Saturday, May 29, 2010

Perspective

What a deep word to be thinking about on the Holiday weekend!  It is perspective about Memorial Day, however, that has changed for me over the years!  Let's start at the beginning!  My Birthday is May 31 and every 7 years it falls on Memorial Day itself while 4 out of those seven years my day falls in the weekend that is Memorial Day weekend!  Are we tracking so far?

Anyway, when I was younger, Memorial Day and the weekend preceding it were all about me and my Birthday!  We would plan MY party or a fun vacation for MY Birthday!  I had no clue that there was an actual meaning to the day and just assumed that everyone in the U.S. was celebrating my birthday!!  Ha!!  Ha!!!  Now, as I have matured, I know the true meaning of the Holiday and wish we could just forget that I have a Birthday that will make me another year older!  Sigh..........

So to all the men and women who have served our country including:  my dad (US Navy), my step-dad (US Army), the Knight (US Army) and my brother (US Army National Guard) I say a big thank you!  So during all the celebrations this weekend remember the fallen soldiers who died for our freedom and thank a Veteran or Soldier in your community for all they have done!

Enjoy your Holiday!!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

M.I.A.

Well, not really!  Just lots of other things going on that are taking me away from blogging!  Right now I am trying to get my allergies under control from two days of motorcycle riding!  I am paying for all the fun in a big way and I am miserable to say the least!!  My eyes and nose are out of control and my throat is sore and well, to be honest, Zyrtec is not working that well!  I hate to whine but I just want to crawl back into bed and pray that the laundry fairy will get her booty in gear and get it all done for me!  Ha!! 

Then there is the matter of the 3 year old Diva who calls for me like a teenager!!  Moooo-ooooom, she screams from the other room!  I miss that cut little girl who couldn't talk back and would sit on my bed and watch her shows while I rested but those days are long gone!  Sigh...............................  Really, I am done with the whining now back to reality and Mt. Laundry that is threatening a landslide if I don't do something quickly!!

Hope you all have a great day!!

Friday, May 21, 2010

What Happens When They've Had Enough?

It is great to photograph little ones but sometimes they get overstimulated and they call for a time out!  If you don't take their cues then they tell you in a much louder way!!  Ha!!  That is just what happened with Baby W yesterday!  I was so excited to break in the new D700 on this little cutie and things started out pretty good but.......................................................................................................................................
then this happened!!

Oh yeah!!  Little man was mad and tired and just plain old DONE!!  So we decided to try again later but he was still out of sorts so we will finish another day when he is his old happy self again!!  You can take a look at some of the cool stuff we did get by clicking here!  I promise you won't be disappointed! 

Thursday, May 20, 2010

Pre School Graduation

I love to see all the little graduates running around in caps and gowns!  It is too cute!!  I was hired by this little guy's mom to capture his big night!  Yeah, I do events too!  That way moms and dads don't have to worry about getting photos and they get to participate!

I will admit that I cried during the graduation!  Not because I had anyone graduating but because my little Diva will be there next fall!!  Is she really that old already?  When did that happen?   Time flies!  You better pay attention!!

Anyway, here is the final preview with the old camera!  Enjoy little D!


Well that's what I have today!  Off to photography Baby W!  This will be take 2 since he got really tired this morning so we will wrap it up this afternoon and have some pretty cool photos to share tomorrow!!  Yes, I have edited the AM session with him already so I have seen them!!  LOL!

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

My New Nikon D700

Happy early birthday to me! Happy early birthday to me! Happy early birthday dear me........Sorry, I got a tad carried away but a new camera makes me GIDDY! Especially an upgrade like the D700! Oh my, I think I am in lust love! LOL!

So you are asking, why did you need a new camera?  Well, I did not need one just to play with that is for sure but since I am a working photographer, I needed a backup!  The new camera will be my primary and the old camera will be the backup!  If you make money using your camera, especially weddings, it is important that you have spare gear just in case something should (and it will sooner or later) go wrong!  I have some high paying gigs coming in the next few months so I am now prepared!  Granted, I could rent something in a pinch but now there is no need unless I want to test drive a new lens that I am considering!

Here is the very first shot with the new camera and lens!  I also got a Tamron f/2.8 28-75 lens that is currently rocking my world!  I already had the 50mm f/1.4 that I got for my old Nikon that was made for my new D700 so I am set for a while (maybe or at least my husband hopes so)!  So here is the Diva in all her Cheeto face glory!!

Ok, that is all for today!!  I have photos to deliver and two shoots to plan for tomorrow!  Lots to share but I need to get back to work!!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Life.................................................................

Life gets busy and then it gets in the way! People get in the way and complicate an already complicated situation! I have been busy and life has been crazy! The last couple of days have taken a toll on me mentally and physically! I am tired and ready for a break from the crap that life is throwing at me, but I am working a lot and that helps me keep my sanity because I love what I do! How could I not love what I do when I get to love and cuddle a 10 day old baby and then take his photos and then give him back to his mommy??


If you want to see more of this handsome dude you can go here! I get my new gear tomorrow so it will be an early birthday present to me! LOL! Thursday I will be using the new gear for an infant shoot and a maternity shoot! I cannot wait!!

Monday, May 17, 2010

Faces and Flowers




Here is my entry for the week! The beautiful bride rolled her beautiful eyes several times throughout the day and I just happened to capture this moment while we were doing her Bridal shoot! Now click on the i♥faces button and go check out the other entries!

Friday, May 14, 2010

A Windy Wedding

It was May but it felt more like early April with the chill and the wind but that did not put a damper on this beautiful brides day!!

Little sis was helpful the whole day! She was a take charge kind of little gal who loves to have have her picture taken!! LOL!
When all was said and done, the new Mr. and Mrs. Bell took a few moments to relax before moving on to the reception! Notice that she has him trained to rub her feet already!! LOL!


If you want to see more from this shoot you can click here!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Wonky!!

Yup, wonky is my new favorite word!  Let me give you a definition!!

Wonky:  weird, out of sorts, not right, funny, strange or weird.

I am using wonky to describe our weather today because at first it was sunny, then it clouded over like it would rain and then sunny again!  Now the clouds are back!  I am looking for storms to pop up sooner or later!  In the mean time, the four amigos (me, the Diva and the two dogs) donned the sun screen, grabbed the camera and headed outside to my new favorite "room" in the house!  Sorry front porch but you are so last year and the back deck is so NOW!

I just hang out while the Diva and the dogs play!  Well, I don't JUST hang out, I take photographs and "practice" my manual exposure (I shoot 100% manual, 100% of the time) because you can never practice enough and sometimes I find a cool creative exposure that I love!  So here is some of what I saw today!

This is my prize for the day!!  I have had no luck with roses in the four summers we have been here, until now!  I finally figured out that the spot under the overhang of the house, gets very little rain so I have to water it on a regular basis!  I also stopped buying those "roses in a bag", where you get the stem and roots but have to wait for it to grow and bloom!  Those never worked for me!  I spent the money and got a great start that was ready to bud and went from there!

Then there was this!
A girl and her dog just hanging out with nothing better to do but keep each other company!  Be still my heart!!  And then they decided to really relax together!!  I am dying here!!  I just love my girl and her dog!!

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Wordless Wednesday

Monday, May 10, 2010

It's All A Blur!

Most of the time this is what I see when I look at the Diva:

She is constantly on the move and most days I cannot keep up so I sit in one of my comfy chairs and watch the action unfold!  LOL!!

Yesterday after church they took me out for Mother's Day to my favorite Mexican restaurant then I got to go for a motorcycle ride!  After the long ride, the Moody Teen and I went to get some flowers to plant while the Diva napped!  She woke up before we got home and was ready to help with the planting!

After planting, I got to go for another long ride and then we ended the day with steak and asparagus on the grill!!  Yummy!!  All in all it was a great day but the weekend did pass by too fast!  Editing wedding photos today so I will have a peek for you all soon!

Have a great week!!

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Invisible

When I started this blog, it was for family to keep tabs of what we are up to and so they could watch the Diva as she grows!  However, this blog has also taken on a form of therapy for me and while I will not give all the gory details, I will be honest with my feelings!

Most of you know of the turmoil my marriage has been in and I thank you for your prayers!  This week has been another tough one and it has brought me face to face with an issue that I have tried to repress for too long!  Here goes!

All of my life I have felt invisible to everyone in my life even when I am standing right in front of them!  Not invisible as in, I am a superhero who has the power to be invisible to save the world either!  It started at a very early age when my half brother was born, as far as I can recall!  I felt like he was always favored and I had to fight for love and attention from my parents!  It continued into grade school when I would get passed over for birthday party invitations or on the play ground!  In Junior High I got to really stretch my wings and found my vocal ability and singing became my life!  Before long, theater and dance also came along in what seemed like a natural progression!  I felt alive when I was preforming but them I would step out of the spotlight and I would be invisible all over again! 

It was a vicious cycle that kept repeating itself and carried over into boys!  I don't have to tell you what a dangerous combination this can be, do I?  I dated a couple of guys through school and managed to keep myself together and then I hit 18 and I snapped!!  Oh YES, I snapped in a big way and my wild child that I had buried came out to play!  I still felt invisible most of the time but when a boy gave me that desired attention, it often ended with disastrous consequences to my self esteem that left me feeling even more invisible than before!  This cycle continued until I met the Knight and we married!  I thought I was home free in the invisibility department but I could not have been more wrong!

Life soon took over and I began to become invisible again!  I just seemed to fade into the walls in every situation unless there was acting or singing involved!  I was confident when I took on a character from a play!  The more complex the character, the better for me to lose myself in that persona and forget about my invisibility for a while!  Let me make something clear before I go on;  I am NOT shy in the least!  I do not have social anxiety and I put myself out there all the time just to be looked at by the other person as if they are looking through me not hearing a word I say!

So why are these issues just now coming up again?  Well, because it still happens all the time and I was recently slapped in the face with it so that the emotion of invisibility can pouring out of the flood gates and there was nothing I could do to stop it!!  It has to do with being ignored, by my husband, on a constant basis!  If it is just the two of us, he is watching TV or has his nose buried in a magazine (it sucks to come second to a car, motorcycle or truck magazine)!  If there are other people around, he will ignore me for the entire evening!  The other night he told a girl she was the prettiest girl in the room while I was standing right there with them!  See what I mean?  INVISIBLE!

It has really got me to wondering what would happen if I just LEFT and never looked back?  I am talking about disappearing, changing my name, faking my own death (to escape) not that I want to go that far but who would care?  Who would notice?  If I stopped showing up at church would they care?  I sing on the Praise Team but is has become obvious that I am not needed because my talents are not being used to the full capacity!  If I walked away from home, who would care?  I would take the Diva with me, the Moody Teen is almost 18 and wants to be out of the house so bad he can taste it and my husband is in a downward spiral that he may never recover from so he wouldn't notice until he needed clean clothes or was hungry!  Being invisible is the worst feeling in the world!  There is really NOTHING to keep me where I am!  My parents are gone and well I won't talk about anyone else but there is no other family that is actively involved in our lives so that is a non issue at this point!

I guess I poured all of that out to say:  Do you really see me?  Do you hear me?  Do you even care?

Disclaimer:  Please don't think I am going to do anything stupid because that is not the case!  Someone made that stupid assumption once and I had NO contact with that person for a very long time!  I am NOT suicidal!  I am just pouring out my feelings as a form of therapy to clear my head and my heart and make some sense out of all the crap that has been happening lately!   If I do pick up and leave, it will be because things cannot be salvaged in my marriage (not for my lack of trying for the past 18 years)!  Right now I am pulling the load for both of us and if he doesn't get on board I will have no choice because he will have left me with no choice!

For my pallys who are prayer warriors, please pray for the Knight!  My only prayer right now is "Get him God!"  I know that is what needs to happen and if you would pray the same way, that would be awesome!

Friday, May 7, 2010

Fix-It Friday #53 - Hands-On Photo Editing Fun!


Here is today's image SOOC!  What a little cutie pie!

Here is my first fix imported into Lightroom 2 using the Super Hero preset from Siem Effects (button on side bar to click through)!  I ALWAYS import EVERY image with this preset and tweek from there!  Using LR, I was also able to pop the eyes and smooth the skin including his lips.  I also did some cropping.

I exported the image to PSE6 and ran a Pioneer Woman Action but cannot remember which at the moment (lack of coffee on my part)!  And then of course, a b/w conversion came next!
Now go check out the other fixes and have a great day!  I am working on a new post called Invisible complete with a photoshop project to go with it!

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

I LOVE a Parade

Smart and Trendy Moms


OK, so this is a different type of parade but a parade all the same! Plus you might meet some bloggers you did not know were out there!

Oh The Drama!

The Diva and I were spending a drama free afternoon on the deck yesterday and it was wonderful until........... duh duh duuuuuuuh.......drama ensued!!  I decided we needed to go in and get out of the sun (no the Diva did not object) in came the Diva and one dog (we have two)!  I hollered for Zoe the pit bull but she did not come!  I promised her a treat, and still no Zoe!  Finally, I head a knocking sound coming from under the deck!  I stepped off the deck, bent down and this is what I saw:


Yup, she was under the deck and she would not budge!  So, I went in to get treats to coax her out!  It didn't work!


At this point, I knew she was stuck!  She does weigh 65 pounds and has a very broad chest and shoulder area so she couldn't get out!!  The Diva, well I will let the photo speak for itself!

I assured her that we would get Zoe out but it may take some help from an outside source if I could not do it!!  And then there is this guy, who thought it was funny that Zoe was stuck!  He thought it was so funny that he was rolling on the ground with laughter!!



The nerve of some people!!  I mean really, this was a dramatic situation and all he could do was laugh and eat the treats I was trying to use to coax Zoe from under the deck!!

I ended up calling the Knight to come home and rescue his dog!  He came riding up on the new motorcycle like a hero and rescued the poor damsel in distress!  Ha!  Ha!  Anyway, he dug her out and rode off into the sunset (back to work) and the rest of us went in the house to recover from our harrowing ordeal (LOL) with chocolate shakes for the humans, water for the dogs and a nap for all!!

Monday, May 3, 2010

A Lesson in Trust

This weekend was a time to ponder the word trust in a big way!!  OK, not lying when I say the Knight and I have had our fair share of issues lately (the past few months)!  There are times when I thought about leaving but didn't!  I am not saying I should or shouldn't leave because I know that a marriage is hard work and lots of hard work at that!  Let's just say his issues (old demons) are taking over his life again and he is forgetting everything he once said was important to him!  We are working through it and it is NOT easy!

So this lesson in trust came to me while we were out on our maiden voyage on the motorcycle on Saturday!  It occurred when the Knight said to me, "You know the only thing between us and death right now is my welds."  He made new bars for the bike!  Wow, he was right!  For a moment I was taken aback and then I realized that I had already placed my life in his hands when I chose to get on the back of the bike with him!  He was in total control and I had absolutely none!  If he made one wrong move I could be injured or killed!  Needless to say, the first 30 miles were a little nerve wracking for me but by the second 30, I relaxed and put my trust in my husband!  He is a superb welder and an awesome rider (since he was little) so the only thing I had to really worry about was the people who do not pay attention when they drive!  Like the lady who almost turned in front of us on a busy street!  She saw us but it was almost too late!  Thank goodness for the Knight's riding skill because a less skilled rider would have laid that 800 pound bike down and gotten hurt or worse!

Letting go of the control in this situation is not easy but it is a lesson I dearly needed!  I needed it to reinforce the fact that I am not really in control of anything in this life and I cannot help or save anyone else from themselves!  My new thinking has lifted a huge weight off of me!  I know that I am not responsible for the decisions that some one else makes and I cannot save them from the consequences of their actions!  From now on all I can do is pray and let the chips fall where they may!  I will continue to work on my marriage as long as the Knight continues to work at it also!  Reevaluation will come later and then if things are not right some tough decisions may need to be made but for now we will "stay the course" and hopefully have many more great rides together!

Saturday, May 1, 2010

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