Distressing Furniture

      It's been a little too long between blog posts so obviously I haven't caught on to this blogging thing well.  My biggest problem was figuring out how to even log on to the account and if the problem takes longer than two minutes to fix I will often avoid it.  Soooooo, here we go again!!!

      I have officially jumped on the furniture painting bandwagon.  Actually, the furniture distressing bandwagon.  I usually acquire projects throughout the year and wait for inspiration to complete them.  I kept seeing all of these cool distressing techniques on pinterest and after lots of procrastination, I jumped in feet first.  I have always been that weird girl who will take a metal lamp and paint it white (much to the chagrin of my Sherwin Williams trained husband).  But I wanted to take my painting to the next level, and I am super happy with the results.  I got so excited about it, I started looking for things around my house to distress.  I may even distress my kids if they hold still long enough!!

Kids Chair studio prop.  Cost $2.00 at the Flea Market.

Distressed this little table and chairs just to give it a different look.  

Found this little set for $30.00.  Gave it an updated color and distressed the finish for the inevitable wear it
is about to receive to my wonderful family.

Hand me down from mom who can't help but buy things if they are marked low enough.
She handed that trait down to me...

Fall/Christmas

      I was blessed with a very successful Fall/Christmas season and am very thankful for each and every client who trusted me to be their photographer.  I didn't send out the usual email or advertisements this year and still had lots of appointments to fill the open days.  Every year I shoot I learn a little more about how I will approach the next season and make it better than ever.  There never seems to be enough hours in the day to learn everything I want to learn about this business.  Whether it's learning new techniques in editing or trying out new poses in shooting, there is one thing I know for sure.  I will NEVER know everything there is to know about photography!  Thank you for your patience, trust, and friendship!!

Haircuts

      It happens every October.  I prepare for it and even know it's coming and I still get caught up in the whirlwind of fall family sessions.  I am always so humbled by the amount of people who choose me out of the Many photographers out there to take their family pictures.  I get so busy making their families beautiful that I sometimes forget about making sure my own family is picture ready.  This year I decided I was going to pick my favorite session spot and take a few pics of my own kids.  Maybe I would even get inspired to print a few.  I had a cancellation one day and told the boys to get dressed and we would run and take a few pictures.  (I may or may not have bribed them with McDonalds for lunch.)  Drove to our spot, got the kids in place, and looked through my camera to check my lighting.  It was then that I realized my kids had not had a haircut since, well, I don't know when.  I just had to sit there and laugh.  Not that they were complaining!  Haircuts are not exactly something they look forward to.  I snapped a few anyway because this is what they looked like at that moment in time.  Long hair and all! We found another day, (rainy day actually) got haircuts and took another set of shots.  I love my handsome boys.

Organization

Mom's desperate attempt to pose two wiggly little boys.

      Just a few more minutes on facebook and I'll get back to work.  One or two more pins on pinterest or I'll read one more blog and I promise, a solid hour of work with no distractions.  Sound familiar???  Or maybe it's just the way I work...  Brian is always criticizing my work ethic, or lack there of.  I just don't like schedules.  I think it's why I am drawn to this business of photography.  You make your own schedule and have the creative freedom to play.  But I have learned that it does take balance.  And, wait for it.....organization...!!!!  Okay, to clarify I do love things that are organized.  I have a closet full of organization tools just waiting to be used.  In fact, I just created a board on pinterest completely dedicated to organization.  (Aren't you proud?)  Things run more smoothly when I'm organized.  It's just the getting there part that seems to fall apart for me.  If you come to my home for a meal or visit you won't notice much out of the ordinary.  I'm just warning you, don't open up any of the cabinets, drawers, or closets.  You may be injured if you do.  I would post a picture but that would require me finding my point and shoot Nikon or deleting pictures from my iphone because I keep getting the message that it's too full to take pictures.  And I'm just too busy writing a new post on my blog for that.  By the way, I have a wedding to work on and this was only supposed to last a few minutes...

Pinterest

      Like many people, I'm using Pinterest more and more in my business.  It's fun to use images as inspiration for my own shots and put my own spin on pictures I love.  There is a never ending amount of inspiration out there and I could probably spend an entire day just playing and pinning.  There are times, however, when it can be a bit of a hinderance.  I've had clients come to me with ideas they have seen on Pinterest but ended up disappointed we couldn't capture the exact shot.  It could be limited equipment, different lighting, or a child who is just the wrong age.  As long as we have freedom to play with angles and ideas within an inspiration shot, we can usually come up with some pretty fun stuff.  I always appreciate a client pointing out shots they love.  It helps me, the photographer, to provide an image that you, the client, will love!!

http://pinterest.com/verdierphoto/

Summer Heat

Remember when you complain about how cold it is in the winter???

   

Shot taken at Nixa park.

      This has been one of the hottest and most dry summers ever!!!  That is not good for the location photographer.  There are very few patches of green grass to shoot in and it's too hot to go outside past 8:00a.m.!!  But, you do what you must and work with what you've been given.  Sometimes that means using a bench instead of grass or shooting with a low aperture to hide the dry, crispy leaves.  And it doesn't hurt to have a assistant fanning you as you work!

Aminta and Emiliano

Hunter, Landry, Bryce, Laynee, and Emiliano

   

Better pictures to come, but I had to get a quick shot.  It is rare that we are all in the same place at the same time!

     After a Very Long Wait, we FINALLY got to meet Emiliano and Aminta!!!!  The process was not easy and there were many road blocks but we are so blessed to now be able to call them family.  Emiliano fits right in with our crazy boys and we are learning more Spanish than ever! We get to spend the summer with them so we are trying to get as much time as we can.  So far it has been tons of fun!!