moments

Since I started being a photographer, I  have known deep down that one of the things I need to do to become a better artist is to view my camera as an extra appendage. I have known about the need to bring it with me many places I go, because I can't tell you how many moments have passed me by in life that I know I could record, but I haven't. I have spent years letting overwhelming beauty pass me by. As much as you try to let a moment soak in and tell yourself you'll remember it forever, you often simply don't.

This is the whole point of a photograph to me: to document a moment. It just a shutter click that takes a fraction of a second, and it is captured forever. I often try to imagine what it would have been like to live in the era when photography was invented. How eerie it must have been to see what one really looked like, completely frozen in that moment forever. I guess it is hard to imagine. My generation has had cameras in its face and at its fingertips forever - maybe even less than the current generation. No cell phone is without a camera now, and so many children have cell phones. It is strange to imagine how different it would have been to have been raised in a world like that.

Anyway, I am resolved to document more moments in my life. The below moments were documented on the day Ayron and I photographed a wonderful engagement session at the farmer's market. We strolled around the market after the session was over and enjoyed ourselves and the gorgeous June morning. 

These photographs inspired me to eat more fruit:

AND veggies:

Ayron's reward for a morning of hard work? Coffee. Mine? Flowers.

Here's to documenting many more beautiful moments.

early harvest

It has been an exhausting, busy, great week and I'm so happy it is the weekend! I've got a lot of editing up ahead this coming week, but I'm hoping to make the best of the weekend! We kicked off the weekend with the new JJ Abrams movie, Super 8. Ever since I started my business, I find it hard to quit thinking about it. From the moment I wake up to the moment I go to sleep (and sometimes even in my dreams) I think about photography, and not just about the act of photographing: the business of photography. Spreadsheets and marketing and community relationships. I dream about what my studio would look like if I had one. I dream about the future. It is hard to go to sleep when you're so excited about your life. Anyway, I love seeing movies because it forces me to depart reality and get out of my own head for awhile. And Super 8 was great. It was the perfect balance of suspense, science fiction, and the lightheartedness of childhood. It had some beautiful relationships and characters. 

After we had supper, I convinced Ayron to take a visit to the garden. I planted in a couple of spots where my seed didn't come up, and I weeded a bit. I think some of my lettuce is ready to eat! It has been SUCH a hot week, though, I'm concerned about it being bitter. 

And, I harvested my first produce from the 2011 garden tonight, these beautiful French Breakfast radishes:

They are packing a bit of a punch, but that is partially due to the heat. I usually like my radishes a bit milder, but I can't wait to add them to salads and dip them in ranch. YUM! :)

Happy weekend everyone!

Eric

Eric was one of the first instrumentalists I photographed at IU, and we had an absolute blast! I had a lot of fun photographing him while he played and getting to try new and different post-processing techniques to give his images a bit of a different edge. And photographing his gorgeous instruments? That was awesome too! I especially love his trumpet - it has so much character.

Eric, you were so much fun, relaxed, and SO nice. Thanks for being open to so many different things on your shoot and for being such a great client. 

If you want to check out Eric's awesome music and maybe get the chance to see him perform, check out his myspace music page. :) 

I loved getting to do all of those bell shots!

Details are my favorite. :)

I think the portrait on the left is one of my favorite black and white headshots ever. Eric, you were also my first person to wear their glasses in their shoot. And they look awesome.

Hello fun textures!

Eric, thanks for the privilege of photographing you and your awesomeness. I wish you all the best in life! :)

applewood-smoked garlic shrimp kebabs

As I have mentioned here before, food is one of my greatest loves. This past year has been one of the worst years for eating unhealthy for me in the past ten years. I don't know if it is stress or being busy or what, but I have had such a hard time eating a balanced diet. It takes discipline, which I need more of! 

And I may have also mentioned that I used to be a vegetarian - for six years. Now, I was more of a pescatarian for the last four years of that, seeing as how I also ate seafood. But back in November, a beer-can, Kruse-farm chicken and pangs of hunger and my continual curiosity about eating meat again overtook me. The funny thing is, I had so many kinds of food that I liked before eating meat. It seems like I have been ignoring all of that healthy vegetarian stuff I used to make.

So, the past couple of nights I've been trying to make somewhat healthier meals that I can be excited about! (It turns out, despite my delicious vegetarian meals, it is hard to make something as awesome as a perfectly grilled, thick-cut pork chop.) 

Here is the first one I'm excited about! It is a variation on a shrimp recipe I've been making for a couple of years. This falls into the easy meals category, and for that reason I love it!

Here it is on the grill:

All done! One of the most challenging things about photographing supper is resisting eating it for that much longer! (I need better willpower!)

I love close-ups. 

The recipe:

Applewood-smoked garlic shrimp kebabs
Serves 2

4+ cups thawed, tailless, pre-cooked frozen shrimp (I know, raw shrimp would be tastier, but the frozen shrimp was in our freezer already!)
3 cups thawed, good quality frozen broccoli florets (or fresh ones that have been blanched)
1 red bell pepper, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
1 red onion, cut into 1/2 inch chunks
Grape tomatoes

for the sauce:
4 tbsp olive oil
6 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

We have a cast-iron smoker box that we put on the flame on our grill. It is a Weber box, but I'm sure other brands make them too! It is amazing! We filled it with soaked applewood chips and let it sit on medium heat for about 20 minutes before putting the kebabs on so it could get nice and smoky.

If you're using wooden skewers, soak them for a bit to keep wood from getting too burned.

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the sauce ingredients, and puree until smooth.

Assemble the kebabs. There isn't much of a rhyme or reason to this! :) Just go where the spirit moves you. Once assembled, brush all sides of the kebabs with the olive-oil garlic sauce. Place on the grill. We kept our grill between 300-325 degrees so the kebabs wouldn't get overdone and they'd have time to get that smoky flavor from the applewood. Seeing as how our kebabs were basically pre-cooked, we didn't want to rubberize them.

We had ours with fresh guacamole! It was an amazingly tasty meal, and I didn't feel too guilty after eating it! Ha!

As you can see, we had no trouble finishing them off:

Yum!

the love of the garden

Our little garden is starting to make progress. I wrote a post awhile back about joining a community garden program with a couple of friends of ours. For awhile there, our chances at having a nice garden seemed dismal, because we have had day after day of rain this spring (well, until recently, when we've finally had a rest from all of the thunderstorms). Because of that rain, we had a hard time getting the garden in. But we did a couple of weeks ago, and in just two weeks, my pea seedlings are reaching for the sky:

Our tomato transplants seem to be holding up pretty well:

And the radishes are really off and running. :)

I am slightly worried about pests, though. This is my first totally organic gardening experience. My beans are getting devoured already. I've noticed several other gardeners in the community are having the same problem with them, and I've been reading about ways to control pests organically. I'm going to try a few things. I think plan A is to try putting coffee grounds around the roots of the plants that are getting chomped. And I'll go from there!

Lately, I'm spending more time focusing on the little things in life that I am grateful for. One of them is the reward of faith. Planting a tiny seed in a sea of soil, and watching it sprout. It is an incredible metaphor that I am blessed to experience time and again.

Much love everyone, and Happy Monday!

Emily

I love photographing musicians! Emily is a wonderful soprano here at IU, and we had a lot of fun doing her headshots last fall. Emily, thanks for being so great! You are sweet, saucy, and gorgeous. :) I wish you all the best in your career at IU and beyond!

Wow to your flawless skin and gorgeous eyes!!!

And kudos to you for awesome clothing choices. I loved your colors & textures.

Helllllooooo blue eyes!

 

I love my job!

Kerry

As usual, I love my musical theater clients! When Kerry walked in the door for her session, I knew my job was going to be easy. She was lighthearted and fun and so naturally beautiful. 

Kerry, maybe you should be a model in addition to being a wonderful singer-actress :) You are gorgeous, inside and out, and I think that really comes through in your photographs. 

Good luck in New York and with all of your future endeavors! I'm sure you'll be amazing.

Check out Kerry's website here!

You are so striking, Kerry! Gah!

Hello gorgeous!

I also can't deal with your blue eyes! :)

 

Happy Friday!

in the twilight

My love of the earth is one of the things that first motivated me to try my hand at photography. My parents bought me my first camera when I was in middle school. It was a fairly nice Vivitar film camera, but not an SLR. I took rolls and rolls of film on it. I spent my allowance developing photographs of the sunset and gorgeous clouds with light streaming through them. Sometimes I think my family thought I was crazy, spending all of that money taking pictures of the sky. But a beautiful sunset or other quiet moment in nature felt to me much like other aesthetic experiences: listening to a chord line up in a favorite Palestrina piece, or better yet, listening to the first movement of Brahms's Fourth, or maybe the entire 17+ minutes of Vaughan William's Fantasia on a Theme by Thomas Tallis. In those moments, it is like that tiny space in the atmosphere that separates us from the Divine is suddenly open, and we can glimpse what lies beyond and above human experience. 

It might seem crazy to compare leaves and open skies to Brahms, but it is how I feel. 

I convinced my hubby to accompany me into the late evening for a little photo hike the other night, and here are a few of the moments I wanted to hold onto in my heart:

 

 

 I am so thankful for the endless beauty of the world.

dina + grigor

When Dina emailed me to ask about photographing her wedding back in January, I remember that I was in my studio practicing with friends and my laptop just happened to be open. I did a little dance when I saw the email in my inbox read her email looking for a wedding photographer, and I was beyond excited when she chose me for the honor of documenting her love.

I knew it was meant to be when we had our first coffee date. She is this gorgeous, beautifully real woman. I love hearing stories of love, and how they are often preceded by the stories of broken hearts and waiting for the right person to come. Dina told me all about her stories of love. But of course, the best one of all was the story of how she met Grigor at a masterclass. Apparently he had had his eye on her, and offered to be her accompanist. You see, Dina is a wonderful violinist and Grigor is an equally awesome pianist. It was meant to be! You know how you meet people every so often and you feel like you've known them forever? That's how Dina is. And that is how Dina and Grigor's love blossomed, like it had been there just waiting for the moment when their paths would physically cross. Once they finally met, it didn't take long for them to know it was meant to be.

When I met Grigor and we did their engagement session, I saw what Dina saw: the way he looks at her, the way he puts his arms around her. Their love is beautiful, and I can't wait to document their amazing day in August.

Here are a few of my favorites from their session:

Hello Dina, you are beautiful.

I love the look on Grigor's face in the one of the right! Awesome!

Can you say editorial? You guys are models in your spare time...

 

I think this one is my favorite. :) It is hard to choose, but that light was magical.

You guys are so adorable. I can't handle it!!!

 

To see more of Dina + Grigor's engagement photos click play on the slideshow below: