Christiana Childers Photography Blog

I’ve known C since she was 5.  I can’t believe she is a Senior now!  We went out during Spring Break to get some Senior photos and it was snowing so I told her we’d go out in the summer sun to get a few more.  She’s a morning person so we got up at the crack to get that warm buttery sun. It was so worth it!

And for fun…

Don’t you love her dress? She bought it and took it apart to make it the way she liked it.  It reminds me of “Pretty in Pink”.  Remember that movie?  I loved that part when she took apart a dress to make her prom dress the way she wanted it.

Thanks C!  You’re beautiful.

I had serious bite marks on my knuckles after being with these boys while we were in TX.  Not from them biting me but me biting my own knuckles because I was overwhelmed by cute!!  Man alive I just wanted to eat them up!

Here are a few shots from their session -

I love it when I catch a quick real life moment like a little time capsule of what life is like with two little ones.  R never stops moving so I love that he is a little in blur and then my sister-in-law is in her jammies talking sweetly to A while probably removing some crusty from his face.  Love it.

Do you have bite marks on your knuckles now?!  I mean…could they be any cuter?!  Miss you all!

I’m really far behind on editing, projects and fun things I want to blog about so I hope to do a lot over the next couple of weeks! So come back soon!

If you’ve been reading my blog you know I love going to what we call “Turtle Park” (Juanita Bay Park) because there is so much to see there from various birds to turtles to even beavers (if you’re lucky).  It is also my favorite place to do photo sessions because there are so many great backdrops while keeping the kids entertained.  And added benefit is all the birders there who will talk to anyone and everyone about what birds they are seeing.  One women told us the different songs she uses to coax different birds to come to her.  She was working on a French aria that particular evening for the Red Bellied Sap Sucker but another bird (can’t remember which one) she told us, will come out for anything.  She suggested Old McDonald.  See educational…and entertaining.

Here are a few shots from the evening -

And for fun, the bird that prefers French arias to Old McDonald -

Lora told me about an idea she had for a post before we left for vacation to Texas. The idea was basically the title of this post – How do you use photos to document an event/experience such as a vacation.  I’m just going to take a piece of our vacation to show you how I go about it.  (P.S.  Johnson Family – too many to make a post out of but don’t worry, they’re coming!)

First – I take a ton of photos.  I have my camera with me at all times.  Seriously.  And I never stop shooting.  When you start getting into the habit of doing this it is impossible to stop.  For me, when I’m having a great time, this is my way of freezing that feeling or moment for me to savor again later.

Second – Never waste good light.  Photography is so much about controlling light.  Sometimes the fun moments and memories don’t happen in beautiful light so you have to roll with it. But as soon as the light gets that buttery pre-evening glow, my camera is out no matter what is going on.

Third – Look for details.  I usually find some fun details that help me freeze in time whatever I’m experiencing.  These are close up shots usually at a wide open aperture (2.8 is what I have been using).  These shots usually end up being my favorites!

Break for back story on this post’s shots – We’ve had so much fun catching up with old friends that we havent seen for so long. Since kids and then moving to Ireland, we just haven’t been coming to TX for nearly a decade!  If I wrote about all the different experiences/people this post would be way too long so I’m going to pick our visit with Greg and Lalise who have ….hmmmm….what do you call it?  Vacation home? No.  Although that is essentially how they use it.  Studio is a little closer.  Maybe a combo of the two.  They bought an old Coke-a-Cola bottling company/warehouse and have remodeled (that isn’t even a good word to describe what they’ve done) into a super cool space.  Good thing I have pictures because my words aren’t helping me here…..

The above photo is taken from the courtyard looking into the studio.  These shots are taken just after the sun has set so there is a bit of color still in the sky but the interior seems to kind of glow with light.  (Also my favorite time of night to drive around and look at houses for the same reason – interiors just look so appealing to me!) The below shot is looking from the studio into the courtyard type area.

This is the guest quarters!  How cool is that?!

They have a horse trough on what used to be the loading dock that they use for a pool.

Greg and Sadie – super sweet dog….we think Greg is sweet too…

R stole Greg’s hat -

Here is an example of a detail shot.  Love the colors in this one.

Now I can’t stop daydreaming about converted garages and Airstreams…