Finding the light

We currently live in a rental.  I haven't done much for decorating.  As a whole it isn't a pretty background for photos.  I got stuck in a rut because I don't want to drag the kids out to try and find the perfect spot to take their photos and honestly they wouldn't do that anyways.  In order for me to take their pictures I have to capture them doing their thing and work with whatever kind of light I can.   Which to be honest I love more than staged photos anyways.  This has also challenged me to use light in a way I hadn't before.  I have become a little obsessed with light and shadows and am constantly watching the way it changes during the day in our house.  I am by no way a professional photographer and would probably be laughed at if I tried to play with the pros but I love it and work with what I have.  My camera is nothing fancy but I make it work!

The other day Cici was sitting at the dining room playing with dinosaurs.  All the blinds were closed but the little light that was coming was hitting the side of her face slightly.  I knew it wasn't enough to capture in the photo but I wanted to capture it similarly to how I was seeing it.  I needed open light so that I could actually see her but I still wanted the light coming in from the side.  Here is a pull back of what the room looked like (and how messy my house is)

You can see the little bit of light on her shirt.  I wanted to keep light coming in from that side and keep the shadows it was creating.  I kept the blinds closed in the large window and the window to the right and used the left window and our sliding doors as my light sources.

I sat across from her and sat the camera on the table (you can see it in the above photo).  And just watched her play!!  They are used to me constantly taking their pictures so she kept on like I wasn't there.  I want to remember all of this because they are literally growing up before my eyes.

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Changing things up

I constantly feel this need to be creative.  It's just part of who I am.  I love to craft, sew, take photos and do anything else that allows me to be creative.  I tried my 'a grace filled mess blog' and really enjoyed but felt I was missing something.   Then I thought I would just focus on photography and blog about that but I felt like I had to keep that to photography and not add my personal stuff and missed writing about that part of my life.  So... I decided that i am going to completely re-do my original blog and include everything that makes me me.  DIY, crafting, photography, life, Jesus, hard times, mommin', being a wifey and whatever else I feel like sharing.  I have been away from the blogging world for a while and am a do it myself girl so I am playing with the look of the blog and trying to learn how the backside of creating a blog works.  This gives me a fun new project to work on in between working full time, being a wife and raising 4 littles too grown up, kids.  So I should have plenty of time right??

This past year I have made it a goal to take photos on a regular basis because I really wasn't sure what my style was.  I mean I have had certain photographers that I follow and love their work and thought maybe that was my style but it felt like I was trying to mimic instead of finding what made my work mine.  

A couple things that I learned:

I love dramatic lighting.

I love black and white.

I love my children.  JK ya'll, I already knew that!

I really feel that I am seeing the direction that I want my photos to go and the story I want them to tell.  Even if they don't speak to anyone else they give me the feels and that is what I am trying to accomplish.  Capturing moments the way that I see them.  Here is a little glimpse of my most recent favorites.

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