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This is a test that I love to use to determine my current “style du jour”. I am one of those “creative types” that changes my mind every other minute-so, this is a fun gauge of where my tastes lie at any given moment.
This picture based quiz is a lot of fun and only takes about 5 minutes to take. Bear in mind that the company is out of the UK, so some of the sources are not available in the United States! Your pocketbook may thank you for that fact!!
Hayley
Family Portrait Photographer
When I was a new mom-I was always looking for ways to make my pictures better. I wanting stunning images of my child’s life, but not posed ones. Just them. Just us. Just our little moments. Since turning pro, I have struggled to not make every photo a “staged portrait”. It started to steal my joy of capturing the moment. I’ve heard this same struggle from blossoming photographers everywhere, particularly scrapbooking moms.
A way I’ve found to counteract this feeling is to just take the darn picture. Just clear the “ugly” out of the frame and get shooting.
In the picture below, Cooper was hanging out on my bed in a diaper while Noah was napping. I happened to be folding laundry on the bed as well and looked over and realized Cooper was looking awfully angelic. My first thought was “grab the camera”…followed quickly by, “forget it, there’s laundry all over the bed, the bedrooms a mess, blah, blah, blah”.
Instead of giving into the temptation to just forget it-I chose to push the laundry to the other side of the bed, move the clutter in the bedroom and shoot anyway. The key is to be very discriminate about what you include in the frame. Eliminate all the visual clutter and THINK before you push the shutter. I got down on his level and framed the image in such a way that the laundry was this.stinkin.far out of the image. BINGO. I will always look at this picture and remember that Cooper and I were just hanging out while his big brother napped. He looked so beautiful and the light (THAT LIGHT!) was just gorgeous. I’m so thrilled that I didn’t miss the chance to capture Cooper exactly as I saw him at that moment because of a little laundry.
Hayley
Lake Norman Children’s Photographer
Ahhhhhh—the blog.
Somewhere it got lost in the shuffle of life. The shuffle of having a new baby. The shuffle of sleepless nights. The shuffle of re-doing our pricing structure for 2009, and going to ALL DIGITAL PACKAGES.
I have some exciting things planned for this space in 2009…so stay tuned. It should be pretty fun!
When I needed a model for the samples of my new signature locations-I immediately knew I needed sweet Miss S. to work with for the day! It was a foggy, soggy, rainy day-but we caught some great shots in between sprinkles. She certainly was a trooper. These are just a few of the images we got at our Lake and Urban session locations, there are images from the Classic location on the website. All of our signature session locations are located on and around Lake Norman, NC.
LOVE working with models, by the way! The “tween-age” stage is so much fun, too-so much personality and not too much self-consciousness. Send me all your tweens, I could shoot them all day long!
Take care all, enjoy the last bit of the holiday season and we’ll be back to our regularly scheduled blog programming in 2009 (really??? 2009??? where do the years go?!).
Merrilee is this uber-talented portrait artist. We’re talking beautiful line sketches-not photographs. I thought this was such a pertinent giveaway; imagine, a photograph by Hayley Morgan Photography turned into a beautiful drawn portrait by Merrilee. Fabulous! Love Christmas-time giveaways in blog-dom!! :)
Click here to open a new window for Merilee’s Giveaway!
So…Noah completely rocks out when it comes to the Nativity scene. You see, we have this Little People nativity scene that we get out with our Christmas decorations each year (well…this is only Noah’s third Christmas…soo…its not been a long-lived tradition!). Now-if you know anything about Fisher Price Little People, you know that Little People have a plethora of products. We have a school bus, an airplane, a mini-van-just to name a few. Use your imagination for a second, why have a nativity scene in a manger when you can conduct that “Jesus being born” business on a fire engine? Apparently, you and Noah think along the same lines…behold…
…Christmas at the Morgan’s…
Its been a hard year for a lot of people. 2008 has been rough on our country and many times ourselves. The economic turmoil can bring personal uncertainty, and thats the limbo that many are living in today. Some people are struggling with job loss, some people are struggling with the loss of a loved one, some people are mourning plans that they had for their future that just won’t be the same anymore.
You know someone. You know someone who is hurting. You know someone who’s experienced a tragedy, is struggling to stay afloat, is raising kids while holding down more than one job, or is volunteering selflessly despite extenuating personal circumstances. You know someone who can’t afford custom photography, but who would cherish it this holiday season. You know someone who deserves a year-round, beautiful, tangible reminder of their family’s spirit, resilience, love, and beauty.
You know someone. I guarantee it.
I want to know who they are, and I want to give them the chance to experience the gift of memories captured forever. The winner of this gift will receive a complimentary and custom deluxe session with Hayley and three 11×14 wall portraits.
Oh, and ANOTHER fabulous part of this whole deal? The person who nominates the winner receives a complimentary session with Hayley. What better reason to show some love could there possibly be, people?
The rules:
* You cannot nominate yourself, and the person nominated must sincerely be incapable of purchasing my services. (Being unable to make mortgage payments for a two-million-dollar house on the Lake does not qualify as sincere financial need, although I’m sure thats a tough spot to be in right now, too!)
* The nominee must reside in the Lake Norman/Charlotte area.
*Tell me who you know, what they’re experiencing, and why they deserve my artwork. Please include a way to contact both your nominee and yourself as well. The winner’s story will not be disclosed unless they wish.
* You must e-mail me the full story to hayley@hayleymorgan.com by 11:59PM on MONDAY, DECEMBER 22ND.
The winner will be announced on Christmas Eve — get nominating! I can’t wait to see how we can help someone together!
Open your heart to someone this holiday season — and thanks for giving me the opportunity to open mine.
With love,
Hayley
*This contest is part of a nationwide movement of professional photographers giving away more than $150,000 of custom photography. www.givingisawesome.com
I know my absence has been long and drawn out. I know it came without warning. BUT, I have a good excuse! Little man Cooper came without too much warning 2 weeks before his due date earlier this fall. :) I have been and will continue to be on maternity leave until January 1st, 2009…but I wanted to pop in quickly to share some images of my sweet, sweet boy!
His labor and delivery was such a dream, but he had fluid in his lungs so he had to spend some time in the NICU. But, he was home in no time and big brother Noah was sure glad to have him! I love having a newborn around the house again…and we’re all adjusting so well. He just seems to fit right in.
I can’t wait to get back to work in January. Its been too long since I’ve gotten to be around your sweet families-and thats so sad to me! I love getting to see families grow up and grow in size, so its been hard to be away for the last few months. However, I’ll be back in the new year with new ideas, a new pricing structure, and an all-inclusive DIGITAL package! Just what EVERYONE has been clamoring for!
Take care and I’ll see you in January!
Hayley
So, for our next installment of Mamarazzi Monday, we will be talking about one of my current favorite tips. Make a list of the images you want to capture. As I expect my second little boy in about 8 weeks, I am acutely aware of all the “big kid” things Noah is doing daily. I decided a couple of months ago to do a photo-project during the last 8 weeks of my pregnancy where I would take a photograph of Noah and I together each day. I am planning on making a leather-bound coffee table book (we offer those at Hayley Morgan Photography!) of our last 8 weeks as just he and I (and daddy, of course!). So, I have made a list of all the things I want to capture us doing. It is a wonderful way to make sure you aren’t missing the little moments that make up the “big picture”.
Some things on my list these next 2 months, include…