Angela Schwartz Photography { The Blog }

Hi! My name is Angela Schwartz and I am an on-location child and family photographer. Welcome to my photography blog. Here you will find posts with images from family and client shoots complete with my daily ramblings. I'd love to hear from you and enjoy reading your comments. Keep them coming. ~Angela

WEBSITE: http://www.angelaschwartzphotography.com/

All images and site content is copyright of Angela Schwartz Photography. Do not copy, download, print or utilize images without artist's permission. Thank you.

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Make Believe

When you're seven the world is still full of make believe and wonder. How quickly a fairy is born and flies around the house. Or how Peter pan comes to life. The simple innocence of childhood. How I adore these years with my children. However fleeting these moments in time.

Have a wonderful day!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Body Butterfly


Our daughter wanted to play more in our studio today and when our son saw her and I having fun he wanted to join in on the fun. So together we came up with this idea for shot - body art of a butterfly.. So here is our body butterfly. Hopefully you too can see the shape their arms together are creating. Anyway, we had fun!

My New Office / In-Home Studio Space

Today I moved into our family room which is now entirely my office / in-home studio space. Hooray! The space is mostly an office space right now with loads of great light and bare naked floor and wall space. I have plans for a new desk, shelving, chair and props, wall canvases, frame samples and other items as well as prints. That's down the road of course. Anyway, I just had to try out my new space and set up the camera on a tripod and use the family ottoman from our living room. The kids were willing to play for a sec. This is a shot of our son as he gave me his famous eye contact, however brief. Anyway, I'm loving my new place and all the potential it has. :)

My first in-studio shot...



Now for the grand tour....


Ok, I know it's a mess. *ahem* I need shelving and storage badly.








The kids had fun trying out the new space too. :)

Sunday, July 27, 2008

At Days End on the Orchard

So we have been working hard on our apple trees - trimming, weeding out saplings and other pesky trees. It's been a family daily ritual. And we are starting to see the orchard take shape. We are losing alot of trees due to overgrowth and too many dead branches to save. But we are saving alot too and finding many with sparse apples. Next year we should have more - or so we hope. It is very relaxing to go out there and work. I escape from all the other things on my mind and focus completely on the trees. The kids are getting into it as well. Our son especially. He works the loppers and us the saw. Our daughter, well, she's the princess of the family. She sets out with big intentions of joining the family on the daily trimmings and she pretty much dances about and sings to the orchard and gabbing to whomever is within earshot or not.

Here's our princess at the end of the day yesterday when we were dog tired and checking our garden to see how it grow. Pic to follow. :)



Ok so the princess had to pose for mommy in the sweet light. To get her smiles we talked about funny things. And after this she continued her rounds chatting and singing around the property.



She is a happy child beaming with loads of energy up the the last minute of the day before she falls asleep. And she is our tender-hearted girl. This next shot is my soul shot. I can see into her heart. It's also my fave smile that she makes.



And now for the littlest worker of the orchard. Just 4-yrs old and he can work for hours. (We don't make him I tell you he just loves to work.) Here he works in the garden with some twine. I'm not sure what it is he is trying to do here but I thought I would capture him in action.



We have been sawing down many young Pine and Ash trees that grow like weeds around here and not in the most desirable locations. So, we have been taking those down. We are leaving an area of the orchard as a pineland - none of the apple trees survived in that area. So it will be fun to have a woody spot to enjoy. Anyway, one of the pines on the edge of pineland was spared due to the bird residents you see pictured below. Just when I was getting ready to make it to that tree to saw down our daughter noticed the family of birds. There are three babies. So cute. I had to run to the house to get my camera and came back and had my hubby hold the branches out of the way so I could sneak this shot. They were such good babies. They held perfectly still. Maiya was so pleased and touched by their presence. She is such an animal lover! She talked about them all night and went to visit them many times today. And so... the tree stands. I would love to know what kind of birds these are. Anyone have a guess? I have seen the parents many times but haven't photographed them yet. I will in time. And if I learn their kind I will post it here.

{edited: yay, Grama & Grandpa identified this bird for us: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxwing }


And finally, my guy. :) Here he is playing baseball with the kiddos and I asked him if I could grab a shot of him - such a rare thing! I love my guy.




Thanks for stopping by!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

A Wildflower Field or An Apple Orchard?

Yesterday we played out in the field in between summer thunderstorms. Even when it rains the air is warm and calming here. The wildflowers have been thriving this week and stand taller than my waist and are nearly up to my chest now. Amazing! The orchard is seriously overgrown with wildflowers and it is hard for me to view them as pesky weeds for their beauty is enchanting. Our daughter is enjoy the country life of Maine and the field of wildflowers. Will we ever see her eyes unobstructed by hair again? The answer, yes. I have informed her that when school starts her hair must be done up proper. :) Haha...





Well, I finally got to use the shabby chair Maria. "The Chair" that I purchased back when I began my photography business venture last year. I tried to shoot with it on a couple occassions but for whatever the reason nothing satisfied. Yesterday, I got some keepers. The chair is so fun and I hope to be able to use it again! This shot was taken infront of our house. We have a gravel road to our house and driveway too... ya, it's the Maine kind of road. Anyway, our front yard is wildflowers in a future flowerbed and lawn struggling to grow a new. There's one sad apple tree that we trimmed up to the healthy mini growth that resides. You can see it in the bokehed background. There's a flower in my daughter's hair that grows all over. I can't seem to identify it. Anyone have an ideas as to what it may be?




I know some of you are wanting a glimpse of our apple orchard and so here you go. I didn't want to walk back to the house for my wide angle so I use my tele for this shot. Sorry you can't see the whole field..that would take a fisheye and an airplane. :) But, you get the jist. See what I mean about the flowers taking over the isles between the trees? And oh yeah, all the trees need pruning. We estimate we have 200 and we've only got about 20 trimmed thus far. Will we make it by summers end to have them all trimmed up? We hope! You see in the following pic that even our son doesn't want to see the work ahead as he hides his eyes (oh and he's really playing peek-a-boo with mommy).

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

My Best Friend is My ....



.... my sister.... my brother..... the best of friends.

How special to have a brother or sister. Our two kiddos completely adore each other and on a daily basis find all kinds of ways to irritate and show affection in the most interesting ways. But it's all good. It's the unspoken language of siblings.

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Happy & Bubbly




My son wishes he could blow a bubble but at 4-years-old it's not happening. So, I offered him my bubble and he happily accepted. So here he is happy and bubbly.


And sissy who can make her own bubbles...




This is one of the last images I will take with my camera body this week. Today I shipped it to Canon for the warranty cleaning and any necessary updates. I will be without a camera for two weeks they say or thereabouts. Aw to have two bodies. :)


In the meantime I'll be working on re-designing my blog. I want a new look to go with our new Mainey location. So, stay tuned for some big changes!

Saturday, July 12, 2008

Goodnight . . .

. . . Bubby Bear . . .



He played hard today and fell asleep while watching a movie with mommy in her and daddy's bed. I couldn't resist getting out the camera and playing. Taken in all natural light with H ISO. The teddy bear is one that my dear sweet hubby gave me when we started dating back in May of 1994! Wow, 14 years ago now. I just love this bear and so do the kids.

Goodnight and sleep tight! Don't let the lightning bugs bite. (Yup, our fireflies are still blinking in the night. So fun to watch!)
Summer Slumber

Birthday Boy

"Wohoo today is my birthday!" - says our son in the morning of his special day.



Yesterday was our son's 4th birthday.
He requested a birthday be at our home this year and that is what he got. How fun!
I made him a birthday cake with a tractor on top -something inspired by what he saw at BJ's and I told him I could make one really cool too. He was pleased. He chose a pink strawberry box cake for the inside and chocolate whip frosting with sprinkles. I crushed oreo cookies for "dirt" and placed a really cool metal tractor with loader and back hoe on top. Fun!


One of his favorite gifts was this digger toy he has wanted for over a year and he finally got! We now have the yard for it. Here he is trying it out in the newly tilled garden in our backyard. It is newly planted with all kinds of vegetables and we are hoping we'll get some veggies to eat by end of summer. :)



On the last full day of my parents visit we took them to see the most famous lighthouse in Maine - Portland Head. It was a nice cool summer day - finally. :)

We decided not to go to one of our favorite park/beaches and instead stayed at the lighthouse and combed the beach (found a ton of shipwrecked ropes and other neat finds that we plan to use to create a nautical birdhouse for our yard) and of course played in the sand with TJ's new digger.
And what is more fitting in Maine than seeing a lobster boat come in from pulling their traps? :) Oh and a lighthouse house in the distance. This s the lighthouse you see from Portland Head.
Here's the digger boy enjoying the soft beach sand. My daughter enjoying the cool atlantic surf.


Here are the guys standing by these cool dolphins that my daughter liked. How fitting that they are all color coordinated. :) What luck. :)


We took my parnets to the airport at the wee crack of dawn - 4am - today and so they are safely on their way back home to WA. We had a wonderful visit and hope they will come back and see us again soon. There's still so much for us to do and share with them here. What a great place to live.
Thanks for stopping by. I should have some fun new pics from my pro gear soon. These were all taken with my fave pocket camera - Canon G.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

Orchard Guests

It has been busy here at our country home nestled in an apple orchard. Newly unpacked and settling into our new house, we have our first (of we hope many) visitors! My parents drove our other vehicle across the country experiencing the drive we have made three times now. They had a great time seeing all there was to see and became rather fond of our little car. They threatened to turn around and head home and take it with them. Thank you for leaving it here in Maine. :) Anyway, they arrived here safe and sound on July 3rd. We have been having so much fun with them in showing them all that we have to offer in our beautiful part of Maine.

Here are some snapshots taken with my pocket camera (yeah the pro gear is in the bag for this busy time.)

This shot was taken on July 4th where we ventured to "Cousin's Island" in Freeport area. We were told this was a great place to view the Portland fireworks. We'll we couldn't find the spot and stumbled across this beach access with a gorgeous view of anchored sailboats and fishing boats alike. Beautiful sky and lovely warm evening. We left shortly after I took this shot, staying only 5 minutes, due to bugs and that we wanted to find another viewpoint - ending up ona bridge. We saw LL Bean fireworks as well as Portland's display. It was an adventure. We enjoyed the lightning bugs display too. They are so fun to watch!!




And here is our "Home on the Apple Orchard". I'm trying to think up a cool name for our place. Would love some suggestions. :) In this shot the boys are trimming up the very overgrown apple trees. We originally estimated having 60 trees but after walking the property the other day we're thinking more in the 100's! UGH... can you say blisters and back ache!? Yup, we have lots of work t get this orchard back into production.





Here the kids are doing one of their favorite activities - painting! I was so impressed to see them working together on this piece - a turtle. This the the prize of all prizes when they go froggin' at the pond at daddy's work. We've only caught two turtles and released them both. Now my daughter is desperate to catch one for a pet for our soon to be pond in the backyard.





You can't come to Maine and miss the Bean! So, we took our parents there. And of course, you must get the ever traditional boot shot. So, voila...here ya go.




My father is a long-time brewer as is my hubby and so we had to visit the local breweries and snag some memorabilia. This is one of the faves. Love this logo! Yummy beer too.



This is the really cool sampler at this brewery. They had to taste and critique each one before deciding on which to order.


One of our favorite places in all of Maine is the mid-coast penobscot bay area and of course Camden Harbor. I think this is the most beautiful spot in Maine. :)


And my mom is always on me to get a famiy photo taken. So here she grabs the camera and has us freeze for the shot. Here ya go mom. :)



Another site seeing stop is the Cellardoor Brewery in our old stompin' grounds of Lincolnville, ME. It sold a year or so ago and has been newly remodeled and is smoken hot now. Wow, they did an awesome job remodeling and getting this place to look this way. We tasted their yummy wines and took home some bottles to enjoy. Nice place.
This is the interior and tasting bar/counter.


Then we had to tour some lighthouses - my favorites. This one is Pemaquid Lighthouse.


Grammy and M.
Meet my parents. Visiting us from WA State and soaking in all the sun at Pemaquid Lighthouse. Lovely rockery to be explored there.

We had a wicked good time with yuh. Come visit us again at our home on the orchard in the great state of Maine - "THE WAY LIFE SHOULD BE." (state slogan)
And remember it's coolah in the cellah and you can always visit us in the wintah. ;