You know how you try really hard not to have a favorite kid but secretly, deep down inside, one of them is your favorite?



The same thing happens at photo shoots. Sometimes one of the kids in a family just captivates me and I find my camera going to that child over and over and over.



Especially when she's so dang cute. And posey. And sweet. And fun.



She might make you have conversations with your husband that go like this.

"Da-ave! Look how cute she is! I want one!"
"What?"
"An Ethiopian baby. Can I have one? Please?" *bats eyes*
"What?"
"Look!"
"Oh, she is cute." *walks away*.....*comes back later* "Tell you what. If we feel like we're supposed to have more kids, AND you can't get pregnant, AND we can afford it, we'll adopt from Ethiopia."

I won, right? Pretty sure he agreed somewhere in there.



She does have siblings. That's her brother up there helping her show me how old she is.

He's cute too. He liked the rocks.



She has two darling sisters.





Parents, too.



Aren't they just about the cutest family ever?







But then she stole the show again.

I always edit my shoots into color and b/w. I love both for different reasons, but my roots are black and white film and I just adore it.

Every now and then I'll be editing a shoot and every single picture just feels better in black and white. I don't really know why. But this was one of those times.

Meet Benson.









I love how tiny he looks with his dad.

This week we worked on creative shutter speed. I got some great entries! Here are a few of my favorites.

Andrea did a great stopped action water skiing picture. I love that the droplets are all frozen in place! Also great composition.


Doug did a cool zoom exposure of a clock.


And Rebecca T. did a great picture of her son with the hose. Great light, composition, and a nice, slow shutter speed to get the water to move into the lines instead of stopping in place.

This weeks lesson was on creative aperture. Here are 3 images that I really liked from their homework!

Betina's cute daughter and her kissy face. I love that her lips are the only thing in focus.


Rebecca's nest and eggs. She says she risked life and limb for this shot. I think it was worth it!


And Sharon taught her 11 yr old grand daughter what we had learned so far and gave her a camera to play with. I think she's a budding photographer!

When I was in college, there was this glass display case outside the photography rooms. The day after an assignment was due, we would all crowd around and see whose images stood out enough to make it into the case for the week.

I'm doing something similar with my class but instead of a glass case...it's my blog.

So, without further adieu, I present to you week one's photos of the week. The assignment this week was ISO. High and Low.

Shannon's Daisy. Love the way the light blasts through the petals and the slightly abstract quality. Great focus and color.


Rebecca's wildflowers. Nice depth of field and composition. You didn't let anything distracting get into the image and you used the rule of thirds with the focused flowers.


Richelle's courthouse. Great exposure for a night shot. The lights add a lot of depth to the image. Good composition too.

I had 3 babies come over last week and another yesterday. It's been so fun snuggling all these cute little guys (and girls!)

First up, sweet little Brynn. Youngest of 3 girls at her house. Wanna see?

The kind of shoots I do seem to come in groups. The last 3 were maternity and today's was really fun! It was pouring rain out and I really hoped it would keep pouring at least through the beginning so we could get some shots outside.



It obliged.





Then we came in and I had Max draw on Tera's belly.





Aren't they cute?

I had such a fun morning today! I went out with the lovely and talented Rendy Tucker and we did shoots for each other then just traded the original files so we could edit whatever we wanted. (by the way, Seattle friends, Rendy is moving your direction this summer!)

We went to a really fun location and just talked and laughed and shot. What more could you ask for?

Oh, pictures? I suppose you can ask for those.

First up, Rendy and all her pregnant glory.

















Then me. Headshots galore.

I had so much fun on this shoot! My neighbor graciously agreed to let me use her stunning back yard and gardens for some of the pictures and I about died when I saw this cute little buddha back there. It was perfect.



We also took a quick drive to one of my favorite locations and the light was perfect!





Jade brought her friend (and my cousin!) with her for the pictures and since they're only a week or two apart with their due dates, she hopped in a couple pictures too.





Thanks girls! It was a blast!

EDIT! That email appears to be down. Please use mistydawnphotos@gmail.com instead. Thank you!

I've had many requests to teach a class that's more substantial than the one hour classes I've taught for various groups.

Now is your chance!

I'm teaching a 6 week course, starting on June 2nd. It's Wednesdays from 7-8 PM and is $75 per person. There is a TEN PERSON LIMIT to this class so sign up now! Payment is due at the first class.

The course will focus on understanding your camera, understanding exposure/light and shooting in manual mode. It will be very hands on and there will be an assignment each week that you'll bring in so we can offer constructive criticism. It will be geared towards those with SLR cameras (the ones with interchangeable lenses.)

To sign up, email me at me@mistyalger.com. First come, first serve!