Sleep Overs, Cookies, and What's For Dinner

Today's adventure: A sleep over with three crazy little girls. It all started out pretty innocently...




And soon fell into silliness.






We had a dance party, played spa with my charcoal and clay face mask, and baked a tooooon of cookies. And they are still awake.... Help.


Day 14 of my food theme was our spaghetti. Pre-cooked. Because that was just much cooler (and less messy) to light.
And day 15 is our crazy oat cookies! Precooked also, but oh so yummy. (Recipe! OAT COOKIES!)

I need to go do a work out to make up for all these cookies. :)

A is for Apple

Day 13- This marks the second day of my week o' food photography. I can't believe I just spent 15 minutes seriously contemplating this apple. Every angle of this not-even-that-red apple. Okay, so how my lights can make this apple look.

Regardless, I stared at an apple for way too long today.


Another thing I stared too long at was lighting videos. Oh Youtube, you evil temptress. You glue me to the computer and steal all the time out of my evening. Now it's bed time and I've accomplished little. Buuuuut, the whole mess has me itching to play around with more lighting scenarios... on something other than fruit.

I've been thinking about doing some flirty, boudoir styled mini sessions for Valentine's Day. Maybe. A little book of photos or some mounted prints in a nice box would make a pretty memorable gift. Earlier this evening I had a few minutes to play around with some light set ups.


Ladies, any thoughts?

Catching Up After the Holidays

Another quickie post :) With all of the Christmas craziness, I haven't had a chance to update. Sooooo here are the last couple of days of photo silliness.

Wrapping up my mug shots-
I don't know about you, but that frog looks way too guilty and smug.

This weeks theme is........FOOD! I snapped an over dramatic shot of my green smoothies. I made a big batch, poured a couple of mason jars full, and then froze the rest in muffin pans. Super quick and healthy breakfast!


And one little photo of my angels on Christmas morning.

Already breaking the Bokeh theme

Day 4, the husband and I were goofing off :)

365, Rats, and Other Craziness.

In the midst of another hyper, Let's-take-on-the-world phase, I've decided to start another 365 project. If you've known me for a little bit you're probably saying "Again?".

Yup. Again.

And maybe, JUUUUUUST maybe, I'll actually finish it this year. That's pretty optimistic, though. Every year I get so excited to start. I'm going to take one cool shot every day! I'll grow in my technical skills! Push myself creatively! Document a year in my life! Woot!

And then fast forward a couple of months down the road as I get bogged down in the details of life. With work, two kids, and all that come with them I wind up feeling buried. Taking a shot is a hassle and editing it? Not happening. So I promise myself next year. Hopefully. Maybe.

And here I am. Starting it again. Heck, I didn't even wait for the new year. Perhaps, as a sane person might suggest, I should learn from my mistakes and take on a smaller project- like the photo-a-week for a year one, or some other smaller-bites-type thing. Maybe I should look at my failures from the past and reevaluate. Maybe, but let's be real. All that 'logic' and 'reason' stuff is just no fun. I'd much rather jump in with both feet, life jacket be damned.

My husband would tell you that this is the kind of attitude that left me the proud owner of one grouchy goat (RIP, you smelly, smelly grump), a variety of crazy hair color/style attempts I instantly regretted, and, more recently, the owner of two pet rats.

They were too cute not to bring home. See?





The smaller project thing would make sense, but I want to really push myself. I want to shoot everyday and think about shooting. Every. Day.

So 365 it is.

Starting........................................ now.
I've decided to try for themes for each week to keep me motivated. If there's a holiday, a birthday party, or some other life event, I may stray from the weekly theme from time to time, but the goal is to stick with one theme. We'll see how it goes.


I'm starting out with an easy one. Bokeh. It just freaking makes me so happy.

Day 1/365 Nothing spectacular, just sparkly. :)

Here goes nothing.

Mini Post

Short and sweet is how this post is going to go. I just had to share a couple of shots from a few days ago. My little model had all her poses ready and was NOT happy when I called an end to the shoot.

Rest Stops and Revelations

A ridiculous amount of life can fit into months, weeks, and days. Since my last post, so much has happened. It feels like it's been years since I've written anything, here or otherwise. I'm rusty, so forgive the rant I am about to pour all over this little blog.

It's 6 A.M. I've been up since 3:40. Long story. I'm sitting at a rest area, cold and wrapped up in a blanket, waiting for the sun rise. It's the perfect time, of course, to consider a couple of those "big questions". You know, the who-am-I-where-am-I-going? kind of questions.

Funny how just a few years ago, I was doing pretty much the same thing. I was sitting in a rest area, hidden amongst some mountains in the middle of Pennsylvania, watching the sun rise. (Okay, that rest stop was a heck of a lot prettier than the Rail Splitter here in Illinois, but I digress.) Instead of a laptop, I was frantically scribbling in my journal to keep up with my racing thoughts. A pink pen, even. Ugh.
I had wanted to be a writer then. I had articles and stories and tried my hand at a few short novels. It was all absolute garbage, mind you, but I had written it all the same. When a friend suggested I pick up a camera I said whatever. I used to love taking pictures as a kid. I'll try it. I was obsessed with writing, but maybe, a creative exercise on the side would help me flesh out ideas, visualize, express myself, etc. So, in those first years, I snapped photos to help my writing. Ironic that it now is the opposite.

"We don't change over time. We only become more ourselves"-
The Tale of The Body Thief by Anne Rice

I'd like to think that quote is true. It has always stuck with me, from my 16 year old Rice vampire phase. When very young, it seems like we pick up so many things and try them on for size. We collect a big mess of things we want to be, who we think should be, who our friends think we should be, what looks nifty at a distance, and on and on. Growing up is about sifting through all this clutter, finding what actually fits, and tossing the rest away. Several years ago, at that first rest stop, I was on a journey. Cliched as it sounds, it was all about "finding myself". I was taking baby steps, a little bit of introspection, a little bit of adventure, but I found some things that fit. For the first time I could remember I felt whole and strong and like... well, me.

Lately, I started sifting through my clutter again.

This last year or so has found me so burnt out on shooting. Something was missing. I followed all the pros, read up on all the current trends, and practiced techniques. Something. Was. Missing. As an added bonus, life was knocking loudly on my door and breaking my concentration. Life can be a real jerk.
I stepped back a bit and took some me time. Then I had a shoot that forced me to really stretch and get creative. Sometimes, that's all you need to get a little focus. Leave it to me to forget what the whole damn thing is about - self expression. There's nothing wrong with keeping up with trends or practicing good techniques, but I had lost the me side of it. This isn't about money. I already have a job. One is enough. I don't shoot to become famous or to copy some famous photographer. That's just icky.

Let's reboot. More me, more creating. Less...all this other crap.

I've made some changes to the blog, created a new FaceBook page, and will be working on my site again. I am reevaluating my policies, style, and focus. Some things are changing a little, some a lot, and some are just getting a sparkly new look. I'm trying on pieces again and seeing what fits. So bear with me, I'm making messes again. Hopefully glittery, colorful ones.