A couple favorites

From a recent shoot:

Not a lot to say

Right now, basically all I do is eat, drink, sleep, think and dream about photography, my business, ideas for my upcoming shoots, how can I get more shoots, what kind of equipment do I still need, blah, blah. The writing I would do on here would only be about that. Since that hasn't been the focus of this blog, I really don't have a lot to say right now. Stay tuned.

Where have I been?

Sorry for the lack of posts lately. There's so much to say and nothing to say all at the same time. How could that be?

Mr and I had a fun weekend at the lake even though there was a lot of drama. What is it about a group of people, no matter who they are or why they're gathered, that there is always the inclination for conflict and drama? I've seen it happen in every group I've ever belonged to. Nevertheless, I don't want to re-hash all of it here. Suffice it to say, we had fun and thankfully we weren't the ones in the middle or causing the drama.

Tonight the girl child and I are going to brainstorm for names for my business. Mr is out of town working so I am baching it again for a couple of days. I hope by the end of tonight I will officially have a cool name.

Maybe I'll have some photos for you tomorrow. I still haven't downloaded the cool pictures I took from my workshop shoot. Hopefully I'll get to that after work today.

Hey batter, batter

Last night Mr finally got to play in his first softball game of the season. They've had 2 rainouts so we were starting to wonder if they were ever going to get to play. I took my trusty point and shoot and got these pictures of his first at-bat in 20+ years.

Yay, he made it to first base!

As a random sidenote, here is one of my favorites from my shoot this week.

Okay, here's one more.

Have a great long weekend!

Lots and lots goin' on!

I am finally back from my whirlwind trip to the 'ville for the AWESOME workshop presented by the Grays. To say I learned a lot and think it was absolutely FANTASTIC doesn't really capture my complete feelings about the workshop, but it's the best I can do! They were terrific: cool, professional, knowledgeable and fun. It was really such a wonderful learning day for me. The day flew by and before I knew it, it was time to go back to the 'Green! I have tons of pictures to share since not only did we do a shoot with them for class, but I also did 2 other shoots while in the Green with my girl Bean and her fam. Stay tuned for lots of photos to follow, but I still have to upload most of them.

In addition, Mr and I are leaving for the lake tomorrow to celebrate Memorial weekend. I haven't gotten to see him since Sunday because he left for Atlanta yesterday before I got home. He's on his way home now so only a few more hours til I see him. Let's not even talk about my little girl! Haven't seen her since Sunday either and won't until Monday. She's spending some QT with Grandma, but I miss her like crazy.

I have so much to share, but don't want this post to be a novel so stay tuned.

So long

Tomorrow I launch off on a 9-day journey from home. We are headed to the lake for the weekend and on Sunday, Mr and I are parting ways until Memorial weekend. I'm headed to visit with Bean and attend the photography workshop. On Thursday or Friday, I'm headed back to the lake to meet up with Mr to celebrate Memorial Day. Much as I love her, Bean is not quite into the 21st century...she doesn't have a home computer. I'm not sure how I'm going to survive all week without access to a computer, but I guess I will...somehow. I may sneak in a post from the library, but not for sure. Hope everyone has a great 9 days and I'll see you on the flip side!

The Name Game

I think it's obvious from my recent posts that I am more than ready to take my photography to the next level. That level would be starting a business. The problem lies in naming it. Using my real name isn't an option. For those who know me, you understand why. Just doesn't have a nice flow to it. I have several ideas, but decided to throw it out to you guys. Any ideas for my business name? Most of the "obvious" photographic names are taken so I'm looking for something unique and fun all at the same time. Leave me your creative thoughts!

I'm soooo excited!

Next Monday I am attending a photography workshop in Nashville with the fantastic photographic team of Gray Photography--Zach and Jody! Check out their blog listed on the side of my blog to see their gorgeous work. To say I'm excited doesn't really begin to cover it! I can't wait to see what I learn and to have time with 2 of the premiere photographers in Nashville. I plan on being a sponge and soaking up every minute of my time with them.

I am also extremely nervous. I mean, let's get real...I have a LOT to learn. It's intimidating, to say the least, to get to learn from suchs Pros--with a capital 'P'! Nevertheless, I'm trying to set my nervousness and intimidation aside. I can't get better if I don't stretch myself and take a risk.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Busy Weekend

This weekend was busy for me. I worked Friday afternoon and then headed out to do a pre-prom shoot for my cousin's son. It was challenging on a number of levels. First off, it was raining so we had to shoot inside. Secondly, the entire house was painted yellow and the girl's dress was orange--tangerine, to be exact. Thirdly, the mother of the girl was...um, how to say this politely...difficult. That is the most polite term I can use. Nevertheless, I think I got some pretty good shots.

I'd love to get this light switch off of her elbow!

Love this one, but I'd love to get that photo out of the background. Ugh, my kingdome for a faster computer and Photoshop!

Definitely workin' the GQ pose in this one!

Overall, it was a lot of fun and gave me some much needed shoot time. I've been used to shooting little ones--which I adore doing--but getting teenagers to pose and cooperate is a lot easier!

On Saturday night Mr and I had a couples' baby shower to go to. I was going to take my camera but decided I just wanted to enjoy the evening. I kinda wish I had because there was the cutest little girl there who I would've LOVED to have gotten pictures of. Anyway, had a nice time chatting, visiting and eating.

On Sunday I met my mom to go to a local festival that we usually go to. They sell crafts and some really cool stuff. Afterward we went to my mom's favorite restaurant for lunch. It was a really lovely day. Early evening I met up with my grandma, my aunt and uncle for ice cream. It's been forever since I've had ice cream and just lemme tell ya, it was great! Afterward Mr and I went to dinner and came home. It was a busy, fun weekend.

Well, I'm done

I'm finally done editing all of the photos from my maternity shoot. Is it self-centered to say I absolutely adore the pictures? I certainly don't mean it that way. I'm so happy and proud of how they turned out. I'm not ashamed to tell you that I was extremely nervous before the shoot. I had several ideas, but not a ton. Posing people is the hardest part for me. I love to shoot people as they interact. It makes for much more interesting photos, in my opinion. However, there are times when you simply must get some arranged poses. I also like to leave room for the client to give me their ideas. After all, it is their shoot, not mine. I want them to walk away from the experience having had a great time and with some great pictures. Due to my nerves, several of the staged poses I had in mind quickly went out of my mind while I was in the moment. It's okay because I think things still turned out well, but even so, I think next time I will take a checklist with me so I don't forget my ideas.

I've read, followed, (a.k.a. stalked), a lot of photographers' blogs and continue to do so. I love to see their ideas, perspectives and I just like to look at pictures. It doesn't matter that I don't know the people; I can appreciate a good photo no matter who is in it and I love it. I've also looked at a lot of websites and one thing that's mentioned over and over, especially on wedding photographers' sites, is what a priviledge they consider it to be able to shoot someone's wedding day. After this shoot with a pregnant mom, I know exactly what they're talking about. This is a time in her and her family's life that can't be replicated. A snippet of time that I got the priviledge of capturing. I can only hope that someday in the future she pulls out these pictures to show her sons of when one was in her belly, and the other one was just a little guy. And I got to take them. A priviledge indeed.

Sneak Peek #3

As I'm sure you can tell, the only thing I've done since I did the shoot on Tuesday is work on these pictures. I am totally obsessed. As you can also probably tell from some of the pictures, I was totally obsessed with that parasol and the yellow flowers! You can't believe how many shots I had of them. It's been cool working on them, though, and giving different effects to the photos so even though they are very similar, they look different.

The thing is...I'm having a blast working on them! I love seeing what I can do with the pictures and of course, looking at little C's precious little face always makes me smile! I can't wait until I'm done editing so I can post my favorites. Hope you all are enjoying looking at them as much as I am enjoying working on them!

Sneak Peak--Round 2

Sneak Peek

Just a couple from my maternity shoot yesterday.

YouTube Tuesday--Mother's Day edition

I've had this video for a while, but have been waiting to share it for Mother's Day. I love animal stories like this. Enjoy!

I think I need a new blog

I'm starting to think that I need to create another blog just for my pictures. We went to a Derby party at my aunt's house Saturday and one of my favorite photography subjects in the whole world was there--baby B. Of course, I snapped tons and tons of pictures of him. I can't control myself when I am around a cute baby. I don't even try to restrain myself anymore--why waste the energy. I could post lots of pictures of him but here are a few of my favorites.

Couldn't you just eat him up with a spoon?!!

A ton of pictures

Just a friendly warning--this post is chock full of pictures. There were just too many I wanted to share with you all. This is a picture of the staircase on the hike we took.

Me at the top.

Mr and a view on our way from the tippy top of our hike.


Mr at the tippy top of our hike.


Me at the top with our view. It was gorgeous.

I love churches. Old, white clapboard churches are my most loved structures in the world. We found this church in a part of the park we'd never been before--Cataloochee. It was a long, scary drive (I wish I'd gotten pictures of the road we drove on to get to this valley. My words can't describe how windy and scary it was.) This is my new favorite church in the world. Going back to see it again would almost make the drive worth it...but not quite.


Another white clapboard structure. It looks just like the church without the steeple. Still, very cool.



Next up was the Caldwell place. Here is Mr in their barn.



Here is a shot of their house from the barn, which is across a little creek. This is probably the biggest, nicest house we've seen.

Here is their back porch and picnic table where we ate lunch. So cool.

The inside hallway from the back door.

One of the fireplaces in the house.

One of the rooms with peeling newspaper on it. Our guess is they put it on there to try to insulate it. It was interesting, though, that this was the only room in the whole house that had it.

This was another church we found right outside of the Smokemont campground. Love it!

We like to hang around the Tennessee/North Carolina border for dusk to come because that's where we always see the elk. This time didn't disappoint. The sun was barely over the mountains and we spotted them. Some were right next to the road.

Others "had" to be hunted down by the Great White Hunter--Mr. He went up into the woods to get this awesome shot of a buck. They don't typically have a rack this big this early in the year so this was quite a catch.

Mr said the buck was pretty unconcerned with what he was doing. The buck just laid in the grass, checking Mr out every so often to be sure of where he was, and continued to eat. I think I'm getting this one and the bear shot blown up so we can hang it as Mr's "trophies"!

I spotted this little feller in the grass. There were actually 3 in this area. They were so cute. They'd just stand up, look around and then go back down into the grass. They're certainly nosey little critters.

It was pretty unnerving and sad to see this fire up on the hillside. We never did hear how much of the forest got destroyed or when it actually got under control.

Here's a picture of the buck's rack once he decided to come out of the woods and join the others. In total, we saw 8 elk. An awesome day of wildlife "hunting"--the only kind I like!

After all of our day's adventures, we went back to the hotel and changed clothes to get ready for our anniversary dinner at the Park Grill. All in all, it was a perfect day!