Do you hear that?

Sing it with me, now:

It's the eye of the tiger,
It's the thrill of the fight,
Rising up to the challenge of our rival,
And the last known survivor
Stalks his prey in the night,
And he's watching us all
With the eye of the tiger

Bwahahaa! Oh yeah, baby! Guess who had her first track meet of all time!?! And, guess who ROCKED it out!?! That would be Summer!

So, yeah, I got to go to it, and I brought my camera, OF COURSE! I was hoping to inflict a little embarrassment on the girl since her mom couldn't be there and all, but she played it pretty cool. I'm pretty confident that I did embarrass her on some level, but she wouldn't let on. So, yeah, I didn't feel that satisfaction. Oh well... I'll have to try harder next time.

Anyway, Summer ran the 800 meter relay, the 200 meter, and the 1600 meter relay. I only got to see the 800 meter relay because, well... track meets take FORever. BUT, Summer ran the final leg of the relay, so it was super exciting for me. She was MEGA nervous beforehand. She admitted that. She may deny it now that she's a rock star, but she really was. Here are some "before" shots: (this first one's my fave.)

Like I said, she was the last leg, so it made it more exciting for me. This girl is F.A.S.T! I'm sure you're supposed to measure the magnitude of the wins in seconds, not feet, but, ummm... I'm no good at that. I have NO concept of time. So, I'm going with how far AHEAD Summer looked compared to the rest of the girls. Ha! I'm gonna guess that she came in a good 12 feet in front of the second place girl. That's right... Summer brought it home for the big win! Woot! So, here she is approaching the finish line:
And crossing the finish line...
Way to go, Trooper! You made me proud! :-) But, hey, even if you hadn't won, I still woulda been proud of your mad runnin' skillz. Unfortunately you cannot be as cool as me. With my... "you know, like numchuck skillz, bow huntin' skillz, computer hackin' skillz..." :-) Keep at it, though.

Love ya, Summer!

Okay, okay. I guess it won't get better than this.

I know I should have posted a haircut picture before this, but I just kept hoping to get a better one than this. I don't think this is a good representation of the whole cut because the back is shorter than the front, and you can't tell from this photo. Oh well. I just love it, though, because it's SOOOO stinkin' easy to manage. This has probably been my easiest haircut for styling. YAY!
So, that's out of the way.

Also, thanks for all the support about the workshop. I really appreciate it! We've had several register already, and we haven't even announced our sponsors yet. We've got some REALLY cool stuff in the works! Keep watching for news on that. We'll be launching a workshop website soon, too, with full details.

Finally, I took some photos of Maya the other day. It warmed up, so we headed out midday while Emma & Curt were at school. She's such a nut, this one!




I can't wait for it to warm up regularly. Thanks for stopping by!

Exciting News!

Well, for starters, I cut my hair tonight! And, yeah, no picture yet. It's just plain mean to post that without sharing a picture, but... ummm... you KNOW you always come out of the salon lookin' a lit-tle funny. Am I right? Hopefully soon, though!

Next, check it out... I've made mention of this in passing over the past couple months, but it's official now. I'll be joining the most incredible & talented photographers Michael Norwood and Fred Egan in hosting a workshop. Let me tell you that these two guys are absolutely the BEST of the best, and I'm not sure how I ended up in their company! Ha! No, really though... we all have something different to bring to the table, and I KNOW we'll make an awesome team! It's gonna be TONS of fun. So, yeah, read on for the "official" announcement with LOTS of info.


Fred Egan: Portraits
Amy Coffey: Kids
Michael Norwood: Weddings

We're three photographers who love what we do and want to share it with others. Come hang out with us and learn how we work, how we shoot, how we interact with clients. Come be stretched technically and inspired creatively. Change the way you think and look at your photography and leave with the knowledge you need to continue growing and some killer images to add to your portfolio.

WHEN: April 20-23, 2008
We'll get together Sunday night to meet, eat and get to know each other. Monday morning everything begins with some classroom time covering marketing and the technical side of shooting. After lunch we'll head out for a live shoot and then to dinner. Tuesday we'll cover post-processing and the artistic side of shooting. After lunch we'll head out for another live shoot and then to dinner. Wednesday's schedule looks the same... classroom time, lunch and the workshop concludes with the last live shoot.

WHERE: Glen Rose, TX... a little town outside Dallas with a lot of charm and a million places to shoot. You'll stay at a charming lodge on the bank of the Brazos River.

COST: $1500

Tuition includes 3 days of in-depth training with Fred, Amy and Michael, lodging and all meals, 3 live shoots, one on one portfolio critique.

We'll cover the technical and artistic aspects of shooting (camera settings, composition, seeing the light, being inspired, working with clients during the shoot), workflow (from raw files to finished product), post-processing, marketing, getting published.

Space is limited so reserve your spot soon! Email info (at) thelabworkshop.com

(photos by Nick Onken, Curt Coffey and Trever Hoehne respectively.)

A quick one...

Curt & I were able to spend Valentine's Day on the Riverwalk in San Antonio by default. He had a music convention to go to during the day and early evening hours, and I shopped during that time. That evening, though, we went to dinner on the river & just had a really lovely time. This is a quick self-timer snap on the balcony. Nothing fancy, but I have to have a shot of us together anytime we're away from home overnight.

Me & my valentine:

We had a nice Sunday...

I've got a few random photos to share with you. But, first, I want to thank you guys for weighing in on the hair thing. Mom says no to the side burns. Okay. I can handle that. I'm not sure that I would have gone for that particular part of the look or not. Of course, when I first looked at the cut, I wouldn't have called them sideburns. Now that she has, though... Ha!

Also, there were a couple questions from the ballet post that I thought I'd answer. First, both Tracey and Jordan asked about the age difference between the girls. They are very close to the same size, and, in fact, they wear the same size clothes, shoes... everything. Emma's a tad taller, so she can go between 4T & 5T in pants while Maya wears a 4T all the time. It's pretty awesome that I can buy one big ol' wardrobe (and believe me I do!) for them to share. Oh... the age difference is 17 months. Emma is five and a half, and Maya turned four in January. Poor, sweet little Emma is INCREDIBLY small for her age. She always has been. She's fallen to the 10th percentile for height. And, well, Maya's just about right size-wise for her age. Thus, they're about the same size. People often think they're twins even though they look almost nothing alike.

Second, Amy Chamberlain asked if I had any tips for those that can't get outside to shoot. Well, let me be honest with you, Amy. I think the weather played a LARGE role in my recent photography slump. I know that's not what you were looking for, but it's the truth. I will say, though, that when the desire DID come over me to actually take pictures indoors during the short, short cold season (that's debatable,) I'd just stick to nice window light. Find the best natural light in your house and work it, girl! Ha! Really, though. Also, a good flash can be your friend. I didn't believe it for a long, long time, but my good photographer friend Michael Norwood taught me otherwise. Thanks Michael!

Oh, and speaking of Michael... if you haven't headed over to his blog in a while, you should definitely go check it out. The man is on a roll! He's going on something like nine blogging days in a row. Showin' me up, that's for sure. Also, he's hittin' the big time. I always knew he was big time, but it's just a matter of others noticing. Well, they have been, for sure. And, this month, he's got a photo in Vogue! Yeah! Vogue! Rock on, Michael!

Okay. So, yesterday the girls & I went to the coolest birthday party EVAH! Seriously. It was a themed party. The girls were asked to come dressed as princesses. Ummm... my girls are ALL over that. This party was so jam-packed full of activities & games that there was NO way my girls would slow down for pictures. Bummer, too, because it was at a tree farm. A. MAZ. ING.

Anyway, here's a quick one that I DID manage to snap. I think the level of fun directly correlates to how filthy she is. So, yeah... based on that theory, you could say this was the most rocked out fun party of ALL time! Ha!
And in B&W:
When we got home from the party & I started looking through some of the photos, I realized I didn't get any good ones of Emma. And, after that, I realized I haven't been taking as many of Emma lately. So, we went out at sunset to play with some backlighting. Just she & I... I LOVE those golden tones & long shadows.


She was actually jumping off the curb in the next one. There was one of her in mid-air, but this one appealed to me more, I guess. She's watching her shadow. :-)
And I last quick snap. Goofy little thing. :-)
Thanks for stopping by!

Should I do it?

So... uh... it's that time of year again. Okay, okay. Maybe it doesn't happen exactly yearly. But, I go through phases, and anyone that spends much time with me in real life is probably rolling their eyes about now. See, this is the way it works. I get a hankerin' (yes, I said hankerin') to chop my hair. I chop it (usually in some close variation of this style,) and I grow it out. It gets to be about as long as it is now, occassionally a tad longer, and I get the hankerin' again to chop it. Over & over & over. When it's short, I wish for it to be long. It's just a mess, really.

But, I don't know... there's something about this cut that just keeps drawing me in. I guess I'm hoping maybe one day it will magically look better than the last time I cut it short. I don't know. This time, though, if I do it, I'm going all the way. No more wimping out at the last minute and asking the stylist to do a "longer version." You know what I mean?

I thought I might go looking for pictures of me in the past with my various short haircuts to share with you guys. But, alas, my billions of pictures are strewn about on several different external hard drives. It makes that task seem quite daunting. Maybe some other time.

Anyway, chances are that even if you say, "NO! Don't do it!!!" I'll still do it. :-)

***Oh, and by the way, I did NOT take this picture. Just need to say that.***

I'm keeping my promise.

Last week I told you I'd take some pictures of the girls in their dance garb, and today I deliver. Just know, these are nothing fancy. They're just a few quick snaps as we were running late (as usual) out the door. Now, tell me they're not the cutest stinkin' things on the face of the earth.

The INSTANT I got my camera out, Maya started her ballet posing. (Or so she thinks it's ballet.) Emma was giggling at Maya's pose & trying to imitate it. She couldn't quite figure out exactly what Maya was doing, so Maya was directing her. (Notice her sweet hand.)

I just love the way Maya looks at her big sister.


The sun was too bright for Maya, so this is what I got from her. (I'm needing that eyerolling smiley right about now.)
So, yeah... that's my girls. They've got some mad hot ballet skillz!

Success!

Remember my pictures from last weekend when Heather, Jimmy & the fam. were over? Remember how Kyden wanted NOTHING to do with the camera? Well, we spent the last half of the day with them again today. I got some alone time with the boys, so I grabbed my camera & tried again. Success!

Check out these cute, mischievious little guys: