Thursday, October 31, 2013

Happy Halloween!


I had one frame left in my SX-70 and I knew I wanted to use it at the pumpkin display I covered for the paper. I attached the Polaroid to my tripod and waited while the camera took a 20 second exposure. I quickly popped the shot into my pocket to keep it warm; Impossible Project film does not like the cold! The result is one of the most detailed Polaroids I've shot to date. It's amazingly crisp and the colors pop! You'd never know I shot this at dusk because of the long exposure, but I love the result. I plan on doing more night photography once I restock on film.

I've also included some of my favorite shots of Blaze from 2008. I really need to get back there and shoot it again. I've grown leaps and bounds as a photographer and know I would get much better results.

Happy Halloween and be safe, kiddies!






Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Happy Birthday, Grace!


Last week was a bit of blur for me. I was in craft mode: I made two Halloween costumes, this super cool paper flower decoration and a custom rubber stamp. I also had a plethora of shoots over the weekend and a few long nights at the day job. Still, I showed up ready to party on Sunday.


It's hard to believe this little lady is already three years old. Grace was born the day before Halloween in Sleepy Hollow, New York. You can't get much more cool than that! Every year, she gets a fun costume party. This year she dressed up as a fairy princess.


James put on his costume, Slam Bam from the Skylanders game. Halloween is his favorite holiday.




I asked the girls to get together for a picture and then asked if Aria would take her passifer out. 
Grace decided she would be take matters into her own hands.



Playing on the tire swing.





I liked the light so much in this spot, I grabbed Grace's #3 and had her pose with it. It's hard to get Grace to smile nice in photos these days, but I eventually got one out of her.



Nerf blow dart target practice.



Nick looks pretty shot in this picture, but Hannah was giving me a two handed wave.


I took a very similar picture of James and Grace when she was Hannah's age that you can see below.




I tried to prank James by putting a spider ring on the cheese pizza. He wasn't even phased.


Over the past couple of months, I've noticed how excited Grace has been for other people's birthday parties. I was so happy to finally sing for her.







Not even a year old and Hannah's already hogging the laptop!


I had a theme for Grace's presents. At the last party I asked her what she wanted for her birthday and she very seriously replied, "A Birthday Pig!" I made her a custom pig stamp for her wrapping paper and even found a pig card. I guess I went a little Hog Wild!


Nick doing a good job displaying the #3!


And here's the Birthday Pig reveal. Grace was absolutely thrilled with it, and who wouldn't be? That little pig has so much personality!




Aria had her own set of presents to open and this was the hat included in her package.


I found the flower number decoration at Oh Happy Day. I recommend you get large glue dots and the thickest foam core you can find. The end result is pretty darn heavy! The adorable piglet comes from a handmade seller on Etsy called Finkelsteins. There are a bunch of cute little critters and I want to buy them all!



Monday, October 28, 2013

October Birthdays


October is a big month for birthdays in my family, so we did a joint party earlier in the month for my brother, father and cousin. I stuck with the Canon EOS M and its tiny little flash for this gathering. While it's great in a pinch, I still prefer my DSLR. You'll notice that from farther away, the flash produces red eye. Oh, and I turned off the touch screen as a method of taking pictures. I constantly hit it by accident and took far too many pictures of the ground.


The Legos were a big hit with the boys.


Thanks to my brother for photobombing!


Aria pointing out the lady bug on the plant.


The birthday hats were left over from my Polaroid shoot, so I distributed them amongst the kids. Grace's reaction here was when she noticed that I had placed my hat over my nose instead of on my head like a normal person.


Aunt Ellen and Aunt Karin with Aria.


Of course, James is smiling nice for the goofy picture and goofy in the nice picture.


Reflection shot!



Brian having a blast!



Nick giving Aria's baby doll some coffee.


Point Dexter!