Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day everyone! To celebrate we are going to be planting a tree in our backyard. How are you going to celebrate? If you are looking for ways to keep your wedding green, please remember to request using recycled paper for your engagement cards, thank you cards and bookmarks. The paper has a beautiful matte finish.

Weird Lens Drawings

Ok so Ben and I are camera nerds. We love our cameras and lenses and what we can produce when we use them. And yes we will talk cameras with anybody who will listen. But when we saw this lens manual we cracked up. We were selling one of our lenses that we never use (you can't use it with our full frame camera) and we saw the folded up instructions. How funny are these graphics! I am glad my lens never looked like that! That would be scary.

I love the evil sun in this one - he is out to get the lens! Is this like a oh no mr. bill lens? I guess it's a good thing we sold it.

Battery Hooper Days

In August we had a blast at the Battery Hooper Days in Fort Wright, Kentucky. They shot off a cannon a couple times that day, had Abraham Lincoln give a speech and had great costumes. When I first started learning about photography my dad took me to a Civil War reenactment. I loved using my long lens and watching people. Photo trips are always so much fun, even to this day. You get to go try news things with your camera and experiment with a different lens that you don't get to use all the time.

Love/Hate - My personal musings

I wanted to share a few of my random thoughts this evening. This post is for the things that I Love or Hate.

I Love:
having my hubby give me a long hug (it just feels so amazing)

my kitchen aid mixer - it took getting married and receiving gift cards to have this wonderful friend

my old worn out warm sweatshirt

eating kettle corn popcorn

getting new photography magazines in the mail (yes I am a dork)

taking a moment to watch the sunset

having my cats look cute when they are sleeping outside of my office door

listening to Breakfast with the Beatles on Sunday mornings (almost always miss this because I am sleeping or I forget or I am in the car with someone who doesn't love them as much as me)

the A&E version of Pride and Prejudice

the DVDR recorder because I can record all my shows on Thursday night and watch them much quicker (it saves time I tell ya!)

Weddings -duh - even when I am there as part of the bridal party or being a guest I can't help but think of all the cool things going on. I am always looking for photos even when I am suppose to be relaxing.

sleeping in

getting goosebumps when you know you got the shot and you can just see the emotion and artistry in the image (Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. My dad used to talk to me about this quote for baseball/softball. You spend hours and hours of time practicing and then that perfect pitch comes along and you take advantage of it and hit a long one. Photography is much like that because you have to keep your skills sharp and practice all kinds of thing so that when the perfect lighting along with the perfect background comes along you know how to best use it-Thanks Dad!)

I Hate:
wet socks - most often when I am doing the dishes (now I remove them before I start)

being late for anything

forgetting to wear earrings

strapless bras (hello funky contraption)

standing in line for anything

when my coffee gets cold before I have time to drink it all (Ben bought me a coffee maker that has really helped this because it keeps coffee super hot for a long time)

"Leaning" and While You Were Sleeping

This evening I had the chance to pick out a "chick flick" to watch with my friend. I saw one of my favorite movies, While You Were Sleeping, and knew it would be perfect because it has Christmas in it. How appropriate for the first day of December. For those of you who had your engagement sessions this year, you may remember the "leaning" pose that I usually include. It's one of my favorites because it really gets couples in close and interacting (and sometimes they forget I am there photographing them). But when I explain the pose I usually talk about this movie and most people haven't heard of it. It is one of my all time favs. So if you haven't watched this movie, take a peak this Christmas season. And for all of my couples who will have engagement sessions in the future - consider this homework hehe. http://tw.youtube.com/watch?v=0kiCJOATrms

Radio Controlled Helicopter

My husband Ben really likes to fly his new RC Helicopters and these photos are of his most recent purchase - a large one. He was flying the other night and he saw the sunset and grabbed me and my camera. "Come take a photo for me, you will see - it will be cool." As soon as I stepped out I knew exactly what he meant. He wanted some silhouettes of his craft against the sky. That is exactly why I love photographing weddings with him. We totally understand quickly what the other is wanting. Now we might take the photograph using different camera settings but when we do the results are awesome. And if you have had your engagement session you know that sometimes I can't quite put into words what I am thinking because my brain is in overdrive. With Ben I start mumbling and he gets it. Check out the photo below. How cool - a plane flew over head and I grabbed the shot.

Our Kitties

Our kitties are now 13 weeks old. We have had them for about five weeks and I haven't posted about them so check out our cool cats! They are sisters and their names are Mona and Lisa. They are in the trouble-making stage. So if you want to say hello to them let me know. They are very social cats. They are not allowed in my client viewing gallery because I am afraid they will tear up my awesome couch in there. My favorite thing is when they fall asleep in my lap while I am watching my favorite tv show. Of course they aren't ready to fall asleep until I am about ready to go to bed myself.

Curious Lisa is always ready for trouble!

Mona sitting pretty for her portrait.

2007 Butterfly Show

Sunday we went to the Butterfly Show at Krohn Conservatory with our friends. It was so neat to see tons of different kinds of butterflies. Sometimes I would be waiting for one to fly or land next to me and then I spotted one just hanging out right in front of me. We will definitely have to go to the show again next year.

Buffalo Wings & Rings Now Open!

Last night we went to the opening day party for the new Buffalo Wings & Rings in Crescent Springs. One of our couple's from last year were a big part of the day. Eric is their General Manager. Eric is such a fun guy and is such a big people person so it was great to see his friends out supporting him. The food was great. To start off we had the onion rings that were perfect (which I am very picky about because an onion ring should be crisp) and the awesome potato skins that come with chili. We also tried the yummy garlic and teriyaki wings. And get this we even had the gyro which was seasoned just right. And then there was dessert. See the photo below mmmm good. We had the cheesecake bites. So yes, Ben and I had to be rolled out of there because the food was great. They have specials each weeknight. You will have to see me there during happy hour (4:00-6:00 p.m.) for half price appetizers. Eric we wish you all the best in your new adventure and thanks for the fun at the opening!

May Art Show at Mammoth Cafe

Today my art show went up at the Mammoth Cafe in Newport. It will be there until the end of this month. There are a total of seven pieces in my Crossbreeding Series. Each piece combines photos of two different plants and uses my love of photography and computer designing. Please go check it out and let me know what you think. Their hours are Monday-Friday 6:30 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. and Saturday-Sunday 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. The address is 515 Monmouth Street, Newport, Kentucky. http://www.mammoth-cafe.com/default.htm I hope you enjoy the show!

I love how my piece of art fits right in with the plants surrounding it.

The Couture Closet Web Update

The Couture Closet has updated their website and it looks great. They have even added some of the photos from the fashion shoot that we did February. Check out their new website changes at http://www.coutureclosetboutique.com. If you want to view my previous post about The Couture Closet with more photos, please check out this link.

Just Before Sunset

My favorite time to photograph is just before sunset. There is something magical when the light dances between objects. Yesterday I sat outside reading and enjoying the weather after listening to the Reds game. I grabbed my camera as the sun was dipping and I took these photos right in my little backyard.

Baseball Season Begins

Thursday I went to my first baseball game of the season. My younger brother pitched a winning game against his hometown rivals, South Oldham High School. He is a great left-handed pitcher and throws a mean change-up.

Monday is opening day for the Reds here in Cincy and I can't wait to see how our new season will shape up. I love having a major league team in town. The energy on opening day around town is so invigorating. Yeah for baseball!

New Wedding Series Stamps

The U.S. Postal Service will be introducing two fun new wedding stamps as part of their wedding series. Yeah for love stamps! I am not sure when these will be out. Be sure to check when your local post office will have them and how many they keep in stock. The 63 cent stamp will work great with stuffed wedding invitations. After you receive your invites be sure to fold one up and put everything in and then weigh it. Also, when picking out invitations be sure to remember that some odd sizes will automatically need the higher priced stamp.

© 2006 USPS. All Rights Reserved.

© 2006 USPS. All Rights Reserved.