A Night at the Baseball Park

I was fortunate enough to score some baseball tix for a Giants vs. Dodgers game a few weeks ago (thanks to Mr. Roberts, the big boss at the company I worked at) and ran into Alex, one of the sweetest gals who works at the company I was temping for. She was there with her husband and son and a few friends. It would always warm my heart to walk past Alex's desk and see all the photos she had of her family, and when I saw how cute her son was being with his Dad, I could not resist taking a few more to give to Alex. I love it when I see kids being really affectionate with their parents. They grow up so quickly, it's nice to be able to capture some of those sweet, candid moments on film. I have a few really nice candid pics of my father with his Dad (my Grandpa), and also some of him with his Mom (my Grandma), and they are among my most cherished photographs. So I like to take "parent and child" photos whenever I get the chance!

I am also wanting to schedule something with Alex and her son. I know they will be sooo cute together. I've wanted to do Alex's pics for a while now. They were sitting too close to get good shots at the ball park because I only had my macro lens with me, and you have to be at least a few feet away to get a good pic, but I look forward to doing Alex's pics one day. I know she and her son will look beautiful together.

Here are some more pics from our evening at the ball park. I am so glad I had my camera with me. Thanks to Alex for letting me post these on my site!







I love how you can see the smile on Alex's face while she's looking at her boys! : ). I made these last 2 pics a little smaller because they were a little more grainy than the others. I can't wait for the day where I'm able to afford a camera with 3200 ISO!!






And, just for fun, I would be remiss not to include a photo of the guys I came with. Unfortunately I missed getting a pic of my friend Karen but here is one of the dudes... what a fun night!

Family Photos: Jen, Mary and Aidan

I took these last November at CSM, and it could not have gone better. Jen asked me to do some pictures for their Holiday greeting cards. She and her kids, Mary and Aidan, were so easy to photograph - they are all so animated!

(Side note): Poor Miss Mary is still on crutches. From what I hear she's being a brave little trooper. Get well soon, Mary! I hope to see you soon. xo

Here are some of my favorite shots from the day...





Jen commented on the photo below: "I love this one because you got the toothless/ teeth growing in fully. They will only look like this once in their lives...(hopefully!)"

Engagement Session #2: Vicky and Brad

Taken at the Berkeley Rose Garden... They were soooo cute!

Vicky and Brad have been very, VERY patient in understanding that it can take me a while to get the photos back, partly because I am a perfectionist and want my clients to really like the whole package (a note for anyone who reads this, I'm pretty good about getting digital pics to people within the first week, via Flickr, but trying to get them all burned to disk was another story).

It's to the point where I have realized, I need to change my policy. Offering an entire disc of originals in a timely manner would only be realistic if I were doing this full time. It takes a lot longer to burn and sort through 600-1000 full-resolution (up to 10MB) photos than I had realized (obviously, I dind't really think that one all the way through).

The bottom line is that, as a photographer, you don't want your clients to see any pics that don't look great. Even if you're working with a really photogenic and good looking couple, you still have reservations about letting them see photos that they might not be excited about. The fact is, most clients won't really want to see all those other photos. My friend Jocelyn said that her engagement photographer simply told her and her fiancee, "Look, I'm just going to give you the best digital prints. Trust me... you don't want to see the other ones anyway." If you're a perfectionist, like I am, you will have to fight the tendency to want to edit every single little photograph and make it look great... but you just can't do that. Maybe if there were 48 hours in a day, but not when there are just 24.

I guess it might have been a little smarter for me to read up on the subject and follow the advice of other photographers, before I started doing this on my own. I am just one of those people who likes to try to do more, more, more, so it seemed like it would be ok to offer the whole disk, but I am realizing, that was not the smartest move on my part. What happens is, when you put yourself under a ton of pressure to do a huge, time consuming project, you will end up taking a lot longer to do it, than if you just kept it simple in the first place. This is because, in the back of your mind, you will be looking for a big sixteen hour block of time to work on all the pics (when you're passionate about it, you really get on a roll with editing and don't want to stop, so you look for these big blocks - but unfortunately, they never seem to arise!!!).

So I want to take this moment to thank all of my clients for their patience. I am learning all this as I go along, and have been going through the busiest time of my life, but I am hoping things will settle down soon!

Congratultions Brad and Vicky. You are a beautiful couple and have been absolutely wonderful to work with!!

My First Engagement Session: Joy and Mike

Some photos from my first engagement session. Joy and Mike were awesome subjects. Joy really came prepared and had a lot of great ideas for poses and shots. I couldn't have been happier with the way the photographs came out. Many months later, I still look at these photos and am so proud that I got to take them.

Thanks Mike and Joy... and Congratulations!!! I can't wait for your wedding in September!

(Introduction).... Hi there!

My name is Laura Teale. I have been a professional photographer for about two years, and few things make me happier than being able to claim credit on a good photo of someone. I really do consider it an honor to photograph people. Although I have a decent eye for photography, I'm most proud of the fact that I am often told that I am able to make people feel comfortable while taking their pictures. I think the biggest key is to just love what you do, because when you are in a feelgood state, it transmits to the person having their picture taken!

I particularly enjoy doing candids, and for this reason, I like to have my camera (A Canon Rebel XTi with a 28-135mm lens) with me at all times. Just about anyone who knows me well knows that my camera may as well be attached to my hip. I do enjoy doing posed photographs, but my favorites are the ones where people are naturally in their element, and were not necessarily expecting to be photographed.

Below is one of my favorite candids, of my friend Nichole and her daughter Mima. I had spontaneously called Nichole while driving down the Pali Highway in Hawaii (where I'm from), and said I was nearby, with my camera. I wanted to photograph her with her new daughter. Her reaction was, "Ugh, I look grungy, I need to take a shower." But a you can see, she looked beautiful. All the photos just came out so natural and relaxed, we were both really happy. I also got some really nice pictures of her husband, Umi, with their daughter.

I think part of the reason I love taking photographs is because I am keenly aware of how quickly life can change. A few years ago, my father died of a stroke. It was very unexpected and my whole family was in shock. I had assumed that my father would be with me for at least another 20, 30 years (he was just 62). Suddenly, all the photographs I had of him became my most valuable possessions - especially the photographs I had of the both of us together.

For this reason, I really like to take family photos, and pictures of people with their loved ones. I realize that no matter how much it may seem like someone will be around for a long time, there's really no way to tell. Shortly before my father had his stroke, a dear friend of mine lost her father. She called me and said, "Honey, tell your father you love him and cherish him. Life is so short. You want to do this now, while you still have him." I remember thinking Well, my Dad's not going anywhere... I knew that her father was much older than mine (in his 90's I believe), so it seemed more "natural" that her Dad passed away when he did. I figured my Dad would be around for another 20 years at least. Little did I know he'd be gone in less than a year. We just can't predict what's going to happen in our lives, and now I would give just about anything to have another five minutes with my Dad.

This photo is one of my most cherished photos of my father with my nephew, Noa, in Golden Gate park, around 1997. I feel very lucky that I was able to capture the two of them together. Noa is all grown up now, and I am so glad he got a photo of himself with his Grandpa when he was young enough to fit in my Dad's arms! This is how I like to think of my father - like he's up there somewhere, watching over Noa and the rest of us.

I think photographs can help us to keep peoples' spirits alive, so it is a real honor for me to help people and their families create visual memories that will last for generations to come.