Welcome to the Little Story Studio blog! There's something here for everyone: for the lifestyle or documentary photographer searching for online photography education or tutorials, and for the mom and dad with a camera trying to beautifully document their son or daughter's childhood.
Andrea Moffatt is a Pittsburgh PA family photographer, serving Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas through family photography sessions and photography education workshops.
Earlier this week, my little superhero was coming to my aid as he likes to do. This time, making my coffee. He was sitting up on the counter alone and even though I knew he was big enough to sit there without falling, when I shot the photo at first, I was in a rush because I wanted to make sure he was steady up there. So my first image wasn't very thought-through and this how it looked:
Read MoreLet's face it- photographers and February usually just don't mix (especially where I live). It's a fragile time for those doing a new 365 project: every day it's touch and go, trying to just make one good picture while being light-starved and inundated by brown, gray, and more brown. In Februrarys with little to no snow, it's even worse. There is no pretty cover for all that mud and dead plants. No bright white light entering the windows or chance of snow day inspiration. It's all as dreary as it sounds...
Imagine being the age you are now and having in your possession, the full story of your first birthday party, including your close extended family, with less wrinkles and several decades younger.
Imagine seeing the way your parents looked at you. The way your grandma planted a kiss on your chubby cheek. Your uncle, decades younger, playing peekaboo with you or laughing in the corner with your late grandfather.
Imagine getting to take a good look around your very first home- some familiar furniture, not yet broken in.
Read MoreYou can probably tell that an image like this is all about perspective. I set my camera on the table and, using a low aperture, shot through all the layers on the table. I purposely framed him so that he would be on the right hand third of the image, because I wanted him to look like just another thing at the table: glass, salt shaker, boy, glass...
Read MoreIf you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you've probably heard me toss around the term, Family Documentary Photography. But what exactly is it? And why would anyone want to hire a Family Documentary Photographer?
If you are loving life (most days anyways), have much for which you're thankful, and ever find yourself thinking, "I will miss this someday...", then very likely you should have your story told before it passes you by.
Read MoreIt's here! My monthly round up of January stories. This year, I aim to complete my 3rd 365 project in a row... this one, in full color. Already my choice to only edit my daily picture in color is vexing me. Especially with low light photography, it is often so much easier to fiddle around with a color picture for a few minutes and then throw up your hands and say, "to heck with it! black and white it is!" Without that option to fall back on, I've already had to think carefully while shooting. (Which is never a bad thing, of course!)
Read MoreI'd been trying to get a nice picture of my son sleeping for a while. He is right on the edge of growing into his big boy face. Soon there will be no more of those sweet baby cheeks. I was on a time crunch. I was on a mission.
The problem I was facing was the light source. When you photograph a sleeping child, you usually need to add a little light to the scene (unless, of course, your child needs lots of light to sleep already).
Read MoreWhen I first started documentary family photography back in 2014, I relied heavily on my own family to figure out how to make impactful storytelling images (and how to keep it up for whole events- even whole days). I practiced on my family by doing a DITL (Day in the Life) project frequently- back then I subjected us probably monthly. The idea of that project is simple: document your life, from morning to night. And let me tell you, it is HARD work! Hard, as in physically tiring and hard, as in mentally exhausting.
Read MorePhotography education post showing two images and discussing how a small change in perspective can make a big impact!
Read More....Because I couldn't let 2016 go without seeing them all in one place. ;-)
My 2016 daily 366 project wasn't as strict as my 2015 project. I allowed myself to shoot with my phone for a month straight in the summer. When choosing which photos to include in my final set, I chose 2 or 3 from some days and zero from other days. In short, I shot and shared what made me happy.
Are you shooting a daily project with me in 2017? If so, I recommend the following:
Read More2016 was a great year for me as a photographer because I was lucky to connect with lots of clients who value photo stories as much as I do. They, like I, believe that every picture will forever hold a little story. They, like I, believe that we are all made of stories; that stories will someday be all we have left.
Read More2016 is coming to a close, and all over social media it's getting pretty grim reviews and hearty good-riddances. I acknowledge that, for the world as a whole, 2016 pretty much stunk. But if I tried to shoulder all the hate and killings and bickering, I'd be a shadow of myself. So I choose to stay informed, speak out when I feel it matters, and focus on raising two little boys who will someday face the world with love, understanding, and bravery.
Read MoreToday I was in my glory! It was going to be a baking day, but then miracle of miracles, it snowed! And not just any snow, but the sticky kind that coats every. single. branch. Not to mention, it was the first real snow of the season, and that comes with it's own magic.
In the way a sunny cloudless summer day refreshes some, days like today revive me. And when I'm feeling gratitude, I always reach for my camera.
Here are some of my favorites from the day:
Read MoreOnly a couple week until the Winter Solstice, and you know what that means! Time to put away your camera till spring? No way! Time to get creative with your indoor light sources.
If you were stranded in Alaska during the winter with only your camera, could you survive? Ask yourself, how can I become an indoor photography survivor like Kristina? What light sources could I take advantage of this winter?
Read MoreFrom trees bursting with vibrant leaves to bare branches and the first snow, November lived up to its name. I know many dread this slow march toward winter, but November is one of my favorite months for its direct shafts of fall light, warm colors, indoor coziness, and quiet anticipation of the approaching season.
It's also the official month of gratitude, and focusing on that never fails to make my heart full. At the end of this post, I'll share with you a little about how shooting from a place of gratitude can free you up to create images that mean something to you.
Here's my November gratitude list, in pictures...
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