I call her Jack, or Jack-Attack, or a few other nicknames that are random, but she'll answer to Jackie too.

Hello Everyone!

This is one of my best friends Jackie Johnson:

 Isn't she gorgeous???

Jackie and I have a long history that starts back in her freshman (my junior) year of college. We met because we both worked at the same place at BYU, and we bonded over......

Hmm.....

Umm....

Actually I don't really remember what we bonded over; with Jackie it's like we've always been friends.

Our friendship has survived college, 2 LDS missions (both hers, one was a performing mission to Nauvoo!), hundreds of miles, and countless other little life thingys that always seem to get in the way.

Speaking of missions, I was the awesome person that wrote her (pretty) consistently the entire 18 months she was gone. I believe my letters were a huge bright spot of joy and light and happiness in her mission. She's never told me this, but I can feel it from her. That's just how close we are.

Anyway, while visiting her up in Northern Utah I shot her some new head shots. Because in addition to be able to quote every episode of Psych, play the ukulele, and write songs (LIKE A BOSS!), she also sings, dances, and acts (LIKE A BOSS! A DOUBLE BOSS!).

Here are some beautiful shots of the wonderful person I call Jack-Attack. Enjoy!

Interested in booking a shoot? Email me at lindsineilson@gmail.com!

Easter Photos with John!

Hello Everyone!

You may remember this little cutie:

From a photo shoot I did with him a few months ago. (Click here to see those photos!)

While I was pretty happy with the way those photos turned out, I wanted to do another shoot with John to see if I could get:

1. More smiles!
2. Better lighting.

So when John's dad asked me to shoot some Easter pictures of this blue eyed baby, I couldn't resist!

These photos were taken in a studio setting (aka, my parents garage with a backdrop set up) with natural light that was surprisingly soft.

Side Note: Shooting in a garage is, surprisingly, pretty amazing! You get some great diffused light coming in through the garage door, and if you find you have too much or too little light you can change that simply by opening or closing the garage door as much as you need to. 

Here are some of the cutest Easter pictures you'll ever see:

As always, if you would like to book a shoot, please email me at lindsineilson@gmail.com

Janae and Bob. Two normal people... Oh who am I kidding? They're anything but normal. In a good way.

Hey everyone!

Meet Janae and Bob:

And this is their ginger baby!

  

Janae and I met at BYU working for the technical theatre department, and we've been friends ever since. Now, these last few years our friendship has been based mostly on phone calls and facebook, because she and I have kind of been a little bit all over the country. But no matter how far physically I am from her, we always seem to connect. 

She is also SUPER COOL. Seriously, check it out:

Forward Walking

Gourmet By Janae

Life In My Cookie Jar

SEE?! 

Also, she's got a pretty cool husband:

(And by pretty cool, I mean her husband is the kind of guy who will.... Say.... Shave his facial hair into a pirate-like state to surprise his wife. And then when I ask him to put on one of his wife's earrings and make his best pirate face, he actually did it. You know, that kind of cool. Also, he likes Frozen more than I do. Which is saying something.)

Anyway, suffice it to say that I love and adore both of these crazy kids dearly. And I am blessed to know them.

The point of this whole post is to show off some beautiful pictures I took of them when I got to stay with them for a few weekends this past month. A few of them are above, but here are a couple more of my favorites:

Possibly the cutest/happiest boy I've ever photographed.

So, two weeks ago I did a marathon of photoshoots with a friend of mine named Janae. Most of the shoots we did because I photograph products for local artisans who sell their things online (like on Etsy and eBay and stuff), but we also did a few mini shoots with some cool people. You've already met one of these cool people in an earlier post (Virginia aka the baby that is so adorable I could spontaneously combust...) and now I want you to check out yet another baby with combustible tendencies.

Here's Riley!

Interested in booking a shoot? Contact me at lindsineilson@gmail.com

Actions, not diamonds, are my best friends.... Though diamonds are a close second.

So, I've recently discovered these AMAZING photographic tools called actions. They are basically a pure piece of photographic awesomeness that some people (thecoffeeshopblog.com) give away for free! "But Lindsi (you're probably asking yourself) what makes these things priceless bits of pure gold?" I am SO glad you asked, because I'd love to tell you!

I don't know how many of you have attempted to edit photos via photoshop before, but it can be a long and tedious process to achieve the look that you want. I have spent many a long night staring pointlessly at a photo I'm currently editing on my computer while thinking "WHY DON'T YOU LOOK LIKE WHAT I WANT YOU TO LOOK LIKE?!!??!!??!" Actions have (mostly) relieved my self-flagellation (or.... computer-flagellation??) and to top it all off, they make it sure easy to repeat the same result over and over.

In other words...... Actions are like small pieces of rainbow sprinkled with glitter and topped with whip cream.

Don't believe me? Let me show you!

Here is an unedited photo of my niece, Squishy (not her real name, don't worry):

Now, this photo of Squishy is already a nice photo, right?  She's looking at the camera, she's got a good expression, no boogers or anything of the face. But the problem is the quality of the light. It's nice and diffused (soft) light, but it's also a little cool and a little dim, making the photo seem flat and a bit colorless. No problemo with a touch of action magic! 

See:

Bam! Usually bumping the saturation and playing with the lighting would take a while, but with a customizable action like The Coffeshop Action Little Perk, I got this result in about 10 minutes.

I'm telling you this mostly because I love sharing cool things that make my life (and possibly your life) easier, but also because the person that I get my action from is this amazing lady over at The CoffeeShop Blog..... WHO GIVES THEM AWAY FOR FREE! Most actions cost hundreds of dollars, but this amazing person has 50+ (and growing) actions that she gives out to anyone.

Please, please, please check out her website! thecoffeeshopblog.com, and prepare to be amazed!

Meet Virginia! (She doesn't own a dress.....Her hair is always a mess..... Anyone? Anyone?)

While it is obvious that the Train song doesn't apply here (considering the cuteness level of her hair and dress), it should also be obvious that this girl is ADORABLE!! Red hair with those gorgeous blue/green eyes? I think her cuteness might just cause me to come down with a case of spontaneous human combustion!

To book a shoot, email me at lindsneilson@gmail.com