sipping lemonade

Posted on May 22, 2013 by admin

sipping lemonade outside on the front porch is a sure sign that summer is here and a favorite activity of mine.

when i feel the need to refresh myself, my first thoughts go to my favorite recipe for freshly squeezed lemonade. definitely , a refreshing beverage in my book. i love sipping lemonade.

I am happy to share my awesome recipe for old fashioned lemonade. 5 oranges, 5 lemons, and 5 limes, 3 quarts of water and 2 cups of sugar. This is so delicious and it can be varied with the fruit you have. i often add an extra lemon or two.

old fashioned lemonade

fresh squeezed pitcher of old fashioned lemonade

getting outdoors to walk truly refreshes me and clears my head. i am able to leave my computer and all the work involved at my desk and just walk and listen to the sounds of nature. this is a photo taken on the huckleberry trail very close to my home. i live on a busy street and this place is just two miles away. on this trail, i can hear the river flowing and a train every now and then.

http://lauraswiftphotography.com/sipping-lemonade/ ‎

Huckleberry Trail in Christiansburg,VA

sometimes, refreshing is as easy as stepping out the front door! i have comfy chairs and different kinds of bird feeders and flowers all around. Goldfinches are everywhere and hummingbirds love my geranium plants. this photo below took me five hours to capture this bird sitting and resting on the flower. i wanted a photo of him resting and not sipping nectar. each time my camera clicked it left its perch. i had the screen off the window as i sat on the dining room table with my telephoto tens extended and on a tripod. i love the reminder that is important for us all to rest and refresh. whew.

sipping lemonade on the front porch while watching the birds.

i spend quite a bit of time alone, so for me, coffee dates with best friends is definitely a way i refresh myself. starbucks is a favorite hangout and it is very close to me as well! they know me by name and i don’t even have to say my order anymore! white chocolate mocha is pure awesomeness. small town fun. ~laura

one of my best friends

Our topic in the monthly blog post circle with the certified teachers is “refresh”. as artists, we each get to define it as we see it. refer to the end of each post to read the next teacher’s post on this topic of “refresh”. Here is Jess’s post on our refresh retreat we had together with most of our confidence teachers.

http://jessrobertson.com/2013/04/refresh-retreat-seabrook-cottages-seattle-wa/

Enjoy your day and refresh. ~laura

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family session barton

Posted on May 14, 2013 by admin

family session – time together

family session with the barton’s went so well. we had a quick do over after aida felt better from teething pain and I love how these turned out. these are my dear friends, corrine and craig, and i love them. they are willing to try all my ideas and go with the flow. they are easy going and relaxed in a portrait session and in their life.

we were talking about chocolate the other day and i mentioned that for the first time i had put dark chocolate in my fudge recipe and i was surprised how good it was. she shared how her favorite chocolate is dark chocolate and craig’s is white chocolate. we chuckled together! ~laura

family session – a little more time together

family session – singing and clapping

family session – sitting on dad’s lap

family session – hugs and kisses

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friends first. now moms.

Posted on May 7, 2013 by admin

photo by workshop student anne. these long time friends are now both first time moms.

Friends first. Now moms. As the call for baby models went out for my Growing Confidence Workshop, two friends responded who were friends first and now, first time moms with very young babies.

In our workshop, we took the opportunity to photograph these two girls together with their babies.

Danielle has an eight week old baby boy named Atticus and Cristina has a three week old boy named Mason. Both friends ended up with cesarean sections after laboring for hours. These girls understand friendship. They support and encourage each other. It’s awesome to watch.

These two friends with their babies are four of our six models that came for the Growing Confidence Workshop. It was so fun to have real models because you never know what to expect and this day there were lots of baby clothing changes, diaper changes, and feeding times. It was awesome.

photo by laura swift photography. diaper relay to see who could change a diaper faster. not really. it just looks like it! both needed fresh start.

Babies this day were all wide awake for the entire session. Lots of great photos were taken of each baby with their mom. Girls, thanks so much for coming as the models.

photo by workshop student anne

photo by Laura Swift Photography

photo by laura swift photography

photo by workshop student anne

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ariella

Posted on May 2, 2013 by admin

in our growing confidence workshop, we talked about window light. i love the light on Ariella’s face. there is lots of shadow on her face as well. it’s beautiful.

ariella is eight months old and she sat perfectly still while we took photos of her. it was amazing and she watched each of us so intently. photo taken by anne conley.

photo of ariella taken by anne.

photo taken by anne of ariella

we encouraged the moms to bring a special blanket or toy if the baby has a favorite. this baby quilt was made by his grandma, Sherri Hull. It is beautiful, sherri. photo taken by anne conley.we encourage the students to get in close to the babies. i love this interaction with baby and mom. they are so comfortable with each other. i love this. great job, anne, taking this photo.the light is so beautiful on this baby and her mom is in shadow to highlight the baby. wow. great job, anne.

photo taken by anne conley of ariella

photo by laura swift photography

happy babies are so much fun. photo taken by me. it is fun having models for the class. be ready for the unexpected. haha. ~laura

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aida

Posted on May 1, 2013 by admin

aida ready to climb the stairs

waving that little hand

aida is one year old and she is celebrating! she is walking, even in pink sandals, and her favorite things are books and balls. she is adorable and super friendly. her hand moves in the sweetest way when she waves to a friend. It makes people watching her smile.

aida with mom

aida in the antique stroller. mom and dad giving her a ride.

aida was teething and did not feel great, but taking photos in the antique stroller was bouncy and fun for her. she liked my stroller!

aida just a little fussy with teething pain.

aida’s face is so cute when she gets ready to fuss just a little. i had trouble keeping a serious face with her.

“what should i do with this?” a little help here.

Her shoe came off during the session and she wanted it back on! if she could talk i feel like she would be saying, hey, what should i do with this? a little help here!” haha.

reading favorite books with dad

aida loves reading books and it is a favorite pastime of hers, especially with mom and dad.

woohoo! standing on the furniture to look out the window!

standing on the couch to look out the window made aida forget her mouth was hurting from teething.

aida tackling the stairs with help from mom.

climbing stairs was fun but aida still needed help! i think she could climb all day.

by the way, aida will be a big sister soon and she will seem to grow up over night when the new baby gets here. i’m sure of it. ~laura

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meet anne

Posted on April 23, 2013 by admin

Here we go on our way to the beach for our extended family yearly vacation. Stopping in Raleigh to pick up our daughter at the airport, we stop for lunch with my husband’s sister and her husband who also arrived at the Raleigh airport earlier. They had stayed with friends the night before and we all met at a restaurant very near the airport before hitting the road again. His sister said, “Here. Meet my friend Anne. She has some photography questions and I told her to ask you.” That’s how it started. My friendship with Anne.

Anne drove from Raleigh to attend my Growing Confidence Workshop. She was the only participant and loved the one- on- one teaching she received. Throughout the day together, we had a few surprise guests, some had more than two legs, and they became our special models as well as the three baby models who came in the afternoon.

Anne appeared shy at first as she shared her thoughts from the writing assignment, but she left the workshop with such confidence! As she returns home to Raleigh, she has the opportunity to photograph newborns and this practice session during the workshop was just what she needed to put all the pieces in place for awesome photos.

Anne is a Master Gardener and she loves birds and Pomeranian dogs. Together, we talked about lenses and cameras to help her achieve her goals of writing and photographing for gardening magazines. Her dream of getting published is already starting to happen.

anne and bennett

She was a delight to teach and so eager to learn. Her little 10 year old puppy agreed to be photographed with her. He weighed 7 lbs. and he has more hair than any dog I have ever seen.

working with camera settings.

anne practicing with a new model

anne with bennett

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new life looks like…

Posted on March 18, 2013 by admin

new life looks like this…

This post is part of a blog circle of the certified teachers with MeRa Koh Photography.My friend, Jennifer, has also written what new life looks like to her. Here is her link.

http://www.jenniferleighphotography.net/a-celebration-of-new-life/

There are several teachers all linked up for more ideas, check out each one and have fun. ~laura

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photographing dads and babies.

Posted on March 12, 2013 by admin

http://www.shutterloveonline.com/photography-tips/portraits/Shoot-With-Confidenc962.shtml?LinkBackShutterLove=search%2Fsearch.

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My article on photographing dads and babies has been published in the new on line magazine: Shutter Love Online.com. I have written a blog post on tips for photographing dads with babies. Read the post about portrait tips for photographing dads and babies. Leave comments as well. Let’s encourage this new online magazine.

http://www.shutterloveonline.com/photography-tips/portraits/Shoot-With-Confidenc962.shtml?LinkBackShutterLove=search%2Fsearch.shtm

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Think about your own life and photos you may have of you and your dad and decide to include dads in more photos with their kids.

a dad holding his baby for the first time.

Share these tips with your friends and get those dads holding their kids. Pull out the camera and capture those precious moments. My favorite part of the blog post on shutter love is about finding the photo of my dad holding me. I had never seen a photo to prove that he held me. Now I have it. A photo can be priceless. ~ laura

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family fun o’reilly style

Posted on March 8, 2013 by admin

family fun o’reilly style. my house was filled with laughter during this photo session and i had the most fun of any one! i should put my living room furniture on wheels as often as i move it around for different photo sessions! seriously! haha. this family came with their own unique personality and had some awesome ideas during the photo session. i found ways to include Scrabble (board game) into the session, my favorite game to play with my son because we make our own rules! these photos are my favorite artistic choices during our session. I stacked the kids up like pancakes and they each brought something special the session and we found ways to include them. it was lots of fun and i laughed, i mean, belly- laughed , at some of the stuff we did!