I could choose the type of meatball, how it was served and the type of sauce.  I forgot what I ordered, but it was delicious.  You could also order floats and an ice cream sandwich which also had options (yay) to choose the ice cream and the cookie.  I thoroughly enjoyed my meatball feast of sliders.

At the end, to my surprise…. the waitress started singing “Happy Birthday”, and I was like… “Who’s that for??” When they came towards me I was so HURRAY!  It was very exciting.  I really love surprises.  This was a delightful one.  I really enjoy the company of these four ladies, and I’m glad I could spend my birthday with them.

YAY!!

I am thankful for…
…thursday fun days with my mom. We discovered a fun day groove.
…reaching my goals. My professional life is like the tortoise and the hare. (I’m the tortoise. :) ) Slow and steady wins the race for me.
…good girl friends who love adventures and heart to hearts.
…my mom being done with chemo. woot!
…seeing Karen tomorrow!
…really positive connections with other photographers.
…hulu plus so I could watch the whole season of Once Upon a Time
…medicine.

Life is good.

When I was little I had a strange fascination with Abraham Lincoln. I’m not sure why. Maybe it was an early predictor of my affinity for beards on men. (But that’s another story.)  Maybe it was because I also liked the era and was almost equally fascinated with the Civil War.  Even thinking of it now, I actually really like pennies, too; it was one of the many things I collected as a child.  (I was a young curator in the making.)  Anyway as I child I devoured biographies of Abraham Lincoln.  When my mother told me she was born in Mississippi I wishfully asked her if she lived in a log cabin like Abe did.  One of my favorite books growing up was “Sarah, Plain and Tall”; I liked it for many reasons but one was because it was about a girl named Sarah, just like Abe’s two wives.

So even though I visited the Lincoln Memorial before, I wanted to visit my dear friend Abe again.  The monuments are one of my favorite things about DC.  Just their grandeur is amazing.  It was a warm, breezy day in April, and the quiet hum of people at the steps fizzled out as you enter the memorial.  The statue is magnificent and much larger than it appears on the penny. :)

I felt very strange being unable to raise my voice.  So I got to wondering what’d it be like to be mute.  I’m not sure how much my life would change.  I think I could live with never talking again… and just listening and texting.  I admit it would be difficult to be a wedding or portrait photographer.  I guess I could switch to photojournalist.  I’d like that.

Anyway, here are more pictures with my iPhone using the VSCO camera.  Truthfully I think it’s a great camera and app, but I don’t like making it a habit of using my phone to take pictures.  I still like my big camera best.  Next time I visit the zoo, he will be my buddy.

After leaving my trusty Samsung phone on BART, I joined the club and bought an iphone. Now that I have one I can finally play scramble with friends and experiment with the brand new VSCO camera. Hurray. I’ve enjoyed it so far.  The iphone 4gs has great quality pictures.  I’m quite impressed. Although I don’t think I’ll use the filters too much, I like the adjustments included in the VSCO camera.

With that said, I rode out to the end of the Pittsburg/BayPoint train to have a great time with Jenny and her kids.  While her two kids ran around and enjoyed the day, Jenny and I, sure enough, followed them around with our cameras.  I was so happy to finally wear my red shorts again and get a proper tan.  The little ones, with some help from Jenny and me, picked 8.5 lbs of deliciously red strawberries.  They did a great job!

After that we had a picnic lunch and were greeted by some very hungry ducks.  hurray!

It was eerily unfamiliar; I felt like I was in a horror film.

I have many fond memories of San Luis Obispo (SLO), the town where I went to college.  I remember all the beach days and exploring and hikes outdoors.  SLO will always hold a special spot in my heart.  I hadn’t been back since 2009 when my friend got married, and even then I didn’t have the opportunity to go around town to see how it’s change.  A couple weekends ago I was so excited to visit again.  The only thing though was that it was nothing like I had remembered.  My sweet, small town was now somehow like a city.  It lost the same charm I loved back in college when I lived in a little summer-like cottage.  I returned to the beaches like this, filled with fog, so unfamiliar to me.  I don’t even remember if these pictures were actually taken at avila beach.  I actually have no idea.  I’m sad to say that my SLO is nothing like the town it is today.  sigh.

It’s strange how memories can keep you tied to the past that you can’t even recognize them when you have them in the present.  I think relationships are like that.  Our memories of those past relationships are so warped and old and positive that when we are reunited with exes the person we’re reacquainting with the person we once knew are two completely different people.  It’s strange what memories do to you.

I used to always dream of moving back to SLO when I had a family.  Now, I’m not sure I’d want to live in that place others call San Luis Obispo.

For those of you interested, this is how I edited the image
- To give it a little more pop, I adjusted the curves to make the blacks black and the whites white.
- Then I cropped in.
- From there, I selected the picture and fixed the perspective under transform, as well as, warp to adjust the stripes.
- I didn’t like the blue stripe on the far right, so I copied one of the blue stripes from the left and straightened it.
- To remove the reflections of me and the dad, I used the stamp tool at 37% opacity and the patch tool to make us and the reflection of the window disappear.
-  I then used the stamp tool at 37% again to soften the wrinkles. (A trick I learned from Blogshop and Bri/angela!)
- Then I was done!

The silly thing about that decision is that shortly after, I needed to travel for work continued traveling for work until April.  Since then I’ve been home for a home and looks like I’ll continue to be home for at least another month.  It feels great.  I’ve been really blessed this past month of April.  I’ve been up to my ears in editing and shooting and couldn’t be happier.  Although I’ve done some sort of job or work-related event almost every day, I’m glad that I didn’t have to squish it all in (like I normally do when I’m traveling).

It’s funny, though, because people don’t understand me when I say I’m taking a break from traveling.  It’s like they’ve gotten so used to me traveling that the concept of me not doing it stops them in their tracks.  I suppose it’s strange for me as well.  Traveling became such an integral part of my life that even the blogger in me doesn’t know what to write about if I’m not traveling.  Photographing my life becomes more challenging as I’m not doing anything “interesting” anymore.  But, still, it’s those simple things I’m keeping an eye out for.  Like the kitchen table… (below).

I’ll still be blogging about my travels, but they will be backlogged from all the trips I haven’t blogged yet.  For now, enjoy my every day life. :)

I am thankful for…
…someone dialing the wrong number and calling me early this morning. I got so much work done before I even left my room!
…vinyl stickers. Does a girl every stop loving stickers? :)
…lightroom. I’ve finished editing two projects already!
…honesty from friends. I need that honesty so I know what I need to work on in my life.
…my notebook. I need a place to store all my random thoughts and notes or else I’d go crazy.
…starbucks. Even though I don’t drink coffee, I love their revamped, outlet friendly interiors
…watered-down juice. I love the sweetness of juice, but sometimes sweet is too sweet.
…amazon.com. I save so much money because of Amazon.com.
…being at home. I’m really loving my comforters and the light in my room. I love northern light.
…my mom. She’s done with chemo! woot!
…America’s Next Top Model. The best show to watch while I work! I never get sick of it.

It’s time to begin, isn’t it, I get a little bit
Bigger, but then, I’ll admit, I’m just the same as I was
now don’t you understand
That I’m never changing who I am

“All you need in the world is love and laughter.
That’s all anybody needs.
To have love in one hand and laughter in the other.”
- August Wilson

For as long as I can remember I pursued creative outlets.  My mother always encouraged me to do crafts and color and draw.  When I reached high school my family encouraged me to do to graphic design, and when I finally reached college I majored in architecture.  All the while I had a camera in hand.  I was always taking a pictures of everything.  I remember my first film slr;  I took about fifteen pictures of one bouquet of roses.  It was hilarious.

When I was in architecture school I really loved the design and problem-solving aspects of it.  Working at my internships solidified my interest in architecture as a career.  So I was super stoked for my first full-time architecture job at a great company.  I worked on a lot of projects.  I loved it…. for a while.  I was new to the workforce and very naive.  My bosses and I weren’t a good fit.  And slowly I began to wonder how long I could work at my company.  Even though I had interest in architecture still, I felt like I was drowning.

Although I felt crushed, my layoff was a relief.  And a blessing in disguise.  It brought me back to photography.

I love it.  I fall in love with it again every day.  I look back on my life and wonder why it took me so long to make it my career.  I’m always amused by my timing versus God’s timing.  I remember in high school wanting to be the photographer for yearbook (rejected) or joining the photography class (also rejected).  I suppose God wanted me to get some other things done before I dove into a full life of photography. There is just something amazing about sharing my perspective with other people.

I’ve been in the world of photography for almost four years now, and I love it.  I can’t imagine doing anything else.  In fact I don’t want to do anything else.  I love the idea of speaking to people through pictures.  And I’m always honored and overjoyed that people invite me to photograph those momentous or even overlooked parts of their life.  This year started off amazing.  I’ve been photographing past clients… their first baby, their second baby, their new starts.

Today I’m amazed that God’s brought me to this point in my life and gave me this gift of photography.

I fall in love with photography every day.  And it makes me smile and warms my heart just thinking of it.

What do you hold close to your heart? What’s your love story? 

Today was a long day. Actually it was only 4 hours. I photographed an event in the city and was in desperate need of a shower and sleep.  So I rode BART home in a bit of daze, falling in and out of sleep.  The train pulled up to my spot, and I gathered my belongings.  But as I looked over from my seat on BART, I saw this man and this light. It inspired me. I wondered what he was thinking, so serene and still.  Where was he going?  Where had he been?  I seek out these things when I photograph people.  I search for their stories in their eyes.

I love photography.

Whenever a bride tells me she’s on a budget I’m happy to find pricing that can best fit her needs and budget, but there are those rare times when I secretly want to say… “My life is also on a budget, and I need enough money to eat.”

Surprisingly I received an overwhelming response to this status–mostly by other photographers.  Now before I say anything else, like I said in my status, I wanted to preface this post with… I know people are on a budget and I completely understand that they want me to lower my prices.  I am by no means offended when a client asks for a discount, and for the most part, I can usually accommodate them to a degree.  

However, every bride and client needs to realize that every time they ask a photographer to lower his/her prices that they are essentially taking away money that particular photographer needs to maintain their business, pay their bills and survive.  I’m also curious why people negotiate prices with photographers but not with their accountant or dentist or mechanic. It seems clients expect price negotiations with a photographer nowadays.

By writing this post I do not wish clients to feel guilty for asking a discount or to be offended, but rather, for them to see the value of their photographers.  Especially me! :)

For the pricing I give clients, they get ME, a photographer who
- photographed over 20 weddings
- has been in business for about 4 years
- regularly takes business/photography classes
- constantly reads to improve my skills
- knows how to run/manage portrait sessions and weddings
- knows how to use my camera
- owns professional gear
- belongs to professional photography associations
- dedicates 60-80 hours a week to photography
- and on average dedicates 13 hours to each portrait client and 62 hours to each wedding client.
- is very funny. :)

Now who wants to pay me lots of money! :)  I think it’s very important for people to understand the work invested when hiring a professional photographer.  Not only are you choosing someone with experience but you’re also choosing someone with the resources to provide you an excellent service.

When choosing a photographer… ask questions!  Ask them what you’re getting for your money.  Get to know your photographer.

And, last but not least… hire me. :)

I had such a hoot chatting over lunch with Kelly.  It’s funny to me that our friendship started over blogstalking.  And now, keeping in touch consists of friendly messages over twitter and instagram. :)  Kelly is writing a book, and if it’s anything like her blog, I’ll likely buy it.  I love reading about scrapbooking… even though I’m not much of a scrapbooker. haha.  A girl can dream…

To end, I must say I love being around people who carry a camera in their purse and instragram their lives.  It makes me feel much less nerdy taking pictures of my food and the random things I see on the street. :)

While I was looking through my images, I was kind of surprised with these three; it’s pretty much the same image taken at different times of the day.  I love how it’s Soho through the afternoon, sunset and nighttime.  It has a sort of simplicity and overlooked detail that I search out for when I’m photographing.

I actually find in a lot of my travel photography that some of my images from different cities and different times look similar.  I love that over time, even though I’ve grown in my skills and my voice, that I’m still consistent with my vision for my photography.  Time has been good to me, but I still remain the same person. woot.

Leigh Erin and her mister’s maternity shoot was a lot of fun on the streets of soho. The problem was that I like to shoot really wide shots and there were so many cars on the streets that day, that I couldn’t get the shot I wanted (the “after” picture). Instead, I photographed the left “before” picture and a couple days later shot the right “before” picture when the street was empty. When I tried to merge the two pictures I came across problems.  I eventually figured each out, but at certain points I doubted the “after” picture could be done.
- Because the pictures were taken at two different times, the color and lighting was off.
- The images were shot in two different perspectives.
- Leigh Erin’s feet are missing in the original picture

AFTER

BEFORE