Its time to party, spring break style! I plan to drink ( lots of water), dress inappropriately (in grubby – not – fit -for – public – viewing garden clothes), eat to excess (asparagus and spinach from the market) and sleep til noon (that one is literal actually).

Spring is heating up and I needed to fit in a short break somewhere to recharge and get ready for the summer and this was the week to do it. So I am back at things on May 22nd – look for email and phone calls and lots of finger waving at all the bad stuff I indulge in while on my spring break (if only it meant the fun bad stuff…its just gardening and cleaning and crap like that…sigh…)

One thing I DO plan to do a bit of this week are some personal photographer projects (well, I will pick ONE and actually try to finish it for a change!). I do love flowers, so here are a few more spring florals I did this week…the wild flower that signals spring in Ontario more than almost any other is the trillium. I love this simple flower.

Its almost Mother’s Day,  arguably the most awesome holiday of the entire year. At least thats what my kids say…in fact they are constantly telling me that they wish EVERYDAY was mother’s day…they are so right, but alas, that would be too much wonderfulness all the time that we would all forget to pay any attention at all to other important stuff, like puppies, rainbows and butterflies.

SO, if you want to give a gift for mothers day that DOES last everyday of the year, quietly hanging on the wall, reminding her how much you love her every time she walks past it, the gift of custom portraits is your answer! (you.are.welcome!) Tauro Photography gift certificates start at $200 – email julie@taurophotography.com by Friday May 11th to order yours! (then be prepared to hugged…and I mean ALOT, on Sunday, after you let her sleep in and prepare her breakfast in bed of course).

To go with this post, I wanted to find some new quotes about moms and I found a couple I loved.

“A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.” Tenneva Jordan

“The moment a child is born, the mother is also born.  She never existed before.  The woman existed, but the mother, never.  A mother is something absolutely new.”  ~Rajneesh

And a photo, just because. These are lilacs from my tree. We planted this lilac tree on my very first mother’s day in this house, way back in 1996. It was a twig, and now its taller than my roof.

Can you smell them? now they are on my desk, distracting me from my work.

And one more quote, the best one I found today, cause its truth is so profound…

A suburban mother’s role is to deliver children obstetrically once, and by car forever after.  ~Peter De Vries

Oh yeah, absolutely the truth!

Happy Mother’s day to all the moms!

A little late, but whatever, I just roll like that these days. This is my countdown of favourite images from the last 10 years of business. AND May is my actual anniversary month! Yay! It will be the end of the month and I am planning a celebration (what the heck…I deserve it, am I right?!>!)

In the meantime, here is an image I have always loved. Weirdly, as I was pulling images from a folder of favourites, I ended up with 3 out of 10 images from WAAAAY back in my days of film (oh lovely film, I miss you sometimes). And in my runner up folder, several more from film. Maybe its just that I have lived with those images in my brain longer, but whenever I run across them in my folder system, I can’t help but be somewhat nostaglic to those old days (what can I say, I am getting into my middle age years and feeling nostagilic is in my blood stream it seems).

This is a client image from an extended family session. The minute they rolled up to the location in this fully restored old car (yes, old car is a real automotive technical term…truthfully, I know absolutely nothing about cars, other than they always seem to end up costing me at least a grand everytime I take it in for an oil change). ANYhoo, this gorgeous old car was awesome and we definitely did a family image with it in the background. BUT my favourite image of the day, was of the littlest grandson and his grandpa. There is just something timeless about a little boy sitting behind the wheel of a car with his grandfather.

I always love blog carousel time – I never know what the rest of the ladies are going to post about until after I have followed through the carousel to all the blogs  (although we do agree on a theme, but with so many creative types involved, everyone generally has their own take on it). This month we decided to do a round of informational posts for our carousel. I hope you will enjoy learning about photography, things to consider when hiring a photographer, ideas you can use for your images, etc. I decided to talk about light – different types of light that photographers use (or choose not to use) for their clients and personal photographic style.

I personally use both natural light and studio light. I love the variety that I can achieve with having both options, and quite frankly, living in Southern Ontario means there is a good part of the year that outdoor portraits are somewhat impractical (<—-UNDERSTATEMENT right there haha!). Outdoor natural light sessions have a very different feel than a studio portrait.  One is not better or worse than the other – they each have their benefits and challenges.

In this first example, the one of these was lit by studio lighting, one by window lighting.  The studio is a perfect option for simple newborns, if the family is not interested in having their session done in the home (which happens often).  But on location in the home can also yield simple and lovely portraits by window light. I like both! (do you know which it is – photographers…no cheating cause you probably know! LOL)

Similarly, studio light and window light (okay this one is alittle easier to tell which is which…but I still love both looks!)

Outdoor natural light allows for a TON of variety in a portrait session – locations, type of lighting, space and movement, etc. For some types of sessions, in particular children, you can move about, rather than staying within a smaller area.

But fun can happen in studio as well! Just because the space is smaller, doesn’t mean it has to be static or posed (although there is also a place for that style as well)

Indoor natural light…simple and sweet.

And for seniors and adults, the same thing applies – studio, indoor natural light and outdoor can all yield lovely results, very suited to the subject and style of portrait.

So a few considerations you need to make when choosing a photographer to create portraits for you when it comes to light:

1. style – different light can absolutely be used to create a specific look and style. Neither is better, just different, and you would choose the photographer based on the work they create and the type of session you need. Don’t discount a particular lighting type simply because it is perceived as less valuable. Often studio lighting is regarded as traditional or static or too posed, but the reality, that is more about the style of the photographer than the light they use.

2. time of year – because I live in a four season climate, I have opted to utilize both types of lighting in my work in order to offer services year round. Other photographers may choose differently. But if it is winter, your options are limited for outdoor lighting, so either in your home or in the studio are your best options then. Or waiting until spring or summer. Of course, if you have a baby in the cold depths of an Ontario winter (as I did…twice!) you probably will not opt for waiting so studio is a great option, especially if your home is not as suited to a portrait session because it looks “VERY lived in” (thats a nice way of saying our place is alittle messy most of the time LOL)

3. temperament - for children’s sessions, you may just KNOW that your little one will not be happy to sit and interact with a photographer in a limited space. Fair enough, I have definitely had that experience a few times! But just because we are in a limited space in the studio doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun!

Next up in the carousel is Melody Hood, a very talented photographer (I am always in awe of her environmental portraits! they are simply stunning). Click HERE to check out her post in this months blog carousel.

Isn’t she gorgeous? She is also funny as heck and a great mom and photographer. And she is the first photographer I have photographed. Usually when I am with photographer friends, its all talk and cameras really don’t make an appearance (well, sometimes we use them just long enough to justify calling it a “work” meeting LOL). But I asked Mich if she would pose for me and bravely, she agreed! I think she looks great! THEN we did makeup and WOW! Its very different photographing a friend – I was totally free to say some very inappropriate things to her (cause she already knows I do that from time to time HA!). I try to stay polite with people that don’t know me well, but I have to say, I may have to try it with someone soon – it definitely was good for some laughing shots (I definitely don’t mind if someone wants to laugh at my expense, as long as it looks good in the camera).

Thanks for the great afternoon (and the unplanned ride home!! )

I am in the process of switching websites and domains and emails…oh my…so over my head!

But that means for a week or some things might be alittle in tranistion, including email. If you don’t hear from me at my regular email (which will be back up and running once this all gets done), you can reach me at julietauro@gmail.com.

I am crossing my fingers this all goes smoothly…but since I am ACTUALLY over my head with this (that really isn’t a joke!) I can’t guarantee I will do this all smootly.

Thanks for bearing with me!

Time to share some images from the last 10 years – once a month starting in March (yes, its April…I am pretending its still March JUST for today cause I was ill last week and now very behind…so I am doing March 31 over…) I plan to feature 5 personal faves, and 5 client faves. First up, my weirdos…

As a mom, for sure the images I have been drawn to of my own kids are far from perfect or “normal”, and I think sometimes I am especially drawn to images that illustrate something quirky or individual about my kids. And so, for the first image of my 10 ten images from the first 10 years in business, I am featuring a small series of my kids that definitely do just that.

I know I know, its a series, not just one image, and that is cheating (my blog, my rules – you know, rules are meant to be broken sometimes!). But I often find I love images in series because they complete a full thought or story. This little series is definitely a family favourite. It really does capture the personalities of my kids all perfectly! And we do tend to have a kinda weird sense of humour – especially my son (he gets it from me and don’t let him tell you otherwise!)

The series begins with the typical totally bored children of photographers expressions – littlest one staring me down and thinking about bolting, the  middle one goofing off, the oldest cooperative and completely bored.  And what quickly follows is the series lovingly know as “The Pick” – I think it happened in seconds and while I WAS attempting to take a somewhat nice portrait of them in the front yard on a fun summers evening, it ended up way way WAY better in my opinion.

The unexpected moments in my parenting journey are definitely ones that I treasure most of all.

Its blog carousel time again for me – I love being a part of this monthly challenge with a wonderful group of talented photographers. I will admit though – I missed last months entirely (doh!) and time got away from me again this month (double doh!). But at least this months theme is a familar one for me, since my photography “hobby” is playing with my macro lens and shooting nice and close. So I decided to revisit some past images, that all used macro techniques AND that celebrate spring (the nice weather inspired me to do that – not the fact that I have been too busy to get outside and enjoy it yet…insert whiney sad face here…)

The way the blog carousel works is our group of creative photographers pick a theme each month, we do a blog post and then we link to the blog post of the next person in the lineup – follow the links all the way through to see all the fantastic images (and knowing these ladies, its a guarantee of loveliness).

If you would like to have a peek at our past carousel posts, click HERE for a list of posts.

Here are my spring things in macro…

This first one is my flower box from last year – how lovely it looked when I first created it. And I also remember how not so lovely it was looking a month later when my efforts to water them regularly fell through (as it always does…sigh).

Here is my first shoot of asparagus from last spring (I am anxiously awaiting the new crop because its so amazingly delicioso!). And my lilac…lovely scented lilac…come on spring…

Bleeding hearts, hostas, chives, ferns, tulips…and green peas!! I can’t wait for those!

And here is my lovely peony…it starts in spring and welcomes summer in June with the big, fragrant blossoms.

I hope you will continue on our blog carousel and see what the other ladies are up to this month. Next in line is Dena Robles, who has a wonderful artistic eye that is clearly evident her photography – I always enjoy checking out her work. I know you will enjoy her and all the rest. Click HERE Grand Rapids Michigan Child Photographer .

This year I am officially celebrating the 10^th year of Tauro Photography! O.M.G. that makes me feel proud (and just a little bit old)! And in the spirit of celebrating 10 years, I have decided to have some fun this year!

Now since its an anniversary, I decided to first google what the traditional anniversary gifts entail for a 10^th…and I learned the traditional gift is something tin or aluminum…thats ”okay”. But the MODERN gift is diamond jewellery…so I am going with THAT one (and yes, I am aware I am not ACTUALLY married to my business, but I said I was planning to have fun with this and nothing says fun better to me than diamond jewellery…am I right?)

Just a taste of the amazing top 10 posts to come – first up, since Tauro Photography is 10 years old, I am going back in time to pull out my favourite top 10 images of those years. That was freaking HARD, but there are definitely some images that I am constantly going back to and whether its something about the subject, the composition or the emotion of the image (or even the story behind the image), they always resonate with me. I will feature 5 client images and 5 personal images, and I can’t wait to share those and tell you why they stand out for me.

I will have a whole bunch of Top 10 lists to share! I hope it will be fun AND informative.

How about some 10^th anniversary giveaways…no, not diamond jewellery…seriously people! But I CAN giveaway some photography so lets do that – stay tuned for details!

And since my OFFICIAL start date of business is May 27, 2002, it stands to reason that should be a party day! More on that in May! (see how I keep putting you off with the “stay tuned” thing…that is called my “hook” to get you to keep coming back and checking in…no, I am not proud, especially if it works!)

For today, just a few images of a cutie in a tutu (I LOVE tutus…not sure why, but they are the girliest thing I am into…MAYBE I need one for my anniversary celebration – tutus for ALL!). I love that this young lady put on the tutu and immediately started hula dancing!! She is an interpretive dancer!! Love it!

I am a big collector of quotations and one of my favourite sources is Kahlil Gibran. The language and thoughts in his writings never cease to make me calm and sigh with  understanding. The wonderful part of the new Illumine Portraits for Women line that I have been working on over the past year is that I have had the opportunity to fully see this sentiment in practise with the women I have photographed. All of them have shown that beauty truly is a light in the heart, and we all have it. If we all could only stop focusing on what we don’t have, don’t like, can’t change in ourselves and see that there is so much more to our being…the world would be transformed. The idea of that is so beautiful to me.

I am working away on my new website, and thought I would take alittle break and share one of the gorgeous women I recently photographed. I really enjoyed meeting her and really appreciate her sense of humour and her fabulous laugh (I may have made an off colour comment or two here and there and she didn’t shoot daggers at me with her eyes, so I definitely liked that!! LOL)