MACRO

One type of photography I have never really focused on is macro photography. I have had the lens for a few years, but never really thought to play with it. I love it! It is very tricky to get the photos just right, so it definitely takes a little bit of patience, especially when first starting out with it, but here are some fun images I have captured with it:

Creepy Crawlers at Midnight

My property is currently under a snail invasion. I don't know if it is all the rain or what...but at night they are EVERYWHERE. Seriously, last night after midnight, my husband and I stopped counting when we reached 60...and that was just on and around my deck. They were on the deck, the house, hanging from the trees, covering our plants and bushes and all over in the mulch.

I thought it would be cool to grab my macro lens and a few flashlights and head out to photograph one. Easy right? Well, not really. They are slow creatures but they move A LOT. When you are photographing in such low light, you are forced to use a slow shutter speed. At about a half second shutter speed even the slow movement of these little guys showed up on film. So, I had to deal with that.

In addition, using my macro lens I had to get pretty much right on top of the little guys. Any small movement by me and they would tuck up into their shells and wouldn't come back out. This was hard to deal with because again, with such slow shutter speeds, I had to rest my lens on the deck right next to the snail.

So, my finished photo for me was a complete success!! It is actually a composite of two different photos (3 if you count the added texture). The depth of field was so shallow that I had to take one exposure with the shell in focus and another with his body in focus...the merge the two images.

Settings: Manual Mode, ISO 100, 1/5s, 3.8, two flashlights - one to the left lighting up the back of him, one to the right lighting up the front.

Playing in the Rain!

I had a one-year-old session scheduled for Saturday, a week and a half ago. Of course with this AWESOME Ohio weather this spring it RAINED! I was literally itching to photograph something...so took the opportunity to try and capture some raindrops.

This was my first ever attempt at photographing rain/water drops. It's not very easy! I was really happy with the outcome and will definitely be looking forward to the next opportunity to play. Oh wait, what am I talking about? Everyday is an opportunity anymore!

500 Fan SESSION GIVEAWAY!

WHEW! I have completed my first giveaway! I must say that as I got closer to 500 I not only got excited but I got nervous. I don't know why - it's just nervous excitement I guess!

Every single person who left a comment below honestly touched my heart. To have such active participation each and every day really meant so much to me!

I had so much doing this, that I am already thinking of what my next giveaway/contest will be. But I don't want to get ahead of myself...

Now, for the winner.

Drum roll....

Random.org generated the random number:

And the winning comment was:

Congrats Lisa!! You have 24 hours to email levenhagen.tl@gmail.com and claim your winnings!

If I don't hear from the winner within 24 hours I will generate a new one.

Thanks to everyone!


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Below is the original posting of this giveaway. It is now closed :-)

Ok, I have officially been in business for 45 days!! I have been keeping busy and have had a full schedule since the "start of business". I really want to thank every single person who has supported me so far - and have helped to spread the word of Levenhagen Photography.

To celebrate my 45th day in business, I would like to hold a contest.

Details:

• The contest will run until my fan page hits 500 fans (it's only taken 45 days to reach almost 250 - we can double that in no time, right?!)
• The winner will be chosen at random, among entrants
• The prize will be a FREE session AND the disk of all professionally edited images from the session. (Prints and other items will be available for purchase at my current rates).

How to enter:

1. "LIKE" my fan page
2. Post a link on your page to share Levenhagen Photography's fan page (i.e. "Check out Levenhagen Photography at www.facebook.com/levenhagenphotography. She is giving away a free session with CD to one lucky winner once she reaches 500 fans!"
3. Comment on this blog post to be entered in the contest. You can enter once per day - but you have to post the link to your page and comment again. The more comments you have, the better your chances to be randomly selected!

The fine print:

• The free session will only be redeemable for a standard session (5 people or less, excludes wedding photography)
• Contest winner will either need to travel to Findlay, Ohio (or within 30 miles of Findlay Ohio) OR pay the photographer's travel fees, OR you may donate the session to someone you know within the Findlay and surrounding areas.
• Session will be scheduled based on the photographer's availability at the time of contest close.
• To be eligible for the drawing you MUST have completed all three steps under "how to enter" above!
• If you win and you already have a session scheduled with me, your money will be refunded!

So, what are you waiting for?! Go share my page and enter the contest!

John and Jessica -{Prom 2011}-

The photos speak for themselves - this was a GORGEOUS couple!!

I was really excited when I got asked to photograph them, I knew I would have some great photos afterwards.

John is my step-brother...and as always, he wouldn't smile in any of his photos.

 Jessica on the other hand, she couldn't be any more beutiful and couldn't have a more beautiful smile!

Their parents and grandparents were all there to see them all dressed up and have dinner with them. It was a great little family event.

Brokaw Family

I had been watching the forecast all week before doing the Brokaw family's session. It was calling for a 50% chance of rain on Friday. Well, Friday came and it was a BEAUTIFUL day. All the way up until the 5:00 session time. It started getting dark/cloudy/rainy/windy. Yuck! However, the Brokaw's were troopers. They toughed through the weather; looking at their photos you would never know the weather was so awful!

Samantha and Greg definitely have a beautiful family. Their two children, Cole and Addison, were wonderful little models! As with any kids, they got a little sidetracked at times...but telling them I was hiding a bird somewhere got them to smile and occasionally look at the camera.

By the middle of our session, the sun actually started to come out! The rain stopped for the most part, and the day ended up being a success. This was a wonderful family to photograph - so easy going which totally made things relazed and stress-free!



Layne is ONE!

Like most all one year olds, little Layne was a little nervous when she first arrived for her session. She brought reinforcements though: Mom, Grandpa and Grandma! It really didn't take too long for Layne to calm down. She was a little reluctant with her smiles but she made gorgeous portraits nonetheless.

Of course mom brought a cake (made by grandma) to do a cake smash. Layne doesn't like being dirty too much, so as soon as she realized she was dirty (after her mom shoved her hand into the cake), she started crying. She seemed to like the frosting when it got in her mouth. But what she liked even more than that was cleaning up with the paper towel we gave her. Hey, whatever makes her happy, right?!

I must say I absolutely LOVED the necklace she more. Her grandma made it and it couldn't have been more perfect!

Myla and Mayzlin

Whoa! Talk about two beautiful girls! Myla is 19 months old and her baby sister is 1 month old.

Myla was such a ham!! She was so laid back and easy going. As with any one-and-a-half-year-old, she didn't want to sit still for a super long amount of time; even with all the moving around I was able to capture some great moments!

Baby Mayzlin did NOT like being naked!! She also did not like being put down. She loves being bundled up warm and being held. So, we (myself and their momma) spent a lot of time calming her and making her feel as comfortable as possible. She was such a sweet baby - and the camera definitely loved her!

Lindsey's Maternity Shoot -{Baby Saniah}-

I sure lucked out to be able to photograph this beautiful momma-to-be. Lindsey was due within two weeks of this photo shoot - she looks great for 37 weeks pregnant, right?! The gender of the baby was no secret - everyone knew it was a girl - but no one other than Lindsey, the father-to-be, and big sister knew the name of the baby. I feel so honored that Lindsey trusted me with this knowledge so that we could create a fun photograph using the baby's name, Saniah.

 

We scheduled the photoshoot for later in the day - I think we got started around 6:30 p.m. I really wanted to do sunset photos - and am SO glad we chose to do this. The light was amazing. It was very windy this day, as I am sure you can tell from the wind-blown hair. That effect really added to the awesomeness of these photos though!

Once we went up by the water for this final shot it was SUPER windy and REALLY chilly. Lindsey was such a trooper. She left her sweatshirt on up until the very last minute and then threw it off so that we could capture this stunning sunset image - my one vision for this entire shoot!!