It's How You See It...

Today, I took Lawyer out to practice shooting at a new spot that I wanted to check out. This is Lawyer's LEAST favorite activity...if it involves the word "camera" or "pictures", he's out.

Well, I was less than thrilled by what I captured today but what do I expect, I have a 4 year old boy who is way more interested in the "forest" and the wild mushrooms than in me getting some good practice pics in.

I was going to scrap the pics and not post anything but after Jason looked at them and said some encouraging words, I decided that they were wonderful (even with their technical imperfections, there is still a perfectly perfect little boy) and now they are probably some of my favorites.

Thanks Lawyer and Jason for making me see past my stubborn ways!

8 Months Old...

Here is my nephew, now 8 months old. Click on my Flickr tab on the top right of my blog to see more pictures...these were just my favorites.

FYI: I'm actually working on my pricing structure that I plan on offering for my photography and I do know that while I'm in the process of building my portfolio that there will be discounts on my products and services for a limited time! I'm so excited to start this up!

Something New...

I have some new pictures that I've just got to upload to Flickr but in the mean time, here were two of my faves!





Thanks for the input too about my possible plunge into photography! I'm not in a hurry so I think that should make for some wise decisions in this new journey of mine.

Seriously Considering...

I never was a photographer, in fact, I never really cared about pictures until a year and a half ago. It was New Year's 2008 and my aspiration was to become better at documenting our family. I NEVER picked up a camera, never knew much about the point-and-shoot that I owned and frankly I just always wanted to be more involved in what was going on rather than being stuck behind a camera.

Then I started using my P&S on New Year's...vowing to take pictures of something, ANYTHING, to get in the groove of taking pictures. I figured I'd be off the band wagon within the week so if I got any pics, then GREAT!

I found that I liked getting creative with my pictures, rather than the "Stand here and smile" pics that I was so accustomed to. I liked moving my body (whether it was up high, on the ground, away from the action, etc) to see creatively with the camera, even though I was shooting with a P&S (I don't think I really thought much about fancy dSLR cameras really).

I remember one day that I wanted to look on the internet for things on photography. My only goal was to get better pictures of my son...period. I happened across a blog, The Pioneer Woman, and it forever changed my view of photography. After reading her words and drooling over her pictures, I thought to myself "Hmm, I need to look into these dSLR cameras." Before I knew it, I had gone to our local camera store and purchased my first dSLR camera knowing absolutely NOTHING about such a device.

I knew that I wanted to get out of shooting in AUTO as soon as possible since, what was the purpose of a fancy camera if I didn't utilize its fancy settings? I really sucked but was a willing and able learner that really wanted to know as much about everything: ISO, DOF, aperture, white balance, shutter speed, etc.

Somehow, through it all, I found that photography had become an intense passion for me. I usually find that most things that intrigue me, I become very passionate about because I truly an a learner by nature. I read...A LOT. EVERYTHING. The back of boxes, any and all manuals, websites, the order forms in the middle of catalogs. I just love learning and reading about anything and everything.

Which brings me to today, not particularly this very day, just this day in general. I've had quite a few requests for people to have me take their pictures. I've pushed it away, out of my mind, I've even prayed AGAINST it. Why? Because I always felt that the world didn't need another "professional" photographer. Yet, this door, this path God's created, continues to remains open.

So, I'm kind of putting myself out here for all to see & hear. I'm convinced that I quite possibly need to do photography - it's been consuming my thoughts, dreams, my spare time, etc. I'd be interested in any and all feedback, whether it's that you think that my style and pictures suck and who in their right mind would pay me to give it a shot, I love your style. I really would love to hear anything that pertains to my style, which I believe is doing kind of trendy, colorful images. I mainly am thinking of doing kids and adults but definitely not any formal events like weddings, etc. I'm not cut out for such stress-inducing situations right this moment and really, weddings don't interest me at all. I'm into life-style, on-location, natural light photography, not the pose and matchy outfits pictures.

So what are your thoughts? Should I keep practicing, stop thinking about getting paying customers or go for it?

Something New...

I have been on the hunt for some interesting places to shoot and I found this cute little wooded area in my neighborhood. It wasn't much but at least it was different than my back yard. I tried so hard to get Lawyer to at least be in the vicinity of where I wanted to take his picture and he did okay for being 4...and a boy...and my ever overly excited child that did NOT want his picture taken.

Lawyer doesn't have his eyes closed...he's just thinking and it also looks like his slurping spit in his mouth (you know how you like to do Jello in your mouth? yeah, like that).

Oh why, oh why do I try with him? I thought if I just said "Hey, look at that log...wouldn't it be cool to sit on?" that Lawyer would actually think it was cool...instead, he looks uncomfortable and he's just being cheesy. (throws arms up in the air)

I thought everything about this set up was neat...from the rusted looking metal bridge to the deep green of the trees in the background. I didn't care what Lawyer did but...come on!! Throw your picture-taking mom a bone already!

I also didn't care what he wore since I just picked him up from school and it was a spur-of-the-moment stop...it was more to practice with a new location. I think this place would be really cool during fall when you could where some rich fall colors.

Anybody know of a cool place in North Texas that has overly bright colors (perhaps a painted doorway, or children's park, etc) or a really old "vintage/retro" location? I would love to know of someplace that's unique and cool!

Still Here...

...I think.

Summer for us this year has gone by blissfully slow but I know it will be gone in a wink of an eye. Actually this whole year has gone by relatively slow, in a good way. It's nice to soak up the last remnants of my 29th year....soon, I'll enter into a whole new decade-era for myself.

Here's some more of the crazy door-way light I talked about in the last post. It's not the best picture of Lawyer but I love the contrast between the bright light and the darkness of the shadows.

Enjoy your weekend!

It Must Be Summer...

I kind of have no desire to do a lot of blogging, which is fine by me. Life calls daily from the moment I wake up to a quiet house to the moment my head hits the pillow at night.

Every once in a while, I get on a kick to try out self-portraits. It's more a way for me to work on getting skin tones more true, eyes that are in focus and the different natural light my house provides me with.

This is my favorite picture I have ever taken of Jason and I took it this morning. For some reason, door ways are the best places for great lighting and my back door way does magical things with lighting.

And of course, a blog post here would be nothing without a picture of my mischievous child. The ruby-red lips were courtesy of a popsicle he was eating when I took the picture.

And these were just interesting leaves in my yard that I did crazy things to.

Hope you have had a beautiful weekend!

Who is this child?

All of a sudden, Lawyer has become "compliant" (I use that word LOOSELY) to my requests for my little photography practices. I mean, there's only one other person around besides me so he must carry the torch, right?

So, with no apologies, here are more pictures of The Law.

Uh, can you tell he's a ham? I can hardly wait for parent/teacher conferences when he starts elementary school.

Love the dirt and marker on the hands!

In other news, I almost shed a tear this afternoon as I handed Jason my rented 28-70mm 2.8 L lens. It needed to be returned today, and I am happy to say, that after 3 weeks of shooting almost entirely with this lens only, I now see why it is so highly favored by so many professional photographers. But I do have several other lens that I'm ready to rent to test them out! Let's hope my subject above is as willing then as he was today!

All Over the Place

Here's another un-cohesive post but it will be full of pictures! I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing...hmm.

Anyway, here are a few more from my little test shoot with Lawyer yesterday. I love learning new things with my camera and I really think that I got the hang of it, though it is not even near perfect.

I rode my bike on a trail nearby to see if there was anything worthy of photographing. My main purpose was to find a new location that I might be able to take a neighbor-girl nearby to take some practice pictures of her. The place was cool but not NEARLY what it looked like about a month ago. Last month, the grass was really tall and the wild flowers were out in full force...but I still think that I could get some fun pictures here.

Oh and our 4th of July celebration was a blast...literally. We ate, drank, swam and shot off illegal fireworks in the city. Good times.

This is my parent's new outdoor living space/bar...it's called the Landshark.

Oh and my artwork came in while I was on vacation! These two pieces are amazing to me. Like I mentioned before, it's like Alice in Wonderland meets The Adams Family. Love it!

I got them at The Black Apple Etsy store. You can go to her etsy shop to buy and to her blog to see all her wonderful things.

Thanks for stopping by...oh and if anybody has any amazing places in North Texas for me to check out for photography reasons, leave me a comment to tell me where to visit!