Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // Little girl twisting in her twirly skirt

Blue Spin {Photo Challenge}

May 23, 2014July 9, 201456 Comments

Canon 60D | Tamron 28-75mm | 1/15 sec at f/2.8 | ISO400

Birthdays and art shows and parties, oh my! The past two weeks have been beyond bananas! Not just as a mama and wife, but as a room mom and fine artist volunteer at school. My baby turned 5 this week – so of course we celebrated in many ways on many days: Tuesday with just our “4-family” as my girls call it on her actual birthday; Wednesday we had a Chuck E. Cheese party for her with friends and family; and Friday (today) she had a class celebration. My 1st graders open house and art show at school was scheduled for last week, but you may have heard in the news that San Diego, California had quite a few fires burning? School was closed and open house / art show was postponed to this week. Teacher appreciation week was also last week, which was split and rolled into this week. Are you as exhausted as I am just reading this stuff?

Canon 60D | Tamron 28-75mm | 1/15 sec at f/2.8 | ISO400

For as long as I can remember, I’ve always been a night owl. Between 1am and 3am is my usual “call-it-a-night” curtain call. Once the kitchen is cleaned up, kids are in bed, kids are asleep (because “in bed” and “asleep” are sometimes hours apart), laundry is rotated and folded (wow, I kinda sound like Cinderella!); once all of that mama and wife stuff is done, then I get to edit photos, write blog posts, and work on other creative or room mom stuff. But this week? Pure exhaustion took over and not a single blog post was written! Eeek! Please forgive my absence, but know that I am now full of energy and ready to post!

Canon 60D | Tamron 28-75mm | 1/15 sec at f/2.8 | ISO400

I missed last weeks Daily Post Photo Challenge, but am happy to jump back in this week. The theme is “Twist” and just last week I was having fun with my little one with a motion shot… pretty perfect for today’s theme! I definitely would have had better results using my tripod, but getting a (then) 4-yr old to twirl in the exact same spot is a bit challenging! The settings were exactly the same for each shot: 1/15 sec at f/2.8, ISO 400, with Canon 60D and Tamron 28-75mm 2.8 lens. Clearly the slow shutter speed captured the movement of the sequins on her skirt, but had it been on a tripod, there may have been a tad bit more sharpness in the outline of her skirt. Just a tip in case you’d like to replicate with your own twirly skirt 🙂

Canon 60D | Tamron 28-75mm | 1/15 sec at f/2.8 | ISO400

Is it weird that in just one week I now feel totally rusty in blogging? How do you get your creative mojo back? What do you do to get back on the horse, so to speak? Any tips would be greatly appreciated!

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!

Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

E Q U I P M E N T U S E D (Affiliate Links)
Canon 60D
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
Check out all my camera bag goodies here!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // Siblings, photos, pre-tween, Balboa Park, spring, peach, blue

P Siblings Sneak Peek {Photo Session}

April 29, 2014October 15, 201512 Comments

Are you ready for a whole lotta gorgeousness? I had the great pleasure of photographing these kids at one of my favorite San Diego locations – Balboa Park! Photographing these adorable siblings was a breeze – not only are they beautifully photogenic, but they’re super smart, sweet, well mannered, respectful and just overall great kids! They made my job a total walk-in-the-park! Pun intended 🙂

Their Mom is a dear friend of mine – I was fortunate enough to work side-by-side with her for a couple of years as we volunteered together on the board for our church’s Ministry of Mothers group. We co-chaired Programs for our group and had so much fun lining up top-notch guest speakers and activities for our group of dedicated mamas! We might not see each other as often as we did those years, but we’re still two peas in a pod when we do get together ❤

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!

Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

E Q U I P M E N T U S E D (Affiliate Links)
Canon 60D
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
Check out all my camera bag goodies here!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // engagement couple session, Rosarito, Mexico, mercado, market, maracas, colorful, turquoise, blue, gray, wood, wheel, rustic, arches, archways, kiss

10 on 10 – April // Engagement at Mercado with Rey & Gina

April 15, 2014April 14, 201419 Comments

I had the amazing privilege to photograph this gorgeous couple for their engagement session, not once, but twice! We actually broke their session into two sessions – you might remember this post from last week of our sunset beach session? For our first session, we actually headed to a Mercado to get some local flavor and colors in Baja California.

And did I mention the best part? Those cutie pie-love birds are my family! My handsome and smart brother Rey and his adorable and creative fiancé Gina are getting married towards the end of the year, and we are so excited for the big event!

Gina and I have been pinning ideas and texting back and forth with inspiration for this session, and when she went exploring her new neighborhood, found these adorable areas for us to incorporate during our session. We did a morning session at the local Mercado and had a blast! There were so many amazing little spots we found during our outing, we could’ve went on photographing for days!! The colors, the textures, the vibe – we loved it all!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // engagement couple session, Rosarito, Mexico, mercado, market, colorful, turquoise, blue, gray, wood, wheel, rustic, arches, archways, kiss

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // engagement couple session, Rosarito, Mexico, mercado, market, colorful, blue, gray, wood, wheel, rustic, arches, archways, kiss

Today just happens to be our 10 on 10 posting for the month, so what a great opportunity to share Rey & Gina’s engagement session! You may have come to me from Kathleen Ries as part of the 10 on 10 circle, and even if you didn’t, follow the circle and head on over to Kristina Rust – her images are always gorgeous and inspiring, and her blog is full of great photo tips!

And if you still didn’t get enough 10 on 10 goodness, check out our previous circles here – I love the beautiful, diverse and collaborative spirit of our photo circles!

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

E Q U I P M E N T U S E D (Affiliate Links)
Canon 60D
Tamron 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
Canon 50mm f/1.4
Check out all my camera bag goodies here!

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // blue and green decorative glass art piece found in Hearst Castle

Object // Cheeky Art {Photo Challenge}

February 4, 2014July 18, 201412 Comments

While visiting Hearst Castle last year, I was captivated by all the beauty every where we turned. Of course all the amazing architecture and art were beautiful objects to desire, but even in the gift shop, the object of my attention turned to the colors of this decorative and colorful glass art piece. As I came in for a closer, angled shot, I realized I was getting quite a cheeky bum in the background from another sculptural art piece, which of course made me laugh! Yes, I totally regressed to my 7- and 4-year olds’ humor : )

Are you playing along with the Daily Post Weekly Photo Challenge: Object? Check out other submissions here!

As always, thanks for stopping by. Have a joyful, creative, blessing filled day!
Live creatively!
xoxo,
/c

Connie Hanks Photography // ClickyChickCreates.com // newborn session, swaddle, love, young family, bohemian, boho chic, sleeping baby, turquoise, big ring

Newborn Photography {Photo Session}

November 7, 2013October 15, 201525 Comments

Late this summer, my nephew was born and welcomed into our family! I shot these when he was just a few days old, but somehow with the craze of summer ending and school starting, now I realize I never posted these on my blog!

I might be a little biased, but isn’t he the cutest baby ever?!?! Love that full head of hair! Can’t wait to see him soon, and my sis and brother-in-law! You might remember some of the shots I took of my sister from our sunset pregnancy session here and here. Love them so much!