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Ellie is always serenading me. As in, ALL.THE.TIME. Most of the time it's her own made up songs which I *really* need to get on video (they are hilarious!) but she usually does those in the car and it goes without saying that driving AND videotaping at the same time would NOT be prudent (or legal for that matter). However, yesterday morning as we pulled into her school parking lot she was on round three of her latest "favorite song" and so I was able to (safely) record a little mini clip. This is her version (rendition?) of Bugs Bunny's "Dreamboat" song.
Side note: Yes, my children have watched countless episodes of Looney Tunes (and I have even been known to sit there with them the entire time - laughing equally hard - just at different parts). We are, simply put, BIG HUGE fans of Looney Tunes. I think Mel Blanc was, quite frankly, a genius. 'Nuff said.
So, to have my daughter surprise me with a somewhat memorized version of Bugs Bunny's classic tune... well, let's just say I was absolutely delighted. Please forgive my psycho-killer laugh at the end. I'm a bit exuberant. I think I take after my kids... (cough, ahem, cough).
The lovely Becky Higgins (creator of the amazing Project Life) is doing a giveaway today on her blog and one of the items she is giving away is my book. I'm so honored to be a part of this Ode To Photography feature on her awesome blog.
To go check out the giveaway and throw your name in the hat, CLICK HERE.
If you are visiting my blog from Becky's then: WELCOME!
Why yes. I am dedicating an entire post to my Iphone. Yes. Yes, I am.
Ok, bear with me folks, I realize my obsession with my Iphone is kinda pathetic. I honestly do. I bought one when they first came out and was instantly HOOKED. My busy, on the go, running from here to there, meeting with clients, doing shoots, kids' activities, my own activities etc... kinda life means I am not at my desk all day long. And being able to have my Iphone, which syncs with my home computer via MobileMe and my home and business calendars on my Mac etc... well, it's just so handy. There are no words to fully express my unending love and devotion for my Iphone. It is the ONE thing I will not leave the house without. I can be running out the door with nothing but my wallet and car keys and as long as I have my Iphone I'm good to go. :)
An unexpected perk about my little handy dandy Iphone is the built in camera. Now, granted, the quality is completely subpar compared to a real camera and unacceptable for printing purposes but I take AT LEAST one picture every single day with my iphone. So now, when I scroll through all the images in my iphone album, I basically have this delightful little "memory a day" snapshot of my daily life over the course of the past couple years. It is so fun to scroll through and see what I've managed to capture with my phone, things I would normally never be able to capture because, truth be told, I don't always have my camera with me....(gasp!) In fact, despite me telling people to ALWAYS have their camera handy.... um.... I'm a big ole hypocrite! HA! Actually scratch that, I'm not, because I DO have a camera handy, just not a QUALITY one is all.
Regardless, I have managed to get some really fun shots with my bitty phone camera and I put together a few collages today of a selection of images I have taken with my Iphone over the past few weeks. Yes, this is just the past month or two and just a handful of them at that. Like I said, I am constantly taking pictures with my iphone.
I think the real reason behind that is that it is almost LIBERATING to just pull it out, snap the shot and not have to give ANY thought whatsoever to any of the settings. Just point and click. When so much thought usually goes into my picture taking it almost becomes an intellectual "process" rather than just a reflexive MOMENT and the Iphone brings me back to not caring about the results but simply documenting that stolen moment. And I really like that about it. It almost acts as a trigger for my brain saying: "remember this moment!" if that makes any sense at all. That all I care about at that specific moment of the shot being taken is not the quality/skill/art of that soon-to-be image (which I already know is going to be poor and not be able to ever be printed) but rather the triggering of my BRAIN to take its own mental snapshot alongside the Iphone doing its thing.
I'm sure none of this made any sense to anyone other than me but hey, I never promised my "out of nowhere" ramblings were going to be any good! HA! :)
Ok, so here are a few Iphone images from the past couple months. Each image makes me smile and reminds me of our day to day life. Nothing fancy. Nothing pretty. Nothing posed. And yet, it's EVERYTHING. And then some. :)
Our "after school" time is spent enjoying a little fresh air before heading in for the whole "homework-dinner-play-reading" bedtime routine. We either take Kooper on his second walk of the day or just hang out in the backyard. Kooper LOVES chasing the kids all over the yard. But he recently started "herding/nipping" at them when they play chase so we've switched things around a bit and have the kids dangle a toy or stick when they run so that his focus is on grabbing the toy rather than trying to herd THEM. His breed has really strong prey drive (they were pred to hunt lions after all) so we are really lucky that Kooper's innate nature is that of a pussycat, in the sense that he is just ridiculously sweet, gentle and loving with the kids and his "pack." Now, if you were an intruder I don't think he'd be quite so friendly with you...... Just sayin'.
It was a gorgeous afternoon yesterday with subdued sunshine creating just this perfect soft light so I decided to grab some shots of our little ritual. I had the ISO at 800 and the Shutter speed at 1/1000. I adjusted the aperture as the lighting shifted throughout but it averaged around f4 ish. I also had my fixed 135mm lens on my camera.
I should also mention, since it occurred to me that Kooper looks so HUGE and MEAN in these pictures, that he is actually the SWEETEST dog you will EVER meet. Don't let all those teeth fool ya! And the faces the kids are making are NOT fearful faces! I ASSURE YOU!! In fact, my next post will show you some of the sweet, cuddly shots I have of Kooper sleeping/cuddling with the kids. They are not remotely afraid of him which is why these scrunched up faces are so hilarious to me. I guess it's just a natural reaction to close your eyes and brace yourself when a dog that outweighs you TWO TIMES your own body weight is coming barreling at you at full speed! Yes, Kooper is now 60 lbs at not quite 5 months. Ellie weighs 30 lbs soaking wet. Gavin weighs 65 lbs. By the end of the week Kooper and Gavin will weigh the same thing. CRAZY.
OK, enjoy these images, they made me giggle the entire time I was editing them and prepping them for the blog. BTW, minimal post processing other than increasing contrast a bit and mild sharpening for blog display.
I ADORE this next shot!
We're still working on "give".... but he's got all the other basics down pat!
Kooper is convinced he can carry TWO things in his mouth at once and get very confused when he opens his mouth to get the second item and the first one falls out. The look on his face brings us all boundless laughter!
You can't really see Gavin's face here but he is doing this eyes shut, scrunchy nose face that you will see on Ellie next. THE EXACT SAME FACE. Hilarious.
Kooper plays TOTALLY differently with Ellie than he does Gavin. He tests the limits a bit with Gavin and will be a little more physical with him. But Ellie, oh dear it's so funny. He has MAD respect for that girl. She is completely and totally IN CHARGE of him. All she has to do is a swift point of the finger and a stern look and his butt sits right down. Also, he won't try to herd her. Instead, she "leads" him around and he demurely follows her. We are working on getting Gavin a bit higher on the "pack leader" food chain with regard to Kooper because right now, between the three of them the order is Ellie, Kooper, Gavin, without a doubt. Thankfully, Kooper is a sweetheart with them both but family pack structure is very important! Can you tell I've been watching my Tivo'd episodes of The Dog Whisperer slightly religiously? (Ok, Ok, obsessively, pshhh, whatever....)
There's that face! I swear she really LOVES doing this with Kooper!
And there it is again. I don't know why this makes me laugh so hard, it just does. :)
My boy.
My girl.
Laughter is the best medicine is it not?! :)
Why yes, I am the most gorgeous looking dog on the face of the planet, why thank you! (alright, I'll admit to being totally biased but hey, I'm his mama, I'm allowed to be!)
My book (---------->) is being given free shipping courtesy BLURB by entering the code: WESHIP at checkout through March 22nd! Don't delay! Grab this opportunity! Shipping is usually about $8 so that's a great deal! The link to purchase the book can be accessed by simply clicking on the book picture badge over there on the upper right hand column under the MY BOOK title! This is really, truly, a great book!
Ah Julie. A woman of MANY talents. Apparently it wasn't good enough to design these incredible outfits from gorgeous fabric selections (and then also have the ability to skillfully photograph them as well)... Noooooooo. Julie, an artist in the truest sense of the word, decided to DESIGN HER OWN FABRICS. Yes, create and design her own fabrics. I was in awe when she told me she was doing this and then beyond thrilled when I saw the results. Ellie has declared this "tank style" dress her FAVORITE Julie creation yet. I picked her up from school and we drove for a few minutes until I saw a dirt driveway I liked and VOILA. We got busy. :)
Julie is also in the early stages of opening up her own Fabric Shop on Etsy. It will be the one stop shop to find all the gorgeous fabrics she uses, including vintage finds, possibly her own fabric designs and these AMAZING pre-cut sets to help the beginner seamstress get started on a project with a whole lot less intimidation. This is going to be DANGEROUS for the likes of me.
The headband, since I KNOW y'all gonna be asking me, is the same sweet lady who designed that feather one she wore a while back at the railroad track shoot. Blue Eyed Freckle.
I did a few shots with off camera flash just to play around with it a bit. I am forcing myself to do at least a few images with that set up every shoot I can. Ultimately, I always end up liking the natural light shots better but that's probably because I am just not as skilled with OCF as I'd like to be. I dunno. These were pretty cute though. :)
Then, back to natural light. This is probably my favorite one of the day. Although I've got about three that are tied up for that #1 spot!
Super cute!
Look at the back of this dress. So simple and comfy and yet FULL OF VIBRANT STYLE!!
I did a slightly different processing on this next one, not sure if I like it yet.
My dear friend Kirsten and I co-hosted a trunk show for Julie (ZozoBugBaby & ZoGirl) and Melissa (NuxieMade) today. Kirsten held it at her gorgeous home and spent the whole night and morning cooking up a storm and had the most scrumptious menu laid out for our guests. I'm in awe of this girl's cooking skills. I think I spent most of the trunk show trying to sneak away into the kitchen to eat. HA!
The show was a huge success and I cannot wait for everyone to get their hand made custom dresses, outfits and accessories!
I thought it would be a good idea to print some images of the models wearing the outfits on boards to display around the room so I had a bunch of images printed up on 5X7 and 6X8 board backing. The other photographer who hosted a trunk show before me (I had the boards sent out early before the first show) ran with my idea and printed out a bunch of her own so we had a great collection by the time it got to me.
Kirsten also scored a great garment rack from a friend (Hi Megan!!) and I brought some champagne and OJ to "seal the deal" with a nice little mimosa! Tee hee hee. :)
It was so great to see a bunch of my friends and meet so many of Kirsten's friends. There were a bunch of little ones in attendance and I even got to cradle a sweet curly haired angel (Megan's daughter) in my arms and rock her to sleep (Sigh.....baby cravings......).
Here are a few pictures I took (I promised Julie I would take a few shots) and they are basically SOOC (straight out of the camera as I just got home after being away all day and want to hang out with my family now!)
ENJOY the images Julie!
If you are interested in hosting a show yourself, contact Julie for her availability. I think she is booked solid through April but has openings after that. You get some wonderful incentives for hosting a show!
Those would be HOME MADE scones AND blueberry muffins. From scratch. Sooooooo yummy!!!
And these? Homemade Strattas. One vegetarian, one sausage. Jealous, me? Nooooooooo.
I'll just bring the booze and the OJ. And the picture boards. And my camera. And.... my smiling face!? Yeah, that's my contribution....
And, last but not least, some freshly brewed java. Mommy's little helper. :)
Thank you Kirsten for being the hostess with the mostest. I could NOT have done this without you. YOU ROCK!
Courtney had a little contest on her blog a while back and this new bubble silkscreen print won the competition! She asked me to do a super mini shoot on a white backdrop so she could announce the winner on her banner. So Ellie and I quickly got down to business and cranked out a few shots. It took longer to set up the lights and backdrop and all the equipment than it did to do the actual shoot! HA!
Here are a couple favorites. LOVE this style. I've always been a big fan of dots and stripes!
Courtney's dresses are hard to come by (they sell out within a nanosecond the minute she posts them on her Big Cartel website!) so I consider myself very blessed that I get to photograph them on a regular basis!
ENJOY!
I'll start with my favorite shot of the shoot. Ellie bellie in her gloriously happy self!
I never submit my images to contests but was very drawn to this year's PDN "faces" competition. After all, portraits are my thing! But when it came down to trying to pick just one image I just couldn't do it. I was overwhelmed by the "weeding it out" process.
Fortunately, one of the categories in this contest is "pet portraits" and I had about five stellar images of kooper to pick from. Much easier to narrow down from just five rather than 500! Ha! It came down to a final two show down and I ended up picking one that was less technical but more humorous.
The contest is decided by an elite panel of judges and some of the entries I've seen so far are mind blowingly good so I'm not holding my breath. Having said that, there is a "people's choice" option where anyone can vote for their favorite! If you'd be so inclined, please click on the link below to vote for my entry! Thank you so much!
And while you are there, check out some of the great portraits by many other photographers!
(by the way I'm blogging this while in the waiting room at urgent care for a nasty sinus infection that has been tormenting me all week, how's that for multi tasking?!)
I've always considered myself a problem solver. I think it's why I was so drawn to Law Enforcement. I get to solve lots and lots of problems! Other people's problems! Wooohooo! Except of course, the people whose problems you are trying to solve usually don't want your help but hey, as a rookie, I was very idealistic and truly believed I could save the world.
Regardless, that innate desire to solve problems rather than sit around and complain about them never went away. It seems every time I am faced with a problem my first thought is: "OK, how can I fix this?"
Ever since starting back school after the the Christmas break, it's been getting harder and harder to get the kids ready in the morning. Mornings are rough. NONE of us are morning people (except Kooper....sigh) and we are all mildly unpleasant at 7 am. Actually, honestly, we are all total cranky pants in the morning. And I have very little time to get two kids, one puppy and one mommy out the door. So, mornings were fraught with whining and crying and tantrums. Most of it from the kids. Hahahahahaha. :)
I do as much as I can the night before, I have their clothes laid out, their lunches packed and the breakfast stuff all laid out ready to go. Still, mornings have gone from bad to worse lately. I thought about it and realized that the biggest issue was that the kids had little motivation to get out of their warm, cozy beds and get ready for a long day at school. I can't change the fact that we would rather be sleeping in til 8 am (or later) or that mornings are a hectic flurry of activity. But I figured I could introduce a REASON to want to get up.
I needed something that wouldn't cost a penny, would be a good motivator for BOTH kids, and not be a huge investment of my time at night when I've already got enough on my plate to deal with. And thus was born the idea of the "Morning Message Board." Yes, we like to name things in our family, can you tell?
So, every night, before crashing into bed myself, I take literally TWO MINUTES to write a morning message to the kids on their art white board (purchased at Ikea many years ago). It's usually a simple message that greets them, lets them know what the day has in store and reminds them how much I love them. Something cheery and happy.
And it TOTALLY WORKS. At least for now it does. I'm sure it will eventually grow old. But right now, it's saving my mornings. Or at least, partially saving them. There's a whole lot less dragging of the feet when it comes to getting dressed and coming downstairs to see the message. Ellie can generally read most of it on her own and the parts she can't read, Gavin helps her out with. I also add little mini pictures to illustrate the sentence a bit and help her out.
Has it eliminated the whining, arguing, crying, fighting, tantrumy outbursts completely? Heck no. But it's gotten their little butts downstairs without ANY of my usual harping on them to GET>OUT>OF>BED>FOR>THE>HUNDREDTH>TIME stuff I had to do in the past.
Here's this mornings display. Like I said, it didn't make mornings suddenly blissful from beginning to end but it sure did help. And I'll take anything I can get! :)
Just wanted to post a few recent entries from the kids in our family gratitude journal (for more info on this, scroll down to two posts back).
I cannot even begin to tell you how much I am enjoying this. Everything from the gleam in their eyes when they excitedly say: "Oh! I just thought of something I want to add to our Gratitude Journal", or, the focus and attention they put into their drawing and thoughtfulness in their text. Or, even, just sitting down at the end of a long day and sifting through all the entries so far and how it warms my heart every single time, no matter how many times I've looked at it.
Seriously, if you aren't doing this yet, you just gotta do it! It is immeasurably rewarding! :)
This last one of Gavin's just kills me. The one solitary little "black cloud" in the sky. But the sun is still shining. The colorful houses. The fact that he is holding Kooper's leash. Something he is not allowed to do on walks yet (Kooper is WAY too strong) but clearly something he aspires to do down the road. The smiles on our faces. All of it. Love.
For Christmas I received the Canon G11 from Santa. I had wanted another back up "real" camera body but it wasn't realistic so I gratefully settled for a nice, solid little Point & Shoot. I have grown weary of taking my big camera with me every outing we go on and had gotten to the point where I simply wasn't bringing anything in lieu of having to worry about the logistics/practicalities of having my big camera and big camera bag and big lenses and so on with me all the time. SO, the result was I wasn't taking any pictures of MY family! Then again, I was in the throes of my absolutely busiest season when I made that decision and quite honestly just didn't feel like taking pictures on my "day off."
I talk about that phenomenon with my other pro photographer friends. We got into photography because we absolutely LOVE everything about it and we are so incredibly PASSIONATE about it and there's nothing we enjoy more than taking pictures, especially of our children (which, for most of us, is what started our careers) etc... but, come November and December every year we start feeling a tad bit of photographer burn out. And it depresses us because we don't WANT to feel that way. The saving grace is knowing and understanding that it is perfectly normal and temporary. :)
I've had an unexpectedly long break since my last "real" shoot the last week of December. January was a complete wash due to me being so incredibly ill the entire month but now February has had a couple shoots rescheduled due to the rain and (with the exception of a handful of commercial shoots), I have had a nice, long, legitimate BREAK. And I can feel that spark again. And I'm so grateful for it.
It's the reason why all the pro photogs I know take most, if not all, of January off after the holiday season rush. When you work in an artistic field, you need that time off to feel inspired again. To be filled with ideas and concepts and visions that re-ignite your passion for what you do.
My schedule is booked from April to December 2010 so I am not worried about the work that awaits me in the near future. I am fully enjoying this downtime and trying really really hard not to think about how seriously the lack of my income is affecting us (which is pretty seriously...) Sigh. Bottom line: I really needed this break. Since starting my business 5 years ago I have not had more than two weeks away from work ever. This was a much needed "recoup and regroup" time.
Besides, with Kooper's arrival in our lives late December I am considering this time as my "maternity leave." HA! SO there! Puppyhood is truly JUST like having a baby again, really!!! (All the new "human" mommies out there are probably wanting to throw something at me right now....) But, the reality is, there is no way I would have been able to be a good mommy to my human or canine charges if we had gotten Kooper during my busy season so it has been an incredible blessing for us to all get that quiet, fun, bonding downtime with him as we all adjust to our new lives with the commitment that is puppy ownership! Have I mentioned that he is the best dog ever?! :)
Ok, so I totally went off topic there. Typical me.
All this to say I got my Canon G11 for Christmas and NEVER GOT A CHANCE to play around with it until just recently!
My mom and sister (Auntie Seraphine) came down for a visit this weekend and we went to the beach Saturday morning to enjoy a break in the weather and some fun in the sun. I decided to bring along the G11 to finally play around with it a little bit.
The first few shots were taken by my sister (who is here visiting from Spain while doing a temporary teaching gig in the Bay Area for a couple months!) and then the rest were taken by me. I was distracted by so much going on so we put the camera on AUTO mode (GASP!!!!) and clicked away every once in a while without paying much attention to anything we were really doing. Besides, between trying to hold onto Kooper's leash and keeping an eye on the kids and scolding my mom for digging a mile long trench WITH A BROKEN ARM.... the picture taking was truly secondary!
I was having one of those days last week. The kind where you wonder exactly HOW MUCH bad news one person can handle in one day. I was starting to do that whole poisonous "why me?" self talk and felt that negativity entering my brain like a toxin. I needed to get rid of that bad attitude and quick.
I decided to concentrate on all the things I have to be grateful for. A cliche, yes, and hard to do in the throes of challenging times, but wholly necessary nonetheless. As I was going through my mental checklist of "Things I Am Grateful For", I thought about how nice it would be to get the kids involved in the process. I went to the Rite Aid, picked up a very specific journal I was looking for that has pages divided with the top half blank for drawing and the bottom half lined with clear delineations for beginner writers to follow.
I came home and declared this our new Family Gratitude Journal. I did not create any rules regarding contributing to the journal. I just filled out the first page with my own entry and told the kids they could take the journal down from its accessible spot in the kitchen anytime they wanted to write in it, whenever they felt inspired to do so, I didn't want to make it "homework-like".
Last night my mom and sister (who is here visiting from Spain for a couple months doing a teaching gig in the Bay Area) spent the night and we all hung out together. My sister added a contribution to the journal, as did my mom. And after seeing the grown ups participate in it, the kids were then really excited to add their own contributions to the journal.
As the book begins to take life and fill up page by page I am realizing exactly how cool this will be once it is completely full (which will certainly take a while).
First of all, it will be so much fun to look back and see all the delightful, charming and heart warming things the kids came up with for their declarations of gratitude. Second of all, it will be so sweet and tender to see their transformation and growth over the course of 2010. Ellie has already blown me away going from not being able to read or write at all when she entered Kindergarten this past September to reading and writing really simply phrases and words. It just BLOWS me away.
I'm so glad a really dark day turned into such a bright new tradition in our family.
I took a couple quick pictures this afternoon with my point and shoot (forgive the quality) to show the first few entries. I *highly* recommend doing something like this. It's nearly impossible not to have a smile on your face after adding (or reading) an entry. Such a great way to maintain perspective and gratitude in your head and in your heart, especially during trying times.
I hope everyone enjoys the rest of their weekend!!
Ok so, disclaimer, I cannot draw to save my life. The drawing skills in our family, descended from our maternal grandfather who was an AMAZING and well known artist, all went to my mom and my two sisters. I cannot draw a stick figure to save my life. So, yes, my entry looks like a 5 yr old drew it. I'm OK with that. Really. I am. :)
Later that night, Auntie Seraphine filled in her entry. When my mom and sister arrived last night we cranked up the stereo and all danced our hearts out in the kitchen. It was so much fun! Yes, she drew this in about three minutes. I hate her.
Then my mom filled in her entry the next morning while eating breakfast. There is a funny story behind this one.... So, as my mom was tucking the kids into bed she turned off the bathroom light (which is between the two kids rooms) and Ellie jumped out of bed, went to turn on the light, and said: "Mamisha, we leave the bathroom light on or it's too dark." My mom said "Oh, I'm sorry." And Ellie replied, in the absolutely sweetest and nicest little voice: "Oh, it's OK Mamisha, you didn't know, you're just a little old grandma, you don't know these things!" I literally fell off the couch laughing. You'd think my mom was borderline senile after a statement like that but she is the most vibrant, energetic, productive person you will ever meet. The original Energizer Bunny. Which is why that was sooooo funny!
Then, later today after a trip to the beach with everyone, Ellie filled in her entry. It says: "I am grateful for nature" and features a picture of all of us playing at the beach.
Gavin was the last one to fill in the journal today and he drew this. It says: "I am grateful for my family, house and friends."
Since then, there have been three new entries that the kids have filled in on their own, suddenly, it seems, inspired to share and document the many things they appreciate in life that make them happy. And I could not possibly be any more grateful for that. :)
Oh me Oh my! When Courtney asked if I could *pretty please* do a shoot with my white backdrop for her I said "why yessiree bob!" Ok, I didn't actually call her bob, but you get the idea.
Those of you who have been following this blog for a while know that I RARELY do studio shoots. It's just not my thing. Natural light, outdoors, with a pop of flash or a well positioned reflector is much more up my alley.
But, with all this rain and me feeling the need to get at least *some* use out of all this indoor equipment I invested in a while back, it's been good to experiment and play around. So, I've done two back to back this week. Ha!
I was especially excited to do this shoot for a couple reasons. The first being that Ellie loves the 1 on 1 time with me and Courtney's dresses are so fantastic that any opportunity to get my grubby little hands on a CC dress... well, you get the idea. Basically, between Courtney and Julie, Ellie is pretty well taken care of in the clothing department!! Love. :)
Secondly, my friend Jodi of MCP ACTIONS sent me this KILLER action set that I just HAD HAD HAD HAD to play around with. How's that for emphasis? This action set is THE BOMB. It allows you about a billion (technically 35 but it feels like a billion) different options on how you can frame, round, band, display your images on your blog. There are so many features to this action set it's almost unreal. You can also use the "color picker" feature to custom select the color you want to use to frame/brand/border the image based on the colors within your image. It's insane how easy this set is to use. And the options, oh the options!! The best part about this is that she offers it for Photoshop AND Elements so all you digital scrap bookers out there can totally use this set as well. The possibilities are endless. I tried to use as wide a variety of the options as possible while getting creative to show you how many different ways this set can be used. It's REALLY cool. You can keep it really classy and basic or use your imagination and get really creative. It's totally up to you!
So, I did the shoot with my little Ellie superstar, who, coincidentally, was pretending to be a star the entire session based on the little stars on the shoulder of the dress. She was absolutely cracking me up. She likes to be in "character"....
Additionally, oh yes, there's more, I used one of the incredible tubs I got from Brody & Ma. Emily is making a WHOLE LOTTA tubs in a WHOLE LOTTA sizes for me and this was one of my first batch I picked up from her this week. Be prepared to see a whole bunch of these amazing tubs in my upcoming shoots. I picked out so many different sizes and patterns. I cannot WAIT to see them!
OK, so yeah, I seriously multi tasked on this shoot! I had so many things I wanted to do and include and play around with!
Ellie started out pretending to be a "delicate, shy star" (her words)...
Then, a "happy star"...
Then. "a shooting star"...
A "sleeping star"...
Just a regular ole star... :)
a "scared star"...
I made her laugh....
It was her idea to pose on the tub like this, pretty smart cookie that one, it looked great!
I used Jodi's actions in combination with Vol. 25's OVERLAYS here for a more Valentine-y feel.
She is such a funny girl this one.
I wish I had been actually looking in the viewfinder when I took this one but Ellie and I were having a conversation and suddenly she looked up and said "I'm wishing on a star" and I just snapped knowing the moment would be gone if I took the time to look and compose etc... So the crop is not what I would have preferred but I still like the shot. :)
So here I started singing along to the music I was playing for us.... and she pulls this move. Thanks alot, kid....
My friend Julie set up another Charity Auction where all the proceeds go to charity (she amazes me with her constant generosity!). For this one it's set up as a bidding. She is offering ANY THREE ZozoBugBaby or ZoGirl dresses OF YOUR CHOICE!! Each usually retails for between $32 and $58 depending on the dress. The best part is you can pick any three of your favorite dress styles in any size you want! I love Julie.
Go ahead and check it out RIGHT HERE. Happy Bidding!!
A while back Ellie and I made this "thank you" dancing video for Courtney. A friend of Courtney did an amazing job "jazzing" it up a bit by adding all kinds of snazzy little features and his own composed music!!! I thought I'd share it here. Her friend is singing "let's dance Ellie let's Dance!" SUPER cute!
My dear friend Julie of ZozoBugBaby is doing an awesome CHARITY giveaway on her blog for one the most coveted new "goodies" out there in the world of Photography Accessories, yup, that would be the Kelly Moore Bag! I met Kelly last year during a private "Give Me Moore" session in Louisiana and she is a really cool chick. The bag was just in the beginning stages of its creation then so for me to watch her pursue this dream and make it happen makes me so incredibly proud of her. These bags are fabulously stylish and yet completely practical and sturdy. A MUST HAVE. 100% of the proceeds of this raffle giveaway are going to the Red Cross. Every last penny. SO, you can feel good about knowing the funds are going to those who need them most!
And to help showcase these awesome bags I enlisted the help of my little Ellie Bellie. It was 6pm and the boys were gone at the weekly puppy training classes and it was pouring rain and pitch black outside and I was racking my brain trying to think of a way to creatively support Julie's raffle while also showcasing my new purple to-die-for KM Bag and suddenly it occurred to me that I, duh, have this whole, duh, indoor light set up! SO, I put up my white backdrop, slapped my 580EX into my softbox, geared up my wireless triggers and BAM! We were good to go.
Ellie picked out the dress she wanted to wear. She was DYING to get her hands on that purse of mine so it was an easy sell to get her pose with it. I even painted her little toenails purple to match the bag! I put some fun hip hop tunes on and she was rockin' it out like she always does. That child is just *too* much.
So, without further ado, here are some pictures of Ellie showing off my brand spankin' new purple KM Bag which is the exact same one that is being raffled off in the giveaway. Your next stop should be Julie's raffle site which is linked below! GOOD LUCK!!!
I'll post my favorite shot first because I am just so utterly and completely crazy about it. Ellie has this "please don't take away my Kelly Moore Bag!" look to her. It's hilarious. I love how she is totally clinging to it! Hilarious!
I surprised Ellie by picking her up early from after care at school today and taking her out for some 1 on 1 time with me, including a fun shoot photographing two utterly irresistible dresses by the always innovative Courtney Courtney Designs. I just ADORE these two new styles! One is the necktie and the other is the pompom. Just beyond stylish if you ask me!
Ellie was in rare form just posing up a storm for me and we got both dresses whipped out in about 30 mn of shooting time. She is SUCH the little rockstar that girl! Then, off to our Starbucks reward which consists of a highly caffeinated hot drink for me and a hot cocoa with whipped cream for her. She was DELIGHTED to say the least and totally earned it!
I found this stage with these awesome wood boards as the backdrop and decided to use it for the plaid pompom dress. I liked the way the stripes and boards all worked cohesively together. I just let Ellie do her thing. My job is just to snap the pictures basically. :) I had a final tally of about 80 keepers but narrowed it down to these few for the blog post. ENJOY!
Then we decided to go for a Little Parisian Girl look for the next dress and I picked this staircase in the hopes of emulating a stairwell in the streets of Paris. Yeah, I know, I wish... anyways, that was the goal. Ellie was cracking me up with all her moves and poses. She is such a riot that girl!
Then we picked up Gavin from school and off we went to their once a week Tap Dancing classes and as we pulled into the parking lot Ellie reminded me that we had forgotten to get shots with the sunglasses we had set aside specifically for the second dress! EEEK! So, we quickly went to the nearby hillside and grabbed about 10 shots of which I loved every single one. I kinda like the "technicolor" feel to these as well. We weren't even late for class that's how efficient this girl is! :)
I was talking to a friend today and telling her how much I have enjoyed this unexpected month off. It's allowed me time to really connect with my kids, downtime in the evenings to relax and read or watch mindless TV and veg (something I normally cannot do because I am holed up in my home office from 8pm to past midnight editing every single night) and enjoying long, leisurely daily walks on the beach with Kooper. This is a pace of life I am not accustomed to at all and even though it felt really foreign and awkward at first, I have found that I am finally starting to really ENJOY it and take full advantage of it. I know my schedule is going to get really hectic soon enough and rather than worry about the bills piling up (OY!), I am appreciating this post holidays, rainy season lull. It's almost like I was gifted with a "maternity leave" for Kooper's arrival!! I have been able to spend loads of quality time with him and the kids and able to actually chill out a bit for the first time in years. It's been quite the blessing in disguise!
One of the activities I have been able to get back into thanks to this time off has been baking. I LOVE to bake. I don't like cooking quite as much but BAKING, ah, yes, baking is my thing! I have a bit of a sweet tooth......
I wanted to share the kids current FAVORITE new snack/dessert that I have been making very regularly. It's surprisingly healthy and nutritious despite being absolutely delicious and super kid friendly!
It's a variation on plain ol' Banana Bread, with loads of add-ons to boost the flavor and nutrients!
So, start off with your basic simple plain Banana Bread recipe (or make this even EASIER on you and get Trader Joe's boxed Banana Bread mix which is what I do). Then add:
2 cups of fresh blueberries
1 cup dried moist cherries
1 cup diced apples
1/2 to one 1 cup chocolate chips (depending on how much chocolate you want in your kids!)
1/2 cup of ground flax meal (at Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup almond meal (at Trader Joe's)
1/2 cup oat bran or wheat germ
You can add 1/2 cup applesauce if it looks too dry/thick.
Stir it all up and bake per usual. I swear my kids GOBBLE THIS UP like it's the best-est, yummiest desert on the face of the planet. I usually give them a piece when they get home from school and it's really actually VERY healthy what with all the fresh fruit and flax and oat bran etc.. I certainly enjoy a guilt-free piece along with them! :)
Wow. Today is the last day of January and I feel like I am just now finally re-emerging. Almost like a butterfly coming out of her cocoon! January was a ROUGH month. I'm still technically dealing with a case of "walking" pneumonia and still sound funky with a nasty cough to boot but for the most part, I am on the road to a full recovery. I'm shocked as to how deeply incapacitated I was for this entire month. Unreal. I am usually a very high energy, high functioning person and I think I get more done in a day than most people do in a week so for me to be so completely useless was very disconcerting and unfamiliar.
I kinda wish I could get one of those snazzy little Men-In-Black memory removal devices and pretend like January 2010 never happened! HA! Wouldn't that be neat-o?
The weirdest part of all this (due to the nonstop rain and illness) was me not doing a single photo shoot for an entire month. Ever since launching my business 5 years ago I don't think I've ever gone more than a couple weeks (always the last two weeks of December) without doing shoots. During my busiest time of year I am doing 3-4 shoots a week and during my "slower" season I am still doing 2-3 a week so for me to go an entire month without a shoot was just...weird.
Neither good nor bad. Just different. I think if I had been healthy during that time I would have definitely appreciated the time off more and enjoyed it whole heartedly but I was just too miserable to make good use of it. Which is such a shame! Additionally, me not bringing in any income for an entire month has definitely stretched our budget T-H-I-N and is causing me quite a bit of anxiety....
Having said that, I only have FIVE sessions open/left for all of 2010 (other than the usual newborns and pregnancy shoots I always squeeze in of course) so I know my year is going to be busy and full of fun shoots! I just need to get through this lull caused by the wet weather and illness and then everything will be back on track.
I really, really wanted to go to WPPI this year but I am fairly certain me not working this whole month makes that virtually impossible so I guess it will have to wait til next year.... Such a bummer because I was really expecting to make it this year. WAH! Oh well..... :(
Anyways, I am feeling better every single day and have definitely taken advantage of being off work to really hang out with my kids and cook nice meals and be able to clean the house more regularly and take Kooper on long walks on the beach and this new, slower, more peaceful pace of life has been really good for my soul. I'm not used to zen. I'm used to total chaos and mayhem and moving at the speed of light! So, in a way, all of this has been really good for me. It's taught me, at least a tiny bit, how to SLOW DOWN, which was, if you recall, one of my biggest resolutions for 2010! So, I guess I am right on track when you look at it that way! :)
I want to thank everyone for their patience with the lack of "eye candy" on the blog. Trust me, I am MISSING taking pictures. BIG TIME. So ready to get back into it!
Looks like we have another series of storms coming in so my February shoots are at risk of being postponed as well (oh please no!)... so keep your fingers crossed! :)
Can't wait to be able to get back to posting images here soon!!
Funny how the world works sometimes. Turns out the CEO of Zanfel read my last blogpost and had one of his representatives call me to offer me some advice on how to treat this massive systemic case of Poison Oak I have going on here. And the timing could not have been more perfect because I had yet again another miserable sleepless night last night and woke up this morning with THREE new outbreaks all over my body. TWENTY days in and I'm still getting new flare ups. This is beyond ridiculous at this point. The rep (Hi Daniel!) was incredibly kind and helpful and suggested I not do my tapering dose of Prednisone that I was supposed to start today but rather up the dose to avoid a massive "relapse" (which is where I was heading if I hadn't spoken to him.) They are also graciously sending me a few free tubes of Zanfel to help ease my suffering while the prednisone keeps trying to do its thing and flush this Urushiol oil out of my bloodstream. Previous to this miserable situation I currently find myself in, I honestly had no clue just how utterly debilitating and miserable a severe reaction to poison oak could be. And the ONLY thing that has brought me any relief whatsoever has been the Zanfel cream. But, because I have such a massive all over my body case, it was too cost prohibitive for me to be using it frequently throughout the day so I am incredibly grateful to the CEO of the company to have taken the initiative to contact me after reading my post and offering me some much needed relief from my pain and maddening itchiness. I honestly can't begin to describe what this experience has been like. Additionally, my flu bug has morphed into bronchitis so I basically spend my entire day and night hacking up a lung every few minutes. I swear, I feel like my body is shutting down on me. It's mind boggling. back to the doctor I go today to get more of that nasty Prednisone (sigh....) and just continue to hope and pray my body can and will eventually overcome this allergic reaction. A HUGE thank you to the CEO of Zanfel for his thoughtfulness and consideration. My advice to you, if you EVER get any exposure whatsoever to Poison Oak/Ivy, immediately do a wash with Zanfel and then you can get rid of all the oils right then and there and avoid the situation from becoming systemic and resulting in a long, drawn out, miserable case like mine. I promise to have a real blog post up one of these days when I am functioning again. Thanks for your patience everyone! :)
Only I would get poison oak in the dead of winter. And only I would get a case so bad that it becomes systemic, invading my body/bloodstream and popping up everywhere and not responding to even high doses of steroids (which are making me bat-shit crazy too btw). And only I would ALSO get a major case of the FLU + Laryngitis while my body battles this foreign toxic substance coursing through my blood/body. Oh yeah. That's how I roll peeps.
Seriously though, I'm in a pretty miserable place. I am beaten down by this thing and feel very much at the end of my rope. I am on 80mg (daily) of Prednisone (steroid) which is doing NOTHING. I am taking Claritin during the day and Benadryl at night. I have completely lost my voice from the laryngitis. I look and feel like....poop. In fact, I look like a leper and judging by how the little boy at the post office reacted to me today (recoiling with terror and asking tentatively: "what happened to your face!?"), I realize that I truly do look just as bad as I THINK I look. This is not a figment of my imagination. I am absolutely scary looking right now. And I FEEL even worse than I look. The 24/7 pervasive, painful, achy, all consuming desire to itch the skin off my face, body, inside my nose and eyes... oh, don't even get me started. The poison oak has taken over my entire face. And the pain, the oozy, nasty, swollen, raw painful lesions. Honestly, I am NEVER going camping, hiking etc ever again. The mere thought of going through this again is to enough to swear me off of my favorite activities ever. I'm terrified that this is just never going to go away. And that my face is going to end up all scarred from this. I'm not a vain person, I never wear make up I wear my hair up in a ponytail every single day, I wear comfy clothes and shoes, but the thought of being scarred for life all over my face from this is utterly demoralizing.
In case you were wondering I have tried several homeopathic treatments, multiple all natural remedies, Tecnu, Zanfel, Caladryl, Calamine lotion, Salt baths, cortisone creams and basically everything under the sun. Absolutely NOTHING is working. I am on day 10 of this hell and it's worse than ever. I spent the whole day crying today. I'm just spent, emotionally and physically. I want to be well again. I want to be functional again.
Now, of course, I fully understand and realize that we are just talking about a case of Poison Oak here and not some horrible life threatening disease or something. I know. I really do get that. I'm grateful for that, I'm aware, I truly am. But, in the meantime, this is a very nasty case, covering my entire face and parts of my body and utterly debilitating not to mention that the treatment isn't working so I am admittedly feeling very bummed out in addition to just cranky from the pain, discomfort and side effects of the medication...
So, bear with me as my life is completely on hold while I desperately try to heal. If you have any suggestions other than what has already been attempted, I'm open to any advice. The doctors seem to think that continuing to increase my Prednisone and extending its duration is the ONLY option and I, quite frankly, cannot continue to deal with the side effects of the Prednisone much longer.... :(
I had that strong gut feeling that we should just stay home and absorb the deposit we had already paid on the cabin but for once I didn't listen to my gut instincts and I will NEVER do that again!
We had long ago made reservations for two nights in a rustic cabin up in the Big Sur Mountains to try to maximize a rare 3 day weekend with neither parent at work and the kids out of school. I had envisioned long hikes amongst the trees and fun trips down to the beach etc...
And had El Nino not hit, that's probably exactly how it would have all gone done but unfortunately (or fortunately if you consider how badly we need the rain I suppose), we had some really bad timing on our little (mis)adventure....
The rain was intermittent on the drive down and we were able to take many small breaks to stretch everyone's legs and let Kooper run and play. We took our time heading down. I still harbored some hope that everything would be OK but that sinking feeling in my stomach wouldn't go away.
We got there just before dinner and settled into the tiny little cabin called MorningLite at RoseHaven Cabins up in the Big Sur mountains. This cabin would be absolutely perfect for a romantic get away or a mommy 's escape trip. Very zen and peaceful and tiny and cozy and nestled amongst the trees. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE this cabin.
However, we were a family of four with two high energy kids and a 12 week old puppy. DURING A STORM. Totally doable if we could have been in and out and enjoying our beautiful surroundings. And one additional little fact that we were not aware of. The toilet and bath are outside, uncovered, unsheltered from the storm/rain/wind. During the summer this would be super fun and quaint and even, dare I say, VERY ENJOYABLE. However, during a massive storm with gale force winds whipping the rain against your body, not so much.
I will always carry with me the image of me sitting on the toilet with my right hand holding an umbrella over me and my left hand holding Ellie huddled into my body (waiting for her turn) in the pitch black darkness and her screaming "I'm SCARED!" as the trees swooshed around us and wind blew the umbrella inside out and the rain pelted down on us. Yes, that is the one single image I will have from this whole trip. Good times, people, good times.
I only brought my point and shoot with me knowing the rain would mean no camera time but did grab a couple shots and some video.
The first picture here is right after we had unloaded everything and I was getting ready to make dinner. Kids are happy at this point and sitting on their favorite little enclave/nook area. My husband, who thoroughly did not enjoy this trip, and that's an understatement, is playing with Kooper on the floor. All is still relatively calm. Storm hasn't hit yet. Nerves are not yet frayed.
I then got dinner all ready and took Kooper out for a LONG walk on the roadway. He loved it and the rain and wind were still mild enough that I even enjoyed it.
Then I set the kids up watching a movie on the portable DVD player I had brought (phew!) and set about to finally try to relax.
Pretty cozy, huh?! Looks WONDERFUL, huh?! It was. I had a solid hour of peace and read my Newsweek magazine... and then the storm hit with a fury.
Kids COULD not go to sleep. The sounds of the storm and the movement of the cabin shaking was scaring them to death. Dog anxious. Husband frustrated. Me trying to meet everyone's needs. No fun.
Once everyone finally got to sleep I lay wide awake trying not to scratch my poison oak infested face. Oh yeah, did I forget to mention that I have poison oak ALL OVER my face and left wrist. Oh, it's bad. I'm on steroids because it's so nasty and it still feels horrible. I'm basically miserable and have been for several days and probably have another week of misery ahead.
Dose in and out. Need to pee but don't want to get soaking wet. Kids wake up and I do multiple trips out for kid potty duty while dad attends to Kooper potty duty. DRENCHED.
I make breakfast and then take this quick "panoramic" video as everyone is eating breakfast this morning. The video does not do justice to the powerful winds and rain blowing sideways and GUSTS that were shaking the whole cabin. Password is: stormyweather
We decide to "abort mission" and forego our planned night #2 (we had prepaid upon arrival for the two nights so we now have a 1 night credit to use sometime in the future, most likely SANS kids and dog if we can find a way to do that).
Go out to get the car to load up. Discover tree had fallen on car during the night. Miraculously, no damage because it was supported by the dirt bank on the other side of the car and had about a foot clearance, PHEW! (Ours is the blue minivan)
We finally get everything and everyone loaded back in the car and begin our slow trek back home. A ride that would normally take about 2 hrs took us 3 hrs due to the storm.
I cannot tell you how GOOD it felt to be HOME SWEET HOME. We may have an old beat up mountain home but it felt like a mansion walking in the door. I quickly got everything unloaded, put away, took a nice long shower, fed everyone lunch, got the kids set up playing nicely together in front of a warm fire in the living room, took Kooper out to play in the backyard during a break in the weather, got everything done to prep for our own severe weather advisory for where we live and then went into my home office to write this.
The forecast says ten more days of rain. I know we need it so I won't complain. I'll try my best to get Kooper and the kids fresh air every little dry spell we get. Besides, with the poison oak I can't work out and since I look like a leper, I prefer not to be seen all that much right now, so I guess that just means ten days of rescheduled shoots and NESTING at home. Might as well make the most of it.
I hope we can try the Rosehaven Cabins again soon under more OPTIMAL conditions.... :)
[Addendum: I have to give major props to the owners, Doug and Donna, who were absolutely wonderful folks. I REALLY did love the cabin and very much look forward to staying there again when it's not in the midst of a major storm!]
Let's just say this trip was yet another entry in the long list of FAILED family escapades for the Wowak Family. We have a long history of pretty disastrous outings so this is just another notch on the belt so to speak!
Oh, and one last thing, poor Kooper had to have his ears taped down this weekend. If anyone saw AI they will get this next joke:
"Tape on the ears, tape on the ears, lookin' like a fool with that tape on your ears...!" hahahaha! Poor little guy. It actually doesn't seem to be bothering him at all, much to my surprise. And he handled the long car drives and miserable trip with MUCH grace. He is an amazing dog. LOVE YOU KOOPER.
I've got a new snazzy little feature on my blog. Go check it out! It's there ----------------> on the right hand side column at the bottom. It's called FormSpring and it's like an open forum area where people can ask you questions that anyone can see. I spend a HUGE chunk of my day answering photography related questions for people and many of them are the same questions over and over again. That's the main reason why I wrote my book (see right hand column top for link to my book) but some questions that pop up aren't covered there or are quick and easy for me to answer in this new "space." I like being able to help people who have a passion for photography and when the time allows, I will be checking this page and answering your questions. Also, they don't HAVE to be photography related! Have fun with it. Ask me ANYTHING! (That doesn't mean I will necessarily answer it though....!) It's also going to be a great central housing area for those most commonly asked questions I get so everyone can benefit from someone else's question. I think it's pretty neat. And free for you to have access to some great (hopefully?) tips!
My dear friend Jodie of FRESH ART PHOTOGRAPHY turned me onto these overlays WAY back before Christmas and I bought a few of them and then, you know, the HOLIDAYS..... I finally had a chance to play with them tonight and man, oh, man, I am in LOVE. You can see what Jodie did with the Valentine's Day ones HERE.
The genius behind these overlays is Jess of Vol.25 and you can check out her ETSY shop HERE. That's where you will find the link to these overlays. You have to have Photoshop to use them but they are very simple to use once you get them installed. I could spend HOURS just playing around with them. It's ADDICTING.
I pulled a few shots from my last two newborn sessions to show you a few of the overlays from the Whimsica-nessl Set and the Lovey Dovey Sets that I purchased. I can't wait to get the other sets!
You can customize these overlays to any color and size and location. It should almost be illegal to have this much fun with Photoshop.... :)
And to show what it looks like on a color image, I took this one, not a great shot in terms of available space to add the overlay but because you can resize the overlay to fit ANY space, I was able to squeeze it on the left in a long vertical way to make it fit on that tiny wall space. Pretty neat eh?
And then, if that wasn't enough, Jess just listed these TO DIE FOR Valentine's day "fold and seal" cards for your kids to hand out to their friends this year. OMG. LOVE! You can either purchased the pre-printed sets (in a pack of 36 cards) OR, conveniently, Jess has also made them available as a downloadable PDF file so you can print as many as you need at home with a good printer and solid high quality cardstock paper. Needless to say, these are what my lucky kids get to distribute this Valentine's Day! TOO CUTE! You can find them in her ETSY shop under the heading "HOLIDAY" in the right hand column. You HAVE to check them out!!
First of all, I PROMISE you I've gotten a ton of emails asking for more Kooper pictures so it is only because there have been specific requests that I bombard you all once more with some puppy pics.
My to do list grows and grows and grows and I believe it is now actually laughing at me. I think it knows it's winning this battle. Oh well. I'm so grateful this is my "slowest" time of the year workwise. I am still doing shoots but on a much more manageable schedule. And it looks like these next couple weeks are going to be rainy which is most likely going to result in several shoots having to be rescheduled.
I did teach a wonderful all day photography workshop this past weekend with a GREAT group of ladies. It was a full to capacity class and everyone was picking up on the concepts so quickly we were able to cover a bunch of subjects that weren't even on the class outline! I so love teaching these workshops and am glad my schedule is allowing me to do those again. Last year I only taught two before everything just got too busy! I hope to do at least one more before the Summer.
But, I digress. Kooper. That boy is ridiculously funny! And sweet! And mischievous! He keeps me on my toes and his care is pretty much a 24/7 endeavor. He goes with us everywhere and, at this point, we don't all go anywhere if we can't take him along. He has been great about hanging out in the car crate right outside the studio where I do my Tae Kwon Do (I can see him from inside as I park just outside the door) which has allowed me to not give up all of my workouts. I still have not been able to return to the gym as I don't want him crated in the car where I can't see him quite yet. I'm just not comfortable with not being able to keep an eye on him. But on the days Jason is home I am able to get a workout in so that's always a "happy day."
We start puppy classes in a couple weeks which is sure to be interesting. He is already testing us in so many ways. If he sees me get the leash to take him out to go potty, and he isn't in the mood to go out in the cold/wet, he will run to the very back of his crate (where I can't reach him), lay down and PRETEND to be sleeping! I kid you not! HILARIOUS!
If he is munching on something he shouldn't be eating outside and I firmly say "drop it!" he'll take a huge chunk of it in his mouth and take off running like a bat out of hell and he is FAST. I eventually have to catch him and put him back on the leash until he understands that he needs to listen to me in order to regain his "freedom". He's a smart one. Oh and his latest favorite thing to do? Launch himself down the play structure slide we have in the backyard. Oh yeah. And naturally, since he is still just 11 weeks old and a bit klutzy and uncoordinated to a degree, he does a dangerous faceplant at the bottom so I have to be there the whole time, slowing his body down as he glides down the slide and then catching his fall to soften it. It's like having another kid! Oh but he is soooooo funny! He has brought much laughter, let me tell you!
Ok, so enough rambling about Kooper. As promised to those of you who emailed me asking for more, here are a few pictures from today. I SHOULD be updating my website, updating my forms, doing my tax preparation and the thousand other things on my list but no, I'm doing a blog post about my dog..... (procrastination perhaps?!)
He does this adorable "point" thing with his right leg which I had not yet been able to capture with my camera but I caught it today and it's just so darn cute! He had just been chewing on the rose bush so he has that "busted!" look on his face. Love it.
I'm hosting a ZozoBugBaby trunk show on Saturday February 27th. It's THE BEST way to get your hands on Julie's incredible outfits. Any long time followers of my blog know about Julie's amazing work but if you don't, scroll down to the blog post right below this one and see for yourself! Those are three of several items that will only be available for purchase VIA the trunk show. Many of her outfits you can buy directly on her website but a huge chunk will only be offered at the trunk shows so be sure not to miss this! You can also get free shipping (to me and then I deliver) by attending the trunk show.
For more samples/photos of the ZozoBugBaby (baby through preschool) and ZoGirl (5 through 12 years) lines of clothes check out the links below.
If you want to RSVP for the trunk show I am hosting, email me directly or leave a comment below!
As some of you may know my dear friend Julie, designer extraordinaire and owner of ZOZOBUGBABY, creates the most amazing outfits for girls (although even Gavin has benefitted from her incredible sewing skills via custom made outfits) and due to the tremendous success and exposure of her label she has had some incredible opportunities to grow and expand her brand. It's been the biggest thrill for me to watch as her business sky rockets and encourage her as she starts to create custom artwork for her own fabric line. It's all so exciting that I can't help but smile when I think about it!
Her latest venture is to do Trunk Shows to help let folks see the actually dresses and outfits in person in order to fully appreciate the craftmanship involved in their creation. Not only does she have an AMAZING new spring collection being launched as we speak, she also created a Trunk Show Special ONLY set that can only be purchased at trunk shows.
Ellie was sent three of those outfits (one of which is actually two outfits in one) to model for the promotional material being sent out for these trunk shows. She also got to model a few of the spring collection dresses that I've already posted a while back.
I had precisely 45 minutes to shoot all three outfits (four if you consider the double duty outfit) in between picking her up from school, driving to our location, doing the shoot, grabbing a hot cocoa treat to warm up and then driving back to school to pick up her brother! And the light was terrible as 1 pm is my least favorite time to shoot. AND it was 55 degrees outside with freezing "cut-right-through" winds.
Ellie did not complain ONCE. She was amazing. She never fails to astound me but this time in particular I was completely in awe of this child. She has an understanding of her body and poses and how to engage the camera in ways that I have never witnessed in any another child over all the years I have been doing this. And I'm not just saying that because she is my daughter! If you saw her during a shoot it would blow your mind. Every second is a new pose she creates herself, she needs very little direction from me other than suggestions of where to stand or sit and she takes it from there.
Ok, enough bragging about my kid. I just had to mention how proud of her I was. It was so cold you can actually SEE the goosebumps on her body and yet, she powered through it with only the occasional "geesh, it's like North Pole cold mama!" My little rockstar that one.
I should also mention that I will be hosting a ZOZOBUGBABY and ZOGIRL trunk show on Saturday February 13th and will actually dedicate a post entirely to that right after I do this post so stay tuned for those details.
This first outfit was her favorite one. She insisted on wearing it after the shoot to go to the Starbucks and has been begging to wear it to school. Unfortunately, it has been far too cold for that but hopefully she can wear it again soon!
This is her "I'm a puppy" pose :)
I'm just so in love with this next shot. So much poise for a 5 yr old.
Julie is the QUEEN of accessorizing and she sent along this TO DIE FOR headband to match the outfit. I loved it so much I wore it the next day! HA! Ellie was willing to "share" it with me but only "sometimes" as she so delicately put it. The headband comes from Blue Eyed Freckle on ETSY. LOVE LOVE LOVE.
Now here's the second outfit that has two tops to it, a long sleeve and a short sleeve so you can match the weather you've got. PERFECT.
And, last but not least, the final outfit. I wanted to move locations but the lighting was making it impossible to go anywhere I wanted to. I ended up in front of a big bush and used my mounted flash unit to give her a pop of light from the front and then have the main light source coming through the splotchy tree/bush area from the back. I wasn't sure how it would turn out but it's not as bad as I thought it would be! Phew. This first shot CRACKS me up. She was wearing her jacket (she had 5 minutes of "warm up jacket" time in between each outfit) and suddenly announced "I'm ready!" and literally unzipped and threw her jacket to the ground just like a runway model would. She has never SEEN a runway show so where she got that from is beyond me. I barely caught her throwing it in time. She then said: "let's roll!" OMG I was laughing soooooo hard!
Walking back to the car after a job well done. Side story: When I picked her up from school she was telling (quite proudly) all her little friends that she was heading "off to work." I love that girl.
So I get to this point in my life where I finally have BOTH kids in school EVERY day. I've got my workflow down to a science. I've finally got a tiny taste of FREEDOM. I can work out every day, meet up with my girlfriend's from time to time. I can SLEEP IN on the weekends! After all these years, finally some ME time! Wooohoooo!! And then what do I do? I get a puppy....... Silly girl! And yet, despite the fact that I am once again cleaning up pee, poop and the occasional puke, up all day and night taking him out to potty, and the fact that Kooper requires more of my attention right now than either of my kids, not to mention that he WAKES ME UP AT 5am EVERY SINGLE DAY, I couldn't *possibly* be more in love with this guy. In fact, we are all gaga over him. He is very very very loved.
I realize I have probably over-extended the good graces and patience of my readers here with all these puppy related blog posts so I promise this will be the last one for at least a little while. Besides, at the rate this guy is growing he won't be puppy sized much longer. At ten weeks he is practically the size of a full grown regular dog. Crazy! We had his birth mama come over this weekend with two of his siblings (to play, visit and do the next round of vaccinations) and I was reminded of just how HUGE this guy is going to be.
I had some time right after lunch to grab a few shots of Koop. Of course, not the best lighting for this sort of thing but I made do. I feel like like my doggie portraits are kinda boring so I am trying to play around and get creative. It's so hard to hold the camera in one hand, the leash and treats in the other hand and get his attention all at the same time. I thought toddlers were challenging but this is a whole new realm! HA!
We've had very few sunny days since bringing Kooper home two weeks ago so today was one of the few days that he was able to enjoy the WARMTH of the sun beating down on him and he was SO HAPPY. Remember, these dogs are originally from Rhodesia and as I watched him lay in the sun looking up at it appreciatively, I could just hear him calling out: "Africaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!" So cute!
So, here's my boy. I do love him so.
What you got there?
Instead of fighting the direct, harsh sunlight I decided to use it to play with my shadow. Just trying something a bit different by having him in my shade and highlighting my shadow shape.
Just a couple quick shots I grabbed this morning as Gavin had a cuddle session with Kooper. Before we had a name for Kooper or had even PICKED him as the dog we were going to take home from that litter of nine pups, we had assigned Kooper the nickname "loverboy." That name was derived from his CONSTANT kisses/licks that he would dole out quite generously. Even as a tiny little newborn puppy, he was (and still is) a total and complete cuddlebug.
This boy loves to give kisses. And we love getting them. And even though he can't fit his whole body on Gavin's lap anymore (and barely fits in mine!) he finds a way to cuddle all over the kids as best he can. I just love the interaction here between Gavin and his dog. It's just pure love and trust, through and through. With sloppy wet kisses of course.
Kinda sorta makes my heart melt......
And I'm experimenting with a new blog border/watermark system based on the stolen images fiasco I went through a few weeks ago. I'm getting used to it as I've never been one for watermarks but have no choice based on some very unscrupulous people out there in the internet world!
I really wish I had a picture to share along with this post but sadly I don't. My many attempts yesterday to get a fun picture of the kids with Kooper actually AWAKE and alert (rather than sleeping on their laps) proved to be an exercise in futility so I come to you with a picture-less post! Please forgive me as I will have another newborn shoot to post very soon with the cutest little baby girl! :)
For those wondering, Kooper is doing amazing and growing like a weed. This dog is going to be HUGE, like Great Dane kinda huge. On the one hand it's exciting to watch him grow so fast and on the other hand it's extremely intimidating. We start puppy training classes later this month. I can't be having a 100+ lb dog that doesn't heed my every command. So, we are getting started early!
Now, onto the New Year. I'm sure I echo most of your sentiments when I say: HELLO 2010!!! and buh-bye 2009. :)
So, I was wondering, what are your resolutions for the New Year? In the past I've completely resisted the idea of resolutions. I thought it was silly to wait until the New Year to implement change that needed to be made or use that as the impetus for making goals or trying new things or what have you. Of course, that was back when I was single and life was carefree and I could pretty much do anything I wanted WHEN I wanted..... Then, as I got older, married and had kids and life got kinda crazy busy and there was very little (if any) focus on my time anymore I realized that busy working moms actually NEED some kind of "starting off point" to launch new things/behaviors/goals.
So, I'll start this off by sharing my resolutions for this year and what I'm doing to make sure I follow through with them:
1) SLOW DOWN. That's a big one for me. I've actually struggled with this all my life. I am HIGHLY self motivated, very driven person and have boundless energy, almost in a spaz kinda way. I just don't ever stop moving or doing. I physically cannot just sit down and do nothing. If I am sitting down to watch TV I am also folding laundry and paying the bills and then vacuuming during the commercials while I do it. If I am cooking dinner, I am also helping with homework and getting school projects ready for the next day and packing lunches at the same time. You get the picture. I take multi tasking to a whole new level. And while some people think that's a great skill to have (and it CAN be), it's a bit OCD if you ask me and kinda weird that I am completely UNABLE to sit still and do absolutely nothing. I start squirming uncomfortably after 30 seconds. It seems I have to be juggling at least three things at the same time in order to not feel guilty about my productivity. And that's ridiculous. So, yeah, I need to slow down. I need to focus on ONE thing at a time more often. I don't expect to suddenly stop multi tasking but I need to be able to play with my kids without also trying to do three other things. I need to be able to just ENJOY whatever activity and moment I am in without trying to pack as much into it as possible. It's not healthy and, ultimately, I cannot expect to be able to maintain this energizer bunny approach to life for much longer. Time to learn new ways. So, my #1 goal is to SLOW DOWN (and smell the roses so to speak!).
2) HAVE MORE FAMILY TIME. That's a biggie. My husband and I work opposite shifts. When he is at work I am home with the kids (and puppy now too) and trying to manage the house, kids and editing/business related stuff. And when he is home, I'm off at a shoot or holed up in my home office editing as much as I can. Our TOGETHER time as a family is really limited. So, in order to have more family time, I've taken on less shoots this year. I've only cut back by about 20-25% depending on the month in question but that has freed up some much coveted family time for us to enjoy. Last summer whizzed by so fast and I didn't feel like the kids and I even had much of a summer. I hardly ever took them to the beach or any of the many, many "adventures" I had planned in my head. I want this summer to FEEL like a summer break for them. They spent most of their time playing at home watching the back of my head as I edited like mad. So, I've cut back on my workload so I can spend more quality time with my kids and family. And I'm really looking forward to it!
3) COMPLETE A TRIATHLON. I've wanted to do a triathlon for DECADES. It's always been something I wanted to do. I used to be a competitive swimmer all through my childhood and college years and I know I CAN do it, it's just a matter of committing to the training that is required to make it happen. Running my first 10K race this past year really motivated me to follow up with this dream and make it happen. So, I recently signed up for the Mermaid Mini Tri in Sept. 2010. That means that I have to seriously train for this because I paid the moolah to register for it. I don't even have a road bike yet (I'm going to ask for one for my birthday in June) but I take weekly spinning classes at the gym and that will have to do for now and I also have my super old mountain bike I can take out as well. In order to make sure I don't like DIE or PASS OUT while attempting my first Tri I have set up a workout regimen that I play to follow as best I can. It's a Monday through Friday deal with weekends off to let my body recover and go on my shoots and have some family time. Mondays is my spinning class followed by weight training. Tuesday is my Tae Kwon Do (I'm a red belt training for my black belt right now) class followed by my Zumba class. Wednesday is my crossfit class. Thursday is Tae Kwon Do (and then I will add swimming on thursdays after TKD as part of my new training schedule) and Fridays will be a long run. It's going to be between 1.5 and 2 hrs of training per day so pretty intense for me. After that I go to my home office and work/edit until it's time to pick up the kids from after care. And then edit more after they go to bed at night. It's definitely going to be a huge commitment especially on the days when my work is piling up or I'm really not feeling like it but I want to finally do this after years of just "thinking" about it.
So there you have it. My top three goals for 2010. I have plenty of others too but I'm going to keep those to myself and work on them bit by bit. I also have a few surprises in store for my readers this year so stay tuned for those. Oh, and I am going to do two blog features this month on products I think other photographers will love! I've got lots of things planned as you can see!
Lastly, I have a slot left in my Photography Workshop on January 10th so if you'd like to attend, please send me an email!
OK, now it's YOUR turn. What are you goals/resolutions for the New Year? You can send me a private email if you don't want to share in the comments below. Or just write it down on a piece of paper. Sometimes the mere act of putting down in written format really helps "seal the deal" in your head and help you commit to it.
I wish for you all a joyful, peaceful, prosperous, and exciting New year filled with lots of Love and Laughter.
First of all, I need to remind you all that I WARNED you about the barrage of puppy related posts that would be coming down the pike so no complaining allowed.
Secondly, I have two newborn shoots over the next 3 days so yes, I will have actual, real photos to post soon enough, be patient!
Third, my kitchen area has the worst light and ugly tile so yeah, just focus on the puppy ok?
So, my mom came down on Christmas to celebrate it with us and we had a marvelous time. She and I cooked (well, she did most of it) a DELICIOUS meal and the kids played together like ANGELS all day and Kooper was a blast and it was just really, really nice hanging out with my mom. I even got to take a nap which is a luxury I have not been able to have in ages and needed SO bad with all the "up all night puppy" business.
My mom brought down this HUGE stuffed elephant for Kooper. A little background on Rhodesian Ridgebacks first, you see, they were used in Africa to hunt lions. Their hunting instincts are deeply engrained in their DNA. And even though Kooper is the most gentle, sweet, loving soul, we got to see him get in touch with his roots that day!
Granted, an elephant is NOT a lion but still, you get the idea!
If Kooper could speak, I am quite certain this is what he was thinking at the time....
Oh, ye elephant, I shall pounce on you first and then chew on your ear....
Then I shall drag you to my den by the trunk....
Do not resist me elephant, it is futile....
And then I shall sit on you, Elephant, for I have conquered you...
And since you are so comfy, elephant, I shall sleep on you...
You are now mine, elephant....
I think I love you, elephant...
And he has been sleeping with Elephant ever since. Cute, no?
Oh, and where are the pictures of my children on Christmas you may ask? Well, I didn't take any of them, just the dog. Ooooooooops. :)
...that means he'll be at work either Christmas Eve or Christmas day! Usually it's Christmas Day (so we celebrate it as a family the day before) but this year he had to work Christmas Eve. As per usual, whichever day he has to work we come down for a visit. This year we had our new puppy with us and it was only his second car trip (the first one being to the vet just down the street) and a long one at that. I kinda wore him out before hand and he slept the whole way like a champ!
The kids were super excited because we hadn't been to the fire station to visit dad at work in a LONG time. Kooper was excited to see his daddy and visit a new place. We haven't taken him out anywhere yet because he hasn't finished his first series of vaccinations so we can't introduce him to parks, playgrounds, other dogs etc.. until that is all taken care of at about 12 weeks.
We had a nice time at the fire station hanging out with dad and his coworkers. I grabbed a few shots as well. :)
First though, a couple shots from this morning.
Kooper perched himself there and Gavin refused to move until Kooper moved of his own accord.
Gavin took his job of "Kooper holder" VERY seriously but dad was just outside the frame "just in case."
Ellie getting a big kiss from Mr. Loverboy who kisses EVERYONE all the time.
So the next picture cracks me up because in my scramble to get everyone taken care of and out the door I left the house wearing my Ugg Boots. Which I NEVER EVER EVER wear in public. I find them to be kinda hideous honestly and confine myself to only wearing them around the house, HOWEVER, I've been wearing them practically nonstop since Kooper arrived because I need to take him out of the house at a moment;s notice to go pee and don't have the time to get socks and shoes on and I like my comfort around the house (I usually wear slippers) and the Ugg allows me to have the slipper feeling indoors but still be able to run him outside in a jiffy if I need to. And in my hurry leaving the house I failed to notice I was still wearing them. Fashion Faux Pas! Oh well, at least I was comfy all day!
And here I am getting a big WET kiss!
Kooper slept the whole drive home too and was still wiped out when we got back. Here he is on his mat with the blankie Ellie insisted he needed. We sure do love this guy.
I know, I know, I made all these lofty promises of "A Puppy PIcture A Day" for the blog but that was BEFORE I realized I'd be up every 2 hrs all night long with my little dude. I'm a sleep deprived train wreck these days BUT am so incredibly in love with this AMAZING pup that I don't even care how tired I am. Having said that, the only pictures I"ve managed thus far have been quickie Iphone shots of the kids cuddling and playing with him that I've posted on my FaceBook page.
Today I vowed I'd get at least ONE decent shot to post here. And I was able to get a few but not that many. Turns out puppies are just about as hard to photograph as toddlers! HA!
Here's a couple favorites from today. Kooper is hands down the most incredible dog. He has the BEST disposition, sweetest character, loving personality and is, if I may so boldly state, the SMARTEST puppy on the planet. He learned the "sit" command by the end of our first day together and after three days knows "Sit", "Off", and "Come." We are now working on "No Bite" with the kids but are so lucky that he has a really "soft mouth" tendency so never bites so hard as to break the skin, he's got a GREAT temperament. He is so gentle and trusting. He was the most sociable of the bunch and basically, he picked us. And I'm so glad he did. I can't imagine us with any other dog.
We are all completely smitten. Having said that, I do hope he starts sleeping for longer stretches and doesn't need to go out to pee every hour or 2 around the clock! Everyone has been telling me that it gets better and easier every single day so I'm crossing my fingers I can start having some real R.E.M. sleep again soon! And maybe even be able to get something done around the house and work-wise! Everything has been put on hold as we all transition, nest and attend to our puppy! In three days we've managed to take him to his first visit to the vet (at 8 weeks old he already weighs 19 lbs!), had an in home visit with a trainer who specializes in Rhodesian Ridgebacks and taken care of all his microchip, AKC, pet insurance paperwork etc... Been busy!!
I do have TWO newborn shoots this coming week so stay tuned for those which I will probably get to posting around the first week of 2010.
Without further delay, here are some images of Mr. Kooper.
Here you can see his distinctive ridge.
We've been doing training sessions with Kooper and each kid separately. We found that both the puppy and the child are more focused when it's just them two and no other distractions (of the sibling variety....) Here are some pics of Ellie's session today with him. The sessions only last 5 minutes which is about the attention span of a puppy AND a kid! :)
Here Kooper notices Ellie has a treat and is very interested in her hand. :)
Ellie gives him the SIT command and he promptly plops his little bottom down.
She gives him his much deserved treat...
and lots of love and "good boys!"'s
I love how he has his eye on the prize here....
And Gavin took this one on his little point and shoot. I'm getting lots and lots of cuddle time.
Well, it was bound to happen.....you know, that there would be a year in my adult life that I would not be able to get a Christmas Card out in time. Generally speaking, I have my cards completely designed by Thanksgiving and addressed/stamped and out the door by December 1st. No joke. This year, though, absolutely not a chance of that happening. And here it is, Dec. 20th, and I have nothing to mail out. Nada. But, I do have something else to share to make up for it. I decided to play around with my IMovie software on my Mac computer and do a "Highlights of 2009" slideshow for my immediate family showcasing some of my favorite pictures, memories and shortened video clips of the past year. I will not admit to how much time I spent scouring through the THOUSANDS of images I had taken in order to try to pick 100 images or how much time I spent picking the right music, video clips and so on. I ended up with 185 images after multiple "triage" sessions! Typical me, I can never narrow it down.... I love them all. :)
Regardless, the whole project was a ton of work as I did everything from scratch but the end result just makes me smile, and, more importantly, it makes my kids smile, giggle and reminisce when they watch it. And, well, that was THE WHOLE POINT of this project. First and foremost, I did it for them. I wanted them to have something to look back on and have a condensed "review" of that particular year in their lives. Eventually, I plan to get all those thousands of images I took in albums as well, but for now, this was what I wanted, scratch that, NEEDED, to do. Watching them watch this just brings me immeasurable amounts of joy.
MEMORIES. That's why we do these things, right? That's why we bake the cookies and clean up the mess, that's why we do the art projects and spend the next week finding glitter all over the house and silently sweeping it all up. That's why we take them on all these adventures and experiences, to enrich their lives, to expose them to as much as we can, to show them we loved them with our actions as well as our words. We might be more worn out than them by the end of the day, but it's a happy, fulfilled kind of exhaustion.
We all love our children more than life itself. We want to provide for them as best we can. Sure, we falter and fail sometimes, or at the very least, fall short of our "ideal" way of mothering. However, in the end, our children know we love them unconditionally and that's really all that matters when it all comes down to it.
I want for my children to one day look back on this first slideshow (of what I hope to be a yearly tradition from here on out) and for them to really FEEL my love for them, and perhaps maybe a little 'grown up' gratitude for how blessed their childhood truly was. It may not have always been easy and we certainly had our fair share of struggles and challenges this past year (UGH!) but in the end, I want them to remember that they were quite lucky to have the life they had.
This time of year is one of reflection and gratitude. It is about appreciating our many blessings and helping others who are less fortunate. It is about giving, not material things necessarily, but rather of our time, our friendship, our love and our assistance, in any way we can.
My time spent on this slideshow and all the memories held within, which I helped create for my children, is my way of showing them my unequivocal love. They will certainly not truly understand the depth of all that right now but I know one day they will. And perhaps in the future we can all sit around a "space age" computer and watch this together, with their own children laughing along with us. :)
So, in a nutshell, HAPPY HOLIDAYS. :)
I wish all of you the very best for 2010.
Now, go make some memories!
[Be forewarned, the slideshow is TWENTY minutes long. As I said, it was originally intended to be something just for my immediate family but I've decided to send it out to my friends as well as my Holiday Greeting in lieu of my "not gonna happen" holiday card this year. Think of all the trees I"m saving! And stamps!! :) I don't expect anyone to actually sit through the whole thing but I wanted to share it with you all in case anyone wanted to see it or wanted to try it for themselves as something to do for their own family.]
(for some reason the web/online version is very FUZZY and soft and the colors are all WAY off.... which is aggravating, just know that the original version is quite nice looking!)
So, way back in October I posted THIS showcasing a great idea by PhotoJoJo on how to make your own mini journals/notebooks. I loved the idea, shared it with you all and then never got around to doing it myself until just this week. FINALLY!
I wanted the kids to participate and contribute to the Holiday Gifts they would give their friends and teachers this year so I enlisted their help in making these. I obviously did all the paper cutting stuff and glueing myself (which I did without them late one night) but they then sat there with me for TWO hours straight assembling the notepads with me and were, much to my surprise, really excited to be a part of this creation. I think they feel much more invested in the gifts they are giving this year due to having played such a huge role in its assembly!
A true win-win!
Here are some quick snapshots of the final result. We created about 5 different designs in three different sizes. I used a bunch of different papers to place inside including lined, graph, blank, color etc... I like how eclectic the notebooks are by having a variety of paper styles in them.
SO, if you are still looking for a home made gift to make this year for family and friends, I really recommend this project, it took longer than I expected from start to finish but was well worth the effort!
EEEEK! I know! I know! It's been like DAYS since I last posted here. SO unlike me. I've been CRAZY busy with the kids stuff and a ton of other things going on all at the same time, INSANE! So, thanks for being patient everyone! I have a bunch of blogposts on the way over the next few days, I promise!!
My poor boy has been VERY sick the past 2 weeks including two trips to Urgent Care so that's just been my main priority.... He is finally on the mend and I am sending him back to school (after missing all this time) tomorrow. Phew!
For tonight, real quick, a short clip from one of the songs Ellie and her class performed at their annual school Christmas Program. SO CUTE!
Tonight the kids wrote their letters to Santa. I've had mixed feelings about lying to them about things like Santa and the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny etc.... Ultimately, I decided that even though I'd been lied to about these things as a kid and certainly harbor no deep seated resentment about it so I need to just chill out about the whole thing and just let them believe as long as they want to.
I will admit to sweating it a bit tonight though while being BOMBARDED with question after question regarding exactly HOW Santa manages his workflow that fateful night.....
Along the lines of: "exactly how does Santa fit in our small woodburning stovepipe?" and "How does he GET to every child all over the world in ONE night?" and "Why do the homeless or really poor kids not get as many gifts as the really rich kids even if they were just as good?".... seriously, my head hurts.
I bailed out of the above mentioned questions with, in chronological order:
"that's a really great question!" - flattery
and "what do you think?" - deflection
and "what could we do to change that?" - redirection
They have yet to flat out ask me if he really exists and until that point I will keep this magic going for them. When they do ask me that question though, I intend to be honest about it.
In the meantime, I am going to enjoy what may be my last Christmas morning of having them run into my room with their eyes bugging out of their heads squealing with delight and assuring me that they DEFINITELY heard the reindeer on the roof last night.... :)
Here are their letters and pictures they drew. Ellie told me what she wanted to say and wrote it herself, but I helped her spell all the words since she is not quite there yet.
Ok folks, the time you've all been waiting for has arrived! :)
I sent out a newsletter to all my established clients a little under 36 hrs ago that my 2010 calendar of availability was open and posted online on my website.
Since then I've booked a ridiculous amount of sessions. October is completely full. November only has one date left. September only has 2 dates left and December only has 3 dates left. CRAZINESS.
So, now that I am publicly posting this on my blog, if you want to get a session in with me NOW is the time to book it. As in RIGHT NOW. I am offering 25% less sessions this year than I did in 2009 so the slots are going to book up even faster this year.
As always, I set aside one session every week for newborn shoots and those are not posted on my calendar so rest assured that, barring any personal emergencies or excessive amount of newborn being born the same week, I should be able to get your newborn session in no matter how booked my calendar is.
To view my calendar go to MY WEBSITE and click on the availability tab. The boxes are the dates I have open. Pick your desired date and send me an email to book it.
ALSO, I am teaching a beginner digital photography workshop the weekend of January 9/10th. If you are interested in attending, please send me an email or comment below.
THANK YOU EVERYONE for making my business what it is today. :)
Well, I just received the funniest email ever from a client of mine. She just wanted to let me know that she and her husband just delivered a beautiful baby girl, exactly 9 months after her husband saw THIS.
She recommends I put a disclaimer on my boudoir session FAQ sheet stating that such a session may result in some serious baby making. :)
WARNING : partial nudity - not appropriate to view at work. Also, Ishtar has provided full permission for me to post this!
I cannot even tell you how happy I am with these images, not because of the images themselves (although I am quite fond of them) but because of how my kids totally rallied and worked together as a team to make them come to life. The day I had set to do this shoot turned out to be a FREEZING day. I mean, temps of 36 degrees in the morning, and only warming up to 52 degrees when we were shooting. With a wind that cut through you too. I knew we were going to have to work FAST and efficiently. Gavin came along to be my reflector holder and ended up also being my "make your sister laugh hard" guy. He was AMAZING. Ellie was none too pleased when we first started the shoot (the girl hates being cold) but within minutes was laughing her head off at her brother's antics and playing off his exuberant energy and spirit. Before long the two of them were just making this shoot totally come to life. It was my shortest and quickest commercial shoot yet, especially considering we had FOUR variations of the outfit to cover due to a reversible jacket and matching pants AND skirt. Lots of material to cover and the three of us just whipped it out something fierce. A total family affair. I seriously was on cloud 9 after this shoot and the kids were beaming too. Very cool.
The outfit is a SUPERB combination of style, class, hipness and funk all in one delectable package by none other than miss Julie of ZOZOBUGBABY. Her work just continues to inspire me. Between her and Courtney, I don't have to look anywhere else for Ellie's wardrobe. I am SET. :)
Now, of course, every great outfit is made all that much better with the right accessory, n'est-ce pas? SO, in came Miss Melissa of NUXIEMADE. The crocheted hat, hair band and flower barrette were all done by her. Julie and Melissa collaborate on many outfits so you can always find a matching accessory for one of Julie's outfits in Melissa's Etsy store. Perfection.
These images were practically perfect SOOC (straight out of the camera) too and needed very little post processing, just color boosting to help them pop and that was it. I didn't even have to sharpen them at all and I always do at least a tad bit of sharpening! So much fun when you have perfect light and a wonderful subject and a great little helper!
Like I said, it was COLD. Here you can tell that Ellie is freezing and NOT in the mood.
This is our 9th year straight going to Johnson Farm for our tree. We love Farmer Rob and his family run tree farm nestled in the Santa Cruz mountains just 15 minutes from our home. The grounds there are just GORGEOUS. The kids start talking about going up there at the start of the school year because they know they will be going there for a school field trip (I posted a blog post about Ellie's school field trip up there a couple months ago) and then again for our tree. We just love it up there. We take our time, sip hot cocoa and play.
And, being the multi tasker that I am, I had Ellie wear two Courtney Courtney dresses that I needed to photograph her in since I KNEW I would be taking pictures on our outing anyways so might as well, right!? :)
Ellie was having a hard time concentrating on being a model (who can blame her when there is so much playing to be had) and I certainly didn't want her to feel like she was "working" on our little adventure so I didn't ask her to pose too much and just caught her when she was in the right light and the right moment to grab a shot here and there. She's been "over posing" lately. A symptom, I'm sure, of having been my commercial shoot model nonstop this past year and so I am finding that it's getting harder to get her "real" smile and natural body movements out of her as she is snapping into "model mode" and I'm not too thrilled about that. I don't want that for her. I want her to be herself. SO I am trying to undo that tendency by interacting with her more and making her laugh and just being silly rather than having her strike pose after pose (even though she likes to do that for the most part, it make ME uncomfortable). I just wanted her to be a kid and have fun. And that's exactly what she did. :)
I even grabbed a couple of Gavin although he really is in a NO PHOTO mood these days so I'm not imposing it on him. I let him tell me when he wants a picture taken.
We started off by just wandering around checking out all the white tagged (ok for cutting) trees and reading off the silly names Farmer Rob has assigned to each tree.
Here Ellie is wearing a new style of "neck tie" dress by Courtney Courtney which is just ADORABLE. I love this dress. Ellie loves this dress. It is just soooooooo cute!
As you saw from my previous post we spent Thanksgiving morning with the puppies (whom I am missing terribly right now) and then headed over to my mom's house to finish celebrating this day of Thanks.
My mom was great because this was our first T-day as vegetarians and she made a delicious homemade veggie lasagna with sweet potatoes. In addition, she also made a meat based meal for our one hold out (Jason) so he could still get his "fix". That was very kind of her. I brought a homemade pumpkin pie with walnut streusel topping that was, if I may say so, to die for. So, we were all happy campers.
After chowing down we walked up to the park near my mom's house and let everyone get their blood pumping a bit to avoid a food coma. :)
I was a good girl and only took less than a dozen pictures the whole time at my mom's house. That's some serious self control and restraint for me. (Having said that, I had already taken a bunch that morning with the puppies so maybe that doesn't count after all) Regardless, I didn't spend the whole day with my face behind a lens. My family appreciated it. :)
First of all, HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!! I hope it was a wonderful day for all of you, surrounded by your loved ones, enjoying great company, laughter, food and time to connect with the people who matter most.
We had a lovely Thanksgiving. It started out with a visit to the puppies! Janice & Jim were so sweet to let us come up today and visit again on our way to my mom's house. The puppies are now exactly 5 weeks old and nearly twice the size/weight they were just 1.5 weeks ago! Their personalities are starting to show even more. It was an extra special treat for me as I was able to get "headshots" of each one for Janice's website. The puppies have color coded collars in order to tell them apart so I will just post one image of each of the 9 pups and list them by collar number so you can check them all out.
Here's a few shots from our amazing morning cuddling and playing with them. They are all so amazing and we wish we could take them all home but we have narrowed down the field to three puppies so that is a good start.... The pups get their stress/personality tests done at 7 weeks so that will basically be the thing we will use to help us make that final decision. Good thing too because there is NO WAY we could pick right now between our final three.
I'll start off with Mr. Dark Blue Collar:
Mr. Light Blue Collar:
Mr. Green Collar:
Miss Red Collar:
Mr. Black Collar:
Mr. Lime Collar:
And the first of our top 3 picks, this is Jason's favorite, he really bonded with this girl. She is the darkest red-wheaten toned one of the bunch and SUPER cute. She makes your heart melt when you look at her. She is considered a SHOW pup (Miss Pink Collar):
Our next favorite, she is the friendliest of the bunch. Very people-oriented and wonderful disposition. I think she has the prettiest face too. VERY good with the kids. Because she only has a partial ridge on her back she is considered a PET (vs. show potential). She cuddled Gavin for the longest time and did all our "posing prop shots" at the end. Very sweet girl.
And last but certainly not least of our top 3, miss "I know I'm a show dog, watch me pose and I'll prove it to you, Miss White Collar." OMG, she is sooooooo hilarious. This pup KNOWS her destiny is to be a show dog. Good thing she qualifies as a show dog because she has the personality of a show dog. We sat her down on the chair and instead of looking all confused about what was going on, she immediately struck a pose. Didn't need any prompting to sit up or look my way... just locked into "show dog" character. LOVED the camera (so, yeah, I'm a little biased naturally for this one based on that alone) and just was totally posing for me. Seriously. I got so many pictures of her because she just sat there looking beautiful and staring right at the camera with so much confidence. :) She is also SUPER cuddly and sweet natured. So, I've got three of her I had to post. Bear with me. She is a light-wheaten toned dog with a dark muzzle. Stunning.
Check out my profile, yeah, I'm that good looking. I know.
Let me strike a pose for you. I'm just that kinda show dog.
I love these next ones with the kids playing with the pups. Heart, melting. Here Gavin is having a conversation with his favorite pup (yellow collar).
Which prompts a kiss from her.
And a smile from Gavin.
Ellie was in love with them all. She kept saying "can we get this one" each time after she held one.
Then Jim took a few pictures which was really sweet so I even get to make an appearance. I was getting some serious lovin'.
and giving lots and lots of kisses!
So cute when they eat out of their trough!
And a super quick T-day pose using miss yellow collar for Janice to post on her puppy blog!
BLURB (the publisher of my book "Getting started in the Photography Business") is having a huge holiday discount that is only good through the next few days. You can get 20% off PLUS free shipping on my book! The perfect holiday gift for the photo aficionado in your family, or for YOU! That's a really GREAT deal! Enter the word HOLIDAY (all caps) when prompted during checkout. You can find the direct link to my book by clicking on the "MY BOOK" section in the upper right hand corner of my blog, HAPPY SHOPPING!
