Playing in Lightroom

I was messing around with the Adobe Lightroom presets and really liked some of these.  What do you think?

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Cars

I have a thing for details, and I think classic cars have all the right details: curves, color, maybe a spot of rust. So I adore car shows; I take my camera and shoot all those gorgeous girls. These are some of my favorite shots from the past few years.

I hope you like them.  I’d love to hear your comments and critiques.

 

Nicklaus

One day old. . .

Orchids

I took these photos a couple months ago and I’m just now getting around to looking at them.  Thoughts?

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Skylar

I love love love photographing babies; they’re just so perfect.  I love watching mom and dad with a newborn, or seeing a three month old with a newfound curiosity, and few things in life are more precious than a big, stretching yawn from a still sleeping infant.

Skylar is a week old, and the new mom and dad could not get enough of her.  She was fully alert the whole shoot and showed off her gorgeous gray eyes.  She was also freezing, so we kept her bundled up most of the time.  Here’s a preview:

 

Thanks so much to Candace and Rich, who let me into their home and their lives for a few hours to capture little Skylar’s day.

Niagara Falls

It’s been a while since I’ve posted, but I hope that all four of my fans will forgive me.   My husband Frank and I spent Thanksgiving with our best friends, Bobbie and Steve, and went up to Niagara Falls for a day.  Since I’ve been a total bum lately, tonight was the first time I’d looked at the pictures, but I found several that I wanted to share.  Here goes:

The view of Canada from the US shore.

 

What a view!

It was wickedly, bitterly cold.A double rainbow!

Holly and Jason

I just finished the wedding images for Holly and Jason.  I normally tell my clients to expect around 300 finished images, but I ended up with nearly 500 for this wedding; I just couldn’t decide what I liked best!  Here are a few of my favorites.

1.  The maid of honor helping with the garter.

2.  Daddy giving away the bride.

3.  Daughter Natalie playing in the sand.

4.  Family portrait



5.  The bride’s niece having fun with her dress.

6.  The wedding party. 

 

7.  Having a little fun. 

8.  A few quiet moments before the reception.

9.  The groom was a good sport.

10.  Backlit

11.  The bride saw this shot in a magazine and wanted to recreate it.

The bride’s sister also shot the wedding.  You can check her out at www.summermartinphotography.weebly.com.

TDSN Golf Tournament

Saturday, Oct 2 saw the fifth annual golf tournament benefitting the Triangle Down Syndrome Network.  Specifically, the funds from this event go toward building an independent living facility for people with disabilities.  The Giambalvo family runs this event, and they’re all fantastic; I’m so glad I could be a part of the event this year.  If you want to learn more about the Triangle Down Syndrome Network, or if you want to volunteer or take part in an upcoming event, visit www.triangledownsyndrome.org.  You’ll be happy you did.

To see more, visit www.samanthabecker.us; the pics are under Client Access.

Holly!

Frank and I traveled to Wilmington this weekend to shoot a beautiful beach wedding, and since the groom has seen the dress I can finally post a few of her bridal portraits!  I’ve been chomping at the bit to show these to you, so here they are!

I promise I’ll post more once I get my hard drive back (it had a little accident).

Old Friends

When I was 17, I met three girls who were to become a huge part of my life. BreeAnne, Elizabeth, Alyssa and I were inseperable for the next two years, and these three women supported me through romance and heartbreak, good decisions and bad. Looking back now, I can see how young and stupid we were (some of us more than others), but these were the women I wanted to keep in my life forever, the women I claimed as family.

After school, we each went to different assignments and got on with our lives in different parts of the country. We tried to keep in touch, but geography, money, and family obligations kept us apart for many years. Today, for the first time in 13 years, I saw BreeAnne; it was all I could do to let go after hugging her for what must have been five minutes. She and her family added several hours to an already insanely long road trip (Dallas to Baltimore) to see me, and I couldn’t have been happier. I finally met her husband and six children, and it really did my heart good to see her so happy. While we were hanging out at a local park, I was able to snap a few pictures of most of the kids (the oldest, Andrew, wouldn’t stay still long enough for me to get more than a colorful blur).

Today was the happiest day I’ve had in ages, and I owe it to my old friend. I just hope I’ll get to see her more often, and it gives me hope that I’ll be able to catch up with my other girlfriends before too many more years pass by.