I would be terribly remiss if I didn’t point out, front and center in this post, that I am not a photographer.

In fact, two years ago, before I started blogging, I didn’t know an ISO from an aperture. Or why shutter speed matters. And I sure as peaches couldn’t have told you what my white balance was (unless, of course, we were talking about how my legs are so much whiter than my arms). Cameras terrified me (as does most technology). My husband loves taking pictures of nature with our Cannon Rebel, but he’s not too keen on photographing subjects of the human variety. So, he kept telling me that I should learn. Because I would love it. You’re creative, he said. It’ll totally be your thing, he said.

But I was pretty sure he was wrong.

Ahem.

The truth is it isn’t really my thing. I’ve never taken a class or really done my homework to learn how to take the best shot with the best light at the best angle. But I have taken literally thousands of pictures since I started this blog. And, slowly but surely, I’ve gotten a little better. 

This shot, for example:

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It’s certainly not going to win any awards, but I’m actually really proud of it—the composition, the lighting, the repeating circle motif. I wouldn’t have even known how to begin to create this shot two years ago.

Which is why I was super-flattered and surprisingly non-nervous when my brother, Shae, and his lovely fiancé, Hannah, asked if I would snap a few engagement pictures for them.  Besides, seeing as how they’re both crazy photogenic, I knew we could rustle up something good.

They came out to our house, and we tromped all over our fields grabbing shots of everything we could. They’re not professional. Or amazing. Or anything like that.

But they are mine. So I thought I’d show you 5 of my favorites today.

1.

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I’m a huge fan of sun-flare. And even though this one doesn’t even technically qualify as a sun-flare shot, I do love the golden glow in the upper left corner. Gee-orgeous!

2.

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I love how happy they are in this one. {Psst: I’ll let you in on the secret of why they were laughing at the end of the post}.

3.

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I love the bold colors of this shot. You know I’m a color-girl, so it made me really happy that they choose to wear such striking colors for the shoot.

4.

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This one’s deliberately over-processed. I just love the contrast of the hazy glow of the barns and grass in the background in contrast to their crisper silhouettes.

5.

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It’s hard to beat posing in a field full of blooming Lazy Susans. So pretty.

………………………………………………………………….

Okay, I couldn’t resist one more:

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Just keepin’ it real, y’all.

Oh, and since I promised I would tell you why Hannah and Shae were so tickled in that twirling shot above, I had just told them to picture me doing this:

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See that rather odd-looking glow around my posterior region? That’s a bit of retouching I did to shield your eyes from the view that Shae and Hannah go an eyeful of as I attempted to traverse the perils of barbwire in my 4 inch wedges.

So, there’s a priceless little tip for you: if you’re ever taking pictures and need your subjects to loosen up, just tell them to picture you flashing them (it helps if you’ve actually just done it so they have a visual reference point). I guarantee you’ll get a good reaction:

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…especially if one of the “subjects” is your brother (face palm).

So, there you have it. My first ever engagement shoot. And probably my last after that final little tidbit I just shared.

I told Shaun this wasn’t my thing!

8 Comments

  1. What an adorable couple! And you did great on the photo shoot!! All the pics look professional 🙂
    Love the last tidbit about the flash…..totally something that would happen to me! Thanks for keeping it real!

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