I looove shooting creative, loving, unique, candid portraits of a couple on their wedding day.  That’s my passion.  I want to attract clients that share this passion.  So that’s what I show on my website and blog.  But….

That doesn’t mean I don’t shoot some posed, formal portraits during the day.  Quite the opposite.  It’s important to have photographic record of the special people that come to your wedding.  So, I thought it was time I share my philosophy on group formals.

I encourage my clients to allow at least 30-45 minutes for group photos, depending on how many you want/need.  That’s IN ADDITION to the shooting time you want for bride and groom portraits.  It takes time to gather everyone together, make sure kids are smiling, etc.  But I try to move things along quickly, so people aren’t standing around forever.  My friend just went to a wedding where it took 3 HOURS for group pictures.  That’s way way way too long.

So, we usually start with a group photo of everyone at your ceremony.  It’s often done on the church steps, as quickly as we can arrange everyone.

These pictures are from a Mormon wedding at the Los Angeles LDS Temple, which I am getting ready to post.

Then we move to a more attractive location that has great lighting for the rest of the portraits.  I like to work off a list that the bride and groom prepare ahead of time, so my husband and I can facilitate the groupings quickly and efficiently.

Some people wonder what family pictures to take.  I try to start with the largest groupings and work down – bride’s family and then groom’s family.  Then a sibling’s shot.  And finally parents.  Usually together and then bride with her mom and groom with his dad.  By peeling away layers of family, we can allow them to go enjoy the reception as soon as possible.

Here is the groom with dad and mom, and then a shot of bride and her mom.  You’ll notice that I keep the posing traditional and casual, so as not to take too much time.

After all the family shots are done, we are left with just the bridal party, and we have a little time to get creative.  My favorite.  :)

Here is the bridal party together.

oh la la.

Groom with groomsmen.

And several of the bride and her bride’s maids.

So now you don’t have to wonder whether or not I take the formal group portraits.  ;)

I’ve been experimenting with some new lighting techniques.  So what better way to practice blow out, background lighting than with my angelic baby Levi.  He really is just perfect, especially that cute baby bottom.

I needed to pull out these pictures and share.  It’s been a tough day.  This afternoon, big brother Elijah threw a rock.  A BIG rock about the size of a baseball.  It bounced and hit Levi in the face.  Levi got a bloody nose and fat lip.  When he calmed down enough for me to look and see what the damage was, I realized he had a pretty deep gash inside his mouth.  His top teeth severed the little tendon that attaches the gums to the lips.  The doctor says they won’t fix it.  Apparently it’s just cosmetic.  But it just kills me that my perfect baby boy will always have this scar.  His first blemish from this world.

I am grateful to know that it is merely a physical blemish that will fade.  More important than that is the relationship between these two brothers.  They love each other so much.  Elijah always wants to help get the baby new toys or books and is very quick to share.  He sits in front of him making faces, while they both giggle together.  And most of all, he worries about him when Levi cries and is hurt.  I can tell that Elijah felt very sorry for what he did.  I’m sure they will be back playing together tomorrow.  And I hope they will always be close throughout their lives.

For the last few months I’ve been training for the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  I’m doing it with a team of 5 friends, and we walk together a couple of times a week.  I’m up to walking 9 miles at a time, which I’m feeling good about, but there’s a long way to go to work up to the 40 miles we’ll need to do in September.

At the same time, I have lost 27 pounds through walking and watching what I eat.  I’m proud of my weight loss, but again, I feel like there’s still a long way to go to get to my goals.  I’ve been on a plateau for a few weeks and I’m starting to get frustrated because I still have much more I want to lose.  I need to buckle down and get strict on my diet again so I start seeing results.

To help with both my training and weight loss goals, I’ve decided to do a couple of Mud Run’s over the next few months.  This will give me some short-term goals to work toward.

I signed up for the Camp Pendleton Mud Run just a week before the event, so I didn’t have time to train specifically for it.  I knew I would have to go with the condition I was in.  This mud run was a 10k, which is 6.5 miles.  Since I can walk 9 miles, I figured I was in good enough condition to complete the race, even if I had to walk a good portion of it.

I was so happy I signed up.  A couple of friends did it with me, and we all had a blast.  We ran along trails, through rivers, crawling through mud, jumping over walls, swimming through a lake, getting sprayed with water…  We were so dirty and muddy by the end – it was awesome!  I felt like a kid again.

Here are some pictures from our race.  I took a waterproof disposable camera, so please excuse the quality.  ;)

Since, this is an update about the Avon Walk, I also wanted to let you know how I’m doing with the fundraising part of the event.  I have already raised $1,059 of the required $1,800.  That’s 59% and there’s still 3 months left.  I have been blown away by everyone’s generosity.  To donate directly to my Avon Walk, go to: http://info.avonfoundation.org/goto/AmberBaker

In addition, to help raise money for our team, we are putting on a yard sale on June 26th.  100% of the proceeds will go to the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  So if you are in the area and would like to donate items to sell or if you can stop by the yard sale, please email me and I will give you the details: amber@amberkatrina.com

Again, thank you for your support.  I’ll try to keep you updated on my progress as the Avon Walk approaches.

A few months ago, I was happy to be asked to take family pictures for my friend, Dare.  I’ve taken several child headshots of her son Mason (check them out HERE and HERE), but hadn’t had a chance to take family portraits for her.  Her adorable baby boy, Bryce also needed some updated pictures now that he is getting a few months older (check out his previous sessions HERE and HERE).

Bryce getting some love from mama and daddy.  He is adorable.  I love all that hair.

Big brother, Mason, was so cooperative and helpful.

Even when he was making faces.

I loved these cattails in front of their house.  The lighting was beautiful.  It was perfect for this family portrait.

This one makes me laugh.

Meanwhile, Mason was busying himself with picking flowers for his mom.  He is a little love bug.

Then we went in the back yard to have some fun.

At the end, I wanted to take a sweet photo of mom and dad.  I think it’s important to have these memories as well as the nice family ones all together.

Happily, I got to see my friends, Beth and PJ again around Christmas time for holiday pictures of their family.   Dietrich, who was a baby at their last session (check out their previous sessions HERE and HERE) is now a year old!  I can’t believe how fast he has grown.

We had quite a few challenges with some of their family coming into town, an uncharacteristically freezing night, and toddlers not quite interested in taking pictures, all while we were losing light very quickly.  But I think we got some nice memories of their family at this stage.  I look forward to seeing you guys again.

Baby Dietrich is just barely learning to walk.  I love to capture the awkwardness and excitement of such a huge milestone.

Some family pictures…

But Dietrich lost interest quickly.  :)

Since we were losing light very quickly, we decided to head across the street to the park for some fun pictures.

haha – love Calvin’s automatic reaction to me asking his parents to kiss.

Farewell until next time, Beth and PJ.