Kristin Motherhood Session | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Portrait Photographer

Breastfeeding photo sessions always end up being my favorites, and this one was no exception.  Kristin and her little boy are coming to the end of their breastfeeding journey, and wanted to commemorate the bond they shared with some photos.  It's a bond like none other and deserves to be remembered. 

Breastfeeding is a lot of things.  It's full of drool, and spit up, leaky boobs, and getting kicked in the face.  It can be frustrating, painful, and monotonous, whether it's the hours spent on the pump or when baby wants fed for the third time in an hour. But it's so much more than all of that.  There's something so amazing about being able to provide everything a little person needs from one's own body.  It's about those late nights when the baby falls asleep on your chest and sweetly suckles in his sleep, or those moments when you make eye contact and he smiles up at you.  Breastfeeding is a crazy, frustrating, never-gonna-end/is-it-over-already roller coaster.  And it's damn beautiful, too.

I'm so happy that Kristin trusted me with these memories.  It was so wonderful to meet these two strong, beautiful people and share this time with them, because moments like this shouldn't be forgotten.

About Me: Why I Chose Photography | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Portrait Photographer

Mikaela Joy talks about why she loves photography and her inspiration behind starting her business.

Lately I've been thinking a lot about why I do photography and I keep coming back to one thing- being remembered.  Back when I was in school for creative writing, this subject came up a lot.  What happens when I die?  What will I leave behind?  I know it's a bit morbid, but it's something that many artists spend a lot of time thinking about.  And it really comes down to two things.

Your presence in this world remains in your art and societal contributions, and it remains in the memories of the people who love you.

But that's a bit scary, isn't it?  Memory isn't really enough.  I mean realistically, if I were to die today, my son wouldn't remember me at all.  He would have stories that others tell him and he would have some abstract idea of what having a mom is like, but he wouldn't have his own memories.  He wouldn't have any real piece of me.

Except for the photographs.  If I were gone, he would have all the photos of me that I've printed in the past year. He wouldn't know me, but he'd know the details of my face, the way I wear my hair.  And most importantly, he'd have physical proof of the way I smiled at him, the way he made me laugh, and he'd know- he was loved.

Elliott | Mikaela Joy Savannah Newborn Photographer

I have another fun share today- more baby photos!  Recently I had one month old Elliott in my studio for some late newborn photos.

Generally, you are supposed to do newborn photos within the first two weeks of life, so I was a bit nervous about little Elliott coming in at over a month old.  It turns out, though, that I had absolutely no reason to be.  This little man was a dream to work with.  He fell asleep easily, posed well, and then woke up for a few bright eyed photos at the end.

With his red hair and blue eyes, this little guy is certainly going to be a charmer! I had such a great time working with him and am excited to watch him grow up.  What a sweetheart!

To see the rest of his photos you can visit my website here.

The Little Moments & Getting in the Picture | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

There are constantly moments where I think "God I wish I had my camera."  I see things every day that I frame into a photo in my head but never take the shot for various reasons (no camera with me, no patience for my photography shenanigans from the people I'm with).  Usually these are passing moments with strangers that I won't ever think about again, but often they are moments in my own life- moments that I would have loved to have captured and printed. Being a photographer means that the lives of the people closest to me are very well documented.  I have taken several pictures of my son for every day of his life.  I do photo shoots with him every month.  I take pictures of any friends that will let me and bring my camera to most events I attend.  But I'm hardly ever in the picture.

I think a lot of moms can relate to this.

It's so easy to get caught up in capturing every moment of your kids lives.  But what about one's own progress during this time?  Being a mom completely changes a person.  When I look at photos of myself before and after having my son, I see an entirely different person.  My body has changed, my outlook has changed, everything about my life is a little bit different.

Obviously, I believe in the importance of photography.  I want my son to look back at old pictures of us with amazement- at both the changes in himself and in me.  I want him to see the way I smiled at him as he "helped" me cook, the proud look on his face as he takes his first steps.

This is why I place my focus in lifestyle photography.  When I look back at posed pictures from my childhood I laugh at the way we all looked and the clothes we all wore, but it doesn't represent my life to me.  The pictures that resonate are the ones in a baby carrier strapped to my father as he gives commands to the family dog, or the photo of my brother and I playing together, me standing in his work boots.

As I capture these moments for others, I've been making a point to be sure they are taken in my own life as well. Whether it's through the art of self portraiture (and some  plain old lselfies, too) or by handing off my camera on occasion, I want to be sure that these memories are saved.  They are too important to miss.

Renata Maternity | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

This was another early morning shoot with the beautiful momma-to-be Renata.  Renata is a photographer herself, so I was a bit nervous about doing her photos.  I was determined that they had to be perfect.

That said, the morning lighting was absolutely great, the location beautiful, and Renata was about as gorgeous as pregnant ladies get.  I didn't have anything to worry about.

My only challenge here was teaching myself about maternity photography.  I'm used to positioning my models to make them look skinny, but in maternity that is out the window.  Everything is about showing off that belly!  The poses are different than what I'm used to, the model doesn't get around as well, and babies and bellies move! But working with Renata was great because we were able to pool our experience a bit and come out with some great photos.

Renata is now the mother of a beautiful baby girl.  It doesn't get any better than that!

SJ at Sunrise | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last Saturday I got up bright and early to meet up with SJ, a gorgeous local model, to do some portraits at sunrise. Let me just say that it pains me to get up early on the weekends.  I wake up at 3:30 five days a week, so I really appreciate my Saturday sleep ins.  Even if that's only until 7:00.

But waking up early to work with SJ was definitely worth it.  We found a field and a lake to shoot at with golden morning light and steam rolling off of the lake.  Beautiful.

SJ was a fabulous model, and we spent equal parts of our time laughing and shooting.  What I love most about SJ is her sense of adventure. Some models might think it's weird when I ask them to climb a tree, for instance, but not her.  She just wanted to know which tree.

This was a quick little shoot due to the limited time frame that the lighting allowed, but it was a lot of fun.  I can't wait to work with SJ again.

If you want to see the whole shoot you can find it at my website here.

Chad and Erika | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last week, some good friends of mine Chad and Erika invited me into their home to do a lifestyle photoshoot of them.  Erika is expecting, but not showing yet, so this will be some of their last photos as just the two of them (plus dogs).  We really focused on the two of them in their natural surroundings, and I love the way this shoot turned out.

These two were a blast to work with, but I already knew that.  Chad and Erika are always great to hang out with. But watching the interactions between these two was even better.

Chad is straight up goofy and constantly making faces or striking a Captain Morgan pose for the camera, despite Erika trying her hardest to get him to be serious.  We were starting to think he may not be capable.

We weren't sure what the photos would look like in the end, but as I look at the results all I can see is love between this little family.  Look at Chad's face in that ultrasound shot. He is absolutely beaming! And he has good reason. What a gorgeous family!

I'm so excited to come back and do this shoot again, but next time the family will be just a bit bigger.

We rounded out the shoot by letting Chad play with their gorgeous husky, Cyan.  She was very playful and wouldn't sit still, but I like the action shots anyway.  Look at those eyes!

I loved this photo shoot, and am excited to try more of these indoor lifestyle shoots. This just a little peak into the shoot, but you can find the rest on my website, here.

Family Photos at Bethesda | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last weekend I did a photo shoot with a mother and son, Stacy and Riley.  This was a special shoot for a couple of reasons.  First off, it was one of my first formal sessions working with children.  I'll admit, I was a little nervous, but I had absolutely no reason to be.  Riley was a blast to work with!  It took him about five minutes to get comfortable in front of the camera and from then on out he was full of ideas (many of which involved taking action shots of him skateboarding and jumping off of things-- my favorite!).  In fact, quite a few of the poses in this set were set up by Riley.  He's got a bright future ahead with all that creativity!

The other really cool thing about this shoot was that Stacy is a local to the area which means she was able to show me some new locations.  We met up at Wormsloe, which I had seen in so many pictures of Savannah but had no idea where it was, and then finished up the shoot at Bethesda.  Both of these locations were absolutely gorgeous and I definitely will be coming back for future photo sessions.

We ended up shooting for somewhere around 2 hours and had so much fun in the process.  The pictures turned out great and I'm so excited to see them in print.  I'll be looking forward to working with these two again, and watching Riley grow up.

After doing this shoot I've realized that I've only scratched the surface for the beautiful photo-locations that are around Savannah, so I think it's time to play the tourist for a bit and do some exploring. I'm open to suggestions, so if you are from around here and have any suggestions please leave a comment.  I'd love the feedback!

I Shoot... Canon? | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

I was very prepared to shoot some portraits of Meg when we went out to the lake.  I had a big bag packed with everything I own, my tripod, three lenses, my reflector.  The only thing that was missing-- my camera battery, which was plugged in in Meg's kitchen.  That was going to be an issue.

The lighting was perfect and if we went back for the batter we'd miss it.  Luckily for me, Meg had brought her Canon t4i with her 55-250 mm lens.  Unluckily. I shoot nikon and don't know the Canon setup.  Meg uses auto mode, so she wasn't going to be much help, either.

Unwilling to call it quits, I decided to give her camera a try.  I wasn't going to give up that easily.

It took me a bit to get things sorted out.  The setup of her camera is completely different than mine (I feel like my camera does in one button what hers does in three) and I had a few bad exposures because her light meter is backwards from mine.  But I did manage to figure it out and am happy with the results.  How do you think I did?

This wasn't the end of our troubles though.  It turns out that the raw files produced by a canon don't get along with my computer.  Her's either.  It took us about 45 minutes to figure out what kind of file converter we needed to make it work.  But hey- now I know how to work a canon and if the situation ever comes up where I need to, I am prepared.  It's all a learning experience, and what can I say, I'm adaptable.

(click a photo to see the whole gallery)

Lighting, Lenses, and the Power of Photoshop | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last Friday I scheduled my first model shoot with someone from model mayhem.  I was pretty excited for the shoot because it was going to give me a chance to really test out the 55-200mm lens for portraits and also to work with someone who wasn't shy in front of the camera and who already had a good idea of posing.  I scheduled the shoot for early morning which meant I'd be able to try some backlit shots and see what I could do with my new reflector.  This model had been working with several different photographers in the area and had some really nice pictures to show for it.  Needless to say, I was looking forward to the shoot.

Well Thursday night she cancelled on me.  That left me with all that gear ready and nobody to take pictures up.  I put out a callout to my Facebook friends in hopes that someone would pose for me and Erika and Aubry stepped up.  We had a lot of fun and now I'm quite glad that I ended up working with them instead of my original model.

It turns out that these two had a lot of the qualities I was hoping for in my model.  It may have taken them a little bit, but by the end of the shoot they seemed very comfortable in front of the camera.  Erika was full of ideas for concepts and poses the photos turned out great because of it.  Aubry was the perfect candidate for close up portraits with her strong facial features and striking eyes.

As this shoot went on I really felt like something clicked for me as a photographer.  I was noticing small details that I haven't in past shoots, I was getting my exposures spot on and I was seeing the lighting situations in a way that I haven't before.  I was able to find the best places in the park to take certain pictures and then get them right within one or two shots.  Of course I had my reflector this time, so that helped a lot too.

When I started editing the pictures, I decided that it was probably time to start figuring out photoshop.  The photos looked good with some basic tweaks in camera raw, but I wanted to be able to make them really pop.  I did some online research and learned about actions, textures, brushes, and where to get them online for free.  Suddenly I have a folder full of 3 gigs of photoshop stuff, and a lot longer editing process on my pictures.  But I've got to say learning about these things really did improve my work.  I learned how to smooth skin (not too much) and really make the eyes pop in portraits as well as how to do some more specialized edits of photos.  I spent about two days editing these photos, but I think I ended up with quite a bit of good stuff for my portfolio.

Tomorrow I have a new 50mm f/1.8 lens coming in the mail and a bunch of ideas for my next shoot. Who wants to be my model?