Marie Leslie Photography

If you’ve been checking in, you know that a couple of months ago, I sent off some prints to be judged at the PPA International Image competition.  Well, the results are in and two of the four images were accepted for exhibition.  “Lightning Strikes Twice” and “Where Dreams Fly” were both accepted by the judges.  In addition, “Where Dreams Fly” was selected for inclusion in the showcase book.  It’s not quite as good as I would have liked, but competition is tough and I am happy to be in the book this year–that’s a first for me.

We got to photograph some beautiful babies last month.  Two adorable baby boys, both children of some of our former wedding couples.  We always enjoy seeing our clients and getting to watch their families grow.  Here are just a few of our favorites.  They also have a few images in our children’s galleries on our main website at marielesliephoto.com.  This first little guy is Alex and he’s only a couple of weeks old, and just as sweet as can be.     I admit it.  I just have a thing for these adorable little baby feet.  So tiny,and so perfect, and just so darn cute!

  Will was our second baby, he’s just turned four months, so he’s really starting to show off his sparkling personality–and, of course, little baby hands and feet.   

Well, we survived the 4th.  I’m not sure which was more impressive:  the city fireworks show or the illegal fireworks on the street in front of my house (which I can’t take credit for).  At one point, we had fireworks in the sky, no matter which direction we looked–and, yeah, they were all illegal.  Here are a few of this year’s shots from the city of Rio Rancho’s fireworks show.      

Well, the 4th is here and we like to celebrate in style.  We’re having a big get-together today with lots of our friends.  We’ll barbecue, have some fun and finish off with a great fireworks show.  But I’d like to take a quick moment and say thank you to all of you who have served our country. 

  A special thank-you and honor to James Akin and to his sweet wife, Syreeta and her family.  James and Syreeta were one of our favorite wedding couples from 2006 and have become dear to us.  James was killed in Iraq last June, just a week before he was to come home to his wife.  It’s a huge debt of gratidtude we owe to James and Syreeta and their families and to all the other servicemen and women wherever they are. 

Having grown up in a military family, I have a special fondness for those who serve.  And just to cap off the day, a couple of photos of my very favorite hero serviceman–my dad–who was a career Marine and served in both Korea and Vietnam.  We miss him and wish he were here today.  So, wherever you are and whatever you’re doing today, take a moment to say a word of thanks to those who made this day possible for us.   

    It’s July and that means Independence Day is coming up.  And, of course, that means fireworks.  Every year, I get lots of e-mails asking how to take fireworks photos.  So, this year, I’m saving myself some wear and tear and posting my annual e-mail here.

First, you need a camera where you can set the shutter speed manually.  You also need a tripod–or a VERY sturdy place to put the camera.  You can try setting on a wall or a table, but a tripod is definitely going to give you the best photos.  If you have a cable release this will also help a whole lot toward getting great shots.  Otherwise, you can use the self-timer on your camera, but this doesn’t give you as much control.  Set your camera for the lowest possible ISO or film speed (by the way, please don’t e-mail me and ask me how to do this; every camera is different and I know how all of mine work, but I’m not likely to know how yours works without seeing it).  Set your shutter speed to bulb if you have the setting available.  Otherwise, set for about 2-10 seconds.  Anything shorter and you won’t get a full burst.  Anything longer and your photo will be really cluttered.

Next, find yourself a clear view of the fireworks–and you need to be reasonably close.  You want your frame to be fairly filled with the fireworks.  I’m lucky.  The city of Rio Rancho holds their annual fireworks show on the hill behind my house.  I have a clear shot and close enough to get great images.

Set your camera’s focus to infinity.  Set it on the tripod and look through the viewfinder as they fire off the first couple bursts so you can be sure you are getting the view you want.  Now you are ready to shoot.  If you have a cable release, use that to get your photos.  If you are on bulb setting, hold down the cable release button for a couple of bursts of fireworks and then let the shutter close.  Repeat throughout the show and you should have at least a few nice fireworks shots by the end.  If you don’t have a cable release, set your shutter speed between 2 and 10 seconds and use your self-timer to make the exposures.  The reason you need to do it this way is that pushing on the shutter button with your finger will cause camera movement and you won’t get clear images of the fireworks.

Now, go have a great 4th and get some cool fireworks shots!

One of the personal projects I’m always working on here is my PPA Master of Photography designation.  To earn it, among other things, I have to enter prints in the annual national competition where accepted prints receive merits (like points) toward the degree.  It’s that time of year again and I have just sent off four favorites for this year’s competition.  Two of them I already know will receive merits as they were judged in the regional competition in Texas a few months ago.  The other two I’m pretty hopeful for as they scored well in our Professional Photographer’s of New Mexico competition in March. 

You’ll also find these images in the fine art gallery on our website, and I’d love to hear your comments about these images.  I’ve added their titles to make it easy for you.  All prints that go to PPA competition must be titled–untitled is not considered acceptable.

Yes!  Marie Leslie Photography has finally entered the 21st century with a blog of our own.  We’ll use this blog to keep you up to date about all the great things happening in the world of Marie Leslie, sneak previews of new products, highlights from some of our weddings and portrait sessions and news and previews of updates to our websites marielesliephoto.com and marieleslieseniors.com , and of Marie’s photography and writing projects.  And, if you can stand it, probably a little bit of personal news and musings from Marie’s world as well.  Both of our websites have been recently updated, so we invite you to check them out and give us some feedback by leaving us a comment.