Capturing The Candid Moments

Well to all who read my last blog, discard the part where I said I wasn't going to be able to upgrade my camera for a while to come.... I was able to trade in my previous camera body and get a replacement this past week! If you care nothing about cameras and such then please scroll to the next paragraph. This part will be rather boring to some. ;) To get the camera that I wanted and upgrade significantly from what I had I paid quite a pretty penny, but I'm so ecstatic to finally have what I've been wanting. Not very excited about being in debt now though. I'm a Nikon person... I've actually never owned anything but Nikons and they are wonderful cameras. Nikon has three different ways they categorize their DSLR cameras. They have entry-level, enthusiast and professional cameras. The one I have had for the last couple of years was an entry-level, but the one I upgraded to is in the enthusiast region. You can tell a HUGE difference in the photos. The best part is that I can zoom the picture in as much as I want and it won't become grainy. I'm super pleased with it. Anyway, let me share some of the photos I was able to take on it and a little backstory!

I'm not a proponent of making your kids sit in a studio in front of a white screen and stare at a camera for 30 minutes.... Just ask my mom. As a child she would take Katy and I to get our pictures made and I would literally have to be pulled, kicking and screaming, into the room. I wouldn't sit still on some bench with my flouncy dress and big curls and "smile pretty" for anything in this world. That just never worked for a kid like me.... I follow and read quite a few photography websites and blogs and I follow a few women who take candid/all natural pictures and that is literally all they take. On their entire page you won't see one posed or forced looking picture. I LOVE that. They are gorgeous and they capture the raw and natural beauty (and sometimes utter craziness) of life. I want my pictures to mirror this as well.

Katy wanted some pictures of the girls in their Easter dresses and Charlotte (my niece) is a lot like I was as a child. There's no posing that's going to take place with her. She is truly a free spirit. I grabbed some tea party props and spread out an old blanket under some trees in our yard, set up the tea party area with some her favorite stuffed animals that would be sure to draw her attention and we put her in her Easter dress and told her to go play. Not only did she sit there for 30 minutes and play, but thought it was the most amazing thing ever. She never once even thought about getting upset. She kept looking at me and saying "Ooo fun tea party, Tandace!" she hasn't quite got pronouncing that "K" down yet. :)

Sometimes I carry my camera around on these gorgeous spring nights and take pictures of what I would call "normal life." One day when I'm older and want to remember being young I want to have not only the posed pictures, but the real and nostalgic ones too. The ones that stay in the back of our minds throughout our lives. Most people remember their childhood home and could probably conjure up a picture of a spring night where they lived in their head. Looking back throughout my childhood it seems like the normal times were the most special ones. 

Here are the pictures I took of Charlotte and a few I snapped of Evelyn. We plan on doing more of her later. Charlotte loved the tea party so much that we ran out of time and good lighting before we got to Evelyn. I just love some lush green grass, a blue dress, tea party toys and soft lighting. Hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking them!