This and That

Yesterday we had a family portrait session with Rebecca, and this time to include a lot more of the family: my parents, my brothers, and my Grandma. We met Rebecca down in the West Bottoms area of downtown to get some unique urban shots instead of the traditional park setting we’ve done in the past. Various things happened leading up to the shoot that made me think I should’ve cancelled until another time, like Skyler’s bad hair day (that NEVER happens), or the mosquito that bit her cheek on the ride there. And then as we got out of our cars at the first meeting place, when the fighter jets flew right overhead because the KC Airshow was going on less than a mile away, I knew this was a disaster waiting to happen. Skyler buried her face and slapped her hands over her ears in terror.

But we trudged on through to some alleyways, and luckily, the airshow took a long and quiet break so we got in lots of uninterrupted shots. Rebecca showed me several previews on her camera throughout the session, and I was so excited by what I saw! It’s going to be a couple weeks till we see all the images, but I’m now confident that it was worth the hurdles and I’m glad we stuck it out! I don’t know how I would’ve been able to coordinate everyone’s schedules again during nice weather without having to wait another year!

In other news, we have a fun Fall coming up, and this recent mild weather is getting me into the mood for the cooldown. Skyler’s birthday is fast approaching, we’ll be riding in our first Bikers for Babies the week after that, a girls’ trip to Hermann Missouri for winery tours, and then a Chief’s game at the end of October. Oh, and I suppose this will be Skyler’s first real Halloween since she’ll be old enough for trick-or-treating! So we have a lot to look forward to, which will pretty much carry us into November, which is Holiday time, and then all of a sudden it’s going to be 2010. Yikes.

All in One

Since I can barely keep up, I’m going to just throw a bunch of stuff together in this post! And while I am still working on the video from Rockfest last week, I’ve got lots of new photos to post. Here goes –

Mulberries! When we bought this house a little over 3 years ago, my mom thought we might have a mulberry tree. But we never saw any fruit, until two weeks ago! And then we noticed it everywhere, and have counted three mulberry trees. We had one when I was growing up and I used to love to go out there and eat the purple berries, but I also got in trouble for soiling many a pair of shoes running around in the mulberry-stained grass. Skyler loves the mulberries too and each evening we try to go out there and snack on a few fresh ones!

Yesterday we headed across town to Lee’s Summit and had pool time with friends and then a bbq. We had a fantastic time, even though most of the kids were worn out by the time it was over. Here are a few pics (lots more in the Flickr photostream in the right column) –

Finally, my friend Maria was brave enough to ask me to try my hand at shooting some maternity photos for her second pregnancy while she was in town yesterday. It was not only fun, but I think it was successful! Here are a few of my favorites – she posted more on her blog.

And, I’m still driving the Traverse! Early this week I should be trading in the LS for the fancy schmancy LTZ, so look for some new stuff from me over at Mommy Madness KC!

The New Camera

I finally finished the Twilight Saga and therefore able to download and edit photos from my new camera. It’s a Canon EOS Rebel Xs, and from my initial experience with it, I’m loving it! I cannot get over the freedom I have to take flash-less photos indoors. Even though I do not have a lot of natural light in my house, it seems to be enough for this camera most of the time. Add a little help from Photoshop, and we’ve got some decent pics!

Following are a few of my favorites, and there are several more on Flickr if you click the photo stream on the right column of the page.

Skyler’s 1-year photos

Rebecca posted Skyler’s slideshow from her photo session last week. Of course she did a wonderful job and I’m looking forward to seeing all the other ones as well!

If you don’t use it, you lose it!

This holds true for many skills, but for me, especially my graphic design skills! Back when I first started this blog, I had the [now lofty] intentions of designing my own fancy header, including photos of Skyler and maybe Ronnie and me. I actually found the time to sit down and work on it on a few occasions, but nothing ever inspired me enough to finish it. Furthermore, I felt like a complete novice at using Photoshop to be creative! Luckily, I had a lovely header designed my friend and photographer, the infamous Rebecca, back in March, so at least I had a nice custom header to get me by.

To my pleasant surprise, she emailed me this morning, itching to use some new fonts she had gotten, and offered an updated header. How could I say no, after 5 months of zero success in designing my own? I mentioned that I’d love to see some pics of Skyler in it, but not to worry about it till she had time on her hands (uh, when would that be? Have you read her blog?). Long about 15 minutes later there was an attachment in my inbox of the sweet header now shown at the top of the blog! Rebecca – thanks so much, AGAIN!

In other Rebecca news, we officially scheduled Skyler’s 1 year photo shoot for October 7. Yes, I know, her 1st birthday is September 11, nearly a month prior. But I was lazy – er – BUSY, and didn’t get on Rebecca’s calendar in time before she booked up! So a few weeks late it is. Years from now, those few weeks won’t make a bit of difference! I just hope we get a warm enough day, because I really want to dress Skyler in a cute dress for some outdoor shots. I suppose I’ll just be forced to purchase several cute outfits so we have something for every weather possibility. I’m sure it will be painful shopping…

Natural Light

I love photography. My good friend Rebecca is a professional photographer and I love following along her photo blog. Her work is inspiring to me, and makes me want to pick up a camera. In high school I took photo classes and continued with it my first year in college as part of an art degree, but then I chose to pursue marketing instead, so I lost touch with my lens. Granted, I’ve got my trusty digital that I use nonstop for snapshots, but I never take anything that would be considered “artistic.” The lack of indoor lighting and necessary use of the automatic focus and flash pretty much limits creativity. Someday I’d like to find myself an inexpensive digital SLR camera that I could adjust for low lighting and control where the focus is. I really get tired of the glowing white faces and dark backgrounds that using the auto flash produces!

Recently, our back living room had some lovely light coming in from the skylight, so I took Skyler back there for a “photo shoot.” I love that room anyway, so I thought I’d see if we could get some nice flashless shots. It wasn’t much, but it was nice to get some images of Skyler with a non-reflective quality about her skin! Rebecca – check out the motion effect I got on the first image. I meant to do that…yeah, right, but it turned out to be a nice touch! Click here and look at the 5th photo down to see one of my favorite intentional motion effects that Rebecca shot of my friend Jenni for her engagement session. Okay, now, here’s Skyler!