James Family Photos!

Who's ready for summer?  I totally am!  I'm a warm weather girl through and through, so winter is usually a no-fun time for me. :(

BUT--I did have so much fun photographing the James family this winter!  Melissa and Luke have two beautiful boys: Liam (3 1/2 years) and Ethan (1 year).  The Saturday morning that we got together to take pictures was coooold.  We definitely had to stop to blow all of our noses at one point or another (Luke and I were both recovering from colds) and run around to try and keep warm.  Even with the cold, we still got some smiles from the boys and some sweet moments of the family having fun together :)

One of my favorites of the day :)

Every kid loves to be thrown into the air by Daddy!

LIke I said--running to stay warm and to keep the smiles coming.  Hey, whatever works!

Like all brothers--they didn't always want to play nice with each other, but I was still lucky enough to capture a few special moments.  I LOVED the matching hats!

So cute!

One happy family :)

If you liked these photos you may also enjoy one of these other posts:

Terlecki Family Photos

Family Christmas Portrait

Family Christmas

Disney :)

If you follow me on Instagram (@meganhowellphoto), you probably saw my photos from my trip to Disney World back in November.  Those I simply took and edited with my phone.  Here are some of the ones that I took with my camera that weekend.

 One of the things I did that weekend was run (ok.....walk!) the Disney Holiday 5K.  This was the expo the day before--I've been to places like this, but never a Disney one. 

 Cinderella's Castle in B&W--unusual, but I like it.

Try to guess what this is before you scroll to the next photo!

I couldn't get it perfectly symmetrical, but I think I got pretty close!

I probably shouldn't like this picture as much as I do, but I do-no shame.

If you guessed the Epcot Golf Ball--you were right!

We were also there for the Food and Wine Festival--really good!

So this picture and the following were me experimenting because I was bored as we waited for something--I can't even remember what.  I just noticed geometric shadows on the ground looked interesting, so I sat down on the ground in the middle of the sidewalk and tried that capture it in my camera.

I couldn't decide if I liked B&W or color better--what do you think?

My friend, Mary, decided to just rest while I sat on the ground--I like this shot of her just waiting on the bench.  It really shows how you feel at the end of a day at Disney--tired.

Japan--in Epcot.

I know I was not the first person to get this shot, and I certainly will not be the last.  Doesn't mean I don't like it :)

A little product placement-slash- try to figure out the reflection in the balloon.

The floating lanterns from Tangled--one of my Disney favs.

I was definitely standing on top something I shouldn't have been to get these shots, but no one said anything to me :P

Motion blur!  Technically you are supposed to have a tripod and be very calculated to get a shot like this.  I didn't have a tripod and we were rushing back to Cinderella's castle to catch the fireworks show.  All I could do was stabilize my camera on one of the poles that held the chains to form the line for the carousel.  I set my settings and prayed it would work.  And it did!

Settings:

ISO: 3200  f-stop: 10 Shutter speed: 1/15

Sometimes I wish I was still this little......

I've said before on this blog--I love to get shots like this.  Cell phones increasingly get better cameras on them, and can sometimes be in my way of getting good shots.  Instead of moaning--I just take advantage of the screen and get a picture-in-picture type effect.

The best in-camera (no cell phone in the foreground) shot I could get of the firework show.  Don't mind the heads at the bottom-heh.

I totally think this could be a Disney ad--my favorite shot of the entire weekend!  Thanks to my friend Sean for standing still while the rest of us captured this shot!

Family Christmas!

Raise your hand if you have ever been to a big family get-together. 

Yeah, if I could actually see you all, I'm guessing that a lot of you probably raised your hands (or at least thought about it ;).  Seeing and spending time with your extended family is something a lot of us do during the holiday season.

For part of my Christmas this year, I, too, took part in a big family get-together.  The only thing was--it wasn't mine!  I was invited to come to my friend, Paula's, house for her family's Christmas celebration and photograph to whole thing--including family portraits!  Paula has 8 brothers and sisters--and each of them of their own children, and even some grandchildren!  So there were 3 generations of this family all under one roof--so special :)

I was welcomed so warmly into this family.  Everyone was so sweet to me.....smiling for the camera, cracking jokes, and letting me move around as I needed to capture the evening.  In a wonderful way, it reminded me of my own family Christmas celebrations as a kid--I felt like I was with my own family.

This is Paula and her siblings--all 8 of them!

 And here are all the brothers and sisters--with all their husbands and wives!

 Carving the turkey.

 I think this guy was excited for the food :P

(He was also one of the kids that was always ready for the camera!)

 So. Much. Food!!

(It was very good)

 Paula and her sister Theresa.  Theresa so graciously opened her home for all of us to come in.

 I love this photo--this little girl just peeking at me and my camera out of the corner of her eye.

So adorable!

 Like I said--3 generations :)

The house--walkin' in a winter wonderland.

Thank you, Paula and your entire family, for inviting into your family, even for one night.  I feel so privileged to be a part of it <3

And, even though I am a couple of weeks late in saying this to everyone......

Merry Christmas!

And Happy New Year!