Vanessa Honda Photography

[contact-form]

Eight years ago to this day, I became the mother to a daughter. What a wonderful joy and adventure this has been!  Kate is a shining light to all that know her, and one of the joys of my life.  She has a very open, giving and friendly personality.  Sharing has always come easily to her, as do enthusiasm and an exuberance for life.  Kate is growing up so fast – I can hardly believe it!  She loves to cook, read, swim, play with her friends. And she is always asking to take pictures with my cameras…or to come and help me on a photo shoot.  So for her birthday today, she got her very own point and shoot camera… waterproof, shock drop – proof, dust proof, you-name-it…  She is so excited!  In addition to loving to snap pictures herself, she is my most willing participant in family photo shoots – and the camera loves her as well!

For her birthday today, she wanted to help me bake her favorite cake: lemon meringue cake (four layers of lemon cake, with homemade lemon pie filling spread between each layer and topped with a homemade meringue topping), and her favorite ice cream: raspberry sour cream ice cream (the best ice cream recipe ever – truly!).

Afterward I took her out for an ultra-quick, 5 minute photo shoot – so we could remember what she looks like the day she turned 8!

She really, really wanted me to take an upside down picture…so I humored her. Despite the thick overcast, the light was still too bright for her to open her eyes more than 1 second!  Her eyes were closed in 90% of these pics!

Then we had a very simple party – consisting of cake, ice cream and of course opening presents with a few friends!

Then grandma whisked her and her brother and sister off to Southern Utah to spend the weekend hiking and celebrating Utah’s July 24th holiday (Pioneer Day)!  I wish I could be there now!  All in all, a pretty good day for Kate!

But now that it’s quiet in the house and the kids are gone, I can’t help but miss them and reflect on the years that have flown so quickly by!  So I lost myself looking through the years in pictures and thought I would post a few of Kate through the years.  Quick disclaimer – the first couple of years I did not have a professional camera or experience!  But I still love to reflect on those times – no matter what your equipment or your abilities as a photographer, don’t forget to capture the moments as they happen, because they go by so fast. One day I was holding Kate newly born in my arms, and the next she is running off with her friends to 3rd grade! Here she is the day she was born:

One thing that made today so special was that my littlest brother Zach, had his first child, beautiful Emery Saige , early this morning!  Kate will share her birthday with a cousin.  I shared my birthday with both my grandmother and my aunt, and I loved that!  Here is Zach, 8 years ago today, holding Kate the day she was born.  Now he holds a daughter of his own…

Kate’s eyes seem to change color every year. For the first year they were a startling blue!

On her first day of Kindergarten:

With her best friend Maren:

First day of 1st Grade:

Kate and cousin Courtney – they are such great friends!

Kate’s eyes have turned to a beautiful shade of green. We’ll see what next year brings!

Well this is a long overdue sneak peak for the “A” Family!  They are friends visiting from out of town of another beautiful family – they came out for their son’s graduation from UCI!  They decided to get some family portraits while they were out here, and I am so glad that they did!  We had such a good time together – they were one fun loving family!  But life has been a bit crazy since then with school ending (and the multitude of accompanying activities), and my husband studying for the bar, among many other things.  So I was busy trying to play catchup and working on these photos earlier this week when I received a message on my computer screen notifying me that my hard drive was in danger of imminent failure.  Well, at least it was nice enough to warn me. And at least I had all of my data backed up (I have triple backups on all my client files).  But I could no longer work on my editing and it was a three day process to 1) diagnose the problem, 2)get a new internal drive and replace the old one and 3) get the computer set up to the way I had it previously, including installing all of my applications, Photoshop actions, etc…  Thank goodness for imaging!  But it wasn’t until tonight I had everything up and running again, so I am burning the midnight oil to get just a few sneak peak pictures up for this very, very patient family!  I can’t wait for you to see the rest!

Since Senior Portrait Season is in full swing, I thought I would just highlight a session from last summer that I particularly enjoyed!  Meet Siara – she graduated this year – Congratulations!  Her family came from out of town last summer and she wanted her Senior Portraits at the beach. We decided to throw in a few of her with her sister and the rest of her family as well, while we were at it. This was such a memorable shoot, because they just happened to plan their shoot during the highest waves of the season – well, for years actually!  So there were tons and tons of people on the beach who had driven down to “the wedge” just to see the huge waves.  We started out at the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach and headed down to the wedge later to see what all the fuss was about!

In the background you can see all the swarms of people who have come to see the huge waves.

And here are just a couple of pictures of waves from that day… I think I will have to do an entire post on just cool wave pictures from that day!

It was a chilly December afternoon when I got to meet the “F” family, but they quickly warmed my heart with their fun loving ways!  I always enjoy getting to capture the relationships between parents and children, brothers and sisters, grandparents and grandchildren… and this family was particularly fun and easy to work with!

I am often asked by clients or friends for little tips and techniques on taking better photographs.  Of course there are a lot of great places and sites out there to learn from – one of my favorite is www.betterphoto.com.  And it really helps to have a great camera too… but a great camera does not always a great picture make. And while having a dSLR that affords you more control over your settings and a quicker response time to boot, many of these tips will help you take better pictures with any camera.  These tips are from a photography class that I used to teach to new learners – so it may not be as helpful to more experienced photographers.  If any of these tips helps even one of my readers, I will be glad!

Know Your Subject

Probably the most important thing you can do to improve your photography is to know what your subject should be and to make it obvious (everyone who looks at the photograph should know what the subject is as well). For example, don’t have too many competing interests going on in one photograph, causing your eye to wander and jump all over the image.

The subject can be a person, people, an animal, a plant, a building, a color, or even a mood.

Unless you are quickly trying to document some action, before you start taking pictures, ask yourself, “What is it that I want to capture here?” and pre-visualize what you want the end result to be.  In other words, think before you start shooting!

Many of our other tips will help make your subject stand out better.

I am not sure what the subject of this picture is supposed to be, are you?

Here, I have isolated the subject by moving in closer and blurring the background.

Be Quick

This may seem like a direct contradiction to tip #1, but sometimes it is necessary to “Shoot First, Ask Questions Later.”  If there is any chance that your subject may run away, fly away, stop smiling or get tired of waiting for you to take the shot, just shoot a couple of shots right away.  Then if you get a chance, you can adjust your settings, & work on your composition, etc.

But you may not always get that chance, and I have gotten some of my favorite shots because I was quick at the draw and ready to shoot.

As you practice this you will get better and better!

If I had waited to get my settings and lighting perfect, I would never have captured this spontaneous image of Audrey, taken on the way to our car before the actual photo shoot began.

Move In Closer

When your subjects are the size of ants roaming on a huge background, it is hard to know what the subject really is—unless the background is the subject. Moving in closer can isolate your subject and keep the viewers eye focused on just that!

One way to practice doing this is to first take the picture as you normally would, then move in closer for a tighter shot. Then, move in closer still (or zoom in)to capture a detail such as just the eyes, or the inner part of a wagon wheel, or the very center parts of a flower.

Just take care to avoid getting so close you camera or lens can’t focus on the subject!  Macro lenses and settings are great for really close up shots.

When taking a 2nd or 3rd shot of a subject, don’t worry about cutting off the tops of heads or fitting the whole subject in the frame—sometimes details make more interesting pictures!

Audrey’s face fills the frame of this picture, leaving no doubt who or what the subject is.

Use depth of field to your advantage

Practice shooting with different apertures and see how the results affect your photos.  Using a smaller aperture (f-stop) will result in a smaller depth of field—lending you a sharp subject with the background, the foreground and everything else blurring nicely out of focus.  This can really help to put the focus on your subject and isolate a cluttered background as well.

Likewise using a larger aperture (bigger f-stop 3) will give you a greater depth of field necessary to hold everyone in a group in focus or make for a stunning landscape shot.

Babies toes are the subject of this photo, and while the rest of the baby is visible, the foot is the only part in focus,achieved by shooting wide open (with a very large aperture, or small f/stop).

Look at the Light

Practice studying the light you are working with and learn how to use it to your advantage.

For example, to create a dramatic silhouette, place your subject in front of a striking colorful sunset and your camera will likely meter for the bright sunlight tones and render your subject completely dark. You wouldn’t want to do this though if you wanted to see detail in your subject!  Generally even lighting provided by directional shade (under an overhang outside) will be most flattering for portraits. Window lighting can be nice as well. Generally on-camera flash is harsh and flattens your subject—avoid this if you can!

Silhouette created by strong backlight.

Shade from a tree or building overhang can create beautiful, soft, even lighting even during the middle of the day.

Get a Unique Perspective

To take your photos from ordinary to extraordinary, try seeing the subject from a different perspective or shoot from a different angle.

After shooting the front of a great architectural building like everyone else, try shooting from the base looking up, or shoot the rotunda or ceiling. Then try shooting from the top of the building or shoot through a window looking at the building sideways. Or from the top of a spiral staircase looking down. Look for elements of design within the frame.

Or try shooting your next portrait from on top of a stool or stairway looking down. Or put your kid up in a tree and shoot looking up.  Or instead of always having your subject look at the camera and smile, capture them from behind (walking away) or some other unique angle.

Take your camera off of Automatic!

Avoid Shooting on Full Auto Mode

Don’t shoot on Auto. This is an ‘idiot-proof’ shooting mode. None of you are idiots!

First, switch to the ‘P’ or Program Auto setting. This is also an automatic shooting mode, BUT in this mode you can override its behavior in order to make the resulting pictures look even better (ie. lighter, darker, more contrasty, etc).

If you want to control your depth of field, shoot on aperture priority (or AV mode) and if you want to control your shutter speed (ex. Faster to capture action and slower to get that flowy waterfall look) shoot on shutter speed priority (or tV mode).

Tell a Story

If you think about the pictures you enjoy looking at most, you will often find that is because they tell some sort of story.

Of course, this is easier to do when taking pictures documentary style, such as at a wedding or birthday party.  The course of events will naturally tell a story.

But each image can have a story to tell. Of course sometimes you just want to capture a likeness, but if you watch carefully, you will notice and capture the moment when your 2 year old blows her first dandelion in wonder or the groom tenderly kisses the bride on the forehead when he thinks no one is watching. And don’t be afraid of staging!

Storytelling images can depict action, convey relationships, or just make you wonder about the subject.

Compose Artfully

Composition can make the difference between an average shot and one that is truly interesting to look at.  Making an effort to keep the elements balanced, or finding lines that lead the eye around the picture or to your subject are some ways to make an interesting composition.  You can also try keeping the horizon level, play with perspective and work with the rule of thirds. Don’t always place your subject smack dab in the middle of the frame—off to one side or corner is often more eye-catching.  Also, think of ways to use negative space.  Rules of graphic design apply here—think of repeating patterns, contrasts, etc.

Avoid Distractions

Discern what you want your subject to be, and  shoot so as to avoid distracting from that.  Clutter in the background is one of the main offenders that can ruin an otherwise good shot.  Angle yourself so that your son with his new birthday gift doesn’t have a lot of competing wrapping paper, other toys, etc. in the background.  And take care that no trees or telephone poles are growing out of your best friend’s head at her anniversary party.

When you see distracting elements there are a few things you can do:

-Recompose by moving higher, lower or from a different angle yourself

-Move your subject (if you can)

-Blur the background out of focus with a wide aperture or pan a moving subject.

Practice, Practice, Practice

Nothing beats out lots of practice when it comes to perfecting your craft.  Take your camera with you to more places and activities.  Practice seeing the light when you don’t have your camera with you.  Practice seeing ordinary subjects in a different way.

Play with the different settings on your camera and use the LCD, your computer or prints to see the different results you get from different settings. Try taking a picture of the same subject with different shooting modes or camera settings.  Sometimes you can stumble upon surprising results when experimenting. For example, I once tried out shooting a sunset using a white balance set for Tungsten and Fluorescent lighting and was amazed at the beautiful colors and hues that resulted.

Try different kinds of lighting and see what you like best—buy a bunch of flowers or bribe your kids and practice shooting them in the sun, in the shade, using window light, available room light, flash, etc.

Once you get to know your camera well and have a feel for what different settings will do, you can focus on being more artistic in your captures.

I decided to go ahead and post these fun pictures from last summer tonight because today is sweet Miss “A’s” birthday!  We had so much fun together down at the Balboa Pier in Newport Beach.  And now she is 18!  These years just fly by so fast.  Best wishes to you “A” as you finish high school and  pursue all of your dreams.

Here is a great way to contribute to two worthy causes, qualify to win some way cool prizes AND have some memorable and creative family portraits made at a reduced price… All at the same time!

Vanessa Honda Photography is participating in the International Charity Model Search to select North America’s Cutest Family and to raise funds for the Haiti relief efforts AND the non-profit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep Foundation. (NILMDTS.org)
Are your loved ones North America’s Cutest Family? We’ll give you the opportunity to prove it! Many exciting prizes will be awarded, and the grand prize winner receives a new car!
Model Search Special:
$135 entrance fee includes a 60-minute model session in the location of your choice and one image submitted to the national gallery.  $50 of each session fee will go directly to relief efforts in Haiti.  Special reduced price portrait packages are also available in conjunction with this promotion.
Finalists will be determined by online votes. Each vote is $1 (no limit on the amount of votes you can cast), and all proceeds from votes benefit Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS.org).
Grand prize international winner will be determined from the 52 city finalists. The winners will be selected from the finalist gallery by photography and modeling industry experts.  The winning family also receives a session with the renowned portrait artist Sandy Puc’ and international recognition.
Call 949-553-2424 now to enter your family in this exciting contest. There are currently only 2 entries in this region, so your odds of winning are quite good!
*Contest open to residents of the US and Canada. For more information, visit http://sandypucmodels.com/.

Any clients whose family portraits were taken after November 1, 2009 qualify to participate – please let me know if you are interested!

Come along with me to Annabelle’s and Daisy’s morning riding lessons in Anaheim.  It is always so much fun to capture real life as it happens – and that is what this session was all about. No forced poses or orchestrated setups – just following a couple of delightful 2 year old girls and seeing the world through their eyes – documenting life as it happens.  These lessons were lots of fun for this age group – they got to do crafts and songs with friends, learn about  and interact with a very friendly old turkey and a fluffy Angora bunny, take a ride on a friendly pony and feed carrots to the many resident horses. We ended up with some play time in the leaves and wagon there on the property.  Fortunately we beat out the big rain storm by a couple of days!  So here you go Renee – your first actual sneak peak (since we’re not doing cards of this session, you can see it on the blog before your gallery!)

These were some of my favorites for the day…

This is another “long in coming” tribute to a session from last summer that did not get its due on my blog…I was privileged to meet her within hours of being born and it has been such a delight to watch her grow.   Here is what I wrote way back when for the blog post I never posted…

…What a sweet new baby this was … and so eagerly anticipated by me!  I was so excited for my good friend Danielle to have a sweet little girl… and for Brandon, Maren, Tommy and Jimmy  to have a new little sister – but especially for Maren.  And what a good sweet baby she is…one of my easiest newborns ever.  And so cute and chubby… she weighed in at 11 lbs 3 oz at birth, so I believe her mom deserves quite an award for delivering her!  She was such a good girl for her pictures, and even had several smiles to share!

There will be several more updates to come of this little cutie pie – most recently from last week.  But I felt I had to start at the beginning, so here goes:

These were from her first evening of life at the hospital… I captured one to show her weight – she had lost some since her birth… what a big girl!