August 2015 Published Videos Update

Every month I post a list with links of the videos I published and share my motivation/inspiration behind each video. 

Taylor'd Photography

I use this YouTube channel for professional projects using professional DSLR cameras.

This is the slideshow that we put together for Ben and Dom from their engagement session at White Sands. In certain photography and videography combination packages we incorporate video clips in the slideshow. We love how video adds motion to an already moving slideshow. Visit our website at http://www.taylordphoto.com

Engagement Slideshow: Ben & Dom

This is a slideshow Elise and I made for a couple of lovebirds this last month. This is a combination of still photos with a few short video clips. For certain Photography and Videography combination packages, I tag along for the engagement shoot. Although, we like to think of engagement sessions as more of a date night rather than a photoshoot. And what more of a romantic setting can you get besides the Whites Sands National Monument at sunset. I couldn’t resist filming the symbolism as the sun goes down representing the end of “I” in their relationship as two single strangers in love, and the sun will soon come up representing the beginning of “we” for the rest of their happily married lives. Of course, only one half is recorded and shown in the slideshow. I am excited to film the other half in a month.         

Melody's Dad Videos

 I use this channel as an outlet for my personal videos using point and shoot cameras (even my cell phone)

Last video shot on my Samsung S6 60FPS before I destroyed it. Add me on Instagram https://instagram.com/melodysdad/ Add me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melodysdadvideos Add me on Twitter https://twitter.com/melodysdadvids Music by Revolution Void, "Someone Else's Memories" used under common attribution license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/

The Last Nap and S6 SloMo Video 

This video was just a tribute to my late phone, my Samsung Galaxy S6 which drowned in a swimming pool last month. The last video I shot on it, all shot at 60 FPS (frames per second). I wanted to see how a cell phone could handle slow motion. So in the video I was going to Melody’s room to borrow pennies during her nap time, but she was awake and goofing off. She has reached the age where naps are out of the question. Realizing that, I borrowed the pennies from her and went to the desert. I set the phone a few inches away from a few pennies, and shot the pennies with gun. In post-production I slowed the footage way down, and reversed it a couple of times as well. Needless to say, 60 FPS is not fast enough to catch a bullet, but from a nerd’s perspective, the footage still looked pretty cool.

Add me on Instagram https://instagram.com/melodysdad/ Add me on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/melodysdadvideos Add me on Twitter https://twitter.com/melodysdadvids This is what a five year old kid's VLOG looks like. Melody has had her own camera since she was 4. Just point and shoots.

Melody’s First VLOG 

This video was entirely shot by Melody. I made the video using my favorite clips. I want to clarify one of the videos she made that I used several clips from. She had a ten minute rant that started with the words: "My Dad is really scary, I don't like him". Then she proceeds to talk about people turning into monsters. Let me clarify and alleviate some of the many horrible thoughts you had about me when you saw that clip by telling you the back story. That afternoon, while Skye was taking a nap, Melody and I perused Netflix for a movie to watch. We came across one that sounded pretty exciting and had a kid friendly rating. It was called Spy Kids 1. Melody and I were getting pretty far into the movie when Skye woke up. I went and changed Skye's diaper and we were leaving her room when Melody comes running up saying "I don't like that movie, it’s scary". She then went into her room and apparently recorded this video. That night while the kids were in bed, I told Elise what happened and how I had to see the rest of the movie, 1 to see what scared her so much, and 2 to let her know it had a happy ending. It turns out, that in the movie the Dad of the "Spy Kids" gets turned into a monster by the evil villain. Less than 5 minutes later in the movie, the Dad gets turned back into a human, but Melody didn't make it that far. Moral of the story, if everyone gets turned into monsters, Melody wouldn't like it.

I publish videos regularly to both YouTube Channels (Taylor’d Photography and Melody’s Dad Videos). Subscribe to, comment on, and share both.

July 2015 Image Round Up

Here are a few of my favorite photographs from this month's sessions!

Sven and Jan celebrated 30 happy years of marriage with an Anniversary Photo Session. Well done, you two.

What do you do when family is in town? Create a beautiful portrait with backlighting in some wonderful morning light of course.

I had such a hard time choosing a favorite from Juliette's baby photo session. Her sweet expression and the dreamy bokeh won me over on this image.

Speaking of dreamy bokeh and sweet expressions....Life goals: Follow the good light and create a photograph just like this of Melody and Skye. Sisters forever.

Jade, you are killing me. I am in love with the moodiness of this image and the subtle teenage angst just screamed for a black and white edit.

I created these portraits with Andrew to document and celebrate the awesome fitness goals he has accomplished. I used an HDR edit on this image to accentuate the muscles tones and create a monumental feel to the image.

We Forgot One Thing When Expecting a Baby

We had a bag sitting in our closet, full of a change of clothes for both Elise and I, personal hygiene items like toothpaste and toothbrushes, and we even had newborn clothes. That bag sat there for over a week, waiting for a little piece of sunshine to enter this world and join our family.

Of course we had a bassinet in our room next to our bed and a crib we assembled ourselves with instructions that made no sense to me. Elise had to translate the pictures for me to understand. They don’t make furniture the way I would make it. We had a rocking chair. We had a changing table with a padded changing cushion, a box of diapers, baby wipes, and even a diaper genie. We painted a bookshelf and dresser white symbolic of our pure love for our baby girl. The book shelf had stuffed animals and a small collection of books ready to be read for the first time. We labeled the dresser drawers with Dr. Seuss fish pictures, “1 fish, 2 fish, red fish, blue fish”, and we filled the drawers with clothes so small they could only be described as cute. We painted the walls with rolling hills and blue skies, long tall Lorax trees, and the elephant Horton next to the quote “A person’s a person no matter how small”. We even hung custom wall art; framed Dr. Seuss vintage Lorax cards Elise found online. Most importantly we hung 6 wooden painted letters on the wall that spelled Melody.

Melody over five years.

We had all the important things ready. We were excited for our little girl to come into this world. I remember the effort we put into getting every little detail ready for her. I remember waiting for her to be born and then it was time. Elise demanded I take her to the hospital. The nurses at the hospital were surprised how far along Elise was. I thought it could happen any minute. After 6 hours of Elise’s labor, blood, sweat, and tears, she came into the world. My little sweetheart. Everyone said that was a fast birth. To me watching my wife screaming in pain, and being overwhelmingly polite to me in between contractions, it seemed to drag a little. Everyone says time flies, and as you get older it just moves along faster. I never got it, until now. Melody is 5 years old. Where did the time go? It didn’t seem to be flying by but now it is gone. All I have left is the memories I went out of the way to make. And now I am telling people time flies and the older you get the faster it goes.

Skye baby year one.

We had all the important things ready, all the things a little baby girl could never know she needed. But what about the things she would want later? Or the things I want now. She wouldn’t remember the look in Elise’s eyes when they first made contact with hers. Or the way Elise held her, the youngest baby Elise and I had ever held. She won’t ever get to see how much I didn’t want to cut her umbilical cord, the mean look I gave the unaware doctor that forced me to do it, how scared I was when she almost put her foot right in the way, or how nervous I was the first time I held her like a little fragile egg. Melody will never see the panic that hit when we stepped out of the hospital realizing all of the support we had for the last two days was staying there and we weren’t even given an instruction manual. We spent the next few months worrying about getting sleep while Melody grew up. She learned how to smile before she had hair. She was my cuddle buddy; we took naps all over the house. I sang the same song to her every night “As I have loved you”. She crawled, she walked, she talked, and we witnessed our little helpless baby turn into a social butterfly. I will remember. Elise will remember. But those memories although they happened slowly, went by fast. And other than in our minds, those memories were only recorded with pictures taken from time to time. We don’t have video of those moments, and I know it is a luxury and not a necessity, but I want it, and I know Melody wants it to. Life happens whether or not we record any of it. To watch later is up to us.  

We had all the important things ready, but we forgot that someday we were going to want to sit down with our daughter and watch the beginning of her story together.

Uploaded by Elise Taylor on 2014-08-20.

Planning for a Successful Newborn Portrait Session

Ah, newborns! The wrinkles, tiny toes, and sleepless nights. The first weeks of a baby’s life can sometimes be a little hectic and, let’s face it, outright exhausting. Here are my suggestions to make your baby’s newborn portrait session less hectic and exhausting.

Think Ahead

Ideally, you have met with and selected the photographer you will be working with before your baby is born. I am a planner at heart, so I find planning to be half the fun. Plan your maternity session for around 37 weeks. Don’t skip on a maternity session, trust me. You may be feeling larger than life and uncomfortable (I’m sorry!) but in 10 years you will love looking back at the beautiful pregnant body that brought a new soul into the world. Expect to schedule your newborn’s photo session within 6 to 10 days of giving birth. How do you schedule a session ahead of time when you do not know when the baby will be born? Usually I place dad in charge of this. Once mom and baby are home from the hospital, dad will send me a text or phone call to set up a time for the newborn session as soon as possible. BONUS TIP: Consider adding a “Fresh 48” session. “Fresh 48” sessions are short in hospital sessions that capture sweet memories of where baby was born.

It’s Your Photo Session Too

Even though your baby is the star of the show, do not think you will not be in a photo or two. Photographs of moms and dads holding baby are by far my favorite images created during newborn sessions. Do not fret too much about your outfit. Solid colored tops will work well to create a timeless image of parent and child.

Relax and Enjoy

Newborn portrait sessions typically last longer than 1 hour. Everything happens at baby’s pace. We may stop several times, as many times as is necessary, to feed baby, soothe baby, burp baby, and change baby. And that is perfectly wonderful. There is no need to rush. A hurried attitude will only lessen your (and baby’s) enjoyment of this time together. Take this moment and breathe it in!

By spending an evening or two thinking about the newborn session before your baby’s arrival you can eliminate in the moment stress of planning a newborn session while you are sleeplessly caring for a newborn. Ultimately, my goal is to help you remember these first hectic and exhausting days of your baby’s life. But with as much exhaustion will come an even greater dose of the most powerful joy you have ever felt. Do not miss this chance to remember. As you will soon find out, these days go by so darn fast. 

Check out this cutie's Fresh 48 and Newborn Portrait Session slideshow.

July 2015 Published Videos Update

Every month I post a list of the videos I published and share my motivation/inspiration behind each video. 

Taylor'd Photography

 I use this YouTube channel for professional projects using professional DSLR cameras (mostly).

Video made for Sonoma Ranch LIfe check them out on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Sonoma-Ranch-Life/444024922438963

Sonoma Ranch Life Magazine B2B Mixer

This video showcased Liz Hamm’s ribbon cutting for N2 Publishing. Intended from the get go to be a Facebook video, I made this short video with the objective of showing people how great her events are. The venue was one of the many great model rooms at the Mesilla Valley Design Center and food was provided by El Luchador food truck. Liz publishes a monthly magazine called Sonoma Ranch Life, which features Sonoma Ranch residents and businesses from all over Las Cruces.  If you haven’t met Liz Hamm already, check out her magazine’s Facebook page.   

At http://www.SilhouetteStickers.com we make everything from small decals to gigantic wall scenes! No worries, applying your vinyl decal is easy. But, to make it even easier we include a practice decal (and written instructions) with every order. That way you can get the hang of applying it and test out your destination surface before putting your vinyl decals up.

How to Apply a Vinyl Decal by www.SilhouetteStickers.com

This video is one of a few that I am making with an online vinyl company that sells vinyl decals worldwide. This video was shot with the customer in mind, one, to alleviate concerns when making a purchase decision, and two, to teach the customer how to install the end product once they receive it. Now these videos, specifically vinyl application videos, are a dime a dozen. There are so many of them that none of them really stick out. Most consist of a one perspective view of someone rambling while they put a vinyl decal on some surface, whether it be a wall, car, or other random surface. After noting the similarities of the videos already available on the market and collaborating with a representative of the company, I determined we wanted the video to be short (a minute long give or take), provide informative/complete but simple instructions, and most importantly show how easy the product is to use.

I really like how we not only applied a large decal on a bumpy wall (which is hard to do), but had two middle school aged girls apply the vinyl to really show that even in the most difficult circumstances, these vinyl decals aren’t that difficult to apply.

Melody's Dad Videos

 I use this channel as an outlet for my personal videos. All videos are shot with point and shoot cameras to show you can make good videos without having great equipment.

I bought the S6 last month on the edge plan and then accidentally destroyed it within the first month I had it. This video is the fallout of the situation. Add me on Instagram https://instagram.com/melodysdad/ "Last month, I bought the Samsung Galaxy S6.

Verizon Edge and My New S6 Phone 

Last month I got a new phone for Father’s Day. It was such a big deal to me that I VLOGed the entire week, half of the week with the new phone. The convenience of having a phone that had better video quality then most point and shoot cameras made the phone purchase a life changing event. If you follow my Instagram feed, then you would see that despite my love for the phone, I put it through some abuse that most smartphone owners would never do. For instance, setting it within a foot of a firework, letting my friend ollie over it with his skateboard, shooting a penny inches away from the phone with a 45 caliber hand gun. Now despite my brave ambitions testing out the video quality of the phone, I never anticipated how careless I could have been one hot afternoon a couple weeks ago. I was swimming when I felt something in my pocket, I knew right away what I had done. I had been swimming for 5 to 10 minutes with my phone in my pocket. I tried every trick I could find. I put it in rice, I gave it a bath in alcohol, I even took it apart. I could not blow life back into my poor little friend. Unfortunately, I didn’t get insurance, I always thought it to be somewhat uneconomical. So this video goes through where I went wrong in my contingency planning, or lack thereof really, and gives my hindsight opinion of what I should have done when making my purchase decision. When I bought my phone I was like a kid on Christmas Eve, I just jumped into the purchase as quickly as possible not considering the options available at the time. Hopefully, this video will help anyone who is about to go buy a new phone stop for a moment, breathe, and make a more informed thinking with the future in mind decision. Please note that I take full responsibility for situation, am still with Verizon and am not unhappy with their service whatsoever, and plan on purchasing another Samsung S6 in the near future.

I publish videos regularly to both YouTube Channels (Taylor’d Photography and Melody’s Dad Videos). Subscribe to, comment on, and share both.