My favorite wedding sniper-shot of the summer!

Because Saturday is family day at my house, I don't shoot many weddings.

(I do love to shoot bridal portraits, however!)

I do my best to shoot during the week, or on Sunday (which is a work day for my family).

But I do like to spend the summer "snipering" weddings. Maybe just my own take on wedding photography?

And I just up and down love this shot. If anyone knows this bride, please let her know I have a gift for her. At least if I were her, I would want this shot! I love it!

I shot this from our picnic table behind a tree.

In my bathing suit.

I couldn't help it. Those people are just too fantastic. I want to know them. And the girl on the left? She had bright RED shoes...I wish you could see them. They're fantastic.

I will chase you!!!

If I must, I will chase you in between a wood pile and a recycling bin (you can't really tell that, can you?). And I will do just that all while we keep the laughs rolling.

And then...yes, and then... I will get you AGAIN!

I love my job!

Apple Picking

Tips: Dress your kids in earthy-appley colors. (Hi. My name is Robyn and I make up words. When necessary.) Think about the apples, and letting them be the pops of colors. So, the attention goes to your sweet kids' faces & the apples. Not the clothes. Think plain without patterns, or at most, simple and monochromatic color schemes. My son is in a yellow shirt (he wanted to match his favorite apples), and my daughter is in green with a yellow bow.

Play with the light. Also, one of my favorite things to do is to get under the tree with the kids, able to see the sky behind their faces and they come out from under the tree.

Make sure the fruit gets her close-up. And not to gross you out, but if you rub off the pesticides, the apples look a lot better in photos. See the shiny ones at the top? Yeah. And if you have the option, bump your color saturation up in your color menu for this shot. Sharpness, too, if you'd like. And zoom in an manually focus if you have that option. Which I did not do for this shot and wish I had taken the time to do. Another cute one? Have the kids sit on the sides and look up at you as you hold the camera high (on auto-focus). Now look, I'm giving away all my secrets. Trouble :) Have fun!

oh, and always pack some attitude. you know, for the woman who birthed you. (Tilt your camera here and there, and try to drop it to the level of the kids' faces. That way, the orchards look to the viewer of the photograph as they do to the kids: BIG. See how her arm is perpendicular to the ground and her shoulders are parallel to it? Btw, her brother made her that necklace. How sweet is that?!)

and this one...well, i just love it. my dad actually took this one. so, credit Dad & the Nikon D90 on that shot. Wish I hadn't been in the way. They're dissecting the process. Love it!

Now, go and enjoy some apple-picking!

Little Red Chair (ity)

So I have a thing for RED. Always have. It's a thing.

I also have a thing for water. Always have. It's a thing.

And as it turns out 20% of the world is without clean drinking water. I think that needs to change. I'd like to one day be sitting in my red rocking chair and hear confusion in my grandchildren's voices as they question, "You mean people used to not have clean water?"

So, I here's the deal. I have red chairs. I like to take them with me on shoots. I will ask if I can take a picture with your child in a red chair. I will give you all the shots from the shoot on CD as promised. Except for one. The Red Chair Shot.

I will sell Red Chair Shots for $10 a piece, and 100% of those proceeds will go to a water project. I usually work with Charity:Water or Bloodwater:mission. Both great organizations (recognized by the government), and both working to end the gap between humans and clean water. So, if you see a red chair in my trunk, you know why. If you have your own favorite red chair, bring it along. Because the Little Red Chair (ity) project is a Together-Project.

Because I like working together.

Always have.

It's a thing.

:)

Autumn is here!

One of the keys to a great photo shoot is having fun!!! And well, being willing to take the time to get the work done. Even if it means lying down in goose poop (me, not you!), taking a break to swing, having a lollypop, etc. We set up to have fun!

When shooting with a 2 year-old, we just go with the flow. We plan around nap time, we snack, we potty, we run-jump-sing-laugh, and somewhere along the way we get the shots we need. And I always tell the parents ahead of time that they have two jobs: (1) Be smiling the whole time because we never know when we're going to get "that face" from your child, and (2) You're not allowed to stress about your child(ren) not being happy. Or difficult. Or whatever. This kind of stuff doesn't bother me. I'm with you to catch you all at your best. I know what it takes. I know the mood swings of kids (I have my own!). And crying and tantrums- they bother me not. Not in the least. We just work hard, have fun, and usually spend the majority of the time laughing.

So, when we get together, relax. We'll get the best pictures when we set up to have a lot of fun.

Likely more to come from this family. they did a great job picking clothing colors, and we had so much fun that I'm bound to post a few more once I get them edited.

Thanks, guys!

I think I could shoot everyday of the week in autumn.

It's just that fabulous.

Grandmothers

Can I stop and brag on my mother-in-law for a minute?

My kids think she's pretty fantastic!

Senior Portraits: Questions answered

So it seems some people are having a hard time coordinating their friends for a mini-shoot, but you still want to try to figure out how to make the deal work.

As it happens, I have shoots here and there over the next couple of weeks. If you are willing to meet up on a day I am already shooting, at the location I am already shooting, I will give you mini-shoot pricing.

So, if you are Alli, Sarah and Elle:

Alli can meet me after I shoot with the (Smith) family.

Sarah, you can meet me when I finish corporate shots for another group.

And Elle, you can have your portraits just before I shoot with the (Jones) family.

Then, we'll tack your group shot onto my single senior portrait shoot with Elizabeth.

Make sense? If you can work with me, I can work with you.

Life is hard, but this? This we can figure out :)

Email or call me, and we'll piece it together. But hurry! The earlier we schedule, the easier it is to pull this off!

Thanks! Let's have fun!

**If you simply want to book a Friend Shoot, it's $150 and you each get a CD. We'll book 1.5 hours and can go to 2-3 locations depending on distance. You may change clothes as many times as you'd like within that time frame. That's not something I fuss about. It's your time block, and you may use it as you like.

Now Booking: Senior Portraits!

Now booking for October!!!

Join the beautiful autumn landscape now for senior portraits! We can even run by the beach if we hurry! Think about what you love to do or think about- I taylor your portrait session to beautiful, specific YOU! Think sports. Or books. Music. Or artistry. We can have a lot of fun getting creative!

Senior portraits, from what I understand, are due to the schools by November 1st.

Book on the same day with 2 friends and get a complimentary "Friend Shoot."

We'll hit up some great locations and document your friendship. Even Album Style, if you'd like.

Great for dorm walls.

One Student: $99/ session including CD.

2 Students $80/ session including CD.

3 students $75/ session including CD.

Or, book at the original rate and receive a free "Friend Shoot."

($150 value!)

email: robynvining (at) (gmail) (dot) (com)

Book today to ensure your Nov 1 delivery!

2 Fun Girls!

I've been editing these photos for about a week, and finalizing the CD this morning. I have to say, staring at these little faces for the last week has been a lot of fun. Almost as fun as chasing them around and laughing with them at the beach!

(P.S. Sorry for the blog-neglect. It's been a busy end of summer, to say the least! I hope everyone is enjoying the arrival of the pumpkin latte. Sometimes we need to find fun things to focus on in the wake of summer, huh? :)

and again...margins broken. sorry for the loss of the right side. BIG GIANT SIGH.