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Welcome
Welcome to my blog! My name is Farrah Braniff and I am a portrait photographer in Houston, Texas. I specialize in contemporary portraits of babies and children. This blog is a place for me to feature my own personal imagery, images from my studio, my travels and the news and happenings of my family. I have two little boys (ages 5 and 6). You will see them a lot on this blog. They are my inspiration in so many ways. This is a great place to learn a little about me and my work. I hope you'll take a moment and look around. Use the navigation links at the top to find the entries by category, check out the FAQ, jump to my websites and so on. Thanks for stopping by! |
I am a huge fan of the self portrait shot. I love the reflection shot,
the feet shot and even the holding the camera away and shooting back at
yourself shot. Sure, everyone does them and there's nothing new to it
but that's part of what I love about it. I've been doing those same
shots since I first picked up a camera back in 1984. One of my favorite
things about those shots is the "I was here" element. You know like the
common graffiti scrawled on the side of something proclaiming that so
and so has "been here"? It's like that. I was here- looking, capturing,
investigating...just me and my camera (kind of like it was for so long
before there was a Steven, Sayer and Finn). Now, I may have a mini
entourage in tow but it's still like that lone photo moment.
Just for fun,
here are a few other random shots from the week...it's just so hard to
pick just one!
Alcatraz in the
distance
Just for fun,
here are a few other random shots from the week...it's just so hard to
pick just one!Alcatraz in the
distanceI love this
shot because it makes me think of my friends, Danielle and Peter. This
is a shot of their kitchen window. Peter commutes to work from Fairfax
to SF (about 20+ miles) by bike! I love that he does that and I love how
much he loves it! Like Danielle says, "It's good for him". I so wish I
lived in a town that was bike friendly and allowed me to ride to work
now and then.
How
beautiful to have apples growing in your own backyard! When I lived in
LA, I had lemons in my backyard. Amazing!
So, what about
you guys? Any fave shots this (foggy in SF) Friday? Leave links to your
images in the comments below or submit them to my Favorite Shot
Friday Pool on Flickr.
Have a great weekend everyone!
So, what about
you guys? Any fave shots this (foggy in SF) Friday? Leave links to your
images in the comments below or submit them to my Favorite Shot
Friday Pool on Flickr.Have a great weekend everyone!
I do have work a little while I am here but, for now, it's all about fun. Today we just played at the park- all day! I hardly took a single photo either. I certainly don't mean to rub salt in the wounds of our fellow Houstonians but we were outside playing for 5 hours today (wearing jeans too!). I even have the sunburn to prove it. The sunburn snuck up on us because it isn't hot so you don't even think about it. The boys played themselves ragged at the children's park and then we had dinner at a really cool spot in the Mission called St Francis Fountain. Finally, I put my super filthy boys into the bath. It's one of the best bathrooms ever by the way. I'm seriously going to miss it when we leave!
Tomorrow I promise to take more pictures! For now, I'm dragging my sunburned self off to bed!
Sabrina @ Southern Grace Photography says:
WHAT A BATHROOM, I agree!!! I can see why you will miss it so much!!!
(07.15.10 @ 02:55 PM)
A few days ago we went to the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers. They have a special exhibit going on all about carnivorous plants. The boys loved it!
Venus Fly Traps!
The Conservatory is in Golden Gate Park, which is an amazing place as well. It's HUGE! It has paddle boats, a children's park, carousel, museums, BISON, a lake and so much more. It's right in the middle of the city too. It's like Central Park, only bigger and better! After the conservatory we sat outside and had a snack and let the boys have a chance to just run and play. I look over to see what they're up to and it looked like this.
They had created a game where you stand apart and run full force into each other and fall down. In the middle of all the beauty...craziness and destruction! The next round went like this, one person stood still in some sort of funny pose while the other came running up to them in slow motion and crashed into them.
and now the crash!
silly boys...
Note to child protective services: no children were harmed during this photo shoot. The running was done in slow motion. :)
Sendy A. says:
great pics!.. The crash pictures are sooo funny i laughed out loud :D.. Finn is getting so tall!
(07.14.10 @ 07:49 PM)
Fort Point is one of my favorite places. It doesn't seem like much to some I'm sure. I think most everyone can appreciate it's jaw dropping view of the Golden Gate Bridge and some may revel in the military history part of it. Certainly, you get a sense for how BIG the bridge is when you look at it from below. I mean it's really an amazing perspective!
When you are up on top of the fort and the wind is blowing against you (BRRR!) you just pause and think about how amazing it is that they built this bridge! The water is choppy and cold and the elements are all against you. I mean, just the fact that they paint this bridge blows my mind.
(Finnian, looking so small, standing where the cannons used to be mounted on the top level of the fort)
I don't care much about the military history to be honest and the exhibits are sort of ho-hum if you ask me. I do love how it's all cold and formidable. It's super windy and usually foggy, which adds a nice touch. I also love that it's weathered and has an amazing patina over everything. It feels empty and you can easily imagine seeing a ghost if you looked hard enough. But, for me, it's really all about the angles and the light.
The kids were oblivious to the amazing shadow play all around them but they loved it in their own way. Basically, the whole day looked like this:
They loved running around and we played lots of rounds of hide and seek. They loved the cannons that are on display and Sayer even took part in a re-enactment and got to load one of the cannons. He totally acted the part- complete with a full salute before loading. They screamed and ran and laughed and enjoyed themselves. They even
played along while I took pictures.
I could have stayed longer and would have loved to have shot some film!
When you are up on top of the fort and the wind is blowing against you (BRRR!) you just pause and think about how amazing it is that they built this bridge! The water is choppy and cold and the elements are all against you. I mean, just the fact that they paint this bridge blows my mind.(Finnian, looking so small, standing where the cannons used to be mounted on the top level of the fort)I don't care much about the military history to be honest and the exhibits are sort of ho-hum if you ask me. I do love how it's all cold and formidable. It's super windy and usually foggy, which adds a nice touch. I also love that it's weathered and has an amazing patina over everything. It feels empty and you can easily imagine seeing a ghost if you looked hard enough. But, for me, it's really all about the angles and the light.
The kids were oblivious to the amazing shadow play all around them but they loved it in their own way. Basically, the whole day looked like this:They loved running around and we played lots of rounds of hide and seek. They loved the cannons that are on display and Sayer even took part in a re-enactment and got to load one of the cannons. He totally acted the part- complete with a full salute before loading. They screamed and ran and laughed and enjoyed themselves. They even
played along while I took pictures.I could have stayed longer and would have loved to have shot some film!So, my friends, if you are ever in SF, grab your camera and a hoodie and go see Fort Point. I'll be curious to hear what you think about it.
Claudia Eubanks says:
I can see why you like it so much. Beautiful shots.
(07.16.10 @ 04:29 PM)
Like pretty much everything, photography requires practice. I always liked how certain careers use the word practice- the practice of law, my yoga practice, medical practice, etc. Pretty much across the board I think we all get better the more we do. When I teach my intro digital SLR class, I always urge my students to find quiet, slow time to practice their photography. When you are trying on a new skill or refining an existing one, you can't do it well in a stressful, distracting situation. For example, practicing using wide open f-stops to achieve shallow depth of field while chasing your 18 month old around the crowded zoo. However, taking a little time to roam around a botanical garden (like I got to do today) is exactly what you need in that situation.
So, your mission is to carve out a little bit of time to take photographs for no reason other than to play, test, experiment and learn. Take 100's of images and take each one a few times until you get it right. Take notes and deep breaths. Try new ways of framing up the shot. Your photography practice will certainly thank you for this and your creative spirit will as well. It may sound a little bit silly but your camera and you need time to bond. You have to be able to use your camera quickly, change settings and be comfortable with the controls. All of that comes with time and practice.
Today the kids, Steven and I explored the San Francisco Conservatory of Flowers. They had an exhibit on carnivorous plants. I love playing with shallow depth of field. I love the way the objects slowly vanish into nothingness and blur. While I roamed the conservatory today I experimented with shallow DOF and close-ups.
Tech notes: All of the images below were shot in either manual mode or AV mode on my Canon 5D Mark II using my 28-70mm F.2.8 lens. Most of them were shot using F2.8 to maybe F4. Most of these are straight out of the camera (except for the BW ones and the one with texture applied).
Are you inspired? Already know where you're going to go? I can't wait to see what you come up with and I really hope you will share it with us. Leave links to your images, blogs, etc. in the comments section below or add your images to my Monday Lesson Flickr Pool. Don't be shy!
JS says:
I couldn't agree with you more. While I like taking pictures of my niece (she's 1yr so ofcourse chasing is a must), some of my best shots have always been in a quiet peaceful place like, as you said a botanical gardens. And also very true, the DOF is amazing when you have time to experiement, when you're not constantly saying "take that stone out of your mouth!"
(07.12.10 @ 10:44 AM)
Jennifer says:
Those a beautiful shots -- I love taking photo shots whenever I can -- although mine aren't as great looking as yours : ) Looks like you guys are enjoying your trip -- Allison asked me to tell Finn hello from her...
(07.16.10 @ 01:53 PM)
Claudia Eubanks says:
I just got a new camera (YAY!!), so I am going to have to take your advice. I need some time to bond with it and learn all it's likes and dislikes. I wonder if it likes long walks on the beach at sunset? Hmmm...
(07.16.10 @ 04:34 PM)