Teenagers

Parenthood is a strange thing. You spend 18 yrs doting on your offspring, loving them, and serving them, praying for them and asking them "where are you going?" every time they lay their hand on the knob of the front door. Then one day you drive them 5 1/2 hours from home, haul all their stuff into a 15x10 block walled room, kiss them goodbye and leave them standing on the side walk as you drive away. After the 5 1/2 hour drive home, you walk into to a silent house with carpet stained by orange soda and with tears in your eyes you wonder what on earth you are going to do with the rest of your life. I admit I am getting a late start on the photography business I have always dreamed of, but what the heck am I going to do to fill up all those hours i used to spend mothering? Here are some pictures of my particular college student and some of her friends on one of their last days together for a long time.. I hope you enjoy them.

photo albums

Now that the world has become digital, I find that I don't print pictures very often anymore. I can't remember when I last purchased a photo album, and that makes me sad. I am excited because I put in an order a couple of days ago for prints of the kids I shot recently. I can't wait to hold them and look at them. I really need to print more of my pictures, part of the thing I love is actually looking at them close up, without the glow of the monitor. It's a lot like books. I can't imagine reading a whole book on-line. My daughter is doing that right now. How can you take a computer in the bathtub with you, or fall asleep with it on your chest in bed? I don't get it. It just doesn't seem right. This morning, I got up early... (nothing new there) and snuck down to the basement to look for pictures taken at the canyonire in 1977. I went thru the 36 photo albums I have stored and forgotten and I realized that for a short while in the mid 70s I didn't print a lot of pictures. I lived in the canyonaire for about a year, but in that time I only printed 2 pictures of that apartment complex. I am pretty sure I took more pictures, as I have always had a camera in my hand, but I think I was too poor to print them back then. It wouldn't surprise me at all if I had a few rolls of instamatic film in box somewhere still to be printed. As I looked thru the albums I was reminded of so many sweet times with my family as my children were growing up, and with my wonderful husband before the kids came along. There are memories of lifelong friends, and people that came into my life for a season and moved on. It gave me a lovely feeling seeing the pictures of all those people who meant something to me. That is why I love photography. That is why I am trying to capture images that communicate something more about people than just their appearance.
I am headed out today with great friends for some fun, and I am determined to capture them so that 30 yrs from now, I can look back and remember the day!

Moving forward

This week I was able to get some business cards ordered, which is progress, but the list of things I need to purchase is truly overwhelming. Website, new HD monitor, color balancing hardware, new camera body.... the list goes on and on.. I did get a couple of orders this week for some pictures. At least that is money flowing in the right direction, but it equates to a drop of water in the ocean.
Sometimes I wonder if I can really make money at this. I know people pay for portraits and weddings all the time, but I am not sure I am good enough to compete. Especially when I see what some photographers are doing! Every time I go out to take pictures for a potential client I am hit with this fear that I won't get anything I can use.. not one good shot! That would be so humiliating. I was told recently by a very good photographer, that she has had shoots that she had to redo, so I guess it can happen to the best. In a way that takes some of the pressure off, because even a pro like my friend has had it happen, in a way it makes it worse, cause I can pretty much be guaranteed it will happen to me! Oh well, enough of my insecurities. I'll put that worry aside for a time when I am charging a lot of money. Right now, for what I am charging, people are lucky to get me. That brings up another thought. It's interesting to see the reaction when I tell people the price of my prints. Some people don't even blink and others are shocked that they are so expensive.... if you call $17.50 expensive for an 8x10. Sure it is more than they would pay at Walgreens if they took their little digital photos there to print. But the real bulk of my time is spent in Photoshop, removing blemishes, adjusting colors, lightening teeth etc. People just don't realize the time involved. The last wedding I did took me about 24 hrs of Photoshop work AFTER I got home, add that to the two trips to the church, and the 6 hrs of shooting during those two days.. I am up to 30 hrs of work. My time is what people are paying for. I can't really say that to them, but I sure do think it.

Tonys Kids

A friend of mine asked me to take some shots of his kids as an anniversary present for his wife. The kids are great. Not shy AT ALL. I love that. Ofcourse, they are kids, so that means they are in a constant state of perpetual motion. After over 400 shots, I wasn't at all sure that I got one single picture where they were all looking at the camera and smiling at the same time. I was right! Even so, I am happy with the results. They were really sweet kids and I think these picture capture how funny they were. I also hope Tonys wife loves her anniversary present. I am posting them all in Black and White, because that is what she likes, but the color shots are amazing too.


I once heard that Indians used to hang their children in backpacks in trees, and that is how they kept them still. Sounds like a good plan to me.






Here are a few more:




Ok, maybe just a tiny bit of color...


I can't resist

Lindsay Wedding

I shot my second wedding this week. It was a second marriage for Bob and Carol, so they really didn't care about all the traditional shots. Their children and grandchildren were all present and it was a lot of fun taking pictures of the large family and the different generations. Here are just a few