I'm realizing that, the more I dig inside myself and discover who I am artistically and photographically, the more I'm seeing the beauty in my own work... NOT wanting to be someone I'm not, NOT wanting to imitate someone else's work, NOT wanting to just "shoot it like it is and fix it in Photoshop". I've worked tirelessly on nailing my exposure IN CAMERA with every shot. I've made it my goal to have my images come out of my camera relatively, well, perfect. People ask if I do lots of work in photoshop. My new answer is NO. I used to. And clearly, when I convert something to black & white, or tone an image to look more vintage, I do use photoshop, but I'm really loving my photographs right now, just as they are SOOC (or, "straight out of camera"). The following (besides the black & white, and the shot of Elias) are all straight out of my camera and sized for web. And that makes me very, very happy.
And, lest you think I've forgotten my firstborn (I assure you, I haven't!)- here's one of him taken last week. I realize I've posted quite a few images of my girls on here the past few weeks. It's funny- my time with Elias is so limited now that he's in school full-time, and I'm feeling bad that he hasn't had a blog-debut for a while.
However, there's a big post coming with a whole lot of this boy as his 6th birthday is quickly approaching and we're going out for a big 6-year photo shoot (even got him a sweet new hat for the event!). So, keep checking in....
That last one with the huge smile makes me want to reach through the screen and grab her! So cute. I'm coming over! ;)
(02.24.10 @ 09:23 PM)LOVE this, rachel!! for some reason, this word was hard for me, but i'm attempting it tomorrow...
(02.25.10 @ 10:19 PM)Absolutely Precious!!! Those lips are perfect. I could kiss them all day. I adore new little babes. Beautiful work!
(03.02.10 @ 08:56 PM)She turned three, and suddenly she's "Miss Independent". Wouldn't let me re-braid her hair, insisted on those great glasses.
I love it.
i LOVE a girl with a mind of her own! reminds me of my own sweet eliza...made purely of style and love. :)
(02.02.10 @ 10:09 AM)She gets her fashion sense from me. Or maybe my mother, whom I love dearly. Yep- she was rockin' it on Thursday morning- her nightgown, a pink fleece, flaming pink Monster's Inc. socks and flip-flops (a total pet peeve), big white Jackie-O glasses and her hair all fruffy from sleeping in her braids.
Gosh, I love this girl.
Post-edit: Did I mention we graced Target at 8:15am looking like this?
I love this and the peeps in Target must have been jealous! I think she looks awesome. You go girl!
(02.09.10 @ 01:20 AM)
Oh my... she is SO adorable! That one just makes me happy! Beautiful work and beautiful daughter.
(01.31.10 @ 08:34 AM)Awww. She is so perfectly lovely!
(01.31.10 @ 10:14 AM)awwwwwwww.... she is so incredibly beautiful... just like her momma! lovely photos rachel. chills. again. :)
(01.31.10 @ 11:11 AM)She is so CUTE Rachel!! Wow...she is getting so big so fast. STOP TIME! NOW!
(01.31.10 @ 11:23 AM)RACHEL- NO WAY! She is totally changing and I haven't even gotten to cuddle her yet! She is GORGEOUS. I ADORE that picture with the blue-ish background. She is amazing! It makes my heart hurt to see these. I love her and I love you and I just can't wait to see her!
(01.31.10 @ 01:48 PM)she is soooo cute! and getting so big so fast.
(01.31.10 @ 06:44 PM)She is absolutely delectable. Just yummy. Can't wait to meet you Miss Maura!
(01.31.10 @ 07:30 PM)This just gave me a huge case of baby fever! She is absolutely beautiful, Rach!! Love your processing!
(01.31.10 @ 08:05 PM)oh rachel! she is such a beauty...love these shots of her. the sweetest!
(02.02.10 @ 06:54 AM)Rachel - she's perfect. just perfect. LOVE the smile one. It makes ME smile.
(02.02.10 @ 08:02 AM)She is just so delicious! I love her cheeks. I could just kiss them all day long!
(02.02.10 @ 08:58 AM)
I totally agree with you about processing! If u look at my work it's very natural and very little editing. My client galleries are very different from some of the "artsy" images I sometimes post. I want my images to be timeless and not trendy bc I want clients to love their images 10-15 years from now and not just this year! So props to you and your Sooc!
(02.26.10 @ 03:19 PM)I am grateful to be married to such a talented person.
(02.26.10 @ 03:20 PM)Perfection, my friend, perfection. I totally agree about the vision thing. I've had one in my head for my boys for a couple of years, and just can't find the time to do it! So glad you followed through with your vision! Love the SOOC - great job!
(02.26.10 @ 03:42 PM)Your children are insanely gorgeous!! I love these shots. The colors are amazing!!!
(02.26.10 @ 03:47 PM)Stunning. Both your children and the images! I love the composition of the first image, well all of them, but especially that one. You are an amazing photographer.
(02.26.10 @ 03:54 PM)these are really nice Rachel.
(02.26.10 @ 04:15 PM)I love these!
(02.26.10 @ 04:21 PM)How ironic:) I just got back from a days long seminar about all the millions of things you can do with photoshop and I kept thinking to myself "if I could just get it right in camera in the first place, I would need to know very little of all this". I love what you have done here and would go to a seminar to learn how you did it! Do you do seminars? :)
(02.26.10 @ 07:01 PM)I am SO inspired by you!! These are divine....so pure and sweet.
(02.26.10 @ 08:49 PM)rachel, these are SO BEAUTIFUL. i'm with you on striving to just get it right. the color is so rich. (nikon? haha). perfection.
(02.27.10 @ 08:50 AM)forgot to add that i can pretty much relate to every single word in your post. you're awesome.
(02.27.10 @ 08:51 AM)You know how much I love these. I see photographs wherever I go as well. It is funny...I'm always imaging photographs, scoping out locations and staring at catchlights. It's a sickness. :) But one that I don't want to recover from.
(02.27.10 @ 11:44 AM)Those are some of the most amazing shots I've seen, absolutley beautiful. Your awesome.
(02.27.10 @ 06:13 PM)thanks you guys, for the kind words. they are most appreciated.
(02.27.10 @ 06:44 PM)Rachel, these are stunning. Way to go on you exposure, white balance... its perfection!
(02.28.10 @ 01:32 AM)Rachel -
(02.28.10 @ 05:27 PM)truly these are stunning - what a perfect combination of soft sweetness and crispy clarity all wrapped up in perfect exposure! I can't wait to see your field pictures :-)
Pure and sweet, both the images and the subjects. And oh my - those eyelashes on both of them! I'm such a sucker for eyelashes! Great job Rachel!
(03.01.10 @ 11:54 AM)