NFC's OLD BLOG! GO TO http://triggerhappytara.blogspot.com

2009-03-26T00:37:00.001-04:00

My new web site is LIVE!

Go check it out. :)

Jacksonville Art Walk, April 1st

2009-03-24T18:14:00.003-04:00

I'll finally be displaying at Art Walk beginning April 1st. For real this time! I have to be inside a venue since some of my work contains nudity and it took a little bit of time to finally get it all sorted out. I'll be inside the Hayden Burns Library, and I do believe upstairs, next to where my friend Pilar is performing.

I hope everyone can make it by to check out some new work that reflects the new trigger happy style!

And if you're a regular blog follower, head over to http://triggerhappytara.blogspot.com/ and follow me there. I'll soon be posting all my photography work there, and this will be used as more of a personal blog. Thanks!

TILTing again, temporarily!

2009-03-19T20:41:00.004-04:00

Back again for some TILT, cause I found some cool things this week! No promises that I'll be on time every week with this by any means... :)

This would purely be a splurge at $299 since I already have a 10 megapixel point and shoot with IS that I pretty well love, but how COOL would it be to take party pics with THIS?! It is true to the original Rolleiflex, complete with waistlevel viewfinder and the film advance crank. Of course it doesn't use film, but the crank is fully functional... you have to turn it to take the next pic! Available @ B&H.

I was at Barnes & Noble this evening, flipping through random design magazines, and originally I came home and typed in this site to look at the Alice glassware that was featured in an article I found. I have a random assortment of Marilyn Monroe and Ed Hardy glasses in the same shape; these would be an awesome addition! (moderately priced, too!)

But I kept clicking... and OMG I would have LOVED these as a kid! I do now!

And these would certainly make me want to drink more water!

I used to work for Benefit Cosmetics and we didn't have this when I was there, even though everyone asked for it. Finally, they've listened! Bad Gal Waterproof! This is hands down THEEEEEEE best mascara out there!

Yeah, I'm on a Rollei kick today. I had no idea they made these either. Supposedly they are around $8.99, but I can't find them online anywhere.

Way cool, modern, surreal, and "awe inspiring spectacles from around the world". I had a gift card that my ubernerd uncle gave me for Christmas that I'd almost forgotten about, so I picked up an issue. I'm going to the Dollar Tree tomorrow to pick up cheap frames... there's some stuff in here definitely worth clipping and sticking around my house!

This is something from there... I don't know, but he kinda reminds me of somebody I know. ;)

(my love.)

Featured on Crystal Velvet Weddings, UK Wedding Style Blog

2009-03-19T15:14:00.002-04:00

It was just brought to my attention that one of my photos was recently featured on Crystal Velvet Weddings, a UK wedding style and inspiration blog! The theme for the post featuring my photo is "pure white" wedding accessories.

Awesome to know that those across the pond are checking out the trends from our side of the world, and my photography! :)

A cute photo from my wedding last weekend

2009-03-18T22:32:00.003-04:00

I just reformatted my blog a bit to show bigger photos, so I thought I'd share my most recent favorite!

It had been two months since I last shot a wedding so it was weird getting back into the swing of things, but the whole wedding was fabulous and the whole bridal party was relaxed and fun! I shot my first wedding for Naomi Williams Photography last Saturday. The couple's daughter, Sloan, was the flower girl. She wanted to do anything BUT stop for pictures! She was about to take off out of the garden while we were shooting the ladies there right after the ceremony. How flippin cute is this?!

Super Cheap Wedding Photography Offer - Jacksonville & Destination Weddings!

2009-03-18T22:06:00.000-04:00

I'm working on a brand new web site and I need a couple of kickass weddings for it!

Here's the (oh so sweet) deal! THIS OFFER IS EXTREMELY LIMITED and only couples planning a truly fun and untraditional wedding will be considered!!! Sounds like you? Read on!

If you are getting married SOON (between now and May), you are planning a unique, non-traditional, and otherwise awesome wedding, and you do not yet have a wedding photographer, let's talk! This is also a super deal for kickass couples on a tight budget. I will shoot your wedding day for a maximum of six hours and you'll get a CD of all your edited wedding day photos approximately 4-6 weeks after the event. You'll also get printing rights to all your photos. The cost? I'm simply charging a flat rate of $100 to cover the cost of making your CD and shipping it to you. I use UPS so it's slightly more expensive but worth it! Yeah, that doesn't quite add up to $100, but the leftover change is going to fund my web site (hey, these things aren't cheap! and did you see the preview yet?!), and I charge the current government rate for mileage to travel to your location(s) and back. Pretty simple huh! All you have to do is agree for your wedding day photos to be used on my website and in my marketing material!

TO BE CONSIDERED: Leave me a comment here, or send an email to taraphoto@gmail.com, and tell me:

::your wedding date/time
::your wedding location
::your reception location
::your wedding colors, or "theme" , if any
::number of guests invited
::what exactly is going to set YOUR wedding apart from the rest??
::be sure to attach a photo of the two of you to your email!

Only really badass couples not afraid of untypical wedding photography and planning something truly cool need apply!

Feel free to repost or forward if you think anyone you know might be interested!

(A little side info: I am located in St. Augustine, FL but will travel pretty much ANYWHERE for your wedding if you're willing to pay the current mileage rate within driving distance, or airfare outside of my area.)

NE Florida Pro Photographers Posing Day

2009-03-18T15:59:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago when we had our superfun, girls-only photographer's meetup, Lyndsay and I chatted a bit about setting up a date for us all to get back together and practice posing techniques, as well as learn some new things. I'm willing to put together/host the next date, but I need a little input from you guys!

I think we deducted that we're all mostly portrait and wedding photographers, so I think it would be great to get an actual couple together to model for us, especially with the 2009 wedding season right in front of us! I'm sure Jess and I could talk to some of our past couples from Jess Cumbie Photography, or do any of you have any SUPERHOT couples that you've shot in the past and know would be down for it? OR I can head over to Model Mayhem and scout some people, but I think we're probably better off with past clients, since they've obviously been similarly shot before, and the brides most likely still have their dresses.

I'm interested in keeping it somewhat small again, maybe limiting the group to 10 or 15 photographers so as not to overwhelm the couple, and it would be a pro-only day. (I know, we still need to put together something for the fledglings, too!) The main focus will be practicing posing and interacting with your subjects, and it's a great time to try out some new poses you've been wanting to try. I'd love for it to be very hands-on and group-oriented, for example, everyone getting in there and posing the couple at least once or twice in their own style. I think Sundays work best for everyone right now. So how is Sunday, April 19th for you guys, if we can find a couple to model before then?

I'm also interested in putting together a Lighting Day to practice lighting techniques and learn or invent new ones. Would anyone else be interested in that as well?

Leave your comments and let me know what you think! Looking forward to getting back together with you all real soon!

My new web site! Sneak preview!

2009-03-13T01:03:00.000-04:00

If this link works for you, please check it out and let me know what you think! It's just in draft stages right now so you'll occasionally see a little blue box that says "preview" float across the screen. Ignore it.

Yes, some of the content is older stuff that most everyone has seen already but I'm working on some awesome new stuff at the moment so eventually all that is going to be wiped out and replaced. Just something to look at for now!

Oh, and I guess I should mention... it does have BOOBIES, so if you're at work, make sure the boss ain't lookin! :)

http://preview.showitfast.com/14687/4681#/home/

Letting the cat out of the bag... and some new ART FOR SALE!

2009-03-11T15:51:00.002-04:00

I won't run off with a million boring details, but things are changing! Jess and I are restructuring Breaking Tradition Studios a bit to allow for a bit more freedom. I'm still going to be booking shoots with Breaking Tradition on a requested basis... so if you want a BT style shoot by me, we can still do it!

That said, with Dani's help, I'm nudging NFC Photography forward just a bit too. I'm restructuring things around here as well. NFC Photography will now be branching off as trigger happy (conceptual photography.) too. So as not to confuse everyone... I'm still shooting for the local music scene and all things "go" (automotive photography), and still shooting weddings for Jess, but trigger happy is being added on for my more artful and edgy work. Long story short, some of my recent work has just not found a place within Breaking Tradition Studios or even what NFC has become (rods & live rock n roll), hence the start of trigger happy. Everything trigger happy will be portraits revolving around real and surreal concepts, daydreaming... in sum, a visual "made you look" through creativity and the use of darkness and light and all it's encompassing values. I'll be producing a series of photographic art pieces that will be on display at galleries in northeast Florida beginning in June, and some pieces will also be available for purchase online and at Art Walk. I'm currently working on an actual web site now which will be up and running soon. Until then, here's the temp site (that I'm also still working on! doh!): http://triggerhappy.carbonmade.com Eventually I would love to invite in a revolving door of creative minds (other photographers, graphic designers, fashion designers, musicians, visual artists) to collaborate on projects that may eventually push trigger happy beyond just conceptual portrait and gallery art photography. It's all about exploration and not wasting your creative brain cells. (Science proves brain cells deplete regularly and they DO NOT reproduce!) :)

On the NFC side of things, I'll be moving a teeny bit forward with that too. I'll be accepting portrait and wedding commissions soon by me lonesome, which I was doing before just not very actively at all since Jess and I were so busy. I'm also now shooting weddings for award-winning wedding photographer Naomi Williams. I'm excited to shoot my first wedding alongside her associate, Megan, this weekend! As soon as my web site is complete, I'll be announcing new portrait and wedding investments.

For now... hang tight and check out some of the art I've been working on on the side. I have a new series called Burn, that will be debuting at Art Walk (Jacksonville) soon. These are one off pieces, you own the original! I won't be reproducing these images in the same way ever again. You can read more about and purchase the first piece in the series here.

Hawarya @ The Pit, 3/7/09

2009-03-11T02:22:00.001-04:00

IMG_1413
Originally uploaded by NFC Photography

I have a lot of catching up to do on the blog, but here is a sneak preview of a set I'll be blogging about soon. Last Saturday I had the privilege of shooting my friend Oliver's band, Hawarya, at The Pit. (And WOW, The Pit has changed since I was there last year! Much nicer now and the sound is much better!) Here's the fabbb Oliver... I'll be posting more of the band soon. Oliver is not only a talented musician but a great photographer as well! Check out his Flickr photostream here.

North Florida Professional Photographer's (girls only!) Meeting

2009-03-08T01:42:00.000-05:00

Saturday morning I headed up to Jacksonville to meet up with Lyndsay from Pink Coffee Photoart and four other area professional photographers. Lyndsay organized a morning for us girls to get together and walk around downtown Jacksonville, chat about our loves and hates with work, and have some fun getting creative and shooting each other in whatever random cool places we could find. I can't wait to see what the other girls got! It was great to get in some "girl time" for a change and I made some new friends.

Me, Adrienne of Lovebyrds Photography, Ginger from Ginger Dupre Photography, Lyndsay (our fearless leader!) from Pink Coffee Photoart, Stephanie of Stephanie Lynn Photography, and Jess.

Ginger was feeling a bit under the weather so she didn't model much but shot a bunch (after she got completely lost downtown before finding us!)

My favorite shots of Stephanie:

(bet you can't guess why that one ended up black and white! ha.)

Favorite shots of Adrienne:

And lastly, my favorites of Lyndsay!

(Yay for making pink light with some insulation sheets I found in the halfpipe!)

Oops. :)

2009-03-06T01:00:00.001-05:00

I missed Tilt today. I'm going to take a little time off from tilt and resume it in a few weeks. I've been sooooooo busy lately working on new avenues that I really can't wait to share with everyone! But the cat's not getting let out of the bag any time in the supernear future. :) Hang tight, good things come to those who wait!

The Architect Sound, Sneak Preview (and some news on the planeyard!)

2009-03-02T17:23:00.000-05:00

I shot a live set for The Architect Sound last weekend in Jacksonville and we set up a very impromptu band shoot in the planeyard for this past Saturday evening. My friend Emily said some friends of hers were shooting in the planeyard Friday night and were approached by the owner, who informed them that they could finish up their shoot but he was going to shut the whole place down this weekend and the entire place, planes and all, were going up for sale. He was sick of people coming in and defacing the planes and stealing things off them. I contacted Eric from the band and let him know this was the last chance! When we arrived at the planeyard late the next afternoon, the entire place was already fenced off with barbed wire and there were no trespassing signs everywhere. We were a day too late but we didn't let it stop us.

This was the first time I've been caught by the cops shooting in a "no trespassing" place. :) How I got away with it for this long is beyond me. Luckily we were all able to sweet talk them into letting us go and we finished this band shoot up with a bang if I do say so myself. More to come!

Sorry, my blog isn't formatted to show large photos width-wise (yet) so this really does no justice! Check out the band at www.myspace.com/thearchitectsound

Oh, and one last thing! The NFC myspace page is getting a complete makeover this week, so if you have any photos there in my albums that you'd like to save, do it now! Some may make an eventual reappearance but I can't make any guarantees on anything.

Things I Love, Friday Edition! Shooting at the FOP Range

2009-02-28T00:17:00.000-05:00

My good friend and awesome occasional lighting assistant, Eloise, called me yesterday and invited Dani and I to go shooting this morning with her and her father at the private Fraternal Order of Police shooting range in St. Augustine. So I purposefully skipped out on Things I Love Thursday, yesterday, because she and I ran all over this side of town last night looking for ammunition at the last minute.

I won't get into political things here (just yet, haha), but YES, Obama's presidency has already had a drastic effect on firearms and ammunition! Literally, Walmart was wiped CLEAN of any handgun ammo. Plenty of shotgun shells, but the threat of tighter gun laws is already making an impact in a big way. Prices are up at least $10 a box at most places, if you can even find it. We ended up finding what we needed at Gander Mountain this morning, but they were running pretty short.

We couldn't have asked for more perfect weather this morning!

I managed to get some great action shots of everybody.

This is Dani shooting my Springfield XD40 Subcompact .40 cal. I think it's cute that his bullets are peeking out of his shirtsleeve. ;)

Yes, Mr. Dodd has quite the arsenal.... Eloise shot some with his camera too. Can't wait to see those!

This lever action shot .38 rounds and was smooth as butter! Loved it!

The bottom half of the target was blowing upward in the wind. I didn't want to wait on it, so he took two .45 rounds to the head from a 1911 at 30 yards. My daddy taught me well. ;)

And lastly, Dani got this oh-so-true-to-my-crazy-personality shot when we got back home before cleaning the Springfield .40's. :)

Sir Mix-A-Lot's Photo Shop

2009-02-20T17:21:00.000-05:00

Ha!!!

TiLT

2009-02-19T12:46:00.000-05:00

Welcome back to Things I Love Thursday! I'll admit I didn't put much thought into it this week because I've been a bit under the weather. Last Friday, my friend Stacy and I went to the Disturbed show in Jacksonville where I probably picked up some germs in the crowd, and Sunday I had a BT shoot in an abandoned resort hotel on Daytona Beach that was covered in inches of dust and grime, and probably only aggravated things. But I'm slowly feeling better!

Here's my fav things for the week:

:: Crabcakes at Cap's. Dani surprised me for Valentine's Day last week by taking me here. When I was a kid we pretty much grew up fishing and playing in the surf at the jetties, swimming at the old "bulkead" (where the cruise ship terminal now is in Jax!), and eating good Southern, local seafood. My brother and I were salty kids so to speak... we'd get in the car and drive to school, just to turn around and go back home for our surfboards after our parents were gone to work. ;) Dani and I bought a house 5 minutes from the beach and I can't stay out of the local shrimp shack on the corner! I love any laid-back, outdoorsy, "old Florida" style restaurant, and Cap's is definitely that. Even the scenic drive you have to take to get there makes it such a great experience. I recommend the crabcakes and the Key Lime vodka martini! And a little smooch under the dock after dinner. ;)

:: Puscifer in Vegas. Maynard James Keenan's new act, Puscifer, is now a semi-permanent act at The Palms in Las Vegas. I LOOOOOOOVE Vegas and I LOOOOOOVE MJK but unfortunately was too broke to afford WPPI this year. Next year!

:: The Most Dangerous Game. A fictional short story. Mrs. Platte made us read it in 8th grade and I still thank her for it.

:: Irish American Club Presents Amateur Submission and Professional Wrestling at Jax Irish Fest. Irish people love to drink and get rowdy. My brother fits well into this category. He's a semipro MMA fighter but also participates in local grappling tournaments from time to time, which are pretty entertaining. He's currently training with Josh Rutgers of Deadgame Fight School, one of the best in Florida. If you'll be at the Jax Irish Fest, check it out!

:: Rock N Roll Bride. Another awesome blog to subscribe to if you're a wedding/lifestyle photographer! Daily posts that wrangle the best of the best from blogs all over.

:: Girls Day Out. I hadn't seen my mom but a couple of times since Christmas and she came down on Monday and we went "gettin' place" shopping! This is one of our favorite things to do! We hit up all the good thrift stores, consignment shops, outlet stores, and sales! I spent less than $20 and got two brand new pair of shoes! Maybe I'll photoblog my finds tomorrow. :)

Welcome to Things I Love Thursday!

2009-02-12T21:33:00.000-05:00

Something told me it's about time to take a time-out and appreciate some stuff! The economy sucks and we're being forced to stay home and entertain ourselves (Mom knows I'm TERRIBLE at this!), we sold our TV yesterday and we didn't have cable or satellite anyway, so... I poke around on the internet a lot. And I have a verrrrrrry long blog reading list that I check multiple times daily. Some people are addicted to twittering and whatnot, I'm addicted to reading things on the internet all by my lonesome all day long, and for the most part I'm fairly content with that. :) And what better way to entertain myself and the rest of my oh, 7 blog readers, than to share my finds and current obsessions. So here's the first installment of Things I Love Thursday. :)

:: Pandora Radio. A new kind of internet radio that plays only music you like! You pick an artist or song and the site will create a station for you based many factors in the style of music you've selected. It plays only similar songs and artists, but also allows you to completely customize your stations to include any artist you want to add. You can also tell it not to play a certain artist or song ever again, or to put it on the shelf and not play it for a month. I have discovered a lot of awesome music here that I'd never have heard of otherwise. I literally never listen to the regular radio anymore, even in the car. I find what I like on Pandora, download it, and listen to the CDs in the car.

:: MAC just released a new Hellow Kitty line!!! MUST have Too Dolly eyeshadow next payday!

:: Meatloaf inside bread. Yeah, might sound a little strange... our roommate Greg brought over a huge box of recipes that I sat and went through the other night before going to the grocery store. This was the closest recipe I could find online, but even I deviated a bit from the recipe on the card. I used an "everything" loaf, made my meatloaf mixture like I normally do, stuffed the bread, topped it with strips of bell pepper, wrapped it in foil and baked it, then added cheese to the top near the end of baking. The boys LOVED it!

:: Talk Show with Spike Feresten. Until we sold our TV yesterday, this was a great reason to stay home on Saturday nights! I like that I can catch up on what's going on the world with who and still be hilariously entertained at the same time.

:: P-Dubs. I FINALLY ordered myself some and UPS tracking says they'll be here tomorrow! Just in time because I'm shooting The Architect Sound at Jack Rabbits next week. And we all know the lighting sucks in there.

:: Gala Darling. The entire inspiration behind Things I Love Thursdays... she started it a few years ago and I've been loving it weekly ever since. Her blog is by far one of the best I follow. There's not much I don't love about her... how can I not appreciate hot pink hair, a self-proclaimed nomad (I used to be bad about moving around alot :) ), and someone that unabashedly shares a love for dressing up, kissing, and BIG shoes?! :D Oh, and the cupcakes!

So what are you lovin' on this week?

A Work in Progress...

2009-02-09T21:40:00.000-05:00

I'm actually ashamed, being all design-y and a very visual person, and having a complete gravitiational attraction to off-beat decor, that we painted the main part of our house such a boring color... off white. Dani and I have lived in what he calls a "mint chocolate chip" since last July when we bought our home. I absolutely love our yard. We have six different types of palms, several banana trees around the property, hibiscus, and a huge, sprawling fig tree. The previous owners took the tropical theme a bit too far though. Our living room and dining room walls were mint green on the top 2/3 portion, there was a white chair rail all the way around, and the bottom 1/3 was this diluted chocolate milk color. The chair rail got ripped down when the termite inspectors came before we even moved into the house, so for many months we just dealt with the sickening colors that never quite met in a straight line because of the non-existent chair rail. A few weeks ago I got a wild hair and decided to pull a 5 gallon bucket of off white paint out of the shed and get to work. I was honestly expecting Dani to come home and be pleasantly surprised but he had mixed feelings about it because apparently I absolutely suck at doing the edges. I got frustrated and left one wall, the biggest wall in the house, halfway unpainted. Yesterday Dani learned his aunt will be visiting from Poland this week, so we used that as our last motivation to get the painting done!

If you ever came to my old house in Jacksonville, you'll know this off-white doesn't look like my style AT ALL... we lived in an old house built in 1893 near downtown Jacksonville and I had collected such a hodge podge of random furnishings are art and such from my jaunts around the country in my early 20's. My living room was entirely hot pink with black furniture and black and white photographs all over the walls. Since we moved we've gotten new furniture, and now that we have this massive living room (compared to the tiny one in the house we were in before), I decided to ditch some of the smaller prints for bigger pieces. Since everything else is pretty neutral in the room now, I plan on doing my craziness on the walls with some new/different/bigger art.

It was a disaster area in here last night! We're slowly getting things back together and everything back up on the walls, so I'll post updated pictures after it's visiting aunt approved!

Malik was really interested in what we were doing, but I think he was more upset that his "tropical" (bleh!) walls are now gone!

The Dali over the fireplace is soon to be replaced by a 47" Samsung.

(PS: that candle! Plaza Verde in St. Augustine has the best candles in the world, hands down! That one is persimmon, tangerine and pomegranate!)

Pet Owners! A Public Service Announcement! :)

2009-02-03T22:43:00.001-05:00

Now shooting for PAS!

2009-01-27T00:30:00.000-05:00

Good evening everyone... just checking in with some recent news. I'm now freelancing for Performance Auto and Sound magazine. Look for my first feature with PASmag, coming soon!

www.pasmag.com

Polyvore!!!

2009-01-15T17:03:00.000-05:00

I could spend HOOOOUUURRRSSSS on Polyvore! I saw a few posts recently on some blogs I follow, where the blog owners had gotten addicted to Polyvore and created a few sets and posted them to give their readers a little more insight into who they are and their personality. I kept seeing these little photo sets in these blogs and finally read a drescription of Polyvore yesterday and had to try it out for myself. In short, it's an online virtual mall that carries items from just about any store you'd want to visit in the mall, and then some. (You can even shop furniture & housewares.) It searches a ton of web sites under different categories and even lets you narrow your search down to color preference. Creating the sets is super easy. I picked a couple of themes, then just started browsing the categories. When a particular item popped in my head, I searched that keyword and found lots of results. You just drag the item from the results list over to the set, and you can adjust each item's size and arrange layers. By clicking on each item, you get info directly from the web site where the item is for sale and can purchase then and there.
HOW FUN!

The first set I created was with a particular art opening in mind. ;)

Out Fancy by shogirl94

Okay, so my closet is admittedly predominantly black. I love black anything. Universally flattering and blah blah blah. With the exception of different color streaks, my hair has been black for quite a few years now and probably won't be changing. I've found my signature color! I'm also a big fan of vintage stuffs and art deco style, and, of course, SHOES. Black and white ANYTHING is also good to me. :) The ring on the left reminds me of a microphone, and the camera ring is a steal at 8 bucks! I was surprised to find the little button face earrings; I recently bought a set of buttons just like those but in red and white and glued them to hair pins. Love them!

.....................

Spring Break isn't too far off on the horizon, which means.... drum roll please.... CAR SHOW SEASON! (Big HOORAY!) The first Florida Billetproof show was last March in Ocala and they had to turn cars away at the gates because they had such a large turnout. The staff has reworked the layout this year and plans to be able to pack up to 600 cars in the gates this time! Can't wait! And of course there's the infamous Viva Las Vegas show in April, where my husband Dani and I got married last year! We won't be making it out there this year for our anniversary since Jess and I have a destination wedding to shoot that same weekend, but I can't waaaaaait for next year! Someday I hope to build this car by hand myself, a '34 Ford Coupe, and drive it to Vegas for Viva. Maybe by the time I can afford that, I'll be able to afford the 5D MK2 as well. ;)

Car Show by shogirl94

Last year it was rainy and icky through most of the day at Billetproof. I have acquired quite the collection of black umbrellas, but this one is totally up my alley and way more fun! A Gibson Les Paul classic, I need not explain this one! (It's tattooed on my leg!) I haven't heard the Digitech Hot Rod distortion pedal in action, but my guess is that it's a real classic, old school rock n roll sound. I may not need this after all... Dani has a vintage 1969 Sunn amp in perfect working condition that creates true sound to any style from Elvis to Hendrix. LOOOVE! Such a cool pair of Chucks... these are the "metal" model, and have little drawings of guitars and skulls! She-Laq... never leave home in the summer without it! Waterproofs everything from eye makeup to lipliner and makes it last ALL day. I also already have the big fuschia flower for my hair. Since everything else is black and white for me usually, I like to stick something fun in my hair or wear or carry a colorful accessory. Dani bought me a vintage hand-pinstriped purse at Viva last year. It's in such perfect shape that I rarely carry it because I'm afraid I'll scratch it but I love it! Yeah, and what hot rod show is complete without PBR?!

Go check out Polyvore and let's get a little glimpse into your style!

6th Photo Tag

2009-01-13T15:49:00.000-05:00

Jess tagged me!

The Rules: Open your photos, choose the 6th folder and then the 6th photo in that folder. Then post the photo with a description about it and then tag 6 friends to do the same!

I'm gonna be lame and not tag anyone in particular... if you're a blog follower, you're tagged!

This photo really isn't a new sight to most people that know me! :) This is my husband, Dani, playing a show with his punk/metal band, Model Citizen. I did not take this photo, I think his ex girlfriend did, and it appears to be a scan from a film print. That's good ol' Tom Strom playing drums. Tom has always looked like he's 14 and will probably always look that young. Dani is playing a Washburn Dimebag Darrell guitar that he sold about a year ago. (Wait, are those the stock pickups?! This is an OLD photo!)

Hey, All You Blog Subscribers!

2009-01-12T19:21:00.000-05:00

Head on over to the Breaking Tradition Studios blog and follow me there, too! I have been working on some awesome stuff lately and would love your feedback!

http://breakingtraditionstudio.blogspot.com

We'll miss you...

2008-12-09T09:18:00.000-05:00

The day after Thanksgiving, we had to say goodbye to our dear buddy, Loki. Loki was our 13 year old chocolate lab mix that had been fighting with a cancerous tumor on his neck. Because of his age, his doctors didn't want to operate on him unless they absolutely had to. After some sudden complications in late October, he had to have emergency surgery to remove the tumor. He pulled through that surgery like no other and acted like a young dog again. He had a great month running and barking, then things took a turn for the worse, literally overnight again. This time there was nothing we could do. His cancer had come back eight-fold in a matter of weeks. He suddenly had eight cancerous tumors and it spread to his lymphatic system. We rushed him to the vet the day after Thanksgiving and had to make the hard decision of putting him down to end his suffering.

The staff and doctors at Fort Caroline Animal Clinic are fantastic. Our family has taken our dogs there probably since just after they opened their doors in the early 80's and I still drive mine all the way there even though we live almost an hour away. Dr. Lincoln primarily handled Loki's surgery and care and we are lucky to have had such a great vet for him. The rest of the staff is very understanding and compassionate as well, and they all seem to truly care about the wellbeing of your pets and your family.

After 4 days in Jacksonville, I checked my mailbox just yesterday, knowing that Dani probably neglected to pick up the mail the entire time I was gone. I was right, and we had something from the folks at the animal clinic waiting inside. They sent us a very nice and encouraging card, and an imprint of Loki's paw that they took after we had to let him go. (There are even little stray pieces of his hair still stuck in the plaster...) I went ahead and strung a ribbon through it so we could hang it on our Christmas tree this year, and somewhere else after Christmas is all said and done. We'll miss him this Christmas and every Christmas after, but his paw print and his old beat up collar now have a special place on our tree.

Mr. Allman's Model T

2008-12-07T16:03:00.000-05:00

My friends Luke and Jess asked me to come to Daytona with them last weekend to snap some sneaky photos of Luke's grandfather and his pride and joy at the Daytona Turkey Run. Mr. Allman has spent years and years building this car and this was the first car show it's been in. Jess is going to surprise him with a scrapbook of all the pictures I took that day for Christmas. I was honored to be the photographer to capture this important day for their family to remember forever! Mr. Allman was a true joy to meet and hang out with... he had stories upon stories and told lots of funnies. He reminded me a lot of my grandfather and I probably could have sat there and talked with him all day and into the night about cars, old times, funny jokes, and creativity. He has built cars, done custom woodwork, and made custom high-end jewelry in his years. He invited me to visit his home and garage sometime to see his other cars and projects, and I can't wait to take him up on the offer!

It took us literally almost an hour to find them when we got inside the speedway in Daytona. Luke was back and forth on the phone with his dad trying to get better directions. "Look for the lemonade sign!" Unfortunately, those were all over the place.

Luke pointed this out when we finally found them.

"I told you to go this way!"

Well, at least everyone got their coveted lemonade.

Luke's dad, Chris, polished up the car one last time.

And I got a few shots of it all shined up!

And after a little goofing around with three generations of Allmans......

... Mr. Allman climbed in for a few shots of himself in the driver's seat.

Now, Mr. Allman is full of wit and sharp as a tack. We're crossing our fingers that he didn't catch onto the reason why I was there taking pictures! Luke and Jess, I really enjoyed my time with you guys and your family last weekend. Thanks for letting me be a part of your history!

A Thankful Thanksgiving, Indeed

2008-11-26T19:33:00.000-05:00

When you think Thanksgiving, you think of getting together with your entire family, sometimes with a dreaded few, eating a lot of turkey (or for me, mac n cheese and cranberry sauce!!), then going home and laying on the couch the rest of the night. And quite honestly, that's what I expected again this year.

I was driving to Jacksonville this afternoon and out of nowhere a little dog ran out into the road and began running down the middle between both sides of traffic, but right on the line next to my lane. Something happens in my brain in moments like these that I just can't explain. I go into savior/rescuer mode immediately and will do anything and everything to prevent disaster happening to a helpless animal. Uh yeah, forget me and my poor car and all the traffic, it's all about the dog at this point. This time, I stopped four lanes of mid-afternoon Jacksonville traffic all by myself and ran to this little dog to save him from turning into smushed dog guts. If I had not stopped my car behind him, I probably would not have been able to avoid hitting him. He was so scared that as I ran toward him whistling and calling, he turned to me and ran straight toward me as if to say "Save me!", and immediately flopped onto his back once he reached my feet. He was terrified. I scooped him up, waved a quick "thanks" to everyone that stopped, and hopped back into my car with him.

Now that I was sitting in the middle of busy road with a tiny shaking dog on my lap, I knew that I couldn't take him home with me because he'd be terrified of my big "bullies", but I knew the perfect place. I called my mom and told her to put her insane-o Boston terrier in his crate... I'm coming over with another dog. :)

I took him to Mom's and told her I thought he'd be the perfect companion for my grandmother. After all, he had no tags or collar so there was no way to find his owner, and to be quite honest, I didn't find him in the best of neighborhoods anyway. My grandmother is 82 and has some health problems but still lives in her own home. Since Grandpa passed over a decade ago, she just wasn't quite herself. We got her another dog shortly after Grandpa died, a chow named Bear. Bear was a good dog to her and they were great friends, but Bear fell to old age recently and she was now without a friend. Mom had looked for another dog for her but just hadn't found a good match yet since Grandma is feeble and can't handle a whole ton of responsibility because of her age and her mind.

Mom and I agreed to give it a try so we went to pick up some starter supplies like a collar and leash and some food. She had a spare crate that is too small for her Boston now, so we loaded everything up in her car, dog and all, and went to Grandma's.

Here's Mom on the back porch holding the dog, waiting for Grandma to answer the door.

Grandma opened the door and was literally so stunned she was speechless! First she saw Mom holding the dog and I think she was just happy to see an animal. Then she saw me and I think she realized something must be up! Mom explained to her that I'd found him this afternoon and we were going to let her give him a try and see how he works out for her. I think we really made her day!

She sat down with him on her lap and didn't want to let him go. After a few minutes of letting him sniff around and get aquainted with the surroundings, we ran to Kmart to pick up her medicine, and when we came back, she was on the couch and had him wrapped up in a little blanket on her lap! :)

So tomorrow's not going to be about turkey and cranberry sauce for me anymore. It's about being thankful that another little dog was saved and making my Grandma the happiest woman in the world for a day. I was holding back the tears when I saw how happy she was and how content the little boy seemed to be snuggled in her lap, and to know that I made those two that happy today is reason enough to be thankful for me!

Piglet's Bridal Portraits

2008-11-21T22:23:00.000-05:00

Yes, I do realize that this makes me an eccentric pit bull lover/weirdo.

Whatever. I borrowed this dress for an upcoming TTD shoot for Breaking Tradition and brought it in from the car this morning. Piggy loves to be covered up, so she immediately tried to bury herself in it when I set it down. So, we made the most of it.

LG meets the Pocket Wizards!

2008-11-21T22:11:00.000-05:00

Part of me felt bad for blinding them last night when they played at Jack Rabbits, since they are used to me shooting them under stage lights only under normal circumstances. They agreed to let me get a little more creative this time and insisted nobody walked away unable to see.

Special thanks to Jess for an extra hand and the pws!

The entire flickr set was quickly emailed to several local bands by Jason Braddock, drummer for Locust Grove. He's my little social networker, I don't know what I'd do without him! He literally knows everybody who is anybody in the local arts and music scene and I have met a ton of cool people through him. I couldn't believe immediate the reaction/responses I got in email to the LG set from last night. Nothing definite is in the works quite yet but there's a chance I'll be shooting now world-famous hardcore metal band Evergreen Terrace! (Cross your fingers, PLEASE!)

Here's the link to the LG flickr set, and following, a couple of my faves.

http://flickr.com/photos/nfcphotography/sets/72157609641302163/

I LOVE this shot of Burt! You gotta view the full size to get the full effect...

Brandon's on fire.

Locust Grove @ Freebird 11/10/08

2008-11-11T21:03:00.000-05:00

My friends, local band Locust Grove, opened for metal band Soulfly last night at Freebird in Jax Beach. It was my fourth time seeing Soulfly and I still have no photos of them! Early in the afternoon, my friend Jason, drummer for Locust Grove, contacted Freebird management to make sure I wouldn't run into any problems getting my camera into the show and let them know I'd be there to take photos of their set. In less than 5 minutes, Jason cc'd me on the email reply he got back.

"She is allowed to shoot LOCUST GROVE ONLY

If she is caught shooting any other band her equipment will be taken and not returned"

@#$%^&*+!!!

So.... long story short, I shot LG's set and promptly returned my camera to the car and enjoyed the rest of the show with Incite, Bleed the Sky, and Soulfly with my friends. As if you people haven't seen my photos of Locust Grove a million times over, but this was the first time I've shot them in Freebird and I much prefer the lighting! And yes, I got lazy and didn't tag these because the guys needed to download the bigger ones and I didn't feel like tagging dupes! Enjoy.

Rock n Roll! OK, I promise to post something else besides music soon. :)

Planetfest 9

2008-11-10T00:15:00.000-05:00

Full story will be on the Breaking Tradition blog soon! Here are a few of some of the bands that played that I took from our booth, the crowd, and the VIP tent. Enjoy!

Taint from the Lex & Terry show

There was a lot of this going on throughout the day. This girl apparently decided to completely forego putting her bra on when she got dressed to come to Planetfest, and I think it's pathetic that this was premeditated. Oh well, the menfolk enjoyed it.

Someone please tell me why rockstars are so UGLY. Or maybe I'm just not a huge fan of the "guyliner". ;)

Rock n Roll....... Can't wait for next year!

More Photos from the Nine Inch Nails Show

2008-11-01T22:33:00.000-04:00

Looooooooooooooove!

Rob Sheridan, IS THAT YOU in front of the rail with the Canon?! I WANT YOUR JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And my absolute FAVORITE..... drum roll please!

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Halloween crazybooth!

2008-11-01T19:14:00.000-04:00

Last night Dani and I hosted "Freaky Tiki at the Crazy Polynesian", a Halloween costume party! We had a full house all night, with friends coming and going, some going and coming back again later. Perhaps the highlight of the entire party was the crazybooth! I set up my camera and tripod in the living room and connected the remote, hung my red bedroom curtains as a backdrop on the wall, and let everyone go at it. Here are some of the strips I put together this afternoon!

Luke and Jess, my favorite couple from down the street! Luke filmed our promo video for Breaking Tradition, which is in the editing stage right now... look for it out soon!

The cup shot. (We've made this a must every time we go out together... someone has to get this shot with their camera phone!)

And one of my favorites of the night... this one deserved to be by itself. :)

Nine Inch Nails - Lights in the Sky Over North America Tour 10.29.08

2008-10-30T16:58:00.000-04:00

Last night I got to see one of my favorite bands, Nine Inch Nails, in Jacksonville at the Veterans Memorial Arena. I wanted to get in the car and follow them to Nashville for tonight's show! I'd never seen them live before... I'm definitely hitting the Orlando AND Jacksonville shows next time around! They are probably my third favorite band, in line behind Tool and A Perfect Circle. So it's awesome that Josh Freese is NIN's tour drummer, as he was the drummer for A Perfect Circle!

I have a few pictures from the show now, and will probably post a few more later as I get them from Greg's camera. We were passing the camera back and forth between the whole set so there are plenty more to be gone through. These were with a little Samsung point and shoot, so pardon the lower-res quality. ;) Not too bad for a little pocket camera though. I have no clue how we passed security with this thing! (Nevermind, I somehow got through security at Ozzfest last year with a DSLR!)

Trent Reznor on a touch screen laptop sound mixer and Robin Finck on keyboards

Justin Meldal-Johnsen on bass, Trent Reznor, and Robin Finck on guitar far right

Justin Meldal-Johnsen on a Gibson Melody Maker

Justin Meldal-Johnsen far left, Josh Freese (A Perfect Circle drummer) on drums, Trent Reznor on a Gibson Les Paul (black version of the red one tattooed on my leg!) and Robin Finck on a Gibson Les Paul far right

The light show was amazing; they used three huge stage-width screens of mini LED lights that were sensitive to heat and movement. In one song, the entire band was behind the screen that was bright white at the time. Trent was walking toward the screen and back and forth while he was singing and the white would fade from the screen the closer he got, so you could see him through the screen.

If you have five minutes and nothing to do, watch this youtube video from their show in Seattle this summer. The sound is not the best quality so you may want to turn it down a bit, but the light show completely correlates with the music, so if you can stand it, just watch it. It gets good about halfway through.

And last but not least, a little NIN trivia for ya!

* Trent Reznor and my faaaaaaavorite man eeeevvvvveeeeerrr (besides Gavin Rossdale, hehe), Maynard James Keenan, singer of Tool and A Perfect Circle, were involved together in a band called Tapeworm between 1995 and roughly 2004. The band was started by Reznor and two others musicians that were part of NIN's live band lineup in 1995, and the three were joined by Keenan and a few other musicians in the late 90's to work on recording material. The "Tapeworm Project", as it's now referred to, never released any material, and only performed one song live as a group. The only material ever released in any form was the group's song "Vacant", which was performed live by A Perfect Circle, and eventually recorded by A Perfect Circle and renamed "Passive". (A favorite APC song of mine!) Reznor announced the end of the project in 2004.

The Tapeworm Project as of 2002, including Keenan (left) and Reznor (right).

* Trent Reznor's birthday is May 17, same as mine. :)

* And he also has a sister named Tera!

OK, I'm done being a geek now!

Huge News from Breaking Tradition!

2008-10-30T11:29:00.000-04:00

We got the confirmation yesterday and now it's official! Breaking Tradition Studios will have an official sponsor booth at PLANETFEST 9!

Of course we'll have samples of our work on display, our models Emily and Shelly will be there handing our free BT stickers, and you MUST stop by to enter our contest to win a free shoot with Breaking Tradition Studios! The fun part: We're going to have a photobooth! Bring your friends to the BT Photobooth and we'll capture some awesome candids for you to take home and remember PF9! We'll be printing on the spot, hooray for instant gratification!

So come by and hang out for awhile between bands, or just stop in and say hello and see what we're all about! We can't wait to see you all there!

(For more information, add BT on myspace: www.myspace.com/breakingtraditionstudio)

Canon photo gear for sale!

2008-10-28T16:39:00.000-04:00

Something BIG is coming up and I NEED to sell this gear. If you know someone that might be interested, please feel free to pass along my contact info... I'll be happy to email photos to you of any of these items, or you're welcome to stop by and take a look at it. I am located in NE FL but I will ship anywhere. Email: taraphoto@gmail.com Phone: (904) 631-4791

Canon Digital Rebel, body only, $200 OBO. I finally upgraded bodies so I never use this one anymore. I'm the original owner, purchased it brand new in 2004. Has some minor wear in the paint, but overall it is very clean and in perfect working condition. One battery included. Has 12 different exposure modes, including full manual, shoots in both JPG and RAW formats, PERFECT camera for someone looking to make the step up from point-and-shoot to a DSLR! Or as a cheap backup to have on hand if you need one in a fix! You never know.

Vertical battery grip (BGE1) for Rebel DSLR, $50. Virtually brand new, I got it in April and upgraded my camera over the summer so it was only used off and on for a couple of months. Holds two batteries to double your shooting time without having to recharge your batteries or swap them out with fresh ones. Makes shooting a vertical photo just as quick and comfortable as shooting a horizontal. I SWEAR by these things! LOVE it, just doesn't fit the new camera so I no longer have a use for it.

Canon EF 75-300mm lens f/4-5.6, $100. Original owner of this as well and rarely used it. It'll do someone else more good than me. Very clean, no scratches on the glass. Great all-around lens for nature and sports, some fashion/portraiture/weddings as well if you can't afford the 70-200L! ha!

Announcing new Breaking Tradition referral program!

2008-10-24T19:41:00.000-04:00

Jess and I need your help getting the word out about our new studio, Breaking Tradition, opening in January! So we made it super easy for you save BIG on your next BT session!

The rules are simple:
-Refer 3 new clients to us and get HALF OFF your next session!
-Elite clients get HALF OFF your next session for every new client you refer!

How do you become one of the Elite?... Easy! You just have to have three paid sessions with us within a year's time!

This is easy folks, so GET WITH THE PROGRAM! Let's so who is the first to bring us new clients and cash in on the big deal!

My, how things have changed

2008-10-15T23:52:00.000-04:00

Today's blog post from Jess was really inspiring. (Check it out and give her kudos, man! She deserves it!) It made me think back about how I used to shoot versus how I shoot now. I could have pulled out some old prints from high school, when, like everyone else in photography class that got stuck with the general black and white assignment so vague that you could have really just shot whatever you wanted to, but we all decided to go hang out in the cemeteries and shoot gravestones. Boring. I went through an old CD book of work from my year and a half stint in Michigan in 2003/2004 and found some reeeally lame stuff to laugh at myself about! And I know that the "now" examples aren't technically NFC material, but it was the most recent project I've done and the freshest current example of my style.

Taking a minute to look back and re-critique myself again was interesting. Dani sat on the floor next to me and laughed at some of the really dumb poses I made some girls do. If anything, this was amusing to us!

I really think my "style" and overall technique have changed a lot in 5 years. And, I think it will continue to do so. I am not really a creature of habit, as I get terribly bored, terribly easily, and I'm all about trying new things. I love what I'm doing now with Breaking Tradition, but I'll always be experimental.

Here's some quick technical lowdown on these shots. The 2003 shots were taken with a Fuji FinePix S2pro, the 2008 shots with a Canon 30D. The '03 shots were straight from the camera, large JPEGs. The '08 shots were in RAW, processed in Light Room, skin blemishes retouched in CS2. (And WOW at the advances in technology and my own personal knowlegde! lol!)

I always shot on AWB (auto white balance) and never bothered color correcting anything if it was off. Cut me some slack... this WAS when DSLRs were first coming out. So of course, like many of the other naive I'm sure of it, I figured that since it was supposed to do this little thing called "white balance" automatically, I didn't need to jack to the photos or any post-processing. I was used to a FULLY MANUAL Canon AE-1 and a Mamiya RB67! So I suppose I learned backwards if anything, and I know for a fact that many "pro" photographers wouldn't know what to do with that RB67 if I handed it to them. Anyway, this is what I gave this poor girl on CD that she PAID for! Sad. Now, I feel bad.

Where is her hair in the first shot?! I nailed the hair light in the second shot on a WHITE background, but I never considered using it on the black. (And Jess and Jean Moree might find it amusing that I used a SNOOT for the hair light. And I knew it's proper name! ;) ) Two of the biggest problems I see in the first two headshots is her chin. She's pulling it in, instead of extending it out. The second shot is literally terrible, in my retrospect opinion. I should have had her bring her chin out at least even with the side of her arm that was facing the camera. Why the heck I had her leaning back into the chair on a headshot is beyond me.... And the full length. Um yeah... that's hot. (Not!) Again, white balance completely off (white looks blue) and I didn't bother to smooth out the background. And what's with the dull, flat lighting?! So NOT me. Anymore anyway.

On to 2008. Let's take a look here. Now I'm purposefully distorting the body and overall scenery with a wide angle! Crazy! Now I've got better editing software and I've learned how to use it. Now I'm processing to have a very obvious color discrepancy. Now we're going outside and using real light. Now we're going outside and using flash lighting in crazy ways. Now people are bending and stretching and getting some exercise with me during sessions! I'm a full on choreographer AND a decent photographer to boot!

Now try to tell me you can get "good" and go "pro" overnight.

I rest my case.

Tagged

2008-10-15T21:33:00.000-04:00

ACK! Jess tagged me!

Four things I did today:
1. Went shopping for supplies for the camping trip this weekend.
2. Shot a bunch of textures around the hotel.
3. Snagged some sweet canvas wallpaper material for backdrops.
4. Fended off a creepy old man that was trying to get me to go back to his room with him (at the hotel).

Four things on my to-do list:
1. Pack for the camping trip.
2. Rip the popcorn ceilings down in our house and put up some nice knockdown.
3. Paint the living room.
4. Mow the grass in the backyard.

Four of my guiltiest pleasures:
1. Key Lime pie.
2. Diet Coke.
3. Maynard James Keenan.
4. "Gettin' places".

Four random facts about me:
1. My right hip is a whole half inch higher than my right hip. I have terrible posture and a really bad back. I blame it on my daddy...
2. I HATE the sound of bagpipes.
3. I was married before once before I was married to Dani (a lot of people aren't aware of that. lol)
4. If I can't sleep, I lay in bed and play Bejeweled on my Sidekick.

I'm not going to tag anyone because I don't really know who would re-blog this. If you care to do it, leave your answers in a comment! :)

Breaking Tradition Models Shoot - Sneak Peek

2008-10-14T17:11:00.000-04:00

We couldn't contain our excitement and went ahead and released four of our favorites of each girl on our MySpace page yesterday!

We'll have everything up on the new web site soon, but for now, here's a sneak peak! Including the big red thing! (OK, so I'm slightly obsessed with the big red thing location.)

(And yes, I realize these are big and the right hand side is cut off. :) )

I'll still be posting updates here from time to time, until the new site and blog are officially rolling full steam ahead. If you haven't done so already, subscribe to our BLOG!

We also have a new referral contest in the works. The cool thing about the referral contest is YOU get rewarded just for telling people about the new Breaking Tradition Studios! We need all the help we can get to spread the word before our big launch party in January! More info on the blog, shortly.

Keep in mind, sessions are $200 OFF the normal price through December 31st. This means you get a 3 hour on-location FUN session with myself or Jess, truly unique editing and superior airbrushing on all your photos, a CD of all your most fabulous shots, and a shared copyright release! And you CAN give a session as a gift for the holidays! Just contact me or Jess about gift certificates.

So let us know what you think of the new stuff! And PLEASE help us spread the word!

Accidents happen...

2008-10-13T12:13:00.000-04:00

Saturday was one of the longest days of my life. Jess and I had planned to meet up for lunch and get some sushi, something light before our afternoon/evening shoot so we didn't look fat on camera while we were being filmed for our promo video! Went to two different places (the only places in this town that I know of to get sushi from) and neither were open until dinner. So, on to Chili's. *shrug*

Jess was already in a bad mood because of a spat with her hubby (love ya, Wes!!) and I couldn't find anything to wear. Of course. Then one of our models doesn't show and after waiting on her for about 45 minutes we decided to just go for it and dive in.

Earlier in the week, Dani and I spent a couple of hours driving around and walking around downtown, scoping unique places to shoot. Go ahead, say St. Augustine is a unique enough place to shoot to begin with. Nuh uh. Breaking Tradition Studios is all about NOT looking like what the rest of you photogs have been up to lately. ;) I mean that in the dearest way possible, promise! I had mapped it all out on a little tourist trail map from the hotel (these locs ARE fairly accessbile!) so we hit the outskirts of town first. Of course I completely forgot to tell the girls that there was nowhere to change out there, so we ended up parking behind Luke's work so they could change in the backseat of the car! Dani's humble Nissan Altima from there forth became the mobile changing room. I promise, we HAVE done this before! LOL

Luke came along to film us for our promo video and get some behind the scenes footage of us working with our models. Luke's camera, however, wasn't feeling up to it right away, and the batteries were dead. He and Dani stayed behind to charge the battery for an hour. That gave everyone a chance to relax and get in the groove a little better, so by the time they finally arrived we were at loc #2 and things were going really smooth.

We get to the place with the big red thing (all shall be revealed soon!) and realize that the people that work there really must never go home. It was nearing 6pm on a Saturday afternoon and there were still guys roaming about and a man doing some fiberglass work in an open workshop just on the other side of the big red thing. We debated for a moment whether we were going in or not, until I grabbed my gear and hopped the fence. Everyone else followed suit, so we decided to shoot quickly and get the hell out! Emily got super brave and climbed up on the big red thing. We realized if we followed the fenceline, we could get out in the grassy center on the other side of some hills and nobody could see us. We shot for about 5 more minutes in the grass and hauled it to the next location.

Good times are rollin' and Luke's camera dies again, so we played around on the railroad tracks some while he went to get another camera from a friend. At that point I realize that I didn't bring any more CF cards with me and the one in the camera is almost full. Jess' first CF is full and she was then switching to her 2nd, and only spare. Luckily I had time to go through and delete about half of what I'd shot, the not so hot ones, while we were waiting on Luke.

On to downtown. Grabbed some crack from the corner fudge shop. Errrr lemonade. Jess calls it crack because it's really really really addictive. Everything else goes great downtown, then we go to the secret tunnel. Spiders everywhere. No breeze. Stifling, and we are all pretty tired from walking around so much at this point. Ended it with some super tunnel shots and everyone headed back to the rendevous point at my house.

I was in front with Jess P. and Emily in the car with me. Luke and Dani were driving behind me, then Jess and Kati stopped for gas and were behind everyone else. I had just gotten inside the house and put my stuff down when Jess called and said that Luke and Dani had been in a wreck turning into our neighborhood. She said they were ok, but we rushed up the street anyway. This is what we saw when we got there:

They were turning into the neighborhood when an oncoming Ford Ranger plowed into the front of them at about 55mph we are guessing. Dani was pinned inside the car on the passenger side and Luke had to pull him out of the window. Luke is now OK for the most part except a sore leg from the center console bursting outward. Dani on the other hand... his noggin took a nice hit on the a-pillar and he has a bad bruise across his head. He had glass in his elbow, his neck is stiff, and his chest hurts where the airbag hit him. He actually did not have his seat belt on, but his collarbone would have been crushed if he had been wearing it.

This is all that happened to the Ranger that hit them. Somehow the passenger ended up being taken to the hospital on a backboard and had a broken nose. She most definitely wasn't wearing her seat belt, but of course it worked out completely differently for her. I'm still on the fence about those, and airbags. (But I do still wear mine.)

I'm lucky my husband is still alive. Had he been hit another foot or two back, he would have been either seriously injured or killed.

What a way to end a huge production!!! Of course, leave it to me and one of my crazy adventures. I feel bad since I convinced Luke to come out and film us, otherwise he wouldn't have even been turning that corner then.

Then again, the kid that hit them didn't have to be texting on his cell phone while driving, either.

The Lions are found!

2008-10-07T17:36:00.000-04:00

Dani and I went on an excursion through St. A this morning so I could map out a game plan for our big Breaking Tradition models shoot this Saturday. I was looking for unique places that every other photographer in northeast Florida doesn't take their subjects to in St. Augustine. For example: I think we are leaving St. George Street entirely off the list of stops this time. I'm over seeing it everywhere! Lucky me, my husband pretty much grew up in St. A and was allowed to actually leave the house as a kid and ride his bike around (I wasn't, but I grew up in Jacksonville), so he took me to some amazing spots that I guarantee nobody else knows of or has shot at yet!

I know this is very very vague, but this is what we'll have to cross to get to this spot that is going to be KILLER! (The big red thing behind the fence is NOT a building.)

I'll give you a hint! If you know where the famous lions from St. Augustine's Bridge of Lions are being stored during the bridge restoration, you can find this place fairly easily! We were surprised when we rolled by this huge warehouse with the doors open and saw this inside!:

Definitely off the beaten path of tradition, downtown St. Augustine. ;) I can't wait to share what we create this weekend. Stay tuned next week for a sneak preview.

Heather's Bridal Photos

2008-10-05T12:10:00.001-04:00

Remember how I said Jess' window shots from Heather's bridal shoot last week were going to be flippin' spectacular! Feast your eyes, folks!!

And a couple of my other favorites from the session! I snagged that last pic as Jess was setting up a shot on the stairs!

We've been playing with off-camera lighting setups WAY more lately and I LOVE the results! Hotttt!

To clear up the rumors...

2008-10-05T11:59:00.001-04:00

It was recently called to my attention that a person in Jacksonville was "using" me to be able to book photo shoots and make a quick buck. This person, a fledgling wannabe photographer with a point & shoot, apparently has told the general public that she is "apprenticing" under me! Flattering, yes, but completely untrue! I suppose she thought my name would get her a step ahead in the game for whatever reason, but I by no means consider myself a "master photographer" capable of training the next shining star. Nor do I have the desire to be idolized as such.

So rest assured, I'm seriously no big deal! ;)

(Yes, I did confront the person about this and explained to her fully how a "photographic assistant" position normally works. And the fact that professional photographers generally don't use point & shoot digicams at photo shoots. And asked that she leave me and my business associates out of her ventures. Hopefully nipped it in the bud!)

10/1/08

2008-10-01T15:47:00.000-04:00

So I didn't completely abide by the rules of the September Project. But neither did Jess, so I don't feel so bad. I had a lot of fun doing it though, and it definitely did help me learn the new camera more.

Things have been a mish-mash of crazy for the last couple of weeks. Since we decided to just go ahead and announce Breaking Tradition (it was getting tricky trying to book shoots and keep the entire thing under wraps), Jess and I have been furiously compiling ideas and brainstorming. I spend just about half of every day blog-stalking for inspiration and coming up with ideas that we can adapt to our clients. Last night we both attended the I Shoot People Tour by JB and DeEtte of Sallee Photography out of Dallas, TX. I loved hearing them speak. While neither of us envied their husband-wife business partnership (we both agree that we are lucky we shoot with each other and not our husbands!!! :) ), I think they presented everything in a fun way since they are a young couple around our age. I get terribly bored very easily when I have to sit through things like this but I scribbled notes through the whole thing like nobody's business. My favorite part was the segment on lighting. They didn't get extremely deep into insisting we all go out and buy fancy equipment or anything like that. Everything they do is very simply lit in the grand scheme of things, you just have to know how to use what you got! I'm excited about the wedding this weekend (at NAS Jax, how cool!), and we have a big Breaking Tradition group shoot the following weekend where we get to push it to the extremes. The Sallee's really favor being forward about the fact that you do use Photoshop and urged everyone to use it for what it's worth. I had to sit back and think about it, but I really have no shame in it after some of the things they pointed out. It takes a lot of skill, experience, and know-how to create ART. We're moving foward and people don't paint your portrait anymore. Photographers generally don't even take your portrait on a roll of film anymore. Art is ever-evolving, and these are the tools of our time. Use them or lose them.

On that note, here's an interesting website I came across today. Go to the top and click "portfolio". Enjoy. :)

http://www.iwanexstudio.com/

A Warm & Fuzzy Christmas!

2008-10-01T00:57:00.000-04:00

Dani and I are heading up a donation drive to benefit the FL East Coast Humane Society this Christmas. I'll save you all the same old story about how thousands of unwanted animals end up in shelters each year and how much I love to do what I can to save one or at least just help one out. Rather I'm just going to beg of all of you to take 5 minutes out of your busy lives and clean out your linen closets, box up your old stuff and spend the few dollars to mail it to me.

Everyone likes to help out those in need around the holidays and sadly, many animals aren't even thought of. The least we can do is let them have a warm bed on Christmas Eve. Our goal is to collect at least one item for each kennel at the facility, plus extras to be distributed to the animals that may be in foster care with someone, or to be saved for future need. Please help us make it happen!

I am posting this everywhere I can think of. If you feel so inclined as to post this as a bulletin from your MySpace account, on your blog, or any message board, please do! I sincerely do appreciate everyone's help!

**The Humane Society is always in need of other items in addition to blankets and towels. If you are unable to help with the blanket drive, we are also accepting any donations of items on the Humane Society's Wish List, and of course they always appreciate monetary donations as well.

Vintage cameras!, 9/27/08

2008-09-27T19:57:00.000-04:00

My dear friends Candi and Bryon came by earlier this afternoon with a special gift for me! They just bought a house in Palm Coast and will be moving soon so they are packing up their house and found a couple of things they thought I might be interested in.

Bryon's grandfather (who everyone just called "Grandpa") passed away last year. I remember him as a really funny old man who always liked to flirt innocently with Candi's friends. He must have always been a hit with the ladies... he was a ladies' swimsuit designer in the 1940's and 50's!

And these are the cameras that he used to photograph his models. (Of course I'd kill to get my hands on some of those snaps!)

Ihagee Dresden Exakta 35mm Australian model, Carl Ziess Pancolar 2/50 f/2 lens. It's missing the Exakta emblem on the front, but it came with an old, weathered Sankyo daylight A filter on the lens. :)

(The shutter button is on the left side of the lens.)

And a 1956 Mamiyaflex C Professional TLR! Now I have a pretty big collection of vintage cameras but I think this mother takes the cake! I used to shoot with a RB67 in the studio and it was one of my favorite film cameras of all-time. I've never owned a Mamiya TLR before so I'm reeeeeeally excited to have this one now.

And it came already customized! The story goes, the outer body of the camera was starting to show some wear and tear so "Grandpa" recovered it himself. I'm assuming sometime in the 1960's. :) It is actually some type of foil finish paper with a Gemini theme.

Here's a TTV (Through The Viewfinder) shot of my Canary Islands date palm in the front yard. (aka the giant pineapple) No clue yet what the two lines on the right of the viewfinder are. I haven't cleaned either of these cameras.

Also in the box were these goodies. Clockwise from top: vintage camera strap (rusty as heck!), manual for the Ihagee, i have no clue... maybe some type of old-skool macro lens adapter?!, and i have no clue again, these little adjustable metal rods were in the pouch labeled $12. So they must have been something important to cost that much back in the day.

Any ideas on the bottom two items?

9/26/08

2008-09-26T21:37:00.000-04:00

Oops. I wasn't home much at all today so I didn't get around to photos of the other cool stuff from the Goodwill. Perhaps tomorrow!

This afternoon I met up with Jess and our favorite assistant, Shelly, at The Carling in downtown Jacksonville for a bridal shoot. We're shooting Heather's wedding at NAS Jax next Saturday. I can't wait to take advantage of the "scenery" there!

Here are a few behind the scenes shots I snagged between reeling in Speedlights on monopods and coming up with insane lighting schemes including putting the flash UNDER a couch that Heather was sitting on... yes, it did work! (Truth be told, I enjoy the techie side of it just as much as the rest that goes along with shooting people. I'm a big, big fan of Strobist, a blog all about off-camera lighting technique.)

Here's Shelly helping with Heather's dress. (You probably recognize Shelly from the Breaking Tradition ads!)

(Jess' shots from the window vantage point are going to be flippin' spectacular!)

My sincere apologies to Jess for this one. As adept as I may be with my mad Photoshopping skills, I thought it best to leave your butt as is, underwear and all.

(I'm now awaiting payback!)

Goodwill Fashion, 9/25/08

2008-09-25T17:49:00.000-04:00

I made an impromptu stop in at the Goodwill today to see what I might find. I ended up with an armload of retro-vintage goodies for under $20! Tomorrow's post will feature some of the other things I found for my home. Today I thought I'd go along with the trend of cutting people's heads off and cut my own off to show you my fashion finds. (I didn't even have to put makeup on for this one!)

I know I said I was gonna ditch the leggings, but now I have a reason to keep them. I picked up this stretchy lace shirt dress thing for 4 bucks. Googled the label and found out it's from a fairly expensive Spanish designer and would retail for about $120 brand new. (Athena had to help with this one.)

These shorts are just plain awesomeness in the form of polyester! I believe they were $4 too.

Check back tomorrow for some more cool junk!

Yippee!

2008-09-24T10:18:00.001-04:00

Jess emailed me this last night. I needed to use it somewhere, so.... here ya go folks!

Teaser! 9/23/08

2008-09-23T16:26:00.000-04:00

I'm soooo excited that I finally got time to sit down and edit Jenny's shoot from Friday night with the "new look"! You might notice that the following photos have no NFC photo signature at the bottom. ;) Remember that new boutique studio Jess and I told you about that's opening in January? Here's a sneak peek at the new studio's editing style! I'm still not able to unveil too many details, but things are definitely in the works, and are definitely looking good. We start work on our new website this weekend and as soon as we have enough content for it, all will be revealed!

Jenny is from Michigan and was in town for the week so we hit up downtown St. A Friday night for her evening session. She was such a trooper, even laying down in the middle of the street for the brick shots! We had fun making our guys hold reflectors and they had fun entertaining us throughout the shoot. I can't wait til she's back in town!

Here are some of my favs from the many!

OK so I'm partial to the cold tone as well...

And a couple of standard finishes for the makeup design books. :)

Thanks to everyone involved on this shoot!

Remember, you only have a limited time to get in on the $100 session deal and we have very limited spots left, so book those sessions now!

Ginnie Springs, 9/20-9/21/08

2008-09-22T16:32:00.000-04:00

I know I've been slacking! I've been super busy lately and I do have a lot to post and catch everyone up on. The camping crew got together this weekend at Ginnie Springs, out in High Springs, FL. The 2 hour drive was well worth it. We had tons of fun tubing down the Santa Fe river, exploring the woods and the springs, hanging out at the camp, and enjoying each other's company. The rain held off for the most part and the water was darker than usual in the river, but the springs were clear and blue like usual. I can't wait to go back again when the river clears up. My friend Jess even bought a snorkel mask with a built-in digital camera and digital video camera! I can't wait to see her photos and video of everyone jumping from the rope swings and out of the jumping tree! There was no way I was going to float down the river with the 30D so unfortunately I missed capturing those moments!

Thursday, 9/18/08

2008-09-18T16:57:00.000-04:00

Took Piglet to the beach this morning. She wanted to go surfing with her dad but the waves were crappy today we just hung out and took some pictures with a fisheye adapter that I borrowed from Nick.

I love how Dani looks so little boyish. (Yeah, one day I'll take pictures of something other than my dog and my husband! lol!)

When I got back home I checked the mailbox and whaddya know... even MORE fun mail! My MOO cards came today!

SACARC's Dog Days in the Park, this Saturday 9/20

2008-09-17T20:50:00.000-04:00

I have the pleasure of volunteering for the second year in a row as Event Photographer for Springfield Animal Care and Rescue Club's third annual Dog Days in the Park event this Saturday! If you're a dog owner, or even just an "animal person" in general, you should come out to this event! Last year was a blast and I can't wait to document it again this year.

SACARC is the rescue organization through which my pit bull, Piglet, was rescued. I feel so grateful for such a great organization that is out on arguably some of the worst streets of Jacksonville, scooping up animals like Piglet that would otherwise literally die without some type of humane intervention.

The event is free and donations are accepted. All proceeds benefit SACARC and help with all of the expenses involved in foster care. There is no way I could have personally afforded Piglet's necessary medical care when I first took her in as a foster dog. Other animals need our help too! Come out and enjoy a day of fun with your pets, or if you don't have one, come check out Rescue Row! You never know, you might find your new best friend waiting for you!

Wednesday, 9/17/08

2008-09-17T16:57:00.000-04:00

I had the day off today and my friends Nick and Jenny are in town so we all went out to breakfast at a little diner called Fran & Tam's. This is the kind of place where you can still get a full breakfast for under 5 bucks!

Then it was off to Wal-Mart to pick up a few things, but somehow I happened to have my camera with me and remembered Jess's Wal-Mart pics from last week! So we went to the Halloween aisle and tried on some garb! I can't wait for our Halloween party this year. It's seriously my favorite holiday anymore. :)

Here's me and Jenny with clear plastic masks on. I know these have been around for forever but they always remind me of the scene from Gone in Sixty Seconds where they break into the impound lot with these masks on!

Nick's hairy spider-face.

Nick as Hilary Clinton.

And a few random masks and decorations.

Jenny makes really awesome jewelry! She brought all her pieces in when we got home and I did some product shots for her new Etsy shop.

And last but not least, Nick's eyeball.

Tuesday, 9/16/08

2008-09-16T23:26:00.000-04:00

Not a whole lot to blog about today in the way of pictures. I went up to Jess' house this morning (well, by the time I got out of the Wendy's drive thru, it was afternoon) and we worked on a lot of stuff for the new studio.

Lookie, I finally have Lightroom! (omgwantthislens!) And Jess' office is clean!!

There were big puffy clouds all over the sky today. It was a really nice day out. I think we need to relocate our office outdoors! Or maybe we should wait til it cools off some.... anyhow, yeah I know I shouldn't be taking pictures while driving, but...

Sunday, 9/14/08

2008-09-14T22:18:00.000-04:00

I accompanied Jess on a senior session downtown this evening and got a few behind the scenes photos of her in action.

Wes doing his job in style.

We ran in to Kilwin's for something to drink but these caught my eye. Yummmmmm pretty!

And some shots of Lauren from a different angle. Jess was shooting her during these.

And my favorite of the evening.

Sephiroth Chorus, 9/12/08

2008-09-13T21:37:00.000-04:00

My friend Jack asked me to come out to Jack Rabbits last night and photograph him playing. Jack makes all his own music via electronic devices, is the drummer for band X-Sister Z, works promotions for Nintendo, and is also a Duncan YoYo master! Needless to say he's got a lot going on! If you were following my photography on Myspace last year, you may remember photos of Jack doing yoyo demonstrations at Ozzfest.

Jack uses an old telephone as a microphone in one of his songs. It sounds cool!

This one was way underexposed, but sometimes those are salvagable in b&w.

Monica snapping a pic on Burt's iPhone.

That thing even has a built in keyboard!!

Dani and Burt. Well, their goatees anyway.

I love Ken's inherent ability to accessorize freakishly!

I'm going to be late!

2008-09-12T21:25:00.000-04:00

Gonna be late posting today's pics because, well, it's 9:30pm and they haven't taken place yet. I'm going to Jacksonville to shoot a friend of mine playing at Jack Rabbits, so it'll be a late night. You'll see the result tomorrow!

For now, I have no photos to share but I'm pretty excited that my ram upgrade came for my computer the other day (yay, now Photoshop/Lightroom will no longer be the bane of my existence!!), I got a HUGE "counter" bottle of Prescriptives Virtual Matte foundation in my shade that will last me FOR-E-VAR, and I also got a bracket for my light stands today that will allow me to mount the Speedlight to the light stand! Lots of goodies in the mail lately! :)

I also made a big announcement pertaining to photography on my blog earlier today, so be sure to read up on that if you're an existing or future client!

A very important announcement!

2008-09-12T16:25:00.000-04:00

Without divulging too many details, I need to explain a little something.

Starting October 1, I will no longer be able to offer "freebie" shoots to my friends.
Very soon, my photography project, NFC, and Jess Cumbie Photography will be joining forces as a new boutique photography studio in Northeast Florida. As you know, starting a business is by no means free or cheap! I don't feel it's necessary to be a complete snob about it, so I'll just ask that if you respect my work as a photographer, please respect me as well and do not ask me for a free shoot.
This is absolutely nothing personal!!! Please understand that, and know that I will not be making very much money at all from this. I am just trying to pay for a new website and some ad space! :) Beginning October 1, I will be booking exclusive-rate sessions at a special price for the new studio. The only catch is, you must sign a release form stating that you won't publicly release your photos (ie.
posting them on Myspace or other websites where they will be visible to others) until the studio officially opens! Pretty easy, right?

You're probably thinking "pssshhh... I'll just go on to my other friend with a digital SLR..." but the fact is, just because you own a camera, that doesn't make you a photographer! So what can you expect from this that I can't offer you personally right now?

* This won't be your typical style of photography that you see every day. Don't expect posed "backdrop portraits" where you sit on a stool and say cheese.
You want stunning photography, outstanding quality, and a guaranteed good time (that's what it's all about anyway!), come play with us on the streets downtown for an afternoon, trash your wedding dress in the junkyard, or book a sensual shoot with our exclusive hotel room package! Ultimately we want to create with AND for you! You'll walk away with photos that will make everyone Ooooh and Ahhhh.

* Superior editing ("airbrushing", "pinching", etc) that I currently do not offer, for an absolutely stunning quality finish.

* Online proofing and low print prices with the convenience of ordering directly from our website.

* Completely customized hardbound story books with flush printed pages filled with photos from your session.

* Gallery wrap canvas enlargements.

*Lotsssss of other printed products from your images.

* TRULY UNIQUE photography with that fresh and edgy look you want that will make you look twice.

Think of it as us reinventing the "portrait session" wheel, if you will.
Jess and I aren't ones to follow many rules, so let's break some together!

FOR AN EXTREMELY LIMITED TIME I will be booking sessions starting at just $100, beginning on October 1st.
Now is the time to get in on this deal and help us kick off our new business at the first of the year! We promise you're gonna love it!

Please contact me asap if you're interested in booking a shoot. Sessions are limited to: individual sessions, sensual sessions, pet and pet/people sessions, couples, engagements, bridals, trash the dress, and bands/music artists. (Please contact me about weddings if that's something you're interested in, more on that later!) Dates are very limited! A SINCERE thank you for understanding and for your support! I'm looking forward to creating great images with you.
:)

Thursday, 9/11/08

2008-09-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

You probably thought I was going to do a 9/11 post today. Well, I'm not going to be that person today... no offense to the patriotic folks in the audience, but I just didn't feel the need to drag it out today and think about what I was doing this time, this day, seven years ago like everybody else...

edit: If you're really interested, yeah, I was there and experienced the whole thing and was trapped in the area for about 18 hours. I have some of the last photos ever taken of the World Trade Center, from the evening of September 10, 2001. I don't have a scanner and they are packed away somewhere since I recently moved, or I would share those with everyone. Definitely a surreal experience.

So here are some random photos from last night. Jezzika and I got bored so we went down to the Conch House Marina, then to the beach to see what was going on. This is what we found!

On the way to the Conch House, we were driving down A1A and of course I notice every dog on the side of the road, dead or alive, but I think I have some sort of pit bull radar. I see them quite often. This little girl caught my eye as she was trotting down the sidewalk, stopping every 20 feet or so to look into people's backyards that backed up to the sidewalk, like she was trying to figure out how she's gotten out to the sidewalk and how she was going to get back in. I had to do two u-turns around the median to get back to her, but there was no way I was going to let her get hurt. We pulled up onto the sidewalk and she came right up to me. Lucky for all of us, she had tags! AND she was microchipped! I wanted to give her owner a big pat on the back for that one but I refrained.... anyway, we tied Jezzika's camera strap to Kona's collar so we could hang onto her and I sat down with her while Jezzika called her owner and told him we had his dog. He showed up quickly and picked her up, thanking us repeatedly for stopping! So there was our good deed for the day. :) Had she not had a collar or been microchipped, Dani would have had a big surprise in the backyard when he came home last night.... 0:)

Here is Jezzika holding Kona with her camera strap.

Dani's friend Billy and his family own a deep sea and sportfishing charter company called Endless Summer Charters, and they dock at the Conch House Marina. They are awesome folks and have some of the best secret numbers in Florida for a guaranteed great time fishing. Check them out and plan a deep sea fishing trip if you have never done one! They are booked pretty far out in advance from what Billy said last weekend, but they run year-round so you can go at any time.

When we got to the beach we were hoping to find some volleyball matches happening at the sand courts, but instead we found a live band playing at the beachside pavilion and tons of people everywhere in lawn chairs and sitting on the sand.

We stopped to take in the music for a bit. Personally, I always enjoy watching the tipsy couples who are most likely experiencing midlife crises elsewhere let loose and dance. Maybe that's why shooting wedding receptions are so fun. Drunk people dancing are universally entertaining.

Jezzika collects fortunes from her fortune cookies, and also loves Yogi organic teas. Each teabag from Yogi has a little fortune on the tab and she saves the good ones. This one particularly struck a chord with me after the conversations Jess and I had yesterday on the way to Marineland and back about future plans. :)

And last but not least, a flashlight graffiti experiment!

(Techie info: 10 seconds at f/2.8, ISO 160.)

Wednesday, 9/10/08

2008-09-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

Jess, her husband Wes, and I went to Marineland today so she could try out her new 5D on something different. Wow, has it changed since we were kids! It's definitely a lot smaller now, and it's more geared specifically toward Atlantic bottlenose dolphin conservation and encounters with the dolphins where you can swim with them, work with the trainers for a day, or just feed and pet them. There are several different levels of programs you can participate in, but we chose the general $6 admission so we could get some shots of the dolphins and people in action. I knew Jess was going to steal my thunder with the 5D and her post about this (she deserves it right now, she's got the camera! ha) so I did do a few shots of the dolphins and people, but I also did a bunch of my signature, off-kilter, random oddity shots.

All in all it was a fun, cheap little trip (especially since it's not far from my house at all) and worth the $6 to catch an upclose glimpse of the dolphins. They are amazing up close and I could only imagine what it's like to be in the water with them. Definitely something I want to try!

This guy has a cool job!!!

Tuesday, 9/9/08

2008-09-10T01:58:00.000-04:00

Yep, I'm reeeeally late getting this one up tonight. Guess that's what happens when you're an insomniac and just don't sleep sometimes like me. My entire schedule is now thrown off. :)

Here's a little something from earlier today. I don't know what to call it, so... enjoy!

There are more that really don't go with the flow of these, but I'm about as exhausted as this little Piggy laying next to me, so maybe I'll post those later. Goodnight!

Stacy... and a new mini project!

2008-09-08T21:36:00.000-04:00

I completely forgot about Stacy's shoot from a few weeks ago and they fell back in the "to be edited" folder. We were rushed so we didn't get many shots and decided to reschedule later.

Here is one of the original edits. Shot this one in my front yard with one strobe in a shoot-thru umbrella.

Here are a few more. We did these on my front porch.

_________________________________________________________

On another note, I recently heard of a friend of a friend who had a photo class and one of the assignments was to do a self-portrait, but to try to duplicate a photo of a celebrity that they've maybe been told they looked like in the past, or just their favorite celebrity. (I think the main idea was to be able to nail the color and lighting in Photoshop.) I think this sounds like a fun little project but I need your help!

If you know me personally, leave me a comment and tell me which celebrity you think I most resemble! I've heard quite a few different ones in the past, and none of these people look alike to me so I'm not sure which one to go with.

Drew Barrymore...

Vivienne Leigh (how convenient...)

Lindsay Lohan...

and most recently, Carly Smithson, from American Idol's 7th season. (Let me insert here that I do not watch this show; it's not the least bit entertaining to me, despite how much I like music...)

So give me your feedback! Or if you think I look like someone entirely different, let me know who! I'm thinking about going with LaLo, just because we both have SO many freckles. :)

Monday, 9/8/08

2008-09-08T20:07:00.000-04:00

Late afternoon/early evening north of the pier. Got some crazy blues off the camera today... the breaks were kinda brownish and ick looking, but the deep water came out nice.

Dani and I went to lunch at the New Century Buffet this afternoon and this was in my fortune cookie. Thought it was worth a shot for the blog. ;)

Sunday, 9/7/08

2008-09-07T22:36:00.000-04:00

Girls Day Out, 9/6/08

2008-09-07T16:24:00.000-04:00

I spent yesterday out on the town with my mom and my brother's girlfriend, Abby. We played "tourist" and did some sightseeing and shopping in St. Augustine. We didn't have to go far and we still had a fun day and learned a lot more about St. Augustine's history, legends, and hole-in-the-wall shops.

We decided to take Ripley's Red Train Tours around town for the full tourist experience! It's a great way to see everything that you won't want to miss and there are plenty of opportunities to get off the train and spend time in different areas of town. The drivers are entertaining and it's also a great way to cool off and sit down if you've been walking in the heat all day.

We went in several shops that I didn't even knew existed. Here are some photos of my favorite things I found yesterday and some random funky things around town!

SO true around here!:

Unforutnately I can't remember the name of the store that we found the little signs in but they also had a huge selection of art and windchimes. The back area is natural garden with benches, trellises, and a few windchimes and suncatchers around. It's settled between old stone buildings. I liked it because it reminded me of my grandma's backyard where I grew up. Her backyard is literally never manicured and is still covered in Wandering Jew, soaring potato vines and grape vines, huge ancient shade trees everywhere, and lots of GREEN. Really reminds you of Old Florida. This garden was a treat to visit.

Here's Abby in what she calls her "tourist hat". :) I think this may have been on the backside of the Milltop.

Indians! I guess not many people would understand why I took this photo. When I was a kid we used to take yearly road trips up to North Carolina to visit my family over summer break. There was a gas station off an exit of I95 in a town in South Carolina called Santee. I can't remember the first year that we stopped at this gas station, but it must have been completely by chance and my brother and I haaaaad to stop there every summer thereafter. They had a huge junky souvenir shop, and wax Indians in the front window. For some reason we thought they were the coolest thing. I was on my way up to Pennsylvania about 3 years ago for the Carlisle All-Truck Nationals and insisted that my boyfriend at the time stop off this exit because I had to see if the the Indians were still there. Sadly, they weren't, and when I asked the lady behind the counter, who was the same big-haired Dolly Parton-esque lady I remembered from 15 years before, she said they'd been sold to someone a long, long time ago. She was shocked that I actually remembered them when I shared with her my little story about stopping off every summer to see the Indians.

Squatters. Bums. Homeless... whatever you want to call these people. Yes, I'm annoyed just like anyone else when one of these people asks for money but I always have had this secret wondering about how these people live their lives the way they do. Maybe that's another project down the road, but you do come across some interesting characters downtown sometimes. Generally these guys don't bother people much (the police keep tabs on them regularly) and I believe they are allowed to hang out downtown and play music or "entertain" for money, as long as they aren't doing it on the main walk, St. George Street. Sometimes they add a little something extra to their "show". I actually smile for some reason when I see one of these people with a dog. They've made a friend, and while they may not have much else, they always have that one true friend by their side. It always makes me wonder where the both of them came from and what they have been through. And why they do the things they do now.

And here is Charlie Brown. He enjoys entertaining you and your kids, apparently...

Abby was on a mission to find a replacement piece for a necklace she has, so we found a bead shop in one of the indoor stripmalls. It reminded me of a candy shop. So colorful!

We didn't go into Potter's Wax Museum but I managed to get this through the window. (Note to self: invest in polarizing filter!)

Mom loves these things. No, they aren't real people. Very realistic statuettes in a shop on King Street.

We did a quick walk past the Casa Monica Hotel and I slipped up into the valet area and snapped a pic of their car, and Abby on the stairs.

The Closet! OMG this place was a neat little hole in the wall with Tara's name written allllllll over. Lots of vintage, tons of reconstruction and DIY clothing, upcycled items turned into something else... loved it! (Glad I found this place, good ole' 5 Points is a bit of a drive for me now...)

Rows and rows of vintage shoes.... I wanted to whip out my acrylics and paintbrushes and start painting right there! (I custom paint shoes in case you haven't heard!)

Meet Elvis! He hangs out at Paradise Poochie, a doggie boutique on Cordova Street. Elvis loves to play fetch with a tennis ball! I can't wait to take the Pigster to meet him and visit the store. They have some really unique dog toys (lots of the indestructable variety, a necessity when you own a pit bull!), a huge variety of gourmet treats, and super friendly employees!

Now I have a tooooon of photos to go along with this shop. It was probably my favorite place we visited besides the Dr. Seuss Gallery where they do not allow photography! (But it's a DEFINITE must-see! Next door to this shop.) Plaza Verde is owned and operated by Europeans so everything in the place has a European touch, whether strong or faint. My husband, Dani, is Polish, and while he doesn't really enjoy frou frou things and shopping, I've got to drag him into this place because it will without a doubt ring a bell to him. They carry luxury bath products, imported home decor, European foods, and fine gifts. Sometimes I question myself as to why I didn't go into Visual Merchandising or something. I have this weird "oooooh.... ahhhhh" obsession with retail displays (another reason I loved The Closet so much). The whole structure of this space was awesome, from the literally soaring high ceiling, and long, open "hall" feeling to the vintage furnishings-turned-retail displays, and big use of hanging paper lanterns.

(Next craft night, I'm going to try to make these!!)

This is on my wish list this year. (*ahemmm. mom. stocking stuffer. !*) I loooove little coffee table books. Unfortunately my coffee table only holds a prized photography issue of Surfer Magazine currently, but I have a bookshelf in the living room with pretty much nothing but coffee table photography books. This one is all about kids getting into "innocent" trouble. Something I was all about back in the day.

I'd die to have this cabinet in a big bathroom or a kitchen! Loooove the black and white paint job.

Organic soaps, body lotions, and shampoos.

This line of candles are my new favorite thing for smellin' up the house. Voluspa Candles are handmade and come in over fifty different scents. You can get them in jars, tins, or even incense sticks. Oh excuse me, "luxe burning sticks". They are extremely fragrant in a sophisticated sort of way; no fresh ocean breeze christmas tree homemade cookies and mangopineapplepearblueberrygrapeapple smells here. I had the hardest time choosing just one to take home! I ended up with the Santiago Huckleberry 85-hour variety and so far, so very, very good....

The last stop on the train tour brought us to San Sebastian Winery. I've been a big fan of the Vintners Red for a few years, which I originally found in Publix, but it seems to be sold at most major grocery stores in northeast Florida now. (Even Wal-Mart has it.) The winery offers free tours that explain their own unique wine-making process, as well as a free wine tasting where you get to sample about twelve different wines. Allow a bit of time if you visit San Sebastian Winery. The tour is about 30-45 minutes long and you'll spend about 20 minutes at the wine tasting. They have a big store that carries all their wines plus accessories and very unique sauces, jams, jellies, and spices. They also have a rooftop wine and jazz bar, as well as banquet/reception facilities. (I'd love to shoot a wedding and/or reception here, so book it, people!) :)

The barrel room. You can actually get married in here or have your rehearsal dinner or reception in this space! They use these old whisky barrels to age one of their varieties of wine. At the tasting after the tour, we got to sample this one and it did have a very woody/nutty yet sweet taste.

They were prepping for a wedding reception on the rooftop while we were there so I snapped a pic of the setup. Love me some gold bamboo chairs! For some reason I'm convinced that anything that has been painted gold photographs beautifully.

Mom waiting on a refill. :) This is particularly amusing to me and me only, most likely. My mom doesn't drink but I think she had a good time at the wine tasting. We both have a new favorite: the Cream Sherry!

Abby enjoying the last drop.

Avenida Menendez is usually a traffic jam of tour trains, tourists trying to snap photos of the fort from their car windows or trying to back up into oncoming traffic, horse-drawn buggies, and pedestrians. I don't know how these horses put up with it sometimes, but they just keep trotting along with traffic. :)

_______________________________________________________________

I missed the morning session at the pier yesterday due to my outing with the gals and didn't make it out there until right before dark. I'll have some shots up from today, late morning, shortly. Here's all I got last night.

Some long exposure fun:

And the moon.

Yeah, so I cheated.

2008-09-07T09:22:00.000-04:00

I didn't do an entry last night because yesterday was SUCH a long day! Spent the day around St. Augustine with Mom and Abby. TONS of pics to go through and I was soooo tired after walking around so none of it got done last night!

About to head to FA for some daily surfing shots so I'll post everything by tonight.

Friday, 9/5/08

2008-09-06T00:47:00.000-04:00

If there is anything my husband and I do agree on, it's that we will one day trade in my Maxima for an Infiniti G35.

But til then... I have my little model that my buddy Nick got for me. :)

Thursday, 9/4/08

2008-09-04T21:09:00.000-04:00

Today has been uneventful. I stayed home this morning while Dani went out to Vilano to check out the break there. He said it was barrely but dumpy. I let him take my old Rebel out so maybe I'll post some of his bodyboarding photos later. :)

So while Jess is in Orlando enjoying a photography seminar tonight, I'm stuck at work, looking at this:

St. Augustine Beach Pier 9/3/08

2008-09-04T01:53:00.000-04:00

Only went out for about 20 minutes today. Nothing going on in the water except chop slop and inconsistent dumps again, at least at the time I was there. Dani seems to get this spot EVERY time we come here to check out the water.

And nature was a little more interesting than the guys in the water today.

Wednesday, 9/3/08 pt. 2

2008-09-03T23:57:00.000-04:00

My friend Chrissy brought her 9 month old, Eric, over to play in front of the camera today. We just looove making him do ridiculous things just for a great photo and he's going to hate us for it someday! He is such a good baby. He never cries and is always in a great mood. Here's a photo I took of Eric back in May or June. We didn't pose this at all. He did this entirely on his own!

He has learned how to crawl since I last took his pictures, and boy was he all over the place today! He laid down for a nap about halfway through our session today and when he woke up we took him out to my back porch to get some sun and to see my dogs. He was so fascinated by them! He can stand and hold onto things, so he was standing at the screen door giggling his little butt off as Piglet did her "laughing" face and yipped at him from the other side. I wish I would have gotten that photo but I was holding onto him to make sure he didn't fall. I was afraid that the dogs would scare him since they are much bigger than him but they barked at him playfully and he just laughed and laughed right back at them. Just about everything is funny to him. Hence why he didn't mind this photo at all...

Now let me preface this by saying that no babies were harmed in the making of this photo! I'm aware that it may raise some eyebrows and may look like a poster shot for a child abuse hotline, but let me explain! Chrissy likes to shop at a trendy children's boutique downtown called Rock the Cradle. They carry new and consignment clothing and furniture for HIP children from names like Dickies and Knuckleheads. She recently picked up this Johnny Cash striped onesie for Eric that says "Folsom Prison" on the front! Too rad! (He also has a collection of Bob Marley onesies!) So I knew we HAD to find a place with some bars to shoot him behind. When I said this, Chrissy was standing in my living room facing Piglet's crate in the corner. She said, "We can stick him in the dog crate!"

I have to say he did not mind AT ALL and was playing in there with his Rupert (teddy bear) just like he would in a playpen. (And my Pig is a cleeeean dog!) :)

Now, on to the rest. The next one was an accident, during exposure testing before we even got started. He was soooo fascinated by the lens and wouldn't sit still. He just haaad to crawl toward me every time with big, giant eyes!

He had quite an audience. Somehow all our friends in the neighborhood caught wind that he was there for pictures and had to come watch. He's not a shy one though, nudies were not a problem for Mr. Wilson!

Chrissy better save this one. They don't stay this innocent forever. :)

Wednesday, 9/3/08 pt. 1

2008-09-03T22:23:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I mentioned I was working on a little thing for Jess and I to use at weddings. I got so busy shooting a squirmy little subject today that I didn't have time to do any real test shots with it, and I just now completed mine. I have something in mind for tomorrow's post though that will incorporate this little mod!

I present.... the BT snoot!

Now, nobody else knows what BT means except Jess and me, so we'll keep that our little inside joke for now. I'll just say the BT is in red for a reason, and the glitter is more of the joke. ;) I'm going to make Jess one as soon as she picks out her Velcro color! I forgot to take a photo of my Velcro, but I chose pink!

This was super easy and quick to make, and offers a natural vignette or a spotlight effect, depending on your flash power, how tightly you have it closed, and how far down (long or short) you have it on the flash head. The Velcro closure enables you to adjust the size of the opening on the end, allowing you to control the spread of light on your subject. All in all, it cost roughly $10-12 for the supplies to make two of this size, including the letters.

Tuesday, 9/2/08

2008-09-02T23:34:00.000-04:00

Day two didn't hold too much excitement for me. Mostly due to my broken toe. My super husband went to work for me this morning so I could stay home and ice my foot, came home for a couple hours break, then went back to work his shift tonight. (I'm lucky!) Jezzika came over to keep me company for a bit and we decided to go check out the beach. Dani and I didn't make it yesterday and the surf report on Surf Station called for crappy conditions anyway. Things didn't look much better on the report today but we went down to see if I could get a few shots in anyway and to brainstorm about some future projects. North of the pier was a big washing machine when we got there. Very messy and inconsistent. South of the pier people speckled the water between the pier and A Street. Still not very consistent, but some pretty big, speedy waves here and there. I shot a little from the shore then scraped up 50 cents from the car and went onto the pier for some as we started to lose light.

Once again, today I had completely different plans for what I was going to shoot. It involved a trip to Jacksonville that did not happen and will most likely be rescheduled for next week. I'm working on a little something for Jess and I to use at weddings that will hopefully be completed and tested tomorrow. And I have an awesome subject scheduled so be sure to check it out!

Monday, 9/1/08

2008-09-01T21:53:00.001-04:00

Jess is doing a personal project this month where she is shooting something different every day and posting at least five photos to her blog as sort of a "day in the life of" creativity project. I thought about doing this way back at the first of the year but was so busy I knew I'd never finish a whole month at the time. I actually wanted to do a whole year! That would have never happened and I'm glad I didn't try to commit to that! Anyway, she told me about her idea the other day and I decided it was a good time for me to go ahead and try it out too. I think it'll be fun to compare our blogs each day and see what is similar and what is completely different about how we see things, what we decide to shoot, and what is going on in our lives. (And I figured that if anyone was going to copycat her, I'd be the first person she'd forgive!) ;)

I'm not going to go by the 5 pics a day rule... just whatever happens to be good enough to post. Sometimes there might be just one photo for the day, sometimes there might be 20. We'll see! That's the fun part!

So here is my first day's entry. Totally not what I went down to this spot for, but I liked these shots much better than all the other ones I did. Dani and I try to go on evening bike rides around our neighborhood as much as possible. It's hard not to stop everywhere though! There are so many beautiful places here and we are right on the intracoastal. Some of the residents have put swings in the trees in different areas all along the water and it's nice to stop and swing for a minute or sit on the grass and look out over the water and listen to the ocean. Yes, we can actually hear the ocean waves crashing from this spot!

This was one of my crazy light painting experiments. 20 seconds at f/4.0, ISO 500, and I was camera right firing at the water and grass in the backround with my 580EX II on 1/2 power. The flash helped expose the background, and since I somewhat behind the distance of the tree, the tree appears backlit. I think I hit the background maybe 4 to 5 times during the exposure.

Pretty much the same idea with this one, except no backlit main subject and the shutter speed was 10 seconds, ISO 160, flash on full power and fired 2 or 3 times, camera right. (Note: the beam of white light near the top right, NOT the brightest one on the right but the whiter one to the left of it, is the St. Augustine lighthouse.)

And this last one was a complete accident, but I had to post it because I thought it was creepy/cool. :)

Not bad for day one. I managed to stub my pinky toe on the bathroom door earlier today and I think I broke it. My whole foot is swollen and it's black and blue. Supposed to go to Jax for day two tomorrow, but I don't know how that's going to turn out because the entire project involves walking downtown. Stay tuned... we shall see!

BMX / Testing the new flash unit

2008-08-30T22:59:00.000-04:00

My husband is sometimes under the false delusion that he is still twelve years old.

However, I'm really happy with the new flash!

3 seconds at f/6.3, ISO 100, wireless shutter remote, Speedlite 580EXII hand fired off-camera. RAW file slightly adjusted for flash temperature as it made him look very blue on the yellow background of street lights at night time.

Of course I would have shot this entirely differently if I had some type of radio slave unit for the flash. (Second on the list after the lens upgrade, lol) With that I could have made these shots at a normal, fast shutter speed without any motion blur or light trails, but I like that effect and have always liked experimenting with "light painting" with a handheld flash unit.

St. Augustine Beach, 8/29/08

2008-08-29T19:46:00.000-04:00

Late morning / mid-day.

I'm trying to get the word out that I'm posting these photos up! If you surf in St. Augustine, come back often and check for your photo. And let your friends know, too!

New goodies!

2008-08-29T19:17:00.000-04:00

My personal quote in my senior yearbook from high school says, "Life is like the mail. Sometimes you just don't get it." (Ironic that I saw this in a tiny corner of an ad in a surfing magazine when I was like 16? ;) ) I always liked getting stuff in the mail when I was a kid, though it was few and far between. What kind of mail does a kid get except letters from pen pals? So it was always extra special when something cool arrived, like a package from my great grandma with homemade cookies and peanut brittle! Nowadays I get mail, but it's rarely exciting, never tasty at all, and usually a depressing bill or some junk mail. So you can imagine my excitement when today I got TWO cool things in the mail!

First, my flash upgrade, the 580EX II!

Then, a little treat from Etsy! I'm an DIY addict and I love Etsy. The other day I happened upon a listing for these way cute Coincards that look like little mini lens caps. They are a tad bigger than a quarter, and hold only limited information, so they are great calling cards. I had NFC Photography and the url to my Flickr account so clients can take a coincard and know where to go for their photos.

They even came with a tiny clear case!

St. Augustine Beach

2008-08-28T19:56:00.000-04:00

A few shots from mid-day sessions at FA.

Look a little closer. (Check out the direction of his board.) This kid had a lot of tricks up his sleeve. Errr boardshorts leg.

Athena

2008-08-27T20:36:00.000-04:00

Not much to say about this set. Still trying to get used to the buttons and functions on the new DSLR and Athena was the only willing test subject around. For some reason, before when Jess handed me #2 (her backup) at weddings, I didn't have to think about anything. Now that I actually own this one, I find myself constantly wanting to experiment with it. A Canon is a Canon is a Canon, but I guess I'm just easily amused with new, expensive toys.

Speaking of new and expensive, I fortunately have a boring day job that allows me to do whatever I want, including read the paper (how 'bout that Mom, I'm paying attention to the news!), and I happened upon this article in USA Today this morning.
I'd been wondering to myself for what seems like forever, when will they come out with a DSLR that also shoots video? Not that I use video often... I have a nice video camera and no charger for it and just haven't bothered to pick one up... but looks like Nikon finally did it.

And I loved how they just had to mention in there that rival Canon announced this week that it is introducing the new 50D in October! I haven't done much research on it myself, but from what I've heard so far it's not a far cry from what I have now except it's supposed to have improved low-light shooting quality. I just can't believe I just got this thing a few weeks ago and they announce this!

Anyway, onto the photos of Athena before I start thinking about a trade-in. :)

She jumps on top of the pump house when she's had enough of Piglet biting her ears and ankles. Pig's too short to reach her here so she hangs out until Pig wanders away.

No diffuse glow in Pshop on any of these. Was shooting with a Sigma lens that's really soft. Sometimes I like it, sometimes it bothers me.

And a couple of the little (errr big) rascals together. Pig is such a goof. I think she looks like a cat here!

It was tricky, but she managed to climb up to Athena. Athena didn't mind though, she greeted her with a smooch.

Scarlett's Contest Results!

2008-08-25T14:11:00.001-04:00

Jess and I recently entered a photo contest put on by megaphotog Scarlett Lillian. The theme was supposed to be centered around your most fabulous pair of heels and the only stipulation was that you had to include a sign that said "I want to spend a day with Scarlett". The rest was left up to imagination and creativity. I went to Jess' house one evening and we spent forever making my sign out of old wedding prints that had a lot of the color pink (Scarlett's signature color), black Sharpie, and glitzy silver glitter that ended up all over her office floor! We spent another forever out in the yard putting together a full lighting setup near a fallen tree. We had a ton of fun creating our entries, and while neither of us won, we both did win runner-up prizes, a $10 iTunes gift certificate, and I earned the title of "Most Naughty". ;)

Here's my entry:

The grand prize winner, Lyndsay from Pink Coffee Photography, earned a blog design from flosites worth $1,000! The second prize, a free day shooting and learning from Scarlett as your personal mentor, went to Beth of b. mo photo. Congratulations to both of them!

Melanie

2008-08-25T11:53:00.000-04:00

Recently an old friend of mine, Chris, called me up in need of a favor on behalf of his co-worker, Melanie. Melanie's boyfriend's birthday was coming up and she wanted to surprise him with something unique for his birthday. He had joked about her doing some "sexy photos" so she decided to do just what he thought she wouldn't do. Melanie originally told me she was interested in doing "pinup/hot rod style" photos with a vintage Cadillac since her boyfriend is very into them. We were on a very strict time limit with the entire shoot and she needed her prints in just a couple of days. You'd think with all the friends and contacts I have in the local car scene, I could have come up with a vintage Caddy, right?! Wrong! I spent the weekend asking around to everyone I could think of and nobody stepped forward with a Caddy, but Melanie loved what we came up with together anyway. I hear her boyfriend is a fan, too. ;)

I also did her hair and makeup. Makeup was a combination of MAC and Benefit, and NYX pearl pigments were used on the eyes. I took a chance buying these a few months back. I don't know much about the company but I got a SUPER deal on these from Ebay... a huge set of pigment shades for about a dollar each. I'm glad I bought them because everyone I've used them on so far has loved them. I originally purchased them to add to my wedding makeup arsenal since they are pearlized shades, and strangely I think I've only used them on one bride so far, but several other regular clients. They are good buy, and come in many more shades. Search "NYX pigments" on Ebay.

I love love love this swimsuit! Buy it at: http://www.pinupgirlclothing.com/

Vintage replica telephone available at: http://www.kirklands.com/

Florida Reptile Breeder's Expo

2008-08-25T02:23:00.000-04:00

Sunday morning Dani and I got up early and went down to Daytona Beach for the Reptile Expo at the Ocean Center. We're not only freaky dog people, we're also freaky reptile people. I have a completely silly green iguana and a beautiful leopard gecko, and Dani has raised several types of geckoes in the past, in addition to his male breeder New Caledoneon crested gecko that he still has. Dani goes every year, but this was my first year attending and I was really impressed by the size and great prices on the reptiles for sale. Of course there were seeminly 50 standard Ball pythons on every corner, but there were also several rare morphs. I was hoping to find a new carpet python, but was too picky and didn't find one that I absolutely couldn't live without. I had a 10' tiger morph female once. I'll never find another snake like that again. We actually ended up resisting temptation to get a female crested and went home empty handed, save for a few shots of some of the cold-blooded critters on display.

2nd Annual First Coast Bully Bash

2008-08-25T02:07:00.000-04:00

I was surrounded by tons of cool animals this weekend! Animals are one of my greatest passions, especially dogs and reptiles. My husband and I spent some much needed fun time with our rednose pit bull, Piglet, on Saturday. We took her to the First Coast Bully Bash at the Clay Co. Fairgrounds in Green Cove Springs. Things were a bit disorganized as far as the dog show went and we ended up having to leave just after it started so Dani could make it to work on time that afternoon. I did get a few shots of some amazing pits, including my Pig all geared up and ready to go before we left the house. :)

As we were leaving, we happened upon this amusing little scenario. I didn't know whether to laugh because the puppies were trying so hard to get to the big dog's food while he just ignored them and took his own sweet time eating right in front of them, or to feel sorry for them because they couldn't reach even one little piece! Actually the whole thing made me just want to take them all home with me, but I just took a picture instead.

So I finally have a photoblog!

2008-08-22T16:52:00.000-04:00

Who really cares... but I jumped on the bandwagon anyway! 2008 has been a crazy year of change, change, change.

I started off the year deciding that I was going to pursue the freelance makeup artistry side more than photography. I did, and through that move I met the fabulous Jess Cumbie, who has turned out to be my wedding-shooting match made in heaven! I did a few makeup jobs for some clients of hers, and we quickly built an awesome friendship. I realized how much I missed shooting and she invited me onboard as her second shooter. We share very similar ideas and our styles are similar, yet worlds apart, which I believe has contributed to the evolution of our photography and the big plans we will reveal after the first of the year!

In the photography aspect of things, I decided at the first of the year that I wanted to work more on personal projects. Life got a little bit in the way of that and I haven't done too terrible much yet. I got married in April, bought a house in June, and things have been hectic everywhere to say the least. With the change coming in mine and Jess' wedding photography, I was pretty well forced to make the much-needed equipment upgrade to a 30D. I'm enjoying this camera so very much and hope to put it to good use with some interesting projects that will be posted here from here on out.