More of Andrew

Are you tired of seeing pictures of him? Wait.. don't answer that. You might hurt my feelings. Here's some more from my session(s) with him. I've got a new line of frames coming soon (Hooray for offering custom framing!!) and I'm putting together a storyboard for one of my frames. Hence, all the pictures. See, you knew I had a reason, right? This first one is probably my favorite...

Loving this Family

How can I not? This is my awesome Aunt & her family. My mom is jealous 'cause this family got all the beautiful red hair. We ended up all blonde, much to her disappointment. They wanted more traditional style portraits, so we went to Memory Grove and had a blast. Thanks guys! Enjoy!

oh- and for some reason blogger and/or photobucket is messing with my sharpness. :( I promise they are super-crispy sharp!

Enjoying the nice weather

We went outside today to "crunch the leaves". My kids love this. It consists of running through the huge pile of leaves in our complex parking lot at top speeds, and then throwing them up in the air and watching them fall back down. I love Fall.



Oh- and can someone tell my cute, little boy to get his tooth in? He's seriously lopsided. :)

Playing with Lightroom 2

Thought I'd share. Took some time with Scott Kelby & Lightroom 2 last night. It's a pretty powerful program, and I have tons still to learn.

Original:


Lightroom Adjustments:


Kind of makes it look more like a drawing. Not sure if I like it though...

"Baby" Andrew

Okay, so not so baby-like anymore. I would be sad except his "little boy-ishness" is so stinkin' cute! I love him. I'm so glad he's my baby right now. I'm not ready to have another kid and give that up. Mmm... not done with him yet. I have more of my session with him to post, but both kids are awake and eventually Rachel's singing is going to lose it's entertainment value on Andrew.

Why I don't want to stay in Utah

This is a question that many people have asked me over the last few months. We almost took a job in California, and when we decided to stay here, "here" was my biggest complaint. "What's wrong with living in Utah?" was the question I heard most. So, I thought I'd tell you why. But first, a little background...

Orson Scott Card is hands-down my favorite author. I'm so glad my dad is a fan (he's even been to numerous book signings) and introduced me to this great legend when I was young. I think I read my first OSC in like 6th grade. It was great. A couple of weeks ago, his new collection of short stories called "Keeper of Dreams" was on the library's new fiction stand. Sweet. I totally needed something to read and I hadn't ever ventured into his short story collection.

One of the last sections of the book is called "Mormon Stories" and he prefaces them with the fact that they are not really religious, or spiritually uplifting but that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (aka Mormons) have a particular culture, and that's what he wrote about. Because of the Church's organization, every member lives in a community (or ward) where we all serve each other in callings, "we become familiar with every face; we know which children belong to which parents; many of us know every single person's name." He goes on to say that "for most of us--for those of us who are actively engaged in the life of the ward--we live in Mormonism and only visit American culture."

Okay, now to the whole point of this long post... The states of Utah, Eastern Idaho, and parts of Arizona are considered, by some, to be the "Mormon Corridor". Many towns are at least half Mormon, compared to the East or South where Mormons are relatively rare and are "awash in a sea of Baptists or Methodists or Presbyterian Catholics".

In those more sparse areas, "teenagers need each other in order to help sustain each others' identity as Latter-Day Saints; adults depend on each other and are tolerant of variations. If you show up and do your calling, then we don't care what political party you belong to, you're one of us. Also, wards are spread out over large stretches of cities and country-side so that people of every walk of life and every income level gather together to worship."

"In the Mormon Corridor, by contrast, members are expendable--there are so many Mormons you can afford to ostracize those who don't believe exactly the way you do. And wards are so bunched together that zoning laws shape the church to a dysfunctional degree--everybody in the ward makes the same amount of money, lives in the same-size house, and never has to deal with anyone markedly poorer or different from themselves. When wards are smaller than Zip Codes, it's easy to forget that it's faith and obedience that bind us together, no the superficial similarities of income and career."

"In 'Zion', Mormons are far more likely to get confused about where worldly values leave off and religious values begin. Whereas in places where Mormons are a small minority, the lines are clear and everyone can see them."

Before you flag me (or OSC) as blaspemous, let me point out that we both know there are good and bad Mormons everywhere. Doesn't matter if you live in SLC or Timbuktu, there are going to be some bad eggs. But, his insight into Mormon culture is very astute.

I have loved living here. I grew up here. I love the friends I have made, and the experiences I have had. It's just time for something new. Something to push myself and our family a little more in our beliefs. It's too easy for me to relax, be lazy, and get myself mixed up as to what is really important. Sure, living in the Corridor is great for some people. Most have probably never thought twice about it. It's just not for us. And I know life elswhere won't be a walk in the park. Having differences in income level, house size, political affiliation, etc. all in the same ward creates it's own set of problems. But, at least it'll be different.

So, there you have it. As Sam always says in answer to "the" question, "There's too many Mormons".

Congratulations for having read my whole post. I'd love to hear what you think, so leave a comment or two.

Availability for 2008

Just wanted to let you all know how my schedule is. I am not booking sessions in December (except for weddings) and November is filling up pretty fast. If you are interested in a session this year, contact me ASAP. I still have one or two slots for October as well. Thanks!

This family has skills

Here's the rest. I couldn't resist any longer! Too cute to pass up. I've known Katie since...errr... middle school? At least? It's been that long. Hey Katie- (since I know you are checking this blog religiously!) did you know the love bird you gave me in like 10th grade is still alive? Yup. I've been meaning to mention it for awhile now. How's that for random thought of the day? Crazy, huh? Enjoy!

Why bigger is better

I get a lot of people asking me exactly how big a 16x20 is. Ummm... 16" x 20" right? It's just hard to visualize. So, I thought I'd help you all out.



This is an 8x10 and a 16x20. It seriously looks amazing printed large. Cool, huh? Think about your family picture. On your wall. Like this. You should call me and book a session.

Oh- and a HUGE thanks to Matt for helping me with some edits on this pic. You seriously are my hero. :)

Wedding Album

I received my brother's wedding album this week and sent it on to them in Chicago. Woot! woot! It's so pretty. I love it. For all you photogs--I ordered through Miller's because they do the flushmount panorama. Mmmmmm....so pretty! And yes, these shots would be a gazillion times better if I already had my Mark II. Such is life. :)

Just one from tonight

I had a family urban session tonight and LOVED it. Everything was great! This one stood out to me as I was quickly glancing through them and I thought I'd share. I'll get more up as soon as I get my copy of Lightroom which was supposedly delivered 11 days ago! 11!! Ummm.. don't have it. Didn't know I had a tracking number. Grrr... calling Fed Ex as soon as I wake up in the morning.

Anyway, on the bright{er} side... check this cutie out!

Piggies & Paws Party!

What? You've never heard of it? No worries. I hadn't either until I went to the Oh! Sweet Sadie art & craft show and then I totally fell in love. My friend, Bekah, and i decided to co-host a party because she has more space in her apartment than I do. :)

Basically an artist comes to a party (yes... kind of like tupperware or Mary Kay) and takes foot/hand prints of your child and then turns them into artwork. Soooo cute!! Check out their website for examples and a list of designs that she can do. It looks like they start at about $20 for a single hand/foot and the more complicated, the more you will spend. Our artist will have a book full of designs for you to pick from, will print your child at the party and then will deliver when it is finished. Before Christmas. *wink, wink*.

Details!!
Date: October 16, 2008
Time: 5-7pm
Where: Contact me for details (c'mon...don't make me put the address on the web).
RSVP: Me! Leave me a comment, shoot me an email, or if you're lucky and know my phone # you can use that as well.

Make sure to bring your kiddos (dad will LOVE that) and there will be yummy food served as well so don't worry about missing dinner! Come hang out and play with us!

**We do need to know how many people are coming for the sake of the artist (so she can bring supplies) and for food prep.**

More Urban

Playing around with some editing tonight on some pics I took when I was out with Jami the other week. Thought I'd share. I also found some great actions by Pioneer Woman. She totally rocks, and the best part is they are FREE! Go check them out!







*whew* 5 boys... Yikes.

Fall is Beautiful!

The mountains in Utah are beautiful in the fall. It seems that every year I forget just how much I love it. We've had a flu-bug cycle through our little family over the last week and it seems we've missed out on a lot. No enrichment activity, no play dates, no volleyball, and I missed out on a trip up Big Cottonwood Canyon with my parents. I'm so glad they went anyway and my dad got some awesome pictures he shared with me today. The one thing he was upset about was not having a blue sky (although admittedly, cloud cover creates great diffused light), so I gave him one. :) There's definitely fringe along the mountain line. Anyone have a good way to get rid of it?

Travelin'

Hooray for traveling! I will be in Northern California (San Francisco, Santa Rosa areas) between November 24-29, and in Las Vegas between Christmas & New Year's. Of course I am more than happy to book sessions (c'mon people! Help me write off my trips as business expenses!!) while I am there. Shoot me an email if you, your friends, your friends' friend's, or your family are interested in a session or two. jess{at}picturememine{dot}com.

Can be anything. Couples (how long has it been since you had pictures of just the two of you?!), kids, families, whatever. The more the merrier. For the CA sessions, I can also accomodate mini sessions as long as there are at least two. Grab a friend!

And, because every good post needs a picture, you get one of my cute baby!:

Vote for me!

I entered a photo contest. Scary? yes. Mine isn't the best photo by a long shot, but could you please go vote for me anyway? I'd appreciate it. :) Oh- and the more the merrier. Tell all your friends to vote for me too?

Here's the link: http://mycameraisbiggerthanyours.com/announcements/capture-the-summer-feeling-pho.html

Mine's on page 4, middle row, 4th one from the right. Looks like this:
**Page # depends on your browser I guess. Just look for this one**