With great honor, I’m so excited to introduce you to the Seattle CONFIDENCE women from the January 2011 Workshop!!  These ladies came together, dove into the unknown, spread their wings and created magic!  You are going to be so inspired by all the different perspectives, angles, stories.  Grab a cup of coffee and ENJOY!

Coming from a teaching background, I know that if we have twenty plus women, we most likely have twenty plus different learning styles.  So as we walk through the two days, we have a mix of direct instruction time where we lay the foundation for understanding your camera

to modeling what we’ve been discussing

to small group work

to hands-on-practice.

It is an amazing weekend of watching women go deep within themselves, tapping into their deepest beauty, creative desires and courage.

Stacy Gendreau captured this moment when I was demonstrating a baby shoot.  I love how the women’s faces are beaming!

Day One gives the women an opportunity to work through a number of the issues that occur when you are shooting indoors (i.e. not enough light, distracting surroundings, etc.).  Babies and mamas come to be our models, and they are so CRAZY cute that it’s tempting to pick up the camera and just start shooting.  But instead, we pause and break the shoot up into different elements.

Defining Details, just like last month’s SOAR! Photography Exercise, is a wonderful place to start with babies.  Look at how Andrea Shamansky captured this irresistible detail!  So SWEET!!  Great job Andrea!

Dy Leng takes the same moment but captures a whole different angle!  It’s so inspiring to see the different perspectives that each woman sees!  Dy, I love how you blurred mom and framed her to the far right.  Her gentle presence adds that much more love to this little one!

This is another fabulous Detail shot by Dy Leng.  Is that blue, ruffled skirt the BEST or what!!!  Great angle Dy!

And then at some point, the babies always start to crash from all the stimulation.  I love this shot by Kelly Tansing.  Mom’s tank top is the black background behind the baby, and you would never guess!  I love that it’s also a horizontal shot because the wide framing accentuates the sleepiness of the moment.  Wonderful Kelly!

Jessica New took my break away with this sweet moment.  The couch in the hotel lobby happens to be black, and it ends up becoming the perfect spot for a sleepy baby.  I love how baby’s face is in front and focused, but the rest of baby goes out of focus.  Wonderful depth Jessica!

The “fleeting newborn swirl” is one of the most popular Photo Recipes in my new book, Your Baby in Pictures. Every newborn/baby has a different swirl!  It’s the sweetest Defining Detail!  Look at what Susan Larsen captured!  Susan, I love that there is baby motion in this image because it accentuates all the motion in the hair swirling!  Don’t you think!  So precious!

Stacy Gendreau did a BEAUTIFUL job of not only capturing the newborn swirl, but also capturing a soft, timeless smile from mom.  Stacy, you did a wonderful job of framing mom to flatter her.  I love that you framed part of her arm out on one side, and we don’t see all of her head–but we see her emotion with perfection.

This next mom carried her baby in a beautiful green wrap.  The ladies tried intograting this wrap into the photos.  Wow, Susan Larsen, your next photo leaves me speechless.  I love all the empty white space that brings my attention right to mom and baby’s bond.

Sara Kelly takes a whole different approach by capturing a vertical shot, making it black and white instead of color, and not even showing mom’s face.  Again, it’s incredibly inspiring how the same moment can hold two different, beautiful stories?!  Wonderful Sara!

Nursing.  This is an intrical part of a baby shoot.  If the mother is comfortable, it is a wonderful window of time to capture a bond that is fleeting and yet so enduring to mom.  Here are three amazing angles that the ladies captured.

Theresa LaFrance captured the first one.  I’ve looked at it several times, and I love how discreet the moment is.  Mom’s hair covers up baby nursing, and the framing is so tight and intimate, you can’t help but be drawn in to this beautiful moment.  Amazing job Theresa!

Andrea Shamansky draws us to the quiet connections between mom and baby.  The hands touching, giving us the sense that they are eachother’s world at this moment in time.  Andrea, you should be so proud!

This third nursing photo is a whole different story with the older sibling in the background.  I LOVE it!!  Brie Lay does a wonderful job of not only noticing the nursing moment, but telling us the story of big sister too.  Notice how big sister is blurred.  We don’t even need her in focus to know that the story is about her just as much as mom and baby.

With a group of women, the magic doesn’t end with one angle captured.  You have Gretchen Linggi Irby who sees the big sister from a different angle.  This image is so powerful and beautiful, and who would ever guess that it was a casual moment of big sister waiting while mom nurses.  Wonderful GRETCHEN!

The Baby Shoot on Day One gives the ladies an opportunity to experience with lighting, posing, and simply get out of the box with creativity.  Since they don’t have the pressure of this being a “paid” shoot, they get to venture into new ideas.  It always amazes me to see what shakes out from this special time.

Jenell Tamaela captured the most gentle, warm photo of mom and baby.  The composition on this image is gorgeous.  Take a moment and look at how mom is framed.  It looks like there is even a little Camera Tilt because her lit shoulder is a bit higher than the other.  Mom is incredibly flattered in this photo.  Look at all that Jenell has left out.  We only see one arm, and we don’t even see all of the arm.  We only see one of mom’s eyes, but we don’t notice the other is  missing.  It’s perfect.  Consider what you can leave out when shooting.  Jenell, AWESOME!

Delanae Lindstrom inspires us to get in super tight.  I love how the baby fills the frame with this shot.  I love that little bit of detail, baby’s pink elephant.  You’ll notice that baby also has a super cute headband on.  It would have been tempting to try and capture both the headband and the pink elephant in the same photo, giving both equal attention, but I like how Delanae chooses one detail at a time.  Beautiful Delanae!

With Mother’s Day around the corner, consider how you can flatter mom in a pose with baby.  Beth Wendland does a wonderful job of getting in tight, framing out most of mom’s body, but mom’s emotion is powerfully present.  We know she is IN LOVE with her little one.  Beth, I’m so proud of you!

Sara Kelly captures the same mom in a different moment.  Again, this is a flattering angle on mom.  Notice how Sara is shooting down on mom which slenderizes her profile and body.  Can you also guess where the light is?  If you guessed a window in front of mom, you are right!  🙂  Mom is facing the window light so that Sara can capture all that beautiful natural light that is so flattering on skin.  Sara, this is just incredible!  Great job girl!

Don’t you think these ladies did an AMAZING job!!  Considering their setting was a hotel lobby and restaurant, they knocked it out of the park!!  I love how the first day of the workshop empowers us set up for success, regardless of what your surroundings are–living room or hotel restaurant!  🙂

If you have any questions for the individual ladies or their photos, I’m sure they’d love it if you posted it in the comments today.

But most of all, if you have a moment, I invite you to leave a comment of “You ladies ROCK!” (or something along those lines) to let these women know I’m not the only one who is blown away by their CONFIDENCE results!

This morning, I’m headed to DC for a newborn shoot.  A Nate Berkus Show viewer contacted me last week and asked if I fly out to capture their granddaughter who is only weeks old.  I can’t wait!!  Thursday night, I head to NY for Minis in the morning and the Park Slope Event at Barnes and Noble.  And SATURDAY AND SUNDAY…drum roll!!!!…we have our New York/New Jersey CONFIDENCE Workshop!!  Woo-hoo!  It’s going to be an amazing five days.  And wait till you hear what adventure begins Monday night when the five days are over!  (oh boy! :))

Want help with posing mom and dad with baby?  Tune back in tomorrow as the SEATTLE CONFIDENCE ladies break it down with me and show you their ideas!

xoxo,

m

p.s. Want your baby to be a model at our CONFIDENCE Workshops?  We are looking for a few this weekend in NY!  Email Genie, genie@fioria.us, for all the details!