It is like the movie Groundhog Day, with every day being just like the day before. (Well, that is what I’ve heard the movie is like – I’ve slept through it no less than 3 times.) My yard is starting to turn into a lake. It just keeps on raining, and raining, and raining.
Seriously? It is getting old.
I still haven’t figured out how much rain we’ve gotten this month so far, but I was just *thrilled* to learn that June is normally the month where we get the most rain. So maybe there is some hope of it ending sometime? I really hope so. I need some more sunshine in my life!
I graduated from high school back in 1987. Whenever I sign up for things like Facebook and they offer to help me find my classmates, I laugh. I’ve never once found anyone I’ve known online. Not for the school I graduated from here in Houston (in a class of almost 600), or from the high school I attended my freshman & first half of my sophomore year in Illinois. (Go, Bishop McNamara!) So when I was setting things up in my Facebook account last week, I really was not expecting to find anyone I knew.
And for once, I was wrong.
Back in high school, I had a friend named Liz Henry. She was cool, different, a free thinker, and someone that hated all the typical high school cliques. She was a lot stronger than I was, and I admired the crap out of her for it. Plus she was just freakin’ awesome. Smart too – so smart, she graduated early. And with the craziness that is senior year, I lost touch with her.
Until now. She was one of 4 people that graduated with me that showed up on Facebook. She was the only one that I really knew of the one that showed up on the list. Before I added her as a friend, I spotted that she lives in San Francisco now, and I decided to check out her contacts – only to see several people that I also know! Of course, I had to send her a message through Facebook right away, and we’ve exchanged a few emails. Turns out we were both at SxSW this year, and we didn’t even know it.
Whoa! What a small world. And amazing to think that 20 years later, we both have the same fabulous taste in friends. It still amuses me every time I think about it! I guess I’ll have to stop mocking the social network sites when they offer to show me people I might know!
I know the geekosphere is clamoring for the iPhone. Everyone seems to want one. Well, everyone but me.
I don’t want one, and it is for one very specific reason – the reason that Apple says is the cool thing about it. It has no buttons. No keys for dialing a number. Just a screen. I know from personal experience, that form of phone sucks.
Years ago, I had an attachment that plugged into my Handspring Visor and turned it into a phone. Awesome! One device, and it can be my organizer *and* a phone! Sweet! Awesome! Yeah, not so much. See, sometimes I drive a car. I have my mobile device of choice nearby so that if it rings, I can answer it easily. This was never very easy without buttons. And if I needed to dial a number? Forget it! You are very conditioned from years of using a phone to dial it without even looking at the keys. You know where the 9 is, where the 4 is, whatever. You can do it all by feel – but not when you don’t have keys.
I love my Blackberry Pearl. It is so great and easy to use. I can dial, I can text, I can easily respond to full emails even. No problems at all with it. I love the shiny sparkle of the iPhone, it is all glittery and pretty – but I’m resisting it. I really don’t want one. I would be happy to play with yours though, if you’re willing to share!
Karen dubbed it “The Blogger Wedding of the Year! ™” on Twitter, and it definitely lived up to its name! Jim & Leia’s wedding was such a beautiful, intimate affair held in the backyard of their home in Dallas, Texas. They invited a small core of family and out of town guests to the ceremony, and then for the reception they opened their house and had a great big PARTY!
Then there’s the option of elegant tipi tent hire for weddings and large events, which I had the pleasure of experiencing at a friend’s big day recently. We were all blown away by the way the tipis added a rustic yet luxurious feel to the celebration. From the exterior lighting to the polished interior layout, the whole thing was faultlessly put together. I remember looking around during the evening and thinking how lucky we were to be part of something that felt so different from the usual hotel or venue-based weddings. It made the experience feel more personal, more immersive. If I were planning something of my own, it would be the first option I’d consider.
From the toasting beer mugs to the chocolate fountain, fun was had by everyone that was there. Oh! And there were cupcakes, with goodies to decorate them with! The weather threatened all day long to rain them out and force us all indoors, but the tent went up early, the weather cleared up for us, and aside from the slightly soggy ground which liked to eat the high-heeled shoes, it was a lovely day.
Ah, good times, good times. It was such an honor to be asked by Jim & Leia to share in and capture this very special day in their life! And as an added perk, a huge box showed up from Amazon yesterday with my very own chocolate fountain! How cool is that? Now I just need to figure out where to get one of those cool blow-up microphones. Then our party set-up will be complete!
Click here to view the show larger! (Really, I’m trying not to double post everything that goes on the Fresh Photography blog over here, but this one? Oh, how could I resist!)
On Sunday, June 10th, right after returning from the Elevate and OneLight workshops in Orlando, I had the fortune of being able to visit Alexis and her family for an in-home portrait session. Alexis is an adorable 14 month old, and she was so beautiful it was hard to stop taking her picture! Matter of fact, the last few in the slideshow are from when she was having a post-shoot snack on the kitchen floor – my camera was still handy, so I had to take just a few more!
One of the most fabulous things about taking photographs in the client’s home or at a favorite location is the opportunity to include things that are very special to them. Alexis has a frog toy and a dress made of matching fabric by the same designer. Her room is so cute, decorated in coordinating fabrics. When I spoke with her mother, it was one of the first things that she requested – capturing the dress with the frog in the room. We got two out of three, as Alexis was not going to cooperate with us and sweetly hold the frog!
Another perk of on-location photography? Alexis is not a big fan of strangers. Matter of fact, they have tried before to take portraits at a studio, and I think they only got one or two shots out of the experience. Instead, I was able to come in, spend time with her, talking to her, letting her play while I chatted with her mom, easing her into things before I pulled out the big camera. Our session was well under 2 hours long, and we left with almost 100 images after editing! (Ok, I could have cut out even more, but how can I possibly resist that sweet face!)
I look forward to hopefully visiting Alexis again in the future!
If you’re interested in booking a portrait session, please use the contact link above or call. Sessions are not limited to Houston; contact us to discuss details!
