Theme Thursday: {Group Portraits} Our Little Women

I am really loving this Theme Thursday link-up with Micaela over at California to Korea...and back again!  I just silently observed and checked out links and photos for awhile until I felt like maybe, maybe I could try my hand at some of the fun photography tips and tricks.  Plus I take pictures EVERY year of the girls in hopes of getting a really cute one in which they all smile and look at the camera at the same time for Christmas cards, so this week's {group portrait} theme was one I was going to be taking anyway.  So why not share some, right?  

As you can see, I clearly am not a great photographer.  I didn't even notice that Sophie's face was in the sun while her sisters' faces are in the shade.  I was a bit distracted trying to get them all to grin while simultaneously coaxing Sophie to turn her frown into a smile for me....it didn't happen. 

Honestly, it wasn't a great day or time for a photo shoot.  Sophie isn't feeling well, so she was mostly cranky even though she is generally a smiley, happy-go-lucky baby (see last week's close-up portrait post!)  Elise and Ava were in and out, but almost never in-sync with their decisions of when to not smile and/or look at the camera.  Kayla was my rock.  Smiles, smiles, and more smiles.  I'm sure her face is sore now.  

I took OVER 50 pictures total; I just snapped away hoping that I would get at least a few where they were all looking and smiling.  But...see the paragraph above ^^....it didn't happen.  

I'm not ready to reveal the best ones I got (wait for Christmas card time!), but 

I'll show you a few of the outtakes and runners-up...

Too sunny and partially shadowed faces.  

Plus Sophie wasn't even looking at the camera. 

But since Sophie wasn't looking at the camera, I told them all to look that direction just for fun.  haha

So we moved.  

Still some shadows on a few faces, but not bad. 

And that was about the best the baby did for me...

too bad the middle children were being typical middle children.  haha

Almost....Sophie! Sophie!!!! 

Oooh, smiling (albeit runny-nosed) baby!  

Unfortunately Elise and Ava were having one of their moments...

ha!

so then we tried a new pose.  Still some shadows on Ava's face. oops!

And Sophie was supposed to sit on Kayla's back.  She did not cooperate.  But she DID have a lot of fun tugging on Kayla's braid.  

So close!  

Snuck the little one in between her sisters, but she did not want to look at the camera; the grass was way more interesting. 

I love how genuine Kayla's smiles are though. 

Next we tried another pose.  How did it go?  

Well, these next two pictures pretty much sum it up. 

Maybe...

Nope!  We're done. 

And because we were taking pictures, I had them all pose for some shots by themselves.  THOSE (except the fussy baby's) turned out great.  I love, love, LOVE some of the sweet smiles I caught in these individual photos. 

She was happier when she was moving, but it's hard to get a good picture when they move!

So there you have it.  

I'm actually fairly impressed that I even got any where they are all looking in the direction of the camera.  So I'm going to call our photo shoot today a win!  

But seriously, how did I NOT notice the baby in the sun?  She's shining.  

Link up with your {group portraits} over at California to Korea  or share on FB or Instagram using the hashtag #ThemeThursdayPhotos

Theme Thursday: {Portrait Close-ups}

I have been thoroughly enjoying reading the various posts in the #ThemeThursday link-up hosted by Micaela of California to Korea...and back again.  Another blogger I love who participates is Bobbi of Revolution of Love.  It is so fun to see how some simple little tricks with lighting and some time spent practicing can produce some really beautiful, creative, and memorable photographs.  

So I decided to jump on the bandwagon this week and give it a try.  November is all about portraits and this Thursdays theme was {close-ups}.  

I didn't really have a strategy other than to take my phone camera outside in the late afternoon and try to snap a bunch of random shots with Miss Sophie Rose, who I figured might be an ideal candidate for some cute close-ups with her chubby little baby hands and feet. 

I know, I know, it's not a close-up, but when I put her down, she looked up at me with this cute grin and I just had to snap a cute picture.  

Then I moved in closer.  This shot would have been neater if her little shoe had been outside of the shot.  I'm not savvy enough to remove that.  Perhaps someday.  haha

We have 4 girls and I think Chris' mom got those tights (and a dress and cardigan to go with) for our 2nd daughter (maybe even 3rd).  At any rate, all I know for sure is that I looked forward to Sophie turning 9 months so that she would fit into those tights.  They are my favorite.  And soon, I will have to pack them back up with the 9 month items because my little monkey will be a year old in just over a month.  

 

I know, I know.  Not close-ups (AGAIN!), but she was clapping and she's just so cute.  I have been trying to catch a good picture of her clapping (I love the clapping stage) that isn't all blurry.  These are...decent.  

Moving closer...

This is the closest I could get to her face without her trying to grab the phone and pounce on me.  

I just love her face. This kid has a lot of personality. 

I took this shot of her little feet in the pile of leaves on the corner of our patio.  It's hard not to get extra body parts in the shot since she moves around a lot.  A quick crop fixed that problem though....

I tried to get one of her "holding my hand" (harder than it might seem when you are also the person trying to snap the picture).  For some reason the camera flipped the picture too.  

In picmonkey, I was able to quickly rotate it back to the angle I took the picture from and get rid of the camera case that fell and got in the way of the edge of the picture.  

I think this is my favorite of the close-up shots I took.  That leaf was gorgeous and came out quite clearly.  Plus her little pudgy hand is so cute popping out the end of her striped sleeve.  

And then I tried a few of Kayla close-up.  It was tougher than I anticipated because she clearly felt a bit awkward with the camera up so very close to her face.  She laughed almost nervously a bit which made it difficult to get a shot that wasn't blurred.   And I tried to have her look in different places (not necessarily right at the camera) but that always looked rather strange.  So this is the shot I got that wasn't blurry or really strange.  

I played around with different crops to shift the focus...

I love how her little freckled nose. 

Last, I tried one of just half her face, but she was looking away from the camera. 

A quick crop changed this one up a bit too

And then Kayla asked if I would please take a picture of her with Sophie, so I obliged

And no, I don't love our middle daughters less; they were just napping still and by the time they woke up, most of daylight was gone and I was getting dinner ready.  Next week's theme is group shots, so they will be in those for sure.  :)

Other than cropping, all these pictures are unfiltered and unedited.  Loving that late afternoon light...