Archive for the ‘Photography’ Category

“We go see big bird?” Sawyer asks just about every night. And the night where there is time and light left after dinner we all put on our walking shoes and head out the door. This isn’t just any stroll through the neighborhood, it is like a journey through the wilderness. I think so far on our walks we have seen peacocks (big birds), horses, cows, rabbits, German Shepherds, turkeys, frogs, and donkeys. And we don’t live in the country, lol! Really there is this awesome nature trail that runs along the canal by our house and tucked behind the creek there is a farm surrounded by urban sprawl. It is a journey into another time and place for us every night.

Night after night, as we would take our walks I would say to myself, “self, you really NEED to bring your camera out here one of these nights!” So I did. I followed as the 4 boys walked ahead a little and stopped and took pictures of all the things I had see, all the images I had created in my head on our nightly walks up to that point. This isn’t all of the images I got that night but a few of my favorites from our walk.

I hope you enjoy my tiny photo-documentation project.

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Back in the day you might remember this thing called, “film.” You would buy rolls of it and if you were really old school you would hope that you loaded it correctly (the fancy cameras had an auto load feature, wow!).  Then you would take like 24 or 36 exposures (yes they were actually called that) and wait until you could get back to the store to drop it off and then wait again until it was developed so you could see your pictures.

Then the years go by and we got these fancy digital cameras with screens and live-view. And we all migrated quickly to digital-land. I mean, why not? For reals, there are some awesome qualities to digital photography. The instant gratification, the ability to shoot what-ever-the-heck-you-want-as-much-as-you-want and only keep the keepers. Digital is amazing.

But film is phenomenal. Film is beautiful. Film is classic. And my love affair with photography started with film. All those years ago in high school, film was it. Our old Pentax manual film SLR’s were rockin. I loved the creative control that I had with my film camera and the developing process.

Yesterday I pulled out the old trusty Canon TX and my 50mm 1.8 FD lens. I stopped by Target and got some film (yes, some stores do still sell film!!!). Wandered with Sawyer to a quaint little park and snapped some images. I took that roll to Costco (fancy, right?!?) and waiting an hour for them to process. Then I uploaded them from the disk to my computer and did a little photoshop magic on them. And there they are for you.

They are not masterpieces in the technical sense of the word, but I believe they are beautiful! I can’t wait to shoot more film. Actually I am in the market for a used film body that is a little bit more current that the trust TX (and one that will take all my fancy Canon glass that I have collected now). You will see more of my film adventures in the future.

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It has now happened to me three times. I am running errands and going about my business and all of the sudden I hear, “oh I know that face!” And they are not talking about me? Nope, they are talking about the adorable boy with all that curly hair. He is famous! haha! No really, with a face like that and curls like that, I get why he is more easily recognized. I mean I am in a pony-tail, no make-up, just normal me and there he is with is adorable curls and happy smile and you just can’t help but notice that you “know” him. When it happened yesterday my friend mentioned, “well you plaster him all over the place” and, well, haha, I guess I do.

So if we are ever out and about and you see my little boy, please stop and say hi to me. Cause I know you might not recognize me but you will notice him apparently. LOL!

And here are some new pictures of the little guy. He asked me to take pictures with him yesterday and who can resist a 29 month old being that cute. And get this, he actually looked at me through the lens and I didn’t even have to bribe him with candy!!! WOW!

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And when he got bored of me I turned to flowers. They always smile for you.

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I don’t think photographers are SUPPOSED to tell you when they fail. But in this instance it is too funny not to share.

I took my kids to the pumpkin farm a few weeks back to get some pictures for our Christmas cards. I picked out outfits that coordinated but were not too matchy-matchy so that they looked cute but not “too put together.” I found a good spot with pumpkins and great light. And then I sat down in front of them and attempted to get them to all look at me.

I failed.

You think you are the only one who has a hard time getting your kids to take good pictures for you. No, us photographers have the same issues. I don’t know maybe this blog entry will make me relate-able, haha. Maybe you are the type that loves the perfectly imperfect family photo (and if you do I am your girl! LOL!). Or maybe this posting will just help you to realize that it is hard work to get your kids to look good in photos.

Stay tuned, I will be attempting round two at the pumpkin patch this weekend. Hopefully in the same cute outfits, but hopefully this time they will all look at me at the same time.

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I bet all you out there in the blogersphere are wondering if I shoot all of these wedding solo? I know that this question has been burning in your minds for weeks now. And I know that each one of you has been planing a well written email to ask me if I have assistants or if I go it alone. Well my dear internet-friends, I do indeed have assistants, specifically two of the coolest assistants around (I am married to one of them, haha). Shannon and Max.

This is Shannon. Notice she is getting a very sweet shot of the bride and groom after they passed me during the recession. Shannon is always there to work it when my moment has passed. Rock on Shannon!

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And this is Max. Notice he is quietly shooting to the side of where I was, telephoto lens on, looking for angles that I don’t see. That’s my hunny!!

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Now I don’t want anyone who might shoot with me in the future or who has shot with me in the past to feel bad. I don’t play favoritism too much, but these two have been with me from the beginning (I know, so long, right?) and they inspire me, they hold me up when I get tired, they calm me down when things go crazy, and they park the car for me and carry my bags when I need them too. And for all of this they RAWK!

So Shan-shan and Maximus, thank you buds! I can’t wait to work with you both again. eeeeeeeeee!

I loved the movie Julie and Julia, not so much that I want to work my way through Julia Child’s Mastering the Art of French Cooking, but enough that I was inspired to cook some more gourmet types of meals. What does this have to do with photography you might immediately think. Well hold on and you shall see!

So I asked my boys what they would like for dinner tonight and they replied, “chicken cordon bleu,” and “meatloaf.” So I decided that I would make chicken cordon bleu meatloaf. haha. This is a new to me thing. I looked it up, never saw a recipe for it and decided to do it on my own.

I started with ground chicken thighs added some fresh rosemary and thyme, a single egg some ground up cornflakes and some salt and pepper. I made a larger rectangle out of the mix and rolled up with some shredded swiss cheese and ham (see pictures below).

All the while I was also making Giada’s Asparagus Risotto. It was glorious. I have never made risotto before. Yummy.

So here is how it all relates to photography. The nerdy photographer in me decided to photo-document the process. I told you I am a little nerdy when it comes to this stuff.

So here you are. My semi-gourmet dinner in pictures. Hope you enjoy. And I hope that it inspires you to create some wonderfulness for those you love. And take pictures. You are creating memories in making dinners like this!

Here are all the ingredients (minus the champagne that was still chilling)

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Here are the blanched asparagus spears. I have never blanched before. fun.

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Risotto pre-rice. I chop onions well. Plus EVERYTHING is better with butter.

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ahhhh the creativity. haha.

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Risotto post rice addition.

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The finished product. Delicious.

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Blessings,

Kristy Lynn.

Can you believe it? September is upon us. Crazy to the 12th degree. I wanted to re-post my holiday mini-sessions information for anyone who has missed it. The dates are coming up fast. I still have some room this coming up Saturday, but September 19 is not full either. Reserve your time now before the time slips away from us.

The session deadline for holiday cards is November 10th this year. Meaning your session has to take place before that date if you want to use the images for holiday cards and or you need pre-Christmas delivery of prints and products.

So here is the info, can’t wait to hear from you!

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The kids have gone back to school. And we all let out a collective sigh of relief. HAHA. All kidding aside, fall is almost here. I woke up yesterday and I could seriously sense that chill in the air. I know it is early, maybe it is the eternal optimist in me. In fact I am such a weather optimist that each and ever winter winter I hope that it will big winter that produces the elusive Bay Area snow storm.

With fall right around the corner, the Holidays are not far behind that. This is the PERFECT time of the year for family portraits. The weather is AWESOME and it is just in time for holiday cards and gifts for family and friends. There are so many creative things that you can do with pictures now. From calendars to cards, from wall canvases to brag books, if you are starting to think about your holiday gift list you should consider getting your session on the calendar in the next couple of weeks.

October is looking pretty full for me with 3 weddings that month. I currently have 5 openings for portrait sessions (including families) in the whole month. Those will go FAST, so contact me today for your fall family session.

And to spur you on in your thinking because after deciding to do pictures the very next thought is, “what will we wear?” I have created this, “Fall What To Wear Guide.” This is just a start to your creativity. Shopping for family portraits can be a lot of fun. Bringing the different aspects of everyone’s personalities and the togetherness that indicates family can be a challenge but I suggest starting with a color combination going from there:

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Email me at kristy@kristylynnphotography or call me at 925.305.0775 to set up your session. I can’t wait to hear from you!

Today is 7-8-9.

July 8, 2009

What a crazy day! And since I am one for celebrating just about anything (the anniversary of the day you lost your first tooth, the day you bought your first ipod…) I am definitely one for celebrating a day as momentous as this. A day that will not arrive again for 100 years!

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Yay!

So, you who are still reading this… the first one of you who comments on this blog (and lives within 20 miles of 94596) then you will get a free session from me! Yay! A free session. That is awesome for a few different reasons. A. I don’t don’t offer free sessions, like ever, anymore AND B. that is a $100 value for you!

I am serious about this celebrating stuff.

Again, a very cool post is never complete with out a pretty picture. This is one from a session a while ago and I choose it for today because this girl knows how to celebrate!

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* The Fine Print. Comment must come today, 7-8-09, and session must take place before August 31, 2009. Thanks!

So I got a new prop, well, a new floor, ok to best describe it, it is a prop floor. Wood prop floor to be exact. And I love it. We have tile in the downstairs of our house and it is awesome for many reasons but hardwood floors are glorious in photographs. So I have to fake it. And just in case your home doesn’t have the perfect floors, I will be bringing my new fake floor to your house for our session as well, just in case. And at the very least we can mix it up too, use your floor sometimes, use my fake floor sometimes. Keep ‘em guessing.

So this thing had been on back order for 2.5 months. Talk about patience, I kept checking the site ever week and a half or so to see if it had shipped and finally when I had almost given up the UPS man dropped of a long skinny box, inside was my rolled up fake floor. I was ecstatic! I changed my little guy’s clothes and moved some furniture and rolled the glorious fake floor out and snapped a few shots of him and then I realized that he had turned 19 months the day before. YAY for 19 month pictures. lol!

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