Skunk Y Monkey

PLEASE tell me you "get" the title? I mean, I like rhymes. So, if you don't get it, read it again with the "Y" being in Spanish. ;-) Haha! (See... one of those times that I've probably embarrassed the hubster right there.)

Anyway, this is gonna be a quick post. I need to get to bed early tonight. I've had a long day. I just want to share some pictures of my kiddos on Halloween. We went "Trunk or Treating" tonight at Curt's mom's church. Do you guys do this in other parts of the country? Trunk or Treating? I swear I hadn't ever heard of this until moving to Texas... Whatever. It's easy, convenient & all in one place. Plus, I kinda trust it a bit more being that the church puts the whole thing on, you know?

So, normally I make my girls costumes... at least parts of them. Well, anyone who knows me knows that translates into me working frantically all Halloween day trying to throw something together at the last minute. Why do I do this? I don't know. I just do. But, THIS year... this year Curt convinced me to just buy costumes at Old Navy, so that's what we did. :-) I thought they were pretty stinkin' cute, too. (No pun intended.)

I, of course, took them out for a few shots before the festivities. I was SOOO rushed, though. These were all taken in about 15 minutes. Oh well... these are just for me anyway. Here's my li'l stinker & my maniac monkey:






Wouldn't you know I'd actually get some decent photos of them TOGETHER when they're dressed as a monkey & a skunk? That's the way it works, right? Sheesh.

I have to say, though, they were TOO cute tonight. First, about 3/4 of the way through trunk or treating, Maya says, "my bag's full, I don't want anymore candy." And, well... that was it. No more candy for her despite the fact that her bag was NOT full. She just didn't want it to get any heavier. That, and she wanted someone to carry her. She's insanely lazy, I'm tellin' you! What other kid BEGS their parents to take a stroller to the zoo so they can ride in it? Most kids are itchin' to get out of the stroller, cart, whatever... not Maya. She's so, so, SO lazy. I'm serious.

So, on the car ride home, Emma starts passing some of her candy to Maya saying that Maya doesn't have as much as her. Awww... SOOOO sweet, right!?! Then, Maya had TWO glow bracelets, and Emma only had one. Maya offered Emma her second one because she knows "Emma really likes the bracelets." They just melt my heart. Sometimes. :-)

I would NEVER get a restraining order against you...

Who would I count on for my daily confidence boost!?! :-) Haha! Seriously... you all may feel like stalkers, but is it stalking if I enjoy it? ;-) I know that I've said it before, and I know that I say it a lot in emails to those of you that occassionally email me, but I really, really do mean it when I say that I'm so appreciative of your kind words. I seriously don't know what I've done to deserve such kind fans! YOU GUYS are the BEST! :-)

So... here I am back for more. I just can't leave the questions unanswered. First, though... Heather, yes! Use what you've got! You can really produce fantastic work with minimal equipment. Don't get me wrong, I'd LOVE to have the 85mm f/1.2L, but for now, I'll make the 1.8 work for me. Shoot with what you've got the way you'd shoot with what you want.

Monique - I wish I had a magic wand! I'd conjur me up a 5D & 85 1.2L if I did! :P Haha! No, really... thanks, though! You're always so kind to me!

Norwood - No, no... YOU'RE the best. You know it. Although, I definitely CAN'T say you're the best at blogging lately. Get to it, buddy. I know you've got TONS of OUTSTANDING weddings to blog. I LOVED the post processing on the most recent post. Amazing, as usual. Have you ever been told that everything you touch turns to gold? ;-)

D.Breezy - What's this "former friend" business? I'm kinda concerned about this... apparently YOU'VE never been told that everything Michael touches turns to gold. Including friendships. So, let's have a better attitude, now, okay? No, but really... thanks man! And, yeah... I checked out your blog after you left the comment here. That's too funny! (You're another one that's not doing too well with maintaining the blog. You've been doing better lately... I'll give you that.) I do have to say, though, that I'm slightly mad at you. Thanks for posting the word game. I've spent atleast an hour of my life playing that STUPID game. I'll never get that time back. Plus, I think the scoring is faulty & needs a serious overhaul. I love how you can answer four billion CORRECTLY and never get past vocab level 40, but the second you answer one, ONE incorrectly, it knocks you down to level 39. Then, it takes atleast, like, four correct answers to get you BACK to 40. Sheesh. Let's work this out, people... make it a little more fair maybe?

Tracey - Thanks so much! I'm glad you enjoy my blogs. I feel pretty sure that I embarass my husband now and again with my unashamed lame-ness on here. I feel justified now. ;-) My husband thanks you. Haha!

Mom - Am I infiltrating your vocabulary? ROCK on!!! :-) I'll expect to hear it in everyday conversation when you get home in FIVE MONTHS! Can you believe it!?! Only five months to go... Are you feeling any better? I'll have Halloween pictures to share with you tomorrow! I know you'll be eager to see them! Love you! (Oh, by the way... if you got a blog, I could make your name a really cute pink link, too!)

Jess - You're SO welcome! I think part of the magic with the 85 1.8 is that the longer focal length makes the depth of field a little more shallow, too, than say the 50 1.8 or 30 1.4. Plus, if you can pull your subject WAY away from your background, whatever that may be, you get really nice bokeh. I LOVE to have a big open area behind my subject with that lens... :-) (By the way, do you have a blog or website? I get an error message when I try your blogger profile, and I'd love to link to you!)

Mishelle - Wow! That's such a huge compliment! You are too sweet for saying that! See what I mean... you guys are my daily boost of confidence!!! :-) And, like Jess, do you have a blog or website I could link to?

Ariana - You crack me up! :-) Thanks so much, and YEAH!!! Bump that 85 up your list! Haha! Okay... wasn't I just telling Heather to work the equipment she's got? Well, I think EVERYONE should own the 85. Okay, okay... well, I think it's so integral to MY shooting style, atleast. I can see that it's not perfect for everyone, but for me it is! I love, LOVE that thing! And, thanks SO much for the info on the Blurb blog books! I would have never known until after the fact, and I would have been REALLY irritated! Thanks for saving me some frustration. That's a bummer, but I'd rather know now than when I was anxiously awaiting their delivery, you know? I still want to have my blog printed into books for the girls, so I'm gonna have to look at other options. I could put it together myself with a whole TON of work. That may be my only option... we'll see. Thanks again, though!

Bobbi Jo - Hey there! Okay... I'm gonna answer your questions the best I can, but I may have to come back with a bit more info on the duotone one, okay? :-)

1. Do I do custom WB? Honestly... no. Haha! I'm just too stinkin' lazy. I really, truly am. I shoot on auto WB about 95% of the time. Seriously. I do chimp (gasp! Yes, I admit it) periodically throughout a shoot, and if I see that my white balance is obviously wonky, I'll adjust it. But, that's pretty infrequently. I did set my color temperature manually the other day when I was doing some preschool pictures & using my flash. The white balance was ALL wrong, so I just adjusted the color temperature accordingly.

2. Do I shoot with a flash outside? No, I've never been able to get that to work for me. I know that a lot of people swear by it, and I know that it has some advantages, but I'm no pro with my flash. Plus, I just prefer natural light. In fact, I'll bump my ISO way up before I'll pull out my flash. It's just my preferance. My biggest secret (and, it's not much of a secret honestly) is to find the right light outside. The photos in the last two blog posts were taken at completely different times of day... Maya's were taken between 1pm - 3pm. The ones of little miss K were taken between 5pm - 6:30ish. But, I think both shoots captured a lot of light in their eyes (probably Maya's more than miss K... there are a couple shots I could have repositioned to get more light in the eyes.) With both of them, though, I feel like it's just a matter of watching your light. After that shoot of Maya, I feel a lot less intimidated about midday shoots. Now, there are advantages to using fill flash outdoors, that's for sure. For example, using a fill flash can help you maintain a more even exposure between the subject & the background, especially if the background is really bright. I, however, am okay with a bright background in my style of shooting. :-) (That was wordy & probably didn't make much sense... sorry! Haha!)

3. What is the duotone layer that I speak of? Okay, let me start by saying that I use Photoshop CS2. I'm not familiar enough with other versions to know how far back the duotone feauture goes. Having said that, you need to be working on a duplicate file because you'll need to blend the duotone with the original. You can do that buy going to image>duplicate. You can find duotone in Photoshop by going to image>mode>duotone. However, you first have to change the mode to grayscale. So, what I should have said was go to image>mode>grayscale. Then, go to image>mode>duotone. From there, I always make the first color a darker color, and the second color a really light color but a similar shade. So, for instance, one of my FAVORITE times to use duotone (which is honestly not often) is when I've got a stormy sky. In a picture like that, to further the feel of the photograph, I'd like to play up the dark, gloomy, dramatic feeling with duotone. So, in this instance, I'd choose a dark, dark gray with a hint of blue as my first color. Then, for my second color, I'd choose the palest blue I can find. Say okay. Drag the duotone file that you just did over onto the original full color file. Set the blending mode to soft light (or play around and see if you find something you like better... soft light is generally the safe choice, though.) You'll see the difference immediately. I so *hope* that makes sense! Ha!

Candy - Thanks so much! That's funny that you were thinking about a Q&A! Here ya go, girl! :-) So, about my favorite indoor lens... for now, I think it's the Sigma 3omm f/1.4. I LOVE that it allows me to shoot in fairly low light, for one thing. Plus, it's pretty stinkin' sharp. Now, some copies can be soft, but Sigma will recalibrate it for you for nothing, and it comes back nice & sharp! Honestly, indoor, outdoor, wherever... this lens is my second fave lens after the 85. :-)

Anne Marie - You know, I don't really pay much attention to my catchlights anymore during the shoot. When I was really getting started, that's one of the things that I paid a lot of attention to. I'd see catchlights everywhere, in everyone's eyes whereas before I started getting into photography, I NEVER noticed it! Ha! But, I guess that I've just trained my eye to see where there's good light and with that comes the catchlights. I would strongly suggest, though, paying attention to catchlights if it's something you want to improve. That way, you start to see how certain light hits your subject, you know? It'll become second nature soon enough. :-) I do know that it's ideal to have your catchlights in a certain place, but I'm just not too worried about that. In fact, a lot of people toss pictures with no catchlights at all. I, personally, think that's a little extreme. Yes, it's ideal to have them there. Yes, it will step up the photograph A LOT & bring the eyes to life, but, hey... I'm not tossing a memory, a moment because of the lack of catchlights. (I'm a pack rat when it comes to pictures, can you tell? You should *see* my hard drive(s.) Eek!) Anyway... I'm in central Texas, and I shoot down at a local park. It's down by the old town square which has SOOO much charm! So, I usually start out at the park & then head downtown to all my favorite locations. :-) You'd probably laugh if you saw some of these places in context. They look pretty pathetic, but they make for AWESOME backgrounds! At least for my tastes... :-)

So, yeah... I think that's everyone! Thanks again, guys! I'll have some pictures of the girls all dressed up either late Halloween night or Thursday night. Also, I've got some fairly exciting things in the works. I've got to get some details worked out, but soon enough... :-)

Take care!

Just answering a few questions...

First, thanks SO much for your continued visits to my blog. I know my blogging has been pretty sporadic and less than frequent. Sorry about that... This is SUCH a busy time of the year for me. Every year, too, after my busy-ness has passed, I tell myself I will NOT let myself get that busy next year. But, here I am in the big ol' middle of it again. Sheesh. I'll learn my lesson one of these days, I guess... Either that, or you all could remind me in, say, August that I'm about to get busy and how much I loathe it. Okay? ;-)

Anyway, again, thank you for visiting, and thank you TONS for all the nice comments you leave. They really encourage me, and I'm always so taken aback by your enthusiasm for my photography. The least I could do for you guys is to answer the questions you leave for me, right!?!

So, first question came from Heather. She asked what lens I used for these photos. Well, Heather, I used my Canon 85mm f/1.8. It's my favorite lens of all time (that I own,) and I find that I'm using it almost exclusively right now for outdoor portraits. In fact, I took some pictures for my sassy-but-best-friend Jenny tonight, and I used my 85 for her family of FOUR! I really should have switched, but I just love that lens. It's always good to me...

The next question came from one of my long time visitors, Ariana. (Thanks so much for all the wonderful encouragement you're always giving me, by the way! I really appreciate it!) She asked if I'd started using Portraiture or some other skin softening technique lately. And, well, the answer to that is no on both counts. :-) I haven't started doing anything differently than my typical post processing, so I'm not really sure where the difference is aside from me just feeling better about my work the last two shoots. One single little girl... I think that's my specialty. Haha! Seriously. But, she has to be at least three years old but not old enough to think she's too cool for school. :-) Typically, though, Ariana, I don't soften children's skin. It seems flawless already, you know? The only thing I'll touch up with children is rashes, cuts, bruises, boogers (haha)... but that's it. And, even then, it's not all the time. Like, with my Maya, she had a cut on her forehead for a while, and I never cloned it out. Same with the cut on her chin that she got shortly after the forehead healed. It's just part of her childhood at that time. Sweet, clumsy little thing...

Jess asked what lens I used (see above) and what kind of shutter speeds I used. When I'm using my 85, I like to keep my shutter speed above 1/250 at the minimum. Most of these, though, were shot at 1/320. The first one was shot at 1/500, and the last three were shot at 1/250 because we were losing light. My ISO was around 200 or below for most of these shots, though I had to bump up to ISO 500 for the last three shots. My aperture was f/1.8 for most of the shoot. I hope those settings help you out some. :-)

I also had a question from Tori this week on one of my old posts. It was this post about my Blurb book. Just visit www.blurb.com. It's super easy to create, although it doesn't offer tons of customization. It does to an extent, but to those of you that are into layout & design... this might not be the book for you. (They do have nice designs, just to make it clear. It's just that you can't come up with your OWN designs.) Also, while I do love my book, I don't know that it's right for clients. I think there are probably nicer options out there to offer them. It's GREAT for my personal family books... Also, a super fun thing that Blurb offers is that they'll turn your blog into a coffee table book. I want to do this for both of my girls SOOO bad! One of these days. Maybe for my blog's one year anniversary? I hope that answers your question, Tori. :-)

And, I had a couple questions on my last blog entry, too. :-) Sorry if I'm boring any of you. I just don't know how to go about answering these questions that I get asked, and I don't want to ignore. :-)

So, for last entry, Meg from New Zealand asked what camera, lens & f/stop I used for the photos of Maya. I shoot with the Canon 30D, and for this shoot I used the Canon 85mm f/1.8 lens again. LOVE it! Most of these were shot wide open at f/1.8, but I'm sure I didn't go higher than f/2.2 on any of these except the swinging one where I went to f/2.8 to give myself a little wiggle room with the focus. :-)

Monique(Moki) asked what presets or actions I use. Well, Monique, I actually don't use presets or actions in the bulk of my post processing. I use a sharpening action, and I use actions when I convert to B&W. But, as far as my color photos go... no actions or presets. :-) Just the trusty ol' soft light layer... it's easy peasy, and adds so much to the photo. I do some burning around the edges, of course, and other touch-ups as needed. I used to sponge the background some, but I quit doing that a while back. So, it's something I have done in the past to punch up the color, but it's not something I'm currently doing. For my B&W conversion here, I believe I used Nicole Van's B&W conversion from an edited color photo.

Okay... so... I think that's all of them. :-) If I missed your question, I'm sorry! Ask again because I just overlooked it in my haste! Take care!

Oh, little miss "K"

So... I've made a new best friend tonight. I had the pleasure of photographing a sweet little 5 year old girl. I think she's five. I suppose she could be six. I just know she's in kindergarten. :-)

Anyway, she was so fun & so cooperative. I had a great time with her, and I think she had a good time, too. I know that she had lots of her own ideas on the best way to pose. Haha! Apparently she loves America's Next Top Model. This girl can POSE! :-)

Here are just a few. We visited many of the same places that I visited in my last post with Dawn & Maya. And, I found a new location. Yay! Fun times, I tell ya!


Okay... a couple things about the next one. First, everyone in my family HAS GOT to recognize the little stool she's sitting on. :-) Yeah... I was loading stuff up in my car for this shoot & saw the vanity bench-thing (whatever it is) sitting over in the corner of the garage. I thought, "hmmm... if that seat cushion wasn't so ugly, this would be a fun little prop for photography." So, what did I do? I recovered the seat with some fabric I had laying around about 30 minutes before the shoot. Haha! But, hey... it's super cute now!

Also, I'm not sure how I feel about this next picture. I mean, she's a DOLL, of course, but I can't decide about the lighting. This little porch is one of my favorite places. It's the same porch that Maya's sitting on in the first picture of my last post. BUT... at this time of day, the sunlight was really dappled. So, with much experimentation, I found this spot on the porch that was shaded for the most part EXCEPT for right on little miss K's face. I kinda liked it at the time... it was kinda dramatic. Now, though... now I'm not sure. I need to look at it a little longer. I can't decide if her face just looks excessively over brightened in post processing, or if it is obvious that it's a good bit of bright, directional sunlight? I don't know...
LOVE the fidgeting with shoelaces here...
And this one... well... that would be a bee you see above her right shoulder. Love it!


More reflection...
And you remember this location, right? :-) I just love her playful little face! She had a good time making silly faces at me.
These last three are from my new location. Sometimes it's funny how we just overlook the most old, run down areas of town. It's like, we almost wish they weren't there. But, for a photographer... well, atleast for this photographer... it's SUCH a treasure!

Last of the headshots, but probably my most favorite. Look at those eyes!

Get ready for it... lots o' pics!

Wow! Where to begin...

So, back a couple months ago, I received one of the most flattering, wonderful emails I've ever received. It was from sweet Dawn, a photographer that knew me online only. She was wanting to come out to Texas from Missouri to spend a couple days here with me working on all things photography. Me, being me, loving to share photography with anyone who has the passion, I said heck yeah! Come on down! We started planning, and we settled on October 18-19. So, yeah, that was this past week.

She flew in on Thursday while I was at preschool, and so we hooked up when I got home. The plan was to do some shooting Thursday evening & Friday morning and then work on post processing with Photoshop on Friday afternoon. At least, that's how I thought it would go. :-) Unfortunately, we didn't get many shots Thursday evening, and, not wanting to disappoint (ha! seriously! I was nervous...), I thought maybe we should go ahead and start on some post processing. So, yeah, we got through my typical work flow Thursday evening, and she was so, so quick to catch on!

Friday, though, we set out with little miss Maya as our only model since Emma's in school. And, well, with Maya it's a toss up. She might cooperate, she might not. But, I think I've figured out the trick. GET HER ALONE! Ha! Seriously... I could NOT believe how cooperative she was. She was such a little trooper. We dragged her all over town for HOURS, and she never protested. When Curt & Emma got home from school, Dawn & I (and our laptops) headed to Starbucks to work in Photoshop some more.

It was such a good time. Seriously. Dawn is just the nicest, most thoughtful, smart girl. She got some AMAZING shots, and I can't wait until she posts some on her blog! Plus, I feel like I improved my own skills along the way. I got some pretty decent shots of my mei mei, too! In fact, they're some of my new favorites of all time. (For now. Ha!)

Anyway, you should most definitely go check out Dawn's blog. She has a sweet little family... three girls that are all 2 years apart. Her oldest two are really close in age to Emma & Maya. Fun stuff!

On to my Friday photos:

This next one is one of my newest faves. Color or B&W?

A little full sun swingin' action. If I'm being honest, this is a photography nightmare for me... full sun AND the subject moving toward & away from me constantly? Yeah... not fun.


Okay... side note on these next few pictures. You may remember this crooked little building with the yellow window frame from this post back in March. I love, LOVE this location. It has so much personality, and so much charm. Anyway, when we were there on Friday, I noticed a piece of paper taped to the front of the building. It said something along the lines of, "Save this building. Come to the town hall meeting on Monday."

Ummm... NOOOOOOOOO!!! I LOVE this building, adore it! I swear to you, I'll cry if they tear it down. It's the sweetest, tiniest little thing. Seriously. It's like the size of a walk in closet or something. No, really. It's not taking up much space, and I really don't know what they'd do with that land if they tore it down. Nothing will fit in that narrow little space. :-( Anyway, I'm just sad about it. Plus, there was no date about the town hall meeting, so who knows if that Monday has already passed. I'm gonna look into it, though...
She thought she was so clever using these sticks as ears. I love that she has a sense of humor, though.
This is the front of that crooked little building with the yellow window frame. I'm telling you... it's cute.

What do you get when you add together a little fake smile, some crazy cat-like catchlights, and bare belly? Another of my new favorites... :-)


Dublin Dr. Pepper, baby! If you've never had one, you're missing out...

I'm not sure that I like this one in color. I don't know why. What do you all think?


And this... this next one... it's hands down my most favorite of 'em all! LOVE it. And, I love it in B&W, too!

So, yeah... that's a lot of pictures! I'm telling you, I had such a good time. I'm so grateful that Dawn was able to come. As stressed out & busy as I've been lately, it's surprising how therapeutic this was for me. Thanks so, SO much, Dawn!

I'm having blogging issues...

Well, because both my blog & Curt's blog are hosted on my server, somehow the links to our archives are being mixed & crossed & whatever. Thanks for pointing this out to me, mom! I had NO idea.

So, apparently, when you click on my August archives, it takes you to Curt's August archives. And, well, I checked out his blog, and when you click on ANY month BUT August, it takes you to my archives for that month. Yeah... this is NOT going to work. So, I can't figure out a way to fix that on the server. I've tried renaming his blog, I've tried changing the archive filename... it's just not working.

My solution? Well, with Curt's approval, I kicked him off my server. Haha! You can now find his blog at http://curtcoffey.blogspot.com/. But, if you use his old address, I've set it up to redirect you to his new address. Atleast that's easy enough, right?

So, there's that. But, in the meantime, I'm trying to get my own August archives to overwrite Curt's August archives. And, THAT is the main point of this post. I'm really just needing to post something to test it out. :-) It should be fixed now! Yay!

But, beware... I've got a HONKIN' huge post coming up soon. Probably later today...

Take care!

It's nothing from the life you lead...

And, it's time for my post about the Dashboard concert on Wednesday. This will be one of those posts that come across really... ummm... disfluent, I guess. See, I want to do this evening justice, but, for me, it was so much more than just a concert. It was SO much more than an evening out, enjoying some live music. Whether or not I'll be able to verbalize that... any one's guess.

I need to start out by making it clear that Dashboard Confessional is my favorite band of all time. Maybe that has something to do with why my evening has stuck with me the way it has. I just love his lyrics, his outlook, his driving, aggressive guitar playing & singing.

Back about three years ago, we went to a Dashboard concert at Stubb's Barbecue down in Austin. It was so, so fantastic. I like the small, intimate venues. It was there that we got our first taste of the interactive nature of live Dashboard shows. I mean, everyone, EVERYONE sings along. Loudly. We sang along, but we maintained our cool, calm composure. We're adults, after all. Parents. It was still an incredibly good time.

This time, though... this time was a little different. Again, it was at a small(ish) venue, The Palladium Ballroom, in Dallas. It was general admission, so you could choose to brave the crowds & make your way to the front... if you're crazy enough. But, see... I AM crazy enough because I have a passion, now. I was able to bring my camera, so we're essentially combining two of my favorite things here... photography & Chris Carrabba. The room was large enough that I wasn't going to get a decent shot unless I forced my way through the sea of people that flooded the lowest level of the venue. These people... now these people are CRAZY! These are the people that have been camped at the venue all day to ensure a good place to stand. These are the college kids that skipped class to be there. Too bad Curt couldn't skip out on teaching that day, eh? Too bad we couldn't ditch our kids on someone for the day to ensure a good plot o' floor for the show, right? See where I'm going with this? From the get-go, I felt old. I felt pretty out of place standing in line waiting to get in. Honestly, I'm thinking to myself, "Is there any way this unnaturally tan 18 year old donning a low cut mini dress & bleach blonde hair is old enough to BE a fan? And, who let her out of the house dressed like that? Sheesh.

I just... I don't know. My hay day has passed, that's for sure. I'm standing in line just wondering if it's obvious to EVERYone around us that I'm a mom? That I work at a preschool in my daughter's class two days a week? That I'm pushing 30? That MY days are filled with worries like budgets & medical insurance & flat tires and duties like packing lunches & cleaning toilets & wiping snotty noses? This is my life, and I love it (as glamorous as it all sounds :-)), but what, WHAT am I doing in this line? Who am I kidding? It's like a wave of self consciousness & self doubt wash over me. It's like one of these things is not like the other... one of these things just doesn't belong...

Once we're inside, we just kill time chatting at the back of the venue... chatting through John Ralston because, frankly, he's a little too crude for me. I spent much of Augustana's set in the line for the bathroom. During the last couple songs of their set, though, we decided we'd better start making our way to the front because the floor would only become more packed when Chris Carrabba took the stage. It was like no crowd I've ever tried to navigate before. Seriously. It's like you'd get a few feet in, then you would just be stalled... no where to go. NO where. Not even back. Your arms are plastered to your sides, you can't move your feet even an inch. But, with a little maneuvering, I found myself along the front railing & to the left of center stage. Curt was a couple people behind me, and Cara was behind him. I think we all had a little breathing room, which is good. (Well, maybe not Cara. I think she ended up having to throw some 'bows! Haha!)

Honestly, I just intended to take a few pictures, make sure I got a good one, and then back outta there. Retreat to the back of the venue, you know? But, the show got going, and it was just too good. As is the way with Dashboard, the crowd started signing along, which Chris Carrabba embraces. I'd take a few shots, sing along, whatever. There were some really good moments in there. Seriously. To be standing behind my camera, looking through the lens, all while sharing this moment with the hundreds of fans singing around me... really, really a perfect moment for me. I was doing the thing that I love, MY creative outlet, while enjoying someone else's art. It was a beautiful union for me. It sounds stupid & lame, but I'm telling you... I get really reflective & wistful when photography is involved.

And, I found myself being overcome with the crowd, with the moment. Doing what I love & feeling as though I'm accomplishing something, creating something, composing something... it gave me a freedom that I'm not used to as an "adult." It's like, all that defines me & binds me into adulthood, maturity, parenthood was undone. With each new song, I found that a different cloak, whether it be worry, self-consciousness, expectations, etc., had been shed. By the end of it all, I'd become as undignified as the next guy, singing the songs back to the stage, moving almost in a unified motion with the crowd... letting my proverbial hair down. Do you know how long it's been since I've done that? Do you know how good it felt? How young I felt? How liberating it was? Turns out, I'm no different than little miss 18 year old (aside from the mini dress & stuff...) I had as good a time as anyone there, and I'm pretty sure no one cared that there was a 30 year old having a good time right along with them.

That's the beauty of a Dashboard concert. It's like this interactive experience. You don't go to watch & listen. You go to have an encounter. Even when you feel like a glowing yellow orb surrounds you highlighting your differences to the bunch, you end up melding, meshing into the community because of your common love & excitement for the music. Honestly, it was unexpected. It was unexpected because I didn't think I had it in me to "lay my armour down." But, I did. And, I'm still on cloud nine because of it. It just invigorated & restored my fondness of Dashboard Confessional & my passion for photography. Truly.

So, there's my experience. I kinda feel like I'm letting my guard down all over again just by being so forthcoming about my feelings on the subject. I feel like I'm putting my undignified self out there for all to judge. Oh well. Like I said... cloud nine. I'm still feeling good enough to push that "publish post" button. :-)

I've got lots of photos to share, too. The lighting was aboslutely horrific. It was. The bright spotlight definitely produced some DARK shadows both on his face & in the backgrounds. Unfortunately, there's nothing too terribly interesting as far as the setting goes. Maybe I shoulda used my flash, eh? ;-)

A combination of crazy high ISO & my post processing (trying to make the words stand apart from the background) created some crazy noise in this one.


How 'bout that dramatic lighting?

Here's Johnny...

See...now, on this one, I wish I'd used a flash. If for nothing more than to prove that he's looking STRAIGHT into my lens. :-) Seriously. I so wish those shadows weren't so dark.
Performing El Scorcho with Augustana & John Ralston. (Again, zoomed in... looking right into my camera.)

I'm SOOO tired today.

In all honesty, I'm forcing myself to blog right now. In other words, don't expect anything too terribly interesting or lengthy. :-)

Yesterday, I got up at 6:30am to get the girls & myself ready to take Emma to her doctor appointment. Sure, that may not sound early to many of you, but I like to sleep... as late as possible. Which, by the way, I meant to mention yesterday that sweet little Emma seems to be getting smaller & smaller. Poor little thing... She's fallen on the chart again in both height & weight. Not too much, though. But, now she's down to the 10th percentile for her height. How does this happen when dad is 6'2"? Oh, yeah, 'cause I'm, like, 4 foot. (I exaggerate.)

Oh, anyway... so, then, last night we had the concert. Which, oh my gosh... BEST. SHOW. EVER. Seriously. First, I was able to take my big ol' honkin' camera inside with no problems. No smuggling, either. They just allowed it. :-) Yay! Second, and this is a BIG, exciting second for me... I worked my way up to the first row. I braved the crowds. No, I was not front & center. I was off to the left, but still front row & super close. And, call me crazy (but I'm pretty sure I'm not,) but I'm about 99% sure that he (Chris Carrabba) spotted my camera & came over a couple times and stared straight into the lens for 20 full seconds each time to let me get pictures. I'm not joking. Laugh. Go ahead, but I have the proof. In addition to coming over to my side of the stage and looking into the lens, he looked into the lens from center stage a couple times, too. I'm telling you... I'll share more on that maybe tomorrow. I'm still working on some of those pictures. Personally, I think I got some decent pictures, but nothing stellar. I mean, I don't know... the lighting was pretty unexciting. I don't mean bad, I just mean boring. I think the lighting is a good part of what sets the mood for concert photos... oh well. We didn't get home until 1:30 a.m. adding to my exhaustion. That means I was awake for 19-20 hours straight. Way too long.

Anyway, so, on to twin day. Curt & Emma were twins. That was fun... or not so much. I didn't plan anything out the day before, so after getting next to NO sleep (if I can't get, like, 10 hours, it might as well be considered NO sleep... HA!) I had to get up & try to find matching outfits for my husband and 5 year old daughter. Best I could come up with was jeans, brown tees, and converse-type (I'm cheap) shoes. But, there was one fun little piece... they both wore rocked out brown striped socks. So cute. Err... I mean handsome. Whatev.

And, well, as you can imagine, I was running super late this morning (I didn't want to get out of bed.) So, I snapped a couple shots & off we went. I kinda wish I'd taken more. I think they both look pretty cute in that picture, and, well... I kinda wish they weren't hiking up their pant legs.

Tomorrow is spirit day or something along those lines. They're supposed to dress up in school colors, etc. I don't think I'll be sharing any pictures of that for a couple reasons. One, there's nothing too terribly exciting about that. Two, I'd have to blur out her t-shirt anyway so as not to plaster the name of her school on the internet. Know what I mean? Not that I think any of my readers are whacked, but you just never know who might stumble upon this blog. Yes, I realize it would be INSANELY easy to figure it all out, but I'm just not gonna make it any easier... So, that's it for spirit week. Fun stuff.

You can expect pictures from the Dashboard show, though. Hopefully tomorrow. :-)

I'm off to fall asleep on the couch watching an old episode of Felicity. (That show gets really crappy by the 2nd season, by the way. But, I committed. What can you do?)

My little nerd-bird...

Well, I forgot that Emma had her 5 year checkup this morning. (Yes, she turned 5 in August, but if you don't schedule the appointment three months in advance, you can't get in. Seriously... I called early July, and TODAY was the EARLIEST they could get us in for a well checkup. Ay yi yi. That's another story, though. But, on the bright side, I got Maya's 4 year checkup scheduled today... for JANUARY 18th!)

Anyway, our pediatrician is an hour away. I know that's a LONG way, but he rocks. We love him, and we trust him, so we keep going back. Soooo because of that, Emma didn't get to school until after lunch today. Bummer. But, she still rocked the "nerd" gear. :-)

Like I said yesterday, I'm not too keen on "nerd" day. But, I thought, why not show a little pride in our nerdiness?!? Nerds unite, right!?! Haha! So, I put together a little ensemble which I think represents nerds in a good light while still being... umm... nerdy. :-)

Yes, that's a sweater vest. Yes, her hair IS in a bun. Yes, her top button is buttoned. And, yes, she is wearing an old pair of MY glasses with the lenses taken out.

PLEASE tell me I don't have to explain the next one. :-)
Tomorrow is twin day. Curt wants to be twins with Emma, and she's all for it. Those will be some interesting pictures. :-)

Change of topic... tonight, Curt & I are off to a Dashboard Confessional concert with his sister Cara. I'm SOOOO excited about it. It's a solo concert, too, and he (Chris Carrabba) just put out a new album that's more acoustic like his old school stuff. I'm so, so, so looking forward to this. We've seen them once before in Austin a few summers back, and it was SUCH a good show! I'm attempting to take my camera. Keep your fingers crossed for me that it goes better than the camera debacle at the Dave Matthews concert. This time, though, the Dashboard site ENCOURAGES you to bring your camera. Let's see if the venue allows it...

Emma Claire ROCKS the 80s!

That's right, baby... it's spirit week! Do they do that in other regions of the US? Spirit week?

Well, for those that have NO clue what I'm talking about, spirit week is the week leading up to the Homecoming game. Each day, the students dress up according to the theme to show their support or school spirit.

Anyway, yesterday was crazy hair day/injury day. And, yeah... don't ask about injury day... I have NO idea. We just ignored that part of it. :-) I did, however, spend about 30 minutes yesterday morning fixing HALF of Emma's hair into many, many little ponytails. After the right side of her head was completed, I made the mistake of asking her if she wanted to look at it in the mirror. Ummm... no. In fact, not only did she NOT want to look in the mirror, she also decided that she didn't want to wear crazy hair at all. Seriously? Can you see the steam coming out of my ears at this point? I mean, THIRTY minutes spent on HALF your head only to be told, "no, take it out." Sheesh. So, I took it out. She went with completely normal hair yesterday. This is why there are no pictures to share.

But, today... today she participated in a BIG way. It was 80's day! (Which, Curt pointed out that the SENIORS... the OLDEST kids in the school... were born in '89, maybe even '90! What the heck!?! You've GOT to be kidding me. Time absolutely FLIES, doesn't it!?!) Anyway, so, with the help of the super-star-rock-star-four-year-old of all time, Josie!!!, Emma ROCKED out 80's day. Haha! As soon as I saw 80's day on the list, I knew where to turn for the goods. I called up Alison & asked if Emma could borrow something from the Jo. Alison & Josie provided quite the wardrobe to choose from, including a BUBBLE skirt with attached footless leggings with lace around the ankles! <----- THAT'S our winner! She also had a super stylish, elasticized, silver sequin belt in the choices. We had to use that bad boy, too. So, yeah, I took an old sweatshirt & cut the neck wide, the sleeves short & the bottom off to give it sort of a Flashdance look. (Although, looking back, her sleeves were long... Flashdance girl, that is.) We added some beads of Josie's, a pair of high top converse folded over, and a teased side pony... RADICAL! (Yes, I did JUST type that. Yes, I know I should be embarrassed for being such a dork. Bwahahahaa!) Here's the finished product:

Check out the next shot. 'Cause this is Thriller, Thriller night... Bwahahaha!!! That's my girl! And this one. Man, This one I just threw in because this is honestly the first time I've looked at a photograph of her (other than when she was a little baby) and thought, DANG, that girl looks like me! People say it all the time, but I guess I just don't see it. At least, I don't think it's super obvious. But, in this picture, there is something about her smile... and her eyes. I'm telling you, that is ME. There's a particular picture that I have in mind from when I was about this age. I searched & searched for a copy of it to post along with this photo, but I don't seem to have a copy of it. Mom... do you know which one I'm talking about? It's a school type picture, and I'm wearing a white sweatshirt with red dots or cherries on it. I SO wish I had a copy of that picture right now. So, yeah... if anyone reading this has a copy scanned (unlikely with this technically impaired family - love you guys!) please email it to me. :-)

That's 80's day! Tomorrow is nerd day. Honestly, I'm not sure how I feel about nerd day. I personally feel like it opens kids up to making fun of other kids and stuff. So, I'd still like Emma to participate, but we're going to put our own spin on things. We're going with a bookworm rather than a nerd. And, we're gonna PROVE that "nerds" can be cute. ;-) Watch for it.

Take care!

I love my family, quirks & all!

Sometimes I forget how much I just love being with my family. It seems like sometimes far too much time passes between get-togethers. It's in those lulls that I forget.

We had a MASSIVE birthday party this past weekend or as Curt calls it "Christmas in September." You see, we've got ENDLESS birthdays in the month of September. On my side of the family, there's Mom, Summer, Josie, Ryan, Jimmy & Alison. Then, on Curt's side, Cara celebrates her birthday in September, and Carla's is October 1st, so basically September! Ha! And, throw in Jenny's birthday in the middle of it all, and, well... you can see why it's kind of a crazy month for us!

Normally, it seems like there's a birthday party every weekend in September. Somehow, though, this year we ended up with one big bash at Rob's house on the 29th... Alison's real birthday. :-) I hadn't seen the family in forever. We're normally pretty close, I think, compared to a lot of families. We're quirky & cranky as all get out, but, hey... that's one of the things that's almost endearing to me. It's weird. I know.

I took tons & TONS of pictures on Saturday.

Kyden. Not a birthday boy, but standing by a birthday boy's leg. :-)

Camden. Also not a birthday boy. He is, however, still a little red-headed maniac. :-)

Summer. She turned 13!!! THIRTEEN! My gosh, where does the time go!?! And, mascara? Since when does mascara add about 5 years!?!
A quick one of Emma. This stool was in the very back part of the yard, and I thought it would be great for pictures. Emma was the closest & most cooperative, so here she is! (And, yeah... that's the same outfit from the garage shoot.)
Ryan... hitting the big double digits at a whopping 10 years old. :-) He's a big Dallas Cowboy's fan.


Josie turned four this month. I love that she carried this load of "treasures" around with her for a good while outside.
This is Luke... he'll be having a birthday this month. :-)
A little fun with light during the pinata.
This one's my favorite of the two. :-)
And, this photo... this photo doesn't have a whole lot going for it, I don't think. There isn't really a clear & standout subject, though Emma is supposed to be the subject. I just love it, though, because it invokes in me feelings of appreciation for my family, of good times gone by. I went with a slightly more vintage conversion on this picture just because that's how it makes me feel. For a minute, it makes me feel almost child-like again... no adult worries, you know? We used to have picnics all the time as children with the whole family. I just love seeing the gang in the background of this photo just doing what we do... interacting, taking pictures... whatever. I hope that as my girls get older, they'll have the same fond memories... You know? Does it make any sense? Either way, I love this mess of a photo. :-)

Heather & Kyden... love the glowing hair! :-) Haha! Isn't he the cutest, though!?!
Another of Summer... she's really so beautiful.
And, Alison! My goodness, what can I say about Alison!?! This girl is looking GOOD! She's lost some weight due to a weird illness... reverse pharyngitis or something. Haha! Who knows... Either way, she seems to be feeling just fine, but losing weight. Sounds like something I might be interested in! Haha! So, for Katie & mom... here you go! Look how TINY she is! She looks like Steve... so tall & skinny!

So, yeah... it was fun. There are more pictures, too, but it's mostly just family pictures left, and those take more time to process. I'll get to them soon, I hope.

Somehow, I don't have any pictures of Jimmy. What was I thinking? Sorry, J.Bo. :-)

Happy Birthday, everyone! I love you all! :-)