{Project 365} and I am soooo far behind...

Hey everyone!  I can't believe I am so far behind on posts!  I have alot of pictures to post and some cool updates! 

First, I finally got a 40 hour a week job!  YAY...or not.  But it will pay the bills and I will hopefully be able to invest more of my business money into my business!  That is a major plus!

Next, I enrolled in online courses at New York Institute of Photography.  While I love to take pictures and have pretty much invested my heart and soul into this business, I really have no formal training!  Everything I know about photography I learned on my own, from online resources, and from people around me!  What I do know, though, is alot more than a whole bunch of people out there who call themselves photographers and that makes me proud.  What I don't know truly seperates me from the professionals, and that is what I plan on upgrading my title too!

So let's get it started, ha, let's get it started in here...yes I bust out into random songs at the drop of a hat.  My friends and family think I may be a little crazy! hee hee

I am on day...18!

On day 18 we had freezing fog.  That's right, freezing fog.  It was so amazing!  It clung to branches, fences, leaves, cars, anything that it could, and it made southern Michigan look like a winter ice paradise!  It was really cool!  Here is a picture of it on a surviving leaf.



Day 19

Is just a little picture of my new signature scent that I indulged in over christmas time.  It was my little present to myself and if you haven't smelled it, you don't know what you are missing!  It is amazing!  Even my daughter is sneaking it!  She thinks I don't know!  Whatever...



Day 20

I cleaned my office because my computer got a new hard drive, so I figured I should welcome it home with a nice gesture!  It survived the surgery, is well, and runs great!  I love my computer doctors!  This is just a little cutey I found where it shouldn't have been and is now hanging in my office.



Day 21

I am starting a Black & White Collection to hang on my walls and will be sharing it with you!  You will be able to order the prints from my website and I am taking requests!  Here is a little preview



Day 22

Hmmmm...no pictures....

Day 23

I had a fun session with my good friend Jessica, who finally gave in to my begging and agreed to play with me!  Our relationship is really quite amazing and I am so glad to have her as a friend!  I will miss her when she goes off to play at GVSU next year and I am truly proud to call her friend!



Day 24

I miss the sun.
The big ball of joy in the sky that warms the earth and cause beauty to grow in places where there is only desolation and dirt.  Here are some photos from my 4th of July last year that reminded me of sun and warmth and growth.





Day 25

Can you guess what this is?



Day 26

Another missing photo...I should call a detective!

Day 27

This is what it looks like if you stand in the road outside my house tonight and take a picture of the main intersection in my town!  No, I did not add texture-it's snow!  NOT SUN-snow...




Thanks for looking and any comments would be well cared for!

{Project 365}

I have been pretty busy this past week, but still managed to grab my camera everyday but one. I call that my 'Rest" day (which translates into "Oops, forgot!") 

Here is day 11

Let me explain, my daughter plays a 14u travel softball team out of Sturgis, MI.  While at practice she was doing some catching and throwing drills and tore her hamstring.  She is pretty tough and dealt with it pretty well until the second  day when it ached so bad she asked for crutches.  From day 11 until now, and I am sure a couple more weeks, this has been the center of her life.  Of course, she also isn't letting it heal (running in school for state testing and sledding) but she is 13 and it is to be expected!

Day 12

Haa haa, this picture makes me laugh!  First of all, that is snow my son is lying in and I had to bribe him to do it!  Second of all, his face is like that because our dog now believes it is play time and is jumping over him, running around him, and sniffing and licking him-it was pretty comical.  Third of all I made him lie there for about ten minutes!  Ahhhh the things we make our children do! =D

Day 13

I visited out local waterworks park and photographed some ducks.  I love ducks.  They are cute and funny...enough said.

Day 14

is in no way an advertisement for this product.

That being said, I began this products thirty day challenge and so far so good!  It is fun and challenging and I feel it working!  It's great!

Day 15

REST...AKA The Forgotten

Day 16

I had an amazing senior session with the beautiful Ashley. 

Day 17

I had a couples session and a family session.  It was a busy day but I loved it!  This is from my family session with the gorgeous Brooke and her lovely mother, Carmen.

I hope to keep up to date with this, if not, at least I am shooting the pictures and not falling behind!  Let me know what you think!

{Project 365}

Yes, I am a couple days late posting this, but better late than never, right!? 

Day seven is this photo

I love this photo of the snow collecting in the rustic fence.  I am a country girl at heart, and the older I get the more I realize that while I do love the luxury of an amazing purse, the scent of designer perfume, and a fantastic pair of heels-I love more being able to walk out my back door into the woods, catching a butteryfly flutter by quietly, and seeing the sunset with out any obstructions.  The song "Cowboy Take Me Away" by The Dixie Chicks had been a long time favorite of mine and the one lyric that always gets me is:

"I wanna walk and not run, I wanna skip and not fall

I wanna look at the horizon, and not see a building standing tall

I wanna be the only one, for miles and miles

except for maybe you, and your simple smile"

Yes, I love this song!  Which leads into picture two

Day 8

is a barn picture because I have this fascination with rustic structures!

The grain look is not really a grain look...it is snow!  It was snowing pretty hard when I took this and I made my husband pull over so I could snap this picture.  I love the red door!

Day 9
is me!  On day nine I cut off all my hair!  Over 10 inches of it just because it felt so...dead.  Of course, that is because it is, but it had over stayed it's welcome and it was time for it to go! So, I have another three years of growing to get long hair again, but who knows what I will do to it next...well, Jolene, my beautician does but she is the only one!



Yes, I am cheesin' for the camera, but you can do anything in your self portraits!

Day 10

is a headshot of my long time friend Brooke.  I did some headshots of her for publicity and I hope that all her endeavors take off for her!  She has come along way!  Watch for this chica, she will be famous soon!



I played around with some unusual textures I had to see what I could do with it and came up with this.

Ok, so there it is, whew!  It is like keeping a diary!  I will be able to look back this year and remember all the things I did!  Can't wait to see what is to come and until then enjoy the journey!

{Project 365} Day 6

Today has been weird day for me, the kind where I feel like I just kinda floated through it with no purpose what so ever.  Tomorrow will be different, I vow to have a goal, a drive, and great picture for you! Ok so that said, here is my day six picture:

This is my beautiful daughter, Caycia, (pronounced Ka-sha) who not so patiently sat to be photographed.  What is so special about this picture is I took it in manual under my dining room lights.  I do not own a good low light lens yet so the photo is actually grainy and I almost deleted  it!  I hate grainy pictures!  BUT, (insert drum roll here), I wanted to see what I could do with the picture, so I used the new action set I invested in today-it is very awesome from Flora Bella and is the Cosmopolitan action from then Color and Haze set.  I then topped it off with a FREE texture from an amazing artist, Jerry Jones, at his site Shadowhouse Creations a must see for all texture lovers!  So what do you think? 

Thanks for checking and enjoy the journey!

{Project 365} Days 4 & 5

Yes, I know today is day 6 and I still have a picture to take but I thought I would go ahead and share my unposted captures. 

Day 4

I wanted to do an outside shot but everything was white or brown, so blah!  Then I spied this in my back yard.  This crate was used as a stool and got stuck to the ground before we could get it inside!  So, here it lies, a beautiful red in a world of white, white, white-I love the contrast!

Day 5

I waited until the last minute to shoot this one.  I was walking through my house last night and it dawned on me that I hadn't done my 365 project yet!  So I grabbed my camera and ran around my house trying to find something that caught my eye.  I saw my daughter's new Chucks on the floor under the coffee table and thought "BINGO."

The hard part about getting this shot was the lighting.  It was dim in our living room and the only light was coming from one lamp that was not positioned all that well, so I figure what a great way to practice shooting in Manual in low light.  I started off holding the camera while sitting on the floor, pic came out blurry.  So I layed down and steadied myself on my elbows and that was a little better-BUT what did the trick was actually resting the camera on the floor and using my lens to get a good angle shot, then cropping in CS3.  Whew-it was tough but I learned from it and that is what this project is all about!

If you want to know how I got the rest of the look just message me and I will share my small wealth of knowledge with you!

Until later - Enjoy the journey.

{Project 365} Days 2 & 3

So, I have been thinking about this Project 365 thing and I came to realize that while I am doing this I may as well learn more about photoshop (I have version CS3) and different ways to spice up my post processing. I also thought "Why focus on just one thing at a time? Why not try some action photography too?!"

So my day two photo is a series of pictures I took while out walking with my 2 year old lab Savannah. She loves to go for walks and loves the snow, so this was fun! I also decided to do my first real storyboard. For those of you who don't speak photography a storyboard is just a canvas you put multiple pictures on to basically tell a story. I got this story board for The Coffeshop (check out her link under my indulgences) and it was free! What do you think?

The next picture is may seem kinda simple but I had a heck of a time getting it and I am STILL NOT HAPPY WITH IT! Let me tell you though that shooting icicles in 10 degree weather, with no gloves on, in MANUAL is probably a little like walking up hill to school-BOTH WAYS! The sun was reflecting off of them and then I would get shadows and then I had to change my iso and lower my settings, then raise my settings! Here is what I got, not happy, but what do you think? Oh and I added the blue tint in CS3 during post processing.

Thanks for checking and see you in a couple days!

2010 365 Project

So, one of my 2010 resolutions is to REALLY learn my camera and lenses. Not that I don't know alot about them now, but there is always something more to learn! One of the ways I resolve to do this is the 365 Project. Basically, it is a project to help photographers get more in touch with their cameras, creativity, and style by shooting a photo each day. So, I am going to post my pictures that I take on my blog for you to see. Probably not everyday though, I may have to do weekly or bi-weekly posts too. The point is that I swear to pick up my camera every day and try a new shot.

Here is today's picture

This is a picture of my dream car...okay so it is a Hot Wheel, but have you ever priced a real Woody? Pretty salty for my budget at the moment so I bought this one to tide me over until I win the lottery, or the HGTV Dream Home...which ever comes first!

I would love to hear your comments and for you to join along!  If you need any tips just message me!  I would love to help!  If you decide to take the challenge-let me know, I would love to set up a blog roll for it!

Until next time~Enjoy the Journey