did you miss me??? don’t lie… you know you did! What have I been up too???
-Well I was shooting a lot of Sports, and families (with my camera….of course!)
-Redesigned Andie Smith designs (with the help of John Law!)
-Went to Detroit
-Shot more sports
-starting shooting theater
-spent some time in the dr office (dont worry im fine)
see the pattern?? shooting a lot!!!!!
I need to keep this blog up again…. need my place!
2 important facts in the following story. 1. My dad grew up in Oklahoma. 2. I grew up in Southern California
My dad used to tell us a story about a beautiful spring day when he was a kid. They neighborhood kids were playing outside all morning, when they decided to play baseball after lunch…they all went in to eat and grab their baseball gloves…when they came out it was snowing. He always sore it was a nice beautiful spring day….that ended up a snowy spring day. Having only lived in California…i didn’t think he was being serious… I filed this under “walked up hill both ways to school” kind of story…… that was until my family moved in Texas.
They say “If you don’t like the weather in Texas stick around for 10 minutes, it will change”. THAT IS NOT A JOKE!!!
Don’t believe me?? Today was probably in the mid 60s degrees…I had the AC on in the car… The weather people are telling us we will have an inch of snow in the morning.
only in Texas…. and Oklahoma.
Me and Nature are not the best of friends….it isn’t that I hate nature, we just don’t get together a lot. I love going out and hiking, I didn’t know we had great trails here until Allie told me about some. So yesterday morning we (moi, Allie, & her youngest cub) met at Old Alton Bridge (if you grew up here you know it as Goatman’s Bridge … and yes the place still scares me!)
2 hours later we got back to our cars, agreed to go again soon. More proof I’ll do anything if I can bring my camera!
I’m sitting here in a Victoria Secret robe that my family gave my grandma for Christmas one year. It’s warm and fuzzy…and a size M. My grandma was 5′3″ish and tiny tiny at 80+ years old when her heath started failing and she asked for a warm robe for Christmas. I am 5′9.5″ and not tiny. This robe has always fit me….It is like the “sisterhood of the traveling pants” of robe. I am not sure how I ended up with my grandma’s robe after she passed away..but I did…and I have no idea how it fits, but i am gla it does…it’s like a big giant hug from her every time I wear it.
I’ve recenty met a great group of people who live in or near Flower Mound , Texas (yes that is the town name, and yes there is a mound of flowers) at the 3rd TweetUp. what is a TweetUp? A night out with people from Twitter! We have become friends and always look forward to meeting new people.
This last one was held at Johnny Brusco’s (YUM!!) and was sposored by GM Texas. I can’t wait to go back for Girls Night out!! I don’t know what i liked more..the Pizza, the Monkey Bread or the company!
We kept teasing Donna that we would sneak in pizza to the fancy Buick LaCrosse that GM brought… it is a pretty car, and didn’t need a tomoto and cheese topping. Donna said there were people to clean it…but still too pretty to eat in….well maybe not too pretty to pretend to spill!!
But wait thats not all!!!
Over the month before more than one friend had found out I had never been to the Highland Village Wal-Mart. Apperntly it is a fancy schmacy Wal-Mart. I didn’t get the memo (there was one sent). So i got the unoffical tour…..that included the sushi bar, bakery, cool frozen food aisle, and a wine sellection that includes everything from $3.00 to $200.00 bottles.
Did I mention the Buick LaCrosse?? YES, we took the Buick LaCrosse to the fancy schmancy WalMart … Donna drove but I called shotgun…on twitter (isnt that what you do at a tweet up??)
Thank you GM!!
The photographer who inspires me to shoot portraits is Skye Hardwick (Work of Heart Photography). She captures the most beautiful color and skin tones! I have stalked her for a very long time on ILP and flickr…. okay on facebook too! (don’t tell her I don’t want a restraining order against me!! lol) She has a quality that I admire in photographers … the willingness to share her knowledge. When I was 1st starting eight18 photography it was her Business Forms Packet that I purchased to help me get started, and they are still the foundation of my business forms today.
I always wanted to go to one of Skye’s workshops and learn more from her; like the way she edits, and how she finds her wicked cool locations (seriously….go look at her blog…they are some awesome locations!) Now I can, and so can you! Don’t worry no travel plans needed because Skye is offering her workshop workbook as a .pdf! Yes you read that right, The workbook is a .PDF file!!!
80 pages covering topics such as:
* Skye’s step by step photoshop editing process
* Pricing and business information
* Posing that works
* How Skye connects with kids
* The thinking that changed her business
* What to Wear & Styling Sessions
* Websites & Blogs
* Portrait collection success
* Personal workflow
* Sessions start to finish
* What to look for in a shooting location
* The pricing tip that changed her business
* Why Skye proofs sessions in under an hour
* Personal favorite lenses
* Skye’s favorite vendors
* Where Skye gets her inspiration and my favorite: 16 different topics to help keep your readers engaged!
If you are a established photographer or a photographer just starting out, this work book will help you become a more creative, confident and knowledgeable photographer. That sounds like having your cake and eating it too! Who doesn’t want that?
Last night Jason and I went to the 1st game at the new Cowboy Stadium…sure it was a preseason game…but still the 1st game. Our seats are pretty good section 310. They are high but nice…on a club level. So my reviews are coming from someone whose concession stands are part of the American airlines Concourse.
The cool things: the seats are padded. I am not sure if they are all padded but in our section they are…and they are comfy!
The HDTV that is 70 yards wide is a pro and a con in my book. Pro: It is awesome! Its really cool. Con: I have to remind myself to watch the field and not the screen. and you can see where players missed shaving.
The bathrooms, are nice (Texas Stadiums restrooms should have come with a Hazmat Team) and no lines when I went. Granted the reason could be 50% of the level are suites and have their own restrooms).
Jason and I went down to the main level of the stadium to see what they had for concessions (more choices!) and it was difficult getting from the club level to the main level…tickets were scanned a billion times (good and bad I guess) and a small set of mazes….but nothing to really complain about
Bad things: The sound was horrible. Was scratchy and too loud…but not just that the sound people need some more practice they played music over the ref. The announcer, maybe a Texas Radio Hall of Fame announcer but even putting it nicely..he sucked. Please bring back George Dunham. He knew the roster! If I had that job no matter how nervous I was would have the roster memorized and have a copy in front of me! Nothing that can’t be fixed
things i am tired of hearing about: That the stadium is too big. the field is still 100 yards long..its built taller. its not longer…goobers! The “jerrytron” being too low. 1. you aren’t trying to kick it high….you should be kicking it long and 2. hello home field advantage, our kicker will figure out how to kick it in there a lot sooner than visiting teams! 3. its so expensive to go for so much complaints it sure was full….and compare it to other teams its comparable.sure its more than Texas Stadium….but its a lot nicer…you aren’t scared to use the restrooms here.
Granted this is coming from someone who isn’t a die hard cowboys fan (go chargers!) and the tickets are a perk of Jason’s job…but overall it was fun to go to the game, the stadium is beautiful…its going to take some time to get used the the 60 yard HDTV…but its cool at the same time.
*sorry the pictures are horrid…i took them with jasons blackberry
by andie
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