Longbrake Living in Pictures

When Mrs. Longbrake Living mentioned in passing on a blog post that she would eventually like to get some casual, outdoorsy family portraits taken, I jumped at the chance to expand my photographing horizons.

Having met once before, we were reasonably confident that neither of us was a creepy 55 year old internet stalker. So, I whipped out my professional photographer's license (hot off the presses and suspiciously written in crayon) and asked her if she would let me photograph her wonderful family in the very secluded Virginia woods.

See? Not creepy at all!

Right? Right??

In their defense, it's hard to find people willing to take more than a single snapshot of your family for free. And, when they do, they cut your heads off! The nerve!

Fortunately, Mrs. Longbrake doesn't seem to think I'm creepy, so she was also all for it. She even sent me a list of inspiration photos so that I'd have an idea of what she was looking for. (You don't think I'm creepy, do you Mrs. L??)

I knew just the spot for a professional photoshoot. Halfway between my house and her house. A lovely waterfall setting smack dab in the middle of the national forest. The perfect place to take two young babies for a photo shoot.

Ok, you can drive most of the way there and the actual trail is only about a 1/4 mile. So, really, it's not that bad. Especially when you've made yourself a spiffy wrap so you can tie your baby onto your back while you traipse about the forest pretending to be a professional photographer with mad skillz. BOOYAH.

I believe I was nursing Joseph in said wrap while taking that picture. Slightly awkward. Poor Mr. Longbrake.

So, thank you Longbrake family for being my willing guinea pigs in my first ever official photo shoot. You were lot of fun to spend time with! I appreciated your kindness and patience (*cough* Robert *cough*). I was impressed by your willingness to hang out with me from 3pm to 7pm while I snapped your picture in the middle of no where. You are a lovely family. Your munchkin is adorable - especially his cry ;) - and it was really great to spend time with you. Thank you so much for giving me the benefit of the doubt and letting me practice on you!

(Sidenote - We didn't spend the whole 4 hours taking pictures. Much of that time was spent driving between a recreational park and the national forest, hiking to the falls and back, and keeping the two small babies fed and happy.)

So, Mrs. Longbrake, while you wait for me to finish editing and uploading your pictures, I thought I'd share some of my favorites with you. I know I'd be dying to see how all that time spent turned out!

By the way, we took 575 photos, but I will probably only upload the nicer ones. I'm going to weed out all of the crazy blurred photos caused by Mr. Helpful (*cough* Joseph *cough*), my own inability to hold a camera still, and rapid subject movement. Hair flipping seemed to be a popular blur ;). I'll still upload the funny faces though. For your viewing pleasure.

MERMAID POSE!!

And don't you just have the hair for it too. I'll admit to being slightly envious. You have magnificent hair!

By the way, I stole your hair tie and will not be returning it. Too bad, so sad.

I love Colton's face in that last one. And that fact that your feet are dipped in a creek in October. High five for determination and keeping those smiles on your faces!

Now for some daddy shots:

Of the non-needle variety.

Hmm what's this for?

Super Baby to the rescue!!

You show that water who's boss!

Mom's turn!!

No. Really. Your hair rocks.

And you two are so cute together!

Out of the woods, back to the park. The park photos were all taken right around sunset.

What a gorgeous day!

FEET! Best. Baby. Face. EVER.

Don't you just love fall leaves?? They make me so happy!

Up in the air! There was a lot of discussion about not dropping the baby at this point in the photo shoot.

And whether or not a certain party could be trusted to do the throwing. So the other party got kicked out of the photo. Nicely. ;)

I love Colton's pose in this next one. It looks like he's taking a little bow.

 He's such a cutie!

Thanks again Longbrake family for transforming into guinea pigs on a lovely Saturday afternoon! I should have the photos uploaded sometime on Wednesday.

So... Anyone else game for a photoshoot? I'd like to keep practicing  in Manual and I really need to get better at giving instructions to my subjects. Sarah? Theresa? HMM???

"Vroom, Vroom" Photo Challenge

This week's challenge at iheartfaces was "Vroom, Vroom" and although I took lots of pictures of Joseph reading about tractors and sitting in the front seat driving his daddy's car, I decided to go with this one:

Why? I don't know.

I just like it. I wasn't trying to get him to eat the helicopter... but he's a baby with lightning fast reflexes and a need to taste everything in sight.

shiny hubcaps, polka dot bikinis, and a little help...

A while back, I awoke to loud music coming in from the street outside my house. I promptly ignored it, rolled over, and went back to sleep. I live near a car wash and you'd be amazed at how many people leave their music blaring while they polish their hubcaps at all hours of the day and night. The weird thing was that the music kept on coming all morning long! Finally, Stephen looked out the window and said, "Woah! Come see!"

Apparently, our town hosts a classic car fest every summer. Who knew? Anyways, after we realized what all the hullabaloo was about, I grabbed my camera and headed across the street to interrogate politely inquire about what in the world was going on... and to take a million pictures.

We were experiencing a "Cruise-In". Prior to this event, I'd never even heard of a "Cruise-In", but I am officially a fan.

To sum up, lots of classic car enthusiasts park their restored vintage vehicles in a giant field or lot, pop open their hoods to admire each others' shiny hand-built engines, start up a BBQ, and play really loud oldies music. "Itsy bitsy teeny weeny yellow polka dot bikini" was just one of many of my favorite oldies tunes played at this event. Who doesn't love that song? It's just so happy and playful! If your response is "me" then you shall have to be publicly shunned.

Ok, maybe not, but really?!? How could you?

The nice old man that I interrogated politely questioned was very helpful and told me all about the cruise-ins that take place all around the state. He had driven in from Williamsburg and gave me a bunch of his fliers for future cruise-in meets. He even gave me some photography tips and told me that life is too short and that I should pursue my passions and enjoy myself. He also told me that I shouldn't get married or have kids because then I could spend all of my money on photography equipment and restore classic cars to my hearts content... I laughed a lot at that one, waved my ring finger around, and told him I had a baby. He shook his head and said, "It's ok. I still like you." (in a non-creepy way)

I love this car. It's so sweet!

Now, I need your help. I've been entering into weekly photo challenges and contests to give myself a reason to improve my photography. It just so happens that both the Digital Photography School and I Heart Faces are hosting vroom, vroom car assignments. Will you help me pick a picture to enter into the contests? I can't decide!

Also, you can play "Where's Caroline" while you scrolling through. Those were some shiny cars and I'm in about 7 of these pictures.

Also... Wouldn't these be great framed art in my future retro-style Sandwich Shoppe?