#5 Monkey Moon Photo Session

Yes folks you read that correctly a FREE photo session with the talented (and extremely sweet) Gina from Monkey Moon Photography!
She is offering photo session AND up to 10 high-res images free to print as you choose!
Oh how I wish I could win this one!!
*****MUST be a Southern California Resident or willing to travel to Orange County, CA for the shoot!!!*****
Here is how you can win...
Main entry (mandatory): Leave a comment here with why you want photos taken.
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In addition to the main entry you can get loads of extra entries if you...
~Follow Gina on twitter HERE! Leave your Twitter ID in the comment or let me know you already do (3 entries)
~Subscribe to Monkey Moon Photography's RSS Feed. Click 'subscribe' on the top right of her menu bar. (3 entries)
~Tweet about the giveaway, can be done daily. Copy and paste this for the tweet: "So Cal residents!! Enter to win a free photo session from @ElisLids w/ Monkey Moon Photography here http://bit.ly/3NPuPh Pls RT!" If you don't have twitter you can FB for this one. (3 entries per day)
~Add the "Eli's Lids Giveaway" button in our sidebar to your blog or let me know you already did (2 entries per blog)
~Subscribe to the Eli's Lids RSS Feed or let me know you already do (2 entries)
~Follow Eli's Lids on Twitter, leave your Twitter ID in the comment or let me know you already do (1 entry)
For every extra entry, be sure to leave a separate comment on this post! i.e. If you add our giveaway button to your blog leave 2 separate comments.
***Giveaway open one week! Ends Friday September 18th 9:00pm PST***
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If you read Eli's Lids you have already met Gina (click here to read her last feature) and you know how fabulous she is. If you are new to our blog then read on and fall in love!!
Tell us a bit about your family.
I am originally from South Carolina and met and married my English sweetheart, Rob, 9 years ago. We have been richly blessed with three kiddos and my photography started with the birth of my first. My husband encouraged me to begin photographing clients professionally and we've recently made the decision for me to concentrate on engaged couples and weddings (although I can't resist taking pictures of my sweet friends and their families and will probably always make time for them!)
Your favorite shoot to date?
That was probably my engagement shoot of Alejandra and Benny. They were up for anything and I got some interesting shots of them on railroad tracks and a tractor. The shoot was part of a shootout so I also got to meet some amazing photographers.
For those of us who want to bump up our own photography skills, any tips?
The best advice I can give someone who wants to bump up their own skills would be, as simple as it may seem, take as many photos as possible in manual mode. The single most important thing you can do is to learn through experience. Take your camera with you everywhere. Don't be afraid to pull it out. Don't worry that others might think you take too many. If you want to be truly great I would give the same advice a great photographer once gave me. It is this one instruction: Take 100,000 photos in manual mode. By the time you get to 100,000 photos you will be an absolute pro. If I could give any more advice it would be to develop your own style. You are uniquely you and that will come out in your photography. If you copy someone else it won't be genuine and the world wants to see beautiful you! Lastly, hang out with other photographers. There is a relatively new movement in the photography industry that involves photographers helping each other out. I've been amazed at the generosity and friendliness of this industry and if I wasn't a photographer, after meeting these people, I'd want to be one just so I could hang around them. So get out there and meet folks. Facebook. Twitter. Blog.
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What is the best lighting?
For me, it's gotta be natural, baby. I resist using my flash if at ALL possible. Give me natural sunlight in the form of evening haze and I swoon.
Flash or no flash?
Opps, I think I answered that in 4.
Any photography sites that might help us learn?
I get 99.8 percent of my inspiration from other photographers. To name a few: Mike Colon, Parker J. Pfister, Anna Kuperberg, David Jay. Right now Richard and Amy McDowell of Red Leaf Studios in Canada are my heroes. I adore the photography in Anthropologie magazine and I rent old movies because the cinematography gives me a huge inspirational boost.

Monkey Moon

Hi folks! You know I love to show off the amazing stuff I have found while paroozing the area (or the Internet). Today I'm going to feature Monkey Moon Photography. Gina, the photographer extrodonare (and mommy of 3), is an actual friend of mine... meaning I have actually hung out with her... in real life! She is just peachy :)

See...
Where did you get the awesome name of Monkey Moon?

Well, I thought about using my name at first but somehow Gina Carlin Photography just wasn't doing it for me. I wanted something catchy and kind of child-like. So I played around with words in my head for a few days (literally I walked around the house saying to myself things like, "Pink Elephant? No. Polka-dot Pineapple. No. Blue Bananas? Uh, definitely, no." And I somehow ended up with the combination of Monkey and Moon and it stuck.
How did you start Monkey Moon?

When our first son was born six years ago, my husband requested that I not subject our child to the likes of Sears or JC Penny's studios. Certainly no offense intended for those who do.I didn't have a problem with taking him there myself. It was just not his style.

Since we didn't have the funds for custom photography at the time, I realized that if I was going to have anything approaching professional photos of my kids, I'd have to learn how to take them myself. So I bought some photography books and joined some online forums and immersed myself in the basics. Then I practiced every single day (since then I've taken over 35,000 pictures). In the last few years, I've found that more and more of my friends, family and blog-followers were starting to comment on my images. And I was learning more about the field and found myself really beginning to enjoy the technical and artistic aspects of photography more than anything I'd done professionally. At my husband's gentle urging last year then, and with a lot of faith, I took the leap.

Where to you get your ideas for location shoots?

Coming up with new and interesting locations has probably been the biggest challenge I've faced so far as a photographer. One of the great things about southern California though is that there are so many different kind of settings to choose from. The gorgeous beaches have been the choice for many of my clients but there is also no shortage of urban backdrops for just about every personality. Personally, I tend to gravitate to the lush green spaces and have been known to pull over by the side of the road and go hiking to find them (my kids are safely at home on these occasions...usually). I will ask my awesome clients if they have a special spot where they would like to be photographed and, because of their creative ideas, I've found some cool places that way too.

What are your top 3 tips for us novice photographers to get great shots ofour kiddos... even if we have a less than great camera?

1. Get down on their level. This will not only make them feel more comfortable and relaxed but the eye-to-eye contact will make for a more natural looking photo than if you are standing above them.

2. Zoom in close. Those shots that mainly focus on the precious expressions can be some of your sweetest shots.

3. Don't make them say "cheese". There is nothing like capturing the image of your child's pure, natural and contagious joy. You can't get that with a manufactured smile. Be patient. Sometimes you have to wait for it. But it's worth it.

What inspired you?

There are so many things I could put here but certainly the most influential inspiration would have to be that of other photographers. I have also found some inspiration in catalogs like Anthropologie and Mini Boden. But the most surprising inspiration for shots comes from the personalities of my amazing clients. Sometimes that is all the inspiration needed!

Monkey Moon is in good old Orange County, CA.

Read more about Gina here.

Here blog is awesome! Check it out here. You will fall in love with Gina's photos and the way she captures her clients (and kiddos) is fresh, unique and NEVER boring!!

Go straight to her portfolio here.