Our Newest Addition

Ok, ok, I was sad the other day, about two weeks ago, and my sweet little hubby noticed. I'm never sad, so when I was sad, this was a big deal to him. Three hours later, we had a puppy! Aaaargh! But I must say, he's a great dog. His name is Dewey, named for the youngest brother in the "Malcolm in the Middle" series...Buzz is a namer. He always names our children and dogs for movie or sports stars. We've had Jordan the chow chow, named for Michael Jordan, Mugsy, the bulldog, named for Mugsy Bogues, the shortest basketball player in the NBA for quite a while; TT, our daughter, whose actual name is Tenley, was named for a character in the very forgettable movie, Summer Catch, starring Freddie Prinze jr. and Jessica Biel, and Zoe was almost "Sloan", the female lead in Ferris Bueller's Day off. I drew the line at that one. ;) Come to think of it, I was named for Barbara Stanwyck, whom my dad was majorly enamored with...the only person in our family who wasn't named for anyone famous is Buzz! He's a 3rd, so I guess that's ok!

I know that it feels early, because it's so darn hot, but it's definitely time to start booking your holiday pictures. I have a ton of new, cool ideas, so give me a call at 480.861.4529 before the best spots are taken up.

In late breaking news, I'll be shooting all over the nation in the next couple of weeks: Chicago this coming weekend, Reno next weekend, and Nauvoo, Illinois October 3rd through 6th. Nauvoo has a huge amount of LDS history, which I find absolutely fascinating. I will also be shooting up and down the California coast in June and July, and am currently booking family shots, weddings, and high school seniors for next summer. The response has been amazing, so please book early to get the best times.

Juliette and Nick

These guys were such a fun couple. Hired as models for a photography seminar that I was speaking at, they were being shot at from all directions by people of all different skill levels, so I thought I'd jump in and save them from the masses for a while before I had to go speak. I pulled them into the water park in Tempe, and all of the little kids had a field day squirting them! Juliette and I just clicked right away, and her honey, Nick is so totally in love with her, it just made the time pass like nothing...His son was there, too and did an awesome job for me as well. They just look so right for each other. I'm gunning for them to get married so that I can shoot more of the love!

How to Choose a Camera and Lens

Ok, so your pictures never look like a professional's do, and you want to know why, right?

Especially in digital, I think that the biggest thing that you pay for is how short the delay is between the time you push the button on the camera and when the shutter actually clicks, if that makes sense...you know, when you have a great moment, and you never get it on film? That's the cheapie mom camera. The delay is too long, and you end up taking a picture of someone elses kid picking his nose.

Another thing to look into is the lens size. It's cheaper to buy a Kit, where there's a camera and lens together, however, Most of the "Kit" lenses only stop down to 5.6, which is almost like a mom camera in depth of field. One of the reasons that a professional picture looks so different is that a lot of times the subject is sharp, but the background is blurred out. You can do that a little bit on the kit lenses, but in order to get a sharp subject and blurred background, it's really nice to be able to stop down to 2.8. That being said, a 70-200 2.8 lens with image stabilization is $1800 and a 5.6 one is about $200, so you can choose how important that feature really is to you ! ;) A lens with a 2.8 also helps alleviate all of those nasty black shadows that you get when you take a picture with a flash on camera...you're letting in more natural light, so you don't need as much flash.
As for an entry camera body, I'm a canon girl, so a canon rebel is ok, a canon 40 or 50 D is better, bigger screen on the back to view the pictures, more bells and whistles, but most importantly, shorter time between when you push the button and when you actually take the picture. Don't buy a digital camera used. You may think that you're getting a bargain, but digital cameras aren't made like film cameras...they are only made to assume a certain amount of "clicks", then they're through. So go buy that camera, take a lOT of pictures and Let me know what you think!

The Pederson Family

I have known the Pederson Family since their oldest son, Rhett, and my oldest daughter, Zoe, were in diapers. Steve was my chiropractor in Minot, and Jodi, well, to say she's just the dearest, most wonderful friend on God's Green Earth is an understatement, so it was such a treat for me to shoot their family while I was in Minot this past June. The kids were a laugh riot, and Steve didn't even get mad at me when I made him bring his coffee table from the living room out to the front lawn...in the RAIN! Now, that's good people! see more on my facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Anthem-AZ/Barbara-Stitzer-Photography/45325794506?ref=ts and while you're there, become a fan! You'll be glad that you did!!

Chantell and Jayden

I love Chantell. I have always loved her. She was one of my models in Minot, North Dakota, and she has the most delicate nose and giant doe eyes. She's just exquisite. She used to take Zoe for swim lessons every Friday night at the YMCA...we went to watch once...it went something like this...go in the jacuzzi, talk a little, swim a little, jacuzzi... Read More some more...Buzz and I saw our opportunity and started going to dinner and a movie on Fridays, for the first time in years. What we didn't know is that she was a world class swim teacher...Zoe kicks serious booty at swiming thanks to Chantell! So when I was in Nortrh Dakota and found out that she and hubby Jayden were expecting, well, I just HAD to be a part of it. What a great sport Jayden was...I basically said, "Hi, nice to meet you, would you please take off your pants," and he DID! Now that's a good sport. But they did great, and you could just tell that they love each other so much. This is going to be one lucky baby.

Taylor and Tori

Taylor and Tori are the sweetest little twins imaginable. They were totally different, both in looks and even the way that they moved, but they were just so cute...they giggled and whispered throughout their entire sitting, and they just eased into their shoot like the stars that they are...but the biggest transformation for me was when they were in the shot together...they instinctively turned into their light so that both of them were lit equally, and they just put their heads together and glowed, while their mom, Natalie and I just looked on in awe. How wonderful to have that kind of bond, right there in your own twin!

Nuri's Senior Pictures!

Nuri is one of those kids who you know is going to change the world...and you better get out of the way now. I loved her on sight, but was slightly intimidated...she was nodding and smiling at me, but I could tell that she was having her senior pictures taken under duress...a fact that she confirmed within five minutes, which made me like her even more...I value honesty, what can I say? We started at the Cave Creek Coffee Company, then moved on to a funky part of Carefree, my new favorite spot, except for the fact that a guy in a junky car, with a filthy shirt and reeking of...well, to be precise, the funk that collects from not having bathed in a very long time came careening up, begging us to take Nuri's pictures with his "really cool saxophone". I was getting ready to tell him what to do with his saxophone when Nuri's mom, Nadine Shalaan, editor and publisher of our local fave magazine up here, the In &Out, roared up in her fab new Mini Cooper. That guy ran like a lamb when he sees mint jelly. The rest of the shoot was filled with great light, and beautiful Nuri. What else can you ask for?