Melissa McCrotty Photography

It’s hard to believe that Cale is already celebrating his first birthday! One of the bad things about being a photographer is having to miss fun stuff, like Cale’s birthday party, because of a wedding tommorrow. One of the good things about being a photographer…..your sister finds it easy to forgive you when you offer to take a few one year picturesJust kidding, Lori would have forgiven me anyway! Here are a few shots we got in downtown after our monthly family breakfast at Stoby’s…..

Probably my favorite….

Don’t kill me, Lor, just thought this was funny…

Kenzie’s motto is….you can take my picture, IF you can catch me!

After downtown, we had to run out to my parent’s house for a bit, and I took a few more of the girls playing there. Yesterday, we had a very exciting event happen, we had ACTUAL family pictures taken by a professional photographer! Jamie Fender out of Little Rock was kind enough to meet up with us, and put up with us…and I can’t wait to see what kind of great pictures she got. But, it kind of served as a reminder, because lately, I have been so busy with portraits and weddings, I have slacked off taking pictures of the girls. And, there really is no one else I had rather shoot! So, a few more, to tide me over, until I get to see Jamie’s!

They fight a LOT, but when they aren’t fighting, they really are becoming good friends. It’s so fun to see their little relationship starting to bloom!

Patti was in Russellville visiting family for the holidays, and she convinced her husband to watch their 15-month-old long enough for us to get in a 101 session.A photography 101 session is where I met up with another photographer and just answer questions and talk shop. We usually arrange an abbreviated shoot. Then, we come back to my home office and do a bit of editing and wrap things up. We really just hit the highlights of what I have learned in the past 18 months of being a wedding photographer.

I should do a little disclaimer here: I SERIOUSLY DO NOT know everything there is to know about photography. Nor do I *think* I do. FAR from it. I am still learning, every single day. And, I am pretty sure I always will be. That’s one of the things I like best about photography. You grow, you evolve, you change constantly. It’s hard to get bored when you are learning all of the time. About 18 months ago, I decided to pursue photography as a wedding photographer, and not just a hobbyist. And, I tried to find someone in this area who could help me. I really didn’t have much luck, and the majority of what I learned was from the school of trial and error. Some things I have learned are now so simple, but in the beginning seemed SO hard, just because I was forced to teach myself.

Which is why I decided to offer photography 101 sessions. They are not designed to help a “serious” photographer who is already in a well-established business. These are for people just starting out, people with questions, but no one to ask them to. People like me, who want to learn, and who learn better through hands-on and demonstration, rather than just reading information in a book or on the Internet.

Probably the major points Patti and I discussed were the advantages and disadvantages of shooting RAW versus JPEG, shooting in manual versus aperture settings, and editing in Lightroom versus Picassa. We also talked a bit about websites and facebook, as well as online hosting galleries. Patti is a kindergarten teacher, who shoots mainly portrait sessions in her spare time, all while going to school to get her master’s degree in counseling…while also being a mommy! Really don’t know how she does it all! Patti, it was great spending time with you, and I sincerely hope you came away with some things to help your business!

For our short-session, we were fortunate to work with the lovely Lacey. Here are a few of my favorites ……..

Thanks, girls!