Summertime..

...and the livin' is easy:




These are my kids and a friend playing at sunset at a park down the street. Pure joy.

No one's here today.

Not sure if I've mentioned this before or not, but I have another blog! Its a decorating blog that my sister and I are doing together. I can be found over there today. Go to:

Blogggers and Sisters. Anything you can do, I can do BETTER!

Hope to see you there!

Published!

Well, this is exciting: the images I shot from Lindsay and Richard's Nebraska wedding have been published on Project Bride!

Project Bride is an online wedding resource that brides can use for inspiration when planning their own big day.

Last week, I attended a seminar to learn the submission process. That evening when I got home, I sat down and applied the techniques I learned to choose the right types of images that the various publishers are looking for.

Within a couple of days I learned that Project Bride accepted my submission, and today I found out that it was posted. So cool!

Now that I'm familiar with the process, I'm hoping that I'll have more weddings published soon. Also totally cool is that I can cross this off my 101 in 1001 list. Whoohoo!

MOMS: Not All Superheros Wear Capes

This past weekend was the weekend from hell. My 5 year old puked her brains out all day and into the night on Saturday. I thought I'd never see then end of dumping out her bucket, wiping her little face, and washing endless loads of laundry because she didn't ALWAYS make it into the bucket.

Sunday, bright and early, one of my sons took over the vacant position of puke master. By noon, my husband and I joined in, and later that afternoon, my other son decided he didn't want to be left out. Have you EVER had to take care of three kids, two of them alternating throwing up with diarrhea, while experiencing the same thing yourself?

Cruel. It was just so damn cruel. I cried for my mommy.

By today, Monday, everyone was recovering nicely, except my husband, who still did not leave his bedroom the whole day. What is up with that? I would have LOVED to spend the day (two of them, actually) simply being sick in bed with no other responsibilities. Was this on the mommy job description? I'm pretty sure I didn't initial that line.

I pray that in the future, we are allowed to vomit our guts out one at a time. I can handle days and days of taking care of sick kids, as long as I am allowed to lay my own puking head down for more than 5 minutes.

Amen.

Free Shipping at Mpix today only!

As my recent clients know, I now include a CD of images of every session and recommend Mpix.com as the best place to get them printed.

They are offering Free Shipping on all orders placed today, so if you have images to print, don't delay!

101 in 10001: Photography Lessons!

Last week, during my Krause Family Lifestyle session, Suzette told me that she would love to be able to take better pictures of her son and asked me if I would give a her a lesson. Well, it just so happens that giving photography lessons was one of the goals I made in my 101 in 1001 list a few weeks ago, so of course I jumped at the chance!

We decided to meet early (6:30 AM)on Saturday morning for a few reasons: it would still be cool enough for her to be comfortable (she is pregnant and due in just a few weeks), the park wouldn't be crowded at that time so there was no worry about having other people in the background, the early morning light would be beautiful, and because her son wakes early anyway and would be in a great mood and thus a fantastic photo subject.

We scored on all points, the greatest being our fantastic photo subject! Suzette's son is A D O R A B L E and he was so well behaved.

I was able to demonstrate the best way to ensure consistant results when shooting in overhead sun, how to look for the best light, what to do if you can't find good light and what the best settings are for general shooting.

I hope that Suzette walked away with some new knowledge, I know that she will walk away with some great shots of her son:
















I am beginning to consider giving individual lessons on a regular basis. If anyone else is interested, please let me know! It will help me if I know how much interest there is.

Thanks Suzette for being my first student. I had a blast and hope that you learned some things you can use.

Krause Family Lifestyle Session: Gilbert, AZ

Have you ever met someone that made you feel so comfortable it felt as if you had known them for years? Thats how I feel about Suzette, a new friend and client. I had the chance to do a maternity session for her and her beautiful family, and the entire shoot was fun and relaxed, because that is how Suzette is.

I love how the slideshow turned out. More specifically, I L O V E the shots of Suzette in her backyard:

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Suzette, I can't wait to do your Family Session once your baby is here.