Gainesville Florida children's photographer: Laurel Housden Photography » General Photography

Guess where I’ve been?

Laurel — Sun, 04 May 2008 04:10:59 +0000

Benjamin + The Housdens

Laurel — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 21:53:20 +0000

I posted some pictures of my new nephew Benjamin a few posts ago. I have finally finished editing the rest of the photographs from that weekend. We all enjoyed meeting Benjamin for the first time as you can tell from these pictures. Make sure to check out the rest of the pictures in the slideshow at the end of this post!

CLICK HERE TO SEE A SLIDESHOW OF ALL THE PICTURES!

Using a Neutral Density Filter

Laurel — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 14:20:28 +0000

One of the items that was suggested that you bring on Moose Peterson’s Digital Landscape Workshop Series is a neutral density filter. The one that Moose uses is the Lee .9 graduated filter. I wanted to be prepared since I was spending so much $$$ on going and I did not want to miss out on any important shots because I did not bring the recommended equipment. I had no idea how or when to use the filter – and really still don’t – until I stumbled across this fantastic article over at The Travel Photographer Network that explains all of the ins and outs of using a Neutral Density Filter. Check out the article here!

A Day At The Beach

Laurel — Sat, 12 Apr 2008 02:37:35 +0000

Day 5 of Spring Break and we decided to go to the Beach. Stuart took the day off and we headed to Crescent Beach which is just south of St. Augustine, Florida. It was a beautiful day and the waves were above average in size. Aidan was so excited to feed the seagulls. He talked about it on the car ride there and even saved half his sandwich so he would have something to feed them.

Dude Looks Like A Lady

Laurel — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 18:48:43 +0000

Here are pictures of my adorable little 5 year old boy. He is the biggest HAM of them all. We have been home this week on Spring Break and as you can imagine – it can get pretty boring after the first day. The other day I was hard at work on my computer (not really work…editing pictures) and Aidan kept on running in to my closet and running back out. He did this about 5 times over a span of 30 minutes. O.K….all was calm so I’m wasin’t the least bit concerned. Until I found out what he was doing in my closet. As I peaked out to check on the kid-lings I poked my head inside my 10 year old daughter’s room to find her giving her little brother a complete make over, including nails, toes, and face. It wasin’t bad enough that she was putting makeup on my son – but – she made him PAY for it. He was getting coins from my closet! I was literally standing in the doorway with my mouth hung open ready to catch flies when this cutie of a boy looked up at me and said, “Mommy, look at my makeup it only cost me 50 cents!” “My toes only cost 75 more cents!” I seized the moment and remembered a chapter in Scott Kelby’s Digital Photography Book about getting great light from a North facing window. Here are some pictures captured using the D300 and my North Window…and a beautiful model!

I have been testing the Lightroom 2.0 Beta and this is my first series using the new program. All of the edits were performed in Lightroom (except the textured picture of Aidan). I especially love that you can now sharpen on export with three levels of sharpness (low, medium, and high) as well as the abilty to choose either glossy, matte, or screen as your final output.

If you like the Black and White pictures above of Aidan, I have created a Lightroom Preset for this effect that you can download here: bw-with-sepia.zip - Let me know what you think. If you don’t know how to import Lightroom Presets into the Develop Module check out Matt Kloskowski’s Lightroom Killer Tips Blog and a video on how to import presets here.

Egg Hunt with Aidan and Rowan

Laurel — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 16:55:34 +0000

One of Gainesville’s best kept secrets is the annual Harmony Gardens Easter Egg Hunt. Aidan has been counting the days in anticipation of running through the magnificent gardens in search of colored eggs. There are hundreds of colored plastic eggs scattered throughout the gardens and only about 9 kids in the hunt. It’s over in about 10 minutes…here are some shots from the day. If ever in the area..check out Harmony Gardens in Gainesville, Florida, located on 441. It is an amazing garden center that is locally owned and operated by two very nice ladies. It is a photographers paradise, filled with so much color and texture. Click each picture for a larger view.

Aidan’s egg basket

Aidan

Rowan

This is one of my favorite shirts of Aidan’s. I bought it for him while at the DLWS in Cape Cod last October. We call it the Whale Tail Shirt

Aidan is search of the eggs

My hunky husband with Aidan

TSS Purim Carnival

Laurel — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 18:30:57 +0000

Here are some adorable faces that I captured at the TSS Purim Carnival held in Gainesville, Florida. It so happened that it fell on Easter Sunday this year. It was such an awesome day. Sunny, warm (but not too much), and breezy. Perfect spring weather for Gainesville. I’ve been hard at work taking every opporutnity available to shoot and get comfortable with the D300. Practice, Practice, Practice. Just a reminder that I’m heading off to Orlando this Friday for the Photoshop World Expo. Give me a shout out if anyone is interested in hooking up to say hi on the Expo floor!

This is Cara…she is so sweet. Her mom Lynda is awesome!

Isin’t this lady just beautiful. Check out that smile!

What is up with those thigh high socks….sooooo cute!

Go Gators! What can I say…I live in Gainesville

This is Maggie….her parents are amazing cellists.

One of my favorite subjects. This is sweet and sassy Rachel!

I just love the highlights

No…this is not a Hari Chrisna girl…she has an Indian costume on

Virginia….can you tell she loves goats?

Had to get another shot of sweet Maggie…and the goat too!

My favorite Shootsac Cover

Laurel — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:51:00 +0000

I just love my Shootsac by Jessica Claire. It is a fantastic camera bag that allows me to bring just the essentials that I need on various types of photography outings. You don’t actually keep your camera in the bag…just the extras. I usually carry my 50 1.8 and my 28-300mm lenses along with my strobe and extra batteries. I love that I don’t have to carry my Lowpro on my back moving around to different locales anymore when I only need a few items. The Shootsac has really given me back a lot of freedom with my movements along with looking pretty cool and stylish. I have three covers. The Fiesta (shown below) is my favorite. Here are some images that I captured at Harmony Gardens in Alachua Florida on Easter.

Happy Birthday Lincoln!

Laurel — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 03:08:01 +0000

Lincoln is the coolest 6 year old I know. He goes to school with my son Aidan and his awesome and very hip mom Nicki is one of Aidan’s teachers. Nicki always has a huge blow out for her only son every year for his birthday and this year was no exception. She created a carnival in her backyard complete with a cotton candy machine and a dunking booth. Here are some pictures from the day!

This is little Ginger one of the kids from Jordan Glen. She is one of my favorite subjects. She just screams Ginger!!!

Here’s the birthday boy!

Nicki and Lincoln

This is Lincoln’s grandmother proudly showing her three grandchildren

Lincoln’s grandparents share a moment

Nicki has the coolest tatoos – When did Kindergarten teachers start sporting tattoos?

I just love this next series of shots of Lincoln with his parents. You can just feel the love they have for their special guy! I think the feeling is mutual!