I've had visits from 37 different countries and 40 of the 50 states!  It really tickles me to know that people from around the world have stopped by to see my work, many clicking from an Adorama article that linked to my site and showed my work and a link to here.  I wish I could travel to all of the places to see what your world looks like.  Beautiful, I'm sure.  Okay, not everywhere is beautiful, but I know most  photographers are like me -- capable of capture compelling images nearly anywhere.    

Speaking of around the world, earlier this month, I participated again in the 4th Annual Scott Kelby International PhotoWalk.  People around the globe meet up with other photographers in their area to take pictures on a photo walk and we post them to a common Flickr group.  I love seeing everyone else's corner of the world as well as my own through the lens of other people.  

So much for his perfect smile.  This is the result of a teeter-totter accident.  I've written about it before, the dreaded phone call from his school that shakes me to my core.  It's happened enough times that when they call me for something else like a field trip or other event, the first thing out of their mouth is, "everything is fine."  It came out root and all, and chipped the tooth next to it.  He was a bloody mess to the point where I swooned when I got there and he opened his mouth for me.  His teachers Bernie and Marie -- amazing women and mothers of little ones themselves -- managed to find the tooth in a playground full of sand (maybe they followed the blood trail, ugh).  They even put him in a clean shirt before I got there so I wouldn't be upset by the blood.  Yes, that is my boy.  Sadly, he announced yesterday that his missing tooth makes him look "stupid" and he doesn't want to wait for a new one.  Honestly, I'd much prefer that he had the tooth as well.  I will spend the next few years Photoshopping in a tooth, right?  

I can't believe it's been five months since I've posted.  Eek!  I hope you are still here with me.  Are you still here?  Yes?  Good, okay, let's move on.  

Things have been good photography-wise.  Things have continued to grow organically.  I'm still not actively marketing or participating in SEO stuff but yet I have a steady stream of clients that I've loved working with, and that's good.  I know my skills continue to progress and I'm always learning new things.  I think the results speak for themselves.  :-)  I'm going to try to catch up with various photos from the past five months, so stay tuned.  

[Note: I will not be accepting any bookings between mid-November to mid-December at the soonest, possibly to the end of 2011, but I am accepting bookings for January 2012.  Photo processing during this time is a possibility though, so if you are needing photo processing, send me an inquiry with the scope of work and I will consider it.  If you are looking for photos for holiday cards, please contact me ASAP, as I will not be able to make exceptions for sessions between mid-November to mid-December.]   

My "day job," where I work part-time has morphed into using my photography and post-processing skills for nearly all of my working hours.  The days fly by and I actually wish I had more hours to work because I enjoy it so much.  I keep telling myself that I can't believe I get paid for this!  Even better, I'm on a team with some great people that I really enjoy working with.  I walk to my car at the end of the day, feeling like I've made a contribution and in disbelief that I spent my day doing what I love.  Such an improvement from a few months ago when I was only there because I needed health and life insurance.  I am filled with joy and glee about going to work and I'm learning things to boot.  Woo-hoo!  It's a dream come true.

In other photography news, Canon announced the new full-frame Canon 1D X full-frame professional camera body.  Love, lust.  *sigh*  Reading the articles about it left me with my heart racing and at one point -- perhaps about the FPS and burst rate on a full-frame sensor or maybe the advanced focus system -- I think a slight moan may have escaped my lips.  Camera porn for sure!  LOL!  It's a little sad knowing I'm going to have to pass on this one, thanks to the near $7,000 price tag.  I think I'll be waiting for the 5D Mark III, if it ever materializes.  

Speaking of upgrades, I upgraded from my Speedlights to Alien Bees, two B800s along with a Westcott Apollo 50 x 50 Giant Softbox and a Pro Studios 48" Octobox and baffle that I love, even more than the Westcott Apollo though it was a fraction of the price, and three Pocket Wizard Plus II transreceivers.  I still have the Speedlights, too, and I'm using one as a rim/hair light with a snoot with the two ABs as my key light and fill light.  I like the studio work.  Learning the lighting has been a challenge and I still have a lot to learn, but I'm having a good time with it and it's nice mental exercise.  

I'm also (finally) moving forward with an art project called "17 Days."  It's been in my mind since late January of last year, floating free without an anchor but I think it is time to moor the project and jump in with both feet.  I feel like I really need a mentor at best or at least some hand-holding and/or encouragement on it though, someone whispering in my ear to find my voice and help me flesh it out.  I've never done anything like it before.  It's not going to be about commercial photography or taking eye-candy pretty pictures, but rather a contemplative expression that tells a story and in turn makes the viewer look introspectively at themselves.  Quite ambitious, but I keep reminding myself that (a) Rome wasn't built in a day; (b) you've got to break some eggs to make an omelette; and (c) you eat an elephant like you eat anything else -- one bite at a time.  

Okay, without much further ado, here are some images from yesterday, when I spent the day shooting with Rhonda Spencer, who is the staff photographer for the esteemed Arizona Sonora Desert Museum (ASDM) and also my photography business partner for larger events!  She is an amazingly talented woman, one of the best photogs out there and I am really proud to call her a friend.  We went to the Reid Park Zoo and spent some time shooting and some time talking shop which really nourishes my soul, to talk tech with another woman.  It may sound odd, but most technical discussions I have are with men, and I really relish having these conversations with women.  It's a different way to communicate and photography is a language all its own (as emphasized by the man at the next table who turned around to look at us as we prattled off in what must have sounded like a foreign language).

Again, I'll be adding highlights from the last few months over the next couple of weeks to share what my eyes have seen.  Thanks for reading -- I appreciate your still being here even though I've been negligent at updating this.

I ordered this great camera bag to be custom made by Robyn Porteen of PorteenGear.com.  She's a photographer who couldn't find the bag she wanted so she made her own.  And then for other people.  And now her Etsy store is thriving.  I love it!  It is very me.  It's quite small so I can just use it as a day bag (5D Classic, 85mm f/1.2L II lens attached, 35mm f/1.4L lens and Speedlite 580 EX II, business cards, iPhone, wallet, dental floss).  She's currently got larger bags in the prototype stage and I can't wait to order one.  The quality is fabulous and I think it will just keep looking better with age. I sent the link to Heather, who bought my T1i, and she bought one, too.  I hope she loves hers as much as I love mine.  :-)

I spent the Mother's Day at a Canon Live Learning EOS Destination Workshop on Environmental Portraiture in Sedona, Arizona.  Bruce Dorn was the instructor, and I learned how to use my speedlights outside.  I can't wait to practice what I learned.  It was nice to meet other photographers as well, though it would have been nice to see more women in the class.  There was only one other woman, from Baton Rouge, LA, and 14 men.  The best part was that Canon shares their toys.  They brought SIX huge suitcases full of top-of-the-line gear for us to play with.  I spent the morning with a Canon 1D Mark IV -- and believe it or not, I gave it back at lunchtime.  I actually prefer the image quality of my 5D Mark II over its IQ, even though the focusing system on the 1D Mark IV was fabulous.  At least now I know that I don't need to covet a 1D Mark IV (a 1Ds Mark III, maybe)!  And they had lots of tele primes including at 500mm f/4.  I would have loved to try it, but I can't lift it.  :-)  

I have mixed feelings on photographing high-fashion models.  They were beautiful, no doubt about that, and super sweet to boot, and much more cooperative that what I frequently photograph (kids and lawyers...).  But it was weird to photograph people posing in bathing suits.  I think I'd prefer models that were just everyday people.  It would be more applicable to creating better portraits of those I normally photograph, as good looking as my clients are, but after a while I got a little tired of photographing the models and was secretly a little more interested in photographing my fellow classmates.  I mean, let's do the math:  I was standing in Sedona, AZ, arguably one of the most beautiful places on Earth.  And in my hands were two of the best Canon DSLR cameras available (Canon 5D Mark II and Canon 1D Mark IV) along with the best lenses.  [I used my 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM and my 24-70mm f/2.8L, though I personally don't care for my 24-70mm.  I only used that because the instructor suggested to use zooms instead of primes since we were standing on the edge of a cliff and zooming with your feet could be a problem...]  In front of my camera were three beautiful young women.  How hard could it be to take a great picture?  :-D 

We had a great time together as a family even though I was away from 5:20 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. on Mother's Day.  I was feeling a little sad about not being with My Little Man on Mother's Day, but my husband declared Mother's Day to be on Monday instead this year, so it made up for it, even though Monday was his birthday, so he got the short end of the stick.  Thank you, honey.  Anyway, here are some of the ones that I've gotten around to editing.


PS  If you are reading this and you haven't been to Sedona, close you computer and go.  Really.  

We spent part of the day at an Equestrian Center and met Mr. Ed.  As the photos show, Marshall really liked him, which shouldn't be a surprise, considering that Marshall means, "Keeper of the Horses."  There were also three babies (foals?), the oldest being seven weeks and the youngest being three weeks.  So beautiful.  Marshall really enjoyed it and so did I.  Except for the part where I leaned on the Electric Fence, two minutes after discussing how we'd keep Marshall away from it.  =:-O  Thankfully, it really wasn't that bad....

I sold my older gear, all in a package to lovely Heather.  I know she will take good care of my first baby, and while I will miss her terribly, I know that she deserves to be shown some love, and I have used her more than once in almost a year.  Heather promised me that she'll take good care of her and let her shine as a camera that sees a lot of action.  Thanks for everything, T1i!  Love and kisses to you.  

And speaking of Dawn, this is what it looked like today from my corner of the world, at 5:46 a.m. on May 1, 2011.  Beautiful.  

The Buzz Lightyear cast came off today.  My boy was a trooper through the entire experience of having a cast.  Not one complaint.  Which is not like him at all.  :-)  

We spent some time at the Pima County Fair yesterday.  We stayed way too late, considering my son's bedtime is 7:00.  I let him eat way too much sugar and lots of questionable food of unnatural colors.  He didn't settle down until after 10:00 p.m.  Ugh.  Sorry sweetie.  Mommy should do better by you, that's for sure.  It has been rare, and I mean rare that he has been out that late, so I don't suppose it will do long-term harm.  

Of course, we stopped by Old Pueblo Hall, which is where the Fine Art entries were on display, including mine.  It was interesting to eavesdrop on people as they came by my photos!  The Bighorn Sheep photo had a couple examining it up close and talking about it (couldn't hear what they were saying, though) and Goth Chick was, without a doubt, the one of mine that got the most attention.  What is it about that photo?!  

We went back again tonight, the last night of the fair, to pick up my entries and bring them home.  I was the first person to pick up at the Fine Arts division, and the woman in charge took me back to my category's area.  I pulled down one after another with a ribbon and she looked up from her paperwork with an assessing glance of approval and said, "Wow, you did pretty good, didn't you?"  :-)

We finished and she sent me off with a big grin and a wink as I walked out of the corralled area through the line of people waiting to pick up their photos and I will admit that I felt rather proud to be leaving with a bunch of ribbons visible on my work.  I got lots of nods of approval, a handful of congratulations and many smiles as I walked the gauntlet among my competition.  Mind you, the first and second place ribbons were won by the same person, and she was very deserving -- her photos were gorgeous, absolutely breathtaking, exquisite.  But I am still proud to have walked away with 5th place and two Awards of Merit, even amongst a small field.  Not bad for my first time out.  I can hardly wait to see what next year brings and see how I grow as an artist in the next 12 months.

Okay, here are some snapshots from the fair, taken on Saturday night.  Thanks for the memories, Pima County Fair!  You now hold a special place in my heart, and I'll even forgive you for those $8 french fries, okay?

To watermark this one of L., that is.  I was tempted to just post it as-is.  Then I had my regular watermark in its normal place but I had to move it down.  Her face is just too exquisite.  She is so beautiful.  This photo just takes my breath away.   I don't even think you'll notice the watermark.  

For other photographers looking at this, it was shot with a 5D Mark II and a 85mm f/1.2L II lens at SS 1/2500, ISO 160 and f/1.2.  Yep, it's wide open, but I think you could have guessed from the super-shallow DoF.  It was at the lens's MFD, which gave me a DoF of about a quarter inch.  Half of that in front and half in back, of course.  :-)  And in case you're wondering about the ISO 160, take a look at this article:  ISO Noise.  I've heard it's true for the 5D Mark II as well.  Thanks for RS for that link!