Eve Tuft is a Photographer specializing in Senior Photography in Michigan in the cities of Midland, Bay City and Saginaw

Midland in Bloom

May 18, 2018

When everything around you is in bloom, you can’t but feel the anticipation of something beautiful about to happen. That’s what spring does every year for me. It’s like all winter long we’ve been waiting. And waiting. And WAITING. And then FINALLY it’s spring, and it’s like the whole earth feels the need to celebrate its long-time coming. I also LOVE the longer days that come with the beginning of spring and that golden hour is now even later. It’s like the whole world is just starting to wake up from a deep sleep.

Once the flowers around town start to bloom, I feel like my photography does as well. As though the fire to shoot has been silenced from the cold. I ache to get outside again, feel the warmth of the sun, and get my photography on. And so I do. 😀

On this afternoon at Dow Gardens, the husband, kids and I had ourselves a great time. We had to leave to get the kids in bed earlier than I wanted to, so I just BARELY missed golden hour, but I had so much fun shooting outside in beautiful light that it really didn’t matter. I loved shooting the blossoms on trees, getting daffodils in beautiful, warm light, and capturing the first blooms of tulips. They really are my favorite flower.

Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographer Pink bloom on a tree in spring | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographer White and yellow daffodils in pretty light | Pink blossoms on a tree in spring at Dow Gardens | Midland Michigan photographer

Springtime: A Long Time Comin’

May 5, 2018

Ahh, springtime is here again. Is it just me, or does it seem like it took a REALLY, REALLY long time to get here??? I used to live in Iowa for five years, and I thought the winter there was long. Imagine my surprise when I moved to Michigan and found out that we have an extra month of winter here! Oh, boy. It can be rough.

This week was one of the first times all year I was able to get to Dow Gardens. I did go once when there were butterflies, but there weren’t any flowers in bloom at that time. What I really wanted to capture this day was the flowers, particularly the tulips. I LOVE tulips. Adore them! I think it’s because they remind me of when I was younger. At the home where I grew up were planted some tulips in the front yard. And every spring they would pop up, as though to signal the beginning of springtime. It really is a glorious season of the year.

For those of you who are wondering, the first two images on this post were taken with a Lensbaby. Lensbaby is a company that makes some wicked-cool lenses that have different effects on your pictures. The lens I used for these is called an Edge 50. You can tilt the lens to have the slice of focus wherever you want it. I don’t use this lens super often, but whenever I do I love the effect I get.

Well, Midland, I think it’s safe to say that we’re officially and FINALLY out of winter. Welcome, spring. We’re all so glad you’re here.

How to Capture a Great Profile

May 2, 2018

Let’s talk for a moment about how to capture a great profile of a person. There are many ways you can do it, and many different types of light. My absolute FAVORITE type of light is side light, with the person facing the light source. If you can get the person facing the light when there is a dark background, then it helps the shape of their face stand out even more.

In both these pictures, my children were facing towards a window. I’m off to the side, however, and because of that, I am able to capture rim light. Rim light is when the light hugs the shape or outline and not much else. I love it. With both these examples, there wasn’t anything close to my children’s faces for the light to hit. In the one with my daughter, she was standing in the middle of the room with nothing else around her. Because of that, the rest of the room appeared darker. In Photoshop I was able to blacken out the room all the way so that her profile stood out even more.

The next time you want to capture someone’s profile, consider these steps:

1: Have them face the light in the middle of the room with a darker background.

2: You take their picture from the side.

3: Yeah, that’s about it. If you have some sort of editing software, you can darken up the rest of the background to help their shape stand out more.

4: Am I missing anything?

5: Good luck!

Two April Favorites

April 28, 2018

As April is coming to a close, I like to look back over the month to see which photos were my favorite. I do this every month. I think it helps me see how far I’ve come as a photographer. It also tips me off to which kid(s) needs to be photographed more. 😉 Haha. The month of April seems to have been good for taking pictures of Foofie Doofers. Also know as Tumpkins. And Kooky Dooks. She’s pretty crazy.

The first shot is with her and her dad, my wonderful husband. These shots are RARELY ever planned. My husband snuggles our children often, and I love to capture them like this, especially when they’re in the rocking chair since it’s right next to the big window in the living room. 😉 We’re pretty crazy, photographers. I love this picture in color, but it especially speaks to me in black and white.

The next picture is of Foofie Doofers with her younger brother, Mr. the Boo. Here she is, minding her own business, busily eating a snack. Younger brother wants a snack. Younger brother loves crackers. He wants a cracker. He’s a little beggar boy. As soon as I saw this moment taking place I had to grab my camera. I exposed for their skin, not for the overall background. The window was right behind them, and I blew it out on purpose so that it would be almost completely white. I am SO drawn to minimalist photos – the less clutter and distracting elements, the better.

Capturing my kids at this time in my life is one of the main reasons why I do what I do. They’re only young once, and I don’t want to forget what it was like.

Daisies for the Bathroom

April 10, 2018

“Daisies are the friendliest flower.” Anyone here a fan of the movie, ‘You’ve Got Mail’? Confession: It was my most favorite movie ever for the longest time. It’s one of those movies I could watch over and over again; one of those movies that make you feel better when you’re feeling down. I think Meg Ryan is the cutest in that movie, and the chemistry she has with Tom Hanks is amazing.

Anyways.

Once we moved into our home here in Michigan back in 2014 I hung up new frames and filled them with pictures I took here. I thought they were pretty awesome. 😉 I’ve left those pictures hanging up in the powder room downstairs and in the master bathroom upstairs for four years! I finally got not lazy and decided to change them out when we also updated our bathroom decor. We decided on turquoise, and I love the new change! It used to be burgundy, so this light blue color makes things feel so much lighter in general.

Since our new decor had some blue in it, I thought daisies would be the perfect compliment to have in there. I LOVE daisies. Love them. The really are friendly, and it seems like there are a million and one ways to photograph them. After I took a bunch of shots and edited them, these were the ones I decided to use to make a collage. And I have to say, I couldn’t be happier with the way they came together to add to everything. I guess that’s just another perk of being a photographer – you get to use your pictures in your home decor. 😀