1.  Spring is almost here.  Can you feel it????  I can!  (So can my little girl – she loves her sunglasses!)  And I can see grass.  For the first time since about December I can see grass in our yard and all of the snow has finally melted away!  We were up to about three feet at one point so that is really quite the change.  AND did you know that the time change happens this weekend?  Yes, we lose one hour of sleep but that means we get more daylight.  No more coming home in the dark at 5:30.  Gone are those days and spring and summer are right around the corner.  It’s a great time all around!

2.  Along with Spring comes time for photos.  The trees are getting leaves back, flowers are starting to grow.  Yes, it is muddy.  No doubt about that.  But it is time to get back outside.  And I cannot wait.  I have a maternity session on the 26th of March and I am just hoping and praying she wants to go outside.  After a winter of newborns (which I do love very much) I cannot wait to be shooting out in the sun again.

3.  Speaking of newborns, I now have four or five newborns in May that are all due within about 12 days of each other.  That is going to be some crazy baby time in there.

4.  If you are free this Sunday, I am giving a beginners workshop on how to take better photos of your kids.  This workshop does NOT deal with shooting in manual or editing.  But I will be teaching about composition, lighting, etc.  Very basic overview things that will help you get some better pictures of your kids.  Again, as we start to go back outside.  (Yippee for outside one more time!)  The class will be held at Bellani Maternity on Route 2 in Warwick on Sunday from 1-3.  The cost is $45 and you can register by calling the store at 401-234-1279.  I am not sure when they are closing registration but it will be soon.

5.  I don’t think I put it out anywhere but I am proud to announce that I was recently accepted into the National Association of Professional Child Photographers  🙂  I believe at this time there is only one other photographer in Rhode Island that is a member.

6.  I am headed to Delaware in May!  At least I am 90% sure I am.  When the client officially fills out her paperwork and send the session fee then I will be 100% sure.  This is the second time someone has had me come from out of state for newborn photos so I am feeling super duper loved!!  (Again, about 90% super duper loved 😉 )  I am 90% sure I will be in the area the weekend of May 14/15, probably arriving on the 13th.  I might perhaps possibly have time for some other photos while I am there so if you are in that area and wanted to think about it, keep me in mind!

It’s question time!!  🙂

7.  You had an amazing image you posted a few weeks back of an amazing nursery with light flowing into a window, and it was magical! It is definitely one of my favorites of yours. Do you have a favorite image, or shoot?

Right now, that image is one of my absolute favorites ever!!  It was just the perfect combination of setting, light and baby.  As for shoots, that newborn shoot was one of my favorites.  I have a few favorite images and shoots though, all for different reasons.  The newborn shot of the daugher cradled in dad’s arm with the tattoos ranks right up there as does my family shot that I used in my Bigger is Better Version 2.0 post.  For shoots, I absolutely loved the shoot with my friend Dani and her family that I showed some images from HERE. Something about it  🙂

8.  When you have an image including the sun, how do you get it to look like a starburst instead of a huge blob of light? Is it a filter?

Usually just stopping down to a lower (higher?) aperture will produce more defined rays, ie going from f/2.8 to f/5.6 or f/11 or even higher.  That and if you can get the sun coming over the edge of something – a building, a tree, etc, it will help to separate the light into distinct rays or more of a starburst effect instead of the blob.  I will admit freely though, that I rarely get it on the first try!  I often have to change settings to get the exact look that I want!

9.  Hi Amy… just curious how you like (or not like) being a doctor’s wife?

Wow.  This is a tough one!!  Hmmm.  At different points I have liked it in different ways.  Medical school was pretty intense but fun.  Residency was really really tough with the hours and responsibilities, not made easier by having our first baby three months in!  Fellowship, even though it was a short stay, was easier.  Attending has it’s moments.  I knew what I was getting into when we started dating though.  Thankfully I realized that it would be a lot of nights where I wouldn’t see him, a lot of bedtimes that I do by myself, weeks where my kids don’t see him for three straight days.  Weekends where he spends more time at the hospital than he does at home.  But for us it is all worth it.  The job stability (knock on wood!) is there.  He loves what he does.  And it’s really nice if there are health concerns to have an “in”.  Plus you get treated really well when you are in labor if your husband is an OB!  LOL!!

10.  Hi Amy, what do you lay babies on underneath the blanket you use as a backdrop? A bean bag? Pillow? Please help, I’ve been trying to figure that one out for a while now.

I have a large vinyl puck-style beanbag that goes under my blankets and then that is clamped to chairs behind the setup.  I purchased the beanbag from hayneedle (http://www.hayneedle.com).  For certain positions I will also use a rolled up blanket or boppy on top of the beanbag underneath the blankets.  Click HERE to see a pull back (with notes) that I did with an old beanbag last year.  My setup is the same now but much wider and flatter.