Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Jenny & Christian

My first engagement session! Wahooo!! Can I tell you it was a total blast?! This couple was seriously awesome. They were dressed well, look great together, and were lots of fun. They are getting married in April in San Diego. Good luck you guys!







Monday, February 25, 2008

Timmy

What a cute kid! Mom wanted some pictures in his blessing outfit and then we switched it up for some variety. I seriously love it when they stonewall. No smiles from this little guy. Fortunately, I think I end up liking them better anyway. So much more personality that way. Big sister came along as well and we got some cute ones of the two of them together. Thanks you guys!






Friday, February 22, 2008

I think I might cry

My daughter never smiles or looks at the camera, so to get her holding her little brother and they are both smiling at me just makes me heart melt. The pictures aren't perfect (technically speaking) as I still have trouble adjusting my strobes, but these seriously made my day. Probably because I'm their mom.




Obsession

So I've been busy. That explains the lack of posts, right? Okay, really I've been obsessed with the new photographer's forum that I am now a member of. It seriously rocks. There are so many talented photographers who participate and I can seriously ask almost anything I want to know and get tons of good advice. It's like Christmas. In February. I have so many new ideas for my photography "business", how I want to run things, good ideas for pictures. It's great.

I became a member because I signed up for my workshop! Hooray! It's not until August, but that just means there's more time for the excitement to build, right? In addition to membership in the forum, I also received Skye's business forms, plus I get her "how to photograph kids" DVD when she's done filming it this summer.

If you're really interested in getting into photography, I'd really recommend something like this. It's definitely worth every penny!

Friday, February 15, 2008

Andrew Action

Another milestone I have been neglecting to document for a few months. My kids are so backwards. Both of them have rolled back to stomach first. Andrew's not even interested in rolling the other way yet. He'll just sit and play on his tummy for almost 1/2 an hour. He must be making up for the lack of tummy time previous to this point in his life.

*click to enlarge*

Cute snapshot of them together (this is a rare occurrence). Wait a minute. Rachel is looking at the camera and smiling? I need to go sit down.

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Girls, Girls!

Sometimes I wish I had two of the same. First the two brothers and now these cute girls. Ahhh...love it! Okay, I really wouldn't trade my kids for anything. These were fun to play around with a white (high key would be the technical term) backdrop. White is great because it's so easy to just blow it out with the strobes, or later using PS.



Monday, February 11, 2008

Playing Catch-up

Andrew has been eating cereal for a couple of weeks now, but I finally pulled out the camera to document the occasion. For some reason this milestone just isn't as exciting as it was with Rachel. Do I really have to feed him cereal 3 times a day? All I do is feed this kid. Ha! It's good though because he hasn't been gaining weight and the doc says we have to pork him up. I'm even mixing in formula to give him some more calories. geesh. I wish I had his underweight problem.

Anyway, he finally figured out that he actually has to open his mouth in order for me to insert food. Yeah. That one took at least a week and a half. Now he loves it though. Maybe we'll get ambitious and move onto something a little more exciting. Mmmm...

Saturday, February 09, 2008

Boys, Boys!

These kids have such personality! We struggled to get smiles out of them, but eventually I won 'em over. ha! Hooray for fruit snacks. Maxin (the younger one) really struggled up on my table. I think it's too high and is scary for younger kids. Ah, to have my own studio. Someday all my dreams will come true, right? I also haven't used my gray backdrop in awhile. Kind of like visiting an old friend. It's so much easier with my studio lights though. I love having control over my lighting (even if I still struggle to get it looking the way I want!).





Friday, February 08, 2008

Life of Pi: Yann Martel

I've read some good books recently and thought I would share for all of you who are in need of something new and exciting to read. I wasn't so sure about Life of Pi, but I read it for our RS book club (which meets in a few weeks so I'm going to save most of my comments for that) and really enjoyed it. A lot of reviews I read said it started out pretty slow, but I never got that impression. Maybe I just skimmed, can't remember. Anyway, the book is about a young man from India, Pi, who immigrates with his family to Canada. The twist is that his father was a zookeeper and they had sold most of their animals to American zoos and were shipping them across the Pacific. A little while out to sea, the ship sinks and Pi survives in a lifeboat with an orangutan, hyena, and a Bengal Tiger. The story is about his survival. I'll just say it was immensely entertaining and something I would never care to experience.

Keeping Faith: Jodi Picoult

This is the third book I've read by Jodi Picoult and she continues to amaze me. She tackles hard subjects. The first one I read was called My Sister's Keeper, and is about a girl who sues her parents (no joke). The second, Nineteen Minutes, is about a high school shooting, and lastly, Keeping Faith is about a little girl who sees God and the ensuing media frenzy and custody battle between her recently divorced parents. The plot is fairly straightforward, the characters are real, and it is just emotionally taxing. I really feel for her characters every time. Please note these are not Relief Society book club books. There is language, sometimes sex, and they are all somewhat controversial. Like about a little girl seeing and talking to God. I had some issues with the subject, but the book really was a page turner. I was up until 2am one night just glued to the pages and couldn't give it up. If you're up for it, I highly recommend these. Anybody else read anything by Picoult?

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

All of my Glory

Not that there's much glory to behold, but I thought I'd share just so I can brag about how awesome my husband is. I needed a picture for my About page (on the website) so we set out one rare, sunny, afternoon to shoot some pics of me. It was very disconcerting being on the other end of the camera. Now I know how awkward everyone else feels! hahaha Anyway, Sam did a great job, and then I had fun playing around in Photoshop with my new actions.



Friday, February 01, 2008

Fabric for Sale?

JoAnn's had a home fabric 50% off sale the other week, and I thought "why not? everyone else seems to be doing it" and went and bought a few yards to use as a backdrop. Apparently it's the "in" thing to do right now. Anyway, today was the first day I actually felt like setting everything up. I recruited a neighbor and her kid while mine were sleeping, but of course, I had to use mine for models as well. Rachel's were very "mom I really hate this" so I won't share any, but I got a cute one of Andrew, and our neighbor, Brock. Kind of a different studio look. Like it? Should I ever try it again? And yes, that's a bath rug. Very stylish, I know.