Jen Bowles Design

Cupcakes at the Beach

After a week straight of beautiful, sunny skies the clouds have finally returned to Eastern Massachusetts.

Not so on Sunday when I combined Ebby's love of cupcakes with my love of the beach and ended up with a whole bunch of fun photos.

Here's the story...Recently a new cupcake shop, Wicked Good Cupcakes, opened up in nearby Cohasset.  I've driven by it several times but restrained myself from stopping--because really, once you walk inside a cupcake shop what else is there to do but indulge?  Walking through the door is pretty much the point of no return.  This past Sunday I decided it was time to break the ice, so to speak.

It was simple really.  I told Ebby and Danielle that I'd buy them cupcakes if they'd pose for some pictures.  At the beach.  With the cupcakes.

Danielle is highly cooperative.

Ebby really loves cupcakes.

After selecting a Red Velvet (Ebby) and Chocolate and Vanilla Dream (Danielle), we headed for the beach.  I must admit, the whole idea of a photo shoot with cupcakes was inspired by this adorable, award-winning shot by my talented friend, North Carolina photographer Candy Howard.

Can you stand the cuteness?? 

 As luck would have it, I just so happened to have a case of vintage books from the 1920s and 30s in the back of my car--sometimes it pays not to unload your Saturday yard sale treasures right away.

Here are the results of our photo shoot--and no, neither one of the cupcakes ended up in the sand :-).

Ebby, Danielle and the cupcakes       

 

Ebby was wearing a headband which made it challenging to balance a cupcake and a book so we just went with the cupcake.

And then this happened

Oh Danielle ;-).

Cupcake and book=success!

Then it was Danielle's turn.  She gave me a variety of expressions.      

Hilarious!

Finally I gave them to ok to dig in.       

What a beautiful sojourn with 2 wonderful girls and 2 great cupcakes!

Pin-spiration: Beach Photos

Today's Pin-spiration comes from my Great Shots pinboard.  This board is where I pin ideas for photos I want to {attempt} to take or photos I just think are cool. Or adorable. Or both ☺.

This frame in the sand idea looked both interesting and do-able so I decided to try it out for some photos on Ebby's birthday.  I picked a chunky frame from my collection of discards in the garage and spray painted it Krylon's Watermelon pink.  Mmmm, juicy...

For her birthday dinner (back in July), Ebby had chosen to go to the beach for pizza, cupcakes and a campfire.  I packed a few props and my camera.  I must say, she was such a good sport to let me take a whole bunch of pictures on the far-from-deserted beach that evening.

Here's what we ended up with...

First I tried to set it up just like the Pin-spiration photo:

Excellent!  That is if I wanted 3 extra people, including Will, in the photo.

I tried again.  This time I focused on the frame, experimenting with depth of field.

Clearly, not all experiments succeed.

At that point Will had had enough.  Flee, young boy!

I decided the whole downward slope of the beach was working against me so we re-grouped and turned ourselves around.  Instead of the ocean in the background, the dunes.

I like dunes.

Just a bit more tweaking...

Finally, a keeper. 

I love how this photo evolved from the inspiration shot.  Ebby's position on the sand and the addition of the glittery Wish word helped make this our own.  Once again, thank you Pinterest!

{Pinterest source here, original source here for Pinspiration photo}

Now go ahead, pin something!

Handmade Banner LOVE

A few months back on my trip to Charlotte, NC  I got to visit with my wonderfully talented photographer friend, {Miss} Candy Howard.  You see, for one special year we shared a preschool classroom together.  As teachers.  Thus, the Miss Candy and Miss Jen☺. Now, almost 5 years and 1000 miles later, I'm proud to call her a friend.

During my April visit we spent a lovely day together: catching up, lunching on sushi and Candy attempting to impart some of her photography knowledge to me.  As a thank you for my one-on-one tutoring session, I made Candy one of my  vintage inspired banners.  I was secretly (ok, not so secretly) hoping she might be able to use it in her photography business...

Fast forward a few months later and, be still my heart, here it is!   Just as I pictured it, only so much better. 

Two darling sisters + a LOVE banner + an amazing photographer= pure sweetness.

Thank you Miss Candy, my banners never looked so good!

P.S. If you're in the Charlotte, NC area,  you should totally book Candy to capture a moment in time with your family!

Images are property of Candy Howard Photography, used with permission

Still Life for a Monday

I've been practicing using my camera in manual mode.  Just a little bit.  Dipping my toe in.

I recently booked a one-on-one  workshop with my favorite lifestyle photographer, Miss Candy Howard. Early April in Charlotte?  Yes, please!  Miss Candy and I taught co-taught at a local preschool in Davidson, NC for one magical year in 2006 and it's been way too long since I've seen her.  I'm pretty sure I'm going to be able to convince her that we should be shooting cupcakes during our workshop ☺. 

I know we'll be eating a few when we're done!