good bye and hello

Hey there friends and anyone else who has stumbled on this blog.  Just want to let you know I will no longer make posts to this blog.  Please visit me at my much improved and all-encompassing new site at www.jannellereedphotography.com   There you will find my latest blogging as well as my digital portfolio and other great tidbits.  Basically, I have combined the blog and the web-site into a fabulous blog-site.  I am very excited!

Please come check me out and let me know what you think!

May we shine like stars in the universe!

A second look

With one daughter away at school, her parents are wondering which of these is her fav?

I vote the last one!

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

celebrating love and family!

Just days after Christmas, I had the pleasure of photographing this beautifully,  loving family.  It was also a birthday celebration for them and the oldest was home from college with her beloved beau.  Whoa!  With all that going on, they still made time for photographs.  Our location was totally keeping with the family focus.  They chose a park in Rockport named for their precious grandmother.  Not only was it a beautiful place, but it was sentimental as well.  During the consult, we spent quite a bit of time on a location suitable for all members of their family.  We wanted trees, water and greenery perfect for stunning color.  Some members of their family are ‘beach’ people while others aren’t so much so.  After a few days of brainstorming, this idea came to them.  Thank you!  It was a wonderful place for a late day shoot.  I’ll go back again for sure.

This session has perfect timing!  The couple is just precious and not at all camera-shy!  Really, I could tell  they were perfect candidates for a ‘Romance’ photo session.  So, I spent a little more time on just the two of them.  (Happy Birthday to you both!)  If you have been following my blog, you already know how much I love to focus on the parents.  I really believe photographs of the parents’ love is a priceless gift to one another and to the children!  It seems family photography is something the family will make time for…even if it’s perceived as a chore.  But what about the couple?  Why not spend a date doing a photo session instead of spending as much or more money on dinner and a movie?  In the years to come, especially as age sets in, you and your entire family will appreciate looking back on those tender moments and loving embraces.  Trust me, you don’t have to be sappy for a romantic session.  If you are more fun-loving, that’s what we’ll focus on!  With this new year, I encourage you, husbands and wives, to buy your spouse the gift of a photo session for just the two of you.  Leave the kiddos at home.  We will get them next time!  Think of this as the perfect gift for Valentine’s Day, Birthday, Anniversary, and the Just Because I Love You!

Just absolutely amazing.  What a beautiful family with such loving parents!

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

By heavenly design

Would you believe we rescheduled this next photo-session 3 or 4 times due to inclement weather?  I’ve never had that happen so many times!  Each time, the weather made a rather sudden turn for the worse.  Sunny forecasts suddenly turned dismal grey with chilling wind gusts!  So, we thought we would be smart and reschedule this last time whenever we got ‘the perfect’ weather.  The day was beautiful and we went for it!  We got on location, started shooting, and sure enough, the grey clouds  rolled in and eventually covered the sky with haze!  Unbelievable!  Honestly, I was dumbfounded.  (There is a ‘but’.)  But, the weather brought us beautiful Fall leaves and romantic lighting!  The close-up portraits are stunning.  The light was perfect for those and frankly, I could have spent the whole day on those alone!  I had to work a bit harder getting the light balanced just right for the family photos.  While I wanted to use a little fill to brighten their faces, I didn’t want to steer off in the direction of ‘totally posed’ studio work; I wanted to move locations frequently and try to be creative.  On top of it, the natural light continued to change-change-and change, again.  So, I spent a little more time in post processing to get the skin tones just right.  I can’t say enough about how wonderful the family responded to all the challenges.  When we arrived on location, we noticed the entire scene had been adorned with  Christmas lights!  I am so glad they were white and gold rather than red, green, and blue!  That meant we needed a good amount of distance from the lights so that I could carefully soften the background.  In most cases, you would think they were little yellow flowers and the trees turned out pretty classy, too!  Lesson learned:  When presented with challenges,  a positive attitude from the photographer and from the clients will result in fabulous photographs!  Since we were so close to our Christmas time-frame, they have already had their big screen proofing session.  They loved them!  And I think we all agree this shoot was planned By Heavenly Design! 

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

classic, timeless & beautiful…period.

One of the most important questions I ask during the consult is, “What are you planning to do with the photographs?”  The answer can determine a lot of the rest of our planning.  With this story, we knew we wanted gift appropriate photographs.  Misty had to think beyond just what might work in her own home.  That fact can influence clothing, location, and even the mood of the photographs.  We wanted fun, classic and beautiful!  And while the color in all of these photographs is gorgeous, I knew well in advance how well they would shine in a bright black & white.  This family’s classic beauty is perfect for black & white!  It will be interesting to see which they like best!

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

For the love of a child

Every person and every family has their own special story.  That’s what I love about photography!  That is, getting to the heart of that story.  That’s why my catch phrase is ‘Your Story illustrated’!  With this one, the focus was supposed to be on the toddler, but the loving bond among them all was the sweetest part.  It took a lot of help from all of us to pull this photo-session together.  I am so thankful Tammy found this lovely park.  I will definitely use it again in the future.   Bubbles won in the child entertainment category with her stunning big sisters running a close second.  Oh thank heaven for bubbles!  ‘Grandma’s’ chair (really, a family treasure) was a last-minute addition.  We saved it for the last minutes of sunlight.  By doing so, it gave the photo a romantic flair.  My favorite part?  How loveable Wayne and Tammy were with one another.  I just absolutely adore taking photographs of loving parents!  In fact, I love it so much that I feel inspired to put together a special package for Valentine’s Day shoots!  

 

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereeedphotography.com

Blown away with beauty!

When the wind picked up a mighty speed, I had my doubts about how this photo session would go.  Funny.  It was actually a blessing in many ways.  The wind provided a delightful motion to the tall field grass which helped to free up this little one’s beautiful face just in time for me to get a crisp focus.  Can you believe the wind was going in just the right direction too!  Although, with the wind blowing so hard, it was nearly impossible to blow bubbles. Lori…we actually got a bubble shot!  Yeah!  We were going for a ‘vintage’ feel and the very golden sun gave us the boost we needed. ( Her hat and coat are fabulous! )  Their play was precious and her sweet smile is priceless.  I can only imagine how fun this same location will be when it’s full of wildflowers.

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

Oh Happiness! And a little color too…

This was an incredibly fun shoot.  The kids were so happy and playful together.  Of course, being outside and letting them run and be silly was exactly what we needed to capture all their big personalities. Sheridan did an awesome job of getting their clothing together.  It is great when you have a color palate (Elizabeth’s shirt) to work from.  None of them were identical, but it all blended well together and the clothes look great against the features such as the barn and the wagon.  Wow!  Did I maximize the color too much?  I don’t know if everyone will like it, but I sure do.  I suppose the real test is if the family like, too!  I chose the portraits next to the wagon wheels to put on the blog because they would make a stellar collection. Perhaps wraps?  I even like the idea of putting the romance and running shots in with the collection. ( The black and white is meant to make Sheridan laugh out loud! Good thing ther kids are so resilient! ) What an amazing collage!  The portraits next to the wheel were taken with a lensbaby f5.6.  I love the selective focus because it give an extra creative edge to a very standard shot! 

This session has really caused me to think on my style.  While I should have tried to ‘fill’ more shadows or set-up an artificial diffuser to help with ‘hot spots’, I know with 100% certainty I would have lost the emotion in most of these shots.  By not worrying so much about complete light control, I was able to move with these energetic, adventurous kids!  I was out for natural, yet creative and I got it.  I hope these illustrations will bring warmth to their hearts on those cold Wyoming days.

 

May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

Until the last ray of the day

As I prepare this post, I keep hoping words will come to mind to help me describe the youthful bliss of this beautiful child.  How much she  enjoyed playing in the sunlight, running through the trees.  She so much wanted her doggies in every photo (How well she commanded five!).  I don’t know which was brightest, the sunbeams, her smile, her eyes, or her personality! I genuinely hope we have captured moments her mommy will treasure for ever.  

Here are a handful from her recent photo-shoot.  Honestly, I have had a really hard time whittling these down!  We are going to have fabulous opportunities for gallery collections and storyboards.

 

 May we shine like stars in the universe!

www.jannellereedphotography.com

Correction

For those of you who weren’t able to access the most recent photos, I have corrected the problem!  Ah…the technicalities of technology!

Thanks for viewing!

May we shine like stars in the universer!

www.jannellereedphotography.com