Sunday, July 19, 2009

Leaving Virginia- Nashville Photographer

This week is more or less our last week in Virginia. We leave this weekend for vacation with my family for an entire week (freedom!) and will then return to load up all of our packed belongings into a moving truck. I will drive down to Nashville with my daughter and brother while Scott, my husband, stays behind for a week to work. My computer will be packed in boxes for nearly two weeks and during that time I will have limited access to internet (which I will reveal why in a future post). If you have any questions please feel free to email me and I will get back with you as soon as I can.

One thing that I love about the East Coast that I never really had growing up in Washington state are the thunderstorms. I grew up on the dry side of Washington (it does exist!) and of course we had thunderstorms but nothing like what I have experienced here. Here, it pours and the thunder is deafening... the lightning blinding. I realized just a few days ago that I really didn't have any scenic pictures of the area. This same day it stormed and the sky afterwards was just glowing pinks, purples, blues... a photographer's dream. And so I took my camera and drove around the country trying to beat the light. Nothing fancy or spectacular but beautiful nonetheless. I will miss you Virginia! You've been wonderful to us!

By this time I was really racing against the sunlight. You can see that the clouds have mostly lost their pink color.

Thursday, July 16, 2009

Charlotte

I have always heard that when photographing newborns, try to do so within the first two weeks. After that time they don't sleep as readily. Well, we followed that advice and yet little Charlotte wanted to stay awake the entire two hours we shot. But she was such a good girl so we couldn't complain. Ashley mentioned how she couldn't believe that she was still awake through all of it.

I'm still experimenting with newborn poses and trying to figure out how to form their little bodies into the many different shapes I see on other photographer's blogs. There is still progress to be made but I was pleased with how this session went. Everyone was so calm which helped me relax and focus on what I was seeing. Hope you like these pictures!





Monday, July 13, 2009

Moving to Nashville!!

That's right, my husband is transferring to Vanderbilt Law School and within a few weeks we will be residents of Tennessee. I have never (can you believe it?) been to Tennessee. We have heard such wonderful things about it though and so we are very excited for this move. We will definitely miss Virginia as it has become our home. I will be up and running around the middle of August so please spread the word if you know anyone in the Nashville area who would like to schedule a photo session. This is going to be great!!

Saturday, July 11, 2009

New baby!

My beautiful pregnant friend Ashley, whose pictures you saw a few weeks ago, had a beautiful and healthy baby girl the first of the month. She has dark hair (perhaps more than my one year old daughter) and named her Charlotte. I was able to go to the hospital and just take a few shots. There is something so special about a new little baby. You hold them and melt and realize how much they depend on you. I have heard that Charlotte for the most part has been a good little girl... sleeping decently well and of course her big sisters are more than excited to have a new sibling. Here are a few of my favorite. Enjoy!




Saturday, July 4, 2009

101 in 1001

I don't know if this concept of 101 in 1001 is familiar to any of you but I came across it on the blog of a photographer I follow and admire, Melissa Jill. The idea is to lay out 101 goals and aim to achieve them in 1001 days or basically 2.75 years. As many of my goals are related to photography and the growing of my business I have decided to post them here.

As time goes on and I complete a goal I will dedicate a post to it and create a link from this post to the finished goal. I decided to begin July 4th which will give me a finish date of March 31, 2012. I hope this will be a way to share more of who I am and also be a way to hold me accountable and get me motivated for some very exciting changes!

  1. Write a letter to the 35 year old me
  2. Run a half marathon
  3. Buy a Nikon D90-Completed July 17, 2009
  4. Plan a candlelight dinner
  5. Go to a pro athletic or college game
  6. Buy the Nikon 50 mm 1.8d or 1.4g-Completed July 17, 2009
  7. Get a monitor calibrator-Completed September 3, 2009
  8. Do a photo shoot of my mom and dad
  9. Buy a Nikon D700 or equivilant
  10. Update my camera bag
  11. Update my wardrobe
  12. Print, frame and hang photos for Ella’s bedroom
  13. Print one canvas print, frame and hang in living room
  14. Get an iPhone
  15. Learn how to make fabulous Italian focaccia-Completed October 2009
  16. Become CPR certified
  17. Upgrade my blog to a non blogspot blog.
  18. Buy a video recorder
  19. Go apple picking
  20. Buy a pocket sized digital camera
  21. Read a “classic” novel that I haven’t read before
  22. Have a “celebrate Scott” day
  23. Buy a macro lens
  24. Eat at Café Rio-Completed December 2009
  25. Photograph a sunrise
  26. Begin shooting weddings
  27. Buy a new game and play it with Scott
  28. 2nd shoot a wedding with 2 photographers
  29. Make my own jam-Completed September 1, 2009
  30. Can my own salsa
  31. Knit the baby blanket I started and never finished
  32. Hire a designer to update my signature, logo, blog, etc.
  33. Attend WPPI
  34. Go camping at Ohanapecosh, Mt. Rainier
  35. Make Scott his favorite treat
  36. Attend a workshop by Melissa Jill
  37. Take a carriage ride in Central Park
  38. Attend a workshop by a well known family/children’s photographer
  39. Visit Boston
  40. Read one book per month for three months to benefit my business
  41. Have photos displayed in a public location: gallery, coffee shop, children’s store, hospital
  42. Create packaging for my products
  43. Buy the latest version of Photoshop
  44. See Wicked again
  45. Buy Kubota actions
  46. Get a massage
  47. Create a special day just for Ella
  48. Stay at a fancy hotel and go to the spa
  49. Visit New England
  50. Surprise Scott with a night out
  51. Start a newsletter to be sent out every two months to clients
  52. Do a “shoot for a cause” where I devote an entire day shooting mini sessions for a cause
  53. Donate $50 to KIVA
  54. Visit NYC during the Christmas season
  55. Read to Ella every night for a week
  56. Attend the US Open (tennis)
  57. Plant a garden that includes at least: corn, tomatoes, zucchini, watermelon, carrots and peas
  58. Volunteer at a Senior Center one time
  59. Buy Scott something out of the blue
  60. Host a party
  61. Shoot a wedding or family in Europe
  62. Update my website, complete with video
  63. Start a photography group of women and meet up once a year for our own workshop
  64. Go on a hike
  65. Do “engagement” photos of my sister and hubby
  66. Enroll Ella in a nursery/pre-school
  67. Host a Christmas party
  68. Own and wear a pair of True Religion jeans
  69. Take a yoga or pilates class-Completed October 2009
  70. Create business stationary and envelopes
  71. Buy pens with my business name on them
  72. Go skiing
  73. Get soaking wet in the rain (not a lighting storm though)
  74. Create a more personal information questionnaire for clients
  75. Get a new laptop complete with software for work
  76. Be a guest at a wedding
  77. Learn about stocks and invest $500
  78. Take Ella to a children’s museum
  79. Book 5 weddings a year
  80. Have a photographer I admire shoot our family photos
  81. Teach Ella how to swim
  82. Plan a girls only getaway with sis, sis-in-law and Mom.
  83. Learn photoshop inside and out
  84. Visit Paris
  85. Create a workflow complete with checklist and folders for clients
  86. Read the entire Bible
  87. Blog every day for a month
  88. Print and organize my family photos
  89. Create my own little office space
  90. Create customer kits (welcome, information, contracts)
  91. Get professional contracts done up
  92. Purchase a set of templates or two from Design Aglow-Completed May 2010
  93. Add more products to my business
  94. Shoot my brother’s wedding-Completed December 2009
  95. Come up with rewards for referrals
  96. Go canoeing
  97. Visit Falling Water, PA
  98. Make personalized thank yous for my business
  99. Write a letter to my grandparents once a month for three months
  100. Take a business class or some course on new businesses-Completed Jan. 2010
  101. Visit a state I haven’t yet visited- completed July 30, 2009.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

DC Family II

My final family that I was able to book had the most adorable son! Just look at those brown eyes and you'll fall in love. I never alter the eyes using photoshop so when you look at his eyes and they look like glass, it's because that's how they really look. Lucky. What I found so wonderful was that mom and dad both speak Spanish and so mom speaks only in Spanish while dad speaks Spanish and English to their son. I feel that knowing a second language is so important these days. It offers so much possibility!

Here's your sneak peek! I couldn't choose just a few so you've got... oh, let's say nine. Your images should be done in the next few days.