Sneak Peek! Jaylinn!

On Friday I got to go to Miller's Market with an old friend Taylor and her daughter Jaylinn. I hadn't seen Taylor since long before Jaylinn was born so it was nice to see old friends and catch up. Jaylinn is the cutest little thing I've ever seen. We took both of the kids in their Halloween costume and let them play around. Miller's had lots of little things for small kids to do.

Here's a sneak peek at a Jaylinn's pictures.

Frustration

I'm easily driven to new things but also very easily frustrated due to lack of results. Insert photography and you have me frustrated.

I don't have a lot of free time. It's true. I work two jobs, commute all over hell and back, have a 15 month old, and my best friend is getting married in less than 3 weeks. But I tend to make time for those who I feel care about me and want to see me succeed.

I've had SOOO many people who said they would like for me to do photos for them. Hell they are free, just takes a few hours of your time. And yet, everyone backs out. What the heck!? I know I'm not great and I know everyone's time is precious but it would be nice to have someone say "Hey, we'd like you to practice using us" and then actually stick to it.

I really love to do landscapes and non-human subject matter but it's hard  to just take a day and go off and take photos. Dawson's at the age where that is almost impossible so being able to say to my parents, in-laws or husbands that I need a baby sitter for two hours is MUCH easier! :)

Common people. Let me take your pictures!

Blustery

I love Halloween. I love fall. I love everything about the season changing from summer to fall. I don't believe I have ever truly appreciated the beauty of the year though.

It is amazing to sit down and look at what fall is. It's a time to reflect on a good harvest. We grow things all year round but here in Colorado the vast majority of crops are harvesting in early fall. A good crop means God has blessed you and your family. There is a lot of beauty in the trucks and tractors rolling out to celebrate harvest, good or bad. The leaves changing proves that yet another year has come and gone and growth and rebirth has happened and will happen again next year. But it also is a reminder that life gets dark at time. Days get shorter, nights seem to get a little darker. With the cold weather setting in it reminded me that darkness in the literal sense is setting in on us here in the country. But also figuratively. Darkness happens to everyone but eventually light reappears. Fall brings in the shade and winter is cold but spring brings a new light. I have to remind myself that when my life goes through a sense of fall that eventually there will be a spring.

I love the way this picture turned out. It was actually a very nice, sunny day when the picture was taken but when I saw this group of trees and bushes I thought it looked sinister. It was a not so sunny snapshot that made me think of all of this.

Barns

I love old barns. So does my aunt. There's really nothing to say about this one but here's a little picture for your viewing pleasure.

The oddest of objects

I get told a lot I have a good eye and a good word. I love to write and have always excelled at writing eloquent and nicely spoken pieces. Since picking up the camera I get told a lot that I have a good eye.

A few weeks ago on a shoot I had an object that just kept catching my eye. I kept thinking to myself, "huh, why would you take a picture of that." But finally I gave it and did. Then I was reminded of a Matt Hardy quote that justified taking the picture. "Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photography."

I kinda like it :)

Go Pink

Breast cancer awareness has a very special place in my heart. I go pink! Especially in October, but we should all remember year round. And on top of breast cancer awareness we have to all remember that cancer in general takes many lives and that we need to find a cure for ALL forms of cancer.

I encourage everyone to do something special as Breast Cancer Awareness month comes to a close.

A bit of a lull

Other than finishing up Magness sale videos, there isn't a whole lot going on here lately. I'd love to get a bunch of Dawson in his Halloween costume at a pumpkin patch but motivating my husband to actually go with me is like pulling teeth and I don't really want to go alone. It's also October in Colorado and it's surprising it hasn't snowed yet. So hopefully within the next few days I'll be able to sneak over there and do some cute pictures.

I should be doing a couples session, an engagement session and hopefully a few family sessions in the next few weeks. And I also have the privilege of doing my best friends boudoir photographs for her wedding. Her fiance is in the army and will be leaving shortly after the wedding for an entire year over seas so this is going to be extra special for both of them :)

I'll try to keep you guys (who am I kidding, no one actually reads this) entertained with random stuff in the next few days until I can actually get some more photography done!

Better Late than Never

Megan didn't get a gift at her bridal shower from me because I bought the wrong size shadow box. So she has to wait until her lingerie party to get it. But here is what I made for her.

 

I shadow boxed her invitation. Sorry about the weird glare on the glass, I just took a quick picture. The glass also shows the glue at the top :( bummer. But I added little wedding charms and things around it. There is also a bunch of loose rings at the bottom but you can't hardly see them. Hope she likes it.

Digital Design

The more I play with my design programs the easier they get. Well duh, right?! But I've actually had a purpose to use them to creative digital invitations for two events this week. I was super excited with how both of them turned out. They have completely different feels but are both very much my "style." The first one is for a surprise party that is well, not really that much of a surprise but I still can't post it yet. So that will come later, in about a month or so :) The second one still has some text that will change as plans develop but the design is done for it! I have already had a ton of compliments on it so I tend to love it even more. Let me know what you think!

 

And yes, I blocked out certain pertanent information to a group of young, hot girls playing in a big town :) So no, you can't find us, well not as easily now.

Adding to my list of talents

Video editing. Never thought I'd do it but hey, it pays the bills and brings in extra cash. I am editing together videos for a cattle sale for the ranch my husband works for, Magness Land & Cattle.

Here was my first test run. 



We switched editing software so the rest will not have the same titles and transitions which kinda sucks considering I really like them but I work with what I have :)

Spruce Mountain Guest Ranch

My best friend is getting married in November and I'm the lucky gal that gets to stand next to her. She chose an absolutely stunning place to get married, Spruce Mountain Guest Ranch. A while back we got to go a do a walk through with the caterers and florist. I couldn't resist snapping a few pictures of the place. I'm going to be the crazy matron (cough, but yes, I guess that's my title as I'm married) of honor who is doing all sorts of stuff and then snapping pictures to boot. Here is just a random set of pictures of the place.

Baby Lion Cub

If you know me you know my favorite holiday is Halloween. I love it like a fat kid loves cake! My house is always decorated and costumes are mandatory. This year, we got a little antsy.

No, this isn't what Dawson is going to be for Halloween. You don't get to see that costume yet. But here is my baby lion cub.

And my baby pony from last year. Oh, how wee wittle little he was! :)

One of my good friends, Jenn Hafelfinger, took this picture. She owns Cherished Snap{Shots}. Check her out here!

Creativity in different forms

I've always liked to design things. I just have never put my mind to actually mastering a lot of things. And, although I like to work with paper, I do not think I'd like to scrapbook. I have a very addicting personality and I think if I ever delved into scrap booking I would be A) broke B) unemployed and C) divorced because I would probably become so engulfed in it that I would have no life. But a special occasion came about and I insisted on being the creative force behind it. My best friend is getting married in November and I wanted to custom design her invitations to her bridal shower and lingerie party. I took a simple card stock, paper and velum concept but put them together two different ways and came out with two very different invitations. I really like both designs and am very proud of how they turned out.

This is the invitation that I did for the bridal shower. It was a "western" theme to it and I wanted a very raw and natural feeling to it. Megan's favorite color is also red. Lots of red. Which you can tell when you see the lingerie shower invite:

 

The lingerie shower was glued on all four corners so it was a completely flat invitation but the bridal shower invitation was tied together so it had three loose layers. I really liked how both of them turned out :) I did two graphic invitation too this week but they are still in the finish stages so I'll post them when they are done! I really look forward to doing more of them for other people.

Temple Grandin

This has absolutely nothing to do with photography or myself really but I feel as though it is worth sharing. When I attended Colorado State University I had the privileged of having Temple Gradin as a professor. Last Friday night my husband and I finally sat down and watched the movie Claire Danes was in about Dr. Grandin. All I can say is "WOW!" Simply amazing. It was a breath taking representation of such an amazing life of a woman who touched my life personally and the lives of many many people not only in the world of autism but also in the agricultural world.

I can't believe I waited so long to see this movie!

I would highly recommend this movie to everyone. It is truly a heart felt rendition that proves that anyone can do anything. You see a door, and you go through it. Take a look at the trailer and rent it tonight if you haven't seen it yet!!

Brittney's Bunch

Earlier this week I posted about doing my first family session. See here. I finished editing. Not completely happy with some of them but hey, first "real session" out the door and there are some really neat photos. I'm happy with most of them. I hope Brittney and her family likes them! :)

Reed Photo-Imaging

Last night my blackberry went off with an e-mail at 2am. This isn't uncommon as my blackberry receives e-mail from six different accounts but for some reason it woke me up and I read it. My dad has sent a message out that said check this out with a link to Reed Photo-Imaging. Which is you remember, is the company that I entered a photo contest with (here) and then won the contest with (here). Reed put up a thing on their homepage acknowledging my win and not only the win but that I had the most votes for a single photo EVER! Pretty cool! :) Again, thank you everyone who liked the photo on facebook. Now I need to finish all my editing work so that I can go play and find pictures I want to blow up really big!

First big gig.

Well, first paying, editing job. I got the job doing the photos for the cattle sale catalog. Pretty nervous but it'll be well worth my time and effort to see my work in one of the leading Limousin cattle operation's sale catalogs. I have upwards of 70 photos to edit in less than two weeks so I should technically quit blogging and start editing :) I also have videos to edit for each heifer so look forward to the learning curve that I'm up against in that endeavor :) Have a good night everyone, it's time I tuck in with my laptop and edit, edit, edit!!!

Before & After

The cattle ranch where my husband works has a few cattle sales each year. They have always hired big agency's or had the secretary's do the work. This year they just didn't have the man power to do it. I asked if I could take a stab at editing their sale catalog pictures. Here is my before and after of the test picture I did for the manager. Hope he likes it:

Winner! Winner! Chicken Dinner!!

Ok, maybe not a chicken dinner. Better! A 30x40 art print from Reed Photo-Imaging. I mentioned entering the contest earlier in this blog post. Check it out! Pretty neat and VERY exciting!! :) Thank you everyone who "voted" by liking the picture!

Now I'm off to take pictures of horses to try to capture what I want REALLY BIG in my house!

Sneak Peek!

I did my first family photo shoot this weekend. I used my best friend from high school's family as my subjects. They were a blast to work with. I struggled a little bit with lighting but I got a lot of pictures, I had to heavy edit a few and they didn't turn out so great but it's a start.

Here's a little sneak peek!

 My goal is to have them edited and done by the end of the week. Stay tuned to see more!

My family supports me

I have proof! See:

 Dawson with the 2007 Market Cow and Bull Audit. He said it was good reading before bed.

Photo Contest

I did it. I bucked up and entered a contest with Reed Photo-Imaging! The theme was fall which was perfect considering I just finished my Estes pictures the other day. I entered this picture.

If you get a minute go here and like the picture for a vote. Do it before Tuesday. I don't beg but I'll make an exception! Please!

Rocky Mountain High

I took a little road trip to Estes Park a week ago. It was the day before Elk Fest started. If you don't know what Elk Fest is, you MUST check it out: here. The elk are rutting this time of year, here's a good video from the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation:




When my dad posted this on Facebook it made me want to go back to Estes and see some elk. Crazy though, even around the time they hold Elk Fest I didn't see ANY elk! We did see some big horn sheep though while we were coming down the canyon.

Here is what I captured on the afternoon adventure: