1 year past and a new one on the way, What I've learned.

It seems strange that one year ago I knew I loved photography, I knew I could take good pics, and I had taken some great ones with my little point and click. My husband had been wanting to buy me my camera for about 3 years and I had always told him NO.
but he finally did it. One year ago I could have never taken this photograph.



This year has been a journey for me. Suprisingly emotional, as I poured a lot of effort into learning, and growing. I think I have tried to cram years worth of knowledge and practice into this year. I had a new baby this year too. So to say the least a lot of other things in my life have been neglected. {mostly laundry, but who needs clean clothes anyway!! LOL} I have been filled. I wanted something for myself, I wanted to do something I was good at. I wanted to excell at something, and feel proud of my creations because I love the arts, I love to Dance, and to paint and draw and create. I suprised myself at how much I devoured this. I have not felt passion for something outside of my kids for a LONG time.

BUT, as this new year is aproaching I find that I need to reflect on where I go from here. I am FAR from as good as I want to be. I still have so much to learn.
This year will be different for my photography, It will be slower, I will kick my business of the ground officialy, but not do as many sessions. My goal is to create unique custom images. I have found I can only do this if I have time to get to know the client, focus on the session, and put a lot of effort into the post processing.

I also want to get to know more photographers in my area and grow as I learn. My goal is to do a couple workshops this year so anyone who wants to do some with me:
lets find some kick but workshops and go to them. I will probably have to travel for them so I can meet up with anyone who wants to go too! I have been amazed at the amount of support and what I have learned from the photography community. I have made a TON of friends.

I have been inspired by many photographers through the years, starting in highschool as I looked at the many photojournalism photos done in the great depression and times of WAR. And there are so many breathtaking images out there. I feel inspired by light, and by the connections of the people I meet. I want to experiment more with self expression, and other kinds of photography besides portraits as well.

...so I guess we will see what this next year will bring, how I will grow and I am excited to see how my images and style change as I learn. I know this is long, and if you have read the whole thing....thanks! I hope this coming year brings great things to you. Grab life and soar with it.

my first B/W post for the Nov. in black and white project!

These were both taken in a "junk yard" which belonged to an artist. I Really wanted to steal some of that old junk, because I just love old stuff. And wouldn't some of it be cool for my sessions? or to decorate my house?...well off to the antique store for me. These were both conversions. cheating I know, but they were taken a month ago. :0) K

{ Q: } How do you know...

when you talk about photography to much?

{ A:} When your daughter is looking in a magazine and sees an advertisement for The Gap with kids in it, and she sais.." Wow! that is really good. I Looks like they shot that in RAW!" HaHaHa LOL! she is so cute, wants to talk like mom.

{The 4th}

I hope you all have a great Fourth of July weekend. Mine is starting early because I will be visiting family for the whole week. Which means I will be M.I.A. and will not have any new posts for about a week (or so). But I am going to leave you with a few of my children at parades and other 4th of july events from a few years ago.
And for those of you who visit that are not from america (and you know who you are!)
Just have a fun happy week!.....EnJoY

{SPOILED}

Canon EF 24 - 70 mm F2.8 L USM lens

This is my new toy! I am so excited! I have been working hard, and almost had enough money saved from my shoots to buy so Corey decided he wanted to help me and just get it because I am shooting my first WEDDING tommorow and he wanted me to have this new fabulous lens! It came this morning, and I have been playing with it all day! First of all it is sooooo heavy! but it's o.k. because it takes AMAZING pictures! I did not even know what I was missing. I can not wait until tommorow to see what kind of MAGIC I can make with it!

THANKS BABY, I LOVE YOU!!!!!!

Some personal thoughts. . . .

I just want to put this out there in the universe somewhere, Why do we do what we do?
What drives us to persue talents, passion, and different paths in our life? And truly aren't they always changing? Once I was an artist, I did water color, oil, pencil, you name it... My bedroom was a plaster of quotes, pictures, magazine pages,and I danced, Dancing was my true passion, the expression of emotion through movement and the beauty of the music and motion has no other feeling when you are in front of a crowd of hundreds of people. And photography, taking pictures led me to scrapbooking which led me to more photography,,, So art is my true love. As a stay at home mom I was starting to feel like that part of myself was beginning to get lost and I wanted to persue something I truly loved to make me feel more like myself and so I said it is now or never. There is never a better time than NOW to persue passions, and be who you are. First I am a mother, wife, and daughter of god. And then my alter ego who is the artist In whatever form it lends itself.
I am in awe at the beauty that are talents in whatever form god gives to us. For some talents are hidden in everyday acts of kindness and for others like Da vinci they are for the world to see, but what if we never acted on them? what would the world be like? So this is for everyone out there, be what you want to be and do what you want to do. God made us who we are, and at different moments our talents are used for different things. Find out what they are are live your dreams...express yourself..and don't hide them or get intimidated.

{Beleive in yourself...and others will too}

My Handsome boy!

part 2 of my I love this life project.

This is my son "E" he is such a sweetheart. Such a joy to my life. He is getting so big. 6 years old. Kindergarden is ending and he is going into first grade next year. he looks so much older than he is, this picture makes him look so grown up!
{sniff}

I love this life

I have a blogger friend who is doing a series of photos called I LOVe this life. Little snippets into our personal life, things that describe who I am. I wanted to play along with her and I will be posting photos for this randomly along the way.
this is my first photo. It is a few things I got this mothers day. Flowers from myhusband, a plate from my 6 year old and an all about my mom paper from my 8 year old. And a cute little foot print signature on a card from my baby (I have the cutest husband) What describes how much I love my life more than this photo!!

This might be silly to some of you, but I am way excited! ;0) I have been taking some classes and learning lots of new things. Photoshop is very overwhelming, and I only have elements. But I did learn some stuff in class today about layers and I figured out how to do a B/W conversion with a chocolate tint, and I did it all by myself without buying an action! I know any of you who do not speak photography might not even know what I am talking about...but I was totally excited tonight when I tried it on some pics of my baby boy! The teacher did not exactly teach us this but just a few things with layers and I came home and figured it out on my own!!! ANYONE please tell me if you think these look good!??

A few of my favorites from the weekend

It was my daughters birthday and we had alot of family in town. I have been LOVING my photography class and took some of what I thought were great shots this weekend and I just wanted to share them!

My daughters baptism pictures!

o.k. so I posted a ton of these pictures of my daughter because she is mine and I can and I love them. She is so beautiful inside and out. I could not have asked for a better oldest child or daughter. I love her so much. It was so fun to do this with her at the temple. I know it is something I will remember forever!
Isn't capturing these moments what it's all about anyway? this is why I love photography!

Decor & Photos

In these two pictures below of the water fountain, I was playing around with shutter speeds. If you notice one looks like the water is fuzzy and the other the drops are frrozen, pretty cool huh!


on this picture below I was playing with my telephoto lens. I love the depth of feild I got on this picture. And the Ivy is beautiful! I need to try this lens out with some families...or maybe my daughter when I do her baptism pics at the temple!

Here are a couple pictures of the black shelf I painted after I decorated it.


I love to be thrifty! this shelf decor cost a lot less than you might think....
starting left to right. white plates from dollar stor $1.50 ea. plate rack from rod works $10, real silver platter from sun city yard sale $5!! old refurbished frame free, another dollar store plate, and Pottery barn soup bowl on sale, with discount $6! and the shelf was a gift!