The Snowman Cartoon!

I had some free time during the Christmas Break and decided to play around with the idea of having these snowmen (and women) who had like cartoonish faces.  Then there was two girls (Elle and Mia) out there with them.  Of course, I also had to include Santa Claus looking out through a bedroom window!

Mary Poppins flies!

After the success of the Tinkerbell Christmas card from the previous year, it was Elle's turn to star in a new theme.  This year, we decided to do a Mary Poppins theme, with Elle posing as Mary Poppins flying in as Casey and Mia watches from a second-floor bedroom window.

I threw in a number of different elements in this shot, including putting in the Chicago skyline in the background.

Here's the master shot of the kids looking out the window at Mary Poppins.  Note the color of the brick compared to the final image. 

I found this really cool wind vane that featured Mary Poppins.  It seemed perfect to add to the shot.

Now I needed to get a shot of Elle in Mary Poppins garb.  I needed her up above me so it looked like the right perspective flying in the air above me.  I put her on the top of our mini-van, and once again had an issue with the shoes disappearing.  At least this time, I realized it during the shoot, so I shot her shoes by themselves placed on top of the van at the same angle she is standing here.

Here's the final image.  Look how blue the sky is compared to the original shot!  You can see the Chicago skyline under her.  I added the overnight bag to the shot from a website shot. 

Dancer on a Music Box!

This shot of Anna is one of my favorites.  Apparently, I didn't have a lot to do one day and I decided to put this shot of her on a music box.   Here's the original shot of her during a dress rehearsal for The Nutcracker:

Here's the music box:

  

If you notice, that's a mirror behind the stand where Anna would go.  So along with all the other challenges with a composite image, I now had to put a reflection of her in the mirror and make sure it's appropriately out of focus.  An interesting, fun challenge.  Here's the result:

It's not the first time I've done a composite shot with Anna.  Here's the final composite of a shot I did with her as well.  I shot her on the main street in Crystal Lake, IL, on a sleep Sunday afternoon.  Then I added some studio shots of her throughout the image.

Maternity Shots

Ah, I love taking maternity shots!  There is something so incredibly special about a woman in her ninth month of pregnancy, a new life so close to being born!  There are so many different ways you can do a maternity shoot, and I've only just begun to capture them.

Here are two examples:

The SuperMom Shot!

 This has been by far my most appreciated composite shot!  And it should be, as it pays tribute to all the crazy multi-tasking that Moms have to do.   I got the idea of shooting my wife, Beth, looking hot in her dress and then balancing the kids with hands and a foot as if they were as light as a feather!

I wanted to do the shot in the kid's playroom with all their play stuff out of focus in the background.

The shoot consisted of the master shot of Beth by herself doing this crazy balancing pose -- and smiling!  Notice how everything behind her is in focus.  All that will change for the final image.

Here are the shots of my girls.  I asked them to sit criss-cross applesauce and to look very relaxed.

For Casey, I wanted to add a little drama/tension to the shot, as if holding him up with her foot was a challenging balancing act.  To get the right shot, I needed to throw him up in the air and Beth took the picture of me doing it.  The shot had to be timed just right when I caught him.

Put it all together and here's the final composite: