::year end evaluation::

2009 has been a BLAST for me starting to develop my photography hobby and share that with people and families! After spending several hours editing each session I start to notice some trends for each individual session. I want to keep getting better, but only so much improvement comes out of reading tutorials online, stalking the blogs and websites of photographers that i LOVE (check out my blogroll for some extremely talented photographers, you won't be disappointed), and reflecting after each session on how i can improve. i want to keep having my own artistic style, and yet at the same time be able to give families images that they love. SO here are some things i want to improve on for 2010...we'll see how it goes.

*get better at taking landscape layout pictures. i don't mean as in nature landscape, i mean that probably a good 90% of my pictures in ANY session i take vertically. i just seem to gravitate towards capturing images vertically, so i want to get better at taking landscape images.
*directing photo sessions. while i LOVE capturing moments between families that unfold naturally without any direction at all, and most young children need little to no help creating beautiful images, i've forgotten that getting your picture taken without knowing what to do is just awkward. (flashback to my own engagement session by the incredibly talented Anne Ruthmann...Jason and I had no idea what to do, SHE is great at subtly directing without interfering). people tend to get frustrated by the question "what am i supposed to be doing?" so i want to be able to direct natural poses or creating situations that allow for my subjects to forget that their being photographed. one of my favorites of these is having momma and daddy tickle their kiddos. works like a charm!
*low-light photography. now that its chilly outside, i've taken a hiatus from my beloved outdoor sessions, giving me perfect opportunity to work on indoor photography. i'm still working with my entry-level D40, which i love. but i would like to keep improving so that i'm not so limited to have to do sessions outside only. afterall, inside people's homes is where every day life happens.

so part of this evaluation (which by the way, its nice to be evaluating myself without breaking out in hives all over my neck like in my formal evaluation...its a problem i have) is that i want YOUR input! what are some of your favorite maternity/baby/family pictures that you've seen that are yours, friends, from a magazine, stored up in your brain? what are some things you see in your own family pictures that make you think "why on earth would you think that was good?" (i think of my mom's own frustration with olan mills photographers), is it cropping a certain way? your kid's shirt being buttoned unevenly? leave your comments and please be kind! thanks for your help and HAPPY NEW YEAR, friends!!