:: Afternoon At The River ::

What an awesome sunny afternoon we had yesterday~ perfect opportunity to head down to the Woodland Bottoms and play with the girls. This was the babies 2nd time to the beach where they actually could try out the sand for themselves. Brooklyn had gotten used to the sand and she loved it but Reese wanted NOTHING to do with the dirty texture, she seemed very uncertain and didn't want to leave her little blanket of safety! I think she hated the feeling- well our sand isn't the nicest around, it's actually pretty rough, so I'll give her that. HAHA the blanket ended up being a babysitter :). Lainey had fun just getting dirty and building a little "sand castle" (big pile of wet sand). The hardest part was trying to keep Brooklyn from eating ALL the sand and rocks on the beach!  Anyways I thought I share our little relaxing afternoon with you.

:: New Lens Bag ::

I was so excited when I got my new "Snapsac" in the mail yesterday! My new lens bag! Many of you photographers have heard of Shootsac bags- well I found this boutique on Etsy called The Byrd Boutique - she sells her own version of the Shootsac for 1/2 the price! I love the fact that these bags are so flat and comfortable. There are all lots of fun fabrics that you can choose from to customize the covers... Great quality- I'm loving my little snapsac so far- this should make my shooting life MUCH easier! Happy Day!

:: My Cupids ::

My girlies = my loves.... photographing my girlies = my greatest challenge! It is TOUGH to try and get these crazies to stay in the same spot, let alone all looking in the same direction at once- I need daddy to be my assistant or SOMETHING...perhaps duct tape? HaHa, oh well, it will be my challenge to myself this year to try and get a photo with all of the girls looking at me! Cupid draw back your bow....and let your arrow go. Here are the little Haden-ette's.

:: Textures ::

So a couple of weeks ago I stumbled upon a really cool photo contest site called i heart faces. Here is the rundown... Every week they have a different theme for the photo submissions. You then upload your photo somewhere (your blog, flickr, picasa, whatever you got..etc.) and then send them the permalink to that photo or post. They vote and select the top 10 winners. It sounded like fun, so I thought I'd give it a shot this week.

This week's theme is texture. The image that I created is a little different than my usual work. But when you get inspired, you just go with it. I feel like the textures really helped to convey the story behind the image. It was one from this last weekend in Arizona again... I will be blogging lots of pictures from then haha... I actually used a combination of 3 different textures to create this moody feel. Anyways..I encourage you to head on over and enter your texture shot! It's a wonderful way to learn and challenge yourself!

 

:: In Front Of The Camera ::

Thank you to Heather Hill Photo of Arizona for a great lighting workshop this last weekend! I have big plans of transforming my basement into my photography studio...and I will keep you all posted! In the meantime if you want the chance to view some images of me in front of the camera instead of behind it check out Heathers blog by clicking HERE. 

Valentine's Special to be announced very soon- you won't want to miss it!

:: Grapefruit In Arizona ::

Okay, so the flight to Arizona was lets just say frightful. We spent about 45 min in turbulence and high winds. I actually ended up holding hands with a complete stranger next to me. She was having a hard time breathing, and I had the barf bag in my hands ready for use. Anyways, I landed safely and made it to my cousins house where all of the fun began. Yesterday I assisted Heather (My cousin) in a photo judging contest for the Partnership for a Drug-Free America. Then we went for Thai food - one my faves- then I dolled Heather up and made her my model. She is beautiful. I had lots of fun photographing her and editing these pictures. Today we will do lots more shooting and maybe even a masquerade ball this evening! Stoked.
PS...These grapefruit are in her backyard- and they are delicious...let me just tell you. yumm.

:: Leaving on a Jet Plane ::

See ya!! I'm off to Arizona to visit and  hopefully learn lots from my cousin/photographer Heather Hill down there! We will be experimenting with lighting and I will be assisting her in some of her shoots! I'm so excited!! Let's see how daddy does with kids while mommas away :) Love you babe!! Anyways I will be out of commission until Tuesday- which by the way is when the photo contest on Facebook ends. So if you havn't voted for your favorites, you better get on that! You must first be a fan then to vote just click the "like" button on your favorite images. Still plenty of time to rally up votes for your photo too- winner will receive a 16x20 on matte board, a $75.00 value! VOTE HERE
Okay I will have lots to blog about when I return- Have a great weekend everyone!! I will answer all emails and phone calls when I return. Thanks!.....
And just because a post is always better with a picture .....here is one taken in the morning of the view from up here. The Big Man upstairs looking down on us :)

I'LL BE BACK...