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Monday, February 27, 2012

Maybe blogging my weeks goals will keep me accountable...

Get all my tax documents, including my WGP earnings (I do pay taxes on those), in order and hand them over to my awesome father-in-law who will do some magic. (Need to wrestle up a few more details to finish things up. No magic happened though. Darn it, we made too much money this year!)
Get a little something for each of my birthday relatives. (We get to celebrate three birthdays in Bloomington tomorrow night.)
Read 1 Samuel 19 & 20.
Organize the hot mess that is my closet.
Work out each day with Wii Dance and keep track of my Weight Watcher points. (Total Fail!)
Make a baby shower, wedding, and birthday card with some of my photos.
Find a new home for the microwave on my back porch and find new places for plastic tubs.
Work on ABC puzzle with Schroeder.
Get AJ & Sarah's photos submitted for album design. Create Album worksheet for future clients. (Started but didn't finish.)
Sign up to take a meal to the new parents in our church.


This weeks goals:

Install the Screen door I purchased six months ago on our back porch. We took this one off already.

Create an etsy shop for all my very random photo creations. I don't have any hope of selling anything, but it will feel good to have my silly creations out there.
Read 1 Samuel 21 & 22
Finish up AJ & Sarah's photos to submit for album design. Create Album worksheet for future clients.
Work out each day with Wii Dance and eat from the core program during most breakfasts and lunches*.
Get the rest of my tax documents in order so we can get this over with. Have Stephen change our deductions.
A few small, misc. organization projects (my sink, back corner of kitchen, & misc. goodwill items in D'arcy & Julian's room, girls hair stuff).
Buy Schroeder's birthday present and think about party.
Finish up items for MOPS Favorite Things and maybe start a photo blog series.
Talk to Joy about practical blog series for this year.





Monday, February 20, 2012

Maybe blogging my weeks goals will keep me accountable...

Years ago, the company I was working for at the time sent me to a Franklin Covey training class. Franklin Covey makes those awesome day planners. I swore by my Franklin Covey for years, but eventually upgraded to an iPhone, Google Contacts and Calendar, and simple Notepad for lists. I work best when I have a list. So many things are running around in my head, and it's great to put them down to focus my attention. One thing I learned from my Franklin Covey class is that before you make a list you must first identify your values a.k.a. What is worth your time? It's important to make your to do list with your values in mind. If I make a to do list and it only has house work or house projects on it then I'm going to end up feeling like other important areas of my life are being neglected.

Here were my goals for last week.

Buy printer paper and print bible worksheets out for D'arcy and Julian to take each week to church. (Accomplished! I printed a couple of months of worksheets out to go with a portion of the new testament I'll read to them before or during church.)

Make the valentine's card for Stephen that is currently residing in my brain. (Accomplished! I think he loved it.)

Work on special Stephen blog post. (Accomplished! Check it out here.)

Make 5 greeting cards with some of my photos. (I made three complete ones that are ready to be ordered.)

Work out each day with Wii dance and keep track of my Weight Watcher points. (I worked out everyday but Friday. I did a half a-- job with tracking my points. Yikes, I hate doing that, and yet it's crucial to losing weight the right way. I have lost a bit of weight, though. My clothes are a little looser and my belt can be pulled a little tighter.

Finally clean off my back porch and take all that junk to goodwill. (All the junk is now at Goodwill. There are still some non-junk items that need to find a home, though.)

Read 1 Samuel 16-18. (Read and discussed with my home group.)

Keep working on colors with Schroeder. (Not formally, but we did work on numbers once this week.)

I also accomplished a couple of other items that weren't on my list. I cleaned off my desk, finished editing a couple of photo sessions (still have to finish Beta's session, though), and took photos of my eight month old nieces.

So what is up for this week?

Get all my tax documents, including my WGP earnings (I do pay taxes on those), in order and hand them over to my awesome father-in-law who will do some magic.

Get a little something for each of my birthday relatives. (We get to celebrate three birthdays in Bloomington tomorrow night.)

Read 1 Samuel 19 & 20.

Organize the hot mess that is my closet.

Work out each day with Wii Dance and keep track of my Weight Watcher points.

Make a baby shower, wedding, and birthday card with some of my photos.

Find a new home for the microwave on my back porch and find new places for plastic tubs.

Work on ABC puzzle with Schroeder.

Get AJ & Sarah's photos submitted for album design. Create Album worksheet for future clients.

Sign up to take a meal to the new parents in our church.

I'm hoping your to do list reflects what you value the most!






Saturday, February 18, 2012

Inspiration 2012: Photography

Several years ago, I worked on a couple of photography projects with my friend Joy. She brought the vision and ideas to the project and I brought the equipment and technical knowledge to make her vision happen. On both projects, she had these big stacks of inspiration photos that she had scoped out on the internet and printed. I had mixed feelings about these stacks. Of course, you want your photography to be your own. You want to capture images that flow from the current situation, light, and beauty of the moment. I didn't and still don't want to simply replicate good photos. Stacks of inspiration photos can make you feel trapped, trying hard to replicate. OR they can help you get a feel for what you love, where to begin, and what is possible.
Pinterest has digitized Joy's idea of inspiration photos. I joined a couple of month's ago with the hope of finding new recipes. People say they find it addicting. I didn't need another addiction. I've been cautious to not spend too much time or pin stuff that isn't super meaningful to me. I created a board called Photography Inspiration and just today started to fill it up with pictures I love, both ones I've taken and ones I've seen on other blogs.
I'm on a journey to discover who I am as a photographer. It's my job to take the beauty that I see in a moment and capture it via my camera. I deliver my little bit of beauty to you hoping you'll treasure it. It's important that my client's like and trust my perspective. That's the only way our relationship is going to benefit both of us.
I really like photographing all kinds of life situations. I like to photograph weddings and births. Children and couples. I even got to take some boudoir shots last week which were tons of fun. Recently, I've been trying hard to find my voice doing newborn shoots. There are loads of beautiful photos in what I'll call "anne geddes for the modern 2012 woman & baby" style. And while these photos are beautiful, they aren't the kind of newborn photos that I want to take.
But, what else is there? Well, pinterest helped me explore that a little more today. Take a look at my current Photography Inspiration board and follow along as I add more to it. I'm trying to decide if I should sub divide into different categories. We'll see. For now, there are a lot of newborn and maternity shots.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Kids say the darnedest things...

Scene one.
Schroeder came up the stairs last week crying because his brother hurt him in some way. I told him he should go tell Julian to apologize. Schroeder replied in a pathetic little voice, "but I want to apologize you."

Scene two.
We are at the dinner table and D'arcy is telling us about Abraham Lincoln.. She says, "Mom, I know where he was shot."
"where?"
"In the back of the head."
Yikes, wasn't expecting that.
The conversation turns to Martin Luther King Jr. D'arcy and Julian ask me if I know where he was shot. I say at a hotel, but they want to know what part of his body. I think in his chest by his heart.
Julian says "No, he wouldn't have died from a shot to the heart. You only die if you get shot in the head, neck, lung, or spine." What? It's a good thing we don't own a gun.

Scene 3.
I took D'arcy to Texas with on Super Bowl weekend. We added up that she has flown about 15 round trips, but it has been awhile. She acted like such an adult, but her sweet age came through in all the questions she peppered our conversation with.
What happens to all the stuff we go in the bathroom?
What happens to all the trash we throw away?
Why do we go up in the air?
Will the oxygen masks drop? (After we hit a bit of turbulence).
Can I go to the bathroom?
Can I go to the bathroom?...
She also called take-off "blast-off" which I thought was brilliant.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Winter beauty is fleeting.




I like his Valentine's Day Style.

Here is the special "Stephen" blog post. I don't need ya'll to fall in love with him, but this blog is more for me than anyone.
Stephen is a great gift giver. For Christmas, he found the perfect vintage, swivel chair for my computer desk and the perfect mug that looks like a camera lens. These items are romantic because they were items I wanted (and needed) and he took time to pick out the perfect one. But just after Christmas comes Valentine's Day, and just a few months later comes the month of May when we celebrate our birthdays, Mother's Day, and our anniversary. It's hard to keep a steady stream of thoughtful gifts coming. So we have this easy gift giving relationship. We've never agreed to skip gift giving. I know a lot of couples do that. Giving and getting is important to both of us. We make an effort. Sometimes a big idea strikes us, and sometimes it's a small notion. Sometimes, we recognize that the holiday snuck up on us and our hands are a bit empty. It's all okay. It's easy, and I like that.
We hadn't made any plans to go out this year. Yesterday, I hastily texted our friend Becka who agreed to come over and watch the babies so we could have a morning coffee date. Simple but sweet. This gave me a chance to take some photos of my hubby to show off his lumberjack, hipster style that he is rocking these days. It involves a lot of layers, a little bit of corduroy, and maybe a bit too much hair. We were greeted this morning by a white layer of snow (as opposed to a purple one). It was a lovely, but is already melting and dripping away.










Sunday, February 12, 2012

Maybe blogging my weeks goals will keep me accountable.

My friend is blogging her weekly goals here. I'm enjoying following her progress. I thought maybe blogging some of my goals might help me actually achieve some of them. I have so many projects rattling around in my head. If I don't prioritize them and write them down, I'll end up getting overwhelmed and getting nothing accomplished. So here goes...

Buy printer paper and print bible worksheets out for D'arcy and Julian to take each week to church.

Make the valentine's card for Stephen that is currently residing in my brain.

Work on special Stephen blog post.

Make 5 greeting cards with some of my photos.

Work out each day with Wii dance and keep track of my Weight Watcher points.

Finally clean off my back porch and take all that junk to goodwill.

Read 1 Samuel 16-18.

Keep working on colors with Schroeder. (If I ask him what color an item is he just pulls a name of a color out of his head, but if I say which one is orange or blue he points to the right one.)

We'll leave it at that, and I'll be back in a week to let you know what actually got done.

Friday, February 10, 2012

Birth Photography

You might remember that I took January off to catch my breath and regroup. I spent a lot of time thinking about how I wanted to evolve my little nano business. It's important for me to take pictures that are real, candid, and help us remember some of the sweet moments in life. A few of my sweetest moments came when I delivered my babies (one born in hospital and three at home). For my third birth, It finally occurred to me to have someone come document the experience. Then something strange happened. I gave birth in less than an hour. My photographer and friend, Joy, didn't make it. However, she did catch some wonderful, treasured moments within minutes of his arrival. Here is one of my very favorites.
When I'm thinking about having a fifth baby, I desire to have the birth photographed more than I desire a typical newborn session. I have hope that a photographer might be able to make it because, right now, a great one lives across the street (although I have no idea is she wants to see me give birth).

Missing beta's birth has got me thinking of how much I would love to capture these moments for others. So, I'm going to be offering my services to photograph births (both home births or ones in a hospital). I'll be charging $300 for each delivery. I'll arrive when you reach late, active labor, and I'll stay until the newborn check is done (approx 4 hrs). Here is a moment I captured during one of my friend's births several years ago. Baby had taken a few seconds to breath, and this was the moment when he finally decided to cry. So sweet.



Monday, February 6, 2012

Beta

Dear Beta,
Your mommy and I became friends when I moved to Texas, but after a time, I had to move back to Indiana to be close to my family.  Your mommy confided in me for years, expressing her desire to start a family.  Unfortunately, life presented so many obstacles.  She and your daddy have worked so hard over the last years to carve out a space for you in their lives.  They wanted to make sure you would be provided for in the best of ways.  With prayer and counsel and sacrifice and compromise, they are finally able to welcome you into their arms.
Your mommy emailed me a picture to announce you were on your way, and I was so excited.  You have brought me many tears of joy.  I wish I could be at your birth and photograph the expression of your mommy when you come into the world, but I don't know what day you'll choose to come.  So, instead, I came down for your baby shower.  I got to take loads of pictures of your little family.  I hope they will always confirm to you how much you are loved and wanted.
Love, Mel
P.S.  I told your mom and dad to pretend I wasn't in the room and talk about names.  They didn't fall for it.  All I got was they are thinking about naming you after me, but I think that was a joke.