Photoshoot - Oct 22nd ~ A Perfect Fall Day ~

This weekend was beautiful for pictures. The weather was perfect and excitingly I had two appointments. Both appointments were at Rockwood park and it was one right after another. So off to Rockwood Park we all went. Now 99% of the time my family comes with me. I like it that way.

Our first appointment was with our good friends the Yerxa Family. A family of 5 with young twins. The kids were excited and just loved being in the woods. Their oldest Cameron and My oldest Isaiah are good friends so they got to hang out some. They Mostly use sticks as guns and go hunting in the woods some. Nutbars…haha

Here are some samples:

 HAHA Here is Noah. This is one funny kid. He didn't like being perched up on here but when his mom spoke to him this is the look she got. I did get him smiling but I thought this was priceless.

 Twins: Gabby and Noah. Happy to be in front of the camera.

 Here are Cameron, Noah & Gabby walking down the path. I do like capturing this type of picture. Not sure how Real it is though but it looks good. Unless Cam is an awesome big brother and he is more than happy to hold their hands and walk with him. I will say he did everything he was told too :)

 Here is Ben and Becky. The smaller picture doesn't do this pic Justice. I turned it Black and White. Sharpened it and turned up the contrast. I Liked the finished product.

 Here is Gabby and her Thinker pose.

 This picture is Priceless. Gabby is hugging Noah so tightly that the look on his face of desperation and help is awesome.

 The Big Brother Cameron.

And here is the full Yerxa family. I did allot of Black & White pictures for them. Sometimes B&W just adds so much more character. Thank you folks for allowing me to do your pictures :)

My Next appointment was with the McElhinney family. I use to work with Jordan before he moved on to Bigger and better things. I have taken there pictures before and I am glad they came back. Like I stated before gotta love returning customers.  

Now I must say that this session was very Unique. And what I mean by that is Katrina came prepared and knew exactly what she wanted. All too often people want pictures taken but they have no clue what they want. When I ask them what they are looking for I usually get “I don’t know, you’re the photographer” haha. Not Katrina, with a carrying case in hand a list of shots that she wanted we were ready to go.

One of her Ideas I found to be fantastic was when she pulled out a Chalk Board! She wrote Merry Christmas on it and they had family pics with it. Next she had 8 x 10 Chalk board Frames and she wrote out an individual letter of the word LOVE and each family member held up a specific word. It was excellent.

Here are some samples of the photo shoot.  

 So here is that Idea I was talking about. Excellent!!

 Another one of Katrina's Ideas. The kids even enjoyed this as well.

 I have never done this pose before and I saw it last week. I really liked it.

 This is Faith. A Very Cute little girl. I really like getting close with the camera to capture just the face. You can do so much with it.

So here is a quick collage that I did up with the four pictures. As you can see this is a great picture and an awesome Idea.

 Here is Isaiah Snuggling with Mom.

This is another quick collage I did of the the kids. With all honesty I am not a fan of this. I could have done better. I just wanted to try this and see what it looked like. Thank you guys for allowing me to take your family pictures again :)

Well there you have it. What's next for John Paul Photography? I am headed out to Grandbay-Westfield on Wednesday and then I have another appointment at the Irving Nature Park on Sunday. I am hoping that the weather holds up. It is looking Sketchy for this week. But I am excited for Snow on Friday :D

Here is a link to my Photography site. "John Paul Photography"

Thanks for Looking at the world through my eyes...

Wherefore Art Thou Fall-eo

A couple weeks ago I had to drive to Fredericton for a meeting and I wish I had of brought my camera because the fall colors there were amazing. The trees were full of red & yellow and green, such a beautiful site. No where I live in Saint John, NB the leaves are still green for the most part. In fact due to being so close to the Bay the weather is never consistent therefore our seasons are usually messed up.

Now last week it was cold. With the wind chill we saw that it got down to -5 degrees. We also had a frost warning which killed allot of flowers. But then Saturday hits and its +20 and then Sunday hits and I believe it was +25. It was Hot. I had to use the AC on the weekend.

I had 3 picture appointments this weekend and you would think that since we are almost mid October that the leaves would be so beautiful? Nope, not in our city. In fact the leaves that have fallen are still green. And that’s what I mean when I say the seasons are usually messed up. Things die before nature takes its course, which means to capture the incredible beauty of fall I have a very short window.

My first appointment we went to Meenan’s cove. I have taken the Burke’s pictures 3 times prior and it was great to do them again. As I stated the weather was incredible. It was really hot and it wasn’t windy.

Here are a few samples:

This is their Daughter. I have taken her pics since she was a baby. This pose I like to capture when we come to park benches. You really can capture precious moments.

This is their Son. He is an awesome kid. He has a great personality and here you can see it. I think this was his philosopher pose. Maybe even “The Thinker” hehe

Here are the parents. We all grew up together down the Blvds. It’s wonderful to see this family grow.

My second appointment was at Rockwood Park. As you can tell from my previous posts I do pictures here allot. This is an ideal place for pictures. My wife went to High school with the mother of the Dallon  family and it was great to take their pictures. I like larger group shots. It really makes for a great variety of pictures.

This is their family. Can I just pause for a minute and say Family is so precious that it is worth nurturing and investing in it.  And as you can see with this beautiful family it is worth it! Just wanted to throw that out the there.

Here is how I take family group shots. Now this is cutting edge…Are you ready? I tell everyone to get together! BAM!!!! I am not a photographer that needs to set up the perfect shot and annoy everyone by saying sit here and stand there and do this. Yes I do use some poses that I like but for the most part I want the people to be comfortable and I would rather them use their personality and situate themselves.

Working with kids can go either way. That’s why I take a very soft approach when working with them. If you can make them seem as if they have some ownership your window of opportunity opens up more. If you don’t get that perfect shot that’s fine. Photoshop can help with that hehe.

My Last appointment was on Sunday which was allot hotter than Saturday. We went to public gardens which from a distance looked beautiful. Then when you got close you noticed that 90% of the flowers were dead. The care taker said that the frost that we had two days prior killed allot of the flowers. But none the less we found some good areas to take pictures. We then went to a pond at rockwood park to take the rest of the photos. I just want to say that they were awesome pics and I was very pleased with them.

So that was last weekend. It was a bit busy but I am fine with that. I have more pictures this weekend and I am hoping there will be a bit more colors. It’s mid October and I want some colors in the leaves for some pics. I am so looking for some. Fall-eo, Fall-eo, Wherefore Art Thou Fall-eo.

See the world through my eyes…