Scott Photography

What the Client Sees….

davewhitscott — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 15:16:55 +0000

Not a big post today, but as I was editing some images I came in close to work on these eyes and saw – myself! It reminded me of that ebay photo that was going around for awhile of the guy who evidently took photos of the objects he had for sale in the nude. Even a nice, reflective tea kettle. : ) At least in this picture I wasn’t jumping around acting like a monkey. Oh yeah, I do that.

Filed under: Behind-the-scenes, children, Personal, Randomness

First Photo Exhibit – and it’s not ours!

davewhitscott — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 21:19:56 +0000

This was an exciting weekend for someone in our family.Emma participated in her first photography exhibit through Spiva Center for the Arts. To go along with their yearly international photo competition, PhotoSpiva, they also have a class and exhibit for children. Each child was given a disposable camera to take home for two weeks. We turned the camera in, they developed the photos, chose several for display and voila! Emma was so proud when we attended her opening reception on Sunday. Emma got interviewed about her artwork. I think what is so neat about this exhibit is the opportunity to see things from a child’s point of view. There are pictures of animals, all kinds of things outdoors, toys, self-portraits, and my personal favorite – kids shoes. As adults we are so inhibited about “creating” anything, always concerned about now other people will evaluate our art. Children don’t have that little critical voice in their heads yet, and their eye is so refreshing because of that.The PhotoSpiva gallery downstairs was so inspiring – Emma and Gramps decided to “be the art” themselves!I’m so proud of my girl.PhotoSpiva and PhotoSpiva kids runs through April 25th. Go see it! You’ll be glad you did. Oh, and the artwork is for sale! Framed or prints. Emma’s take will go to her college fund. : )

Filed under: Behind-the-scenes, children, Personal

Happy birth day.

davewhitscott — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 22:30:08 +0000

Sending out a big congratulations to our friends Tara and Gerardo on the birth of their little girl Sierra Grace! Here are some pics from Tara’s maternity session we did a couple months ago. Tara is a budding photographer herself, so I’m leaving all the baby pictures in her capable hands. There’s nothing more fun than taking photos of your own children. The problem? Wall space!

I know, I know. Tara is one hot mommy! Here’s a tip for maternity pics. Don’t wait until your last month of pregnancy to get them done! Trust me. That “pregnancy glow” everybody talks about? It disappears after about the 7th month. It is replaced by kankles. (email me if you want to know what that is).

Our heartfelt blessings to Tara and Gerardo.

Filed under: Baby, Maternity

A sleeping child – from every angle

davewhitscott — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 14:29:08 +0000

Let this be a lesson to you. The next time your child falls over asleep from exhaustion at 7 o’clock in the evening, don’t sweetly scoop him up and carry him to his bed! Do what a really good mother would do… photo experiment!!! These are some shots I got of Ben over the holidays, when he got worn out at Nana & Papa’s. About the only time you can do an experiment like this with your child is when they’re asleep (i.e. still). Otherwise, try another inanimate object. : ) First? We have a straight-on front angle.

I like this one because he’s off to the side and it makes the shot more interesting (that old tried and true “rule of thirds”). I also like the arm of the chair in the foreground – kind of frames the shot and leads you in.Sometimes I like shots that show a sense of place. But then, when you get in close you can see those sweet eyelashes and squishy cheeks…This one is the “mommy angle”. Good if you want to remember a moment from what would be your normal point of view.
This is the typical straight-on picture most people would take. Nothing wrong with it, but it needs something…Maybe black and white?A vintage tone makes the moment seem even sweeter…But then, I don’t think it takes much to make a moment like this sweet.In the end the most important thing isn’t how you take the picture. It’s that you take the time to capture it at all.

Any favorites? How would you have taken this shot?

Filed under: Assignment, Behind-the-scenes, children, How-to, Personal

A few favorites

davewhitscott — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 21:52:35 +0000

We had such a crazy holiday season, I wanted to go back and share a few favorite Christmas cards.

In the past, I did purchase my card templates, but realized I didn’t want all our clients cards looking alike. So now? I custom-create them ALL. Crazy? Yes. Fun? Most of the time!Typically we’ll do a cool design on the front of the card based on a favorite pic…then fill in the rest with a collage.And sometimes? We don’t manage to get all our holiday card sessions in before Christmas… so they turn into New Year’s cards (or in our personal situation, Valentines, or Easter….).This one has to take the prize for my favorite card of the year. Something about it just says… “real life”.

Is it too early to book your holiday card session for next year? Um, yes. BUT we can do baby announcements, graduation announcements, thank you cards… or just notecards for any day. Just another way to show your favorite people to the world.

Filed under: children, family, Products

13 Reasons to smile

davewhitscott — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 03:14:04 +0000

These pictures will make you happy. If they don’t, I’ll give you a dollar.

Happy yet?Keep lookin.

Maybe some smoochin’ will make you smile?Or how about this little bunch of sweetness?Or these sweet cheeks?Actually, I take it back. If you’re not happy by now, I don’t even want to give you a dollar. Something must be wrong with you. I mean, c’mon!

Ah, now don’t you feel better? I love this sweet family. : )

Filed under: children, family

A Field in Texas

davewhitscott — Fri, 12 Feb 2010 01:21:14 +0000

As a photographer, this isn’t a problem you have every day.I mean, I never knew our photography was so popular in the four-legged community.This deer was watching my camera lens very closely. Clearly he cares a great deal about depth of field (and frankly, with that nose, who wouldn’t?).
Emu or Alpaca? Look of endearment or psycho-about-to-charge-at-you?We tried to make friends.Well, at least most of us did.And then things just started getting downright precious.This field we shot in was absolutely beautiful. The grass was so soft, and when the sun shone through it… magic!See what I mean? Wow. I love this picture.
You know how you’re laying on the ground to get a shot, and when you get up you accidentally take a picture? Okay, maybe you don’t. But it happens to me all the time. I’m soooooooo professional. : ) This one? Actually turned out pretty cool.
How precious is this family? Dave calls the boy in the middle “mini Brad Pitt”.Just for David I’ll say it. Ahhhhhhh, Texas.We are planning another Texas trip late March/early April for bluebonnet sessions! If you’re interested in getting in on this, shoot us an email or facebook note and we’ll put you on our “bluebonnet call” list!

Filed under: Behind-the-scenes, children, family

Assignment: Texture

davewhitscott — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:49:09 +0000

I don’t do this nearly often enough – give myself little photography assignments, but it’s so much fun, and really forces you to look at things in a unique way. All these pictures were taken outside around my house the other day in the space of about five minutes.

Anyone can find something interesting to photograph if you look closely. I love the pattern of this slatted chair on my front porch.Not what you would normally think of to photograph, but look at how gorgeous the texture is on these dead mums. So happy I was lazy and didn’t throw them out when I should have.Love the variation of colors on this green pot. Notice how narrow the band of focus is. The f-stop for this pic was at 2.8 (my favorite!).Photographing outside with the snow gives you gorgeous, saturated color. The overcast sky makes the outdoors a giant softbox, and the snow itself is a massive reflector, bouncing the light all around. Gorgeous!I always use the focus points in my camera to place the focus exactly where I want it to be. See the band of focus in the middle of this picture? I could easily have changed it to have the foreground be in focus, or the leaves at the back of the picture. Changing the focal point completely changes the look of a photo. If you have a digital SLR, you likely CAN select your exact focus point. Check your manual for this!

Thinking of taking on this assignment yourself? I’d love to see the results! Email your images to davewhit@scottphotography.org.

Filed under: Uncategorized

I’m so far behind, I’m ahead!

davewhitscott — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 21:04:16 +0000

And another post from one of our Oklahoma City sessions. Loved these kiddos!!! Probably something to do with the fact that they are the same age as my own, and when we travel for these out of town sessions, we leave our kids with the grandparents at “the farm”. Do they miss their parents? Are you kidding? What parents? Anyway, enough of my rambling. What I mean to say is… aren’t these guys the cutest????

Yes, those are gorgeous fall colors you’re seeing. Sigh.

Interested in one of our travel sessions? We make several trips a year to Oklahoma City, central Texas – and may even be planning a little jaunt to Chicago. Drop us a line and we’ll put you on a “need to know when you’re coming” list! Your location not on our list? If you can put several sessions together for us, we may just make the trip!

Filed under: children, family

Happy Snow Day!

davewhitscott — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 15:09:59 +0000

What I really should have titled this post was “Happy snot day”. Is it wrong that I think frozen snot is hilarious?

Saturday was the perfect snow day. Seven inches of the softest, lightest powder. It made delicious snow ice cream! And after this picture, felt great going down the back of my jacket. Ah, family bonding.

Filed under: children, Personal