I am continually impressed and inspired by the work of my friend Amanda Snider. I have been secretly facebook stalking her for years because I just can't get enough!
I love the way she treats light in all of her photos. She stays true to the natural lighting, and really captures this sort of sweetness and softness that makes those simple moments seem important and eternal.
I don't photograph well, I am terrible at knowing how to pose myself and I swear every photo of me is caught in the midst of an eye-roll or a mom moment. A few weeks ago I was looking through some of Amanda's recent family photo sessions and I stopped to sigh. I wanted so badly to have pictures like that done!! Then I realized I'd be in California for Thanksgiving and I got super excited. I totally COULD!
Amanda is great at coaching her clients to get the right pose and look without being too pushy. This is such a key part of production for both photographers and videographers, and it's something that you should really appreciate when you see it. Good camera skill alone is not enough when you work with people. A professional level photo or video is the result of a professional with a wide range of skills including communication and artistic content-development skills.
As you can see I got exactly what I wanted! I had the crazy idea to do the shoot in my mom's newly redecorated bedroom and it just made the pictures so candid and unique. I even got to do a little staging with the bedding, because my mom hasn't got her new bedspread yet. Yep, totally stole those gold pillows from the couch downstairs ;)
I have so much respect for Amanda as an artist I just had to feature her work. Plus I wanted to share all the photos of my cute boys. ;) Check out her site here , or look up Amanda Snider Photography on facebook.