Jaxson: Five Month Old! (Tillamook, Oregon Children's Photographer)

While in Tillamook for my sister's wedding this last weekend I got to spend some time holding and cuddling with my nephew. I haven't seen him since he was a month old. I just have to say I am in love with him. He so small compared to Dylan at that age, but is still so strong. He looks exactly like my brother did as a baby. I cannot believe how big his brown eyes are. I was able to squeeze in a quick shoot of him Sunday after we finished cleaning up from the reception.

Adkins-Hopkes Wedding (Oregon Wedding Photographer)

Well my younger sister got married this weekend. I think it all went really well. I don't even think that there were any major mishaps. It was a wonderful wedding and a great time was had by all. My friend Nate came from Minnesota to photograph the wedding. It was great to visit with him. It is always nice to have someone to talk photography with and I loved watching him work. He was the perfect photographer for my sister, who was in heaven having her own personal photographer for the day. I thought I would have more time to help shoot but turned out to be pretty busy the whole time. I did end up with some great images though.

Laughter and low light equal a little blur.

I love that I can play around with these. I love this grittiness in the images. I really think they go with the rodeo grounds.

I don't know where she gets it from. She probably should have been a model.

I love how two photographers shooting the same thing can get totally different images. Nate has a great one that is every one's favorite so far that he took at the same time I was taking this one.

Wildflowers Galore! (North Idaho Nature Photography)

Last week we took an evening four wheeler ride down to Cottonwood Flats. It is not too far from our house and right now there are wildflowers everywhere down there. I for one am a sucker for flowers. The bugs were out in force though and I got ate alive. I got some images that made it all worthwhile. Now hopefully these big red bites go away before the wedding in a few days. Especially the big ones right in the middle of my forehead that look like giant zits. Anyway now for the flowers.

Photography Tip - Watch what you cut off! (North Idaho Photography)

Last week was super busy for me with Dylan's swimming lessons, my sister and her friend staying the night and my anniversary. This next week will no be much better as we will be heading to the coast for my sister's wedding. So I have a combined photography tip for the two weeks. Last week I talked about zooming in. This week I want you to watch what is getting cut off in the frame when zooming in. The rule of thumb is that it is not pleasing to the eye cutting people off at the joint. Also watch for the middle of the hand or feet. When cropping around the head make sure that it looks intentional really crop in, don't just clip it.

In this image above the hand is cut off and the side of the foot is just clipped. A quick crop will give us the more pleasing image below.

In the image above again his hand is cut off and the top of his head is just clipped. A crop gives us this image below instead.

Dworshak Reservoir! (North Idaho Outdoor Photography)

Yesterday Cory and I got back from spending the night on the Dworshak Reservoir. It was our anniversary Thursday and this was our quick get away celebration. Dylan stayed with Grandma and Grandpa. Cory and I got to spend some precious time alone. He got to fish and I got to take pictures and read. I am so excited that after four years of living in Idaho I finally got some images of the reservoir that I like. A couple are in my all time favorites. I think the best way to get the best light of the day is to spend the night. You get both sunset and sunrise and still get some sleep in the process.

One of my new favorites.

Another new favorite.

See more of Amy’s work at www.amyschmidphoto.com. Become a fan of Amy’s work on Facebook.

After the Storm! (Idaho Outdoor Photographer)

One great thing about living in the mountains is that we get great thunderstorms. Thunderstorms mean great skies for landscape and outdoor photography. I saw this out the window after one a few nights ago. So out I ran with my camera. At first there was only one but after taking a few images the second one appeared. I could actually see both sides over our little town, but we live too close for me to have gotten it all in.