationary place to rest while you're shooting)

7. HAVE FUN AND EXPERIMENT. that's what makes photography enjoyable!

my last addition to the fireworks post is this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2KtzWvoYCw

and now on to the 'i need to be held accountable' part of this post... things i need to do:

- order sample canvases to figure out which company i'm going to use

- order sample portrait books and wedding albums

- order prints for my fair displays

- get framing ready for said prints

- figure out what i'm going to display things on

- BRANDING <-- this terrifies me (i'm thinking: caitlin elizabeth photography - sweet. simple. southern. - thoughts?)

- put together OFFICIAL pricing list (including packages/rates) *i already have some of this, i just need to put it all in one place and make a book or something to present it in

- contact local preschools about package info

- check on booth at county fair (how big, what i want to display)

*i know there are other things that i need to get done, but i just can't think of them right now

hope everyone had an enjoyable 4th of july :)

much <3

caits