Friday, January 28, 2011

Stolen Challenge

Today on my beloved Facebook, I saw one of my friends post a "30 days of me" challenge.  It was a beautiful photo of her on her wedding day, wearing my boots.  She set forth a list of things to do for the next 30 days, so I will take that and run.  Today's challenge was to post a photo of yourself (gulp) and write 15 facts about you.  I will try to find 15 of the lesser known factoids.
Real proof that I am an original red head.  No matter how hard I try, I can't find this color in a bottle.
Well, the rules did not specify an age, so I will pick this lovely little gem.  This photo has so much going for it.  I was dressed in pants that were clearly too big.  Seriously, look at that killer "Annie" belt.  I rocked that leaping lizards belt.  The yellow puffy shirt, a classic.  I can't really explain the vest/scarf combo, but I'm pretty sure it looked cool with the cowboy boots I had on.  This was taken at my Nanny and Papa's house.  I pretty much lived there on the weekends.  My sister and I pretty much got anything and everything we ever wanted.  Normally, we would hit up the snow cone place down the street and the Five and Dime.  We even had our own room upstairs.  We would pretty much spend our time listening and dancing to the Michael Jackson "Thriller" record.  This room was previously occupied by my dad and uncle, so every time we would turn out the lights, we could see the name "Gordon" painted on the door with glow in the dark paint. Wow, I could talk about those days for pages and pages.  Good Times. 

OK, back to my 15......
1.  If I ask for a coke, I mean Dr. Pepper.
2.  My favorite spot in my house is on my balcony laying in my hammock.
3.  I fly on a plane like cats ride in cars. As I watch people board my flight, I wonder what actor/actress would play each particular person.  My character is always played by Tina Fay.  It's a dramody.
4.  I'm secretly planning a re-do wedding.  I watch every wedding show TLC has to offer.
5.  I'm still best friends with my childhood best friends.
6.  I'm allergic to planet earth with 4 exceptions: Box Elder trees, the Castor bean, smut and the cockroach.  Yes, I'm allergic to that horse I'm snuggling with.
7.  I don't love large groups of children.
8.  I got my first black eye on my son's 4th grade field trip
9.  I love being a rule breaker.  I particular love the "over signed" establishment.  If there is a sign that says "only take 2" I will take 3 every time.
10.  I'm pretty sure I will die violently in the shower. 
11.  I hate Starbucks coffee
12.  I know where every Sonic is in the Phoenix area, and most of them know me.
13.  I make sure I tell everyone I meet that I'm from Texas.  It's important they know.
14.  When I started photography I swore I would never shoot weddings.  ever.
15.  I can't think of the last time I played a game without cheating.

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

If It Were Up To Me

Every time I go to a wedding, I find that everyone is pretty much doing the same thing.  Most venues have the same sort of offerings and most other vendors act the same way.  Before I jumped into the crazy world of the wedding profession, I never really noticed what all went into a wedding.  Sure, I planned my own wedding, but I never went behind the scenes to see how the machine really worked.  So many things are done just because everyone does it that way.  Very southern baptistish.  No one really questions or even considers doing some things differently, but I suggest maybe we should.  If It were up to the photographer I wonder how things would change.  Well, let's ponder just for a moment.

Thing I would change #1:  Every bride & groom would see each other before the ceremony.  Look at the below photos and ask yourself "Self, would any of these reactions ever happen in front of everyone during the ceremony?"  No.  If you want to get a real reaction and moment between you and your future spouse, you will not get it during a stuffy ceremony.  Normally, the husband's first glance at his new bride is difficult because he's trying to see around everyone who just stood up.  He has no chance to tell her how amazing she looks once she reaches him because the pastor has already started up his rehearsed message.  The script continues, and there is no real moment.  Seeing each other beforehand gives you a chance for your own special moment.  Say anything, do anything, the moment is yours.  Not to mention, this is a huge calm to the nerves.


Thing I would change #2: Face your crowd as you get married.  Some of my best moments captured during a ceremony, the crown never sees.  I'm not sure why, but everyone keeps their back to the crowd.  We are all forced to stare at the officiant. We don't know this man, and we may not even be able to hear the guy, but we must stare at him and your back the whole ceremony.  If I had things my way, we would look at the back of the officiant and the bride and groom would face him, allowing us to see all the beautiful things the photographer is capturing. 

Thing I would change #3:  I would only cut out most of the family photos after the ceremony.  I would shoot 2 to 4, at the most, with family.  You are only dressed in that dress with your man in that tux once.  You will only be that young and skinny once.  Send everyone to cocktail hour and use every second of that time getting the shots that you will cherish a lifetime.  I promise, that photo of you and aunt Mildred will never get printed.  You probably won't even remember you have it.  Wait until the reception and take as many photos your pretty little heart desires. 


Thing I would change #4: The DJ spinney colored ball and crappy lighting during the first dance.  If I had a dollar every time the lighting would drop down to nothing immediately before the first dance, I'd be a rich lady.  Not too rich, because I enjoy spending money, but comfortably rich for sure.  Most of the time the happy couple never notices the DJ has thrown a red light on them, but as I develop the "hot tamale" couple I remember the DJ's choice of spotlight.  Camera's need light to photograph.  Without it, you will get a bad photograph every time.  A bride should talk to the DJ and venue to make sure no one turns out the lights for the first dance.  Not to mention, your guest are still trying to eat.  I have loads of bad photos on my old hard drive, but instead, I'll show you how nice things look when the lighting is good.

OK, so I realized I could really go on and on on this topic, so I will stop here and do another post.  I may do a whole post on "open bar" weddings.

Saturday, January 22, 2011

January 1st

On January 1, 2000 my life changed forever.  I became a mom.  Prior to that date I thought I knew what the word "tired" and "busy" meant.  Everyone told me how different my life would change, but I had no idea.  None.  I spent most of my time just watching his every move.  I must have called the doctor once a week.  By kid number two, we only went in for shots and normally a month or two late.  In some ways I feel like I've learned so much, in others I feel like I'm about to jump into a bigger pit.  One with snakes and creepy clowns.  We are getting so close to teenager years I can smell it.  No really, the smell is awful and hard to miss.  Pungent really. 

Staying true to my "mother of the year" title, I had to shoot a wedding on Andrew's actual birthday.  We've also realized he has a much better turn out if we can celebrate a little further away from Christmas.  He always has a better turn out.  Back by popular demand, we did the Mobile Game Cave.  What can I say, I know people.  It was a hit.



There they are.  Everyone loves a group shot.  Most of the kids on the left half of this shot are from his class at school, most of the right half are from the neighborhood.  Actually, I could probably claim the right half of this photo on my taxes.  I'm not sure they leave.  They watch for our truck to pull in the driveway.  Nick, the little kid in the blue who was obviously too thirsty to wait for me to shoot this picture, helped me clean out the garage.  Funny enough, it's also the first time I've ever seen this kid fully dressed.

now that I think about it, I should have lightened this up.
As I walked into the trailer to take the above photo, they were starting up another round of Halo.  They were playing 10 against 1.  They were all trying to beat Andrew, unsuccessfully.  We eventually made it out for food, cake and presents.  Andrew had requested Mema's strawberry cake with strawberry icing.  He was also pretty excited to have a pink cake.  Nothing says 11 year old boy like a pink cake.  Being the awesome parent that I am, I only bought a 10 pack of candles.  I'm too cheap to buy a second 10 pack for only one candle.  Abbey said she had a great idea.  She made a number "9" on his cake.  What can I say?  She's gifted like her mommy......socially.  We had the best pink 11th birthday cake with 10 candles formed in a 9.  Only in the Weems house.  I would have it no other way!

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Thankful For New Friendship

When we moved to Phoenix over 5 years ago (yikes!) I left every friend and family member I ever had.  A lifetime of relationships put on pause.  I spent the first year mentally and physically sitting in a corner with my arms crossed.  I was bored and friendless.  Slowly over time my business grew tiny little legs and started to take off.  You know, tiny legs like the ones that seem to dangle pointlessly from the drawings of the T-Rex?  Maybe like little salamander legs, but not quite as large and proportionate as a camota dragon.  I was pretty slow going.  Now that I think back, I'm pretty sure I should call and apologize to some people.  Any who, I did get a phone call from one client that would stick around. 


Lonni was almost as sweet and those little girls.  I was called out to do baby pictures of baby Miriam.  She was laid back and relaxed.  Not Miriam, Lonni.  I know I should probably just go back and rewrite that sentence, but that would stop the flow. This was baby girl #3 for her, she was a pro.  She let me do anything I wanted with those kids.  Once I was done, I went back to her house for her proofing session.  I think I stayed for a couple hours.  I sat and talked to hear like I'd known her since grade school.  I felt like I could be myself and say all the dumb things I wanted.  She would sit and listen to me talk and ramble about absolutely nothing. In fact, she probably even reads my blog when I ramble on about nothing too.  I went home thinking and remembering how nice it was to sit around with friends and talk about nothing.  To make a long story even longer, I was surprised the next morning to see an email from Lonni.  She sent the sweetest note about how much fun she had hanging out with me and suggested that maybe we should hang out.  I could not be more happy.

Over the last several years, I've watched this woman go through some of the hardest things I could ever imagine.  Pretty nightmarish stuff.  Yes, nightmarish is a real word.  This program took my first attempt at spelling nightmarish, noticted it as wrong, and suggested the spelling "nightmarish".  Any way, she made it through, met a man who treats her and her girls like royalty AND started her own business.  Pretty amazing to watch. 

All that to say, we had the pleasure of spending Thanksgiving with them this year.  Since we are Texas refugees here in Phoenix, we almost always spend Thanksgiving as a party of 4.  We were excited to crash Lonni's place.  I was almost as excited when my mashed potatoes got to sit in her crystal Tiffany's bowl.  I was less excited when I had to return the bowl to it's original pretty blue box.  For a surprise, she made my favorite flavor cheesecake.  White chocolate raspberry.  Typing it makes my mouth water.  While I run off to take care of my urge for dessert at this very moment, enjoy his handful of photos that I took that day.  I like to entitle this next photo series, 2 Frutkins, 1 Weems and a Cheesecake.  Enjoy.

I ate these until I was physically ill.
Sweet Caroline

This is Mimi, she's the baby in the basked above.

This is the Weems.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Novmeber Notables

November was a busy month for me.  It could also be directly related to why I stopped posting 1/2 way through.  Sometimes I have to drop some balls drop.  My blog is always the second to drop.  It's the ball right after my cool parenting skills.  I pretty much let my kids roam the streets of Phoenix, and I can only assume they are being fed and maintaining marginal showering habits.  Any who, I thought I would post a few of my favorites from my November wedding roster.

The first up was a gorgeous military wedding at a private residence.  Private weddings are always so much fun and laid back.  Shalyn and Cody are based in Yuma, but they decided to have the wedding in Phoenix. As it turns out Cody's family lives very close to my old hacienda in Arlington, TX.  Small world.

I always love the brides expression right after she puts on the dress.

These beautiful  girls had a toast for everything!  I was impressed they were still standing when I left.


This one speaks for it's self.

Shalyn was absolutely stunning.

Dad was not wild about his daughter sitting on the dirt, but this make such a statement.  My favorite of the day!

Next up was C.J. & Nelson.  I will always remember talking to C.J.'s dad over the phone.  Right after he told me about his Charlie Brown money tree he made sure to tell me "Just do a good job."  It's always nice to have a little reminder from dad not to screw anything up with his daughters wedding photos.  As it turns out, he was a pretty cool dad.  I hope I did not let him down.

Nachoooooo!

I've always wanted a red head bride

pretty sure they are laughing at me NOT with me




LOVE a laughing bride

pretty much the best cake ever!


yep, open bar
 Next up is Lacey & Shem.  My fun memory of this wedding is probably is probably not so fun for Lacey.  Due to a really bad party bus insider, she arrived 1 hour late to her 3 hour wedding.  She had everything planned out for her little country wedding.  When I found her in the party bus she was on her way to melt down.  In all the craziness, she forgot her boots.  Long story short, I gave her the big thick black socks and cowboy boots off my own feet.  I wore her black flip flops and my boots married another man.
It's not everyday you can photograph a bride in a copper tub

my boots are making an appearace





No, this is not Ab Lincoln.  It was his brother.



Monday, January 17, 2011

Now, where was I?

OK, so long term goals are not my thing.  As it turns out, 30 straight days of blogging is not going to happen.  I don't want to give up, I love to blog.  It's just so hard to find time to think of something clever to say.  Some would argue that they are still waiting for clever.  Rest assured, it's not coming.  However, I will continue to blog.  My goal this time is 9 days in a row.  Why nine, you ask?  No reason, just nine sounds like a fun number.  Here goes 1 of 9.....

So much has happened since my last post, I feel like I should back up a bit.  While the holidays normally put me in a tail spin, they were eventful.  As November approached, we noticed there was a weekend that seemed to be uneventful.  For us, nothing on a weekend is rare and something that should be celebrated.  So, we did just that.  We found a cozy spot in Flagstaff to rent out for the weekend.  As the day approached, I relished in the fact that I could sit on the couch and do nothing relatively guilt free.  If it snowed, a real bonus.
My sweet little boy loves sneaking kisses from Abbey, our little man eater.
We arrived with the promise of snow in the forecast.  Day one was spent hiking and exploring the forest behind us.  Day two we woke up to snow falling.  It was slow at first, but really picked up.  We were in business!  We hiked around looking for the perfect slope to sled down, but did not have much luck.  Most spots had tree stump blocking an otherwise perfect hill.  We also decided to check out the Lowell Observatory.  It was pretty much blizzard conditions.  The wind was howling and the snow was coming down in an almost horizontal direction.






Andrew had several questions.  It's fun seeing your kid excited about learning.  I have to enjoy this with Andrew since it's not ever going to happen with Weems 2.0

The super rare Weems Family pose.  Thank God for camera timers.


After we finished up, we went out for another hike.  It was FREEZING, but fun.  It's really pretty therapeutic throwing snow balls at your family.  Somehow hurling a tightly packed ball made of snow and ice is ok to throw and those we love most.  It's even better if you somehow make it into one of the openings in the clothing.  There is nothing worse than ice getting trapped into your clothes. 

My trouble child
All in all we had a great time.  It was good timing and just what the witch doctor ordered.  Even though one of us came home with strep throat, it was a success.
You can never have too many marshmallows.

Up to no good.

more trouble


I love that this girl always has remnants of chocolate on her face

this face melts me

One last attempt at a family photo.  Guess who has strep throat?