Weblog Entry 6.30.06

Olivia

I had a photoshoot this past weekend with one of my favorite clients. She is such a cute little girl with so much personality and spunk! She keeps me on my toes. Here are a few shots from her session. We started things off with her mom swinging her in the hammock.

This was also the day she was having her "playhouse -warming" party. Doesn't everyone have these when their dad builds them a playhouse?

This playhouse was DELUXE. It even had REAL working double hung windows!!

This is where the three year old in her took over. She decided she was done with adults for awhile.

So, dad had to cheer her up again. This always works by the way. When you are falling through the air only to land in your dad's arms, you can't help but smile!

One happy family.

Weblog Entry 6.27.06

I know it has been WAY too long since I have actually posted PICTURES on my blog. So, here goes!

I had so much fun shooting my brother-in-law's wedding a week ago. Everything was absolutely beautiful. Here are a few shots from the day.

Dress details

The dress had wonderful detailing on it and fit her like a glove.

I have decided that I LOVE outdoor weddings. The lighting was amazing. I was also allowed to wander a bit during the ceremony and was able to get some great shots of the ring exchange!

They did something a little different than the unity candle at their ceremony. They used sand to create a unique piece that they will display in their home.

The beautiful bride.

The handsome groom!

It is amazing what you can tell from a kiss. All I see in the photo below is how absolutely and completely in love they are. I just love my job!

The happy couple.

Congratulations Mike and Amber and a wish for many many happy years to come! Thank you both so much for a wonderful day!

Also many many thanks to my 'right hand' for the day; Karen Minzner is a wonderful photographer. Without her, this day would not have gone as smoothly as it did! You are an absolute joy to work with!

Weblog Entry 6.23.06

Questions questions ... always questions.

I was tagged - and decided to post my answers here.

A version of 20 (or in this case - 30) questions

1. NICKNAME IN HIGHSCHOOL? Swank (my maiden name - no one called me by my first name til I graduated college)
2. NAMED AFTER ANYONE? Yes, a friend of my mother's
3. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Off what? The bottom step? Then, yes.
4. GLASS HALF FULL or HALF EMPTY? Either way you look at it ... it is time for a refill!
5. THREE OF YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOWS: CSI, Project Runway, King of Queens
6. NAME FOUR JOBS YOU'VE HAD IN YOUR LIFE: waitress (of sorts), retail, programmer, application administrator
7. FOUR PLACES YOU HAVE LIVED: Alaska, North Dakota, Indiana, Ohio
8. DO YOU KEEP A JOURNAL? You are looking at it.
9. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Every chance I get.
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM FLAVOR? Peanut Butter - hands down, no contest.
11. IF YOU WERE SOMEONE ELSE, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? Absolutely.
12. DO YOU CONSIDER YOURSELF A STRONG PERSON? I do.
13. WHEN DID YOU LAST CRY? Father's Day
14. RED OR PINK? Pink (I guess this is my sappy side, peeking out)
15. WHAT IS YOU LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF? This question seems a little self destructive. I'll pass.
16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad
17. WHAT DO YOU WEAR THE MOST IN YOUR WARDROBE? Jeans
18. WHAT IS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A Quaker Oatmeal Square - the breakfast of champions.
19. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? XM Hit List (Staind is on - no wait ... now it's No Doubt)
20. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Barely Pink
21. FAVORITE SMELL? This one is very tough. I have a lot. I have mentioned them previously on my blog: babies, bread baking, rain, any Aveda product ....
22. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Talking
23. WHO IS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? My stepmom
24. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT SOMEONE YOU MEET? You can tell a lot about a person by their eyes and their smile. So, this is probably what I notice first. (followed closely by their shoes) The saying goes: You make 7 assumptions about someone in the first 7 seconds of meeting them.
25. FAVORITE DRINK? Water (kind of boring, but you rarely see me without a bottle)
26. FAVORITE FOOD? Anything Italian
27. SCARY MOVIES or HAPPY ENDINGS? What happened to comedies?
28. WHAT IS THE LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? Blue Streak with Martin Lawrence
29. SUMMER or WINTER? Summer - the hotter the better.
30. IF YOU COULD PICK ANY TWO PEOPLE TO HAVE DINNER WITH, WHO WOULD YOU CHOOSE? Easy - my husband and my daughter. They are more important to me than anyone famous, rich or otherwise.

Weblog Entry 6.14.06

This is the graph of my blog. I found this cool website that takes any url and changes it into one of these graphs with tons of little nodes on them. Each color represents a different type of node. I just love it. They all end up looking like flowers!

Go check it out for yourself:

http://www.aharef.info/static/htmlgraph/

Weblog Entry 6.12.06

This past weekend, I had a photo session with a senior who is going to be one of my reps for the coming school year. She is a beautiful girl and was wonderful to photograph. I think she and her mom thought I was crazy when I showed them some of the places we were going to photograph her. The results, however, are stunning.

I was SO busy this weekend that I haven't even had time to go through all of her photos, but these are a couple that I KNEW were going to be great from the moment I pressed the shutter release. I just couldn't wait to see them! Trust me, there are lots more. I'll post more as I get to them. A big thank you to Jill for being so willing to put up with me and trusting me with her senior photos!

Weblog Entry 6.08.06

Reflecting on the television of my youth:
The other day I got to thinking about all of the old TV shows I watched religiously when I was small. I came up with quite a list (these are in no particular order):
Charlie’s Angels
Three’s Company
Scarecrow and Mrs. King
Alice
Chips
Dukes of Hazzard
Love Boat
Fantasy Island
Mork and Mindy
MacGyver
Knight Rider
Facts of Life
Silver Spoons
Laverne and Shirley
Night Court
WKRP in Cincinnati
Greatest American Hero
Growing Pains
Doogie Houser
Happy Days
Murder She Wrote
Sanford and Son
Welcome Back, Kotter
Wonder Woman
The Bionic Woman and the Six Million Dollar Man
The Incredible Hulk
Taxi
The Brady Bunch
The Cosby Show
Fat Albert

With a list like that, you would think that I never left the TV in the family room, but somehow, I did manage to play outside.

Let me know if I missed any of your favorites :)

Weblog Entry 6.06.06

After posting my last blog entry .... I decided that I just had to post my two favorite personal portraits from this session. They mentioned that they would like to have some nice photos of each other so I took some individual portraits that turned out beautifully.

I really hope they love them as much as I do!

Weblog Entry 6.05.06

I was given the opportunity to shoot an engagement session for one of my best friends this past weekend. She is engaged to a wonderful man and I wish them every happiness! Here are a few photos from their shoot.

Weblog Entry 6.4.06

It was too beautiful this weekend to not be outside. Our weather was reminiscent of San Diego. I ran across this little guy while I was in our backyard today. He was begging me to take his picture. So, of course, I did.

Weblog Entry 6.3.06

When it comes to favorite photographs, everyone has an opinion. My favorite photographs are never the ones that anyone gets blown up into a wall portrait. Sometimes they are never even ordered by the client. But for some reason they speak to me. They capture 'something'.

Something that keeps me looking just a little bit more.

Something that keeps me coming back to it and saying ... I really like this one.

I thought I would put a few of these here that haven't already been posted.

For fun.

For me.