I had the exciting privilege of covering the indoor kids racing for my friend’s son. I was really surprised to find it absolutely enjoyable. Among the 70+ kids ranging in ages of 5-14, there were no issues and no tears between kids or parents. All of the parents worked together to help fix cars and make sure everybody had what they needed to race. And to see these little people – – yes! as young as 5 years old! racing! was the coolest thing EVER! At an intermission, all of the racers lined up for autograph time. It was super cute to see these little people signing autographs like a huge stars. And I think the funniest part of the day was that the littlest ones can hardly write their name but can navigate a track like pros!
The other cool thing about the day was watching the kids make friends! Do you remember how you could just strike up a friendship with no questions or cares when you were a kid? It’s so much harder as an adult! I watched 2 kids who had never met, yet raced against each other on the track, pal up like they’d know each other their entire lives.
Oh, and this is likely the coolest place I have ever seen my business name! On the hood, too! Rumor has it, I get to have the hood to hang in my garage!
What can I say about these two idiots!?!? They are my best models, my lighting testers, and of course the butt of most of my jokes. So when I needed to test a few things in the studio with some new flash equipment, they were more than accommodating.
I had a little fun over this past week and created some new things for you to borrow for your wedding! Feel free to ask to borrow anything!
It’s rare that I get the opportunity to and learn and talk shop with other photographers. This past weekend I took my assistant, Morgen, loaded up the Jeep, and headed to Little Rock, Arkansas. We went to a hands-on flash seminar. It was a really great experience. We learned new things, met some really amazing people, and drove 2000 miles in a 4 day weekend. I am so excited to use our new knowledge and make some great art!
We started the day with some lecture in a classroom situation. If you know me, you know that sitting still is not much in my wheelhouse. From there, our room of 30 broke off into 3 smaller groups to go off with the instructors. The first stop was a display of how find the right ratio of background light to artificial light while still making the image look nicely even. The second stop was a headshot clinic that covered the basics of on-location headshot shooting.
From there all of the groups came together for a study on how to change the sky color in-camera, in combination with a gelled flash, to make a dramatic change from just plain old grey skies. It was great to see how easy it actually was.
After the break, things started to get interesting. We went to the parking garage to play with some back-lighting and other directional light. This is the kind of stuff I love playing with! This is where things start becoming art and not just images.
I’ve really never played much with gels to change the color of a situation but that’s about to change! The blue background above is actually a red brick wall outside of the hotel!
Now for the fun stuff! Urban street photography has never been my strength and after this I am having quite a palm-to-face moment. Too easy. Why was I afraid of trying these things? All my years of insomnia – – and I could have been doing this! Now I have so many ideas and things I want to try!
By the time 9pm rolled around people were heading off, but a handful of us die-hards weren’t done yet! So we threw Morgen in as the model. Of course, as part of the selfie-snapping generation, she was all over being the model. And good at it, too! We played some more with our blue gels and just had fun with it.
I was very pleased with the seminar. I was impressed how everyone worked together. Everyone shared. Everyone helped. Everyone was just happy. It certainly sparked my inspiration to go out and create. I needed that.
Do you remember how amazing Christmas felt when you were a child? The wonder. The excitement. The anticipation. My little pal Maximus is still new to the Christmas fun but I’m sure next year he will remember the feeling of getting all of his goodies!
It is one of my favorite times of year. I admit that as an adult I still have some secret butterflies to see what is under the tree for me! And I always find it so funny to see what the kid’s favorite gifts are. This year the big geek-out hit wasn’t the giant box with the basketball hoop, or the video game; the big winners this year were the tin of Star Wars Pez guys and the big fuzzy blanket. You just never know!
Sure, I say it all the time, “if you need something done or made, just ask,” and finally somebody took me up on it! This Saturday, Niki’s daughter will be wearing this cute little dress that I made! Niki wanted to incorporate her Mom’s wedding dress into the wedding in some way, so we used fabric from the train as the underlayment to the blue lace top. I can’t wait to see little Addy wearing this!
The things we do to try and fit in . . . The plan was for Chris to propose to Stephanie right about sunset at outlook #10 at Pierce Stocking Scenic Drive. In order to look like we were supposed to be there and not give the surprise away, Morgan (assistant extraordinaire) brought along a pal to pretend to do some senior photos. We monkeyed about for an hour or so waiting for friend Chris to work up the nerve and get down on one knee. We may have a little too much fun some times. We had lots of laughs, got to participate in an epic moment in two people’s lives, and then topped off the evening with ice cream. Since when is a “salty pimp” a sundae name?
As it turns out, working 12-16 hour days for 3 months straight is bad for my attitude. So, now that we have crested mid-season, I decided it was necessary to briefly hang up the electronics and see if I could find my real self. Even if it was for just a few hours here and there. I took an afternoon down the river with the ladies for Niki’s bachelorette party (of course shenanigans occurred til the wee hours of the next day), I took an hour on the beach with my babe, the kid, and the dogs (Ollie is learning how to swim this year, she’s still afraid of the water though), and took an hour to have a little fun with some new babies. Puppy breath always bring me back to my happy place.
I am now refreshed, with a spring in my step, a slightly larger smile, and considerably breezier attitude! So, bring on the remaining half a page of “should have done yesterday”, mass shipping, and two more months of serious heavy-season! I suppose I could also look at perhaps doing the laundry and cleaning the house, too. I suppose . . .