couch time

Couch time with my niece and nephew makes me so happy I could burst.

At my parents' new place.  Vacation morning.  No work to leave for.  No alarm clock.  Family.

Pitter patter of little boy feet up the stairs.  He and I made cinnamon rolls together while no one else was up.  It was such the best time.  Little giggles.  Licking fingers.  Bed head.  Pajamas.  Sleepy eyes.

It felt like Thanksgiving.

And it was.  My heart gave thanks for... togetherness.  A home.  God's goodness.  Cinnamon rolls.

Popcorn and rootbeer and movies.

Campfire.

"All this and Heaven too!"

Good Stuff: rent this DVD

My family got together out at Mom and Dad's new place the other night.  We rented a couple of videos, and one of them was one of the best movies I've seen in years.

I watched it twice.  It had us laughing and crying.  Its a clean family movie.  No cussing.  No sex.  Its not religious really, but an AMAZING story.  I wish everyone could go through this in real life.

At a crucial point, my nephew was falling asleep on my brother's lap, and wanted water.  My brother asked me to fill the sippy cup.  Upon giving it back to him, he said "Did you put anything in it?"  Of course I did.  "An inch?  Anna, are you serious?  You couldn't spend 3 more seconds and FILL the cup?"  Absolutely I could not.  This is an important scene Dude.  Besides, do you want him to pee the bed?

Rent it.
"The Ultimate Gift"

Wedding Presentation

I have a few days off this week and am trying to tie up some loose ends for photography jobs.
Below is the presentation for the wonderful wedding Mom and I had the priviledge to capture in June.

It turned out beautiful.  Enjoy!

Ten on Tuesday: Shutter Happy

1. I shoot with a Canon T1I.
2. My go-to lens is always the 18-55mm.  I LOVE my 50mm and 75-300mm, but the 18-55mm is pretty reliable in most situations.  I'm usually pretty close to my subjects, which leads me to...



See? Much more powerful then a flat far-away shot of the whole gift table.

3. GET CLOSE.  Seriously.  I read in a book once to set up your shot to where you think it looks good, then take two big steps closer.  I'm telling you, detail is where the magic is.
4. "Show me your teeth!" works good when trying to get little kids to smile.  They're eager to show off the new pearly whites.
5. Photographers get to go anywhere and everywhere.  I had the best time at the wedding last weekend.  I was at the salon documenting hair and makeup.  I was at the groom's house documenting the guys bonding and straightening collars.  I played for awhile in the yard with his dog waiting for the guys to be dressed enough for me to invade.  When you act professional and confident (and have a fancy looking camera), no one questions the fact that you are obnoxiously in the way and in their face.  They just hope to be Facebook tagged in an awesome photo of themselves.
6. Natural light is where it's at.  Avoid using the flash.  Avoid indoor lights (unless its studio lighting).  Stick to windows, outdoor morning or late afternoon light, or full shade.
7. I shoot 85% of the time in AV mode.  The full name for it is "Aperture Priority."  You set the aperture you'd like to shoot at, and the camera automatically adjusts your ISO.  I use auto white balance as well.  Manual is awesome, but I can't usually afford the risk of having something set wrong.  Things happen fast, especially at weddings.
8. The batteries that came with my camera are ahhhh-mazing.  One battery lasted me 2 days, it lasted longer than my 8gb card actually.
9. In another monthish, without trying, without charging nearly enough, without seeking ANY jobs... my camera will have completely paid for itself.  In about a year.  This is without trying.  If you love photography, I would encourage you to invest in a nice camera.
10. Make sure you get in a few of the pictures too.  :-)

Ten on Tuesday

1. I love my job.  I get to assist an oral surgeon from time to time.  Also, the other day, I assisted my Doctor with placing a dental implant.  How do I, un-college-educated Anna, get to have a job that is on the cusp of the latest and greatest technology?  God.

2. I started teaching Sunday School.  2 & 3 year olds.  I have discovered that 2 year olds have half the attention span of a 3 year old.

3. I want to sing SO BAD.  I do.  If I could name only one totally selfish desire in my heart, I'd say it is to sing.  A man came to our church this week and taught us some new songs and a little bit more about singing.  It whet my appetite.  I want to learn 4-part harmony.  I'm looking around for private voice lessons.  Kristy too.  I want to sing around the campfire with a guitar and some deep bass and some sweet melody, complementary alto.  I WANT TO SING!

4. The blog needs more of a purpose I think.  I'd like to start posting some photography tutorials than anybody can use with a basic point-&-shoot camera.  I think I'll start with Sillouhettes, and have a contest.  Watch for this.

5. I miss Dana.  I need to visit her again.

6. I am learning some things.  I've been proud, ungracious, without understanding in the past.  Maybe I will develop this thought more in another post.  I'm talking about traditions and stands.  Sometimes I take a stubborn stand on some 'conviction' and lose a friend... or worse, become a stumblingblock to someone that is without Christ.  What core principles really matter?  Do 'they' love God?  Is God using them?  Are they helping bring lost and wandering souls to Christ?  Enough said.  Scrap the rest.  Now, you need a balance, I know.  Its just something I've been thinking about.  A LOT.  Maybe more to come on that.  

7. An organization has contracted with me to publish a book for them.  HUGE undertaking.  This will keep me busy in the winter nights.  Its a history book.

8. Moldova is about 2 months away.  I'm excited.  I'm nervous.  Kristy and I are going, as well as a younger girl from our church.  We will be in Moldova 10 days, and will visit friends in Germany for 4 days.  I know this trip will impact my life.  Maybe that's why I'm nervous.

9. I'm trying not to use Facebook for a month.  I can't cut it out completely because that's how a lot of people communicate with me about photography jobs.  But I'm going to try not to use it for ANYTHING except that for the next month.  I think Facebook really confuses my reality and my relationships with people.  I'm not done with it, but I need a break.

10. Heels.  :-)  I've started wearing them again this summer.

{M} family photos

"Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family. Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one."
~Jane Howard

Another family shoot recently.  This happens to be part of my extended family.  More photos linked here.
I'm shooting another wedding on Saturday in Missoula.  This should be a lot of fun, because I'm the backup.  So I get to catch all the getting ready stuff, behind the scenes and otherwise unnoticed details.  It should be fairly stress free.   I'm really excited to get dressed up for this one.  Its part of my extended family and fairly formal.  My plan at this point: 'THE' classic black sheath, long pearls and red nails and toes... also these killer strappy silver heels.
:-)
I was born to dress up.

God smiled

The other weekend, most of my family (minus Kristy and I) were in Idaho.  My brother's in-laws have a ranch there, and they had the governor of Idaho over for a big, fun weekend.  They branded longhorn cattle, had a team roping, a pitchfork fondue and just generally a good time.

They sat around the campfire at night.  The governor had his guitar and was singing old country songs.  Our Little Turkey, my two-year old nephew, asked the Governor if he could sing "Peter, James & John in a Sailboat."

Isn't that SOOO precious?  I know it had to put a big grin on God's face.  Little Turkey's favorite song is "Peter James & John in a Sailboat."  Its on of his Sunday School songs, and he sings it constantly.  He sings it in the car, he sings it to Baby Sister.  He was surprised that the Governor didn't know it.

Apparently Little Turkey was singing "Jesus Loves Me" for the crowd around the campfire too, at the top of his lungs.

Just writing about it makes me wanna cry.  Life is so sweet.  God is so good.

Light Show

You really should look at these pictures.  Its this amazing light show I drove through tonight on my way home from a photography job an hour away.

This link is to a FaceBook album with 30ish more pictures, but you don't have to log in or have an account to view.  Just click on the pictures to advance to the next one.
LINKED HERE