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Award Winning Family Photographer | From Maternity & Babies to Seniors & Underwater Space Coast - Brevard County FL Happy 1st Birthday Miss C! | Northeast Florida Baby PhotographerHappy First Birthday Miss C! I have photographed Miss C since she was still growing in her mommy's belly. I love being able to watch these little ones grow and capture the memories for their parents since it flies by so quickly! Miss C had a cake smash at her birthday session and it was too fun to cut short so I included a bunch! Mommy bought the cake from my favorite bakery in Jacksonville, Sweet Theory. (They're mostly gluten-free and vegan and all sorts of yummy. Check them out if you haven't yet!)
Sometimes we need a little extra snuggles from mom. Being one is hard!
Miss C is not a fan of being put down. This reminds me of the song "It's my party and I'll cry if I want to!"
Miss C with her birthday chalkboard.
Cake time!
Getting a good fistful of frosting.
Frosting is squishy....
Tasting....
Whoa! What was that?!
What did you give me, Mom?
Guess I'll just wash my hands with it instead of eating it.
Ok, I'm done.
Cake has officially been smashed!
Hope you have a blast at your official party Miss C! <3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography Have a little one with a birthday coming up? Contact me today for more information on scheduling a birthday session! Welcome to the World Miss E! | Jacksonville Newborn PhotographerWelcome to the world Miss E! Get ready for a long post of yumminess! I don't usually share this many images from a session, but it was just too hard to choose my typical 5ish favorites...so you get 11! Miss E is Mrs. K's second baby. We met when we were both pregnant with our first babies and sat next to each other at our Bradley Childbirth class and kept in touch after having our babies. Our two little ones play so well together and we may or may not have unofficially betrothed them to marry one day. So when she asked me to photograph her second baby, I was beyond thrilled! This family is so special to me and I'm so happy to create beautiful images for them to remember this precious, fleeting time in their lives.
Miss E, just 6 days old, just about smiled at me through the crib rails. I was in awe!
This was my favorite family portrait. I had everyone looking at Miss E and her big sis started kissing the top of her head completely unprompted! Seriously, so sweet!
More sweetness of big sister Miss M admiring her new baby sister
There's just something amazing about how a new baby smells.
I love this moment of Mom relishing the moment with her new baby girl. They only fit this way for a short time.
A closeup view of all this sweetness. I just want to eat her up!
This beautiful blanket was handmade by a family friend in England. It was perfect for these baby-led posed images.
She may not have been facing the camera, but she did give me a sweet sleepy smile.
We threw in a pop of color at the end since Mom loves this color and Miss E decided it was time to be awake and look at the camera. Isn't she just beautiful?
Thank you for allowing me to capture these precious images!
<3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography Are you expecting? Contact me today for more information on scheduling your newborn session!
Project 52 | Images of Inspiration | Weeks 18-21I shot at my favorite place at my favorite time of day and learned another fun technique this month. Hope you enjoy these as much as I do!
Week 18 | Sunset - Let's Go Fly a Kite We stayed at Sandbridge Beach for a week in May and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. Aside from me getting sick right after arriving, we had a lovely relaxing week. I thought it would be fun to buy Connor a kite while we were there and fly it at the beach since that really is the best place to fly a kite with the coastal breeze. I figured it would be a good opportunity to do my sunset picture while we were there and include him in the image. I ended up giving myself about 5 minutes to capture our kite flying at the beach and plan to submit it to the 5 Minute Project once I've finished editing the rest of the images. We didn't have any fun clouds to catch the colors of the sunset but it was still beautiful. This one was my favorite one showing the sunset colors over the ocean as well as my son flying his kite. We definitely had a lot of fun!
Week 19 | Floral - Royal I had a few ideas for this week's theme, none of which happened. We went to eat lunch at the Leaping Lizard Cafe in Virginia Beach (which is amazing by the way if you're ever up there), and I saw these flowers by the road. They weren't the typical flower but I loved the texture and the golden grass surrounding them, complimenting their purple color.
Week 20 | Double Exposure - Ford Man In camera double exposure is the new technique I learned this month. This was done in camera with no photoshopping. I roped my husband into being my subject for this one (thanks Babe!). I wanted the image to have meaning and not just be a random double exposure, so I chose to double his portrait with the Ford emblem on his car. He's always loved Fords, especially the trucks, so this seemed to be a fitting image for him.
Week 21 | Through - Toddler Toes I wasn't sure exactly how I was going to do this theme until the moment presented itself. I had a few ideas I never got around to trying and then I saw the window light hitting my son's little toes as he sat on a chair in my office "working like mommy" so I grabbed my camera and captured this image. He may not be a baby anymore, but I still love those little toes!
Thanks for following along with my project! Which image from this post was your favorite and why? I'd love to know! <3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography
Want help capturing the beauty of your every day life? Contact me for more information on your custom portrait session!
P.S. If you would like to see some of my fellow NAPCP photographer's Project 52, check out these links: ShutterBEAN Photography, WojoImage Photography, Close Your Eyes Photography, JG Images, Marena Beck Photography, Songbird Photography, H. Wilson Photography, Defining Moments Photography, Gina Holt Photography, Floyd Family Photography, MZ Photography, Chrystal Cienfuegos Photography
Saint Marys Child and Family Photographer | Howard Gilman Memorial Park | Military FamilyAs a photographer, even before starting my business or becoming a mom, I'm always the one behind the camera. Usually the way I would get into a picture was to take an "usie" or hand my camera to someone else to take a picture for me. Now that I'm a mom, it's sometimes harder to get in the picture, but so much more important. One day my son is going to look back at the photographs on the walls and in albums and I want him to see more than just pictures of himself and pictures of him with his daddy, I want to be in them too. I want him to know that I was there too, even if much of the time it was behind the camera. I want him to see and remember how much fun we had together. So when a fellow photographer and mom of five needed family pictures, I was thrilled to make it happen! I met Mrs. J last year at our local Live Love Latch event. We instantly connected and became friends. We were finally able to get a time when everyone could be together and the weather (just barely) cooperated. The rain literally stopped just before their session! This family is so much fun and you can get a glimpse of there personalities in my favorites from the session...
Our last attempt was to get one with just the kids. They of course were hungry, itchy, and so over pictures by then. I love each of their personalities coming out in this picture!
<3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography When was the last time you were in a family photo? Contact me today for more information on scheduling your family session. Exist in photos, not for you, but for your children.
St Marys Child Photographer | Happy Birthday E!Like many four year olds, Miss E loves princesses. So naturally she needed a princess inspired birthday photo session! We headed to the old Tabby Sugarmill Ruins in St Marys, because to a kid, it looks like an old run down castle. It's also pretty fun to explore. Miss E didn't wear a typical princess crown but did have an adorable flower crown in her hair, though it didn't last long. I have been photographing Miss E since before she was two and it's such pleasure to watch her grow from a toddler into a little girl. Here are of my few favorites from her session.
I love the framing of this open space.
You can see the beautiful flower crown as she twirled her dress.
Because when you have a dress that twirls, you must twirl it!
I still can't get over how grown she looks. I love the sweet expression on her face here.
Definitely no flowers in her hair at the end but she enjoyed carrying them around instead! I love catching these moments when she's not looking at the camera.
Happy Birthday E! <3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography Interested in a birthday mini or family session? Contact me today for more information! Take Better Photos of Your Kids | Child Photographer St Marys GAIn my last educational blog post, Five Ways to Get Better Smiles, I talked about getting better smiles and expressions from your kiddos when taking their picture. Now let's talk about how to take better photos of your kids (or dogs or anything else).
1 - Know your camera. Start by reading your camera's manual from front to back. Yes, read the manual! I know, I know, boring! But seriously, it's super important to know what your camera can do and how to use it to it's full potential. If you have a DSLR, this is especially important and it will even teach you a few things about photography in general. There are so many settings and tools that you aren't likely to learn just by "playing around". No sense having a DSLR if all you do is shoot on auto. CreativeLive has several fast start classes for various cameras taught by John Greengo and I highly recommend purchasing one for your camera if they have it! They're only $29 and worth every penny. You can also check with a local professional photographer and see if they offer one on one classes to help you learn your camera.
2 - Change your perspective. Do you find yourself standing when you're taking pictures of your kids? Try getting down to their level by kneeling or sitting on the floor. They'll probably be more likely to look at you since they won't have to crane their neck to look up. Then try something different like laying on the floor or getting higher for a "bird's eye view". Don't be afraid to try something different. Sometimes changing your perspective can give your image more power in telling the story of your child, or just give you a better image in general.
You can see much more of my son's expression when I knelt down vs when I was standing in the first image, even though I didn't ask him to look at me. And in the third image, I was laying on my stomach in the sand to make sure I could get the kite in the frame with him.
3 - Watch the light. The word "photography" comes from Greek roots and essentially means "drawing with light". It's so easy to get caught up in the beauty of our surroundings, our children, and happy expressions, that the light becomes forgotten, when it is one of the most important things in creating a good photograph. A great expression isn't any good if you can't see it due to poor lighting. The first two hours after sunrise and last two hours before sunset are typically the best time of day for lighting but when you have young children, all the fun tends to happen in between. If you're inside, try getting your child to sit near a window where the light is coming in and open any curtains or blinds to make the room brighter. If you're outside mid-day, try finding open shade or positioning your child so the sun is behind them and not casting harsh shadows on their face. (One of the best ways to learn about light is to pay attention to shadows.)
4 - Get closer (or pull back). If your house is a mess but you want to capture something your child is doing, get in close and fill the frame with your child so that you don't see the mess. Or just get close enough that you can actually see that great expression on your kiddo’s face. It's fun to get in real close if your camera will allow it and focus on the details. Alternatively, step back and include the scene to give the image more context to tell a story.
Getting close helps make sure my son is the true focus of the image.
Stepping back to get the playground in the frame helps give context to where we were playing, but my son is still clearly the focal point of the image.
5 - Be patient. Sometimes we just need to wait and be ready for that perfect shot to happen. If you try to rush or pressure kids into giving you the what you want, they'll only resist and you'll never get it. Just sit there and watch them with camera in hand, ready to go when you finally get the capture you wanted. Or in some cases, just keep shooting and eventually you'll get a good one!
Now go pull out your camera (and/or camera manual!) and try using one of these tips. I'd love to hear which one was your favorite!
<3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography Like what you see? Contact me today to schedule your session! Project 52 | Images of Inspiration | Weeks 13-17I'm finally just about caught up with my 52 week project. Sometimes I took more than one picture a day to get caught up and stick with the themes. One great thing about this project is that I'm taking out my camera more to capture our daily life so that I have more than just iPhone pictures. So even when it doesn't fit with the theme, I still take it out for personal use at least once a week. Here are the next five images in my project.
Week 13 | Solitude - Car Company My three year old is obsessed with cars. He has big cars with opening doors, small Hotwheels cars, Cars cars, and a few other random police cars and the like thrown in there. When he's playing quietly by himself, he is most likely "reading" his books or playing with his cars. He will often lay down on the floor when playing with his cars and I knew I wanted to capture it for this theme.
Week 14 | Love - A Boy & His Dog This is Zoe, my 8.5 year old German
Week 15 | Quiet - Dog Day Afternoon This is Liby, my other German Shepherd who is about to turn 10. She's my first "baby" and has been crazy since day one. I trained and certified her as a cadaver dog (because she desperately needed a job) and ran a local k9 search and rescue for several years before having my son. Liby also has her Rally Novice title with AKC and was my demo dog when I taught obedience classes. She is currently retired but continues to drive me nuts, haha! She has calmed down quite a bit over the years but these moments are still hard to catch during daylight hours. It just so happens that the day I took this, she wasn't feeling so well (likely because she gets into the compost bin and eats old rotten food and chicken poop, EWW). My son was actually taking a nap that day and the house was quiet for a change and this was the perfect moment to capture for the week.
Week 16 | Free - Run Free I had a few different ideas for this theme, from trying to catch a bird in flight ("free as a bird"), to an image with the flag. I finally decided to capture my son running barefoot with one of his play-silks on as a cape. He, like me, is not a fan of shoes and rarely wears them when playing outside. I love the feeling of freedom when watching a toddler run around outside without a care in the world.
Week 17 | Freelensed - Spring Leaves This theme was definitely a challenge and made me step outside of my comfort zone. For those of you non-photographers reading this, freelensing is a technique in which you take a picture with your lens detached from your camera and somewhat tilted (you can get a similar effect using a tilt shift lens that you can buy too). This is extra challenging if you shoot Nikon, like I do, as the newer lenses automatically close back down the aperture when removed from the camera so you have to either hold or tape the little aperture lever open to take a picture. I was trying to get caught up and wanted to give it a try with just holding the lever instead trying the tape. The big challenge in doing this is that your finger is in the way and you have a much bigger tilt angle away from the camera which can let in too much light if you aren't careful and you can't get much in focus. I took a couple pictures of the oak tree in the backyard and fell in love with this image. Even though it's hard to know what this is by just looking at it, I love the globing effect it had on the image. I definitely want to try this technique again using tape so that maybe I can get something more in focus next time!
Now that I'e captured both my dogs, maybe the I will be able to capture the cat one of these weeks! Though I'm not holding out much hope since she hides most of the time. Thanks for following along with my project! Which image from this post was your favorite and why? I'd love to know! <3 Kim Owner/Photographer-Artist Kimberly Tank Art & Photography
P.S. If you would like to see some of my fellow NAPCP photographer's Project 52, check out these links: ShutterBEAN Photography, WojoImage Photography, Close Your Eyes Photography, JG Images, Marena Beck Photography, Songbird Photography, H. Wilson Photography, Defining Moments Photography, Gina Holt Photography, Floyd Family Photography, MZ Photography, Chrystal Cienfuegos Photography |
Kimberly Tank is an award-winning professional photographer in Rockledge, FL, servicing Brevard County on the Space Coast in Central Florida (including Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, Satellite Beach, Merritt Island, Viera and surrounding areas). Using natural light and custom on location sessions, Kimberly Tank specializes in photographing families from babies to seniors and commercial clients, both on land and underwater; providing an exceptional customer experience and helping save you time and preserve this chapter in your life's story. Kimberly Tank is a proud member and ambassador of National Association of Professional Child Photographers. Signup for my monthly newsletter and receive a FREE PDF on taking better photos of your kids! Click HERE Contact Me for more info and/or to book a session
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Kimberly Tank is an award winning professional lifestyle photographer in Rockledge, FL, servicing Brevard County in Central Florida (including Melbourne, Cocoa Beach, Merritt Island, Viera and surrounding areas). Using natural light and custom on location sessions, Kimberly Tank specializes in photographing families from babies to seniors and underwater photography; providing an exceptional customer experience and helping you capture your story and turn your memories into works of art.