once you have slept on an island

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if once you have slept on an island you'll never be quite the same; you may look as you looked the day before and go by the same old name,

you may bustle about in street and shop you may sit at home and sew, but you'll see blue water and wheeling gulls wherever your feet may go.

you may chat with the neighbors of this and that and close to your fire keep, but you'll hear ship whistle and lighthouse bell and tides beat through your sleep.

oh! you won't know why and can't say how such a change upon you came but once you have slept on an island, you'll never be quite the same. - rachel lyman field

a beautiful poem shared in grandma's celebration of life (funeral) program this past monday.

thank goodness for the water

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most who know me know that i've been having a hard time here in tampa. i really want to just pretend we're moving to germany this summer and start packing things up. but the reality is that we have no idea where steve will be stationed next and the kids and i very well could be here in tampa an extra year by ourselves, to get kiele through high school.  i'm hoping we will know something regarding steve's next assignment by december. with all of that said, one of the things that always makes my heart happy and keeps me sane while here, is shooting in the water. it feeds my soul more than i can even explain. i think about it constantly. i long for it. i ache for it.

here are some photos from an evening spent in the water, with the littles and my friend, jen, when she was visiting us a couple weeks ago from atlanta. i wanted to post these earlier, but ended up with a flu bug that kicked my butt -- and i'm still battling.  anyways...

i think it's fascinating to view our two sets of photos -- how very different the feel / mood is between our photos, yet shot together, many of the frames fired within minutes of each other...

and yes, i do think about the fact that there might not be water at steve's next assignment location, but i'll deal with that when the time comes and...probably be quickly planning my vacation trips back to tampa. lol.

i did edit some images in color. maybe i'll post those tomorrow.

win a photo session AND digital files

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i'm super excited to share a raffle that i've launched in conjunction with my fundraising for the foundation for tomorrow (TFFT). RAFFLE [a $3,450.00 value]: a one-hour photo session in the tampa bay area one 11x14 print 30 high-resolution digital files on CD

HOW TO ENTER: donate $20 HERE for every $20 donation, you will receive one raffle entry you can enter as many times as you wish submit your first and last name when donating email me that you would like to be entered into the raffle

PLEASE NOTE: eligible for raffle if you live in the tampa area or are willing to drive / fly to the tampa area session must take place september 1st through november 15th, 2012 session location is limited to 30-miles of 33629 tampa zip code session is for immediate family members only [parents & children]

if you're in the the tampa area, please spread the word. you can read more about my upcoming trip to tanzania here.

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PHOTOGRAPHERS --

if you would like to join this effort by offering a similar raffle to your clients, email me for more details. also, i have some exciting raffles for photographers coming SOON!

closing with some photos from my family session this past saturday...

may we never stop

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we don't stop laughing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop laughing. [michael prichard]

i think there is nothing better than a great laugh.  and to be honest, i wish i had a better sense of humor, was funnier and laughed more than i do.  don't ever ask me to tell a joke because it would be rather painful.  maybe that's why i'm so drawn to capturing a true, honest great laugh so much -- which is often a tough thing to do for someone who is not funny.

inevitably, we WILL grow old, but may we never stop laughing as we do...

 

family favs | 2011

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sharing some favorites of my kids from this past year.  my goal was to narrow it down to 20 images; however, i didn't quite make it.  28 images | 35 photographs...

one of the best changes i made with my photography in 2011 was to take more everyday photos of my kids.  i plan on doing even better in 2012.

superwoman

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no, i didn't see her cape but i secretly think that kristin is superwoman. five kids, ages one to 12. all so well behaved, kind and polite. her husband often away for work.  she home schools. and who looks this amazing after five kids, with the youngest just turning one? yep, superwoman, i say. i was supposed to photograph the young family a month ago, but it was rained out. they were driving from gainesville and we just couldn't take a chance with the weather we were having at the time. well...it just so happened that her ten-year-old had a football game in clearwater this past friday, so we did a session with kristin and the kids on saturday. and i'm super excited to be photographing the whole family in the spring, when kristin's husband is done traveling for a bit.

kristin is an awesome photographer, who recently moved from california to gainesville. and while i'm so honored each and every time i'm commissioned by my peers, it also adds some added stress and pressure [self-imposed, of course].

what if i don't live up to her expectations? what if she's disappointed? what if... what if... what if...

but i'm happy to say that this is what kristin shared after seeing some of her photos...

at loss of words...really (and i can talk.) loveeverysingleoneofthem. (as in, have the huge urge to take down every single photo in my house and just put these up instead.)

love them, love, them. LOVE LOVE LOVE them.

cannot thank you enough, deb.  from the very bottom of my heart....k

and with that said, my heart is SO, SO happy!! again kristin, i can't thank you enough for entrusting me with your family's photographs!!

here's a few of my favorites...

what is passion?

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what is passion?it is surely the becoming of a person. are we not, for most of our lives, marking time? most of our being is at rest, unlived. in passion, the body and the spirit seek expression outside of self. passion is all that is other from self. the more extreme and the more expressed that passion is, the more unbearable does life seem without it. it reminds us that if passion dies or is denied, we are partly dead. - john boorman

what ____ looks like

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"your kids must have the most amazing pictures." i get that comment A LOT.  and while my kids do have some pretty fabulous photos from the past five years that i've been doing photography, somehow along the way, i seem to have lost my ability to capture the every day lives of my family.  you know, those photos that document the simple joys and everyday moments.  it bums me out.  and i have complained about it for years, yet i haven't done a whole lot, in an effort to remedy the situation.

so when i was recently approached by a photographer about participating in a project entitled "what _______ looks like", i jumped at the opportunity.  i will be working on this project along side a group of eleven other incredible photographers. the goal of the project is to capture our families in a real, everyday kind of way -- to capture moments that document the reality, the beauty, the mess, the truth, the everyday of our family life.

each month we will each choose to fill in the blank with a word of our choice.  some of us may choose to use the same word all year. others may choose to change it up every month or every couple months.  at the end of every month, we will all be sharing some of our photos on our blogs. we will each link to another photographer until our circle of 12 is complete.

i'm excited about this.  i needed this.  but more-so, i feel that my children deserve this. along the way, i also hope this project will inspire you to take more everyday pictures of your own famiy!!

so here we go.  this is what a bit of our everyday august looks like...

all the cousins together, at oma and opa's, in NV.

standard toy mess. watching TV.

sweaty.

steve jumping.

first day of school.

in the pool. almost every single day in august.

not-so-pretty toenails, courtesy of the pool.

how he always sits.  his favorite toy. and the littles' handmade cardboard box chair.

on our way to gymnastics.

new friends at the horse farm.

play time.

their fort.

computer games.

girl time.

before school. forgot to brush.

so what have i learned in the first month, with this project?  i learned that i have a long way to go in documenting my family's everyday. and that i need to try and carry my camera around with me more. but honestly, even in this short bit, i already feel like i'm noticing and capturing more of the beauty and magic of our everyday.  and that makes my heart so very happy.

can't help but think of this quote... enjoy [and capture] the little things, for one day you will look back and realize they were the big things. - robert brault

i hope you'll now head on over to stephanie moore's blog to see what she had to share about her project this month -- stephanie moore | tucson family photographer.

p.s. i used more than one word for my blank...hope that's okay.

underwater adventures

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for the past few days (as i shared yesterday), i've been in a funk.  the dark place, my head sometimes takes me.  feeling paralyzed.  not wanting to pick up my camera...for anything.  yesterday, one of my photographer friends said, GO UNDER WATER! yea, maybe. whatever. we'll see...

...were my thoughts.

but i forced myself to get out there. my kids were playing in the pool. i picked up my camera, put my housing together, jumped in the pool and shot. and i'm so grateful i did. i'm not completely out of that dark place i was in, but i'm surely seeing the flickering of the light now.  sometimes forcing yourself to pick up your camera is exactly what it takes.

i'm just so excited about my upcoming underwater adventures. it's hard. really hard.  there's so many new / different things to think about and factor in.  but like everything in photography, it takes passion, time, dedication, practice and patience. today, i hope to try again (providing i have some willing subjects). i have ideas.  i'm excited. i do believe it's a direction i'm meant to be heading and i can't wait to see where it takes me. i know i have tons to learn and so much to explore, but i'm welcoming it all with open arms.

the everyday

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as much as i hate the mess, i absolute love and cherish my kids' imaginary play.  i think the littles learned it from their big sister.  she's the pro at it. although...they were watching sponge bob at the time of this photo.  hence, the not-so-imaginary trance.

yesterday, i was here, spending the day with this awesome friend.

tonight, i will be in the fields of wisconsin.  photographing a most incredible and magical family tomorrow.  can't wait, but i'm a wee bit nervous too.

happy you are home

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being especially thankful is obviously on everyone's mind this week.  but this family has something momentous to be thankful for; they will never forget thanksgiving 2010. daddy is coming home from iraq this afternoon.  he was gone six months -- left when their baby was three months old.  and steve just happens to be best of friends with B (they met in EOD school), so my whole family will be there to welcome B home.  and i get the honor of photographing the homecoming.

so can't wait.

just a few more hours now.  and we're getting our signs ready :-)

hoping to share some homecoming photos in the next few days.

wishing everyone a most wonderful thanksgiving tomorrow -- filled with love, laughter, friendship and joy.  we have so much to be grateful for!

congratulations

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anyone who follows my blog probably knows that i'm now doing crossfit and so loving it.  :-) and a few weeks ago, i photographed a bunch of women at my box, for the deadlifts and dresses 2011 calendar competition. today, i found out that three of the crossfit jaguar women were selected for the calendar! woot woot!! and i have to say...after two weeks of traveling, getting sick, not working out and eating like shit, i'm so happy to be working out (crossfitting) again. today felt amazing.  thanks paula (last set of photos below)!

meet the the three selected...

the in between

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between two school (class) auction photo books, workshop prep and deads and dress photos, my spare time has been slim to none. oh yea, that doesn't include plumbing problems, etc. anyways...i thought i'd share a bit of what my time has been consumed with lately -- first, check out this second grader's writing and drawing about what he wants to be when he grows up. OMG!! be-still my heart.

and here's my kids' book spreads this year.

Sky wrote:

i whant to be a veternarien beacuse I love animuls.  And I whant to be a photogerpher beacuse I like taking pictures.  And beacuse I like meating other people.  And seeing things I never saw before.  I also want to be a vetunarein beacuse I want to help animuls when they are hurt.  I want to be a dacer and singer beacuse I always love bacing and singing every singgul day.

Skyler, 7 years old

Ryder said:

When I grow up, I want to be a policeman and a artist because I always like to do art and I don't know about the other.

Ryder - 5

lastly, check out these incredible women -- a few of the shots i photographed of the crossfit jaguar women, for the deads and dresses contest. i'm hoping that a photographer friend of mine will do my pictures once i'm back from the utah. but of course, i have to get the perfect pair of socks first. :-)

and my most awesome trainer, who has inspired me so!!