Category Archives: How to Take Your Own Pictures

Ruffle Tees + Released Hem denim Culottes + Platform Tennis Shoes | Basics with a twist!

Playing on the windy beach in Hunter boots

To be honest, the overcast somewhat nasty days are usually my favorite days to go outside and play! No need to fight any crowds, so you have the beach all to yourself! I’m sure most people wouldn’t think of playing on the beach in the waves when it’s 44 degrees and super windy outside, but we had so much fun!

I took a video of how I set up the camera and the shutter release I use which can be viewed here. Of course she thought it was hilarious trying to get ME into the water! I looooove that this almost looks like she’s playing in the snow in these next ones! Her face!! LOVE!

On me…

Sweater- Elizabeth and James (eBay, similar here and less expensive here.)

Top- Banana Republic (thrifted, but super fun sleeve option here)

Jeans- DL1961 Toni “midrise” (eBay, similar here)

Boots- Hunter (thrifted, but similar here and here)

On Maya…

Vest- Zara (thrifted, but similar here)

Sweatshirt- Crewcuts (thrifted, )

Jeans- DL1961 “Chloe” (thrifted, but similar here)

Boots- Hunter Original Kids (eBay)

Keeping it Real…

I messed up locking in the focus on a whole series of shots! UGH. SO frustrating, but thankfully I moved the camera and got the focus right.

Not really an outtake, but her pose!! KILLS ME!

(all pictures taken with a shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

Happy Mother’s Day to me (take 2!)

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Lucky me got to celebrate Mother’s Day twice! Once with my parents the weekend before, before they left on a trip, and then again on the actual day!

It’s the one day I can talk the Huz into pictures, and I’m not ashamed to say I take advantage of it every year!

So…this year was totally low key. My parents were out of the country. The boys were with their mom, I didn’t schedule any shoots, so…the day was…OPEN. In other words. HEAVEN!

The Huz secretly washed my car inside and out in the morning while me and Maya took a long walk along the beach.

Midday, I still wasn’t sure if pictures were going to happen. I’d like to say, I prepared the Huz, but…I didn’t. SO…last minute. The weather cooperated, and I casually suggested it. Before I’d even taken a shower. He said “Of course” as if he’d expected it. Because… 🙂

Blog Gap Jean Jacket Cynthia Vincent Silk Dress Aquatalia Boots-1 Blog West Seattle Family Photographer Mothers Day-2 Seriously, the best way to get Maya into pictures, is for us to say we want pictures by ourselves. I’m not going to complain, because…I mean… She LOOOOOVES her daddy. And, I love that, too. One of my favorites! Blog GapKids Peek Tribal Dress Old Navy Boots-11 The Huz caught this one 🙂 I can’t even handle how cute she is, especially when she’s looking at the Huz!!! Blog West Seattle Family Photographer Mothers Day-17 All the who wears what aside. What I really wanted was this. I always want to capture “US!”

It’s what I always want to capture, and on Mother’s Day, I can do that. I’m not the best with words, but I am damn good at capturing US.

LOVE YOU BOTH MORE THAN WORDS!!! Blog West Seattle Family Photographer Mothers Day-20

On me…

Jacket- Gap (thrifted, similar here)

Dress- Cynthia Vincent (ebay)

Boots- Aquatalia (eBay for $50! similar here)

On Maya…

Jacket- GapKids (thrifted, but similar here)

Dress- Peek Kids (thrifted)

Boots- Old Navy (thrifted)

Keeping it Real…

So, I asked Maya what she wanted to wear. She picked a dress, and I planned accordingly. It was a dress I’d been dying for her to wear! I got a little excited, and planned our outfits to match.

THIS MIGHT ACTUALLY WORK!!!

Then… the dress she picked was “TOO ITCHY!!!!” Literally, I was dressed, because I wait until the last minute to get dressed.

“WAIT! I’ll cut the tag!”

“STILL ITCHY!!”

“How about if we put a slip under the dress!” (because randomly, I have a toddler slip!!?)

We put the slip on.

“Ok, I want to wear THIS!”

“MAYA! It’s a slip. A, you will be TOO cold! B, you have to wear something over it. Maybe a sweater? A jacket?”

“NO! THIS DRESS! I mean, slip!”

UGH…

“Pick something else. ANYTHING ELSE!” (ok, any of the 3 other dresses that somewhat go with what I chose to wear to go with the FIRST dress you chose! ;))

But…I’m still wearing this. Which perfectly went with the dress she picked at first, and thankfully went with the 4th pick that I showed her.

It was SUPER windy when I was trying to take pics of myself, so…that’s why I only posted one!

I mean….woah! Blog Outtake-1

And….she’s done 😉

Blog Outtake-3

Honestly, she didn’t want to leave, but we had to get home so the Huz could make some dinner, which…was AMAZING!!! Ahi Tuna (MY FAVORITE!!) + a beautiful salad that he put edible flowers into (what the!!)

(Iphone snap below…) Blog Mothers Day Dinner

(all pictures taken with a self timer/shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya 🙂 and the one of me and Maya by the Huz)

Playing in the snow! Kind of… ;) + Tutorial of how we take our own pictures.

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I’ve been so jealous of everyone’s snow pictures! We could easily drive about 45 minutes and see LOTS of it, but I’ve still been working Saturday and Sunday this whole month, so finding the time hasn’t happened yet. Imagine how excited we got when we looked outside on Sunday and saw SNOW FALLING!!! Sadly, it didn’t stick and you can barely see the flakes, but it was still pretty exciting 🙂

Fair warning…this blog post is a liiiiiittle bit longer than usual. The Huz bought me a wireless shutter release for Christmas last year. I’ll admit, I thought it was too big, and never took it out of the box/took the time to learn how to use it. Well, I finally took it out to take our most recent family pictures a few weeks ago, and I LOVE IT!!! I only wish I’d figured it out sooner. More behind the scenes and links for tutorials in the “keeping it real” at the end of the post!

To keep Maya interested, I gave it to her and had her take my pictures. She took 33 pictures in 22 seconds hahaha. She thought she was being sly by running down the sidewalk and turning her back to me 😉 Blog HM Hat Vintage Fishermans Sweater DL1961 Emma Bloom Sorel Tofino Boots-1 Just imagine hearing, click, click, click, click, click haha.I grabbed it from her and got these. Just know that of all these I’m posting, there are about 4 times as many more that I wanted to post! Went back to the self timer to catch this one, because she asked to be thrown. Blog HM Hat Vintage Fishermans Sweater DL1961 Emma Bloom Sorel Tofino Boots-6 But, she took these next 5 🙂 These are from when we first came outside. Pretzel bribe in hand. You’d think SNOW would have been reason enough to go outside, but sadly no… 😉 Blog Faux Fur Jacket DL1961 Harper Chaco Beylin-1 Trying to catch some snow in her mouth, but getting drops on her forehead instead! You can barely see the snowflakes, but I promise they looked bigger and more exciting in person 😉On me…

Hat- H&M (Old, similar here)

Sweater- Vintage (thrifted)

Top- Stylemint (old, similar here)

Jeans- DL1961 “Emma” in Bloom (C\O)

Boots- Sorel “Tofino” (old, similar color here)

On Maya…

Jacket- (thrifted, but this is super fun!)

Dress- Tea Collection (thrifted, similar here)

Jeans- DL1961 “Harper” (C/O)

Boots- Chaco “Belyn” (thrifted, but darker brown here)

Keeping it Real…

Here’s what the set up looks like, with my focusing stand, and enthusiastic assistant 😉 I’ve talked about the process in other posts. A detailed video at the end of this post, a video of Maya doing it all by herself 🙂), another video here, and written out in more detail here. Blog Outtake-1

Figuring out what it does… 🙂 Oh, and btw…I had done a shoot in the morning and hadn’t taken a shower yet. Disregard the no make up and frizzy unwashed hair. Thank you hat!! 🙂 Blog Outtake-2

And, after 22 seconds, I realized she needed to be cut off ha! Blog Outtake-3

(all pictures taken with a self timer/shutter release and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

Chunky Knits, Leather Leggings, and…a Fairy Princess!

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Here’s the 3rd pair of leather pants I SCORED on eBay over the holidays. The trifecta of leather! These weren’t quite 95%+ off like the other ones, but…85% off was good enough for me to pull the trigger and they are sooooo comfy! I love the gray color too! Little photography lesson-for those that are wondering. The image above is a little hazy, because I had my camera farther back and the sun was hitting the lens. Closer up, below, both myself and the camera were fully in the shade, so no sun flare. I kind of like the hazy look sometimes, but for details, it’s nice to get the crisp image. I had a shoot scheduled for this day, and my parents were all set to pick Maya up from preschool. Well, the baby got sick, so my shoot got rescheduled. Maya was so excited to go over to Meme and BOPO’s house that we decided to still have her go over there. I got to get some work done, so it was an all around win.

When I walked over to pick her up…I found a Fairy Princess!! I seriously almost died from the cuteness overload, and Maya was so freaking excited! Of course fairies need to fly 😉 She was in a total kisser bug moon (see proof of this in the video at the end :)) It wasn’t even 50 degrees, so I wasn’t sure how Maya would do in her Fairy Princess outfit outside. Well, she just ran around non stop, so no problem staying warm 🙂 On me…

Sweater- Zara (still available on sale in green)

Pants- Vince “Skinny Crop Leather Leggings” (eBay sold out, similar here)

Boots- Sam Edelman “Petty Suede Boots” (thrifted for $8.40!!!)

On Maya…

Costume- Purchased by Meme and BOPO 🙂

Keeping it Real…

My dad was nice enough to take a few videos while we were shooting. I LOVE THEM!! I love that it shows how much fun we have, and I love that it shows what the scenario really looks like. We took the pictures in the alley behind my parents house. There was mixed sun and shade, garbage and recycling cans, and cars lining the way. The beauty of the crop 😉

So…here we are {I don’t think the video can be seen on your phone 😦 }

(all pictures taken with a self timer and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

Kimonos + Black Ripped Skinnies (and a video!)

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I LOVE the look of kimonos! They can be a little tricky to wear though. At least for me. I see them on other people, and pretty much love however they are worn. But then I try it, and I end up taking them off haha. LOVE this one from Free People. Really, anything Free People makes, I love lately.

All that said. I realized as I was going over these images that I looked totally pregnant in this outfit- I’m NOT! I definitely learn things after posting outfits. There’s only so much that you can see when you look in the mirror. Especially when you take all of about 2 minutes to get dressed! I thought all loose and flowey would be good on top with the skinny jeans on the bottom, but…I’m thinking a tighter shirt might have been a better idea. Oh, well! 🙂 All that said, if I were pregnant, I would TOTALLY rock this outfit as well! Although, I still might do a tighter shirt to showcase the bump 🙂 But ooooooh, that cascade of flowing fabric?? LOVE!! This next one cracks me up haha. Kind of an outtake, but too funny not to include! Maya’s face, and the side karate kick-love it! Again…NOT PREGNANT!! :{I’ve been wanting to do a video of how I take our shots with a self timer and tripod. I’ve done a post about it, but I really want to do one that goes over the entire process, because I really want to show Maya’s role in it (here’s a video of Maya doing it all by herself 🙂), and how much fun she has. But haven’t had the time yet. I did manage to capture this video of me doing the thing Maya loves the most. Flying in the air-aka working out with your toddler :). I am SO glad I finally did it-LOVE IT! I may or may not have already watched this about 827 times 😉

And here’s the image I took in the video! Honestly, all the stars aligned in that I got this shot the one time I shot the video. I would have just posted another one that wasn’t videoed had I not hahahaha (just keeping it real ;))The dress Maya is wearing is SO ADORABLE!! The only problem is that it’s 100% silk (aka is a wrinkle nightmare) and it’s short sleeve. But, she’s been asking to wear it every since I bought it (for $1.50!!!!), and I kept putting her off. Finally, I gave in and just layered her up. 🙂 It cracks me up how opinionated she already is (insert snicker from my dad!!) She is her mother’s daughter 🙂

Lion in hand… She has to be holding a toy at all times 🙂Are you kidding me with that look??? 🙂And then THIS? I just wanted to scoop her up and smother her with kisses!! On me…

Kimono- Free People “Printed Duster Scarf” (Nordstrom Rack, can still buy it here)

Top- Mod’Land Paris (thrifted, similar here)

Jeans- J Brand Skinny Leg Shadow Destroyed (ebay, not destroyed here and less expensive here)

Boots- SixtySeven “Blake” Bootie (Nordstom Rack, sold out, loving these)

On Maya…

Jacket- Old Navy (thrifted, but similar here)

Dress- CrewCuts (thrifted, but similar drop waist style here)

Leggings- Gap (thrifted, but similar here)

Boots- Kids Feet (Consignment Store credit used, similar here)

Keeping it Real…

Here’s a few outtakes I took before I had the thought to video it. What’s really funny is that I’ve always performed better under pressure-HA! I had to totally laugh when I saw this next on the back of the camera. Where’s Maya??! hahaha And then…I flipped the camera to portrait vs landscape ;).

And one that I caught on the way down vs up…

(all pictures taken with a self timer and tripod, except ones of Maya :))

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