Professional Help

We made it home in just a few minutes short of 12 hours! Thanks for your prayers. He was 150% better on the way home than he was on the way up. He cried between Birmingham and Montgomery but that seemed like nothing compared to the long ride up. While I regain my blogging energy I'm going to do a little something fun.

Something that involves this beautiful, talented and gracious friend...

Marla Carter {pictured here with Hornet}. Marla's a professional. I'm an amateur.

Sometimes you all email me or leave comments asking for photography advice. I'm honored that you would like for me to give you advice on photography, however, me giving you advice on photography would be like me telling you how to perm your hair at home {the results could be really scary}. So, I'm going to leave the advice up to the professional.

Marla is a very talented and trained photographer. And.... she has agreed to answer your questions about photography. Do you know how excited I am about this? Very. I've already started my own list.

Marla received her Bachelor's degree in Commercial Photography from Syracuse. After graduation she made her home in New York City trying her hand in fashion photography, only to realize that the industry wasn't a fit for her. Her heart had always been in portrait photography but knowing the start up costs of such an endeavor she put her dreams on the back burner. Until... the industry went digital, then she went for it and hasn't stopped since. She and her husband are in it together and have been going strong on their own for six years. Marla and Shane have a retail space in Redfish Village, along Florida's scenic Hwy 30-A. They each shoot over 100 clients a year yet make it a priority to maintain a very personal relationship with each one. Marla is such a natural with children {and parents}. None of the shots Marla takes are contrived. She captures each and every personality with such ease. She especially loves to shoot children playing with each other and interacting and playing with their parents. She also was recently chosen as a consultant for the nation's largest professional lab and the picture featured above is part of their marketing campaign. Have I made it clear she's good? Better educated than me? Better suited to answer all your questions? Ok, good.

Here are the rules for the sake of Marla's sanity...

Be specific in your questions. General questions like, "How do I take good pictures?" are very hard to answer. Specific questions are much easier to answer... like, "Do you recommend filters? How do you get good pictures inside? What should I look for in a camera bag? What's your favorite lens? How much can I expect to spend on a good SLR and a couple of good lenses?" You could probably even ask her a Photoshop question! Have fun, be creative, and be specific.

I'm going to leave the rest up to Marla. She'll be back with answers early next week. I'll keep the comments open.

In the meantime, I'm going to go hang out with her and throw my sister a little shower this weekend!

Photo courtesy of Marla, snapped by Erika!