When expecting parents begin researching hiring a birth photographer they're often hit with a bit of sticker shock. A bit of "does it really cost that much?" 
The short answer is yes, it does.
Most people understand that we are on call 24/7 for potentially 4+ weeks for each birth and then there's time to edit the photos themselves. My on call time starts when the mom reaches 38 weeks gestation, and then I remain on call until baby is born - sometimes at 42+ weeks. For a mother carrying multiples, my on call would start earlier, at 36 or 37 weeks depending on how her pregnancy is progressing. 

What a lot of people don't understand is exactly what being on call means - what birth workers (not just photographers, but doulas and midwives) give up by going on call. So, I thought it'd be fun to write a little blog about it. I asked a large birth photographer community that I'm a part of as well as some of my favorite doulas with Belly to Cradle, LLC the following question: 
"What are some of the weird things you (as a birth professional) have to consider when you go on call for a birth?"

Here are their answers.

I'll ask you, how much would you charge to potentially miss your kid's first soccer game, VPK graduation, or Thanksgiving dinner?

There's one more thing you should know though -
it's worth it!
I'd photograph births every day to witness and capture these moments! Making the decision to offer birth photography services in Pensacola, Crestview, Foley, and Fairhope is one of the BEST decisions I've ever made in my life!

Every photographer and doula I spoke with wouldn't change a thing.
We photograph births, we support mothers, we hold space because it's what we LOVE and because it's important.
​Everything we risk missing is worth everything we are allowed to witness!

Let me prove it!
Though digital images are what my Pensacola family photography and newborn portrait clients most request, I also make a point to let my clients know about the professional print and canvas products I offer! I do this for 2 reasons:

• 1 – I REALLY want you to print the photos from our sessions and hang them on the walls in your home and office. I worry that in 50 years, we'll have an entire generation of people with hardly any physical photographs - they're all going to be on a hard drive or the cloud or maybe even lost to changing times.
• 2 – I want you to understand that there’s a difference in the prints that come from a professional photographic print lab versus prints that come from a commercial lab (Walmart, Target, CVS, Shutterfly, Walgreens, etc).

Before you ask, yes, ordering prints from will cost more than if you had them printed at the corner store. But, prints ordered through me are always printed on professional grade, archival paper that are individually sized by me (to ensure proper cropping), then, upon arrival at my home, the photographs are hand checked (again, by me) before they're delivered to you!

I’ll sit here a minute while the shock wears off.
I have to admit I even I was surprised at the extreme difference in some of these pictures. I knew they would be off, but I didn’t expect it to be this bad!
Let’s break it down –

• Professional Lab – I have to admit I was a bit disappointed that the print from Millers had darkened the shadows a tad. But I will say that at least they lost NO detail in the image itself and the glossy paper was gorgeous.
• Walmart – Ok, on first glance, it kinda looks close-ish to the original file. But, with the print in hand you feel that awful dry "photo paper” that they use. The picture is horribly washed out and has lines through it from their printer.
• CVS – SO much cyan and green added! They also bumped the contrast was up leading to this sweet little girl now having shark eyes.
• Target – Very similar problems to the CVS print
• Shutterfly – Overall, the Shutterfly print isn’t that bad. They darkened the image a tad and upped the contrast, but I guess it’s “ok.” though the paper quality was no where near the quality of the professional lab

OOO look at all the pretty blues and greens. (There really should be a sarcasm font.)

Ok, obviously, these labs will do if you want snap shots or need 1 hour pictures printed for a school project or something where the quality isn’t that important to you. I’m not saying they don’t have their place in the market. But, if you’ve paid a professional photographer hundreds of dollars to take portraits of your family, why would you then trust a "budget" printing company over a professional printer. The professional labs that I use print on archival quality paper that is made to stand the test of time.

Hi mama! I see you there, cell phone in hand taking pictures of your child(ren). This post is for you. Even though I still want you to book me for your next Pensacola family portrait session, I want YOU to be able to capture all of those great everyday moments of your kiddos lives!
​What follows are 6 of my best, quick tips on how to take better pictures of your kids.

- with each other, with the environment, something

Your helper is there to get the kids to look at you, wrangle the one who tends to wander, quickly brush stray hairs out of someone's eyes, etc. Their most important job is to be your spotter! Safety is my number one priority and anytime I'm at all worried, I have one (or both) of the parents "spot" their child. The picture below is a perfect example of "what actually happened" vs. the final image.

You've gotten down on the ground with your kiddo. Now try taking a picture from above above your child looking down. This is a great way to showcase their face and their youth!

And one last thing. make sure you end up in some of those pictures too!

Spring, Summer, and Fall you can usually find me, an hour before sunset, on a beach somewhere between Pensacola Beach or Navarre, FL and Gulf Shores or Orange Beach, AL. Family portrait sessions on the white sandy beaches of the Gulf Coast are a thing of tradition for many both local and vacationers alike. But there's something else I'd like for you to remember when you're envisioning the perfect family portrait session -
let the children play...

Towards the end of family and child, after I've taken all of the more "traditional" or posed pictures, I often ask my clients to consider allowing their kids to get a little sandy and wet. More times than not I'm met with a look of shock and hesitation.
And, I don't push it. If you're not into it, I get it. Your kids (and you) are in nice (coordinated) outfits that you've spent a lot of time and energy assembling, and here I am asking you to let them not only get super sandy but wet too!
But consider it.
Let your children walk away from this session remembering how much FUN it was! (You might find that it ends up being your favorite part of the session as well.)

Family vacations can be stressful enough without the added headache of capturing all those memories. But, since capturing those memories are a must, I thought I'd share a few thoughts to help you on your way to great, less-stressful, vacation photography.

Oh, and enjoy some of my various vacation photos from over the years. :)

How many of you have nice, semi-pro (or even professional) cameras but still feel like you have no idea what you're doing? Yep, I thought so. 

This morning I thought I'd share my favorite photography books and magazines NOT specifically geared for the professional photographer. If you're ready to start unlocking your photography potential - then read on!

*Finding Beauty in the Ordinary photography receives nothing for promoting the following books and magazines. They are merely books I own and love and magazines I've subscribed to for years.*

We'll start with books.

• First up is "Your Child in Pictures: The Parent's Guide to Photographing Your Toddler and Child from Age One to Ten" by Me Ra Koh
• Next is another by Me Ra Koh - "Your Baby in Pictures: The New Parent's Guide to Photographing Your Baby's First Year"

​Honestly, I love Me Ra Koh's photography books - if you're a parent who just wants to capture better pictures of your children - she's your yoda!

• Something I tell every new DSLR owner is to purchase the "Digital Field Guide" for their specific camera and speedlight. These books go much more in depth into the inner workings of your gear and the why. But, as opposed to your camera manual, they're easy to understand and contain examples.
• Another photography book I really  like is one that was put together by Popular Photography (one of the photography magazines I recommend): "Take Your Best Shot - Essential Tips and Tricks for Shooting Amazing Photos" by Miriam Leuchter
• This next book is really great at getting your creative juices flowing and helping you find your eye. "Picture Perfect Practice" by Roberto Valenzuela
• Lastly for books, I recommend "The Digital Photography Book", "Adobe Photoshop Lightroom", and "Adobe Photoshop CC" each by Scott Kelby. I really  like how Kelby relays information and includes plenty of examples and illustrations when necessary. His Lightroom book was a lifesaver when I when I decided to streamline my photo editing.

If, like me, you find it hard to find the time to sit down with a book, I strongly recommend you look into photography magazines. There are many, many options out there. The ones that follow are my personal favorites.

• Popular Photography
• Click
• National Geographic Traveler

​I hope you this post helps you find something to unlock your creative, photography spirit.

Since it is the Christmas season, I am going to start off with these super cute, and affordable, custom Christmas ornaments. On the left is a bamboo ornament that comes in your choice of 13 sizes & shapes (the one show is 4″x2.5″). They’re ~1/4″ thick and show the beautiful, natural grain of the bamboo through the image. On the right is a sweet metal ornament that can be ordered in the design shown or a snowflake.
These ornaments not only look lovely on your own tree, they make a fantastic gift for grandparents!
Next up is an item I’ve been proudly using for 2 months now: a custom cell phone case.

What a great way to show off your babies – without having to even unlock your phone screen.
Cases are black rubber grip with interchangeable photo inserts. These aren’t sold as “protective cases” like Otterbox, Lifeproof, etc – BUT, my toddler has dropped and thrown my phone multiple times on quite a few different surfaces, and so far, no damage has occurred to my Samsung S6.
Cases are available for the Samsung Galaxy S6, iPad Mini, and  iPhones 4, 5, 6, & 6 Plus.
The base order includes 1 case and 1 insert – additional inserts can be added to your order or ordered at a later date.

Custom designed cards are perfect for new baby announcements, Birthday invitations, Graduation announcements, Christmas cards, etc.
So, now you’ve seen the beautiful, high quality, and affordable products we carry for our clients. But, just because you don’t see it here doesn’t mean we can’t get it. So, if there’s ever something special that you have in mind, just ask!

Most importantly – be comfortable. Make sure your kids are wearing something comfortable. And pick a location that you  love!

Recently, I was asked if I’d be willing to speak to a group of Pensacola moms about how to take better pictures of their kids using their smartphones. After having a slight panic attack about public speaking, I accepted. Since I’m sure there are others out there with the same questions, I thought I’d share my presentation. 

Besides having experience photographing client’s children, I have 3 of my own – 2 step daughters ages 9 and (almost) 11 as well as an (almost) 2 year old son. So, I totally understand the struggle of trying to take pictures of kids – ESPECIALLY our own kids!

I was asked specifically to talk about cell phone photography, and that’s the plan. But a lot of what I’m going to cover also pertains to getting wall quality photographs with any equipment.

But, let’s start with more cell phone specific advice.

One of the best things you can do to improve the quality of your cell phone pictures is to NOT use the zoom on your phone. Many of us have or had digital point and shoot style cameras and using the zoom on them is fine. But there’s a difference in the zoom on a camera and the zoom on a phone. A camera offers optical and digital zooms, but your cell phone ONLY gives you a digital zoom. A digital zoom works by effectively cropping the photo BEFORE the picture is taken. This causes you to lose a lot of detail. If possible, move closer to your subject, if not possible, take the shot and then crop the actual photo if needed. This way you still maintain the quality of your image.

You should also try to avoid using your flash. Again, there’s a difference in camera flash and phone flash. In fact, the flash on your phone isn’t a “true flash.” It’s actually an LED light. The color temperature is wrong and the “flash” lasts too long, often times leaving you with a washed out subject and a super dark background. Try to use available light when possible – window, lamp, partial shade. If you must use flash, take a few steps back. Doing this will help limit how washed out your subject appears by giving the flash more area to disperse.
This next one may be obvious, but always know where your focus point is. I know on my phone I can tap on the screen where I want the camera to focus. This also sets the exposure (amount of light the lens will let in) as well which can be problematic, but I’ve learned to work with it.

This last point is simple – keep your lens cleaned. Example: Your kids are looking stylish in their Easter best so you whip your cell out of your pocket/ purse/ bra (I can’t be the only one) to take a picture. Yikes, that lens is most likely to have some combination of lint, sweat, lipstick, or a finger print on it. Take two seconds and wipe your lens with a lens cloth or even on your cotton shirt. As a photographer, part of my prep for each session is simply wiping down my lenses with a lint free cloth.
​
Now that we’ve talked about how to take good pictures with your smartphone, I’ll show you a few that were taken with mine.

Also, if there’s an obvious horizon in your photo, try to keep it straight. Many of us tend to place more weight on one foot over the other which automatically causes us to tilt without being aware. This will create tilted horizon lines.
And last but not least, get down on the same level as your subjects. If they’re on the ground, you should be too!
I’ll wrap up by talking a little more about smartphones. When editing your photos, try to avoid filters and instead get a good photo editing app.  A good editing app will let you fix crazy horizon lines, adjust exposure and the temperature (color cast) of your picture, as well as many other cool things like playing with highlights and shadows.
The best reviewed app I could find that will work on iPhones, androids, and window phones is PicsArt Photo Studio. It’s free and has plugins you can purchase inexpensively. It also seems to be pretty user friendly. I personally use Snapseed, Adobe Photoshop Express, and Adobe Lightroom Express. The 2 Adobe apps are available in the apple store and from google play. I have a monthly subscription to the full Adobe suite which includes the phone apps so I’m not sure if Photoshop is free but I know Lightroom is. Snapseed is a great, FREE photo editing app.
There’s a saying among professional photographers –
“Your first 10,000 photos are crap.”
That can be a sobering thought, but I think what it’s really telling you is to get out there and get shooting! The more pictures you take, the better your work will be.