Posing with Mama on a warm, autumn evening.

Back Story

As far as photographic weekends go, last weekend had to be one of my favorites. Well, in this timezone anyway, Maui is still No Ka Oi!

This shot was from a short sunset shoot we did last Sunday wrapping up a 3-day span of photo shoots staring the Friday before. The weather was just so nice and it’s the time of year where the colors of the leaves are really at their peak in our area.

Sunday evening, we made our way to the forest preserve near our house, and wanted to take advantage of some of that after sunset glow that’s so precious to photographers. The sky had literally been cloudless all day, so trying to get shots of a nice sunset were pretty much out of the question – just no sky candy, as I like to call it.

But that’s fine, the warm glow coming from the sky just after the sun dipped behind the trees was good enough for me. I wasn’t sure at first which would last longer, the warm light after sunset or our son’s attention span, so I worked fast and shot a few shots like the one above.

It wasn’t long before I had my answer, though, as our son quickly became distracted with his stroller nearby. So while he was occupied with that, I snapped a few images of my wife just before the forest preserve ranger (is he really a ranger if it’s the suburbs?) drove by and was kicking people out. Probably might have had 5-10 more minutes of perfect light left, but still happy with what I shot.

A quick portrait while testing out my first umbrella setup in our living room.

My relatively new journey into portrait photography took another step forward on Thursday, as my first umbrella arrived in the mail. Like a kid on Xmas morning, I just had to set it up and test it our right away.

I still have a lot to learn and am highly motivated to practice, practice, practice. Even though I’m still starting out with all this new lighting gear, I’m pretty excited about the challenges and new experiences that lay ahead.

Out for a few photos at the end of a scorcher in northeastern Wisconsin.

Really wanted to shoot more portraits during this session, but our little guy was getting hungry – thus not cooperating. I guess I need to get on his schedule instead if the other way around.

Cindy and Christian in front of the sign at the Cherry Hut

Future note: sweatshirts with chords in the hood are a potential distraction.

I won’t try to make excuses for not shooting more, but no one can really prepare you for what the first six months of parenthood really takes out of you. Still, if being out celebrating our son’s first half-birthday (if that’s your thing) wasn’t a good enough reason to break out the camera (and Maui is still 3 months away), what is?

Details aside, how about a few more images?

I’ve been very honest with myself that shooting portraits is currently outside my comfort zone. But if the birth of our first child doesn’t drive me to become better at it and document our son’s early years, I should probably just sell my camera gear and move onto something else.

With this recent photo shoot and the results I got from the baby shower in November, my confidence with shooting portraits is quickly rising. It really comes down to just more time to practice. Plus, standing behind a 5DMKII doesn’t hurt matters, either. I know you hear and read all the time about how good photographers can make great images with any camera gear, and I’m sure someone with more experience can get these same results with my Canon Rebel XSi instead.

So maybe it’s just in my head, but this dream-come-true of a camera body and the L-Series lens mounted on it are making me fall in love with portrait photography – something I never thought I’d say. That, and having such a beautiful wife and an adorable infant son in front of the camera can go a very long way, too.

Stay Tuned

So yeah, the portrait shutterbug has bitten me, and I want to do more shoots like this. Luckily, the timing is great because we’re leaving for Door County, WI this week for some much needed R&R, and there’s going to be plenty of time to fill up those memory cards during the trip. That will put some pressure on me in the digital darkroom once we get back to get those images online for our friends and family (and you, of course), but if I’m still buzzing about the shots like I was when we made it home this past Saturday, I think that will take care of itself.

But for now, check out the other photos from the Riverwalk Portraits photoset on Flickr. It’s a pretty good sized collection (in my biased opinion) for only about 15 minutes of shooting and the attention span of a six month old.

Enjoy,
– Kris

Christian gets excited while Papa eggs him on from behind the camera.

Already six months old, Christian puts on a show for the camera with his Mama. We only shot for about 15-20 minutes, and came away with some very memorable images. Still more to come.

Photo: One of a few hockey themed gifts our son has awaiting him.

The official baby countdown is now at 15 days, so it won’t be very long before I’m completely out of my comfort zone as (1) the father of a newborn baby, and (2) almost a full time portrait photographer. Part of the agreement with mommy-to-be for investing in the 5DMKII was to make sure our photos of our future son will be both plentiful and beautiful. No pressure.

View all photos in Cindy’s Baby Shower on Flickr.

Okay, so maybe I do take the occasional, impromptu portrait from time to time.

Continuing with the unofficial theme this week of sifting through previous Door County photos, this is from Sept. ‘08 and from brunch at the Inn at Cedar Crossing in Sturgeon Bay. It was the following morning after our 5th wedding anniversary the night before. Although both the previous and following years’ anniversaries were spent on Maui, that year’s getaway was still very nice.