Recently I made a momentus purchase.  Previously when I have done more posed photography of my son and other babies I have been left to the whim of whatever natural light was available and the capabilities of my somewhat limited flashes.  However, I have finally purcahsed my first set of studio lighting for the lower level studio that is still under constrction on one half of our family room. 

I finally decided on a Smith Victor 500 watt 2 light kit, primarily because of its ease of use and the fact that it was available in a local camera store rather than online or in a catalogue, which allowed me to lay hands on it prior to purcahse and bring it home immediately.  Thus far I have been pleased with it-- the tripods are excellent and the umbrellas and light units adequate.  My big pet peeve has been the light bulbs themselves- one of which blew within 5 minutes of turning it on for the first time.  However, a simple replacement bulb from the hardware store later, and I was back in business.  I plan on adding a couple studio flashes and a softbox to my equipment, but I want to choose the remainder of it deliberately based upon the needs of my downstairs space. 

To accompany my new lighting we have been looking into a good source for backdrops for the studio portion of our family room, and I found that the easiest source was my local fabric store.  For about half the cost of a finished backdrop for sale I purchased 4 yards of bleached muslin.  I will have to finish the edges and install a pocket for hanging or gromets, but I can manage a simple straight stitch any day.  After we hang this sample backdrop I will be looking into buying fabric dye and creating a large black backdrop as well as other backgrounds suitable for smaller portraits. 

It is exciting to finally be moving ahead with this, and I can't wait to usher in my first subject once everything is complete.  The control and flexibility that this will give me will be so satisfying.

On a recent cloudy, but mild day, I grabbed my little man-- who is usually smiley and giggly, and ran across the street from our house to the Mississippi River Regional Trail and did and impromptu photo shoot of him. For some reason he was Mr. Serious that day.  Perhaps he could sense that I was going to make him model the wonderful and dreaded Bear Snowsuit, which is hilariously and achingly cute, but also renders him nearly completely immobile. 

Holly and I were friends in Michigan several years ago when we were involved int he same inner city church.  She moved away to Minnesota, while she was expecting her first child. Little did either of us know that several years and major life changes later we would find ourselves living just minutes away from each other in the Twin Cities and giving birth to our "May Babies," just days apart in April.