just want to take a minute to give a birthday shout-out to my favorite little man in my life.
happy 8th birthday Zack!
i can't believe my baby is 8 and getting baptized and going to scouts and everything. i am so trying not to cry. he is growing up too fast!
2. we have had the most gorgeous weather the past few days. 75 degrees. sunny. no wind. clear. the kind of weather that just makes you want to stay outside and play.
3. i have a slight fascination with vampires. which one is your favorite?
would it be edward?
or damon?
or stefan (don't you think he might have made a better edward?)
or perhaps eric?
wanna guess mine? a yummy prize to the one who gets it right.
4. did you know that photography can sometimes be a dangerous profession? a week or so ago i shot two sessions downtown and i encountered a few hookers, a drug dealer, a mentally insane bum, and a bum doing #2 100 feet from where i was setting up my shots. don't think i will be going downtown alone anytime soon. also yesterday during a family session, i had a run-in with not one, not two, but three different park rangers at a place i have shot tons of times and never ever had a problem. it was kind of irritating. not only to me but to my clients. it is a big place. i wasn't bothering any other people there.
i think i figured out why. another photographer in town - i don't which one - i think was doing mini-sessions out at this park. people would just show up and pay to have their portraits done. the park ranger told me it is illegal to transact business on the premises of a state park in that manner without a permit. it is ok if you come out to the park with the client to shoot their pictures. he asked me several times if i drove with the client to the park, who i was with, and who i was shooting. it is not ok to pretty much open your own outdoor studio in a state park. if you know who is doing this, please ask them to stop. i nor the other photographer who was also working yesterday nor anyone else i'm sure would want to lose the privilege of shooting at this particular location as it is a client favorite. it was bad enough that we were bothered and asked to leave the park as soon as possible.
5. some of my fave new albums of the moment
6. I need to start making my calendars for gifts that i do every year. i don't scrapbook really much anymore but will be putting together some with this . . .
the Basic Grey calendar kit. Kelly did an amazing job with it :)
and i also want to do something like this . . .
but i think i am going to come up with some of my own templates. these would be printed big and mounted on a board to be hung by a ribbon (great gift idea!)
7. this is one of my new favorite images
8. i used to have great legs. not so much anymore. i wish my legs looked more like this
firm. shapely. great calf and quad definition but not big. sexy. my legs look awful. i need to really get with the program.
9. i am doing a month of gratitude. counting my blessings. so everyday on facebook i will post something that i am grateful for that day. i am then going to turn it into a really cool little mini-book based on something Cathy Zielske did awhile back.
10. little dude is turning 8 in a couple days. i can't believe my baby is 8. we took him today to pick up his cub scout shirt, belt, and book. tomorrow i am taking a few photos of him and his two friends he is getting baptized with this weekend. he is also going to his first pack meeting. he is way excited. i am a little sad that all my kids are growing up way TOO FAST!
how's that for a post? a random sampling at best. methinks i should try to get some sleep now.
'night.
ttys~
normally, i have an absolute love for Halloween. i love all the fun decorating, cool neat craft projects with the kids, and who doesn't love the chocolate?
normally, i get way into it. however, this year i was not feeling it so much. i've been a tiny bit busy and so there just really hasn't been much time leftover to do all the fun extra stuff.
wednesday was busy as usual but i had this grand plan to make these really cool cupcakes, kind of like this . . .
cinnamon pumpkin chocolate chip cupcakes with whipped cream cheese frosting and shaved chocolate sprinkles on top
and these fun things . . .
this is about as far as i got . . .
i mixed the batter.
i had a crazy afternoon with trying to book some clients and pick up candy and then i discovered we were out of muffin cups (the halloween ones i had bought had mysteriously disappeared) and so i had to run back to the store. by the time i got back, it was time to start getting the kids ready for Halloween. and so I started to try to get these in the oven and get them ready at the same time. by the time i got them baked and cooled and time to decorate, i only had 5 minutes til we had to leave.
i confess i started to get upset and flustered. i ended up just letting the kids frost them and put sprinkles on them. and i teared up when i saw the cupcakes because they were pretty sad cupcakes and not the cool ones i had envisioned.
how stupid is that? they are just freakin' cupcakes but at the time i had set this expectation of myself to do something really cool and creative and when i ended up giving up, i felt just disappointed in myself. oh well.
on to the trunk and treat we went. they had a dinner of hot dogs and chips inside with a few games and other activities for the kids.
my kids favorite thing was the cupcake walk. funny and ironic thing. my sad cupcakes were the first to disappear. all the kids loved them.
zack was very strategic about it. he scoped out a good chair before the cupcake walk got started.
the girls got their cupcakes and things and were scarfing them down in the hall. we took my niece alexis with us that night.
madison and her friends in YW were in charge of helping the kids decorate sugar cookies. here is Madison and a couple of her friends . . .
here's the ugliest, most garish sugar cookie you have ever seen, courtesy of Chase
and she ate it. with all that sugar and all.
the YM and YW also had games in the various auxiliary rooms for the kids to play.
finally, time to head outside and get our trunk or treat on.
it was freezing cold but the kids had a lot of fun going around several times and getting tons of candy.
afterwards, we dropped the kids off at home and Ry took me out to Zaba's for dinner (not a fan of hot dogs and hadn't eaten all day). we enjoyed a quiet hour alone talking and then headed home.
HALLOWEEN TO BE CONTINUED.
a couple weeks ago, i had a cancellation on a saturday afternoon so rather than waste a beautiful day away, i came home from soccer and a morning shoot and told the kids to get showered and changed - i was going to take them out for a shoot. i wanted new images for my photo wall. i had been putting this project off for awhile.
i wanted the new images that i was going to print and hang to have an urban feel with vibrant color. this was a 180 degree-turn from the images that i had framed and up on my photo wall previously . . .
the majority of the prints were high-contrast metallic B/W prints
i had the kids all pick their own clothes. zack had a vibrant-striped shirt - the girls then just chose something they had that was a shade in the shirt. i purposely didn't want the kids to be match-y, match-y and i wanted the clothes they had on be something that fit their personality.
and then we headed downtown. our first stop was in search of the green door. i had seen the green door on my friend Jen's blog a couple of times and went off to find it.
we found it. it also happened to be on a block that a "working girl" was walking. the girl was working this particular block the whole time we were shooting. i gave the kids firm instructions to ignore her and to listen to me so we could get the shots i wanted and get back in the car. my kids are awesome to shoot - we were done and back in the car in less than 5 minutes flat.
here's the shot:
i dig that my kids know how to pose. this is my favorite.
i shot a few images of the kids in the door. i also chose one of zack to proof and print . .
next, we headed up to fremont street. i love that the garage has cool red accents and metal.
we did a few different shots in the garage (parking garages have awesome light and make for neat backdrops)
and then we headed off to what my kids have dubbed "stink alley". my kids wanted their own "jumping shot" since they saw the really cool one i did with a family a month or so ago.
i love this metal door.
i didn't print this shot yet. i might overlay some textures to it before i do.
we then headed over to the old Las Vegas High where I went to school. they have painted the Main Hall a rustic orangey brown color.
after climbing around on the steps at Main Hall, we drove around to the back side of the school and over a block where they have this cool old building with some architecture i could use for some interesting shots.
this one is not on the wall but is going to get made into a canvas or float print instead
i did print these two though . . .
these last two shots of the twins are actually from a totally different day. they are also proof that you can use anyplace anywhere to get a good shot if the light is right. these are shot in my neighbor's driveway across the street (yes, Lisa. your old driveway)
a quick note. i did use some different proofing techniques to get the color and look i wanted.
and the wall . . .
one of these years i will get around to actually finishing the wall. i have material and papers to cover the "J"s but like most everything else lately, it gets put off.
i hope to blog about halloween and other things in the next few days. not going to promise though because I have a shoot tomorrow and a few sessions I need to wrap up before next week, a son turning 8 and getting baptized this week, plus the 3 younger kiddos are on track break for the next month. life is as always BUSY.
ttys, take care and have a good week~
I have a few things I want to change around and I need to add the blog and shopping cart to it yet but it's up and running.
updates and other things to come sometime soon.
i know i have been horrible about updating the blog. i need to be better but i am in the midst of trying to get caught up with editing sessions and what-not.
i finished my new website. i am impatiently waiting for everything to get switched over from the old one. i keep checking ever so often to see if the server change has propagated yet. it is after 1 am my time and the old one is still there. as soon as it is live, i'll be sure to share. they told me 72 hours tops. i am not very good at waiting.
i am also in the midst of re-doing my photo wall in my family room. i am taking down all my B/Ws and putting up color images. i did an urban shoot with the kids downtown and got a lot of fun images to put up there. i'll share the new wall shortly.
life is busy. sometimes good. sometimes bad. sometimes frustrating. ryan got in an accident earlier tonight. he got a good bump on the head and his front bumper is punctured. luckily the other car for the most part was unscathed. it still sucks though to fall prey to the awful Vegas drivers.
still having sleep issues. still busy with 4 kids and plenty of chauffeuring to and fro. getting geared up for halloween and zack's baptism and track break.
yada yada yada.
anyhow, just thought i'd leave off with what i did yesterday morning. i had a shoot of this sweet little 10 month old. here are some previews i sent her mom . . .
and because i love storyboards so much . . .
ttys.
1. do you ever change your passwords sometimes but then forget what you changed them to? i apparently changed my password to my new website interface and i have been unable to access it the whole weekend. my web people must have the weekend off or something - i am still waiting on them to reset my password.
2. we had new couple speak in our ward today. his talk was kind of fragmented but i think the gist of it was that hard work pays off. he has a really great attitude. i am not totally on board with that statement. i would have to amend it. hard works does pay off if you invest your time into things that matter and are worthwhile. working hard at fruitless enterprises is an exercise in frustration. you can't just work hard. you have to work smart too.
3. i love to snap the shutter. i love working with natural light and playing with it to make cool images. however, i am debating whether or not to start working with studio lighting also. a photographer i admire works expertly with both to create stunning, breathtaking images. it is a huge investment. do i continue what i am doing now or do i make the leap?
4. been shooting some cute kids. i did a mini-shoot the other day with some of my favorite cute kids . . .
hoping to find some time to shoot my most favorite cute kids (my own) sometime soon.
5. i am finding it hard to blog. it's not that i have nothing to post about. there is plenty going on. it just seems like lately a huge effort to post. (any energy i have needs to be used elsewhere these days)
6. speaking of which, i have not been sleeping much. i've been averaging around 3-4 hours here and there. the majority of the time it is in snippets. i usually cannot fall asleep until 4am. i will try to go to bed and go to sleep but i usually end up just laying awake forever just thinking about a million different things.
7. i did not make my running challenge. my knees just hurt. plus the lack of sleep just killed it for me yet again. sleep killed me with the weight loss challenge too. i do really well for a short time but then the lack of sleep just wipes me out. any energy i have needs to be put into my work and taking care of my family. and after that, it is kinda of hard to go that extra mile - literally speaking.
8. my niece sent forward me one of those forwarding e-mails today. one of the thoughts in it struck me. it said "fake friends are for awhile, real friends are for life".
9. i have been so not impressed with tv lately. maybe i should just read a book instead.
10. still not a fan of mondays. i think it is perhaps because we set such high expectations for the beginning of the week and the unexpected comes our way or we just run out of time. yet i still continue to hope to have a super productive day.
laundry calls. and hope to meet mr. sandman later.
ttys. have a good week.
these pictures were taken in November 2005. that top picture is the same one that hangs on the wall of my house. it has been 4yrs since we have had a family photo taken. look how little my kids are there! granted i have taken several new photos of the kids since then but don't you think it is high time we get a new family portrait?
while most of my holiday cards may only feature 1-3 images, i like to custom design holiday cards that showcase many images from my client's sessions.
here are a couple samples i have saved as templates (click on images to see better - for some reason they look a bit off as typepad resizes them to fit the post) . . .
this one has one of the family and space for each of the kids - i can switch the pieces around depending on the different family sizes
and here is one from last year that features a whopping 12 images from the client's session that she loved and wanted to include. it was quite a challenge to fit them all.
here is another one that features 6 images . . .
just thought i'd share.
if you want to know what i am up to lately, i have to say pretty much snapping the shutter, editing, and designing and beyond that just keeping up with the busy schedules of a 7yr old boy, two tweens, and a teenager. i used to think it would be easier as they got older. it's not. motherhood is hard at any stage. it is just a different kind of hard.
ttyl~
I just want to take a minute to give a shout out to another stay at home who is using her creative talents to start a small business. Being a small business owner myself and a super busy mom of 4 I can fully appreciate the time and talent it takes to get things going. Rebecca paints creative art on gallery canvas. Her art would make a fun addition and give any room a touch of whimsy.
Here are some examples of recent work:
She recently did a custom commission for a friend . . .
how fun is that?
Rebecca is currently selling her creations on Etsy. You can find her Etsy store HERE. She also posts her art on her blog . . .Rebecca Ann's Art
