I took pictures of the littles in the Provo Orchard. I do think they are lovelies.

Awww . . .

I really like this one. I think it’s magical.

That red stuff: nailpolish. For as much as is on his leg, there was just as much on the carpet. Text to Wyatt read: “What ever you think you’re going to do to Calvin, I’ve already done it. Just remember, this is why we chose the cheap carpet!”

We went to Manti over memorial day weekend for some VERY MUCH needed R&R. We went on “be-ventures” in the field, Cal needed to be carried of course.

Olivia looked for treasure.

And with every treasure she found, suggested with great enthusiasm that we call the museum.

I spy with my little eye . . .

Even Everett got into the spirit of it! (Of course, he wanted to put all the treasures in his mouth).

We painted in my sketchbook.

Then Cal decided to paint Bret.

And Olivia and Cal went shooting.

I went to St. George for a day to help my sister with her wedding plans. I returned with bird houses for the kids to paint.

We had a summer treat night under our tree . . .  the light positively GLOWED as a storm threatened for hours over head. Finally it exploded upon us, complete with lightening and theatricals. We moved to the porch where more treats and conversation were consumed beneath the drama.

Photo of lightning bold by Rick Smith

And rainbows were given as the final desert of the evening.

I got into Nauvoo about 11:00 at night, shot the temple for about twenty minutes, and then headed back to the hotel to sleep. Got up the next morning at 5:00 am to catch the temple at dawn. Met up with the bride and groom at 7:30 am and shot until about 1:30 in the afternoon, at which point I had to turn around and head home

It was a super fast trip. But I got a few good shots (I’ll let you know when I have the wedding pics processed and on my photo website.)

I’ve been doing a lot of photography lately. Fun for me!

You can see some of the pictures on my photography website: Green Orchid Photo

But some you can’t. Because I’m not done processing them. Which reminds me . . .

Anyhoo, some of the pics I’ve done recently:

Leslee and Jason – wedding pictures at the Salt Lake Temple

Leslie & ??? (I can’t remember her hubby’s name!) – Maternity pictures at Red Butte Garden

Beth and Alex – engagement pictures on a rainy morning.

Jameson & Gregson – darling kiddo pics.

Torri & Kylie – fun prom pics

Megan & Ben – wedding pictures in Nauvoo Illinois

Not to mention my own personal photography  – pictures of my sweet kids and our daily adventures.

I even bought a new 8GB cf card.

I’m glad I have a camera.

A few weeks ago I was approached by Tori – “will you take pictures of me for Prom?”

Awesome.

Tori and her date were a lot of fun.

First I took pictures of just Tori, looking beautiful and dudded up.

Then I took pics of her and DATE. (I don’t remember his name.)

From the after-reports, they had a lot of fun.

Next I walked over to Kylie’s house. She asked me the same thing – take pictures for Prom. She said her dad (Rick) would be gone to Manti. But I had a sneaking suspicion he wouldn’t miss out on a picture-taking-opportunity.

I was right. Rick was there, camera in hand, waiting with Marsha and Kylie for her DATE to come.

Kylie’s group decided rather than spend money on a limo, to use instead the family RV of one of the guys. They were chauffeured by the dad.

Needless to say, it made for great pictures.

And when I woke up I decided: I should learn how to take Jumping Pictures.

And so I called the best jump-picture-person in Utah, who also lives on my street – Rick.

We conned a few people to jump for us.

And I learned lots.

NEATO, I say.

Last weekend I did a couple photo shoots -

1) Another Bridal session with my sister, Leslee. It was: FUN to hang out with Les for an afternoon, AWESOME to practice my photography NICE to have a captive and willing model and a GREAT memory with my sis.

2) A Newborn photo shoot with my neighbor, Tiffiny and her newborn, JACE. He is darling.

You can see more pics at Green Orchid Photo

Today was her official “Bridal” session – with her photographer. Wyatt asked: Why didn’t you just take the pictures? Well, she has a photographer. And so I just went along to do sisterly duties – fluff the dress, watch the hair, hold stuff, hand over tissues . . .

and document the documentation.

I really liked what happened with this shoot. I thought it might turn into a disaster, but it turned out A.W.E.S.O.M.E.

It was supposed to be at the Salt Flats. But after driving 110 miles from Salt Lake – we found out that it was flat, and salty, but also watery. A situation we did not anticipate. And then a blizzard blew in. And it was COLD. But Leslee and Jason were way good sports (as was the photographer’s pregnant wife!) and look how cool these turned out!

But during the last several months of 2009 I somehow found a confidence that I had never had before. I had an idea and a direction in the type of photography I wanted to do, and how I would go about persuing my passion.

And then one day in January . . .

Leslee was over for lunch. I was showing her my website, that wasn’t quite finished. I told her I needed to figure out how to create a group on Facebook. I told her about my idea for a wedding giveaway.

Leslee sat down at the computer and created the Green Orchid Facebook Group. She announced the give away. She linked people to my site.

Talk about being pushed out of the nest! There was no going back now! I scrambled to finish the last few details on the site. Then I started to watch . . . would anyone actually visit my site? Would it just be my family and neighbors?

I am surprised at the amount of traffic I’ve received on my site in the past month, let alone the number of entrants I’ve had in my giveaway (my goal was 10 – and I thought that was pushing it).

I’m working hard to create a successful photography business. I love it, and I want to do it more.

The other day I was at the grocery store and I saw a magazing – Utah Bride & Groom – on the stands, with a cover story article about wedding photography. I was busy and didn’t have time to peruse it, but made a mental note to hit Barnes and Noble later to check it out. The article was entitled: 200+ Utah Wedding Photos – Inspiration and Ideas from Local Couples. Well I’m excited to say that I didn’t find ANY inspiration. There wasn’t anything particularly special about the photography that was presented. In short, I think I could do better.

Which is always a shot of confidence.

Tomorrow is the end of my give away. I will be announcing the winners.

But I don’t have any clients – YET.

So I went and took my bambinos on a practice shoot yesterday afternoon. It’s good to go practice. And I think some of these turned out lovely.

One thing I did differently with these pictures is that I actually processed them in both b&w (well, a toned b&w) and color. I’m not very good with color. But I want to get better. So I practiced with these.  I practiced adjusting skin tones and giving the overall image a soft “baby” feel.

But then, I really do LOVE black and white, so I processed them as such too. What do you think?

My neighbor, Kellie, lent me the basket (THANKS KELLIE!) and we just played around with different poses. It was fun. These were all taken in my living room (construction stuff pushed out of the way).

I like this one a lot. I like the height of the blank wall behind him.

The “baby pictures” I’ve taken in the past have been of NEW borns – less than a week old. Andrew is two months old, and starting to chub out like a baby should. That was fun.

And he was such a good sport – he’d wake up for a minute while we re-posed him, and then fall contentedly back to sleep. Good boy.

Next time I’m doing new born pictures in a yellow golden field. Think of this basket in a field with golden sunlight and big trees. AWESOME. Anyone know of any Fabulous Fields in Salt Lake? All the ones I played in as a kid have since been developed. Bummer.