Howells

I met up with the Howells a few weeks ago for their Christmas shoot. I donated a session to Global Maritime Ministries for their annual fundraiser. They minister to the many port workers that come through New Orleans on a daily basis. The Howells bid and won the session that I had donated.

I was stoked for the opportunity to get to know a new family in the city, and we had a perfect, overcast day for the session. I have to admit; I love the cloudy days. Plus, they showed up some styling and coordinated outfits. Coordinated...not matching is the way to go in my mind.

We walked around the edge of the French Quarter and found some good spots that would work for their Christmas card. Here's a few of the highlights.

Cards, Cards, Cards

Christmas is over, yay! I had the privilege to design a couple of Christmas cards this year, and I wanted to share them with you. If you like what you see, hire me next year in November to rock out your 2011 Christmas card.

A funny thing happened...

As y'all know, I've been at my new job for almost a month, and part of my job is customer service. That requires that I'm nice to customers, right?

Apparently I was too nice last week because one of our customers asked me out for coffee. Normally, I'm not opposed to guys asking me out, but he seemed to be at least fifteen years older than me, not to mention that he had a roughly 11 year old boy in tow. In addition, I know I don't look my age, so he was essentially asking a 26 year old out, not an almost 31 year old. He is a perfectly nice guy, just unfortunately not the one for me.

Needless to say, it really took me by surprised, and I wasn't sure what to say. So, I stammered through some maybes, not right nows, and awkward laughing was also involved. Terrible, right? I realize that my friends are probably wondering if I was inhabiting my body because I'm usually a straight shooter in all circumstances. To my credit though, it was my 12th day of working in a row, so my mental wit was not at its peak.

So, I've got to know. Guys, what do you want to hear in this situation? Do you want a girl to just flat out say, "no thanks," if she's not interested. Or, would you prefer some sort of awkwardness like what transpired with me?

I need your thoughts. I want to be prepared in case this ever happens again! Also, I welcome dates with people closer to my age...just in case anyone was wondering. :)

Shoulda, Coulda, Woulda

I should be updating, I know. However, it's Christmas, and I work in retail now. That means, no days off until the big day. I hope to be posting, but if I miss days here and there...you know why.

In the meantime, I'm rewriting a beloved Christmas song, except I starting by counting backwards...a way to keep up my holiday cheer before I keel over.

On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me,
12 days of working.


Eleven customers waiting


Ten restorations


...to be continued.

Another Comeaux Christmas!

It was my third year meeting up with the Comeauxs for a Christmas session. I can't believe how far I've come in three years and what I've learned. My desire is to grow twice as much in my photography during the next three years. And speaking of three, they're expecting baby boy number three. I'm crossing my fingers, and hoping they'll let me do a newborn session when the little guy arrives.

We met up at Fulton Street, as I mentioned last week. It was pretty cold and windy, but we made the most of the elements. Nathan was more cooperative than ever, so it was pretty easy to get some great shots of him. Little Josh needed a little coercing. Our method was skittle...yep, that's why he's chewing in 95% of the photos. He's a trooper, so I'm looking forward to another shoot once he's finally walking. Here's what our session yielded.

It's Christmas Time

It's Christmas time, and as a result, I have promptly changed my ringtone back to "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." It's not that I don't like the decor or the ever repetitive Christmas songs on the radio; however, sometimes it's all just a little too much for me.

I like to keep my Christmas simple, which depresses almost all of my friends. This means no tree, no decorating, reluctance to attend Christmas programs, and so much more. I know, I'm weird.

Despite all of this, I went to Fulton Street for a photo session. While I waited for the clients, I broke out my Lensbaby and took a few shots of the decor. There was also blizzard like snow...the kind where I could barely open my eyes. Intense.

All you Christmas lovers out there, eat your heart out because this will likely be the only Christmas post.

Congratulations.

My friend, Brooke, recently had a baby. I'm looking forward to seeing my friend Brooke and meeting little Eliana very soon. Until then, I designed a birth announcement for her to send out to her friends and family. I don't feature my design work nearly enough on this blog, so here's a little snippet.

Senica Naturals

I have a secret, but I'm pretty sure everyone knows it. I'm really behind in my blogging. Arrghh! Time has just been getting away from me these past couple of weeks.

I had a session recently for Senica Naturals, a company that sells beauty products. They're in the process of rebranding and redesigning their website. Hopefully my photography will be featured on their redesigned site.

Everything commenced at the sculpture garden at City Park. It was my first time there, and I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the space. I want to get back in there soon for another session. Each of the models had their makeup done, and that took a little longer than we expected. As a result, we were shooting at one of the worst times of day...noon. We had to shoot in the shade. Despite my prayers for an overcast day, we were blessed with radiating sunshine the entire time. It was a really perfect day, and I had a great time getting to know some new folks. Today, I'm going to share an individual shot from each of the models who gave up almost their whole Saturday.

Come On!

I've got two things.

One, no one has been commenting. I'm sad. What's up peeps; I need a little motivation that someone may actually read what I write, even if it is insanity.

Second, I've been a little out of pocket since I started my new job. If you're wondering, it's going well. The folks I work with are pretty cool, but I've decided I'm in some sort of hazing ritual. It is the busiest time of year where I work because of Christmas, so I would recommend beginning work in this time of year. It's nuts. I'm helping customers, even when I have mostly no clue what I'm doing. It has definitely been sink or swim for me, and I think my head is still above water for now. If that wasn't enough, I'm doing grunt work for the time being. I can't figure out if they put everyone through this regimented cycle of scanning, but I'm definitely there. I've been scanning pictures, slides, negatives for four days, and there doesn't seem to be an end in sight.

On a positive note, I'm busy which is really good, even if it is monotonous. One of these days they'll let me out of the cage to put my degree and experience to work. Until then, scanning it is, and as my friend Maggie reminded me...


Whatever you do, work as though for the Lord and not for men. Enough said, I think.