Family Day 2013!

Another year complete, another celebration!  So brace yourself for the traditional park visit to Santa pics...it's always cold, but the snow was a new addition to our trip this year.

 Perhaps that's why Santa stayed home instead of coming to the park...although my children were quick to ask why Santa didn't like coming out in the snow, if he lives at the North Pole...smarty-pants.  They decided to make lemonade and take their pics being Santa this year...

 Baby girl isn't so sure...

 Hey, it's tradition...

I can't get that crazy kid on the end to take a normal picture to save his life...and when I mentioned that the particular way he was posing made me think of someone using the bathroom (we are all kinds of mature here)  this is what I got next...he's a NUT

 So proud.

 This sweet girl has never taken an awkward picture in her life.
 Then there was my oldest, attempting to act like Santa with his 'bowl full of jelly' belly...strange.

Sweet baby girl...wouldn't sit by herself...Dad was super happy to be in the impromptu pictures...

Happy Family Day 2013!!

the Tomah family

The Tomah family experienced their first photo shoot outdoors...it really agreed with Beall! Outdoors can be a really nice change of pace for families with young children.  You can get beautiful shots of them acting more naturally as they play and explore. 

 They are often so much more at ease...and even if they aren't, there's plenty of room to take a break!

 They were so laid back that I knew they wouldn't mind me playing around with an new editing style with their images...one of the most difficult things to do ith natural light photography is adjust your exposure so your subject is correctly exposed while also getting definition in the sky.  Without the use of reflectors, it's nearly impossible--and since I didn't have an assistant that day, I tried another way.  I took a picture of the the sky correctly exposed and then I took a separate shot of the family with the correct exposure...then I merged the two together in Photoshop...I added a light texture over it all and I think the dramatic effect is really stunning!  What do you think?

getting better all the time...

so it has been unseasonably warm here in Oklahoma...but nevertheless, the cold, fever, runny nose crud has hit our home with a vengeance.  We finally had a respite from feverish children and were nearly nutty from cabin fever, so we took ourselves to the backyard to test our legs and see if they still worked after a week of laying on the couch.  Baby Girl took it upon herself to up the ante a bit and attempt to go down the slide all by her one year old self...

even though there is no 'bottom of slide shot' you can be assured that she was entirely successful and even more proud than she was when she reached the top  :-)