April Storytellers Blog Circle | Waiting for the Moment

My son was busy saving the world in his favorite costume the other day, but he couldn't find the cape. Of course, everything had to stop while he located the exact one that came with the costume. (Absolutely no substitutions acceptable!) I had been taking pictures of him jumping off of things- a staple in our house- so I already had my camera as I followed him up to his room to look for the cape. He was pretty sure it was at the very bottom of a big tupperware toy tub (where else?), so he started digging and taking toys out amassing a bigger and bigger pile as he searched.

While he looked, I thought about how I could use the very low, back light in his room.

365 Stories | March 2017

I spent so much of March chained to my computer working on my upcoming Click Photo School breakout, that I didn't even notice how beautiful life was this month until I put this post together. Makes me a little sad that my attention was divided, but none of us are perfect and the best we can do is march on, with open hearts and eyes! So here's to living in the moment, and here's to APRIL!

365 projectAndrea MoffattApril 2, 2017365 project, documentary family photographyComment

March Storytellers Blog Circle | Framing using Layers

I shot this image today, on one of the first warm days of 2017! Everyone wanted to get outside and so we went over to visit Mimi and Pap we schlepped out allllll the toys. Everyone was playing with different things at the same time. (Isn't that what happens at your house when the weather breaks and all the kids and adults shed their winter bonds?)

Of course, because everyone was playing with different toys at the same time, I have a camera card full of one child flying a kit, one launching a helicopter with pap, etc... A while it's nice to have images of these memories, in the end, I like to pick one image for my 365 project (and eventually for printing). Because I know one image will be printed, I prefer to choose the one I feel will best help me hold onto the essence of the day. Today, this was the image I chose because it captured a few stories at once.

Photography Education | Leading Lines | Small Changes Series

Earlier this week, my little superhero was coming to my aid as he likes to do. This time, making my coffee. He was sitting up on the counter alone and even though I knew he was big enough to sit there without falling, when I shot the photo at first, I was in a rush because I wanted to make sure he was steady up there. So my first image wasn't very thought-through and this how it looked:

February Daily Stories

Let's face it- photographers and February usually just don't mix (especially where I live). It's a fragile time for those doing a new 365 project: every day it's touch and go, trying to just make one good picture while being light-starved and inundated by brown, gray, and more brown. In Februrarys with little to no snow, it's even worse. There is no pretty cover for all that mud and dead plants. No bright white light entering the windows or chance of snow day inspiration. It's all as dreary as it sounds...

Except....

365 project, personalAndrea MoffattMarch 1, 2017365 project, family documentary photography

Give Your Child a Time Capsule

Imagine being the age you are now and having in your possession, the full story of your first birthday party, including your close extended family, with less wrinkles and several decades younger.

Imagine seeing the way your parents looked at you. The way your grandma planted a kiss on your chubby cheek. Your uncle, decades younger, playing peekaboo with you or laughing in the corner with your late grandfather.

Imagine getting to take a good look around your very first home- some familiar furniture, not yet broken in.

Storytellers Blog Circle | February 2017

You can probably tell that an image like this is all about perspective. I set my camera on the table and, using a low aperture, shot through all the layers on the table. I purposely framed him so that he would be on the right hand third of the image, because I wanted him to look like just another thing at the table: glass, salt shaker, boy, glass...

Pittsburgh Family Photographer | What is Family Documentary Photography?

If you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've probably heard me toss around the term, Family Documentary Photography. But what exactly is it? And why would anyone want to hire a Family Documentary Photographer?

If you are loving life (most days anyways), have much for which you're thankful, and ever find yourself thinking, "I will miss this someday...", then very likely you should have your story told before it passes you by.

January Daily Stories

It's here! My monthly round up of January stories. This year, I aim to complete my 3rd 365 project in a row... this one, in full color. Already my choice to only edit my daily picture in color is vexing me. Especially with low light photography, it is often so much easier to fiddle around with a color picture for a few minutes and then throw up your hands and say, "to heck with it! black and white it is!" Without that option to fall back on, I've already had to think carefully while shooting. (Which is never a bad thing, of course!)

Storytellers Blog Circle | January 2017

I'd been trying to get a nice picture of my son sleeping for a while. He is right on the edge of growing into his big boy face. Soon there will be no more of those sweet baby cheeks. I was on a time crunch. I was on a mission.

The problem I was facing was the light source. When you photograph a sleeping child, you usually need to add a little light to the scene (unless, of course, your child needs lots of light to sleep already).

Pittsburgh Family Photographer | Personal Hour by Hour Challenge | January

When I first started documentary family photography back in 2014, I relied heavily on my own family to figure out how to make impactful storytelling images (and how to keep it up for whole events- even whole days). I practiced on my family by doing a DITL (Day in the Life) project frequently- back then I subjected us probably monthly. The idea of that project is simple: document your life, from morning to night. And let me tell you, it is HARD work! Hard, as in physically tiring and hard, as in mentally exhausting.

Photography Education | Perspective | Small Changes Series

Photography education post showing two images and discussing how a small change in perspective can make a big impact!

2016 Year in Review | Pittsburgh Family Photographer

....Because I couldn't let 2016 go without seeing them all in one place. ;-)

My 2016 daily 366 project wasn't as strict as my 2015 project. I allowed myself to shoot with my phone for a month straight in the summer. When choosing which photos to include in my final set, I chose 2 or 3 from some days and zero from other days. In short, I shot and shared what made me happy.

Are you shooting a daily project with me in 2017? If so, I recommend the following:

Client Highlights 2016

2016 was a great year for me as a photographer because I was lucky to connect with lots of clients who value photo stories as much as I do. They, like I, believe that every picture will forever hold a little story. They, like I, believe that we are all made of stories; that stories will someday be all we have left.

client, popularAndrea MoffattJanuary 2, 2017pittsburgh family photographer, documentary photography

Personal Bests of 2016

2016 is coming to a close, and all over social media it's getting pretty grim reviews and hearty good-riddances. I acknowledge that, for the world as a whole, 2016 pretty much stunk. But if I tried to shoulder all the hate and killings and bickering, I'd be a shadow of myself. So I choose to stay informed, speak out when I feel it matters, and focus on raising two little boys who will someday face the world with love, understanding, and bravery.

Pittsburgh Family Photographer Blog

Except....