Steve, Traci, Kaylie and Logan

There was rain in the forecast, but my cousin Traci is a nurse with a crazy schedule, so we just had to give it a shot. She prayed for the rain to stay away, and I drove down to meet them at the county reservoir, and we ended up with a great, rain-free photo shoot!

This is one of my favorite couples pictures I've taken. They just look so natural together.

And, I really like her hair.

Traci took this shot with her camera. Turns out it was a very good thing she brought her camera, because for the first time ever since I've started doing this, my battery wasn't fully charged. Not only that, my spare wasn't fully charged.

Mortified isn't even the word. About 20 photos into the shoot, my battery died.

I'm pretty sure I died.

To make it worse, I hadn't even brought my battery charger along, because I was so certain that my spare was fully charged. (note to self....)


So I started using her camera, and thankfully, letting mine rest recharged it ever so slightly, enough to get some more shots.

(Still mortified.)

My favorite part of this one is Kaylie's expression. I love it. It's totally adolescent.

I'm enjoying playing around with placement and perspective. I like people in the foreground with blurry people in the background. I think it gives the photo more depth, and it's something different than the traditional poses.

But then, these are nice too.

After a long walk taking pictures on the nature trail, we drove to the other side of the dam to try something different. The rocks caught my attention, and I really like how this one turned out. I think it looks more "seaside" and not so much "Kansas."

These kind of shots are fun to play with in editing, because I don't have to worry about skin tone or keeping it looking natural. I can just play with it for the sake of dramatic effect. I used cross-processing in this one and it took away the gray tones that it had originally.

This one might be my favorite, because of Kaylie's expression. I know she might die of embarrassment if she reads this, but she looks stun-ning in this picture. She wasn't thrilled with the idea of taking pictures, as most 12-year-olds wouldn't be, but seriously, Kaylie, you are a very beautiful young lady, and I like your feisty spirit. Thanks, guys, for enduring the long walk and the cold wind.

And for bringing your camera.