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Children
Portfolio's are very important. It's important to keep track of what you have accomplished over the years. It's easy to get too busy to take a picture of something you've done, but make the time. It will be worth it.
In light of that fact, here is my portfolio from my Undergraduate studies until now. It has a little bit of everything, sculpture, traditional black and white photography, photojournalism, digital, landscape, portraits, and weddings.
It's back to school time. A time when children will strap themselves to bed, so summer can last at least one more day. A time when Mother's will try to hold back the tears and protecting arms. A time of new shoes, bouquets of sharpened pencils, and haircuts.
I use to get super excited about going back to school, cause, well I'm a dork. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE summer, very very much. But especially when I was little, and the summers seemed long, I would get excited about seeing friends again and learning. But most of all, I would get excited about back to school shopping. As some of you know, I inherited my Grandmother's love of shopping and finding a good deal. So back to school was just an excuse to go shopping! Hooray!
Inevitably however, the morning of the big day, I would find myself new outfit on, haircut, new kicks tied, backpack full of school supplies, bus note pinned to my chest, and absolutely feeling like I was going to puke my guts out.
Suddenly I would lose all care about friends, and realize that I was going to be in a crowd of people I didn't know, in a place that I would get lost in, and without my Mommy. This feeling has never gone away. I was a wreck the first day my parents left me at college, and every first day at a new job ever since.
I know that everyone is nervous about change, and that change is always scary. I know that doing things in spite of change, and in the face of nervousness is actually brave. For a long time I thought of bravery as something reserved for hero's, for wars, and people who saved babies from burning buildings. The truth is, that is beyond brave...that is unfathomable. That is divine help. But when I look around me in my life, I see people who are brave daily, and that is a hard kind of bravery. Mother's and Father's who do it all on their own, friends who tell you the truth when they know you'll be mad, spouses who work at jobs they hate because it's best for their families, people who swallow their pride and take unemployment or lesser jobs than they are qualified for, people who help strangers, people who embrace family struggles or a family that may not embrace them back, people who keep trying no matter what it's about.
Bravery can be a lot of things, and most of all it's about being vulnerable to change because you know it's right: whether it's letting a child go and grow up, or getting on a big yellow school bus while holding your brothers hands.
Last night I met up with the Enderson Family at their beautiful home. They decided to take advantage of the Summer Portrait Special and have some family portraits taken. They were wonderful, and we had a lot of fun despite the heat!
I miss the beach. This is a fact that I cannot ignore. For over a year now I have been living in a landlocked state, for the first time in my life. I grew up near or on the water, and I miss the smell of salt in the air, the heat that is so close it's like a hug, and the soft powdery feel of sand beneath my toes.
Unfortunately with the way the summer is looking, I don't think Speed Racer and I will be able to make a beach trip this year. We have always gone to the beach at least once in the summer, it's a ritual, it's a need, it's a raw animal desire...see? I start to get a little dramatic when I don't get some beach time.
The day the above picture was taken of me, was a day that my parents will never forget. At that time we only lived about 30 min away from the beach, and on the weekends in the summer, it was a fairly common ritual to hit the sand. This day in particular the beach was packed. When I was that age, I never really went farther than the water front without my parents, and after some lounging in the tidal pools I decided it was sand castle makin' time. One of my favorite parts of sand castle makin' time was collecting beach items to decorate my sand castle with. My Mom started getting the buckets together and asked me to collect a few shells to put on the castle.
I started collecting and I guess got a little farther away than planned. But what really did me in was that I lost our blanket in the sea of blankets and passed it on my way back. I have no idea how long I walked. But it was long enough that eventually I started to get scared, very scared. Finally in frustration I just sat where I was and started to cry. Luckily I was right in front of a lifeguard station. The lifeguard came down and asked me if I was lost. Being told so many times to not talk to strangers, it took me a while to warm up to him. But he showed me all his official uniform items, and his radio, and said that he was a good stranger and that he was going to help me. He took me up on the lifeguard stand, gave me some crackers and some water, and radioed down the beach for my parents.
I can't explain the relief I felt when I saw my parents (or now that I'm older, the relief I'm sure they felt when they saw me!). They took me back to our blanket, where my two brothers explained they thought I had drowned...and may have been a tad happy about it (no annoying little sister, yay!). All kidding aside, they hugged me and explained how worried they were and how hard they had searched the beach. It was a great reunion, and that's where that picture was taken.
With such a traumatic experience you would think I would be afraid of the beach or the water, but no. If anything it strengthened my love for the beach. For me it is a place to be alone, a place to get lost in the roar of the waves, and a place where the ever changing scenery is all I need. It is a love that Speed Racer and I have always shared.
Here are some of my favorite beaches and watering holes. Some of the pictures are not mine but hopefully the people who took them won't mind sharing. They are all family and friends. Hopefully this will give you a taste of the beach, even if like me, you can't get there this year.
Speed Racer and I had a very busy weekend. Although there was some down time (like when I took a nap because, let's just face it, there was no way I could stay awake anymore) in between everything going on. Mostly we worked on our house and yard. What most people don't realize is that with both of us being primarily freelance, our weekends often get taken up with work, so when we have a free weekend, we have to catch up on maintenance and improvements on the house.
To catch up on all the updates, improvements, and messes we've made (and haven't posted about since November, eek!) click here.
I was also in a baking mood...and when I get in a baking mood there is no stopping me. On Thursday night I baked a cherry pie, on Friday I made homemade spaghetti sauce (a recipe I'm going to share with you, hooray for you!), and then Saturday morning I baked two blueberry pies (with made from scratch crust of course) before we started the days work.
Now some of you may think "Wow, that's great that you baked all that stuff, you must be really motivated!" But for those of you who know me, baking is always therapy in some way...a way to stay busy. Right now I find myself in an interesting employment situation, I am part time employed by another photographer, Rebecca Claire Photography. I am also trying do some of my own photography on the side, and due to the summer turning out differently than planned and the financial status of just about everything right now, I am also looking for a part time job for some extra cash in my pocket. Although I would not say I have a lot of down time, between photo shoots, editing, marketing, and filling out applications. I have had some at home time however, to realize how big a job budgeting, looking for deals, and cooking from scratch can be. I am both busy all the time and not employed all the time. It's a weird situation to be in, and can be discouraging sometimes. So I guess what I'm trying to say is, my hat's off to you home makers out there! It's a full time job and I don't even have little munchkins to distract me. And it's an important job, and a harder job than you think.
On a lighter note: Here is my recipe for home made spaghetti sauce! I like to take snippets from other recipes until I can combine something that I like. This is what I came up with.
What you'll need: 6 med tomatoes peeled and chopped, 2 green onions minced, 1/2 white onion, minced, 3 Tbsp minced parsley (I used dried), 2 tsp red wine vinegar, 1 tbsp. sugar, or 1/2 tbsp. dried basil, 1/8 tsp. pepper, 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 tsp. oregano, 1 bay leaf, 1 (4 oz.) mushrooms, 1/4c. flour and of course Spaghetti!
First you will want to peel and chop the tomatoes. If you haven't done this before, it's a lot easier than it sounds. Prepare a bowl with ice water and ice cubes in it. Then boil another pot of water. While your water is starting to boil core your tomatoes and on the underside score them with an "X". This just provides an easy place to start to peel the skin. Once your water is boiling, add your tomatoes. Leave them in the boiling water for about 20 secs, then move them into the ice water for another 20 secs, repeat one more time with each. After they have cooled in the ice water you should see the skin start to crinkle, at that point it's very easy to just peel off.
Chop your garlic, green onions, white onion, and tomatoes. I sauteed the onions and garlic first in some olive oil in a medium sized sauce pan. Then I turned the heat off, added the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients except for the flour, mushrooms, and spaghetti.
I let this sit, unheated for about 2 hours to let the flavors mix. Then about an hour and a half before I wanted to serve, I cut it on high until it began to bubble, then turned it down to low to simmer uncovered for the rest of the time.
I had some trouble with mine thickening up, so I sprinkled in some flour. You may want to sprinkle some, mix, wait a little while and then add some more until you get yours to your desired thickness. This is definitely a personal thing. Some people like theirs runny, some people like their sauce thick. About a half hour before dinner time, I added the mushrooms and of course got started on the spaghetti noodles.
Then, presto! You've got yourself some spaghetti with fresh spaghetti sauce. This made just enough for Speed Racer and I so you may want to double the recipe if you've got a bigger family. It turned out pretty fabulous if I do say so myself, but the real cause for that was the fantastic tomatoes that our neighbors provided us with. They were soooo tangy! So make sure you choose your tomatoes wisely, my friends.
Now I'm off for another week of photos, editing, applications, house work, house maintenance, cooking, and who knows what else. Happy Monday.
Last Tuesday before I got the Plague, I was invited to take pictures of my Aunt and Uncle's Anniversary Party. It was a great time and we had several opportunities to take some much needed family pictures.
It was one of those classic summer parties, there was seafood, laughter, kids, kisses, hugs, big kids eating baby food (do not try that at home), lightening bugs, prayers, Eskimo kisses, and lots of Red Light Green Light. But most importantly we were able to celebrate what a wonderful couple my Aunt and Uncle are, and the great example they have set for all of us.
Thank you both for letting me take photos of you (thanks to your sneaky daughter) and more importantly thank you for being a wonderful Aunt and Uncle to me. Aunt Carol thank you for encouraging my love of art and photography, for being willing to make mud pies with me at the cabin, for nursing me when I inevitably would fall down your basement stairs, and for being my name's sake. Uncle Walt, thank you for teaching me how to fish and your patience when I caught fish and you didn't, thank you for teaching me your love of nature and letting me quietly enjoy it with you, and thank you for always sharing your stories with me and being willing to listen to mine in return. I love you both and I hope you enjoy the photos!
I don't know about you but today has been a long day for me. Lots of travel, lots of it being hot, and lots of not being at home. Thus my post is being done late at night and I'm really wore out. I'm not even sure if I'm making sense. BUT at the end of the day what do we all really want? Super cute baby pictures that's what! This is Speed Racer's super adorable baby cousin, and her mother was wonderful enough to let her be my muse.
That's right folks, the 4th of July is here, and even though it came faster than anticipated we can still get in the spirit of the day. I'm sure many of you have fantastic plans for the 4th: swimming, grilling, parades, and maybe even some fireworks. Here are some pictures from a 4th of July celebration I took a few years ago, to help get you in the celebrating mood!
Have a fun and safe weekend everybody!
Graduation came and went. At first I was determined to live purely off of my fine art photography, but as I continued my job at a local pool for the summer, I realized that some other cash would be necessary. I mean, I do have a shoe habit that needs cash to be fed. And there are lots of pretty shoes I still do not have.
(It was a horrible, rainy day, and as I came down the ramp a huge gust of wind blew a puddle of water off the tent and onto me and the girl in front of me. She looked pretty worried, I thought it was hillarious.)
Not only did I have a shoe habit that needed aide, but I realized how much I love to take portraits. I love capturing people, whether it's a couple, a wedding, a family, super cute babies, or goofy pets. So I set out to take me some portraits. My first test subjects were my previous boss Krissy, and her two adorable children. Krissy works for SwimKids Swim School as well as teaching for George Mason University. If you live in the Northern Virginia area, you should definitely check out SwimKids. I had never before seen a 4 year old do butterfly, let alone teach a 4 year old to do butterfly. They have a fantastic program, and I know 100% it has saved childrens lives. They teach, safety, Mommy and Me classes, as well as competitive swimming. And their instructors are the nicest, friendliest people you will ever meet. SO, Krissy let me borrow her and her children for one of my favorite portrait shoots.
Krissy, Nayarit and Thrace
One of my favorite parts of a shoot that involves children, is when the kids finally start to relax around you and forget that you are there. Then the great pictures start to flow, and their personalities start popping out. It's a ton of fun. More Posts from the Past to come!
