Christine Barker's Blog

Mike and Judy Family Engagement Session

christinebarker — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 13:31:36 +0000

Today I am overjoyed to present Mike and Judy’s family engagement session.

Mike and Judy are unbelievably in love, have an AMAZING energy together, and have a BEAUTIFUL family!

Judy’s crew is on the left and Mike’s crew is on the right. BUT….

Together…

Together is a wonderful blended family. This group has such a fun dynamic too. They all have a great scene of humor, love to laugh, and make it obvious that their family is very important to them. They also make it obvious that love is what brings them all together. Speaking of love, who are the bride and groom? (Like I had to ask?? hee hee)

WOW you guys!!!

Oh, and by the way Mike… I saw the picture of the dress… WOWZA!!! You hit the jackpot!!

I can’t wait for the big day guys. It’s going to be amazingly beautiful, and OH so much fun with a family as great as yours!

~CB

Dreams from a Wedding Photographer

christinebarker — Mon, 13 Sep 2010 12:51:17 +0000

SOAR has given many amazing assignments. Most of which I keep on my laptop for my own personal scrutiny, but today I wanted to post this months assignment on the blog.
We were told to write out our dreams. I started with a list, but the more I thought about it, the more I felt as though I was giving the first dream more importance. I truly feel that all my dreams have equal value. They just happen to be in different aspects of my life.

I dream that my son knows his parents love him unconditionally. I dream that he knows even when he is angry or doesn’t agree with the decisions his father and I make, we will never turn our back on him. I dream he is able to feel free enough to express himself in a constructive way, and feel safe doing it.

I dream about my work…. I LOVE my work! (and I love saying that) I love weddings. I love meeting new friends, and sharing in their excitement of their relationships. I love that people trust me to bring their emotions to life, and I dream to keep doing this, in a BIG way.

I dream of inspiring others to include art in their lives. I firmly believe what we surround ourselves with and participate in help direct our lives.

I dream that the question of photography being included as “art” is answered with a YES by the majority of people. I dream that as photography evolves with new technologies, “art” sees it as a positive evolution.

I dream of people taking on new technologies/photography with creativity and curiosity instead of uncertainty and self doubt. I also dream of helping people to do this.

I also dream of being the type of person that follows her dreams.

I also dream that my writing gets better

Congrats to Dan and Casey

christinebarker — Tue, 07 Sep 2010 18:06:34 +0000

The last Saturday of July can be a warm time of year. This year, the love between two beautiful people made it even warmer.

Over the course of the day, you could feel the love and friendship guests shared. Dan and Casey had an incredible wedding! I am humbled and honored to be allowed to witness it.

Some of the vendors that made it possiable are:

Heather from Behind the Vail LLC was AMAZING with beautiful styles hairstyles. She is so talented and quick it put the bridal party at ease to know they were in such good hands.

The venue was beyond beautiful! Part of The Samaritan Woman is a 1924 historic event center. Located inside Baltimore city, it provides a secluded and tranquil environment. The ceremony and reception flowed in such a lovely way. What a beautiful place.

Me Ra Koh Workshop Day 2 Part 1

christinebarker — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 14:02:03 +0000

The second day of the workshop was devoted to Metering, Marketing and Lightroom. What a very informative day!!! For pictures of us acting out the process of creating a catalog in lightroom check out my photos in Facebook. www.facebook.com/christinebarker

The second part of the day we were set into groups again and a family shoot commenced. I worked with two AMAZING families. Here you will find the first family. You will then have to come back tomorrow to meet the second family I had the pleasure to photograph.

Meet Debbie, Craig and their two sons.

I really struggled with this shoot. Not that they were a difficult family to photograph, but because with 4 other photographers there no one wanted to step on each others toes. I was hesitant to give direction or change where we were photographing them because I wasn’t sure if people were still shooting.

This lead to incredible growth for me. I took shoots that I wouldn’t normally take. I off centered myself and am quite happy with the results.

You know me though, it just wouldn’t be me unless we could add some humor to it too.

We then split the family up. First we photographed just the boys.

Don’t forget the details.

Again, with so many photographers there I found more shots to take. Here is Mom watching the boys get their photo taken.

We then had the boys split up and get their photo taken with Mom and Dad.

I love this next one. Look at their faces as these HUGE military helicopters flew right past them.

Here is the other half of the family, checking out the choppers.

DETAILS!! Love this shot… Mom feels so ethereal. Always able to give a hug.

Here is one last one for good measure

NJ Workshop Day 1 Part 2

christinebarker — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 13:00:28 +0000

What do you do when you get a BEAUTIFUL group of women together who have never met, but all seem to be kindred spirits?

Go to dinner.

An evening of laughter, drinks, dancing, and good times were on the playbill.

Ok, so that is WHO was there… now what did I say was also there? Laughing… Check

Food… Check

Drinks… check

And last but not least…. dancing… check

Was that the waiter?

Some final pictures to wrap this up.

Jane taking pictures with me…

Marcia who can ALWAYS make me laugh!! Gonna miss ya down in TX girl!

What .. JANE!! Quit getting into my shots!

JANE!!! DANG IT!! HA HA

NJ Workshop Day 1 part 1

christinebarker — Tue, 08 Jun 2010 13:00:19 +0000

The first day of the workshop revolved around ISO, shutter speeds, and aperture. This part of the day was very useful to me. Another attendee there stated what I was thinking. It was not that I needed to learn what was being taught, but more of an affirmation that I really did know what was being said. It is amazing sometimes what you can get yourself to think you don’t know, when you are being too hard on yourself. We followed up the teaching portion of the day with a new born shoot. This was difficult in that I have never shoot with anyone else before. Shooting a baby and mother with 4 other people in your group and 4 other groups around you is NO EASY TASK, but we all had a lot of fun with it!

Still I employed the pertinent exercises. (Details and Less is More)

I totally couldn’t decide which one I like better. Any thoughts?

Then some close-ups. OHHHHHHHHHH How cute is this guy!??

Should we go for details?

And with 22 women shooting, 5 mothers, 5 babies, ( and I think 2 dads) Settings become a bit more tight. This is what I came up with.

Here is a last one for good measure. What do you think?

Preparation for a Workshop

christinebarker — Sun, 06 Jun 2010 13:00:01 +0000

It has been just over a week since my WONDERFUL workshop with Me Ra Koh and 22 other amazing women. (oh yeah, Brian too) The weekend changed me, but it all started with preparation.

One of the assignments that was assigned prior to arriving at the workshop was to take photos for 20 min. I won’t tell you what we were to do with them, but I will share some of the shots that I took.

I choose to tag a long with Liam and Dada as they went to the local park to shoot off balloon rockets. These are balloons that are meant to be filled and then let go. They then fly though the air making all kinds of funny noises.
Liam loved the thought of it, but the first time one flew past him, he was up in Dada’s arms faster than one could say “What was that?!” However, it was short lived. Liam was soon down running to pick up balloons that had made their trip in space and then quickly fallen back to earth. Darn gravity, got me again!

We were so happy to run into our across the street neighbors. They have two BEAUTIFUL little girls who were just as excited to play with the balloons.

I kept all the recent SOAR assignments in mind while shooting.

Settings -

Here is the park we were at, and the kids are running around picking up the fallen balloons.

Less is more -

Fear wears off as interest peaks.

Details

After a day of running through the grass.

And Capturing Conflict

“WHAT WAS THAT?!?!”

Cameraless Zoo Trip

christinebarker — Wed, 26 May 2010 17:11:50 +0000

Today I took my son to the zoo, as I have many times before. I realized, as this was our first trip this season, that today was going to be the first day that he would really understand that there are animals in front of him. It was also going to be the first day that he understood that those animals were alive. He stayed true to form. He was SO excited!

We rode the trolley from the front gate to the exhibit area. We fed the giraffe. Ate ice cream (it was 90 degrees today). We watched the elephants spray themselves down with water, and we gooed at the baby gorilla.

I am NOT one that typically leaves my camera at home, but in a calculated move, today I did. I don’t have a single photo from today, and I cry as I type that. I don’t cry for sadness, I cry because I am happy. I wanted to really BE there for him as he experienced this, and I was. I didn’t want to constantly be worried about what angle I was shooting from, where he was, or worse yet, who was going to try to snag a piece of equipment while my head was somewhere else.I got to experience his eyes light up as he saw his first animal. I listened to him gabber on about, well, who knows what, but it was PURE excitement. I watched his crooked finger point to things that he wanted named, and my heartstrings were pulled as much as he push me forward anticipating what was next.

In all of his wonder I realized that he is still going to be VERY excited the next time I take him. I am planning to go back with Dad so I can have a second set of eyes while taking photos. One suggestion… when you really want to BE in the moment, leave the camera at home. Plan some shots for the next time, come back and take EVEN BETTER ones. Those really great shots of his second “coherent” trip will remind me of the wonder I was there to support on his first.

I love you with all of my heart my son!

Bill, Ashley and Liam’s Family Photography

christinebarker — Mon, 24 May 2010 09:21:01 +0000

When given a chance to make new friends, I JUMP on it.

When given a chance to make new clients I JUMP on it.

When given a chance to make new clients and friends, I FLY for it!

Last week I met Bill, Ashley and their little Liam. I get to call him “little” because my Liam is a full 1 year and 5 days older than theirs.

Liam is an amazingly BEAUTIFUL little boy. Who is NEVER short of a smile!

Little Liam is SOOOO close to walking without having to hold Mommy and Daddy’s hand! Was this step one?

I caught a serious side of this little man, and his eyes just captured me!

This family was full of love, caring and genuine happiness. I am BEYOND happy that I got to meet them, and even more happy that I am SURE our paths will cross again! Hopefully SOON!

PS HAPPY BIRTHDAY LIAM!!

Lines, Lines and More Lines

christinebarker — Wed, 05 May 2010 11:08:38 +0000

The last post I talked about the elements of art. These are :

Elements of art.
Line
Shape
Value
Texture
Color

Currently we are working with Line. We also talked about the characteristic of line. Here is a simplified list of those characteristics:

Physical – Length and width

Type – Straight, curved, or zig zaged

Direction - Horizontal, Vertical and Diagonal

Location – Where it is located in the work (top, bottom, side)

I want to relate these characteristics not only to drawing, but also to the photos I take. In order to limit myself to line, I took some photos and changed them to black and white (takes out the element of color). Lets look at these two

I found lines all over these photos. The shadow creates lines, the curve of the flower creates lines. Even the change of the colors creates lines (shown in greys by a Black and White photo).

Flower A:

Flower B:

These are two flowers I took. (HA, bet you couldn’t tell, right?)

What feeling do you get from these flowers?

I don’t know about you, but the first flower, flower A, feels light and fun. The second flower, flower B, seems more stable and strong.

So I wonder why? Why do I get those feelings from a picture?

As I discussed in the last post with each of the characteristics of line come a feeling associated with it.

Thick lines tend to communicate strength. Thin lines are more gentle and delicate. How does this translate to the photos? Here is my rendition of pulling lines out of my photograph.

A straight line can seem stiff, where as a curved line may be more visually entertaining.

Lets save direction.

In this image I noticed there are very few straight or thick lines. Most lines are very curved and flowing. Drawing the lines on the photo really helped to see why I got a whimsical feel from this photo.

In this image I saw SOO many straight lines, with a GIANT circle in the center. There are thick

and thin lines, but all of them are straight. This really gives me a sense that this flower is so strong and powerful. (I suppose that if the two flowers were to get into a fight Flower B would win hands down,

but maybe Flower A would talk the two out of fighting with it’s relaxed nature)

So now that we have looked at those photos, and evaluating the lines contained in them. I asked a Nicholle Peterson, a SOAR! sister, to lend me two of her photos to represent what happens when you change the direction of line. She did an amazing job setting up the photos, and I think they are very well done! Imagine there is a line running though each of the people. Just as above these are all implied lines. Also look at the top of the fence creating a line. She then changed the direction of the lines in the second photo. Neither is wrong, both work well, but changing the direction gives a different feeling. What are your thoughts on how line effects these photos?