Taking portraits of my children is lots of fun. Such a privilege. That is because they are so accustomed to me wearing a camera on my face, it doesn’t even phase them. Thus, what I capture of them through my lens is natural, and true to the moment. When my son looked at me in this instant, holding his gaze while playing the strings of his violin, I felt an emotional and palpable shift inside. In those few seconds I could see traces of my baby boy (and I know I forever will), marvel at how much he has grown (the current grocery bills will attest to it), and clearly envision the beautiful young man that he will one day become. And in that stare, I also saw some rock star, no?:)
Sparkle. Flutter. Mother bird love. That is what I felt in my heart as I saw.
My daughter enjoys when I take photographs of her. She will often pause what she is doing and watch me as I watch her through my lens. She can look right through the glass into my heart. How does she do that? And sometimes, as in this photograph, she lets herself drift into the scene of the woods outside her window. She is magic. 
I have been experimenting with new lenses! The above photograph of my daughter was taken with Lensbaby’s Sweet 35 Optic. I can capture a sweet spot and surround it with beautiful, dreamy blur. The images of the roses were taken with my new Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II lens. In love with this prime lens!! I can throw open the aperture super wide to achieve a soft, blurred background and clear foreground (shallow DOF at an extreme)!:) And to top it off with whipped cream and a cherry, I have been experimenting with my friend Merek Davis‘s Mextures (incredible texture packs)! — as seen in the rose photos above. And, Merek is about to release his Mextures iPhone app!! Woot!
Speaking of Mextures, Merek has generously given me permission to share two free Mexture packs with you in my latest online Photoshop workshop, LIGHT. In one of the lessons, I’ll show you how to use them to create gorgeous ‘light’ in your photos.
Sharing LIGHT:
Join me for a brand new online Photoshop workshop!: REGISTRATION IS NOW OPEN for my brand new 3 week online workshop LIGHT: Creative Light-Filled Photoshop Techniques Uncovered. You can CLICK HERE for the workshop description, visual samples from the workshop, testimonials from past students, and registration information.
Thank you for stopping by Dears. Until next time…