The Importance of Family Sat. December 27, 2008 my life
Hey everyone! I know, I know, I've been letting this blog slide, big time, huh? Never fear, starting the first of the year, I have a new resolution for this site that should make everyone quite happy. So loyal readers, never fear--stick around because good things are coming.
I'd like to take just a moment to think about the importance of family this season. Although I like to write this blog more towards the lighter side, I do tend to get a little sentimental around this time of year, and a little more aware of who and what is important in my life. It seems that it's only appropriate that I am currently spending a couple of days cruising around the Caribbean with my mom and brother! While I care very much about my business, this blog, answering questions, learning, and teaching, I feel that one of the best uses of my time is to spend it investing in those that I care about. It's funny, but I often have to remind myself who and what really deserves my time, as there is only so much of it to go around. In any case, I'm having a lovely time this week doing that, and not blogging :)
With that said, I leave you with this little slice of life photo from a couple of weeks ago--more to come from this session soon!
Let's Get To Know Each Other! Sat. December 20, 2008 my life
Getting to know each other is fun, isn't it? Below are lists of things about me--50 things I love, and 50 things that bug me. Also, a photo from Nicola's 5th birthday party which I shot a couple of weeks ago that had an art theme, just so this post isn't boring. The party had an art theme and was so so cool--the kids had an absolute blast!!
Leave a comment below with something you love or something that bugs you--I'll pick a winner on Monday night and that winner wins a free SHOOTSAC! You must leave your real email address so I can hunt you down and find you :)
things i love
1. snow, and the way the world smells right before it snows
2. finding $5 in my pocket, old purse, drawer, or shelf
3. my iphone
4. thanksgiving dinner
5. when i have a new season of a show i've never seen to occupy me on long flights
6. leftover mac and cheese. the powder kind, not the velveeta kind.
7 when my house gets organized
8 when something i ordered online shows up and i forgot i had ordered it
9 someone else making dinner
10 hot chocolate with little marshmallows
11 direct flights
12 when other people drive me places
13 crunchy corn dogs
14 finding out how much i have in common with someone i like
15 clay curling irons
16 finding new restaurants that nobody i know goes to yet
17 driving over 100 mph and not getting a ticket
18 good hair days
19 making mischief
20 wedding crashers (real ones)
21 being cozy
22 homemade coupon books
23 late night card sessions with friends
24 bose quiet comfort headsets
25 chocolate covered strawberries
26 jeans that are fresh out of the dryer and still fit
27 when britney spears shaved her head
28 going to the batting cages and hitting in the fastball cage
29 creamy horseradish sauce
30 fondue, the bread and cheese, and the dessert part, in particular
31 friends that think i'm weird but love me anyway
32 first dates
33 theme parties
34 finding out that the coolest girl in high school got fat
35 eating out of the mini-bar at hotels
36 getting my hair cut
37 taking the "do not disturb" signs off people's doors at fancy hotels
38 the perfect white russian (just SLIGHTLY more kaluha than vodka)
39 dinners for six to eight people
40 vega$
41 removing annoying people from my life
42 perfectly wrapped presents
43 new sunglasses
44 wearing clothes in fall colors
45 dexter, lost, entourage, and the office
46 having food in my fridge
47 big, gaudy, tacky rings
48 those really thin sharpie marker pens
49 being able to walk into friends houses without knocking
50 having no work to catch up on
things that bug me
1. jeans that come out of the dryer and are still slightly damp in the pockets
2. getting my finger slammed in the door
3. when i buy a dvd and can't fast forward through the previews
4. people who ride their brakes when driving in the rain
5. people who ride their brakes when driving in the carpool lane
6. clowns
7 mayonnaise and the people who eat it
8 nonpareils. although they are my favorite candy, what does the word "nonpareil" mean?
9 meatballs with not enough sauce
10 when i cut ribbon for a gift a tiny bit too short to make the bow
11 having a great idea for an invention then discovering it already exists
12 people who give serious answers when playing family style games
13 orange juice with pulp
14 when christmas decorations come out before halloween
15 when i'm looking at real estate online and the only photos are of the neighborhood, not the house
16 cats and cat people
17 turtleneck long sleeve shirts
18 property tax--shouldn't i only have to pay that the year i buy the property?
19 when i think i've tivo'd a new show only to find out that it's a rerun
20 back fat in dresses
21 matching pants and jackets, especially in loud patterns
22 yappy dogs that lick
23 shabby chic
24 paper cuts, especially in the joints of my fingers
25 when the ends of feathers stick out of pillows and poke me
26 people who dress their daughters like twins even though they look nothing alike and are years apart
27 heidi and spencer mugging for the camera and faking their marriage
28. when things that are funny in person don't come out funny over text or email
29 boarding the plane hours before its ready to take off
30 screaming children (not babies, children) in restaurants or on planes
31 antique store owners
32 the business name "gentle dental". that's just a mean trick.
33 dark meat chicken, especially in chinese food
34 people who fake problems to get on the Dr. Phil show
35 when i check the mail and there are only bills
36 charity functions that cost more than the money they raise
37 days that are too hot to be comfortable outside
38 when people don't respond to my calls or texts immediately
39 running into ex-boyfriends at unwanted times
40 laura ashley
41 not getting cell service anywhere on the perimeter of my neighborhood
42 sweater sets
43 twittering something to everyone when it was supposed to be direct
44 when people speak other languages at the nail salon. i know you are making fun of me.
45 ice skating outfits
46 slutty halloween costumes
47 when someone brings me water with no ice in it or with lemon in it
48 the free credit repot dot com commercials
49 hybrid names like dannielynn. it's danielle or it's lynn, not both.
50 buck teeth
For an ugly sweater party, that is! There's not much I love more than a good ugly sweater party, and the one last night hosted by the always hospitable Victor Sizemore was no exception! There's few words for the ugliness that ensued, so I'm going to skip the verbiage and get right to the good stuff:
Personally, I think my sweater was phenominally ugly. Who's with me??
Oops! Someone forgot to tell Regis that it was supposed to be ugly CHRISTMAS sweaters--he just wore an ugly sweater!
Aren't the boys cute?
Aren't the girls just a little cuter?
I call these two, "let's make the pregnant girl uncomfortable"
I'm speechless. I'm sorry Michael and Tony, but this is too good to not post. I shot it, of course.
I do love these American Gothic Ugly photos of me and Michael
Then, there was a white elephant gift exchange! Here we have Becker with his first gift, a Flav clock, Chenin with Becker's gift, a fruitcake, Michael with the most annoying gift, a book of Chuck Norris jokes, and JD with the Norwood's gift, a year subscription to Cat Fancy Magazine, not to mention Becker with his final gift, Jingle Jugs. Thanks for bringing that Alex!
I'm an addict. No, really. Fri. December 12, 2008 my life
Social networking. It's the buzzword on everyone's lips these days, isn't it? I think that as a photographer and small business owner, I have a need to connect with people that is intensified by working by myself and not having the proverbial "water cooler" that so many companies have to encourage office chatter.
Luckily, some people much smarter than me realized that, and I admit it--I'm an addict.
At first it was MySpace. I enjoyed going on there and poking around, but I never felt like the site was very intuitive or smooth, and that kept me from getting truly addicted to it. That was probably a good thing, because I was starting my photography business at the time so instead of channeling my energy into something somewhat useless, I did, you know, work, and got myself established. Score a point for me!
Next though, was Facebook. Now Facebook was a different animal altogether, because it allowed me to satisfy my need for gossip and information by clearly identifying who was single, who was in a relationship, who was hooking up with whom. As an added little bonus, I was able to throw random objects like sheep and David Hasselhoff at my friends, which sucked me in like a black hole. THEN, my friends from Kindergarten and that bully that threatened to beat me up on the bus in sixth grade sent me friend requests, and I was hooked.
As if that wasn't enough, this past year, Twitter has seen a huge rise in popularity. If you don't know, Twitter is a mini-blogging application, but what it really is is a public conversation between you and all of your friends. You get to find out little tidbits about people that you would never ordinarily know, and it's so interesting how that plays out in real life. For example, I stopped by the Boutwell's house the other day and went straight to the kitchen to snag a few of the oatmeal chocolate chip cookies Chenin made for Doug's birthday. Had she not twittered about making them, I would have missed out on that stellar opportunity! Here's my twitter:
All of these things have focused my attention on that, and less so on this blog, which I am seeking to remedy. On both this blog AND on the Shootsac Blog, I'll be posting a MINIMUM of three times a week. No consequences this time if I fail,but how about if you all send me prizes if I don't?! Positive reinforcement and all!
In the meantime if you want to know what I'm up to a few times a day, go FOLLOW ME ON TWITTER (you'll need to set up a free account first) and BE MY FRIEND ON FACEBOOK , but be warned--these are highly addictive sites and I'm not to be held responsible for them sucking you in :)
Any other addicts out there? SHOW YOURSELVES!
Here's a photo so if you didn't read this post, you still got a little eye-candy. It's from Lauren & Jon's wedding, which I'll be posting soon!:
Stephanie & Dave's Wedding! Sun. November 30, 2008 i do
Stephanie and Dave were married on a Monday at the Montage in a gorgeous afternoon ceremony. As if there weren't already plenty of good things in that sentence, they had the ever fabulous Brooke of Details Details coordinating, and Square Root on florals. What I mean by all of this is that before I ever even showed up, the wedding was already perfect!
Stephanie and Dave didn't care about having a big wedding, or even a wedding at all--mostly, they just wanted to be married to each other. Well, between them and their families, it was decided that there would in fact be a wedding, but it would be low-key and unfussy, which, if you know Stephanie and Dave, suits them perfectly. This couple has a quiet peace about them. It's all in a subtle look, a simple dress, a stolen moment among a crowd. I had the best time being around them this day--it was so relaxed and wonderful!
To top it off, I had my good friend, the legendary Michael Norwood shooting with me that day, and he's already posted photos of this wedding! We decided to trade of shooting with each other for a few weddings, and I got my turn first. He is one of my most favorite photographers and people, so you should go check out his blog and bookmark it immediately. Hopefully if you all go there and leave him lots of glowing praise, he will be encouraged to post more eye-candy more often!
Anyway, on to the photos:
Ah, the boquet was SO gorgeous!! Square Root rocks.
So does Kate Spade:
So does Stephanie:
I love this shot:
There were just so many cool things to shoot! As you can see, it was kind of overcast. Not to worry, the sun came out right in time for the ceremony!
Preparation:
The lace on this Mantilla style veil was to die for:
Stephanie says she doesn't like photos of herself. Hopefully she will like this one:
Or this one:
I know, too many photos of the bouquet, but it was REALLY cool!
On to Dave. Dave ignored me, which was perfect for this photo:
There is something so rock star cool about this one:
Dave:
Two of my favorite groom portraits all year:
One more:
The ceremony site was not the main lawn, it was the side lawn in front of Studio. I think it's only available on weekdays, and it is DIVINE!
Look at these cuties!
Dave, getting ready to go:
Stephanie watches the kiddos walking down and gets ready for her turn:
There they go...
They are just so sweet with each other:
Look at the perfect little gust of wind in Stephanie's hair:
Married!
Then it was down to the beach for a few photos. It was completely deserted that day, lucky us!!
My fave of the day:
The decor was orchids everywhere! I loved it so much!
You know I can't resist a good detail:
Not even close to in focus, but i love the feeling of it:
Cheers!
Last one:
Stephanie & Dave, congratulations!! Thank you so much for letting me be a part of your day!
my life
