It was so lovely to be back in Chicago again.  The fabulous Hotel Palomar was our home away from home this weekend.  Have I told you how much I love this hotel?!?  So much that we have booked our DC workshop at Hotel Palomar now as well.  They treated us with “over the top” kindness and care.  I have no doubt that I will be back to that place!

We started off with our baby shoot the first day of the workshop.  These ladies really had their work cut out for them.   I had the groups work in different types of lighting situations with the baby models.  Some were in a hotel room, others were in the lobby and working with white balance and composition, others were in a dark room that I was challenging them to take apart and see what the secrets were to making the dark room still work.  It was awesome!

I love the composition of this shot by Laura Meador.  Using the rule of thirds, she captured her subject on the left side of the image and the creaminess of the white background with the twinkle of that chandelier just draw us right in.  Mmmmm.  Gorgeous!

Bailey King captured this little peanut by the large windows in one of the rooms we were in.   With windows like these, it is easy to find “catch lights” in your subjects eyes.  You can see them really well in the image where she is holding onto the chair.  Remember, you can always position your subject then take a walk around them watching their eyes, when you see the “catch lights” or that “perfect light” on their face, stop… and shoot from there.

I believe that both of these next images are from Amalie Orrange.   What happens when you stand up a child next to a chair at this stage in their life?  Well, they will either stomp one foot and giggle or slap the chair with both hands and giggle, right?  This little cutie pie did just that.  She was having a blast.  I love that you caught her so we can see those bottom teeth.  Great job Amalie!

Something intrigues me about the images that Kara Schoenle, of Kara Leigh Photography took that day.  Look at how blurry her background is.  Wowza!  And the second image is just priceless.  I could stare at it all day.  A sibling reaching for the baby’s foot…adorable!

Sometimes, if the mom is for it, you can get purely natural images when the mom is nursing.  Sarah Card had just the perfect viewpoint with dad also in the shot.  Superb!

One of my favorite shots, Sarah Exley perfectly composed and had great even light on this shot when mom was reading to her little girl.

I couldn’t stress enough how useful the large windows in this room were that day.  The light dropped off very quickly once you moved away from the windows.  I can tell that Erica Neilitz worked very hard to expose this little guy perfectly.  His skin tone if amazing with crisp, sharp eyes.

Oh my goodness, Christa Donald, look at the sparkle you caught in the image on the right…and those eyelashes are killer!

Sometimes you can’t get between your light source and your subject.  Having the subject in this image at 90 degrees from the light source really works.  I really like the dimension it gave the baby’s facial features.  Beautiful LaToya Gettings!

Melissa Anderson, you had some fantastic images from the workshop.  I chose these wonderful detail shots of this little munchkin!  The skin tones of the hand shot are “spot on”!

This little man was happy also in the white chairs they had in the lobby.  These chairs were just plain awesome…awesome like I need them in my house…and awesome for little ones who could pull up, but not yet walk!  Very nice Olena Thompson!

Such gorgeous, even light Sue Rusco caught in her image.  This is a great example of shooting “tight” to eliminate the background, which of course is mom or dad holding her.

I wish I knew who took this image.  I am diggin’ the bright colors.

Tina Erdmann of Tina LeAnn Photography, really “found the light” for her images.  Simply wonderful!

I can’t leave today with a few Behind the Scenes from Day 1.  Thank goodness for these huge windows!

Ladies, it was so nice getting to know you!  I felt your confidence grow and really shine through by the end of the weekend.  Keep reaching for your dreams and goals.  Stay tuned for Part 2 tomorrow!

XOXO
Me Ra

PS.  There are still a few spots left in the Sacramento and Dallas Confidence Workshops.  DC and Seattle are SOLD OUT!