Wednesday, February 27, 2013

A Spontaneous Adventure

I'm one to plan spontaneous adventures in my head. I am constantly dreaming of freely walking around LA, enjoying the warmth and fun shops on the side of the road you always see in t.v. shows. I am constantly dreaming of days in the state of Washington where I can walk through the lush, green forests and discover hole-in-the-wall coffee shops (in Seattle). I am constantly dreaming of visiting New York, staying in a grand hotel for only one night and sitting in Central Park on a nice, spring day. I'm constantly dreaming of visiting Hawaii, Paris, New Zealand.... Can you tell I've been deprived of travel? Haha. I read one too many books, look at one too many photographs, and watch one too many shows where people enjoy the most beautiful cities and their lives seem so picturesque. Maybe it just comes across that way but I feel like a life with travel is a life worth so much. One day I'll save up my money and go somewhere on a whim. My first stop is definitely Los Angeles. Anyone heard of Couchsurfing? Possibly the best way to go on a budget.

And here are some recent pictures. Have a fabulous Wednesday, everyone!!






Monday, February 25, 2013

Hayden Kaye | Washington D.C. Newborn Photographer

I spent this past Saturday on the road and in D.C. for a newborn session. I did Meghan's maternity pictures a little over a month ago and not long after, her beautiful Hayden was born. She had told me she would be interested in newborn photos so I had taken a peek at the nursery in their house when I was there last time and I loved it!!! When Meghan contacted me after Hayden was born about setting a date for pictures, I was so excited because I immediately knew the nursery was the perfect place! The walls are a pretty blue-purple (anyone know the name of that color?) and above the changing table are little squares that spell out Hayden, which were made by Meghan's sister.

We had so much fun finding cute places to put Hayden and I'm so excited with how these newborn photos turned out! Babies are so photogenic. :) And I'm thankful Meghan and her mom put up with my crazy ideas like putting a baby in a drawer. Haha!! Enjoy the photos, everyone!














Finally asleep!



Friday, February 22, 2013

The Nutcracker Poster Shots 2012 (Part I)

Hi and happy Friday (what's left of it)!! Back in mid-November, I got to work with Dulcey and Old Dominion once again!! I love that time of year because I know I get to spend a few hours at the dance studio downtown taking photos for Nutcracker poster advertisements! Dulcey has been such an encouragement to me the past few years as I've been building my photography business and I honestly cannot thank her enough for giving me all the opportunities to photograph her students! I love getting to admire the new costumes and catch up with the beautiful dancers there!

This year's poster shots are by far my favorite! I have learned more each year and as the photos are improving, so are the dancers! It's a delight to watch them in their new pointe shoes, showing off their new skills! 

Here's the first post of a couple more to come with the poster shots! My hatred for cutouts has kept me from sharing them all at once but once I finish them, I'll be sure to leave a link on Facebook!!













Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Updates From North Carolina

Hello friends! I'm sitting here in my grandparents' sunroom in North Carolina soaking up what little light there is left for the day. Tonight will be my fifth and last night here. We've been caring for my nana and papa because my nana just had surgery and although it's unfortunate that my nana is sore and weak, it's been nice to be away from home (even though there's no wifi here). I should be celebrating that, right? Haha. Well, when you're away from the computer for five days, you start to get a little bored. Thank goodness for this iPad that I'm typing on now and Starbucks.

But anyway, I wanted to apologize for not blogging last week. I love to be as consistent as possible and last week was not my week. You know how I said my dog was better? Wellllll, I spoke too soon. We took Bentley back into the vet because his nose wasn't better after finishing the bottle of eye drops and we found out way more than we thought we would. Actually, we ended up ignoring his nose because we had more immediately serious problems to deal with. Mom had noticed Bentley drinking an insane amount of water and when he started crying to get out of his crate at six every morning to get water and use the bathroom, we knew something was up. We told the vet and the first thing they did was check for diabetes. Bentley ended up having diabetes and he had had it for a while. We didn't know that he was suffering but it was pretty severe. Everything they checked for was off the charts and we have no idea how he was hiding how crappy he felt for so long. We took the night to decide whether to put him down or to go ahead and start administering insulin twice a day, every twelve hours. Of course mom and I decided to care for him, despite the costs it would bring: a new food, insulin, needles....

We have the diabetes under control and Bentley is feeling much better but we still don't know about his poor little nose! It's frustrating and I hate it but I'm leaning on the Lord because there's nothing else I can do. So that's an update on my life. Thanks for thinking of me and for all those kind comments on the last Bentley post. He's not completely better but he's stable. That's something to be thankful for. I hope you all are having a good week so far! Tell me something good that's happened to you lately! :)






Monday, February 18, 2013

Photoshoot With Rachel and Amy | Charlottesville, Virginia Portrait Photographer

The internet can be an incredible tool if you choose to let it be. I am in many photography groups online and am constantly befriending people who share that common interest with me. My blog and Facebook page give me the freedom to share my life with others which is great because people get to know me by looking at my pictures and reading the words I write. It creates trust and helps build relationships.

I posted in one of the photography groups a few weeks ago and a girl named Rachel generously commented saying we should meet up sometime. We realized we lived close and were both fairly new to photography and figured it would be really fun. I hadn't ever met an online friend before but it worked out on Friday when Rachel and her friend Amy were in Charlottesville running some errands. We met up at Mellow Mushroom, had some pizza, and walked over to UVA for a photoshoot.

The three of us laughed (as we blinded each other with the reflector), practiced posing, shot in some cool light that we probably wouldn't have had the luxury of experimenting with on a shoot, and traded lenses (I got to use Rachel's 50mm 1.2!). We found some outstanding locations on the UVA campus and not only was it great to have the whole day to get better at directing people but I got a better feel of what being in front of the camera felt like!

I'm so thankful for kind people like Rachel and Amy who spent the entire day with me. I learned a lot from both of them and discovered that meeting new people in the industry is so fulfilling and important. It's something I need to do more often! So Rachel and Amy, thank you both SO much for being the most beautiful models I could have asked for! I'm so excited to have made two new friends and I cant wait to see where God takes you this year!









It was amazing how quickly the light changed between the top photos and this one! Light totally dictates the mood of a picture!