Imaging Inspiration: The Triplets

I recently took a trip to Atlanta to participate in Imaging USA, which is the national conference for the Professional Photographers of America.  I spent three days listening to many Master Photographers speak about how they have honed their skills, what inspires them, how they run their social media campaigns, their best business practices, and many other topics.

More than anything else on this trip (besides meeting my idol, Sue Bryce: See pic below!), I kept coming back to the thought that I need to get back to my roots.  This year I really want to pull insipration from what started me having a camera in my hands in the first place... real life.  Real life and natural emotions, for me, don't occur with a huge lighting set up and fancy new photography tools surrounding you.  Real life happens in a split second... right before your eyes.  The way I first started photographing people was with a simple film camera in my hand, no flash, and pure curiosity.

On the second day of the convention, I was itching to photograph people the way I used to.  I made a phone call and scheduled a session for the day after I landed back in STL.

Enter The Genahl Triplets.

These three teeny little babies belong to Brooke & Chris.  I photographed their parent's wedding in 2011, and spent an entire day right before I left for Atlanta photographing the three babies all togther.  (See all the cuteness below.)

While I was in Atlanta, I kept thinking about the story that is there for me to tell with these three little humans.  Brooke & Chris asked me to shoot a BirthStory for them, which is where I follow their journey with the kiddos for the first year of their life.  This is an incredible blessing for me!!  I want to do these guys justice and really capture who they are.  For the rest of their lives they will always be known as "The Genahl Triplets".  However, they will also have their own individual lives, with their own individual relationships with each of their parents.  When I was there for their newborn session, I did individual portraits of each of the babies, but not individuals of them with each of their parents.

When I landed back in STL, all I could think about was getting back to their house and getting a camera in my hand.

This past Friday afternoon, I arrived at their house around 2:45p.  I didn't leave until after 10:30p.  I stayed and snuggled, fed, played, diaper changed, and soaked up all the cuteness for over 8 hours.  I also took 15 minutes, as the sun was going down, to do exactly what I had set out to do... show the begining of their real individuality.

I captured exactly what I wanted to: No frills.  No lights.  No flashes.  Just me, my camera, natural soft light, and REAL LIFE.

While I was there that night, I also had a new inspiration for another fun shoot with these little guys.  Stay tuned for more details coming soon!

As promised, here's a picture of my geeking out with Sue Bryce.  (Please pardon the HORRIBLE cell phone photo with the flash on!  We were at the Georgia Aquarium and it was SO DARK!)

If you don't know anything about this woman, you should check her out here.  She's had a huge influence on me and my career, and continues to inspire me daily.