Day 187 : Happy Halloween

This is definitely my favorite part about this holiday. The candy corn. So tasty and delicious. Needless to say, after this mini photo shoot, they didn't last for very much longer. Nom nom nom!

Day 186 : In Her Eyes

My favorite model, Mylie. I've known this girl for 5 years now and I am so happy to call her one of my best friends. This girl is amazing.

Here is one of my favorite images taken during her boudoir session.

Day 185 : When Casey Smiles

This was an impromptu photo session. Casey was a backup model for the Lubbock Drawing group and while I do not draw.... I brought my camera in hopes of having a chance to work with her. She was a doll and I'm really happy with how the photos turned out. Thank you to Cranston Reid who offered up his studio to me for the evening.

Day 184 : Why Can't You Just Hold Me?

My sister came over with an idea and this is one of the results from the shoot. I'm very happy with how it turned out. Actually, I'm crazy happy with how it turned out. I love my sister.

Day 183 : Blue Pinhole

So, I've been playing around with my new Pinhole DSLR that I made by drilling a hole in my camera's body cap and placing a sheet of paper with a needle hole over the drilled hole. It's quite fun - frustrating because it's all trial and error, but I think that I finally figured it out and came out with something I really like. This is my first attempt at self portrait using pinhole. To get the blue effect, I used a blue post-it note instead of a black piece of paper with a needle-hole. As a result, there is a blue cast to the image that I brought out a bit in photoshop. I'm going to try it out with the other color Post-It notes I have (green, purple, red, orange, pink). Can't wait!

Day 182 : Be...

I was having a little bit of fun with my paint this evening. If you can guess what this means, you get tons of brownie points from me. :)

Day 181 : Looking For Bugs

Chillin on Tech Campus while I waited for my Senior to arrive! Checking exposure I had to find a willing model. :) These birds are EVERYWHERE!

Day 180: Getting Beautiful

Lately I've started a Paint Series where I allow my models to paint themselves with tempra and/or acrylic paint. I give them a lot of freedom and then I photograph them. One of my favorite parts of each paint session is watching my models get ready and paint themselves up. This is where I get my ideas on how to photograph them. I approach each session with an open and ready mind - allowing my ideas to come from the model, and less from preconceived researched ideas. Here, Allison gets ready for her paint session inspired from her Japanese heritage. I think she is just beautiful!

Day 179 : Collection de Sophistication

Spring Cleaning my pantries and came across all the bottles of wine I have saved. Don't ask me why I saved them. This sort of thing just happens every once in a while with random things and me. In total, I have 23 (some are duplicates) though, there are a few bottles I do plan on saving. Meeker Merlot for one. The hand print bottle is too cool to toss!

Day 178: Watching You

As it gets later in the afternoon, it's getting prettier. The sun feels nice today so I took a quick walk around my apartment, enjoyed the afternoon breeze and caught the gaze of this bird. He didn't like having his picture taken though.

Day 177: Whatever The Weather

This is my submission to my photo-adventure group's new challenge: Whatever The Weather. I couldn't help but remember the rhyme from theater in high school and so, I combined the rhyme with a little creative interpretation and my photomerges. I like. it. Check out all the submissions on http://photoadv.wordpress.com/

Day 176: Why Didn't You Call?

I hate the idea of drinking alone.

Day 175: Spring Flowers

In the 8th grade I did a wildflower project for my science class and found a new appreciation for all the "flowering weeds" out there. I also stumbled upon, in my extensive research, one of my favorite quotes that I have held on to all this time.

"A weed is but an unloved flower." - Ella Wheeler Wilcox

And so, every flower I come upon now I look at and appreciate it for its unique beauty and for that moment of appreciation I hope the flower may feel wanted and lovely as any flower should.

Day 174: Bluebonnet Bug

I don't know exactly what kind of bug this is but it looks like a parody cricket. Honestly, I don't even know if that's a legitimate name for an insect, but I'm naming it that because this bug looks like it's trying so hard to be "King" of the bluebonnet. Almost Lion King-esq?

Or this is just me talking to myself in blog-world and acting crazy again? Yeah, it is.

Day 173: Super Moon

Tonight, according to Yahoo! News and every other online source I could find, there is a "Super Moon." Most of my photographer friends and non-photographer friends have already spammed Facebook with their unique and not-so-unique takes on the Super Moon in their night sky. Well, my sky tonight is pretty cloudy, so I improvised. I'm set up under a flightpath to the San Antonio Airport and managed to snag a plane making its descent into the city.

Oh by the way, I'm in San Antonio tonight. I'll be back in Lubbock tomorrow for a day full of editing from an engagement session I had today with two amazing people!

Day 172: Cooper

Cooper is the most awesome dog ever. He hates the mailman but will kill a friend with affection. He is also a pretty chill character.

Day 171: Bouquet of Daisies

These flowers are just so pretty. For my "By The Numbers" photo, I wrote on a few petals with a sharpie, but while I was at it, I had to photograph the flowers without the writing too! The window lighting was just so yummy!

Day 170: By The Numbers

A few photographer friends of mine have decided that although we are not in the same city, we can still have "adventures" with each other. So we came up with a bunch of ideas and every 2 weeks we have a new "themed" challenge. You can view all the photos at the website HERE.

This one is mine. The theme was "By The Numbers"

Day 169: Santana

Alex is such a joy to be around. She needed a photo and liked my magic, so naturally we met up and made it happen.

Day 168: Yummy Carrot

Such a delicious carrot! You can tell this prairie dog is loving his afternoon snack! Drove up to Makenzie Park yesterday and visited Prairie Dog Town for the first time.

Day 167: Flying In For A Kiss

This is just too cool not to share everywhere! Fun shoot today with the cutest couple, Lauren and Brandon. They were just amazing!

Day 166: Be My Valentine

Day late posting for Valentine's Day, but that's okay, my whole day was just so busy and full of love. I hope yours was too.

Day 165: Cell Phone Craze

Okay, I have a rant. It's a pretty big rant but I'll try to spare you from the full force of it. While I was home visiting my parents and seeing my dentist, I accompanied my mother to the Family Math Night at her school. She, the art teacher, was required to go and help out (even though none of the other teachers are ever required to attend her art shows... *cough*BULLSH*T*cough*). I had just arrived in town and rather than sitting on my butt and doing nothing, I joined her and photographed the madness. Elementary school on it's own is madness. Schools are lucky to have such dedicated teachers - but I digress, that is another rant for another time.

One thing that really bothers me is shown in these pictures: Children with smart phones. Now, I didn't get a cell phone until I was 18 and moving off to college and the only reason for that was because dorm phones no longer existed and my parents needed to stay in contact with me somehow. Did you hear that? I WAS EIGHTEEN BEFORE I EVEN OWNED A CELL PHONE. It was a Razr, and then that broke so I got a temporary phone from WalMart, and then I got a cool slide-phone which was awesome until the speakers went out and I couldn't hear a thing from anybody calling, so I went back to the temporary and now have the cool slide-phone I use now. I have never owned a touch screen. Also, full keyboards confuse me. (I did have a pre-paid cell phone my senior year but once the minutes ran out, it didn't work anymore. You had to conserve those minutes.)

I have promised myself when I have kids, they won't be getting cell phones until they can drive - that means SIXTEEN. Not this elementary age crap! A cell phone at that age stunts the growth of a child's imagination. I attribute my creativity to the fact that my parents always kicked me and my sisters out of the house every day to play outside. We had to figure out things to DO to entertain ourselves - not stare at an electronic device in our hands.

I think parents have gotten to lenient on their kids. "But mom, everyone else in school has one!" I can hear my future daughter begging and I will just look at her and tell her, "Yes but I don't care. You know the rules - not until you're 16." (At sixteen she will be able to kiss and go on her first date too).

Cell phones are such an easy distraction. When I was in elementary school, I played "Indiana Jones" in my backyard and dug a hole that my sister eventually fell and got stuck in. That hole was awesome. The sand had crystals in it and every now and then we would find that Barbie that had been missing or spoons we had previously used and forgotten in the sandbox. We had a swing-set, a playhouse, a trampoline, a garden, a pool! We spent very little time indoors and I am so grateful for all of those memories with my sisters.

So, with that said, every time I see a child with a cell phone in their hand I get the angry shivers. "You're missing out on so much," I think. Sure, technology is cool, I love it, but when it comes to a child, there should be consideration of the developmental process that is occurring in their heads and cell phones should be treated not as a toy but as a tool.

Day 164: Uncertain Painting

Ever been stumped about what to create? That's how I feel right now. I've got all this energy inside me, I just need a willing subject.

Day 163: Waiting For Something New

What are you waiting for?

Day 162: Morning Coffee

Enjoying my morning coffee while watching the world outside my apartment.

Day 161: Sitting Pretty

Kimberly sitting pretty at La Diosa down in Depot District.

Day 160: Lindsay at the Shack

Before my sister Lindsay had to leave for work I asked her to do a quick pose. She's so pretty. I do love both of my sisters.

Day 159: Lunar Eclipse

Okay, I know... I'm really late with this and my excuse is that I've been in a period of transitioning cities/homes/lives and finally have found the energy to get back to this thing called "blogging". Good news is that I am back! New Year means new adventures!

I've seen a lot of people post their photos of the lunar eclipse that occurred on the winter solstice and they are great and while I did take a lot of photos of the moon that night, this one turned out to be my favorite because of the moon and the stars. I'm just hoping the interwebs don't screw up the black too much (That always seems to be a problem).

Click photo to view larger. :)

Day 158: Christmas Snow

This is the second Christmas in a row that my family in Arlington has seen snow. It was nice. I am a firm believer that cold weather is legitimate if there is proof of it - i.e. SNOW.