Learning to crochet.

             I'm going to learn to crochet while I'm on vacation. There are some of you reading this who know me, going "yeah, right." But I am! I'm going to learn and I'm going to crochet cute little baby blankets and hoodies and head bands and all kinds of stuff. Then I'm going to learn to sew and quilt. (Not all on vacation, silly, this stuff takes time!) When I was little my Nanny tried to teach me how to crochet. I could do the chain thing. But then I'd get bored with it, or she'd get busy and forget to teach me what came next. So today I bought the basics, found a teaching blog and I'm going to learn to crochet. Because I made my husband a promise that I am fearful I am not going to be able to keep.
             *Deep breath* I promised I wouldn't work on ANY pictures while we're on vacation. Yeah, I know, right? I'm like a crackhead who know's her supplier is about to skip town. Except I'm the one skipping town, and I'm taking the crack (read camera) with me. Holy crap, I'm not going to be able to keep this promise. You know what makes it worse. I'm shooting a wedding the day we leave. A wedding.  The day we leave. I'm leaving the wedding, picking up my kids and headed out on vacation. No sneak peaks? No chimping over images on the LCD? I can't adjust one curve or reduce one pixel of noise? For a week? So, now you know why I will succeed in learning to crochet. I'll have to or I'll lose my mind.
          I'm only kidding (well, mostly, okay not really). I know its going to be a great trip, filled with fun and adventure and food and laughs and lots more. And I'll have plenty to do to keep my mind off of presets and actions and crops and color temperature.
         That's the problem when you have a job that you are passionate about. It doesn't feel like a job. And really, if you want to know a secret; I can't believe people pay me to do something so fun and fulfilling. It almost seems unfair.
         So, I'll go have fun, snap some touristy photos and stay away from photoshop, lightroom, zoner, and picasa. (At least until the rest of the family is asleep, teehehehe......)

Kayla and Ryan

So my brother sent me a text and ordered me to stop bashing my skills on my blog. I didn't think I was bashing myself, but I'll try to comply. Today anyway. I will share what I've been working on between errands today. I photographed this sweet couple a few months back and got to do their engagement pictures on Saturday! It was one of those shoots where everything just goes right. We had a great time, dodged the rain and everything! I can hardly wait for their country themed wedding in September! Congratulations Kayla and Ryan!

I've Seen Better Days...

     Today was not a good day. It was filled with crazy WalMart ladies skipping in line, a teething 6 month old and a computer that decided it no longer wanted to work when I have three sessions to edit. Nope, today was not the best day. But I did get finished editing one session that has been nagging at me for a couple of weeks. I promised myself I would be honest on this blog about my struggles, my mistakes, my whole journey as a photographer. Many photographers are snobs. I don't want to be one. I want to be able to admit that I still have more to learn than I already know. I want to help others who have discovered their love for this addictive artform.
      So back to this session that I've been avoiding for 2 weeks now. It was a family session for my sister in law. In direct sunlight. In a field. On a bright, hot Sunday afternoon. And I had forgotten to reset my ISO and exposure compensation from a previous low light situation. I figured out that second one pretty quickly, but I didn't catch how noisy many of my pictures were until I got to work on them the next day. And on top of that, it seemed at least one or two of my subjects were squinting in EVERY SINGLE PICTURE. Where was  my head?!? I could use the excuse that we were rushed because the brother in law had to leave for church pretty quickly after I got there. But, I have no excuse. I've been doing this soley and seriously for a year now. Time to quit with the silly mistakes. So I've edited the pictures and I will post a few below. But, we are rescheduling the session at no cost to the family.
     See, I don't want to be a decent photographer, or a good photographer, who people use because the price is right. I want to be a great photographer. I want people to look at my photos and take a breath. I want to make people pause. The way I do when I see greatness. So, if by being honest and telling the world about my mistakes causes the loss of  a client or two, or makes those photogs who have "arrived" mock my learning process, then so be it. But, this is my journey and my passion and it can take me as long as it takes me. So, I'll continue to spend hours everyday reading articles on aperture and metering and noise reduction. And I'll continue to practice. And I'll continue to have fun. Because, isn' t that why we started taking pictures? Because of the beauty and the sheer joy of capturing a moment?

Yeah. Don't worry. Tomorrow's blog will be happier. I have engagement pictures that turned out fantastic! ;)

The Reason Why...

      So, I decided to blog. Now, where do I start. I've kept putting it off because I simply do not know what to say. Do I talk about how much I love my "job" of photography? Do I admit my fears and divulge my secret battle of constantly comparing my work to others? Do I rant about how snobby the photog community is and how newbies have to fight their way through the endless sea of jpeg vs. raw, photoshop vs. everything else, nikon vs. canon, natural light vs. artificial, yada yada yada? Should I give tips and advice?
      So, I'll do it all. I will rant, I will gloat, I will whine and I will share. I won't however be consistent. Nope. Not in me. As an artist I have no ability to be an organized, highly evolved responsible adult.It's just not in there anywhere. Believe me, my mother and my husband both have wished it was for years.
      So you won't see a blog post at x time everyday. You may hear from me three times next Wednesday. On the other hand, you may be lucky to get three a week. Because I'm a wife. And a mommy. And a lot of times life gets in the way of my plans. But that's okay, cause this is my tiny little corner of this universe called the internet and I will use it as I see fit.

And today I see fit to talk about my babies. My 5 year old chatterbox, Jakson and my pretty-as-a-princess 6 month old, Lila. They are my inspiration. Lila's that beauty looking up at you in the pearls and pink. She's a bit camera shy so I have to get creative with her poses.

Jakson has been a ham from the beginning. He loves the camera and it loves him right back times a million. Here's my little poser without any urging from me.

They make my heart grin, and without them I wouldn't be taking this leap into the photography world at all. I would never have discovered this love for making moments into memories.