My little man and ME! {Project Mom}

I complain often that I do not have nearly enough pictures of myself with my precious baby boy since I'm always the one behind the camera. So, yesterday I handed the camera over to my hubby and asked him to snap away! I can't claim the photography as my own handy work. I merely metered the light for the hubsters and showed him how to adjust shutter speed to compensate for the light changes... have I told you that I'm teaching him to shoot? He is so clever, and has an amazing eye, and is so talented with design layout... I am confident he will be an amazing shooter. He's the handy fella that designed my logo and taught me a great deal about photoshop (which he's pretty advanced at from his graphic designing days)... Ok I'm done bragging. This post is after all about me and the little guy, isn't it? ;)

So here we are, sitting on our front porch! We normally get loads of smiles out of him with my crazy singing and dancing, but with my husband focusing on the camera and me focusing on my smile... well...we have straight faced little man. He is still amazingly adorable...

I also have to add that these were taken with my AMAZING new equipment... the gorgeous 5dMarkII... and I am in love with it. I barely had to touch these in post processing... just sharpened, brightened... no need to mess with an image when it comes out that amazing straight from your camera :)

I am SOOOO crazy about this child... seriously.

We do this about 559 times a day...

 

I am so blessed. So so blessed. What an amazing little boy I have... :)

My Boy and the Famous Owl Hat {Project Mom}

I've spoken of my prop addiction before... its pretty serious. I try to change up my set-ups, props, and hats often. However there is one hat that makes an appearance in almost all of my baby sessions because it is so frequently requested. This stinkin adorable owl hat was made by an awesome Etsy vendor (link to her shop is here)! I figured that I should get at least ONE shot of  my precious boy in this famous hat before his head is too big. It was close, but I think it juuuust fit him! This one is being blown up for his animal, blue and green themed room!

Both images shot with my 50mm 1.4 at f3.2, 1/80, ISO200 in my studio... natural light to my boys left with a reflector on his right

Everything in the mouth... oh the joys of teething ;) 

Good Lookin Kiddos... {Project Mom}

So...not only do I have an amazingly cute kid, but I also have beautiful, super cool nieces! How lucky am I?

I have a pretty awesome living situation... my sister and parents both own houses on the same street as my husband and I... infact, our backyards connect! So naturally, every summer day turns into a party. I was outside with my little man and my camera this evening when the girls came running over with their dog. I snapped a couple shots of all three kiddos and couldn't decide on color or B&W in the post image process so I'll post em all! The last photo shows how the party ended... when my little man had a too close for comfort interaction with my sister's dog. :) Poor guy.

Happy Summer!!

Baby meets dog. Poor guy... he does have a pretty cute pout though... ;)

My boy and his food... {Project Mom}

Having a 7 month old can be expensive! I'm truly a bargainer at heart... I compare prices, coupon shop, and raid clearance racks whenever possible. As a mommy, I've tried to find ways to cut down on expenses for my sweet baby boy while still providing the best quality things I can get for him. One way I've proudly been able to do this is by making my own baby food. Do you have any idea how expensive those tiny little jars of processed fruits and veggies can be? I have found that making your own food can be significantly cheaper, quick, fun, and so much healthier for my baby. I usually make about 3 to 4 different kinds of food in batches and freeze in large amounts. Check out the images below for some fun in the kitchen with my sweet boy and tips on how to make baby food for yourself!



If you are looking for a GREAT recipe book, check out The Best Homemade Baby Foods On The Planet by Knight and Ruggiero... Little man certainly likes the book!

 My guy's favorite recipe is bananas! Simply half 3-4 bananas and saute in 1/2 tablespoon of butter. Mash with a fork and store and freeze for up to 2 weeks...

The bumbo chair is so fantastic to have in the kitchen... Little guy is always happy to watch me cook while playing!

 

Second favorite recipe... and the CHEAPEST batch of baby food you'll ever make. Pick up a bag of frozen peas for a buck, microwave for 5 minutes and puree! THAT simple... and THAT cheap. One bag provides about 8 servings for baby... 8 servings for a buck? Can't beat it!
 

 And then we get to eat!!

I'm blessed with a VERY healthy eater :) No problems with fresh fruits and veggies here!

I use these great storage cups that I got by One Step Ahead... you can grab them off of amazon.com here! They stack up on top of each other and then on a tray for easy storage in the freezer.

  From top to bottom, we have sweet potatoes, bananas, green peas, and butternut squash. Total cost was just under 8 bucks and we got about 24 servings... all prepared, jarred, and stored in about an hour. If I can do it, anyone can!

The Boy in the Adarondack Chair {Project Mom}

I know I posted earlier this week for project mom, but I just haaaaaad to share this one from this afternoon. Little guy was a bit fussy indoors so we went outside, sang songs, and made funny faces...I'll while mommy had her camera out of course!

Shot with my handy 1.4 50mm at max shutter speed, f2.0 ISO 200... Happy Memorial Day everyone!

Project Mom {week ??} Baby Meets Grass

So... Its has been a little while since my last project mom. I have been soooo busy editing weddings and newborn shoots for clients! As you can see I've put a question mark in the title of this post where the week number would normally go... hahahahaha...

So here we are, at the end of May having some BEAUtiful weather. I decided that I needed to take my little guy outside finally and see what he thinks of the grass! He didn't love it of course, but stayed calm enough for me to snap a few shots before he raised his hands in request for me to remove him from the prickly green stuff.

What have I learned from this quick set up? Lighting lighting lighting! This is something I have really been working on since we've been doing so many outside shots for recent weddings... my photographer partner has been such a master at positioning people just in the right spots to avoid shadows and direct sun. This is what I tried to do with my little guy in the shots below. These were snapped in a very bright yard, so we looked for the shadiest area and positioned him away from the direct sun. I still got some shadows, but I'm overall not too disappointed with the results given the location and fussy baby. :)

Gosh he is getting so big... isn't he just so darn cute?? I love the last shot... its as if he is looking on in disgust at the grass that is disturbing him! Ha!!

Project Mom {week8} "The Little Guy with the Mohawk..."

On grandma's last visit, she made the coooolest shirt for the little guy! When I put him in it last week, he looked like a rockstar! I decided that he needed a mohawk to accompany it... so we busted out Dad's hair gel! Not easy to get baby hair to stck...

What did I learn? As much as I love my wide angle zoom lens, it just doesn't compare to my 50mm prime. It can do lots of cool things, but always ends up taking softer shots... for portraits, the crispness of the 50 gives you that extra edge. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to reshoot with my 50 and these were taken with my wide angle. Still a SUPER cute shot... because, well, the subject is stinkin ADORABLE!

So here is the little guy... thanks for the great shirt grandma!!