The Welker Family

Sue and I work together every Friday at the Y front desk. The first thing I ever heard about Sue was "Oh you work with Sue? She has 5 kids." I remember thinking, "Wow.. that's all I'm going to hear about. What in the world will we have in common!?"

I was wrong. We've become great friends! And her kids are seriously some of the cutest. She has Chase, followed by Kirsten, followed by twins Maya and Alana, and finally Corbin. Oh and her hubby Chad.

Chase was such a good sport! He was horribly ill but managed to bear with us during the shoot.

I love this last one - Corbin is looking back at me. What a cutie!!

The Boy's Band

I just have to shamelessly brag on my fiance and his band... They just got signed! This is a very exciting time for them, and they oh so graciously agreed to let me photograph them (and even use my photos on their new myspace and possibly the new album!!)

The shoot was slightly stressful but one of the most successful shoots (in my opinion.) So anyhow, congratulations to Southbound Fearing on signing with Red Cord Records! :)

I've been shooting a lot lately. Mostly small projects for friends and such, but it's been educational to say the least. For some reason, I get super nervous right before every shoot. So nervous that I start thinking of reasons to cancel! This feeling doesn't really shake until about fifteen minutes into the shoot. I even start thinking about how much I DON'T want to be a photographer. Where is this nervousness coming from?? And how do I CHILL out!?

After I relax and get into the flow of the shoot, I realize that I love what I've been doing lately, and I really hope I continue to shoot every weekend (at least!) We'll see...

Yay Fall!

We may not have THAT many fiery red or vibrant orange trees, but we certainly have some pretty trees. As much as I love springtime green against the blue sky, I loooveee orange, yellow, and red against the blue sky too!



Go take a walk! Who knows how many more beautiful, brisk fall days we have left!

PS I am not a fan of photographers/photo editors adding sun spots or rays after the fact so I just had to clarify that the photo above is unretouched. :)

ok ok I may have adjusted my contrast a bit but that's all!

Us.

We used a tripod, self timer, lots of patience, and lots of energy. I think our result was pretty allright! I still want to get some engagement shots next spring through the company I work for but we just wanted to see if I could make it work being both the subject and the photographer.

I'm still very excited to show off our save the dates... I just hate the labeling process so I've been slacking. Sorrrrrrry. Hopefully soon :)

p.s.

I cannot WAIT to show the blog world our Save the Date project!! I cannot post anything about it until they are actually sent out but


ahhhhhh


I love them! :)

Blah-xiety

This post over at Color Me Katie prompted this posting of a self portrait. And an explanation to go with it I suppose.

For the past couple months, I have been struggling with anxiety off and on. Mostly it will hit around 3 oclock, while I'm at work figuring out what tasks will finish up the rest of my day. I've noticed a few things that seem to incite the same tightening, less-than-panic-but-more-than-calm, uncomfortable feelings.

And they are weird!

First, this blog. Have you taken a look at all the blogs I follow? I used to LOVE looking through all of them. I would take my time picking through each and every one of them - feeling inspired, creative, and relaxed. The first time I felt this 'anxiety' while browsing through my favorite blogs, I remember thinking, "Now this is weird."

Is it that I don't want to miss any? Is it that I feel intimidated by everyone else's greatness and creativity? Is it that I am forcing myself to enjoy something I may not find enjoyment in anymore?

Maybe. Maybe. No.

Blog-xiety? heh...

The other circumstance I find to be anxiety-provoking is the process of placing a lab order at the end of the day. This is odd, but hang with me for a minute. Around 3, when the pressure of the day is wearing thick, when the lunch I enjoyed is starting to put me to sleep, and when the mounting general annoyance of the office hits sky high, I begin to plan out the remaining 2 hours. Usually, I finish up a few photo-retouches and prepare them for a lab order.

Ok seriously, just trying to explain this is giving me hives. Hah... All you need to understand I guess is that it's not a stressful task but my mind seems to think I need to be panicky about it.

Whyyyyyy do I have to put up with these stupid feelings? Why does my heart pound and my breath catch for any other reason than seeing my fiance (ahhh cheesy, but I had to throw it in there!) Why do I feel like something is horribly horribly wrong when I know that it's not!?

Mom says it's hormonal. Well I say it's ANNOYING!

Give me back rationality! Give me back my generally calm demeanor! Give me back my afternoons!

And go AWAY anxiety! Off with you!