August 31,2010

So the love affair with my nikon is back on...and although i didnt get to pick up Nik today....I hope to tomorrow...and every day after that this week. We are shooting 2 weddings on Saturday. If I said I wasnt a little nervous I would be lying. But I have faith in us! We make a great team and this will just prove to us how far we have come in the last year. We both love our cameras and what they can do for us.....I am ready for Saturday to be here and be over with....Is it Sunday yet....loving every minute of life!

Aug 30, 2010 A day I dont think I will ever forget.

I PICKED UP THE NIKON TODAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and it turned out to be a day I dont think I will ever forget. I watched a little boy's face light up and a very proud dad choke back a tear or 2 as the Judge signed the paperwork for them to be legally father and son. Now dont get me wrong....Mike has been Jayden's day for 3 years. Every since he and Carrie got together...he has been his dad in every sense of the word. Basically all today was, was giving them the same last name. I asked Jayden when I first got to the courthouse today who was it that was going to be a Holliday today...and he got the cutest grin on his face and looked at Mike and pointed to himself and very proudly said ME! I wanted to cry..I watched him as the Judge was going thru all the formalities and he was sooo cute....he was watching his Daddy like a hawk, and every time that Mike would put his hands in a different position or lean on the table Jayden would do it to exactly the same. If Mike laced his fingers Jayden would, if he put his hands in his lap and sat back...there went Jayden doing the same thing. He wanted to be just like his daddy!!!!! ..So after all was said and done....Jayden was walking out of the courthouse with me and I said are you happy that you are a Holliday and he said YEP TODAY IS MY LUCKY DAY! Mike looked at him and said NO Buddy, TODAY IS MY LUCKY DAY! and Jayden just grinned from ear to ear and they were playful for a few moments about who was the lucky one....Well in my opinion they are all very lucky to blessed with each other. But today I think I was lucky also.....because I got to capture that memory for them forever. I'll never forget the look on Mike's face when he looked at Jayden as the Judge asked him if understood that it would be FOREVER. Mike said yes sir....and honestly I don't think he would have it any other way! If I was never glad before that I picked up the camera.....I was extremely glad today....Congratulations Jayden Devon Holliday! You are one lucky little boy who is loved so much by your mommy and daddy! You and Hailey are both truly blessed!!!!

another day...a not so productive one

So...another day has passed that I didnt take out my camera....the Nikon is screaming at me.....HELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO you wouldnt have all those pics to play with photoshop in if you hadnt used me....your going to run out if you dont take me out of this bag soon....Maybe tomorrow I will listen to the Nik...I do love her but I suddenly have this overwhelming lust of photoshop. Its almost as if I am having an affair...I feel bad but I just cant seem to stop myself...I only popped out 4 pictures today because I kept trying different things. I just cant get enough...I read somewhere the other day that there was thing called too many layers......and maybe there is and maybe once I have been playing with it a little longer I will understand that....BUT.....I AM SO NOT THERE YET....My beautiful sweet Tiffany, and my gorgeous bestie and my incredibly handsome hubby keep showing me all these things that I can do...and the more they show me the more I want to learn.....but alas tomorrow I must only do what I need to and get my orders filled......I'm a little sad but the quicker I get my work done the quicker I get to play....This week is probably going to be filled with edits and such. I need to be completely caught up by Friday. We are shooting a wedding on Saturday. So this week and the next couple of weeks will be mostly work and little play. I am loving life a little more every day....its all falling into place. I know that there will be mountains but it only makes the picture even sweeter at the top.....I cant wait to see what tomorrow brings.....because today was beautiful!

August 28, 2010

Well I said I was going to start over today...and I meant it. I didnt take a picture today...however I did edit one. or 300....LOL! Not really 300 but you know what I mean. My husband...(the photoshop enthusiast)got us CS5 a few weeks ago...I was so intimidated by photoshop that I was scared to even open the darn thing. I have had CS4 on my computer for I couldnt tell you how long...just sitting there because of my fear of using it and being a little scared to let my hubby which is also my business partner know that I couldnt figure it out. However, I was to the point that I didnt want to really shoot anymore because I HATED with a capital H HATED editing...when I would see the picture I would know exactly what I wanted it to look like. But getting it there....yeah that was certainly a journey within itself. I have several programs that I use to edit...each of them doing something different. But NONE of them doing it all as in a complete package. So getting it from point A to point J was a hassle with every single picture....I could vignette in one but couldn't soften the border of it. I could black and white or sepia in another but couldn't vignette....not to mention I couldn't change the colors of the vignette to be whatever I wanted it to be....if you couldn't tell by the time I got to the finished product to watermark it I had looked at it so long that I didn't like it anymore. So taking the pictures was great during the first part of the session and then I would remember that I would have to edit them....I wasn't happy. Well last night my hubby and I had a talk and he started just lightly showing me some stuff that he was doing and I was like well why don't you try this and we were figuring things out together... I think he already knew he was just trying to make me feel better about it ;) but we will go with that...LOL! The more I watched him do it....the more I liked it....The more I started playing with it today....It can go from point A to FINISHED>>>>>Labeled disk and all in this ONE fantabulous program!!!!! I am suddenly addicted and in love!!!! I am so kicking myself for not listening to him and using it long before now.....I finished a sitting and got well into another one today....I am so excited to see what tomorrow holds....this blog may very well turn into my love of photoshop and I!!! JK...I love my nikon and hope that I let go of photoshop long enough tomorrow to pick it up.....anyways...I have pried myself away for the night...so I am going to go to bed so that I can get up and play in photoshop again tomorrow....I can already hear it calling my name.....if I dont walk away RIGHT now....I am going to open it back up........NIGHT>...gotta go~

August 27, 2010

Well....I can honestly say that I have epically failed at this whole 365 thing. Life has gotten in the way. So I am going to U-Turn and start all over. Tomorrow will be my day 1 again.....I can do this. I will do this...Starting tomorrow. Tonight I am getting much needed photo shoppe tips from my hubby. I am super excited about all the things I am going to learn over the next 365 days on my personal journey.I am determined....so I am 12 days behind Shane and that is ok....I am going to learn a lot from him. He has been faithful and diligent at this and I am going to be also....So let the journey begin!!!!

continuation of yesterday.....

I am so excited to be learning something new every day in photography. I think every single day will be a learning process and for that I am thankful. I am always up for the challenge of learning something new and exciting. Yesterday it was a quick lesson in how to shoot manual. I have been shooting with this camera for almost a year....it is time to get off my booty and start learning about the settings. I cant shoot in Auto forever....well I could but what fun would that be.....so over the next several weeks I am going to start playing with the settings....I think I am going to like Manual. Shane wants me to learn how to shoot in raw first. We are going to talk about it today and I am going to weigh it out and see which ones I want to do first....I will let you know. Yesterday I did a Maternity shoot in manual and I think it came out pretty good. There is still a whole LOT that I dont know but I have the determination to learn. So off I go to reading. I hope everyone has a great day and hopefully I will post more tonight!

A new day for love between my camera and I

So I shot a maternity shoot in manual today.....thankfully my maternity shoot was 2 photographers,.....I learned so many things today that I dont even know where to begin to tell you about them. So I am just going to post my favorite picture from the shoot and blog some more tomorrow........

Day 5 of my love between my camera and me

well I skipped a day of blogging yesterday but still took a photo OR 300. I went with Shane yesterday morning to do a shoot. and then had an impromptu family shoot of my own in the studio. There were several things that I learned yesterday....I was reminded that Shane and I make a great team on our shoots. While he was shooting I walked around and found some different angles for shots. I also was able to capture him shooting. I love being able to do that. He got some great shots. I cant wait to see the finished product. I also learned in my impromptu family shoot last night that when a parent is CONSTANTLY getting onto a child and staring them down from behind me because they are cutting up and having fun that it makes for a very uncomfortable shoot. I finally got a little frustrated because the poor kid was about to start crying. I asked them to step out of the room and I started joking and playing with him and got what I think are some really good shots. I will post the link to them once I get the shoot edited. But as a reminder if you are a parent reading this, Please keep in the back of your mind as long as they arent breaking stuff or completely MONKEY WILD....let them play. Some of the best photographs of a child I have ever seen were of them having a blast. They are more natural and that is what you are looking for. I want real smiles not the fake ones they are giving because they are afraid of getting into trouble. I also learned that when you are dealing with a 13 month old...if there are any other distractions in the room.....YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO HOLD HIS ATTENTION...lol! Those are lessons that I will remember for a really long time....

Below is a picture that I was able to capture of Shane yesterday on his shoot. I love watching him with his camera. It is really sad that he starting doing photography of people because of my love for it and I am always learning things from him.....but that is ok....if you have it...you just have it! LOL! AND HE HAS IT!

Day 3 of my love between my camera and me....

Now where were we....we were talking about the things that were important to me.....so today I decided that little girl who is not so little anymore was going to be my focus....unfortunately so did my wonderful hubby. He let us play dress up and we got to be his models....so when he got done I made her stay in the studio and took some pictures of her...Not that she minded of course...she is a beautiful girl and she knows it....She loves hamming it up! Its hard to believe she is in her first year of college....and although I would NEVER try to take the place of her mother (because she has an amazing one) She is the closest thing I will probably ever get to having a daughter and I am ok with that because she is better than anything we could have ever dreamed of...She has been such a joy and inspiration to us since moving in here. She has more knowledge of what she wants to do when she grows up than most people her own age and for that we are all extremely proud of her... Sometimes I still see her as the little girl she was when I first met her...but much to our dismay she is now an amazing young woman. She is making choices and decisions for herself now and what is better for her life in the long run. I am so proud of the woman that she is becoming....I couldnt ask for a better daughter if I had had my own! Thank you Jaq for allowing me to be a part of your life....you sure have made this journey worth the ride....I love you little girl....Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow and Forever! You have made me so proud of you and you continue to do so on a daily basis....Remember noone ever said that the road would be easy they just said it would be worth it.....

Day 2

So...today is day number 2 of my life thru photographs...hmmm what to talk about today. It has been a not so great day for me but as soon as I do this blog I am calling it a night. Tomorrow is a new day and hopefully a better one. I have always had a dream of being a photographer. I loved pictures, I loved scrapbooking and I loved people. I loved the thought of capturing memories for people. I had never had a real camera. I had had film cameras...and tons and tons of film. My darling husband gave me the first glimpse of my dream coming true...when he bought me this...



This is where the love story began......(commence to playing the love ballad) A Sony Alpha 350. I was in love....It was my new baby...That camera was THE BOMB! or so I thought....wait maybe I still think. I dont know. Dont get me wrong..this is and will always be my first love...I was so proud of this camera...It was the next best thing to my hubby who now uses it. I find myself becoming jealous of his knowledge of this camera and his bragging of all the things that it will do.....But back to the story...this is where it all began...November 2008 my dreams started being realized. From that day forward I have wanted more and more and more to have a camera in my hand and a vision in my heart every single day. I am so thankful for a love like mine. For someone who saw me for who I was and loved me enough to want all of my dreams to come true. Thank you for being you!!! I love you!

Day 1 Continued

So since I named this my life through photographs, I guess I should start out with something that is important to me....the love of this bike. I remember when shane started looking at and talking about the Honda....I was scared to death. I will never forget the day we decided to get it...the guy kept saying you gotta be careful with this bike....it will get out from under you quick.. I was scared to death and Shane kept making jokes about it....telling the guy to be quiet or I would change my mind. LOL! He came home with it and he loved it...I went for my first ride. SOLD!!! I was in love with riding.....mind you I DID NOT say that i loved "driving" a bike. I do not mind being mercilessly teased about riding behind Shane. That is my seat and I LOVE IT! I do not ride a 2 wheeled bicycle.. my has 3 wheels and a basket and i don't mind being teased about that either because it is mine and I love it. However my poor husband was completely devastated when just a few weeks before nationals his Honda broke down. We weren't sure what all was wrong with it but we knew whatever it was it wasn't good. So we started thinking about alternatives. One of the guys in the group had one that he was getting rid of and Shane was in love with it....so we started crunching numbers and figuring out what we could do and made a deal with him. My lovely husband was in Heaven.....and so was I....we love this bike...don't get me wrong the Honda was our first love and is still in the garage never to be gotten rid of.....but we are so much more comfortable on this bike. We have vehicles in our driveway but if we can get away with it they will sit there because we would rather ride the bike....This bike has forged a new level in our relationship and for that I will be forever grateful!!!! We love you Yamaha V-Star Classic 1100....

Project 365 Day 1

So today begins the first day of our family's version of the project 365. We are going to do this a little differently than most...but it is our project and I cant wait to see where we end up with it 1 Year from today. My husbands take on it is that he will make it his own and about his growth as a photographer as well as a person. His creative and personal growth all rolled into one. I like that and I think I will probably go along the same lines. I don't think my thoughts will in any way mirror his. But that is one thing I love about us is that we never see things exactly the same...LOL! But we somehow always make it work. So I have steadily been trying to figure out what my very first picture was going to be for this blog and have yet to come up with an idea......I think writing this little intro just gave me one.....stay tuned...it requires a little of the hubby's help... I think I am going to enjoy sharing my life thru photographs!