Roma and Rubia's Birthday Pictures

Since we are homeschooled, we kids have never gotten “school pictures.” We always had “birthday pictures.” Normally, we would go to a photo studio. Over the years we’ve been to lots of those, like Wal-Mart, Sears, J.C. Penneys, and Olan Mills.

This year, Roma and Rubia asked if I would take their pictures instead of getting them done at a studio. They wanted to do some outdoor shots. I agreed, although I haven’t had a whole lot of experience with posed portraits. Fortunately for me, my sisters are very photogenic. J We had lots of fun during our portrait session.

Finding places on our property to stage the photos was a bit of a creative challenge. I had to make sure that there were no unsightly houses, sheds, fences, or otherwise unwanted objects in the photos.

Thankfully, at this time of year all of the foliage in the wetlands behind our house greens out and provides a lush green backdrop perfect for photos!

The other kids in the family think this photo looks like it has a studio backdrop in it. I can credit the lush green lawn to Ben! He has done a great job keeping up our landscaping this year.

Two lovely young ladies.

The twins were very good at suggesting poses to try. When I was their age, I took a photo in a studio with a similar pose. Our rose bushes were loaded with blooms, so they cut a few off for this photo.

For fun, I tried using my macro lens for a few pictures. I had no idea how it was going to turn out, but I actually liked some of them. The depth-of-field was pretty shallow and brought the subjects into better focus most of the time.

This photo was taken across the street in front of our neighbor’s pine trees.

This one was taken out in our field. We made sure to save this pose for the end of our shoot just in case their clothes got dirty on the ground.

I’m always thankful for willing subjects who don’t mind getting down in the dirt. J

One final pose.

Now for the hard part: choosing just one photo to put in the frame! Help us by voting for your favorite pose in the comments! Thanks!