Stacy asked a hard question (again!) for today’s Theme Thursday – she asked us to answer “What is your style?”
Personally, I am a very low-maintenance, jeans/white t-shirt/flip-flops kind of girl, who likes clean lines and uncluttered, organized spaces.
But my photographic style? Eeeeeee.
I think my style is still evolving. (Is that a wuss-way out of this question, or what?) I wondered, as I was thinking about this, if those of you who follow this blog could pick out a photo of mine in a line-up. (That could possibly be a fun little contest.) But then I realized – of course you could! How? Well, 49.4% of the photos I take are of Emma, 49.4% of them are of Addie, and the other 0.2% covers pretty much everything else.
But, seriously, as I pondered this question, one thing I noticed about all of the photos framed in our house right now – not one of them is a “studio” shot that we paid for. And the other thing I noticed is that my favorite photos instantly take me back to the minute the photo was taken, and I can feel exactly what the girls were feeling at that moment.
Very few of my “framers” have the girls full-on smiling at the camera. But I do have lots of photos where the girls do not even know I am shooting them. And I also have lots of photos of the top of their heads, the sweet curve of their cheeks, bare feet, busy hands, and wandering back sides.
When I take a photo, I am always thinking ‘how will this look in a layout? Will one photo tell the story? Is it necessary to have a series of photos?’
I think someday I will evolve and push myself to seek out and take a wider range of photos, maybe a few that don’t have some part of the girls prominently featured. But at this moment, my style is all about capturing these two “lights of my life” in their natural states, and my obsessive need to document every milestone, every step of their childhood.
Don’t forget to check out other stylish photogs over at The Land of K.A. today!
Barely Controlled Chaos 
There’s no better way to document your love and their childhood than through your gorgeous pictures. Think of all the fun the girls will have looking back through all of your photos. Seriously, what could be better? Sitting in the middle of the floor, cup of coffee in one hand, tons of pictures in the other and your sister by your side…priceless!
I reread my comment and then scrolled back up and saw the coolest thing in the tree picture. The girls are surrounded by a heart! Ahh…do you see it?
I love that last one. And the piggy toes. And the tummy shirt…Aw heck, I love all of them! đ
love the feet shot!
Just scrolled up to see what shell was talking about. COOL !!
I’m so glad you are a writer/photographer and not a math teacher.
49.4 + 49.4 doesn’t leave only .2 for the rest of your shots but a whopping 1.2%
Then, as long as I’m being the annal, corrective, perfectionist, a reminder to Shell, as much fun as the two of you have had looking at boxes and boxes of pictures that we have “waiting to be scrapbooked” kids of today won’t sit in the middle of the floor cup of coffee in hand, but rather they’ll be in front of a monitor of some type (cup of latte’ in hand) and look through oodles of digital pics that hopefully have been saved and can still be accessed.
Ahh, such a burden, this fatherhood stuff, always teaching, always guiding, correcting.
Those of us who enjoy the daily looks into your world don’t care about what Style you decide on, we just LOVE the way you share so many different looks at what those beautiful girls are getting into.
Love,
Dad
Dad –
SEE! Did I not say that I’m glad J. is helping Em in the math department…Math is far too cut and dry, no creativity allowed, I just can’t be bothered with it! đ And it was very, very late when I posted this last night – the funny thing is that I changed the numbers twice, trying to make sure that it added up…any my fancy computer has a calculator too.
Meesh –
I cropped the pic so that the two branches were kind of framing the photo – but didn’t see the heart that completed it! Good eye…you must be right-brained like Mom and me, while Dad and Ken are over on the Left-brained side! đ And, that is THE avocado tree the girls are in, did you get yours? (Not that I sent them through the mail if any mail officials are reading this…I would NEVER do that!)
Thanks for the comments – this all started to keep my friends and family up-to-date since we live so far away, but it has become a bit of an obsession with me and I really do love doing it.
-care
Carrie, I love the creativity of your shots! I am the same way with not having many studio shots, and can look at the pictures up on the wall and remember the moments.
That t-shirt of Em’s is so cute and the girl’s climbing in the tree is such a great childhood moment captured. đ
And LOL about the math!
I have to agree with you that all of my framed pictures were not once paid for studio pictures. I admit we do have one studio picture but it was done by a friend of my Mom’s who was looking for a family with kids to use in her portfolio. We volunteered and got some wonderful pictures out of it. She was neat, took her time, took lots of candid pictures too of us fooling around in the studio. I think when you rush studio shots it kind of makes the experience a lot less fun.
I love the Daddy Dear to Me shot. Very cute. đ
Great shots. Love the colors. Your post is a lot like mine. I don’t have much of a style either except for the love capturing the moments of my kids.
I love those shots…love them! I think that you have a fantastic eye, and I bet that your girls will be so very very thankful that you took time to document such gorgeous moments for them!
I love your style, Carrie! Your pictures are full of emotion and love, with great composition/exposure to boot. Your girls are so fortunate to have your capturing every minute of their lives. :o)
Oh, and I love the “heart!”
love these, and the “heart” in the last one is great — you have a great style!
I love, love, love the flip-flop picture. I don’t know why, but I love tiny feet. So cute!!
I always love your style of photos – they are very inspiring… and my goodness are your girls ever beautiful!!
Where to start? I have so much to say!!!! First, your dad sounds so much like my father- sweet and patient- I laughed so out loud at the math situation…I was laughing WITH you, certainly not AT you. I have a SERIOUS math phobia, you see. I can not tell you how often my poor father, who is a retired BANKER, would say how glad he is that I teach English, not math! LOL!!! Next, I LOVE love love the photo in the flip flops…I really have a fondness for children’s feet photos. I have posted only one of my niece like that, but I take them often. What better way to see growth, beauty, sweet childlike innocence than in a close up of feet? Besides, baby / kid feet are just so precious! All of your photos are wonderful…they do tell a story and are so pleasing to the eye. Lastly, I must confess that many of the photos hanging on my walls, and certainly the walls of my parent’s home, were done in a portrait studio. My daughter is 18, and back in the day, I did not know any better! I always honestly thought the head posing and fake smiles were so cheesy, but once in awhile the photos were nice. I never imagined that I could have done it better…what I wouldn’t give to have the daughter become a toddler once again so I could steal some great shots! You are right to document your girls…they will grow so quickly…your photos of them will become treasured heirlooms one day.
I love your shots because they’re not that “studio” shots but that natural, in the moment shots. It is an awesome style to have!
I absolutely love your style!
You’ve summed up your style perfectly.