Amelia and Jake Visit Botanical Garden

The Calhoun children visited Daniel Stowe Botanical Gardens and had a wonderful time there.

Above, Jake Calhoun

Below, Amelia and Jake

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Portrait Photography: Amelia's First Birthday

Amelia's First Birthday

I had the opportunity to photograph Amelia on her first birthday. I had a ball capturing Amelia's personality as she celebrated her big day! And we were able to photograph tender moments with her mom and exciting ones with her big brother.  

Check out the photos and the information for booking your own family or birthday photos by emailing me: ppeterson6030@gmail.com. I live in Charlotte, NC and am happy to chat with you about your own photo shoot.

Olivia at 4 months

Is Olivia really 4 months? It seems like just yesterday, her parents brought her to me for her newborn photo session when she was 10 days old.  She was a sweet, sweet baby then and now. But now she is holding her head up to see the world. And what a smile...

Olivia looking adorable at 4 months

Bright Eyes

Live in the Charlotte, NC area? Looking for a photographer for your newborn or family photo? Contact me for information about a portrait session for your child or family at phyllis@pdpetersonphoto.com.

Arizona Christmas

Arizona Christmas

This past week we flew to Arizona to share grandson, William Gregory's first Christmas. Sam,  Rob, his girlfriend Megan joined Bob and I for five days 5 days in Arizona. The following pictures are just a few of the many photos we took during our stay.

William's Hand

Beth and William

William Close-up

Sister Beth and Sarah with William

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Palm Trees at Sunset

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Beth and William play the drum

William Celebrates Christmas

William on the Cheerios Mirror

William sees his reflection

William and Megan

Rob and William

 Karl holds William

Family Site

This blog site is now going to be devoted to family pictures and discussions of that nature. To that end I am going to post the pics of Tom and Nancy's house that some folks did not see. (I didn't post them in my photography blog: pdpetersonphoto.com/blog/ when I posted the Cascades Loop trip in Washington State.)

The above is a photo os Tom's house with the cadillac named "Mom" in the foreground. He is proud of that car.

Tom and Nancy walking the dogs

Tom and Nancy with Dogs

New Website

Got a new website. Check it out. Let me know what you think. Click on the following link.

http://pdpetersonphoto.com/index.html

Valensole Plain 2012

Lavender Fields, Valensole Plain by Phyllis D. Peterson, 2012

I'm up to day three of my photographic journey through the Provence area of France.  It wouldn't be a trip through that area of France without the obligatory photograph of the lavender fields of the Valensole Plain. (I just love writing those words. I think it conveys the specialness of the place.) But don't be fooled. These lavender fields bloom for only 2-3 weeks. Our visit was specially timed to be at the lavender field when they were in bloom. This is an important cash crop for the French. As we found out when we visited the town of Sault, they sell the lavender blossoms and scent in their markets and worldwide.

As photographers we are all aware of the popular scene of neat, clean purple rows stretching into the horizon. How do you capture the scene without being boring? First of all, not all the rows were neat and clean. You had to find rows that were mostly purple. It was difficult because we were at the beginning of the two week period of bloom, so there were distracting green and white plants mixed in. We were lucky in that there were field of bright green fields to break up the color, and bordered by fields of wheat.  The trick is to shoot down the rows to show the perspective of converging lines in the distance. And, because it is a landscape shot needing focus in the distance you have to plan to set your aperture small (larger number) like f/16 or f/22. If you use Aperture Priority, the shutter speed will adjust and you just need to tweak it with the Exposure Compensation. Focus into the scene about 1/3 of the way in and you will get good focus, front to back.

We went to the market at Sault and took pictures of the lavender that was for sale. Of course, I brought home some lavender fragrance bags for my drawers at home. The fragrance brings me back to that place and time.