caitlin elizabeth photography | why i stay BEHIND the camera

jennifer of warthan farms photography took some head shots of me a little over a month ago, 

but generally i try and stay BEHIND the camera.

why?

^ case. in. point.

these were snapped by dex this past weekend before the spring football game at william and mary - i was in town doing MINI SESSIONS for william and mary seniors (sneak peeks are posted on facebook!) and here's a couple to tide you over until i get the rest out:

caitlin elizabeth photography | mixed cd

i finally forced myself to figure out how to transfer my iTunes account from my college laptop to my photo-editing/work computer (youtubing music videos was getting OLD). besides the fact that it was INCREDIBLY easy it reminded me how integral music is in my life (i have a LOT of music... it's going to take 3.2 days to download everything apparently, and what eclectic taste i developed over my 23 years of existence...

when i put my iTunes on shuffle 'smack that' was followed by 'mama mia'

and as if that weren't awkward enough, 'mountain music' by alabama came on next.

obviously my taste in music encompasses many genres ;) screamish music is really the only thing i can't handle

one of the things i LOVE about my vehicle is the 10-cd changer. i realize that now-a-days in fancy new cars you can plug your iPod in, but that isn't a viable option for HOSS. and since the vw bug i previously drove only had a cassett player, a cd changer is CRAZY AWESOME. so i have 10 mixed cds in the changer at all times, as well as an additional cd in the front.  i've been listening to cd #7 fairly regularly - it's perfect spring-time-in-the-country-riding-with-the-windows-down music (next to you, next to me by shenandoah is my ABSOLUTE FAVORITE on this cd... but that's for another post)

usually on my late night drives home i listen to a local country radio station, but after the taste my iTunes account gave me of my hodge-podge music pairings i decided to switch it up.

it was late (around 11:30), so no one was on the roads and it was completely dark.

PRIME 'pretend i'm in a music video while belting these songs out at the top of my lungs' conditions.

and so i did just that.

for one car ride it didn't matter that i hadn't figured out how to make my pricing more attractive in photoshop or that i sat and stared at my lightroom collection and didn't clean it out like i was supposed to, or that really i only checked off one thing on my to-do list last night (help danny set up his mp3 player for his long car ride today).  

music has a way of making those inadequacies fall away, even if only for my brief 30 minute trek.  

there is just something about a good playlist/mixed cd that can make your to-dos less daunting and help time pass a little quicker.  it isn't always about the actual songs. it doesn't just matter which songs are on the cd, they have to flow together; the transition songs build a bridge between genres and tempos.  it's something that is often over-looked when constructing good mixed cds.

with that, i give you: mixed cd #5 (i think i created this during my junior year of college - maybe senior) 

it only has one country song, which is EXTREMELY unusual, but there are some real GEMS nonetheless - enjoy :)
and if you make this mix yourself, you will NOT be disappointed.

1. leavin - jesse mccartney

2. ice ice baby - vanilla  ice

3. rock & roll - eric hutchinson

4. body language - jesse mccartney

5. buy you a drink - t pain

6. sexy can i - ray j

7. right now (na na na na) - akon

8. dynamite - taoi cruz

9. magic - b.o.b.

10. Jesse's girl - rick springfield

11. walls fall down - bedian sound clash

12. you - jason michael carol

13. i'm yours - jason mraz

14. save - the rocket summer

15. chariot - gavin degraw

16. ride with me - nelly

17. getaway - holiday parade

18. all over now - eric hutchinson

19. what the hell - avril lavigne

20. hot in here - nelly

21. lookin for a good time - lady antebellum

caitlin elizabeth photography | how to take better pictures in the middle of the day | easter pictures

i'm going to start this post off with a big 'ole fat disclaimer: 

generally i have no clue what i'm doing, and somehow manage to muddle through and make things ok. *how's THAT for honesty? ;)  i am by NO MEANS under the impression that my way is the right way or that i don't have anything to learn (i know just enough about photoshop to really screw something up, and i usually edit based on eye-balling it in lightroom - i know, so very technical... i'm working on it y'all)

this past weekend was EASTER - and besides the obvious reasons for my adoration of this holiday (Christ saving us from our sins?! hollaaaaa) i LOVE the traditions that go along with it.

these include, but are in no way limited to:

1. sunrise services 

2. ham

3. fresh sunday dresses

4. easter egg hunts / dying eggs

5. pictures right after church

the first four don't really have anything to do with this post, but that LAST one...  

there are so many pictures of my little sister and me in our sunday frocks and bonnets out in the front yard of the house or church on many an easter day.  nana would brush our hair a few extra strokes and make sure our frilly socks stuck out just enough from those white shoes.  

i look at those pictures now and all i can see is the harsh light and the raccoon eyes the sun casts on people's faces around mid-day - what was nana thinking!? taking pictures at such a terrible time...

now i know that every picture doesn't have to be a masterpiece and that sometimes it's just about having your camera and actually taking a picture to document, but there are a few things you can do to make your pictures just a little better!

after church is the perfect time to take pictures of the family (everyone is dressed so nicely! and together! and excited because they're getting ready to eat ham!), except for the fact that the LIGHT is terrible!  when the sun is directly over head it is difficult to take pictures without some parts of the picture being too bright (over exposed) or too dark/shadowed (under exposed).

here is a side-by-side lightroom edit i did of one of the pictures from sunday right after church - it was around 12:30 so the sun was very high in the sky

first of all, i made sure our backs were to the sun - this way a shadow would be cast over our entire face and the front of our bodies so the lighting was more even then if we were facing the sun.  

we also didn't have to squint!  

as you can see in the image on the left, it's pretty dark, but will's shoulders and the light on everyone's hair makes it look almost white... the super bright part of the picture (shoulders and hair) is OVER exposed, but the overall picture is what i would consider to be UNDER exposed (it's much too dark for my taste!

to remedy this as best as possible i added fill light in lightroom and pulled the recovery bar back to try and bring back some of the really blown out highlights.  i also very slightly adjusted the brightness bar!  

(this isn't color corrected because i later made it black and white!)

it is by NO MEANS  a great picture, but it is much better than a picture taken facing the sun or not far enough away from the sun that the subjects' faces aren't completely shadowed.

i hope this was helpful! and you can use it for future family get-togethers when you NEED to take a picture, but can't wait for the beautiful golden rays of sunset and no one is willing to wake up at sunrise ;)

caitlin elizabeth photography | just for fits and giggles

a year and a half ago if someone asked me what i liked to photograph, my answer would've been: 

'anything but people'

portrait photography just... wasn't my thing.  i'm awkward. and i have an odd sense of humor (my besties can attest to this... puns? references to elizabethean literature? laffy taffy jokes? i got it allllll).  family/friends are subjected to the doofy/snort when i laugh/random side of me... but folks who don't know me or only interact with me occasionally think i'm quiet and shy (i actually have this sinking feeling that a vast majority of the individuals i meet deem me boring and inarticulate... fo' realz) 

and to me, all that translated into: i am terrified to work with people

so i took pictures of stuff.

lots of stuff.

colorful stuff.

natural stuff.

well-lit stuff.

old stuff.

textured stuff.

regardless of what it was really, if it looked interesting or different, i would take a picture.

to the point where i had to allot an extra 45 minutes to an hour every time i went anywhere, because chances were i would find something that caught my eye and i would NEED to pull over and take a picture. or 400.

but then i started taking pictures of people.

and i realized i loved showing people how beautiful they are when they're just being them.

it's one of the most fulfilling endeavors i've ever encountered.

but along the way i stopped taking pictures of the stuff...

justin & mary just did a blogpost about creating art for you - and they had an instagram challenge that i FULLY intended on participating in.  but i forgot how useless my phone is when i'm on the eastern shore of virginia ;)  but last weekend, i did stop and take a picture for me again - of the sunlight streaming through the trees and drops of precipitation dangling precariously from their limbs on that beautiful saturday morn <3

caitlin elizabeth photography | compromise

someone once told me that life was about compromise.  

and i'm all about that.

now, i will admit that there are something things that just must go my way. 

things that i will never be willing to compromise on.

like frozen yogurt.

i will forever and always get original tart with fruit toppings and white chocolate chips.
it's the most delectable combination.
why mess something up when it's just so right?

or gummi bears. i'm a haribo girl.  the generic 7-11 brand just doesn't cut it.

but generally, i'm a go-with-the-flow kind of person... not too particular about a lot of things.
i make due with what i have, the situations i'm presented with.  i adapt.

when the grocery store doesn't have the flavor of ben and jerry's i'm dying for, i re-direct my taste buds to another, albeit less satisfying, flavor.  or when purchasing the newest and greatest gear isn't within reach - i push what i already own to the limit.

if i know my wants are outlandish, i concede - and find the middle ground.

junior year when i found out i was accepted into the study abroad program for italy i had to get another job.  and when i turned in over 20 applications and didn't hear anything back, i had to figure something out. (it was the 'off' season in the bustling tourist metropolis of williamsburg, va - no one needed me to take their messages or type their letters)  i tried this online thing where you answered people's questions for money - but i wasn't making enough.  i kept putting in applications as a waitress around town. i was getting desperate.  but just before i decided that my only options were prostitution or selling my soul to the devil, i took a chance and tried something i never would've dreamed of doing before.

i stepped foot into a hooters.  and filled out an application.

you see... i was THAT girl in college.  the one who didn't kiss boys she wasn't dating or go to frat parties.  it just wasn't my thing. i wasn't particularly outgoing.  i was goofy, i didn't wear makeup and loved apple picking and shakespeare...
and while i had waitressed before, hooters girl just wasn't on the radar.

but 2 weeks later i stood awkwardly on that overly shellacked wooden floor and hollered "hey y'all" every time the door open and learned how to pour beer like a pro - all while wearing white tube socks and sketchers - with nude tights and a snug little outfit. 

and while i'm not going to say that it was the most wonderful experience of my life, i will say that it changed me.  in a lot of ways for the better.  and all because i was willing to do something i never would've even considered 6 months before.  but when i realized that i didn't really have any other options, i compromised, and did something i never would've done had i not been forced to make something work. 

point being: when you compromise, you experience new things.
your opinions change (or you become even more convicted in the ones you already have).
you learn. you gain valuable insight on life, happiness, tribulations.

in the next week, i challenge you (all 8 of you who actually read this thing haha) to do something you NEVER would've dreamed you would do.  be it flirt with a complete stranger or take that leap of faith when you're generally an overly-cautious individual.

or just compromise.
one something you don't really want to, but know you should.
business or personal.
big or small.