Waking up too early and sweating too much..

I'm sitting here dripping sweat. I know, TMI, right? But it's the reality of the situation. It's like 84 degrees in the house today and it's hard to get things done. Hard to concentrate. A lot of the summer has been like this with our annoying AC going in and out, but oh well! Thank God, summer is almost over!

Today, for as long as I can, I will try to edit. This has been difficult for me lately with a new computer and all the file transferring I've been doing in prep. for my fall semester. If only I could bring myself to clear my portable HD, now that it's backed up to my desktop external... I don't think I can do it...I've never lost important files, but I don't want to start now!

I've also been having trouble edit, because I've grown tired of all the music I own. I need new music in the exciting, calm, and easy-to-be-productive-to genres. Man, is it hard to find new, awesome, easy to listen to, artists these days! If anyone has suggestions, I'd be very grateful!


In the works: Once I get back into the groove, I have a couple photo events I'd like to post, from school film to a wedding, so stay tuned!!

Dad Update: He is in stint surgery now. He's getting along fine, and has a group of his pastor friends are in the chapel praying - he's got a pretty nice support system! :)


Munchkin Update: The twins woke me up @ 6:47AM this morning - all the lights were on - and they were yelling about a huge, furry, centipede that was in the kitchen, and a small one that was in the office. "Dassie, come kill it!" "You kill it, I was sleeping.." "We don't want to kill it, it's huge and scary and gross!" "OK, I'll kill it." (Thinking maybe I'd get to go back to sleep then) I went downstairs and it was gone. "Why are all the lights on?" I asked. "Well, I read on the computer that they like dark places.." said Chairty(Age 10).. "Oh I see, well, put on your gym shoes and stomp it if you see it" "But we like our gym shoes and that's gross" "I'm going back to sleep and you better not wake me up again, just stomp on it!" "But there's another one, kill it!" " OK, I'll kill it."
Needless to say, I didn't get to go back to sleep, I had already talked too much which made me too awake..

Oh yeah, and Faith lost a tooth today while eating a caramel apple :) If I were a tooth, I think that'd be a pretty good way to go! You?

Well, I'm bouncing all over the place, subject wise. I hope you'll forgive me - signing off and on to editing!

Hadassah :)

My weekend...

Well, J*s CreativeLIVE course is over and I'm slightly lost. Not sure what I should do right now, but I know I should be doing something. I think it's safe to say that making lists and goals is a good bet, but the CreativeLive course wasn't the only thing that occupied my weekend.

Yesterday, my dad went into the ER, and if you know my dad, you know that it's impossible to get him to do anything medical. My family is very faith based. We pray. God is our Dr. That is just how we work. Well, sometimes my dad needs to be reminded that God created Doctors and gave them the ability to help us, even if it's only so they can tell us what to pray for. Well, of course, my pops, not wanting to even go in, wanted to keep all of this on the DL as to not worry Esther or my little sisters. I know my writing this and posting it on the interweb is not exactly the DL, but y'all can keep a secret, right?

Well, anyway, continuing on with the story.. My brother, Jeremy, took my dad into the ER yesterday after church, to get checked out. They ran some tests and found high tropinin levels, which could be due to hypertension. Stress. My, oh my, big surprise! Not exactly, my dad takes care of everyone and everything. He's a pastor, it's in his job description! Anyway, he's was kept overnight so they could continue to monitor his heart and they did an angiogram this morning to check for a blockage. Some not-so-minor blockages were found, but he has one of the most qualified cardiologists going in and placing stints in the morning. So far, God is taking care of it, like He always does and will continue to do. HE is so good to us!

So, I'm sure you can understand that while I have all kinds of to-do list making thoughts and a desire to get things done, I'm also distracted by thoughts of my dad. What I can do to help him. What I can do to ease my little sisters' minds and fears. And also a bit of laughter at the fact that he's set up with his laptop and cell phone controlling his home computer remotely, so that he can continue to work.. My dad is ridiculous!

Anyway, prayers are much appreciated. Not only for my dad, but for the peace of the family, esp. my little sisters who are too young to really understand what's happening.

Thanks for your prayers!
Hadassah :)

J* and the CreativeLIVE Experience

So for a couple of weeks I've been looking forward to watching a Wedding Photography course on CreativeLIVE. It's finally here, I'm learning TONS and I'm so excited about it!

Now before I go too far, I want to clarify what CreativeLive is for those of you who may not be familiar. CreativeLIVE is a site that brings industry expertise to students of the inter-web. Using UStream, the people of CreativeLive put together online courses for people who just genuinely WANT TO LEARN. Whatever it may be, painting, studio lighting, or in my case, Shooting a Wedding, CreativeLive probably has a course available, LIVE, for you to watch FREE. Think of that guy who teaches how to paint forests on PBS, it's like that but WAY more intense and educating!

Ok, so now that you have the back story let's have chat.

Jasmine Star AKA J* is an amazing, driven, fashionista, wedding photographer from Orange, CA, and to make a long story short, didn't have childhood dreams of being a photographer like a lot of us. She literally had a FULL ride to UCLA LAW school...oh my, I cringe at the thought! but really, so did she!... She dropped out of Law school and decided within 6 months after planning her own wedding that she wanted to capture life's miracles as a wedding photographer. Had never really shot, but she did it. Picked up and became a wedding photographer and was shooting 40 weddings in her second year as a photographer!

I mean HOLY MOLY! 40 weddings in a year!? What a crazy inspiration!

So she's on CreativeLIVE sharing her story. her insight. her expertise. and shooting a wedding LIVE tomorrow afternoon. Again, HOLY MOLY!

During yesterday's class, J* was talking about branding and using all of our social media and blogging as an extension of our brand. She said that we should use blogging as a place to connect with potential clients. That they should feel like they know us, and I agree.

I used to blog about everything. What I was feeling. How my relationships were doing. If I was happy, sad. Blogging was my escape from reality, while coping with reality at the same time. It was the same for her and she used that to her advantage - people felt like they knew her, so it was easy for them to contact her and trust her with their big day. "KIR" she said, "Keep It REAL!" So I've decided to try. Try to blog with continuity. Blog for myself. Blog for my business. I hope you'll join me.

Here are a couple links to the CreativeLIVE courses -
CreativeLIVE
B&H Insights

Vega DeVille - Age 2 - Chinatown

So remember Sam? Well, back in May when I did Sam's 1st birthday shoot, for my cousins Megan and Andy, I was approached by Laura, another cousin, to do a shoot for her daughter, Vega. Vega turned 2 this year and Laura wanted to have a photoshoot to document it. Of course, I was happy to oblige! Though Laura is my cousin, I had not yet met Vega but I knew as soon as I saw her that we were going have a fun shoot!

We decided on Chicago's Chinatown and this is what we got:












One of my favorite shoots, yet! Thanks, Laura and Vega, you girls are awesome!

PS: Photogs, I edited this with the new Lightroom 3 and I'm blown away at it's new grain handling capabilities!!! Many of these shots were shot at ISO1600 and above - I can't even tell!! LOVE Lightroom!!