It's a GIVEAWAY! Free Mentoring from Crave Photography!

We are very excited to be hosting a FREE MENTORING GIVEAWAY from Crave Photography!

Andee of Crave Photography will be giving away an in depth online mentoring session! You will be able to see her computer screen and watch how she edits her photographs as she takes you through her process live! Everything will be explained and demonstrated step by step!

You will learn:

*several ways to get sharp sparkly eyes

*how to get creamy skin tones

*several different methods for adding yummy light to photographs

*several different ways for adding deep rich shadows

*bold vivid colors

*vintage looks

*ultra sharp photos

*adding artificial lens flares/haze

*working with textures

*Q&A where you can ask Andee any questions about photography, business, photo shoots, lighting, camera, lenses, posing, etc...

You have the potential to be entered 3 times into the giveaway!

1) "LIKE" Crave Photography on facebook and come back and leave a comment here letting us know that you became a fan!

2) Post about the giveaway on facebook and let us know here in the comments!

3) Post about the giveaway on your personal blog and leave a link to your blog and comment here letting us know!

Get ready to rock your photos and learn the tools to produce "CUSTOM" photography and stand out imagery!

Winner will be chosen at random on Saturday, October 9th at midnight CST!! Good luck!

[potd]. wednesday

i adore this shot by belliniportraits - isn't he adorable?! and that beautiful gorgeous light. heavy sigh.

photo of the day {Monday}

How about a (potty) break from the drama of the day?

This fun capture is from Kelly West Mars.

letter to our readers....

i'm sad that i even have to write a post like this, but unfortunately, i do.

for those of you who entered the newborn nest giveaway, i'm sure you know what this is about.
one of the competitors of the newborn nest has taken it upon themselves to email most (if not all) of our readers who entered the giveaway. the email read something about "sorry you did not win the tml contest" and "you might like to try this product". these emails were not from tml and they were not from mindy at newborn nest.

my inbox has been FLOODED with emails. some of those emails are just letting me know this is happening (thank you!), some are are saying how shady and unethical it was of her and others are livid....they are saying that they want to leave the maternal lens because they think that we were behind it. this makes me sad.

i am writing to say that we are in no way behind these emails. we do not give out your emails, we do not stand behind our readers being solicited by a third party. we love our readers...seriously, you all are the best! we have done hundreds of giveaways and nothing like this has ever happened before.

on behalf of the maternal lens and mindy, i am sorry. i'm sorry to those who were upset with this email. i hope you know that this was the work of a competitor and we will do our best that something like this never happens again. i ask that you continue to follow and support the maternal lens and ALL of the companies that contribute to our giveaways. the giveaways are such a fun part of this blog, i would hate to not be able to do them.

if you have any concerns, whatsoever, please feel free to email me, mindy with newborn nest or any of the tml girls....or leave us a comment.

thank you all so much and i hope you have a wonderful weekend!! xo

WINNER OF THE NEWBORN NEST IS......

WOW!! we almost reached 1,000 entries for the newborn nest giveaway. awesome!!!

and the lucky winner is.......

Jennifer Parke Photography said...

I went to the website and I love the ivory! This is such a fun product!

jennifer, please email me at thousandwords@bresnan.net and i will get you the details on claiming your prize.

if you did not win, head on over now to get your own newborn nest. i promise you that you will LOVE it!!!!

thanks again to all who entered and to mindy for such a great giveaway!!

POTD [Tuesday]

I adore this photo by Saj. I love how it makes me feel like I am one of the roses, reaching up towards the gorgeous sunlight.

Have a terrific Tuesday, everyone!

**** UPDATE****[lens 4 sale] SOLD SOLD SOLD SOLD

THANKS SO MUCH EVERYONE. THE LENS HAS BEEN SOLD. IF YOU DON'T HEAR FROM ME I APOLOGIZE, THE RESPONSE WAS HUGE. HAVE A FAB DAY! XO


lots of response for this lens. i am responding to emails in the order i received them. i think that is the only fair way. i believe at this point the lens is sold. the lens is $625 for those asking (and i apologize i neglected that earlier) including shipping. thanks TML'rs - you're fabulous. but you already knew that!! xo



thought i'd let the TML readers get in on this first before broadcasting to the rest of the interwebs. if anyone is interested a fellow photog friend of mine is selling the following:

nikon (sorry canon users) 16mm 2.8 fish-eye. lightly used. both caps. ready to go.

if you've always liked the results you can get using a fish eye now's your chance - this is a great price. in very good condition. believe me, my friend is anal about taking care of her equipment!

any interest - please email me (meg) directly at:

meg@bluelimephoto.com

thank you and hope you all continue to have a smashing day! xo

{newborn nest giveaway!!!}

so as photographers, i think we all know that the best way to photograph newborns in to put them on a bean bag covered by a blanket. sounds easy enough, right?? and isn't a bean bag a bean bag. i mean, really....is there any difference between one you pick up at walmart versus these fancy ones made for newborn photography?
i will be the first to admit that i was a skeptic. i have used my cheapo shopko beanbag for the last year or so. i thought it was just fine. okay...so there were times i was yelling at it in my head during a session because it was too small or too narrow or it just wasn't doing what i needed it to do at that moment....but i figured that was just how it was.

well, then i saw mindy was putting out a new product called the newborn nest. interesting. it looked great, but was it really necessary. i mean, my shopko one was totally rocking it....or so i thought.



curiosity got me and a few weeks later my newborn nest arrived at my door. i opened it up. it felt good. it seemed sturdy...but still hard to tell. so, i headed to walmart, picked up some bags of bean bag fill and started stuffing away. as i filled it up, i have to say i was quite impressed. man, was this thing huge!! i set it next to my shopko bag and it was laughable! okay, but did bigger mean better? hmmm....was it going to work when i have to go to someones tiny apartment? would it be too big? that was my first concern....

then, i used it for a session. wow!! the difference was quite amazing. i had soooo much room to place the newborn how i wanted. i had room to move her around. i could put her in positions i never could before because she would have fallen off on my old bean bag. it was a world of difference.







i was still concerned about the size. my first session with it was in a rather big house with lots of room. well, my next session was a great test. i had a newborn session...with twins...in a small room. perfect! can i just say....GO AND BUY A NEWBORN NEST...now. yes. now.
i love, love, love it!!! i was able to have so much room for the twins. i could even set one to the side while photographing the other. and the small space? it totally fit. was not a problem at all!!





it's durable (wipes clean easily after baby pees and poos....trust me! haha), well made, cozy and comfortable and gives you so much room that your photos will have endless possibilities.


the opening is closed by heavy duty velcro. i admit i was concerned about that too. my last one had a double zipper. i was certain that the velcro would come undone or would leak fill as i was moving, pushing, shoving the bag, but it didn't at all. it's bullet proof velcro! haha!



and now the best part?!?!
mindy is giving away one of these amazing newborn nests to one of our readers!!! how excited are you?!

here's how to enter to win:
-visit mindy's newborn nest shop and check it out. come back and leave a comment saying what color you like and why you would love a newborn nest.

-for a bonus entry, visit the newborn nest facebook page, become a fan, leave some love and then come back here and let us know you now follow on facebook.

good luck to you all!!!!!
contest will end thursday 9/23 at noon.

{low down, throw down with megan rogers}

i hope you all have enjoyed getting to know the TML ladies a bit better this week!

to top the week off we have the ever so lovely, megan rogers.

the first thing that comes to mind when i think about megan is her passion. she is passionate about her children and her family. she is passionate about natural birth. she is passionate about making the world a better place. she is a kind soul and ready and willing to give to whoever may need something...no matter what that something may be. she is a quiet person, but you will be sure to hear her loud and clear when she is standing up for something she believes in. she is a mother/friend with a heart of gold.

her photography is beautiful, full of life and she leaves touches of her passion in every photo.
we are so very lucky to have her as a part of our TML team!

we love you megan! xo

Name: Megan Rogers

Business names:

Trees and Bees Photography

Birth as Art
Red Barn Wedding Photography

Location: Topeka, Kansas, USA

Websites: www.treesandbeesphotography.com
www.birthasart.com
www.redbarnweddingphotography.com

Tell us one sentence to describe your photography:
Photography that you can feel…emotional, real, and unposed.

What's one thing that everyone should know about you?:
I’m outspoken, I’m always willing to stand up for something that I believe in, something that I feel passionately about. Sometimes I think it is a curse. I can’t just sit back and say nothing when I feel somebody is being wronged or mistreated. I’ve been criticized for this on more than one occasion, and thanked for it also. People mistake this for being somebody who likes drama or somebody who is trying to stir things up. And honestly it couldn’t be farther from the truth. I do not like conflict. I’ve never been really angry at a person longer than a few hours. It really bothers me when I feel that somebody is angry with me. I am sensitive, I cry fairly easily…especially when I am pregnant. Which has been pretty much the last 4 years of my life.

How long have you been doing photography and how did you get started:
This is my fourth year in business. I’ve always had a love for it. Like Meg, I grew up in front of my father’s lens. Spent lots of time in his darkroom watching him develop prints, mostly of myself. I first dappled in photography in high school when I took a photography class. I borrowed my dad’s camera’s, learned how to work a camera, develop my own film and prints. Tried to get creative, think outside of the box, see things in a different light. I went to college, and photography was not offered unless you were an art major, which I was not, my degree is in psychology. Which ties into my photography, I capture people the way I see them. When my husband and I first met, we used to shoot things we found interesting on the weekends. Like ice on the power lines after a Kansas snowstorm. But it wasn’t until we were married, my daughter was about 9 months old, we had just moved back to Kansas, and I borrowed my dad’s D-SLR. It was my first experience with a camera other than a film camera, I was skeptical. I didn’t think things could be captured digitally the same way they were captured on film. Black and whites would never look the same. But with some practice it became like riding a bicycle again, fairly easy to pick back up. This is about the time I met Meg and Shannon. None of us were in business yet. We were honing our skills, practicing on our children, and eventually people started asking us to take their photos. They liked how we captured things. I jumped in feet first, I registered my business, got a tax ID and starting taking people’s photos for money. I remember being nervous the first time I took photos for a client, whom I had never met in person. They ordered a 20X24 too. I have definitely come a very long way since then. Improving each year, each season, each session.

If they made a movie about your life, what would it be titled and who would play you?
It would be called Birth as Art, about a mom who naturally births her babies, the last one weighing in at 10 pounds 8 ounces (this is based on a true story you know). Who also equally enjoys photographing other people’s births as much as she loves actually giving birth to her own babies. Crazy some will say…but I wouldn’t have it any other way. And Jennifer Aniston would play my part.

What is your best post processing tip?
Learn how to batch edit in Lightroom, it frees up oodles of time.

Must have or favorite action?

Definitely Florabella’s Vintage Actions. Soft Urban is a staple of mine.

What is your best tip for getting great lighting in photos?
Simple, keep your back to the sun, but stay out of the sun. Find open shade if outdoors, or use window light from the north if indoors. And learn how to properly expose in camera, do not rely on post processing to correct this for you.

What does beautiful mean to you?
It’s a feeling you get. It’s something you feel when you see a young couple in love, or a special moment shared between a dad and his daughter, or the birth of a baby, or a bride coming down the aisle or the sight of the first blossoms in Spring. Real beauty stirs up emotion inside of you.

What type of sessions are your favorite (children, family, newborns....) and why? That’s a difficult question. It’s a toss-up between photographing a birth and a child’s first year photos. No wait…maybe engagement sessions, those are also some of my favorites. Okay, see why I need three separate businesses? All favorites, all very important rites of passage in a human’s life.

What equipment do you use and if you had only one lens to use...what would it be?
I shoot with a Nikon d300, I got it when it was brand new, when it was the coolest thing around. Of course it was only to be overshadowed the next time Nikon released their newest coolest camera, but it still does the trick. Only one lens, I love the 50mm 1.4 but I think I’d choose my 85mm 1.4.

How long is your average session? How many pics do you take vs how many you show your client?
My average session is right around 1 hour, not including weddings, birth, or newborns. I take around 200 photos, and I edit around 35 for the client to view in their gallery. This of course varies per session, but these are my averages I would say.

As a mom and photographer, how do you balance your life?
I stay at home during the day with my kids and play mommy, and stay up late at night when they are asleep in their beds and all is silent, editing photos. But I don’t think I could do it without my husband and my mom. I never feel guilty or worry about my children when I have to go shoot a client, because I know they are in good, loving hands.

Where do you see yourself in 10 years?
The mom of a 10 year old, 11 year old and 14 year old. Sounds like possibly in a psychiatric ward. j/k

What song inspires you? You know the one that can lift your spirits no matter what:Well the one that moves me the most is “Calling All Angels” by Jane Siberry. It is my son, Charlie’s song. The song I gave birth to him with, the song that friends and family played while he was having open heart surgery when he was two weeks old, and the song that I still cry to every time I hear it. But it was so fitting for him, I had no idea how meaningful it would become when I chose it as his birth song.

What is the all time best book you've ever read?
Tuesday’s With Morrie by Mitch Albom. It’s the kind of book that will change your life for the better. You cannot read that book without coming away a better person for it.

If we surprised you at your house today, what would be the first thing we would notice?
More than likely there would be Cheerios, raisins, or Goldfish on the floor, underneath Charlie’s highchair. There usually is. I sweep it up multiple times a day, but I usually miss one or two. And Marley would be playing with her Troy and Gabriella Barbie dolls. Lucy would be on a blanket on the floor, on her tummy, since she cannot stay off of her tummy after having learned how to roll over. And Charlie might very well be eating a Goldfish off of the floor or pushing the button on the back of Marley’s Barbie so that it plays a song from High School Musical. They’d all turn and look at you, for a brief moment. Charlie would probably say “Da Da” since that is what he says anytime anyone walks in the front door. And then they’d go about their happy little selves.

thanks again to all of you who read all about us!! we loved sharing ourselves with you and hope you liked it too! if you missed any, you can see them here- jen, meg, shannon and sarah

{low down, throw down with Sarah Long}

I am so lucky to get to introduce to you one of my best friends and wedding business partner, Sarah Long. We're the only two Maternal Lensers who live in the same town, and who knew each other on a live, in the flesh, day to day basis. For this reason, I feel like I can best introduce Sarah, tell you more about her than she'd even allow me to. (wink, wink) Not only is she my top choice of professional photographers, photographing my last two births (alright maybe SHE knows too much about ME), but she is also a very loving mother to two biological children as well as a mother by choice and love to two more very special girls. Currently in the fostering/adoption process. She's also fluent in American Sign Language and works as a sign language interpreter during the day at an elementary school. Sarah is very easy to be around, there's not a time we're together that we're not laughing, usually at each other. We've had some adventures together, from saving stray cats to most recently trying to fit a couch into a very small doorway very late at night. Sarah has a heart of gold, she's always been a great friend, loved by all, and admired for her wonderful ability to balance her day job, with photography, and motherhood. Her talent speaks for itself, through her photos you can feel the emotion, she captures a person's soul. Sit back, pour yourself Sarah's favorite drink, a chai tea, and prepare to feel joyful.

Name:

Sarah Long

Business Name:

(I am all of:)

Joyful Photography by Sarah Long

&

(I am half of:)

Red Barn Wedding Photography

Location:

Topeka, KS

Websites:

http://www.joyfulphoto.com/

&

http://www.redbarnweddingphotography.com/

Tell us one sentence to describe your photography:

Within my photography I strive to capture the realness of life, and the spirit of joy; all painted with beautiful light.

What's one thing everyone should know about you?

Hmmm, I am tempted to talk about my secret fear of balloons. Instead I guess I will note that my family is my world, and I am a child of God.

How long have you been doing photography and how did you get started?

I have been 'doing' photography for about ten years...professionally about five...really seriously professionally about three. I got started because I wanted a hobby...it became more serious as I wanted to learn how to document my childrens' lives better. It took on a life of its own from there.

If they made a movie about your life, what would it be and who would play you?

I've always flinched a bit at this question—because it really made me think! I would have to say 'Victorious,' because in my life I have overcome much. I think it would be rad if Kirstie Alley played me. No, really!

What is your best processing tip?

I am going to echo what the other girls have said...less is more! Get it right in camera, and your post processing life is much easier. Learn how to use the curves tool correctly in PS...it is my most useful tool. Also, I love me some burned edges...but for a softer feel dodge the edges of the photo. Try it, you'll like it!

What is your best tip for getting great lighting in photos?

I am a natural light photog, so I move around. A lot. See how the subject looks from different angles. Chase the light! Most of the time, it's there.

What does beautiful mean to you?

I think Confucius said that everyone has beauty, but not everyone sees it. I think that is in part why I do what I do. I see it. Also, the real deal of course is the beauty that shines out from within.

Explain to us your dream vacation.

At this point in my life, I really think it would be awesome to take the family on a Disney Cruise!! :blush: The little ones would love it and I think my husband and I would too. In ten years...my dream vacation would definitely be just me, the hubbs, and my camera in some non-touristy village off the beaten path in the mountains of Japan.

Which sessions are your favorite (children, e-sessions, family, etc.) and why?

This is killing me to pick one—because I truly do love every kind of session for different reasons. Each one brings something different to the table. Right now, though, I am really digging weddings. Such true emotion and realness waiting to be caught. This exact reason is also why I adore birth photography.

What equipment do you use, and if you only had one lens to use, what would it be?

I shoot with, and really love my Canon 50D. My 50 1.4 is glued to it most of the time. I don't think I could live without this lens! The sun mostly provides the rest.

What is your most embarrassing moment?

Hmmm, I have this memory from grade school of doing sit-ups in gym class. Each kid had a partner sitting on their feet. Well, each time I did a sit up, let's just say that a not so nice little noise from down below accompanied it! Hey—you asked!!!

As a mom and photographer, how do you balance your life?

Again, I feel like I am echoing my TML sisters when I say, it is a work in progress. I am too busy, most of the time. My children and family are always my first priority, but much of the time I feel stretched way too thin. I plan on working on this big-time in the next year, however. Daily meditation and prayer time are going to be a requirement for starting my day.

Where do you see yourself in ten years?

I see myself sitting in the grass, with a hot cup of tea, watching my growing family laugh around me. I see my career exploding off the hook more than I could ever have imagined, but that is ok because I am going to be an expert at time management by then. :)

What song inspires you? You know, the one that can lift your spirits no matter what.

'Untitled Hymn' by Chris Rice. Hands down.

What is the all time best book you've ever read?

I love to read. A recent favorite is The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. He has a way with imagery that I have never encountered with any other writer before.

If we surprised you at your house today, what would be the first thing we would notice?

BOXES. Everywhere! We are moving in two and a half weeks!! You would probably smell something scrumptious in the oven that my sweet husband had made, too.

Have you ever had a photo session bomb?

Once, when I was portfolio building (luckily with one of my friends), I realized that my manual, film camera had not grabbed the film correctly upon loading, so I had zero images to show from our hour long session! Ugh! Still makes me queasy. :o/

What is your favorite print company?

Mpix and MpixPro!

How have you weathered the huge influx of photographers over the years?

Be true to yourself. Be true to your vision and style, and also sound business practices. Do not under or overprice yourself. (This is tricky!) You will rise up. Also—word of mouth is everything. Tap into your resources (community, online and otherwise.) Love what you do!