4.01.2012

party at the orange grove!

so you know my deal with you.
that i do one family photo shoot a month and then share my honest experience about it.
this isn't my business (yet).
i'm not selling anything.
so the point of sharing has to go with my whole "reed life mentality"
which is NOT "lets all pretend like my life is all sunshine and roses all the time!"
remember what it is?

what is this blog for?
...to illustrate the beauty of my barely managed mess.
yes, my kids are darling,
of course they are!
but just to be honest, my laundry needs to be done and my dishes are piled in the sink.


if you look at my pictures, remember that they are cropped and doctored up and that the beauty is, that I have a mess just like yours and I am trying to look at it all knowing that God's grace fixes me up and puts a wash over me.



my creativity comes from the fact that although i get distracted by things of this world, at times, deep down i am HIS amazing creation trying to get out and express His beauty.
beauty is my mess turned into glory because of Him.
my hero!



that being said, this was such an easy shoot!
is that an ok thing to say?
the beautiful momma was so relaxed and happy! 
she is very creative, herself, but was totally trusting whatever i was wanting to do for the shoot.
her kids love balloons and we just got them A TON of balloons and brought them to the orange grove to play!
she had a little chalkboard and everyone took a turn guessing about the gender of the coming baby.
it was so sweet!
the daddy was so natural with his kids and snuggly with his wife and everyone just seemed so content!
i want to give you some gritty details, but....
i just loved doing this one!

i am learning to try to expose right and am working on finding the style that i like.
i usually over expose and am working hard to get more familiar with the settings on my camera so i can get my exposures just right as the light changes throughout a shoot.
its hard.
but even though with every shoot i can get really critical of my own abilities i can also see improvement!
so i try and go with that.
remembering that my heart is still sliding up to that tune.
its a process, this "tuning my heart to sing thy grace"
and i am choosing to live in the moment and not just want what's next.

what a beautiful family!

















Photobucket

14 comments:

  1. Utterly beautiful. If you ever come to New Zealand, I would love for you to shoot us. Cx

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  2. oh, wow, shauna! these are very beautiful!
    and it's totally ok to say that it was easy!
    God has given you some crazy talent. :)
    i totally dream about you taking our pictures...but we live in WI. :/

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  3. oh my gosh casey!!!! You are such a beauty and Shauna did such an amazing job capturing it all!! I kept thinking, "Oh that one is my favorite," but then i saw the next one that was my fave. That happened like six times. Such a lovely group of photos for you to treasure forever. This little window of transition when your family went from 4 to 5...I love it all.

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  4. unreal.
    soooo beautiful shauna.
    God gave you a beautiful gift.
    :)

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  5. insanely beautiful. you should start a biz. (i know you're thinking about it). :)

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  6. LOVE your photos and style...you're SO talented & I love how you're using your gift. xoxo

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  7. yup. I would totally pay you the big bucks for a shoot like that. If I had the big bucks to start with that is.

    These are gorgeous. And I think your style is pretty clearly coming through already. Truly. You did a fabulous job with these :)

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  8. ABSOLUTELY beautiful! I love this family so much, and you captured so them so wonderfully. I love the one with Neil and Case looking at each other while the two kids are in the boxes. I also really love the chalkboard baby-guess pictures. Fantastic job. OK, I pretty much love all of them.

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  9. I love your stories and honesty, they strike such a raw chord. A beautiful raw cord. Ü

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  10. The photos are lovely, I particularly enjoyed the one with mama holding the orange. Very symbolic: round ripe fruit and a juicy mama (or is that a round mama and juicy ripe fruit). The balloons are a good prop choice, lots of color and visual candy.

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  11. I love your style!
    don't try to improve yourself too much, this style is what makes your photos unique
    and what caught my eye to begin with was the beautiful imperfections of them>
    love love love your photos! you have a style all your own, don't change that!!!
    xoxo
    tara

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  12. These are beautiful! I love the first one of the mother with the ballons. You have a real talent!

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