Sherwood Gardens Tulips

My little family did not make it down to the DC Tidal Basin this spring to take in the cherry blossoms, but we made the quick trip over to Guilford this past weekend to walk along the tulips. Naturally, the little guy fell asleep as I was parking the car. My husband and I were able to enjoy a lap around Sherwood Gardens and take in all the sights, including some people and dog watching. We ran into friends, with their extremely cute and energetic little girl, and we were able to chat for a few minutes. 

I couldn't believe how many teenagers were in the park taking prom photos. That part didn't surprise me - the scenery is GORGEOUS. The part that surprised me was that most of these teens were working with professional photographers. I mean reflective boards, off camera flash, and one group even had an aisle runner down on the gross to protect shoes and dresses from grass.  My husband jokingly said, "that's you in 17 years."  I mean, I guess I could figure out how to use an off camera flash in that amount of time.

One such couple and their lovely photographer helped me get this family photo. I had my camera set up on a tripod and my remote in my hand. I had taken about 10 photos, but Sterling wasn't looking at the camera and we were getting closer and closer to food time.  Then there would be no more photos! The adorable teenagers stood behind the camera and their helpful photographer hit the shutter button for me.

It takes a village people! 

 

If you're in the Baltimore area I would suggest an immediate trip over to Guilford to take in the tulips at Sherwood Gardens. It's one of the prettiest little parks in all of Baltimore.  The stately homes surrounding the park are majestic. My husband was impressed by the structural soundness of the homes and was admiring their heavy slate roofs. Just prepared for tiny side streets that you swear should be one way streets! 

DC Cherry Blossoms

Last Friday after work my best friend and I met up and walked over to see the Cherry Blossoms at the DC Tidal Basin. The weather forecast included scattered thunderstorms, but thankfully we lucked out with a lovely mid-60 degree gray evening. A few darker clouds rolled in for a brief moment and there was a sprinkle or two, but we just used those moments to fully enjoy standing under the blooming trees. 

I jokingly told my friend, "wow, I only took 174 photos!"  She was shocked, but in previous years when I was down for a gorgeous sunny day and another morning at sunrise I took 400+ photos on each previous occasion. It could have been a combination of the weather, the fact that we were both hungry, or my rapidly dwindling energy supply. Chalupa Batman was kicking up a storm, which meant he was either have a grand ol' time (totally my kid!) or was over the entire situation (totally the hub's kid!). 

Even if we didn't make it around the entire tidal basin we had an amazing time. I'm trying to schedule as many girls dates with my friends while I still have the energy to move around at a decent pace. This might have been one of the best girl dates of all time because there's nothing better than the beautiful scenery in DC during peak cherry blossom season. The gray skies were absolutely amazing because they acted as a filter and made the focus solely on the blooms. 

Okay fine, if I could have had a glass of wine with my best friend at dinner that would have been nice addition to the night. I'm fairly certain our waiter thought I was a recovering alcoholic because my best friend asked while we were ordering if I minded if she drank a glass of wine and then again later when it came time to order dessert she asked about the tiramisu and if it was soaked in any liquor. I fully appreciate her looking out for me! 

Anyone else make it down to see the Cherry Blossoms this year? I felt that they were on the paler side this year and there were only a few truly pink trees. It could have been the muted gray skies or that I was there a day before the "official" peak. 

March Came in Like a Lion

I didn't take my camera out much of this winter, which is sad because I probably missed numerous great photography outings. I blame the morning sickness and the intense fear of falling down while slipping on ice, but that's neither here nor there.

March 1st brought yet another winter storm to Maryland and thankfully this time I was able to get out, at least in my yard, to take a few pictures of the melting ice. In those few minutes I completely fell in love with my new Canon lens. The depth of field is amazing, the sharpness is incredible, and I think this might quickly become one my favorite lens. Sorry nifty fifty.

I'm already thinking ahead to this year's Cherry Blossom festival. I just hope my husband is willing to come with me again this year because I am definitely going to need him to carry my gear around for me. And to be there to take in the wonderful sights. The important things :)

I hope everyone is safe and sound. Looks like the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast are in for another round of snow later this week.

Smash the Cake Session Outtake

I photographed a Smash The Cake session this weekend for a freshly, minted, one year-old. Is there anything better than a half naked kid, in a custom tie and diaper covered, smashing a perfect cupcake?

Nope!

I'm not cool with sharing any photos from the session, even if they are ridiculously cute (I'm biased), because the only time those photos are seeing the mass light of day is when his parents put them in his yearbook his senior year of school. Or show them at his wedding reception.

Focusing and white balance were a tad off in this photo - so it's going to the garbage folder! But hopefully it gives an idea of the setup we used. Although the cupcake and accompaning cute kiddo were safely positioned on the floor and not on a brick fireplace. That white brick was just perfect for bouncing all the natural light in the room back into my camera lens.

Random nitpicky question - there are little white dots visible in the fireplace. There is a large metallic candelabra in the fireplace. Should I remove those spots in post production to make the black doors more uniform? Or is that too crazy and I should just leave them in there because that's how the fireplace appears in real life?

My First Wedding Shoot

Last month I shot my first wedding. Honestly, I was more nervous acting as a wedding photographer than I was 7 years ago when I acted as a bride. As a bride, my biggest fear was tripping down the aisle or spilling red wine down the front of my dress. I figured anything else that happened was about par for the course. My dad was instructed to throw himself down, if I tripped and he couldn't catch me, to make it look like he was the one who caused the fall. Knowing my clumsy nature to spill on myself I avoided all colored liquids the second my dress was on. Just one more reason to drink nothing but champagne :)

But as a wedding photographer - absolutely terrified. I had a 'top ten' list of sorts of photos that I had to nail in order to walk away feeling somewhat confident. I may or may not have even told both the bride and groom to kiss away during the ceremony to ensure I captured their first kiss. They even did me a solid and gave me a huge dipped kissing half way down the aisle during the recessional (another tip I gave them!).

I don't foresee myself becoming a wedding photographer anytime soon or at least until someone invents a pause button. Actually, if I could have gotten a "make these black pouring rain clouds disappear" button on that August wedding day I would have been most happy. Besides a few moments of "I wish I would have done that differently" my biggest regret was not taking enough time during formal portraits to get a few more shots of the entire bridal party and the bride and groom. In all seriousness, it absolutely POURED and everyone wanted to get inside before the rain came down. I guess going with the threat of rain worked in my favor because no one would have been happy soaking wet.

Even though there are those normal post-event-regrets, I'm really proud of myself for saying yes to friends and acting as photographer for 8+hours. That was something well outside of my comfort zone. Getting outside of my safety bubble is definitely something I want to challenge myself more in the future. The time to start is now.

What's the biggest challenge you've undertaken this year to your comfort zone?

Lens Testing

Eeck! I'm photographing a friend's wedding this weekend. In an attempt to keep my nerves at a somewhat comfortable level I rented a few extra pieces of glass to take with me to the wedding. That meant I had to get outside for some test shots. Unfortunately the weather forecast is nothing but rain, so last night as soon the workday was over the hubs and I took the dogs out for a quick set of photos. 

It was also the perfect way to get a few fresh images with the pups. Can we talk about how awesome the bokeh is on that 135f/2 L lens? Oh wait, how about how the 50f/1.2L completely lit up the hubs and Jewels when it was practically dark outside? And left my ISO on 100 the entire time because I wanted to have a consistency to compare different images. 

This photography hobby is expensive! I do "need" a telephoto lens in my arsenal and I'm fearful after this weekend I might have to save up for one sooner rather than later! 

Here's hoping for good weather this weekend and sharp images! 

Scenes from OBX

You know you have a relaxing vacation when you come and you have practically zero pictures of the trip between two DSLRs. I don't think I took either one of my cameras out of its case until the third day of the trip and I'm okay with that because I have the memories to rest on.

I'm trying to take a page from my hubs and just enjoy the moment, rather than worry about trying to take a photo of it. Clearly, it's a work in progress, but it's not a completely bad idea. I think it was easier to adopt that philosophy on this trip for two reasons:
- we've been to the Outer Banks before and honestly how many pictures of the ocean does one person need
- I avoid using my camera while drinking and guess what I did plenty of that on the trip!

What's your take on vacation photos? The more the merrier? Or just enjoy the moment?

Preakness Celebration Balloon Festival

This past weekend was a pretty big weekend in Maryland. The 139th running of the Preakness Stakes took place on Saturday and while the hubs and I elected to skip this year's Infield fest we still managed to have a great Preakness weekend. 

For me that meant waking up at 5am on Saturday morning in order to down a granola bar and head over to watch the Preakness Celebration Balloon Festival at Turf Valley Resort. The festival was supposed to have a mass balloon launch at 6:30am and a special presentation for armed service personnel at 6:15am. However, the winds conditions were not ideal and given everyone's concerns with hot air balloons the executive decision was made to inflate the balloons Saturday morning, but not let them get off the ground. 

I was a bit bummed to miss seeing the balloons soaring in the air, besides the tethered balloon that was rising low in the sky for short flights, but in the interest of safety I completely understand and I hope to catch the balloons in all their soaring action next year. 

This was the most time I've ever spent around hot air balloons and I must say I was incredibly impressed with their beauty and pageantry. And even more in awe of the work it took just to unload these gentle giants and get them inflated. 

Have you ever taken a hot air balloon ride? My fear of flying probably wouldn't go over well in one of those balloons so for now I'm going to keep my feet on the ground and just admire them from that position.