Indoor Fireworks

I mentioned last week that I had completed a large embroidery project, and this is it! A photographer based in Florida named Yami contacted me to request a custom photo backdrop with an embroidered fireworks theme. She sent me a rough sketch of what she had in mind and then left the rest up to me. I knew she would be using it for infant portraits so my goal was to make it fun and colorful and spontaneous, without attracting too much attention away from the subjects (as it is meant to be a backdrop after all).

It was challenging and time-consuming to cover such a large piece (the final size was 36" x 30"), but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out. And more importantly, Yami was happy with it! I'm so flattered that she chose me to work on this project because her photos are gorgeous. Check out some of her infant portraits here. (The one with the baby propped up on the telephone--gah, I can't even talk about it. It's so cute!)

Also, as you can see I've rediscovered playing with my camera out of focus. Sometimes, it works and something magic happens. Other times, it just looks like you don't know how to operate your camera. I'm shooting for the former, obviously. (Get it? Shooting? Ok, I made myself groan with that one.) Anyhoo, I'm trying to challenge myself to take more interesting photos, so if anyone has any recommendations or photo idea prompts, please share! xo, Mary