It's Friday again. That means it's phone dump day. I've started sharing a few photos taken with my cell phone throughout the week here on my blog. The above shot was taken just this morning. Kross and I got his other two siblings off to school and then we hit the beach for a little "sugaring of our toes." Kross has it down to a science. No need to teach that certified beach bum how to do up the beach. He's mastered it already.
When we got there, I was carrying him and a big beach bag. I looked down and saw the shadow of my legs and captured my big ol' Mommy yoga pants flappin' in the sand via the reflection. Snapped the moment.
Although Hurricane Irene was originally heading right for us, it turned right and suddenly started veering up the East coast of Florida in stead. The beach was quiet and serene this morning. The water was dirty, sand brown, but the clouds and sky were still and beautiful as ever. You can tell a storm is brewing somewhere though. Mother ocean was roughed up, brown, and clearly ticked off.
The black and white version adds a bit more drama...wouldn't ya say?
This is what the sky really looked like...crayola blue as always...
Without rain though, there are never any rainbows. For any of you who know me well enough, you know that is one of my favorite quotes and has always been listed on my facebook page too. We are still in what is considered the "rainy season" here in South Florida. That means it rains at least once a day for about 30 minutes to an hour and then dries up and becomes as beautiful as it was before the rain. After one of those downpours off the ocean the other night, I captured this rainbow as the skies began to clear...
My favorite time is after the storm passes when the whole sky opens up and the brilliant orange colors pop out and shine this gorgeous golden light down on us...
When I came out of Dillard's the other night, the whole place was lit up like an orange fire ball. You can see that yummy golden light creating palm tree shadows on the front entrance of the mall in this shot below...
GAW-JUS! Love me some golden hour light. The light right before the sun sets. Amazing stuff
I always love to shoot in the morning around here too. More amazing stuff. I took the image below straight out the roof of my car the other morning as Brennen and I sat and ate our Starbucks oatmeal right before I took him to school. Yes...lucky for him (and me) there is a Starbucks almost in the parking lot of his school. Dunkin donuts too. Shame. Oh the shame. LOL!
The sun flare was magnificent on this morning and my iphone LOVES sun flare. Anytime I can capture some flare with my phone or my real camera, I'm all over it. I believe that sun flare is just another gift to us from God. Embrace the flare. :)
For now, I'm off to go finish editing some sessions. Can you believe that my brand new laptop is already in the shop? Won't hold a charge. The charge jack/port won't work when I charge it with my cord. Dang the bad luck. I swear laptops hate me. Yes, I said the word HATE as much as I "HATE" to. HA HA! I'm cursed when it comes to these computers. They are my work horses and I truly work them to death. Literally. Anyway, it's gone for two to three weeks so I'm back to editing in my office which I detest. So does Kross. That little dude is on the move and wants to be everywhere but holed up in my den right now. He has life so rough.
Have a great weekend and check back next week. Lots happening on the photography front. Lots of good news. Lots of cool shoots. Life is good. Love you guys.
We made it to Indy. The fields full of Queen Anne's lace were standing tall to greet me when we crossed the state line. People often ask me what I could possibly miss back in ol' Indiana - aside from the obvious friends and family - now that we live in paradise everyday. One of my answers is in the image above.(taken with my iphone4) I miss the fields full of wheat and the fields peppered with wild flowers in the summers. I miss the butterflies and bumble bees that run rampant on top of them. (They make for great macro images) This particular field will be used as a backdrop in one of 5 photo shoots that I have while in town this time. I can't wait for the golden evening light to shine down on this spot. It's going to make for gorgeous images with my clients.
Of course the 18 hour drive sucked - we drove straight through this time which was NOT planned. The five of us almost killed each other in true Griswold style before all was said and done but once we made the decision to just keep driving...we all regrouped, had some Starbucks, and trudged forward with great success in real Seaman family fashion. As I always like to say...all was good in da' hood. :)
In the short two days I've been here, we've been able to visit with both of my Grandma's who are ailing. I had worried I'd miss being able to see one or both of them before I got home the next time. By the grace of God, both are hanging on strong and I loved being able to touch both of their hands yet again. My Grandma DeNease - my Dad's Mom - also got to meet little Kross for the first time on Sunday. Another great grand child for her. Although she can't see, I made sure she was able to feel the smooth touch of his soft baby skin in her hand. Life - it's such a precious gift, isn't it?
Aside from the 5 photo shoots I have lined up while in town, I am planning lots of visits with my girlfriends of course. We also have lots of doctor visits while here. Ya know...those favorite doctors and my dentist that I refuse to let go of just because I live in Florida now. I try to get the kids in and myself to see them anytime we are here just to keep us current in their patient files. LOL!
I hope all of you are enjoying your week thus far. Until my next post and the next flood of Indiana images, stay safe and smile. Smile lots!
Kross will be 7 months old this Saturday. He's got two very visible and extremely "sharp" teeth. Yes, I know this first hand. OUCH! He's also sitting up on his own and has been for a while now. I need to put him on the floor more so he can try getting to the crawling part but we have so much tile in the house that it worries me he's going to bang himself up. I miss carpet in the Midwest. LOL!
I shot a couple quick photos - these photos - of him this week just to document his age. He is such a Ham, isn't it? I could sit around and snap shots of him all daggone day long. He's a hoot!
It's Thursday and I'm packing like a mad woman for our trip to Key West this weekend. I'm shooting a destination wedding in the Keys for a dear friend of mine this weekend. It's for a friend of mine that I've known since middle school. I'm only doing it because it's "her." Ha ha! I am not fond of weddings at all and have no desire to shoot weddings on a regular basis. I've turned many away to date. I just don't feel comfortable shooting someones most important day of their life up to that point. Not only that but a wedding is a weekend affair. It's major time away from your family on the weekends when you're a wedding photographer. Between the rehearsal dinners, wedding the next day, reception into the night, etc. -it just isn't my cup of tea. I'd much rather do a shoot that lasts 1-2 hours and then be back home with my family again. Much less time and wayyyyyyy less stress. LOL! So...my friend lucked out. She will be the only one to ever see me shoot a wedding. Let's pray I don't screw it up for her and her soon to be husband.
My in laws are flying into Naples tomorrow night and are driving down to Key West with us. We are making it a little family get-a-way. My mother in law and father in law will be there to watch the kiddo's for us anytime I'm working the wedding festivities and Brent is with me. Thankfully, my sweet friend Megan, has agreed to come along as well and be the 2nd shooter for me this time. I need as many eyes and cameras as I can get for this day. We've waited for Sherry to get married for a loooonnnggggg time. I want to ROCK her images out and make them unique and different for her special day. Megan has a lot of my same shooting styles. We make a great team! :)
So, we head out for Key West on Saturday (our first time ever there) and I plan to get some great images of not only the wedding but also of the sights - as a tourist - while in town. I'm excited to see the change in scenery and witness first hand what Duval Street is all about. Good times for me and my camera. :) I'll be sure to share plenty once we return. In the meantime, have a great 4th of July holiday and be safe. Much love, Angie
We traveled back home to Indiana last week for our Spring Break. Our kids spring break vacation was a week before the Spring Break for kiddo's in Indy. When there, we got to introduce Kross to everyone that had yet to see/meet him. That includes his great grandma Dixie. Dixie is Cathy's mom (my Step-Moms Mom) and the closest thing to a grandma I've ever had. This photo above was taken the moment Grandma Dixie got to lay eyes on Kross for the first time. He was in a crabby mood because we'd been in a car for almost 10 hours at that point but I still love the photo. Cathy is the one passing him off to her Mom. I will always treasure this shot. This is a perfect example of the power of photography. This image "moves" me.
Speaking of moving me, the next image below does the same. It's of my Dad - laying on the floor one evening talking to Kross...
Grandma Debbie (Brent's Mom) got to experience Kross's crabbiness one afternoon as well. I love this picture of her though and wanted to share it. It also helps show that Indy wasn't all that cold while we were in town. The first 3 or 4 days we were there, we had temps in the 60's and 70's. However, the final two days we were in town, it did drop back down into the 30's - reminding us of why we love the Florida weather so much.
Our drive to Indy from Naples was pretty pleasant. Other than having a hard time finding a hotel to stay overnight in once we got half way there, all went smoothly. We eventually did find a Marriott in Atlanta that had some open space but that wasn't until 4am Saturday morning. We were beat by that point and would have slept in cardboard boxes had we not found a place soon. We got up a few hours later - around 11am - showered - and hit the road again. We reached my Dad's house by 8pm Saturday night. (about 24 hours after we left Florida).
Our drive from Indy back to Naples was a different story. Need I use the words...helldacious, horrific, & torture to describe the trip home? It was all that and then some. Before we ever left my Dad's house, poor Kenidi vomited all over his kitchen. We contemplated ever leaving that evening because we didn't want her getting sick in the car. (especially because we ordered a new vehicle several weeks ago and it came in thus allowing us to pick it up when back in Indiana) I didn't want Kenidi getting sick in the new ride nor did I want her to have to ride 18 hours while feeling ill. Luckily though, we believe she must have eaten something bad because after she threw up and got it off her stomach, she was right back to her normal self. We said our goodbyes "until next time's" and took off from my Dads around 7:30pm Friday night. I promised my Dad I wouldn't cry that time only because he is scheduled to come see me in Florida at the beginning of May. Needless to say, once I got in the car the tears rolled. Yes, I lied. :) Good thing I was able to hide in the backseat as we pulled away. Thank God also for illegally tinted windows on the new vehicle - "Florida dark" as Brent calls it. About 2 hours into our trip, the great state of Kentucky welcomed us with 2.5 hours of bumper to bumper traffic. By the time we made it thru that rat trap, I was ready to kill someone. It wasn't a pretty site. I kept trying to get Brennen to roll his window down and ask one of the semi-drivers beside us when the traffic jam was going to end because I knew they'd know from their buddies up ahead who had already gone thru it. However, he wouldn't do it. (even though he watched the car in front of us ask the semi truck next to us) I was in the third row backseat with Kross and not near a window. However, at that point, I was ready to jump out the nearest window and bail. Brent told me that the "devil" came out in me. He was right. Again, soooooo not pretty. Being car sick from that third row seat doesn't help a girl out either.
We got thru the traffic jam in Kentucky, made it to Atlanta and were on the hunt for our hotel. Unfortunately, the navigation in the new car took us to the wrong address which added an extra hour onto our trip. The devil was about to rear its ugly head again. Ending up in the hood - in downtown Atlanta - at 6am - is not my idea of a good time. It was a bad, bad, night. I had to pray for God to cleanse my soul afterward. I was doing a whole lot of repenting in the shower that next morning. LOL!
We made it to our hotel by 7:30am and we were paranoid that the kids wouldn't sleep once we got in the room. We pulled those hotel room shades though and you couldn't tell whether it was day or night. Believe it or not, by the grace of God, both Kross and Kenidi as well as Brennen slept from 7:30am all the way until noon when I got up to get my shower. I was shocked. Guess it goes to show how tired all of us were. We cleaned up and left the hotel with a late checkout at 1pm that afternoon. The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. We made it home by 10pm Saturday night. It was so great to step out of the car and feel those warm Florida temps blow across my face again.
I felt bad for Brent the whole way though because he drove like this...90% of the trip...
Some of you don't know that Brent has recently had to undergo eye surgery on both of his eyes. He had a torn retina in one eye and when he went to have it repaired, they discovered that his other eye was already detaching itself from the retina as well. He has lost most of the vision in his left eye so we are praying that the vision returns over time. The eye doctors have said it could take up to 6 months before he'll know how much vision he will get back. It's been horrible for him. We went thru the mountains in Tennessee and it started pouring down raining. He had such a hard time. Not only that but he kept scaring the ba-jeebers out of Brennen and I because his peripheral vision is so jacked up right now. I kept asking him to let me drive but of course he couldn't relinquish control to his wife (a.k.a Mario Andretti). Truth is...he didn't want to be present when I set a new track record. #ChickenLittle
Kenidi always does great on long car rides which is really surprising. She has had an extremely tough week because of all the up-rooting and change during our time away. However, the car ride is always a pleasant one for the most part with Kenidi Grace. She loves to watch her videos or color while riding. We recently got her an ipad after speaking with her teacher and learning that she uses them at school in tech lab and loves them. We downloaded the same apps that she uses at school and let me just tell ya...it was the best money ever spent. She loves it. With her special needs, we've found a ton of great apps that really help her. I'm on the hunt for some sign language apps now so that our whole family can learn some additional signs for her. We feel like the more sign language she knows, the more it might help her speak verbally in the long run - as backwards as that sounds. Kenidi rode like this pretty much the whole way...Miss long legs...
That girl loves her DVD head sets. She'd wear them around the house if we'd let her. Hee hee!
And Kross...well he was a perfect angel on the drive there and back as well. I couldn't have been more pleased with him. I was so worried that he would scream the entire way because he hates his car seat so much. However, most of the trip he spent like this...
Goodness I love those little toes and those fat little fingers. Unfortunately Indy gave him a going away present. We just got back from the pediatrician where we found out he has a 100.1 fever and an ear infection. Dang you Indiana weather!!!
And speaking of Indiana weather, check out how much Brennen loves the cold, gray, dreary look of Indy. And that thing he is wearing...it's called a COAT. (a.k.a - Cold Outside Again Today) I don't even own a coat anymore because I got rid of all mine last Fall beings that we never use them down here anymore. Just looking at the environment outside Brennen's window in that above picture reminds me of how much we really do live in paradise here in Naples. There just isn't any comparison. Living here and living in Indy is literally like night and day. Thank goodness we have awesome friends and family to make our trips back and forth to Indiana worth it. :)
This Coca-Cola sign below is in my Dad's garage. I walk by it a 100 times each time that I come and go while at his house. Each time I see it, I smile. Reason being...that little note on the corner of the sign...the one that reads "I love you Dad..." - well I wrote that years ago.
I honestly can't remember when it was that I wrote that on the sign but I know it was forever and a day ago. The crazy thing is that my Dad has left it there ever since. Never erasing it. Makes me smile. It's amazing how the little things of "home" always make you feel so good inside. Although the trip from Indy back to Naples was a nightmare and I now have two sick kiddo's because of the weather (yes Kenidi has a deep chest cold and runny nose now too), it was all worth the time that I got to spend with my family and my friends. I soooooo love you guys!
I feel like I never get the time I want to photograph Kross. We are always on the go or I'm always photographing a client or editing images from a session or doing some other task that needs checked off my to-do list. Well today, I decided I was staying home and making the time to take some shots of him. Thankfully, he willingly participated. I timed it right - just after his late morning/early afternoon nap. He is such a happy baby so these shots were easy to get. :)
And for my "Jersey Shore" lovin' friends...this pair of images are for you. We love our Jersey Shore in this house. Now Kross has a tee to prove it. Actually, I'd rather have a Pauly D shirt for him instead but I have yet to find one of those. Anybody seen any?
Kross's hair color is just like what Brennen's was when he was this age. It's that strawberry blond. My Mom said it looks like we put "sun-in" on it. LOL! His eyes are just as gorgeous as Brennen's too. Same with Kenidi's. You can definitely tell that they are all related to one another. Love my kiddo's!
Speaking of Brennen...we celebrated his 12th birthday with a party on the beach this past Sunday. It was a gorgeous day and the boys that attended had a ball. I enjoyed sitting on the beach, watching the boys play in the sand and surf, while pouring over some of my favorite magazines.
I'm currently in the process of packing for our trip back to Indy. We leave this Friday evening and should be in Indiana by late - late Saturday night. It takes 18 hours to drive there but we break it up into a two day process because of the kids. We haven't flown the last couple of times because flying with Kenidi has become quite a chore. Now that we have a new baby, flying with both of them would be even more hard on all of us. Rather than get ejected off the plane in some random city, we've decided it's just easier to drive. LOL!
I'm leaving 84 degree weather to tred back to gloomy ol' Indy but it's all worth it just to see my parents and my girlfriends. I'm hoping it stays in at least the 60's while we are in town.
In the meantime, I'll leave all of you with the above image. For those of you heading this way for Spring break in a week or two, this is what is waiting for you. For those of you staying home in the cold and/or rain, we are thinking of you. :)
THE LAUNDROMAT SHOOT - NAPLES FLORIDA ENGAGEMENT PHOTOGRAPHER
I have had this "dream" of shooting in a laundromat for a very long, long time. I've yearned for the look of beat up old vintage dryers and the rows and rows of washers in the backdrop of one of my shoots forrrrrr-evahhhh! When I moved here to Naples, I couldn't get over how many old and rustic laundromats were around in the off beaten paths - the uncharted areas of town. I began my search several months ago for a laundromat that would allow me to shoot there. Unfortunately, a lot of the owners were all men and had no desire to participate in a having their establishment as the backdrop of a shoot. It wasn't until we stumbled upon an owner who happened to be a female that my luck changed and she approved the shoot. Que Maria, the owner from Suds and Duds here in Naples, Florida. I owe her my right arm for helping me make my dream of shooting in a laundromat come true.
Thankfully, I also had very willing clients. No, they didn't meet in a laundromat. There are actually already married to one another as well. This was just a fun location that was different and unique, out of the box, and totally out of the norm. I was fortunate enough to find such willing participants for this idea. Que Brandon and Angela. They live here in Southwest Florida, in the Ft. Myers area actually. Angela was all for making the trek from Ft. Myers down to Naples for me. We hooked her up with Maray Delgado, a make up artist who worked her magic on Angela for the afternoon. Maray's website can be found HERE. I've lucked out recently on having the men in my shoots be extremely cooperative. Brandon ROCKED this session with Angela as if they had done this all their lives. Like they were professional models or something.
Angela and Brandon were married just this past November. Therefore, they are true Newlyweds. So....when we said "kiss one another," they had no problem tackling that mission. LOL!
Yes, this laundromat even had the old school "rollie carts" as my friend Megan likes to call them. Fun stuff!
Something a lil' steamy... :)
The lighting inside this location was gorgeous - as you can tell by the shot below. There was so much natural light beaming thru the front window of the laundromat that it could have been deemed "criminal."
I absolutely love how Brandon is gazing at Angela in the image below.
And this shot...the shot where she is grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer all while he carries that wonderful grin...priceless! Their laughs throughout this session were sooooooo amazing. Nothing looked forced - they have such great body language - great chemistry together!
This shot above??? Let me explain. I stepped outside the laundromat to check out the lighting from outdoors if I were to shoot from there into the inside. They didn't realize I was still shooting so in turn...I captured this totally off the cuff and candid moment between the two of them. It is one of my favorite shots from the whole session. I love how you can see the inside as well as the reflection of the outdoors on that one window.
They look like something out of a magazine in the shot above.
ABOVE: There is that chemistry again. :)
Such a HOT couple! My girlfriend said the image below looks like an ad for Sunglass hut. :) We broke out the alien bee light kit for those shots and totally canceled out that harsh sun on their faces. Amazing!
And this next picture below, I was standing inside the laundromat, they were outside. I took the shot from in between the "Suds and Duds" lettering on the windows.
At one point I walked around back and found an old bike with vintage handlebars. I knew right then that we had to find the owner and put her on the handlebars for a photo. Thankfully the owner was inside the laundromat and agreed to let us borrow his bike for the shoot.
I snapped this one thru the foggy dryer door...
And this last one...well it was taken outside as well. The sun was beating down and I was trying desperately to find a spot on the wall of the building which would show both of their shadows together. Thankfully with Brandon's help, we found a large enough light spot and pulled it off. How cute is this???
I loved everything about this shoot. The location, the clients, the final images. It all was pure RADNESS as I commonly like to say. Thank you to the laundromat owner, Maria, to the make-up artist, Maray and to the clients who helped make this happen. Good times! Good times!
I've been working on my project 352 - meaning one photo a day for 352 days - 1 year. I'm trying to get caught up like a mad woman and have been using my 105mm macro lens in the process. My nifty fifty (50mm 1.4 lens) is in the shop getting a tune up. It's normally like my right arm in photography so with it being gone, I need to use other lenses for certain jobs. Although I'll be VERY glad to get it back in a week or two, I'm having a ball with my other lenses. My macro lens is another one of my favorites aside from my wide angle lens. The macro lens is perfect for getting detail in a subject that normally isn't picked up by regular lenses. It is great for close ups - just like Kenidi's eyelashes in the image above. I swear that girls eyelashes look like she is wearing mascara 24/7. They are amazing. I captured that shot while she was sleeping the other day. Beautimous. I'm going to cut them off and glue them to my own someday. LOL!
The above shot is one of my favorite platters. It came from my favorite store, Z gallery, and I keep it on the ottoman in our bedroom with magazines and what not in it.
Speaking of books/magazines, these are some of my favorite coffee table books in our living room. Notice how Indy is never far from my heart. :)
The next shot is just a finial accessory from our great room. I loved the detail the lens picked up in the top of it when I directed the focus toward that area.
This one above is the bamboo runner on our dining room table. The detail in the string that ties it all together is amazing. The macro lens never disappoints.
And here is a chocolate zebra blinged out pillow that looks pretty cool under the macro lens as well.
Here is a bamboo style vase turned sideways...
This is what Kross sees when he looks up at his moving mobile in his crib each day...
And last but definitely not least, this is my daily habit, almost 7 days of the week each week...
Every morning I take Brennen to school, just because. He could ride the bus but he likes riding with Mom better. Why you ask? Well it quite possibly has something to do with the Starbucks we get together each morning before class starts. There is a Starbucks "almost" connected to their parking lot at school. Need I mention that there is a Dunkin Donuts right there too? LOL! We get our morning drink - both decaffeinated and non fat - and then sit together in the parking lot with the sunroof open and the windows rolled down, just chit chatting. It's my time with Brennen that I can count on to help him open up to me. We talk about his school work, we talk about his friends, we talk about life, you name it...we discuss it. We also find that time a good time to jam out to tunes that we both share an interest in. Yes, we've been known to rock a little too loud to Pink's "Raise your Glass" or the Script's "For the first time" type tunes during our 8:30am trip to Starbucks. Then on the weekends, Brennen, Kenidi, Kross and I make the trek back to Starbucks and get not only all of us something but also Daddy. It's safe to admit that the Starbucks staff know us and our orders by heart. They knew when Kross was due, were excited when he was coming, and are happy to see or should I say "hear" him when we roll thru the drive thru every morning. See...little Mr. Kross has an issue with stopping. He loves to ride in the car but should we stop for even a second, he gets ticked. Therefore, when we stop at Starbucks to order, little man ain't happy. LOL! And just for fun, I wanted to share a couple of out-take shots from the shoot I did with a Christian band not too long ago. We did the shoot out in the middle of an open field over in Ft. Myers. It was a great secluded location that allowed us to capture what we were after without being run out of anywhere. Per the words of my friend Megan..."This was a band shoot with four awesome guys and one clever concept. This endeavor was a true collaboration and lots of fun. Band member Josh, came up with the idea/look of having tea in a field." Not your usual thought when you think of a band image but it turned out great. This was the first chance I'd had to use my new alien bee light set up and I loved how the shots turned out with the lighting. The set up can cancel out the sun and leave you with beautiful images and no harsh shadows on faces, etc. due to the time of day or sun in general. Sooooo worth their weight in gold. I'm thankful for my fellow photography light guru's here in Florida...Alvaro, Matt, and Jose who taught me how to use these bad boys. Without them, I would've been clueless. I'm also thankful for a wonderful husband who purchased that light kit for me and surprised me with them at Christmas. :)
I have to admit that I was a bit concerned when the band requested a table in a field and tea time. LOL! I was scared to death on how it would turn out. In the end, their idea and their props helped make this shoot a real blast. And the lights, oh that light set up really gave them a rock star look. LOVE! I'm honored to have been able to work with them. If you live in the SWFL area, please be sure to check out "For a Season." They reside in the Ft. Myers and play in and around the Southwest Florida area. They'll be at Germain arena in Estero on February 5th.
Have a FAB weekend. I'm off to prepare for a shoot tomorrow.
