Portraits with Jessica Ribera

Hi.

On a note unrelated to more intimate writing and daily life-sharing, I am excited to talk about about a couple creative opportunities that have come my way. One involves my amateur photography skills (below) and the other is a possible job doing copy for a creative business a friend is starting up.

Both are 1) low pressure, 2) working with people I really like, 3) testing waters of a new hobby (photography) and 4) dipping my toes back into an older side job (website writing).

I’m also excited for these projects because I think I can pull them off and still have time for our daily grind of homeschooling and generally keeping everything and everyone here at the Haggard Haus in optimum condition (including myself, which, if you know me, is a BIGGIE).

The first project was portraits I took of Jessica, who needed head shots for her budding writing career. You may recall I did birth photos for her last summer.

Jessica is used to being in front of a camera due to her previous job as professional ballet dancer. She also just generally likes being in front of people, sharing herself, and getting attention. I think that’s obvious from what you find here. It also gave me an immediate and helpful advantage come picture-taking time.

Here’s my favorites. The last two made the final cut.

I am a perfectionist, but I am pleased, and I’m really pleased that Jessica is happy with the end results.

What I wish I would’ve gotten during our time together were some of her great facial expressions in conversation. When she’s talking about something she cares about or telling one of her funny stories from daily life, her face is all over the map, in the best of ways.

This time, being a beginner photographer, I was so busy thinking about light, background, and settings that I wasn’t able to create good conversation. It would’ve been nice to have an extra friend there to talk with her and get her going down some rabbit trail.

I know that really wasn’t the goal of this project, but I think that would’ve rounded out this session. It could’ve given Jessica some more personal photos her family and friends could enjoy–the essence of Jesky Ribera.

Oh well, another time.

Read Jessica’s writing on her blog, and maybe you’ll see her words (and her picture) on some high-faluten website or in a publication one of these days.

Note: Photos were taken with a Nikon D60, 50mm lens, aperture priority setting at mostly 4.5. I have no experience with Photoshop or Lightroom; some very easy editing was done with iPhoto.

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Labor and birth photos, Jessica Ribera

Back in July I had the privilege of taking photos during my friend Jessica’s labor and the birth of her fourth child, Bran Raphael Ribera.

My first goal was to take as good of photos as I could (duh). Bran coming into the Ribera family has a special story and I wanted to make sure I didn’t screw up documentation of his entrance.

Second, was to capture the mother. My underlying desire in all that has to do with pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum is to lift up that magical woman at the center of it all. And being how in this case that mother was a dear friend, it made this experience all the more fun and special.

I hope the Riberas (mainly Jessica) enjoy a little walk down memory lane. And I hope the rest of you get a glimpse of how incredible labor and birth is.

The photos displayed are just some of my favorites.  View all photos on my flickr page.

Painting by Elizabeth VanSnellenberg

 

Photos taken with a Nikon D60, 50mm lens.

Photos from 2015

After several recent posts I’m realizing my theme, at least for now, is 2015. I guess I’ve gotta catch up.

I had so much fun taking photos in 2015, so here are my most favorite. I will say that for me, in my novice photography skills, the best photos are mostly ones of luck. Very few include the right lighting, depth of field, or focus. But I hope that I’ve caught the moment or the person, and the skills will hopefully sharpen as I practice.

Jason has been the encourager of my interest in photography, but he’s also been the technical man; educating me (and reminding me again and again) what aperture, shutter speed, etc., mean. He has helped me take the image I can see with my eye and use the tools in my hands to try and make that picture happen.

Jason even took a few of these photos, which makes me excited because it means I’m actually in some of them!

Enjoy–though I guarantee you won’t have as much fun looking at them as I did being in the moment and capturing them.

These photos were taken with a Nikon D60, mostly with a 50mm lens.