OH SHOOT! --- I hope I win :)

I f you know me, then you know I love my camera. Happiness for me is capturing a private or unexpected moment and sharing them with the ones I love.
I've been asked to do a few freelance assignments on the side in the past, but I always turn them down. I just don't feel confident in my skills and --- well-- I'm chicken. I'm afraid of screwing something up.
  This past weekend, I decided to just try.  My cousin asked me to take senior pictures of his daughter & I did. I took a lot of pictures with different lenses and on different modes. It was a great experience, but unfortunately some of the pictures were ruined because of the incorrect exposure. I can correct some, but not all. I really wish that I had a mentor to stand behind me and show me how to correct my errors. Unfortunately, I don't. I've tried to read a few books, but quite honestly I think I'm a visual learner :/. I need to take a class.
   I just read that Candice Stringham is offering a class (called OH SHOOT!). I really hope my husband will let me sign up. I really need this class to improve my skills, I think I may just take a hint from one of my boys and beg him for a straight 24 hours.  Candice is one of the main reasons why I fell in love with my camera.  Years ago I attended a CKU convention and took her class-- I came home and was hooked.  She is a FABULOUS teacher. I really think this class would help me tremendously.  Cross your fingers that he says yes or that I can win a spot :) 

Here is a link to her class if you are interested: OH SHOOT!

Quiet Confidence

Sara asked me to take her graduation pics a while ago and I have been nervous about it for months... I didn't want to take a chance at messing up pictures that she would remember forever...but she had confidence in me-- and I agreed.

 I am so glad I did. I had a great time taking pictures of her and her roommate. Towards the end of the day, I caught her looking into the distance when I was changing my lenses. I was struck by the quiet confidence that she had and I believe that's because of her unwavering faith. She truly is a beautiful young woman inside and out and I feel blessed to call her family.

Just a reminder --

Just a reminder-- go out and explore.  After all, life is an experiment :) 

From there to here, and here to there, funny things are everywhere. 
--Dr. Seuss

Like this quote? I have others on my photoblog too :) 

I did it for them

I hate photos of myself. Like any "normal" American woman, I pick myself apart. My eyes-- they bug out.  My complexion-- hate it. My smile icky--- and if the photo includes my body-- watch out. Why do we do this to ourselves? I've never met a woman that is confident in the way she looks. I try to hide from the camera & if I'm caught in a photo-- I hope and pray that my friend will live by the unsaid FB creed and not post without my approval.

I hide from cameras, but I'm here to tell you I'm trying to change my ways--

It all started a few years ago.  We spoke in the restroom of all places-- she with a touch of morning sickness and me having an emotional moment and taking a break. My mom was newly diagnosed with terminal cancer and only just begun her fight. I was suppose to find out the results from a recent scan & was having issues trying to pull my thoughts together to create an album.  I was procrastinating and was taking pictures of everyone else and their projects.

I got enough courage to ask her a question and she helped me frame up my thoughts.  That question led into another discussion about the importance of making sure I was in front of the camera as well as behind it. I told her that I hated photos of myself, I'm my mother's daughter after all-- I realized that I had to make a concerted effort to get into more photos. I wouldn't be doing it for me; I would be doing it for them. My boys needed to see me in the pictures too.

Months later, I forced myself to hand off my camera to someone else to make sure I was in the picture. I made sure to keep some of the photos of myself with my boys and not delete them. I was doing it for them.. and I'm glad I did.

This past February, my mom's battle with cancer came to an end and I found myself with a very difficult task. I wanted to write an eulogy for my mom, but I just couldn't do it. Instead,  I decided that I would pull a photo collage together and let the photos do the talking.

I sat on the floor for hours and dug through piles of photos of my mom, trying to find the best pictures.  Pulling together a photo collage of my mom was one of the hardest things I had to do. Every single picture of my mom was beautiful. Every single picture had a memory and a story and I was able to point to every picture and tell my boys a story: her story. 

It made me sad that there were not many photos of us together except when we were very young. She always hid from the camera.  I wish I could go back in time and change that, but I can't.   Luckily, I understood Ali's point and I took more photos of my mom and I within the last few years.  She eventually came to realize that my camera and I were connected at the heart and it was love that made me want to take pictures of her all the time. Loving someone so much that you would be able to freeze time and keep the moment forever... That's love.

 I made my mom take pictures with me and the family the last 2 years-- and I have a number of pictures because of it. She did frown a number of times, but she got over it :)  I want my little ones to remember so many things about Grandma and now I have pictures to help with that. I didn't take pics for me or my mom-- I have so many memories in my head and in my heart.  I did it for them.

Just thought I'd share.....

Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to preview an ebook, "How to Shoot Your Kids" by Maggie Keegan Gross. I really enjoyed Maggie's book.  It is concise and written in easy to understand language. She discusses important concepts such as lighting and composition and even includes extra tips to keep in mind when shooting your children. 
My favorite part of her book were her photos (of course). I love Maggie's photos! They are beautiful, light and fun-- the way kid photos should be. She definitely knows what she is writing about.
If you are looking for a non-technical book on how to photograph your children, I would highly recommend it.  You can purchase it here : http://maggiekeegangross.com/shop
 I look forward to her next publication :)

Focus

Focus
Originally uploaded by buneluvr

My son is just learning to read and was excited when I told him about the secret about In-N-Out Burger and the bottom of their cups...



Sometimes, all you need is a gentle reminder about what is important

Moments

I took the day off to attend the Women's Conference and was going to be staying at a friend's house in Huntington Beach.  I was suppose to meet her, but since she was running late I decided to grab my camera and run to the pier.  

I've been burning the candle at both ends and just needed a mental break.  I just sat and watched the sunset when these birds started to walk in front of me.. I took about 50 pictures and blew the exposure in a number of them..  (I am STILL trying to learn manual exposure :(   I need a mentor! ...Anybody want to volunteer or go on a photowalk?).. But this photo came out golden.

Love that Shot...

Hi there.. I just got back from vacation and I decided to enter a contest, since it's been a while... and I REALLY want to win some Florabella goodies.  I really love the textures, they are beautiful...

This picture was taken of my son just before he went to play in the ocean.  We rented a bungalow for a few hours in the Princess Cays and I knew as soon as I saw it I would have to take a few pictures in front of it.. Thank you for looking :)
No processing was done, just straight out of the camera (Most of the time I just crop and fix exposure on Picasa.  I don't really use Photoshop because I haven't totally figured it out and it takes me a long time :-/)

Photo blog

I started to breakout my camera again and decided to start another blog of just photos... (Not so much pressure to write since I never know what to say... ) .. Let's see if I can keep up the posts ;)

I would like to write a little blurb and explain what I was thinking when I was behind the camera, but those may be lofty goals.

Here is the new site if you are interested :
Manually Exposed

Thanks and have a wonderful weekend !

Wow -- Has it been four months?

Geesh, I did it again.. Life's been pretty crazy lately and I stopped taking photos for a little while there... But, luckily I started to take time to play again. Here are a few recent shots.... I promise to get back into the swing of things shortly and update!

Make-Believe

This week's theme at I Heart Faces is "Dramatic B&W" Photo...
Here is a shot of my little guy playing dress up!

Thanks for looking ;) I'm #1238

Miracles?

I've been thinking and contemplating a lot about this one word lately. I have a necklace that I wear everyday in honor of my mom.  I have been praying for a cure for my mom for a long time.. and then one day I started thinking---
Have we been so accustomed to seeing miracles in our everyday life that we don't recognize one when it happens right in front of us?

I hope that I never take for granted the miracles that are within my life and what I have witnessed. It truly is a miracle that my mom is doing as well as she is... {Happy Birthday to my mom} :)

Play

Just wanted to share a few random shots of the boys enjoying the warm weather outside... Have a wonderful week!

All Bundled Up

This week's challenge over at I Heart Faces is called "All Bundled Up"...  I took this picture when we were prentending that we were having snow in the backyard.  Luckily, my little guy was a willing participant and played along... { He was all bundled up in 75 degree weather }

PS I'm #546 {WOW}

King for a day....

Well, it looks like I'm not doing so well in the blogging dept (again) :( .. I have so many thing to share, but not enough time to get it on the blog. I haven't had a lot of time to play with my camera either.
I just wanted to post a little collage I made of my little guy. I have a dress-up box for my boys and after Halloween I usually buy costumes on clearance. This outfit though, I bought for a USC game, but my guys never wanted to wear it... until now. I think everyone should be able to be King for a day ;)

Bubbles, Baseball & Silly String

The weather was absolutely beatiful last weekend -- 83 degrees beautiful...
After I took the boys to get haircuts, we spent a lot of time playing outside. We went to the park and they played with their remote controlled cars.  My little guy was having such a great time outside that he broke out into a little dance.
My favorite part --- introducing my boys to silly string... and watching their silly string fight.

--Bubbles, baseball, and silly string -- sure sounds like Spring is around the corner ;)
Have a great weekend

Happy Friday

I have a little secret ;)  Want to know what it is?  Then you have to go here.  Someone you know is a Guest Blogger today ;)

A Funny thing happened on the way to the dentist...

I realize that this sounds like the opening to a joke and it's a little long, but bear with me--I may not be a concise writer, but I think it's a cool story :)
  Last month, I was reading one of my favorite blogs and I jotted a little note to the author telling him that I loved his books and how much they have inspired me (see previous post below). I normally don't do this, but I really loved the 5 book so much that I wanted to let someone at Compendium know how I felt.
  Unfortunately for me, this was the week where we received the storm of the century and I had a dentist appointment.  It rained 8.5 inches in one week at my house!  If you live in California you know that a slight sprinkling is enough to cause havoc in Southern California because, well -- to put it mildly, people don't know how to drive in the rain.
  I drove to my dentist appointment in the pouring rain and couldn’t find a parking spot that was close by.  I had to settle for a spot that was a block and a half down and across the street. Luckily, there was a crosswalk nearby.  As I was crossing the street in the crosswalk (Note: it had a FLASHING LIGHT!), one car stopped for me, but the car next to it did not.  The car sped through the crosswalk and almost hit me.  Apparently he didn't see me, the car that was stopped or the HUGE umbrella I was holding.
To be honest, the experience weirded me out a little bit. When my appointment was over, I decided that this time I would walk an extra block to cross at the signal and be safe. Unfortunately it was still pouring rain and overflowing driveways + walking in the rain = I was SOAKED up to my knees.  
When I made it back to work, I got in an elevator with a really attractive man.  I figured that he was probably an up and coming actor, in the building for a casting call. He looked at me and then  made a joke at my “lovely” appearance.  I'm sure that he was probably just trying to be clever, but I was a little emotional already from my crosswalk experience, and this just put me over.
  When I got back to my desk I was on the verge of tears. I tried to distract myself and checked my email to see if I missed anything important, and to my surprise there was an unread message from Dan Zadra!
  He wrote me a nice note and we exchanged a few email messages.  I let him know that I was really looking forward to reading his One book, as soon as I could find it.  And you know what?  He asked if he could send a copy of One to me.
  I can't explain the feeling I had when he sent this to me.  He didn't have to reply to me, but he did.  He didn't have to be so kind, but he was.  He has no idea how much his email lifted my spirits.  It made my day.   It was a moment that really struck a chord with me. It was one of those "heart warming, deep breath, take it all in kinda way moments... It still brings a smile to my face as I write this   ;)
  The moral of this story - NEVER underestimate the power you have to brighten someone’s day. A little kindness goes a long, long way. Sometimes it’s the little things that make the biggest impact……a smile, a hello, a nice note.  Thank you again Dan Zadra.  Your books inspire and so do you :)

P.S. If you haven't heard of Compendium Inc, please--please peek at his website and see all that they offer.  You will not be disappointed.

Is the Universe trying to send me a message?....

First, I get a fortune cookie that says " You may soon change your line of work"

then I see this quote on Compendium's Facebook fan page:

The first step is to find out what you love--and don't be practical about it. The second step is to start doing what you love immediately, in any small way possible. --Barbara Sher

hmmm. is the Universe trying to tell me something?

A Picture is Really Worth...

Shutter Sisters had a post up today called "A Picture Really is Worth a Thousand Words." Everytime I see these two pictures of my son it makes me giggle and it makes me very, very thankful.  I know they are blurry and the exposure is a bit off, but still~ they are my favorite.

You see, as some of my friends already know, my mom was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in November of 2007.  It truly is a miracle that she is doing so well.  She still walks and is very active even though she is in the middle of chemo....She is a very strong and a remarkable woman and still tenacious as ever.

These two pictures were taken almost a year and a half ago, a number of months into her treatment.  At the time of this picture, she had recovered from her lung surgery, had completed brain radiation and was almost finished with chemotherapy.  My young son (nickname: Mr. Mischievious) had grabbed Grandma's wig from inside, put it on and started to do the "You can't get me wiggle/dance"... Luckily, I had my camera with me...