Girl(s) with Guitar(s)

Y'all were so sweet about my adventure into birth photography, so while riding the wave of generous support, I figured I'd try my hand at portraits!  I have been wanting to take pictures of Isabelle for a good long while now, but y'all know that I lack creativity, so it's taken me this long to figure out where and what kind of pictures I wanted to take.  

I've been eyeing this particular spot for about a year, but could only get glimpses of it from the road that I drive on multiple times every day because it's almost completely covered by the tree line.  Each glimpse I got though, convinced me that it would be a photographer's heaven!  And I was right!  There were nooks and cranny's all over the place, a pile of old railroad beams, and three different dilapidated buildings to use, all surrounded by a forest that let the light in at the most spectacular angles!  But since I'm technically not a photographer, I wasn't sure how best to use this hidden place to get a beautiful picture.... but I wanted to try, anyway!    

The weather lately has been unbearable!  With no AC anywhere in Germany, the weather has us all miserable!  This is our third summer here and this is the worst it's been since we moved here.  But sunny weather in Germany can be hard to come by, especially the closer we get to fall (which typically starts sometime in August), so I had to jump on a perfect sunny evening, unbearable or not. 

Isabelle has been playing the guitar for two years now, and although she needs to be faster with her chord progression, and practicing isn't the torture she'll try to convince you that it is, she's a natural!  She takes private lessons at the Kaiserslautern music school with a super cool, and super patient, instructor.  Isabelle really likes him!  Eric and I insist that Isabelle have some sort of musical influence in her daily routine, and also encourage her interaction with the German culture.  She doesn't think so, but these are the things that we really hope will help develop and inspire her spirit for when she's older.  Her weekly guitar classes gives her both the musical and cultural experiences since she has one-on-one lessons with her instructor and larger bi-lingual group classes with German guitar students.  But I'd be lying if I told you that she never complains about going to guitar class.  And getting her to practice gets about the same reaction as if I told her that I'm going to pluck out each and every one of her eyelashes.  

But I wanted to get pictures of her with her guitar because even though she complains about it, it's a big part of her life right now, and it's important to me to remember this. 

My favorite!

2nd favorite!

3rd favorite!

For the rest of the evening I was just trying to figure out how to use the surroundings, which I never really got the hang of.  My problem was that I got overly excited about the lighting, and distracted by the coolness of the location, and had no idea how to utilize any of it.  I'm starting to get the hang of a lot of aspects of photography, at least as a hobbyist, but I definitely need to work on my confidence.  With that said though, I really do suck at posing people, and knowing the right angles to shoot from.  I'm better at candid's.  In this type of setting my brain goes blank and I don't really know what to do.  I'm hoping that it's just my needing a boat load more practice, but try telling my daughter that I plan on taking more pictures of her.  The preteen death glare is real, folks!

I wish I had either turned Isabelle, or moved to the side some, or I had moved back farther away from her, so that the sunlight wasn't directly on top of her head.  I still think it's worth posting though.  These are the kinds of things I'm trying to learn from. 

We didn't stay out that long because Isabelle's dark hair in extremely hot temperatures always equals a migraine.  With no AC to go home to, and a fatal allergy to anti-inflammatory medication, controlling her migraines is almost impossible.  I pushed her as far as I thought she could handle, but it was too far and sure enough, she got a full-blown migraine.  It was a rough night that included head rubs, kisses, ice packs on the back of her neck, and smooshy mama talk that is only allowed when she thinks her head is going to explode.  I was thankful for the pictures I got, but felt terrible that Isabelle felt terrible.

Because of the supportive response I received from my first ever adventure into birth photography, I am so excited to tell you that I am now offering my picture-taking services exclusively with 'Little Hoot Birth Services'!  Christina asked me if I'd like to come on board, and I couldn't have been more stunned and honored that she asked!  

Whoda thought to put me in the same sentence as birth and photography?!  Crazy, right?  But it feels like the right path to go down, and how something feels is basically what I base all of my decisions off of, so I'm going with it!  I sincerely hope that this is the Universe guiding me towards 'Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep.'  My fingers are crossed!