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...
