portraits
With the hurricane coming, I figured it was as good a time as any to give Sam his first haircut. it is no easy feat to cut a one year old's hair while he is crawling around the house. Good thing I only had two cocktails before attempting it and had passed on the third. Just kidding.
Not only was I fortunate enough to do a shootshop with the wonderful Nate Kaiser, but I also got to work with THE BEST COUPLE EVER. Katie and Ryan were SO great to work with and just so much darn fun. I want them to get married again so I can shoot their wedding. I wasn't really 'technically' shooting them (just observing the master), but I couldn't help but sick my camera on them from time to time. They were just so darn cute. So after you look at my paltry attempts to capture this amazing couple, take a look at these objets d'art.
and the man of the hour doing his thing:
Today is Sam's first birthday. I can hardly believe it. Here he is on day one of his life and one of him today. It goes SO fast! I love you SO much Sammy. You are my angel.
I just got back yesterday from sunny Southern California and I had a great trip. Not only did I have a wonderful time with my parents, but I also did a great Shootshop workshop with the fabulous Nate Kaiser of the image is found AND had dinner with the lovely Tara Whitney and her oh so wonderful and warm family. Tara and I met when she photographed my family last May and I immediately loved her. After that I started working on a design project for her, so we got to know each other better via email. I was so pleased to have the opportunity to have some face time with her and we gabbed and gabbed until I had to leave to head back to my parents. She is one of those people that I could have talked to all night. Why do I keep meeting Californians that I want to be friends with now that I live in Texas? Murphy's Law I guess.I have much to post and say, but I need to get ready for Sam's birthday extravaganza. Yes he's one today! So for the time being here is one shot of the gorgeous Katie and Ryan (who were beautiful and fun as all get out) that Nate shot on Wednesday and one from my visit at the Whitneys of Tara and her little angel, Nate. More to come...
These were taken last Saturday morning before we headed out to Granbury. A typical morning at the Berry Liebster household. The last strip of Ben is his reaction to tasting coffee. He seems to run the entire gamut of human emotion in these.
Last Thursday was Sam's special day at home with me. Since he is so young there was no need to plan out the day. For him a trip to Target is pretty darn exciting. We started the day the infant way with breakfast and a nap. Then we headed off to have lunch with the girls for Tanya's birthday. Next was some one on one time at home in Sam's favorite room, the toy room. Finally, Tanya and Darrell's daughter Mia came for dinner so that her parents could have a night on the town for her mama's bday. We had a great time with Mia. We even got dumplings for the occasion, which she politely tried and then equally politely requested macaroni and cheese and peas. Which I gave her happily and she nicely shared with Sam. Everyone was happy and more dumplings for me.
We just spent a lovely evening at Shannon, Conor and Savannah's house. Poor Savannah had an upset stomach after an unpleasant macademia nut reaction. But she bounced back pretty quickly and a good time was had by all. While I snapped some photos there (which I will share later) I wanted to share some more I took of her parents at Friday's workshop. They are such a handsome couple as well as amazing hosts.
Today I had the good luck to be in a one day workshop called veryaltf given by the fabulous John Michael and Dalisa Cooper from Las Vegas. They are touring around the country in an RV with their two dogs for the next few weeks offering workshops in several US cities. So ear infection or no ear infectin, I was going to be there. I doped myself up on vicodin and headed over to the beautiful home and studio of Eric Doggett, who was generously hosting the workshop.I got so much out of it and pretty much none of it was technical, business startegies etc. Don't get me wrong. There was some of everything. But what I personally took away from the experience is how to approach my photography work the same way I have always approached my design work. With research, concept, intent. For a long time I have had an abstract expressionistic philosophy towards photography. Namely that I am simply recording time and action. I think it served as a nice break from the intellectual rigors of the design profession. But now that photography has become my main focus, it is time to reintegrate some of that mental energy. And I feel like Mr. Cooper got me thinking that way again. And I am grateful. Here are some highlights of the day.
John Michael Cooper:
Their trusty dogs (who knew that a dachshund would make such an amazing RV guard dog):
This is my friend Shannon and her husband Conor, both if whom I was plesantly suprised to see there:
And two of Shannon's wedding clients who volunteered to model:
And then for some REAL fun:
I have many strengths. Hosting is not one of them. I make a damn fine and appreciative guest, but not so good with returning the favor. But after almost a year of showing up at people's houses, I decided that it was finally my turn to buck up and have some O'Mamas over. After I got to Austin I joined a group called 'The Other Mothers' (could I join any other type of mom's group). Many of my good friends in Austin I met through this group and I am so grateful for it. So I decided to host a mom's night in. I thought of two of my favorite things, photobooths and alcohol, and that was my theme. I called it the 'Boozing Booth'. So here are the results. I think they are pretty fun.The gang:
Sara jumping:
Tanya and Jenni:
Sara was SO much fun:
Here she is loving on the Tucker Man:
Even baby Alex was not safe from the booth, but DAMN he is cute!
Christen wins most creative:
The beautiful Jasmine:
Jasmine and Sara show what they look like when they are REALLY drunk:
Newbie Stephanie:
Miss Heather:
And everyone back together again:
I really need to update my life. My passport, my driver's license, my car tags. All expired. Quel disaster. So Josh and I took each other's photos the other night in order to renew our passports. And since I had Josh right where I wanted him, I managed to snap a few other shots of him. He is pretty good about being a photo subject as long as it does not entail his getting off the couch. And can you blame him?By the way, I totally borrowed (okay stole) the iphone idea from the image is found. And don't get me started on iphones and Apple. They killed my phone this morning and apparently many others' as well. Now it seems (cross your fingers) to be working with thanks to Josh for scouring the internet for solutions and constantly updating me throughout the day. Where would I be without him? I would be swearing at my non-working computer, banging on the keyboard and drinking from a bottle of vodka. All at the same time. I'm talented that way.
Although I was raised in California, I was raised by Southerners. My parents both have no accent to speak of anymore, but I did grow up thinking that saying 'y'all' was perfectly normal. Normal that is until I started saying it to Californians. They would just look at me and say "Where are you from honey?" My mom said that every time we returned from a trip to Kentucky she couldn't get the Southern drawl out of me for a couple of months. And I still remember the shock of the first few days back in Kentucky, when my mother would become someone else entirely. At least her speech did.When I grew up we had a little mosaic tile above the phone that said SHALOM Y'ALL. Apparently my aunt had brought it back from Israel after working on a kibbutz there for a few months. For years I would look at it, the humor completely escaping me. It all seemed par for the course for me. But I was a Californian and therefore required to say "you guys" instead. And oh how I disliked it. Almost as much as I dislike being called DUDE. When I did my year abroad in college there were exchange students from the UC system and many from UNC. Many of us became friends and the constant argument was which was better: 'y'all' or 'you guys'. People fell completely within geographical lines, except me. And then we moved to Texas and I have to admit that I was more than a bit excited at the prospect of being able to dump the 'you guys' and firmly commit my self to the 'y'all' camp. I don't think we had even made it across the state line before I switched teams. And I have to admit that I relish at the prospect of someday being able to utter "all y'all" to a group. Mmm, it's like butter.
