I’m so proud of my boy! It’s like he’s my child and he brought home straight A’s or something. I guess it is also the culmination of all of my hard work with him proving itself worth it.

Anyway, so I ordered his “service dog in training” vest. More photos to come when I get that, but I’m totally excited! When I get it, I want to have his name embroidered on it, but because we call him “bear” so much and eventually I want to take him to Wolfson’s Children’s Hospital for therapy, I think maybe putting “Riley Bear” on there would be really cute!

So why is my blog titled “63?” Let me explain. Since I’ve gone full time, I’ve had a HUGE amount of people make comments to me (both in person and on the internet) saying that it must be nice to not have to work, it must be nice to just work weekends or a couple of hours in an evening, all I’ve had to do is take a picture and post it online, it must be nice to take a nap during the day, or sleep as late as you want, or go to the beach when you feel like it, etc. I’ve spent 63 hours working this past week. That’s 23 hours more than what I used to work at my full time job. Actually, it’s even more than that, because technically I had an hour lunch break included in my 8 hour schedule, so I was working 35 hours per week at my corporate job.

I say this because, yes, while I have the freedom to sleep until 9, or go to the beach, run errands, and make my own schedule, I work a lot more hours than what people think and a lot more hours than the people who have made comments about it work. Just because I sleep until 9 in the morning doesn’t mean I’m not working 10-2, taking a break, working 4-7, taking the dogs to the park and working 9-2am. That’s 12 hours of work in my day, right there. Yes, I love what I do. Yes, I love the freedom I have now to make my own schedule but it’s a lot more of a time commitment, but I love it because I love what I do. No it isn’t paid work all of the time, but for every hour I invest in my business now, in the future, I will reap what I have sewn. The more I sew, the more I reap. I’ve been watching CreativeLIVE with Jasmine Star over the last couple of days, and she said something that I’ll remember forever. “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.”

I never want to go back to a corporate job. I’m super blessed. I love my life. I’m so much happier now, but know that just because I have these freedoms, doesn’t mean I don’t work just as hard, if not harder.

With that said, here’s a sneak peak from the event I shot at last night.

My favorite two classes in college were Art History 1 and 2. It bothers me a lot when people call themselves a certain type of artist (photographer, painter, sculpture, etc), but they know nothing about where art came from. In art history, we called it having a sexy brain. That’s right. If you knew about art, you had a sexy brain. I LOVE my art history book. I sooo wish I could find it but I’m afraid it’s lost in the shuffle of crazy boxes that had to be left back in Joliet. Maybe I’ll make Colby dig through the boxes to find it and send it to me.

Anyway… One of my absolute favorite time periods for art and cultures of art was Egyptian. I’m not just talking about mummies and and pyramids, I’m talking about vases, sculptures, architecture and everything in between.

One of my favorite forms of architecture was of Ishtar’s Gate. Ok, you caught me. For some reason, I just love blue and that is was originally attracted me to Ishtar’s Gate. It has been restored since it was built in 604-562 BC during Nebuchadnezzar II’s reign. The tile work is just gorgeous. It’s located at the Pergamon Museum in Berlin. It’s decorated with bas-reliefs (sculptural relief in which the projection from the surrounding surface is slight and no part of the modeled form is undercut).

I also REALLY love sculptures. I really loved the statue of Menkaure and Khamerernebty and the other of Khafre. The statue of Menkaure and Khamerernebty is from the Old Kingdom and was created in 2600 BCE. It’s made of slate. The statue of Khafra is of diorite. It was also created during the Old Kingdom and was created in 2500 BCE. Typically a beard in art from this time period represented a crown/a symbol of royalty. I don’t know if it’s the lack of negative space that attracts me to this statue, or the dark diorite with the detail of Khafra, but I always found it fascinating that back in those days, when they didn’t have the type of tools we have today to create sculptures, they were somehow able to make such fine detail in these statues. LOVE it!

The below image of Ishtar’s Gate was taken from here.

The below image of Ishtar’s Gate was taken from here.

The below image of Ishtar’s Gate was taken from here.

The below image of Khafra was taken from here.

The below image of Menkaure and Khamerernebty was taken from here.

So, on a separate note, I’m trying something a little new here. I have a lot to learn about this technique but I promise I’ll get better someday! lol! I also tried some infrared digital (which is sooooo not as cool as B&W infrared film) and, eh, they came out ok. Don’t hate! Here they are!

Sign Up

Click here to prepay and get $5 off

I am excited to be offering mini sessions for children at Alpine Groves Park in Fruit Cove on Saturday, August 21st from 9:00am-12pm! To participate in the mini sessions, you will need to contact us to reserve your spot. The sessions cost $75 and include a $25 print credit. They last 15-20 minutes. Only children under 10 years of age are eligible. This is not a family portrait session so children will be photographed individually.

What’s involved?

-Cost: $75 plus tax (regular portrait sessions start at $250)

When and Where?

Alpine Groves Park (at the pavillion)

Saturday, August 21st

Time slots begin at 9am

Slot times begin at 9:30am and will be assigned based on the order the requests are received.

A product credit of $25 is included in the session fee of $75 and can be applied towards prints, canvas wraps, or other products. A disc of images may be purchased for $250 (plus tax) and will include a slideshow of the images and a set of color and black and white  images(disc is normally $500). The product credit cannot be used towards the disc.

Perks

Have two of your friends sign up and get your session free! (print credit not included)

Get $10 off 8×10 prints! (Original price is $35 per print)

Get 2 for 1 print pricing if you order your prints in the first 7 days that they are available online

Get $5 off your session fee by prepaying through PayPal!

To sign up for a time slot, click here. Along with payment, we require a signed mini session contract that includes a release to use the photographs online and in advertising. Once you’ve contact me saying you’d like to sign up, I’ll send you a link to the online contract. That’s right! No paper work! To prepay, click here!

Print prices are listed below and are charged per print. For additional sizes please contact us for pricing.

4×6: $12

5×7: $18

Set of 8 wallets: $20

8×10: $25

11×14: $50

16×20: $85

20×24: $105

20×36: $150

Jen Shannon Photography

We met up at Tapestry Park at Jimmy John’s (I LOVE Jimmy Johns). Josh and Jen are SUCH a sweet couple. One of the things that I love about my line of work is when you REALLY click with your clients. It’s almost like you’ve gone on a really great date. You gush because you had such a great time! We took some photos at Tapestry Park and then headed to Jacksonville Beach (aka Jax Beach) to finish the session there. Jen is super cute! She’s one of those “Pregnant and Proud” bikini wearers so I figured we just had to incorporate that into the shoot!

I was so blessed to be a part of their pregnancy by doing their maternity session. Josh and Jen will be having a baby girl that they will be naming Summer Nicole. Such a beautiful name! Congratulations Josh and Jen! You’re a fabulous couple and soon to be parents to a beautiful baby girl! I had such a wonderful time and THANK YOU for the brownies! They are delicious!

As Saturday evening was rolling around, the weather was looking like it wasn’t going to cooperate. We crossed our fingers and toes and sure enough the rain held out for us for most of the shoot. You can see the clouds in what I’ve deemed the “epic” photos below! haha!

Dolly showed up with her friends Allison and Nerline, who were sooo awesome and helpful! They were such a fun group of girls to get to do this with! Dolly looked gorgeous rocking her dress again! Dolly married her husband, Otniel, 13 years ago, as of last Monday and was so excited to be able to do this shoot! She looked fabulously beautiful!

I just love the below series. I gave them a slightly blurred/grainy effect to give them a more fine art feel. I just LOVE them!