Dreamstime Submission Acceptance!!!!!

I finally have an acceptance on dreamstime.com! A big thanks goes out to my friend Val for helping me get this photo ready and accepted! Here's a link to the picture. http://www.dreamstime.com/father-and-son-image22508021
Hope everyone has a Merry Christmas!

A New Challenge...In the Works

I have come to a realization, I am not spending as much time as I would like/need to on my photography! This realization came when Aaron and I were rearranging our office and he found a hard cover portfolio he bought me about three Christmases ago to put print outs of some of my best shots in, and it was empty. And not just empty, but collecting dust, cob webs hanging from corners empty! I felt awful!!! It was with this incident and me submitting some pictures to a website, www.dreamstime.com, that allows one to sell their pictures and my pictures were rejected, that I realized I want and need to spend more time on my photography. I decided, then and there, starting the beginning of the year I am setting a new challenge for myself and my photography. The details are still a bit sketchy in my mind, but it will consist of forcing myself to wake up earlier, Keurig coffee and post processing my pictures. The sketchy details also include of submitting a certain number of pictures per week/month to dreamstime.com and having a higher number of pictures accepted; it also includes printing out the pictures that were accepted and placing them in my hard cover portfolio my wonderful husband bought me. If anyone has ideas on how to fill in these sketchy details I'm all ears!!

Here is a sample of pictures that are accepted to the website and is my inspiration!

A Little, Little More...

For those of you who read my previous "A Little More..." blog you would've read I grew up playing softball as a catcher, playing college ball, etc. The part I left out in that information is, while playing ball, I HATED running! Being the catcher, I wasn't one who A) ran fast or B) liked long distance running. The times our coach would make us run two miles after practice or the mornings we would go to early trainings only to hear we were being timed on our miles invoked wishes and prayers that God would temporarily break my ankle or send me a really bad ankle sprain or pulled muscle, only for that particular point in time, nothing permanent cause I still wanted to play the games I just didn't want to run!!!!!
Well, being out of college for about six years, and done with softball for about five years, I have come full circle and am excited to say I really enjoy running now! Can you believe it?!?! The girl who wished temporary pain upon herself to get out of running actually enjoys it now! I've come to find out running really allows me to open my mind to anything I want to think about. Anything from: "What am I gonna cook for dinner?" "Man, this hill is long!" Singing to my favorite band from my high school year...*NSYNC, etc. Running has become one of my challenges I love to tackle, much like softball was all those years ago!

My new concrete companions!!!

A Little More...

I wanted to post something, sans pictures or "advertisements" about my pictures, more about myself, who I am, what I'm about. As this blog makes perfectly obvious, I love photography, I love everything about it, from seeing something special, capturing it and then post editing to try and make it the best shot it can be. But, besides photography, I'm a person who loves life, loves my Lord and Savior and next to Him, nothing is more important to me than my husband and little boy. I'm an avid athlete, I played softball for 13 years of my life, and am an incredibly competitive person. I would rather be outside than anywhere else. I love movies, any movies!!! I have a goal of one day owing a MASSIVE movie collection, like the one in "The Holiday" with Cameron Diaz and Kate Winslet, and a room specifically for watching movies with a movie theater setting. My all time favorite movies are The Lord of the Ting trilogies, sometimes you can catch me quoting the "go get em" speeches being made before the big battle scenes! I think I have an unhealthy relationship with shoes...I can walk into Shoes on a Shoestring, or any shoe store for that matter, and hear the Hallelujah Chorus singing. I thrive on challenges and overcoming those challenges through hard work, and sometimes sheer stubbornness. There's quite a bit more about me, but that's all I can think of divulging at this time. Stay tuned for more...

This past week my wonderful dad bought me a set of macro tubes I've been wanting for a couple of months now...aren't dad's great?! These tubes are simple extensions I can add to any lense I want to shoot with and it, in turn, makes that lense a macro lense. I've always been interested in macro photography and love some of the pictures I've seen this type of photography produce, so when I saw these tubes I HAD to have them! I spent the majority of my Saturday this weekend squated down really low near flowers or hunched over desks with very small objects placed on them. All in all, I had a great time with my new accessories and can't wait to use them more! The pics below are a small sample of what I shot...enjoy!

Enlightenment!!!!

Today was an excellent day! Not only did my husband and I have a great day of worship and heard an wonderful message from our pastor at church, but I had the opportunity to shoot the baptisms of seven members of our church! I saw the opportunity about one month ago, when there was an email sent out asking for anyone with photography experience who wanted to serve in taking pictures of special events that happen at our church campus. I responded to the email and, to make a long story short, with a couple of back and forth emails sent I was able to shadow the baptisms today. I think I have found what I am supposed to be doing with my photography. God has given me the desire to shoot and capture special moments in peoples' lives and what better way to do it than to help further His kingdom?! I will still love to shoot pictures for friends and family, but my primary focus will be this new ministry I have been called to take part in. I will write a post after every special event and share the special moments that were captured. I'm not sure if I will be able to post the pictures because I haven't gotten the word if those pics will belong to our church or if they will be considered mine and I can do with them what I want.
In the mean time, here's a picture I captured of my eight year old cousin walking down the road at the Fourth of July Campground in the Manzano mountains. The colors of the leaves were beautiful and I felt like I was in a completely different world!!

To Newly Painted Bedrooms and Incredible In-Laws...CHEERS!!!

Two years ago, when Aaron and I first bought our house, every single wall in the house was white; I felt like I was living in a very large hospital room! It didn't take long, maybe half a second, for me to decide I wanted to paint the house, make it more home like. Now, when Aaron and I bought our house I was about three months pregnant with our son and once we were in the house my first concern was to paint the living/dining room, the hallways and our son's nursery. It took a while to get all that done and when it came time for us to  our bedroom I was way too pregnant, fat in other words, to expel the energy to get the job done. Because of my lack of energy, and size, our room went unpainted for over a year. Jump ahead about another half a year when Aaron and I got a Christmas gift from my in-laws of a free day of painting our bedroom. The reason this gift came from my in-laws is because I love the way they have their living room painted and have told them ever since we bought our house that's what I wanted our room to look like. Now, jump ahead another half a year and I came home from work one Friday afternoon to find this...

Aaron had planned for my mother and father-in-law to come to our house earlier that Friday morning to paint our room and I absolutely love it! I now feel our home is complete and feel so comfy and cozy in our new room.

Good Coffee+Good People=A Great Morning!

Whilst I was making my morning drive to work this morning I got a very large craving for a Starbucks coffee. Now, I try to stay away from Starbucks for two main reasons...to increase the thickness of my wallet and to decrease the thickness of my waist! Their coffee is absolutely incredible but extremely pricey and calorie laden! But, today I thought, "Hey, it's Friday...throw all caution to the wind!" Once I ordered my Grande Skinny Vanilla Latte and pulled to the drive through window, check card in hand, I received some surprisingly great news...the gentleman in the truck in front of me had paid for my coffee! It's so great to know there are people in this world who will sacrifice something of their own for the happiness of a complete stranger, even if it is a $5 latte on a Friday morning!
Happy Friday!



I thought it appropriate to post a pic, all be it a cell phone pic, of the small cup of joy I received! :-)

Bailey Family

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity of having a photo session with the family of a lady I work with, and I must say it was one of the best times I have had at a photo shoot! The love this family has for each other is absolutely incredible and the energy they express can be felt all over! Heidi and her husband, James, had so much fun together, they were making each other laugh with personal jokes between the two of them  and made the whole experience that much more enjoyable! Thank you, Heidi, for allowing me to capture the love you and your family share with one another!

Happy Easter (Better Late Than Never)

With Easter passing and the, somewhat, warmer weather coming to Albuquerque, I figured this post would be appropriate. Aaron and I, including our little one, went up to our grandparents' house in the mountains the Saturday before Easter Sunday and had a big Easter fiesta, as we do every year. The teenagers of the family go outside and hide the eggs for the little ones and the parents inside the house are doing everything they can to keep the little ones away from the windows and doors to prevent cheating. As soon as the door opens all Easter Egg Hunting craziness breaks loose! The kids are running left and right, all over the yard, diving into bushes, climbing trees and picking up rocks to collect as many eggs as they can and doing everything they can to be the first to find the coveted "Lucky Egg". Said "Lucky Egg" is a larger plastic egg containing money, of an undisclosed, larger amount and the kids nearly kill each other to find it! Each kid also gets quite a large amount of gifts from their aunties and uncles so Grandma's entire kitchen table is covered in pastel colored gift bags. Next to Christmas, Easter is the best holiday in the kids' opinions! Here are just a few pictures captured from the day. Hope everyone enjoys!

Location is the Key

Over the past few months there has been something about Downtown Albuquerque that I have been completely drawn to; I don't know if it's because I see it as our own little metropolis set in the middle of the desert, the architecture of both the new buildings and the historical landmarks or the excitement of the side street shops, cafes and the people milling about. Aaron and I took a drive yesterday and went down Gold, a street I don't normally drive down, and there were two buildings that I absolutely fell in love with! One of them is a newly renovated hotel with beautiful old English style architecture and awesome steps leading to the main front doors and some on the side of the building, a perfect location for natural light. The other location is one of the banks downtown, but it's not a newer high rise style of a building that goes straight to the heavens. This building has gorgeous arches and beautiful cream colored stones and some incredible large windows that will allow for a splash of awesome reflected light. I nearly knocked Aaron's hands off the steering wheel pointing out these two locations and jabbering on about how great it would be to take some shoots at these two buildings. The only thing I need now is subjects to shoot!!! Anyone wanting a shoot, let me know!

Details, Details, Details!

It never fails, every wedding photography blog I read and every website I visit, the photographers talk so much about being able to see the details in the weddings they have been privileged to shoot. The rings around napkins on a table, the small strand of beads draped off of the table's center pieces, the candles placed on the gift table, etc, these are the pieces of a wedding that, at times, can be the most beautiful part of the day. Don't get me wrong, pictures of the bride and groom, the wedding party and the overall venue are beautiful and an absolute must, but the details provide such an in site into the couple being married and can tell such an amazing story. Last weekend I went to my cousin's wedding in Lubbock, TX that was held at the Baker Building in Downtown Lubbock and it was absolutely gorgeous! I've posted some pictures below of some of the small details of the venue that spoke to me and, hopefully, tell a bit of a story themselves. Enjoy!

Pho Endused Coma

Yesterday a good friend of mine at work took me to a Vietnamese restaurant where I was introduced to Pho (pronounced fah) and it was incredible! Pho is a bowl of broth, mine had beef broth, rice noodles, bean sprouts, herbs (I chose basil but you can also chose cilantro) shallots and your choice of meat (I chose beef) and the meat is sliced incredibly thin so it's not too heavy. In a nutshell, I was eating a bowl full of Heaven! When they set my bowl in front of me I looked at my friend and said, "There's no way I'll be able to eat all of this!" My friend informed me the bowl is mostly broth and since the meat is sliced so thin and the noodles are light I'd finish the bowl before I knew what I was doing. And that's exactly what I did! Over great conversation I sat and devoured the entire bowl of Pho! I need to back track a bit here and tell you before we left my friend informed me I would be in a "Pho coma" after indulging in this bowl of Heaven and I, honestly, didn't fully believe her thinking this "coma", as she called it, was used as a way to describe the amazingness of this bowl of Vietnamese noodles. I didn't believe her until I got back to work and within an hour I was almost completely incoherent as to what I was doing; it was worse than a full stomach of turkey on Thanksgiving! I had co-workers asking me questions that would have been easy to answer on any other day, but being in this Pho induced coma I had to literally sit and stare at my co-workers for five minutes before providing them with a half decent answer! After my experience yesterday I will gladly place myself under another Pho induced coma! Thanks Heidi for introducing me to this bowl of Vietnamese Heaven!!

Eric Senior Portraits

I was given the opportunity to shoot Eric's senior pictures and had a grand time with it! Eric is an incredible young man who is very involved with his JROTC and I decided to try and find a location that would reflect his passion. I was able to find the NM Veteran's Memorial Park near Kirtland Air Force Base and it was the perfect spot! I have lived my entire adult life in Albuquerque and have never visited this amazing location. The light was a challenge for me since it wasn't the "peak hours" for the best photography light (which is an hour after the sunrises and right after it sets) but I had an excellent time and loved the challenges the light gave me.

Thanks Eric for giving me the opportunity to shoot some great senior portraits!

Unsure Beginnings

I have been practicing photography for the past four years, using my Canon point and shoot, experimenting with my Olympus 35 mm film camera and finally, my Canon 50D XSI DSLR. When I first started working with my DSLR I have to say the thing terrified me! There were so many buttons and settings and no matter how many buttons I pushed and how many settings I changed my pictures never, EVER, turned out the way I wanted them to. I went through a period in which I got incredibly discouraged and didn't touch my camera, it just sat in its bag nice and clean, untouched and unused. I don't know how such a small piece of equipment could scare and intimidate me so much. After many conversations with my husband, most of them encouraging and some asking why I spent the money on this camera if I was going to keep it in a corner unused. It was after a few of these conversations I went and bought some photography books, took my camera out of its bag in the safe corner and never looked back!