The Challenge.

Photos of my bestie-pal, Ramie & her cute li'l fam

My personal challenge: NO SHOOTING IN AUTO.

This was a tough one for me.

I've always relied on the trusty ol' Auto setting to get me through

as mentioned in previous posts.

But lately, I've been making like a padawan

and putting forth an honest effort to

study-up in Manual mode.

The ultimate goal,

to get to know my camera inside-and-out

and utilize it to its maximum potential.

So I figured, as Ramie is my friend--

Professionalism was Null and Void.

Her and her brood, patiently stuck with me

while I constantly fidgeted with dials & settings,
more-often-than-not sporting a look of pure bewilderment.

It was intensely sunny out,

which gave me mad grief

as shadows tended to be an issue.

....Wah.

So, I scavenged for shady areas

and managed as best I could

with the challenge at hand.



As dreadful as I like to make it sound,
(I've been known to have dramatic tendencies)
     ....it was actually loads of fun.



{Thank heaven for good-natured friends}

Of the nearly 500 photos I took--

some fantastical, and some not-so-fantastical...

The above would be the gems of the bunch!

                 Love, sweet love

Behind the scenes

Lovely rolling canola fields

I had the best time Monday evening sitting in on an engagement photo shoot for my sister, Kirsten, and her fiance, Scott.

Karey, the photographer and previous owner of ma'baby(Nikon D90),

thought it might be fun for me to tag along with my camera and grab a few shots of my own.

You know, get a little 'schooling' under my belt.

Which, indeed, is long overdue as I've been strictly shooting in 'Auto' the whole time due to my lack of know-how with ye' old 'Manual' setting.

{EMBARRASSING}

Karey

At the same time, arrangements were made to snag a couple pics of Karey as she's a glowing 35 weeks pregnant with her third child, and--

Get this...

Never had maternity shots taken of herself.

This to me is shocking because Karey is, in my opinion, one of the most talented, self-taught photographers I know, especially in the avenue of maternity and newborns.

She nails it every time.

But, you know what they say--

Always the photographer,

never the photographed.

--'k, I'm not even sure that's an actual saying...

In fact.  I'm certain it's not.

You know what I mean.

Always behind the camera and never in front of it.

Bride & Groom to-be


Between Kirsten, Karey and myself--

The golden hills were alive with the sound of
camera shutters forever snapping.

Ridiculously cute...

So, yeah...

These are the few gems I gathered from that particularly glorious sun-kissed evening.

Love.Sweet.Love.


Check out Karey Wood's Photography & Design blog, here!

It's been a long-ish while....

....since anyone's asked me to take photos for them.

So I guess you could say I was pretty jazzed when Dan & his lovely wifey Nichole summoned my assistance in taking photos of their highly anticipated new addition, due this September.

It was a beautifully sunny evening.

The mosquitoes were vicious.

And we had all but less than an hour to muster up a couple good ones.

Keep in mind my amateurity,

M'kayyy, thanks!

Enjoy :]

Congratulations Dan & Nichole

{Vintage Mix Stock Flowers}

Would you believe these flowers are from my very own wildly 'rustic' garden?

Me neither.

But they are.

Just picked them out from the greenhouse this past monday.

My giddy-greenthumb heart dropped when the greenhouse keeper advise me to cut the blooms off immediately after planting.

You know, to encourage new blooms...?

Wah.

I'm trying to be a real keener this year
in regards to my garden
so, sadly, I did as the lady recommended.

But not without snapping a quick pic of just how gorgeous these flowers are.

--Funny, how anything with the label 'vintage' tacked onto it, instantly becomes superfabulous?!

We Be Ninjas

Remember that day when I unexpectedly ran across a traveling band of ninjas?

Oh yeah,

That was just this last weekend.

The 'Nice' List

My good behavior must have paid off this year,

'cause Santa paid me an early visit yesterday-- and boy, did he deliver.....

Ladies and Gentlemen--

~Meet the new love in my life~

{next to my dearest husband}

My.New.Camera. so lovingly entitled: Nikon D90!!!

'Ohhh Yeaaa-hh, S-A-S-S-SY!"

Have I mentioned how much I absolutely love and adore my husband,

xo James xo

(Jim Plumb to you)

not just because he blessed me with this electronic thing-of-beauty...

And not just because he has known an understood how badly I've desired a camera like this for sometime now....

But because he's my best friend and he knows me through and through.

Today, I am over the moon :)

Best.Present.Eva.

Ps. I have NOT forgot about the Whoopy Pies....

I'm just too obsessed with my new toy today to get to it :)

Artsy

Warning! A tad self indulgent :)

Along with my sis-in-law, I also got to play model-for-a-day.

As I mentioned in an earlier post, my sister Kirsten has been busy creating unique, beautiful hair combs and head pieces to sell in the salon she works at.

The Objective: to collect enough photos to put together a look-book artistically displaying her designs.
We managed to get a few decent photos that day, however, we only captured a few really good shots of the head pieces themselves.  Oh well!  We truly are learning as we go :)

Baby.Belly.2

As promised, more photo fun with my preggo sis-in-law, Kim!

Might I add, neither my sis (my partner in crime this particular day) or I are professional photogs in the slightest, and were merely having some fun with the camera.  So simply, enjoy!

 

Cherry Blossom

The cherry blossoms have blossomed and it's a balmy 30 degrees!

Loves it:)

Headpieces for sale!!

Kirsten's been hard at work making headpieces with the intention of selling them.  This is just one of the many she's crafted.  Styles vary from elegant bridal to Alice-in-Wonderland inspired.

Baby.Belly.

My attempt to make a long story short.  Basically, my sis-in-law came into town this weekend to get away as a birthday present from her dear hubby.

She is 33 weeks preggers.

Perfect baby belly photo op:)

The time: Monday

Location: Grandpa's farm

Risks: Minimal,

....if you considering climbing a tree in your 3rd trimester minimal.

Camera: Kirsten

Make-up & Hair: Moi!

Outcome: Fantastic!! 

Just four of the besties, so far, to share....

More to come!