Family Photo Shoot

Yesterday we celebrated my dad's 60th birthday with a small surprise party at his favorite local pizza place.  It was so great!  He walked in, started toward the counter to order his mushroom pizza and didn't even notice all his family members standing at a table waiting to yell surprise.  My mom turned his body and said let's go sit first and that's when he saw all of us!  My dad actually is a quiet man that doesn't like to be the center of attention.  So you can only imagine how he feels about parties, let alone surprise parties.  However, when someone special in your life turns 60, that needs celebrated.

My brother and I got together back in September and planned to do a surprise photo session with us and our significant others as a gift for my parents.  We didn't have many photos of all of us together, and of those photos they were not professional photos.  My parents love pictures of their kids and my dad still shows people photo albums I have made for him from years ago.  My sister-in-law is a professional photographer that took all of the photos at a very large metro park.  We played in the leaves, walked into the woods and got some great shots.  The photos were used in an album made in iPhoto that we gifted to our parents last night at the surprise party.  They absolutely loved it and were surprised!  They said "these are the best kind of gifts" and my mom said "this is so great you guys" probably 10 times.  

The thing I think about when I look at these photos are that having professional quality photos are such a great investment.  Sure, it costs a little more money to do a photo shoot like this as opposed to going to a department store photo studio, but the quality and variety of pictures you get are amazing.  My parents will look back on these photos for many many years.  And so will I.  

There are many more photos to show you throughout the blog, but because there are so many great shots, I will not overwhelm you with all of them in one post ;)

Remembering My College Campus

Hello Campus.

Where most of my classes were held my senior and super senior year.

I spent so much time in this building.

The Wexner Center For The Arts.

A portion of the Oval.  A very large park in the center of campus.

Where I would sometimes sit while waiting for my next class.

Mirror Lake.  

So many beautiful trees.

One of the art buildings.  My first class (Drawing 1) was in this building.

One of my favorite buildings on campus.

I remember it being Mirror Lake Cafe!  Now it is a creamery and grill with an ice cream sculpture outside the entrance.

I remember always seeing chalk announcements on the sidewalks.  It was a great way to reach the students because most people look toward the ground when they walk to and from class.

The street where I moved into my first apartment with my friends.  I had to walk past Starbucks and Urban Outfitters every day on my walk to and from campus.  

Yesterday I was able to walk around The Ohio State University campus where I attended school for five years.  My husband set up a tailgating booth with his company for their customers going the football game, and I took this time to walk around our beautiful campus and do some reminiscing.

I spent five years on this campus and when I think back to that time in my life, I have great memories.  My major was Textiles & Clothing with a minor in Studio Art.  There were definitely some hard seasons, tough classes and times that I just wanted my momma...I'm not sure you ever outgrow that...but as a whole, I loved it.

It's weird to look back in hindsight of my time in Columbus.  Now, it feels like it went by so quickly, and there are some classes and experiences I would love to go back to.  I miss this city, and all that it has to offer.  Thank you OSU for the experience and the education.  It's something I will never forget.

Photography Post: Doughnut Shop

About a month ago, I photographed my cousin's three adorable little boys at a nearby park.  We had so much fun, and there were some seriously cute faces captured that day.  Since everyone behaved so well during our mini shoot, we decided to go out for doughnuts.  Who doesn't enjoy a doughnut treat every now and then?!

I decided to bring my camera into the doughnut shop just in case someone had sprinkles all over their face, or there were any other picture worthy moments.

That is when I realized something...

Looking back through all of the photos that day, the doughnut shop pictures were some of my favorites.  I love the way it captures the boys in their real emotions.

Chowing down on a doughnut.

Sprinkles everywhere.

The pure joy of eating fried sugar.

I recommend taking your camera with you the next time you go to a cute little cafe or bakery.  If you sit next to the windows, there will be plenty of natural light shining through, and this is even something you can do on a cloudy, cold or rainy day.  No children?  Try and talk your significant other or best friend into going with you.  It could end up being a really fun time with great photos!


*PS:  Why are there two spellings for doughnuts/donuts?  Why do we have to complicate things?!

Photography Post - Three Boys Under Five

As you might have read in this post, I helped photograph a wedding last month.  Before the wedding, I did a mini photo shoot with my sister-in-law's family, but other than that, my photography tends to be of nature and my product photos.  In the past month, I love that I have been pushed outside of my comfort zone and am learning more about my camera.

Two weeks ago, my cousin asked if I could photograph her little boys together in a natural setting, and I said, absolutely!  We planned a trip to the park and played around for an hour, capturing some very adorable "in the moment" shots.  All three boys are under the age of five, and were so cute playing around the park.  Although we didn't get a ton of posed pictures with all three {you can probably imagine how hard it is to get a 5, 3 and one year old to sit still ;)} I think we got a lot of pictures of their personalities shining through.  We all had a lot of fun!

Wedding Photography

A few weekends ago I helped my sister-in-law, Amelia, photograph a wedding for the first time.  Amelia has been photographing families, newborns and children for a couple years now, and recently people have been booking her for weddings also.  I am not at all surprised, because she is continuously impressing me with her photography skills!

When Amelia asked me to assist her with this wedding, I was so excited (and nervous) to get a chance to photograph with her.  My anxiety was kicking in a little the morning of the wedding, but once we started taking pictures and hanging out with the bridal party, we had so much fun.  There is something about having two photographers where you can bounce ideas off of, get two completely different angles of the same pose and have backup if needed in a situation.  It's two of everything.  Double the photos.  Double the equipment (just in case, you never know..) and double the fun.  

Not only were we photographing a cousin's wedding, but the wedding and reception was held at the same place my husband and I had our reception almost exactly four years before.  It was an awesome experience.  One that I am glad Amelia asked me to share with her.

I am looking forward to seeing more photos and the creative editing she does on our pictures.
Thanks, Amelia!




*You can check out Amelia's photos from the wedding and her other albums on her FB page: Amelia Sharkey Photography