Winners!

Thank you for all those that entered the contest. I finally did a random drawing of the winners. So please say congratulations to Theresa in California!



But wait... that's not all. For three easy payments of £0.00 I am also giving Hannah in London a free session!



Winners, please e-mail me your details and we will set up your free session. Also one last thank you for all those that entered and also showed support during the contest I was in. I really do appreciate it.

Ashley

I won and a Giveaway!

I won the contest at Alejandra Kearl Designs!

I am amazed at the support I received. All the friends and family that shared the photo with their friends and family and each person that took the time to vote was really touching. I appreciate it so much.

I will stop there before I sound like I won the Miss America pageant, but I can not express enough how blown away I was by the support. So I'm having a giveaway, actually two giveaways!

Why am I doing this?

To show how much I care about the support I've received for the past 10 days I am having two giveaways. One for all my loyal customers in California and one for all my new friends I have made in London.



So what does it include?

A hour photo session with a disc of 30 fully processed images. It can be anything... newborn, children (your own or cousins, super hero, princess themed etc), family, maternity, senior portraits, engagement, trash the dress. The list goes on and on. Max amount of people during the session is 6. More people can be added to package, just inquire for more details.


When can I redeem it?

I will be in CA from March 31st to April 15th. Only hold up is I can't do most weekends due to visiting family. So if you want to enter make sure you have a weekday free! Also I am willing to travel as far as Solvang, Bakersfield, San Clemente since they are all equal distances from where I will be staying.

For London, you need to be within a 1 hour commute from SW19 and can redeem between April 23rd through June 23rd.


How do I enter?

Each item you do is considered one entry, come back here and leave a comment with your name, which giveaway you want (CA or London), and which of the following ways you entered.

1. Go to the White Balance Photography Facebook page and share the Giveaway link that has been posted up on your own personal page and tell your friends to come take a look at how awesome and cool White Balance Photography is! You can tone that down a bit, haha.

2. If you are a fan already, suggest the White Balance Photography Facebook page to your friends! If you aren't a fan, become one!

3. Last way to gain entry for this giveaway is to follow my blog and if you are already following my blog you can share my blog.

Remember you can do all three, but it's important to make a comment on this blog letting me know what you did and which giveaway you want to enter.

Best of luck!
Winner will be announced next Saturday!

Don't dote, VOTE! OK, you can do both.

So the day is finally here. If you want to help me win the contest by Alejandra Kearl Designs

Just click here and "like" the photo. That easy. You might as well share it too because you love me and I love you too.

I'm a winna... or well trying to be

My friend Alejandra Kearl who owns her own children clothing company is running a photography contest and she asked if I wanted to join in.

I'll be honest, it's been a while since I've picked up my camera except for little things here and there. I've pretty much put my camera down since we moved to the UK. You might say I am on a voyage of self discovery. There really isn't much discovery, I know my faults and have been working on them. Refocusing on being a better mother mainly and trying to find some balance. I still have my creative outlets but they are not business driven which feels so relaxed and nice. I can push myself so much that it gets to be too much and am way to hard on myself. I forgot that I am my own boss.

So when I was asked to do this it took me back to when I did some photographs for Alejandra. I photographed 3 years of her line and she was one of my first clients. She has such a great eye for children apparel and I loved being involved. Here are a few shots down memory lane.

I also can't wait until next Friday to show you my cute daughter who modeled in the freezing cold for me. She is a pro.

Don't forget to check out her site.























Make sure you check out what's new at Alejandra Kearl Designs.

Anna... My son's girlfriend

My son is 2, so it might seem strange to you if his girlfriend is an 18 year old. But if you knew Anna you would know why he loves her so much and wants to take her home with us whenever we see her.

To complete the story Anna watches my children once a week. It started off a bit rocky. Anna burned my electrical tea kettle on the stove. I laughed about it, but Anna was so worried that she had her mom go out and buy us a new one. Apparently Anna has other blonde moments like these in the past, though she isn't blond at all, but they always make for good stories.

Anna loves to read books, dance, sing bad karaoke with her friends, and is really a one of a kind girl. Soon she will be off to college and we will miss her while she goes on to bigger and better things.

FAQ

A friend ask today if editing was the biggest part of being a photographer. That got me thinking. I did think it was a important, but there is so much more like lighting, subject, environment, composition and everything else that it takes to take a good photograph.

That question made me think of another that I get asked a ton. "What camera do you have?". I have a good camera, but it doesn't matter. Some of these people have DSLR cameras that are perfect for families and I have seen these people take great pictures with those cameras. What bugs me, maybe I shouldn't say... hmm, I will... They haven't bothered to take it off auto exposure. Why upgrade if you are not willing to learn about what your camera has to offer. I learned so much just about lighting just by using no flash and auto exposure. You have to be brave and turn it to manual. I promise in the long run more images will turn out better if you do. I will admit at first they will be crap! HAHA. But down the road you will thank me.

While I think it is very important to understand how to edit, even less would be what camera you have. The most important step to take is understanding how to use your camera to originally take a good picture. Editing only helps polish a good photograph. And a bigger camera to most means more options you won't use and more megabytes.

Can't leave you without a photo. Here is my favorite that I took in Bath just last week...



Hubby taking it all in at the Roman Baths with Bath Abbey towering over.

Engagement Session: Gerry & Jessie

When I was asked to photograph my husband's younger brother for his Engagement photos I was a little nervous. I know most guys don't like being photographed but they put up with it because

A. the women makes them
&
B. they don't know the stranger taking their photo.

It's easier to give someone you know a hard time, but as it turns out Gerry was a perfect model. My mother-in-law even said, "Wow, Gerry is so good looking.... I never knew he was so photogenic, I have a very handsome son..." She is very biased, but she was right. It goes with out saying that Jessie, his bride to be, is beautiful and we all knew she would look beautiful in the photos as well.