Something has to give...

A few months back I decided to do what I should have done five years ago, go to Graduate School! Sounds exciting doesn’t it? Well, it has been a transition. First of all, who do I think I am? I work full time, have a daughter (who is three!), a husband, a house that needs to be cleaned, flower beds and gardens that need weeding, craft supplies that need using, a mildly successful photography business, a blog, family and friends I want to hang out with, brownies I want to eat… the list goes on…

Two weeks into my educational adventure, one thing became crystal clear; something had to give. It was a hard decision, but when the options were laid in front of me the choice was obvious, the photography had to go. As much as I love photography, it is soooooooooo time consuming. Many people assume the only time a photographer commits to their session is the time spent shooting and we all know what ASSuming does now don’t we … Let me be the first to tell you shooting is the easiest part. The real work begins when you get home and to start going through hundreds of images, then picking and choosing which ones to edit, then the editing (real work) begins, the lightening adjustments, the cropping, color enhancements, cloning/patching, then blogging about it, posting to face book. Ugh just thinking of all of this work is giving me carpal tunnel.

Let me give you a prime example of why editing is so time consuming. You wake up on the morning you are scheduled to have your pictures take, you wake up excited to start the day until you look in the mirror and see a zit with a heartbeat grew overnight on your forehead! The entire morning you spend feverishly applying layer after layer of concealer (if you are a girl, boys don’t put in this effort) on that juicer which is still red and is now oozing. Three weeks later you get your proofs back and notice that the zit is gone! You pat yourself on the back for your awesome makeup concealing efforts, or admire what a stud you are, when in real life you should be kissing the hands of your photographer who was up till 11:25pm cloning that zit out of 120 pictures!! But I digress...

Bottom line is I am giving up photography for the short term; any session I complete now and post about are from clients who booked earlier this year when I thought I was wonder women. On a side note, the graduate class is going very well, one thing that I am finding with this class is that there is no right or wrong answers, as long as you can back up your statements/thoughts with facts and real-world experiences you will do fine. I think I am really going to like graduate school.

Until next time… which may be a while… but stay tuned none the less.

Hugs & Shrugs: Mother-in-Laws & Mud Season

Yes. I am still alive! I am having severe blogging block and every time I think, 'oh I should blog about that' when I actually get the time to start doing it, American Idol comes on and poof another day is gone. So because I have nothing super exciting to report, I will do an old stand by post, a Hug & Shrug!

HUGS:
1) Mother-in-laws who call the house at 7am on a Saturday (keep reading, yes this is in the right catagory) and asks if your almost three year old can come over and spend a couple hours with her cousin - ummm YES! She is on her way right NOW!! 2) Bath & Body Works - True Blue Spa Refreshing Face Scrub w. Peppermint - it comes out of the tube super smooth, rubs on a little rough, but not so rough it feels like it is ripping my face off, and it smells like it leaves my face, cool and refreshed. 3) Pinterest: I have avoided you like Ben & Jerry's Coffee Toffee ice cream for the past 6 months, and after pinning for 46 straight hours, I know why. I am in love and don't be surprised if you see less posts in this blog, because ever 32 spare seconds I get, will be spent pinning!!


SHRUGS:
1) Pinterest, see #3 above, I.CAN'T.STOP. 2) Mud season in January and February, look mother nature, my car can not handle 6 months of mud season and if mud boots are going to become a staple to my wardrobe, I may have to go buy a pair that I actually like! 3) Laundry, does it ever end?

Texaco, Texaco

Warning: This is a totally random post.

Yesterday I was sitting in the truck waiting for my husband to get out of the bait store and I saw this sign across the parking lot and it made me smile. Maybe it was because I had spent the previous 24 hours selling Buick's to my toilet or maybe it was because I have some really fun childhood memories which have this word in it. I will let you decide.

Girls, you know what I am typin' about, come on sing it with me:

Ovah head to Mexico!!

Another totally random point, this is same picture, the first one is SOOC (straight out of camera) and the other is after being edited in Photoshop. As you can see I did some cropping, straightened the image, cloned out the building in the lower right and some poles in the lower left, added a Boost of color, and then added a texture to the image (Dirty Diana from Totally Rad). I am by no means a Photoshop editing professional, but I am thinking of posting a few before and after images on this blog just to show you how much a little (or sometimes a lot) of editing really enhances a photo. More on that later. For now, have a Happy Sunday and if you are in Maine - stay warm!!

I hab it Momma

For Christmas this year, one of my favorite gifts was a Canon Point and Shoot camera from my parents. For those of you who are not familiar with the term 'point and shoot' it is a digital camera that does not have interchangeable lenses, it doesn't weigh five pounds, and it fits it my coat pocket. I own a DSLR and that is what I use for my photography, but sometimes I just want to take something with me (like on the boat) that is a little easier to carry around. I loved this camera from the moment I saw it, unfortunately I wasn't the only one who experienced love at first sight.

Yeeep, she loved the camera and as soon as I took it out of the package, this little arm was reached out and all I heard was "I hab it, Momma". So what did I do. I let her have it. She was in heaven! She snapped photographs all morning, 87 to be exact. I had almost forgot I let her use the camera until I popped the memory card on my computer and saw her images. Her vantage points were low, the focus and white balance was off, but the photos tell a story; a story of Christmas morning from the eyes of a 2.5 year old. Perhaps I am a little biased, but I thought she did a great job, and what does every proud Mom do, they share the story! So here I present to you Christmas by Baby E.

First she starts off capturing the location, including Memere's new curtains.

A little lower we find the nativity scene, Christmas cards, and wait?!

What's that to the left?

Owwww, it's the most beautiful Santa baby on the planet.

Who rocked it out all morning.

Nice action sequence Baby E!

On to the Christmas tree... humm not quite in full frame...

Change locations and adjust the zoom and there you hab it!

Working the room and getting shots of people opening gifts.

Including close ups of the loot.

Then like a true professional, she worked the room photographing guests looking beautiful, overly excited to be there, and brushing off shoulders because that's how Mommy rolls on Christmas morning.

I am pretty sure she posed him, why else would he make that face - haha!

And then, with a quick rip of some Santa paper, 412 twisty ties later; baby Santa, the Christmas tree, and all the guests were no longer on the photographer's agenda.

I will spare you of the 52 photos that were taken of .... the twins!

In for the close up, or as I like to call it, the "Mommy Shot"

Getting those cute little toes on film.

Okay, I will spare you the rest, because literally there are 47 more pictures of these babies.

Pretty impressive right?! I laugh every time I look at them. For 2011 I did really well printing photographs and putting them into an album, I will have to print this series and include a little write up, because well... it's too funny not to and what a great memory these images will resurrect each time we look at them.

Happy Tuesday!

I Simply Resolve

Resolution - A firm decision to do or not to do something.

Tomorrow marks the beginning of a New Year, a day when many people make a firm decision to drink more water, lose 10 lbs, go for a new job, pay off debt, and spend more time with friends and family. But for anyone who has ever made a 'resolution' like the ones above, we all know come March, if not sooner, that little thing called life gets in the way. Next thing we know, it's 4p and you realize that you haven't even taken a sip out of that water bottle, it's July and there is no way you are squeezing into that two piece you bought in January, and before you know it it has been two months since you called your best friend or your Mom.

Life happens. So this year I am keeping my resolution short and sweet. I am making it something only I can control. I am not going to let anyone mess up this decision, deadlines are not going to make me miss it, and chocolate cake will not be my down fall, for in 2012:

I told you; short and simple and easily attainable AND sustainable.

Happy New Year Everyone!

The $100 Dilemma

First of all, happy day after Christmas. I am going to go out on a branch here and say this past Christmas was my favorite! Baby E was at the perfect age and loved every single one of her gifts, I got to see everyone who is near and dear to my heart, I ate more food than I should have, and best of all, it snowed on Christmas day!! I hope everyone reading this had a wonderful weekend and got everything they hoped for this holiday season. Now on to my dilemma.

For Christmas I received a $100 dollar bill. Yahoo! One hundred dollars to spend on me, myself, and I. Sounds pretty easy right? Wrong! You know when I first opened it, I thought groceries, or maybe a Sam's Club card L.A.M.E. I know!! But then I thought, no, I am going to spend this money on something for me, all me. But what? I am toying with a few ideas, but none really stand out as a must have.

Here are things I am toying with:

1) A new pair of Dansko's (kind of lame),
2) Paint and a new light for the kitchen (but is that really for ME?),
3) A new camera lens (but do I really need another lens),
4) Shades for E's room (wait, that's not for me),
5) Christmas decorations that are probably on Clearance (and who exactly would that be for?)
6) A Sam's Club Membership (errr, read above),
7) A new purse (Amy, you already have 1,548 purses, 1,546 of them you never use),
8) A grill insert for the Jeep (not something I can really use, it will just look super cool to that one person, other than me who will notice),
9) New framed prints for the living room (for living room which is not ME)
10) Oil Change and gas for the car (okay, this is getting ridiculous).

As you can see this seemingly thoughtful gift is wreaking havoc in my brain. Why is it so hard for me to spend $100 on myself? Don't get me wrong, I am sure I will have no problem spending this money, two minutes inTarget and I assure you, the $100 and probably a little more will be spent - BUT will it all be spent on ME.

I am going to throw it out there: What would you spend if you have $100 to spend on YOURSELF??

We have a winner!

Congratulations Paula Clark

you are the winner of a

$5 Starbucks Gift Card!!!