Just a Snake in the... Mud...?

I have often risked my own well being for the sake of a photo.  I have climbed up on places that were not only probably not safe, but certainly not allowed by the venue's rules.  I have gotten myself knee deep stuck in mud, water, or plants I'm allergic to.  I have almost fallen into lakes, oceans, fires, off ladders, buildings, out of trees... if I see a shot I want, I become pretty much fearless.

This shot was taken this past April on a walk with my husband on a friend's property down in Kentucky.  We had *just* finished a conversation in which I stated I really hoped we didn't come across any snakes on our walk because I was sure it would freak me out a bit (we had just been told a pretty graphic story about a turkey destroying a huge snake and I was all paranoid.  I'm not afraid of snakes, I just know that I would never be able to tell you if one I came across was poisonous or not, and that doesn't sit well with me.  Not 5 minutes after we stopped talking about snakes, I almost stepped on this one in the mud on our way back to the house.  Instead of freaking out, I leaned in closer to shoot as many frames as I could get before he skittered away.  This snake was more fearless than I was.  In fact, I have an incredible frame (that is unfortunately not in focus) of this guy lunging at my lens with his mouth wide open.  He was pretty sure he was gonna take me down.  I like this shot the best of the ones I got because of the shadow under him.  Adds drama, and I love me some dramatic shadows!

Babies R Us

I love kids.  I love babies.  I very much look forward to motherhood someday, but in the meantime I content myself with taking photos of other people's kids.  Recently I did a giveaway on my Shutterbug Facebook page for a couple of people to get free baby photos.  This was mostly to help me expand my portfolio in that particular genre, but I ended up having so much fun with it I may have to do a similar giveaway again in the future!  One of the winners was a girl I used to go to high school with.  She is now mother of two, and wanted to get some updated photos of her youngest (8 months).  This shot was one of my favourites of the day.  I had a lot of fun, but the shoot was also a challenge since the baby had recently learned to crawl and was far more interested in showing off how fast she could move out of the frame :o)  I learned a lot for future shoots, and enjoyed doing it.  This shot makes me smile though because it has got to be one of the most adorable facial expressions I've seen in a very long time.  I also really liked how the backdrop split really worked with the photo so I didn't have to re-edit the entire background like with some of the frames from the shoot (note to self, buy bigger backdrop to use when photographing small and mobile children! lol)

If you need baby or kid photos, send us a note to book a session (Rachel@ShutterbugDesign.com) or if you have a great baby or kid photo you'd like to share please send us a link!

Oscar Nod #4

So not a whole lot of people I know seem to agree with me yet, but I LOVED "How to Train Your Dragon" it was AWESOME.  The whole time I kept thinking of my kitty, Simon, who has so many of the same facial expressions as the Night Fury.  It was great.
Animals are so interesting to me (especially kitties - I'm obsessed), how expressive they are and how they can have such different personalities.  How to Train Your Dragon is definitely my pick for animated films so far... way better than Toy Story 3.

Oscar Nod #3

I finally got to see the newest Harry Potter flick in theatres before it was gone so I was excited.  This photo came to mind as I was thinking about the movie today, as it reminds me a little of the cemetery that Harry visits at Godric's Hollow.  Being so old and creepy, there is something serene about it.  My husband and I stumbled across this cemetery while we were exploring some woods on our honeymoon in Nova Scotia.  I love cemeteries anyway, so I couldn't believe my luck. There was such a strong spirit there, of calm grief.  It was beautiful.

Oscar Nod #2

Alice in Wonderland is a great story, for kids and for adults.  When Tim Burton got his hands on it, it became a phenomenal piece of art.  I shot this photo last summer doing a portrait sitting at the Detroit Zoo for a little girl.  When she showed up in her blue and white polka dot dress with her long blond curls the first thing I thought was Alice.  This image for me captured the idea of Alice entering Wonderland - a place that may seem unattainable to some (hence the chains) but that can also be easily entered by those who choose (as she easily pushes the chains aside).  The lushness of the plants through the chains also invoked that sense of richness and colour that Wonderland is so often captured by filmmakers.


What images invoke wonder for you?

Oscar Nod #1

I am a movie nut.  I love watching movies at home, in the theatre... I just love movies!  The past few years I have tried to view as many Oscar nominees as possible between the time they are nominated and the time the winners are announced.  This year I am working on my annual quest, but as I was watching Toy Story 3, I was inspired to shoot some photos in tribute to it.  I had so much fun with it, I've decided to try and shoot a tribute shot to each of the nominees I watch, so be on the lookout for my photo-interpretations of each film!  What has inspired some of your own works?

Hey Jude

My husband and I recently adopted two kittens... which means the subject of 98% of my photography this month has been... the kittens :o)  I will try to refrain from posting exclusively kitty shots for the next few weeks, but this one was just too precious not to share.  I usually have a tough time catching them with open eyes because of my flash, especially up close like this, and yet here we have a beautiful portrait of Jude showing off his awesome eyes.  We've had a blast watching them grow and they are now about halfway through their first round of vet trips and shots... at the moment they're driving me crazy running around and clawing up my hands, but they're still adorable ;o)