My Four Hens Photography

Lets get to know you! How would you describe yourself in three sentences?

 I am trying to find the happy in every day.

I a wife to a very good man who supports me and loves me despite all of my insanity (thank you, donny), am a mama to three littles… gracie (5), brandon (3) and my sweet clementine (4 months).  I am consistently on the journey of getting closer to the simple life for our family, my photography, my business and just getting down to the good stuff; what it’s all about!

What sparked your passion for Photography?  

A trip to cambodia I took when I was 20 opened my eyes to the power of a photograph and the ability to share a story just with a single image once i returned home.  i started shooting nonstop and was so taken by human connection.  Then, when my first baby was born five years ago I was mesmerized by every inch of her and began to understand light, movement, details and understand love in a much more deep and beautiful way.

Whats in your camera bag?  

Two canon 5d mark ii bodies.  lenses:  35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.2, 85mm 1.2, 24mm 3.5 tilt shift, 100 macro

 

What Camera/Equipment did you start out with?  

canon rebel (film)

If you could only use one lens an entire session which one would you choose and why?  

50mm… it is tack sharp, I love that it opens up to 1.2 and just distance myself far enough from my subject so that even if I am photographing a family I still get them all in focus but can also let is all that lovely golden sunshine.

 

What advice would you give to someone just beginning in photography and hoping to have a business of their own? 

 Don’t look at other photographer’s blogs for inspiration, don’t compare yourself to anyone else and start shooting in manual mode pronto!  My creativity and business grew the most and became something I was proud of when i began to try to out-do myself rather than out-doing other photographers.  I am always trying to capture sunlight in a new way than I have done before and always pushing myself.  Instead of trying to achieve a certain pose I am getting to know my subject and capture their warmth and individuality and seeing how they are different than the norm.

What was your first official Photographer crush if you had one?

I have always been a big fan of Tara Whitney’s work… love that she shoots honest, fun and simple photographs.

 

What kind of photos do you like to take for just yourself when not working with clients?  

The little things in our daily life as a family that used to go unnoticed… but I realized it is all those little details where I give most of myself to my children.  The mess made when baking together, my little Clementine’s baby chub, the kid’s artwork, the way my Gracie’s hair catches the sunshine when she is out caring for her chickens, the veggies in our garden and the little fingers that grasp them from the dirt.  All the good, simple stuff.

Describe your style in 3 words.  

Creative.  Warm.  Happy.

 

Most embarrassing moment on a session would be?

Well, I have either been pregnant or nursing most of the last five years.  and on a good amount of newborn sessions and holding crying babies I have soaked a few shirts with breast milk and just had to continue shooting, but it makes for laughter and easing any tension with post-partum clients!  I am hoping mamas out there can relate.  :)

 

Any challenges you have had to overcome to be where you are today?  

Balance.  goodness, balance.  I am continually trying to find the new normal.  I have realized after a lot of frustrating years that i just cannot handle my business alone.  I need an assistant, I need time with my kids, I need time alone, I need to find time to be happy with my husband.  We work together on this business (he is part time stay at home dad, part time prop making extraordinaire!) and although we are together a lot, it is not all pleasant.  So we have to make time to just breathe, to remember we like each other and to recharge.

Favorite time of day to shoot is? 

 The last 30 minutes of daylight and especially the soft, cool glow of the setting sun in the winter.  I am a sucker for sunflare, I use the sun as my most powerful “prop” so I try to find wide open spaces where I can let my clients play in the light.

 

If you had to stop taking photos right now, what would you do instead?  

Me a mama, pure and simple.  My happy place in my mind is being out in the country, all the windows open with linen curtains blowing in the breeze, being barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen (if God would like to bless us with more babies I would be thrilled but perhaps not for a while, please, lol!) and cooking up some sort of good comfort food with the babies running out in the yard.

Have you attended college or had any formal education in Photography?

  I went to Pepperdine university but not for photography.  I did take a few film classes but I have learned the most about exposure and creativity with my photography by purely just trial and error.

What do you do to get your clients to relax with you?  

I make huge strides to get to know my clients before we meet for the session.  It is so important that the kid of session we shoot, the location, the clothing, the props, everything really, feels like “home” to them.  During the session, we talk, they play, we listen to their favorite music sometimes, I encourage comfort and silliness to get the most honest expressions and interaction.

What are your photography related goals for 2012?  

Continue to simplify.  Continue to balance.  We have several workshops scheduled that I want to really invest my whole heart into.

 

How do you push yourself to keep growing and learning? Any Big Aha! Moments?  

I have realized that the more time I spend of striving to be honest about who I am and my struggles I am experiencing as a mom/wife/individual/photographer the most connected I feel to my clients and the network of women photographers around me… which encourages me to grow and learn on a more beautiful scale.

Digital or Prints?  

Both!  I shoot in digital but develop all my favorites in small prints immediately, even my instagrams!  It is fun for our family to have photos on hand for projects, memories and we make collages of them often.  I also have my all time favorite photos of my children printed as flat fine art canvases on our walls in antique frames.

 

You have the most AMAZING imagination. How do you keep coming up with so many original and inspiring ideas?  

Why, thank you!  :)  I can never seem to turn that part of my brain off.  I drive my husband crazy when we are watching movies with the kids, reading books, listening to old songs, walking around Disneyland, playing games, going for walk, pretty much all the time because I am always inspired by what I see/hear/experience.  I used to get so frustrated when I saw someone come up with a cool idea that i hadn’t perhaps “thought of it first” but it actually taught me to dig deeper and build themes from more simple ideas.  Themed shoots are becoming so popular now and I feel even more now that to create a more powerful image it has to come from something simplistic but meaningful.  One of my favorite shoots we did recently was ‘what little boys are made of’- it sprung from me talking to their mama about how one of their favorite things was to catch fireflies in jars out in the country and so began us trying to come up with basing their shoot around that theme in the most organic way possible and I loved the result.

If you had to appoint a theme song to your work what would it be and why?

 ’Simple life’ by the Weepies.  I love the childlike wonder of the words, the tune, the idea behind it all and striving for the simple life, of course.  :)

Where is your favorite place to find props for your sessions?  

The craft store!  I love texture and am always looking for beautiful yarns or pretty little touches for crafty themed sessions.  We also frequent estate sales every month.  Aside from loving treasure hunting as our favorite date activity I always find one of a kind unique pieces that may tell a story all it’s own as jump start a vision for a shoot in my mind.

 

When you begin to style your sessions are your clients totally on board or do you ever have to sell your ideas?  

I would say it is a collaboration.  I get to know clients over email or over the phone and ask a ton of questions like we are on a first date!  :)  I want the idea for the session to always come from their story and then I find ways to make it unique and special using props that i may be holding onto for the perfect client or I come up with crafty ways to tell their story with a bit of vintage flair thrown in.

You are so inspirational. I am always looking to your work for the next amazing thing you come up with!! What would you say is your favorite session to date?  Well i am SO honored to have been asked to be a part of this.  :)  As for my favorite session… it has to be my little clementine’s “knit together” shoot:  http://wildflowersphotos.com/blog/the-clementine-themed-shoot/.  I dreamed about it for months and months while I was pregnant with her just trying to find the perfect way to interweave her name with the idea that she was knit together in the womb.  I also didn’t want it to be too over the top with props or a cheesy theme and wanted it to feel very natural and have a way for my older children to want to be a part of it.  I was so happy of how it all came together.  :)

 

Fun stuff:

Favorite Color:  yellow!

Favorite Season:  spring – especially wildflowers season in the country

Biggest Guilty Pleasure:  eating cream cheese frosting out of the can.  the whole can.

Favorite Day of the Week:  monday… it is a photographer’s saturday!  and we can go anywhere as a family and avoid the mad rush

Favorite Pandora Station:  Billie Holliday

Studio or On location:  out in the sunshine

What did you want to be when you grew up?  a mommy

One thing no one knows about you is:  I am pretty open about my life!  but I rarely get out of my p.j.s.  Only when I really have to.

Pc or Mac:  mac

Lightroom Or Photoshop:  both

Film or Digital:  both

Props or No Props:  most of the time

If you could travel anywhere it would be:  Australia is next on my list

Glass Half Empty or Half Full:  full

Favorite photo ever taken:  I have so many.  but they are always the ones that didn’t involve any set-up.  Mostly my children meeting their siblings for the first time and their honest expressions of nervous but wonderful joy.

Raw or Jpeg:  raw

Favorite Music to Edit to:  timeless, mellow, christian.  something to make me feel about joyful about work.

Most valued material possession:  photo books of my children.

Processing Style:  It is changing a bit!  leaning more towards the look of film… soft, romantic, hazy.

Coffee or Tea:  neither.  dr. pepper

If you could photograph a Celebrity who would it be?  Drew Barrymore

What kind of Camera bag do you rock?  ketti handbag

Thank you so much again sweet Joy for the honor and pleasure of this interview!!!
I am so excited for Thursday’s interview as well so be sure to check back here to see who is next up on the list!!