Decisions, decisions

I decided to order business cards last week. I'm kind of nervous about it. I've discovered that I get nervous for about everything. Hopefully, I hide it well. :)

My friend suggested that I put a snapshot on the back of the card. I thought it was a great idea. How do you choose, though? Nothing seemed quite....right. Nothing seemed to say what I wanted it to say. In the end, I narrowed it down to three choices. I used a couple of friends and a mother in law to help me decide.

You'll have to get a business card to see which one I chose!

Inspiration

Creativity is a crazy thing. It's so much more complicated than being analytical. When you're analytical, you look at data, which you normally have nothing to do with, to come up with an answer or solution.

When you're creative, you are the data. You've got to come up with the "answer" all on your own. It gets even crazier when you think about how that "answer" is a piece of you. Your creative "answer" ultimately gives a snapshot of who you are and what you're thinking at that particular moment.

It's no wonder that creative people are always on the look out for inspiration. I'm in need of some serious inspiration. The day to day has me bogged down and determined to get a to do list done rather than enjoying what I have. To clear my head....and to get out of the house with my 15 month old...I decided to take a walk.

On our walks my son usually points to trucks, cars, wheels, birds and airplanes. For some reason, though, he points to these flowers.





Normally I'm a peony kind of girl but, for some reason, these just made me happy. They made me think of how life really is about the simple things. I call them the "he loves me, he loves me not" flowers.

So what does this have to do with taking people's pictures. I guess it doesn't take a ton of experience, exotic locations or crazy philosophies. It's just that one simple, beautiful smile that we ultimately want to capture as our "answer".

Become A Fan!

I'm on facebook!!

td snapshots on Facebook

It's Official

I guess I'm really doing this. I sent out the website to as many people I could think of and am now debating just how far I want to go with the marketing. It's a scary thing!

I'm excited to be building my portfolio. Along with my portfolio, I'm building my skill level. I'm learning so much about the camera and composition. I adore it all. Learning more about photoshop is my next stop.

The other day I grabbed the kiddo and went outside to try out some new things with the camera.





I got this shot and think it's so fun. I don't know why, I just do. I was trying out some new settings on the 'ol Nikon and was very happy with the outcome.

Part of me wants to crop out the gum ball thingie and put in a Christmas ornament. Maybe this could be our Christmas card this year?

McGowan Family Fun

My father in law has worked at McGowan....forever maybe? I'm not sure. I do know that I couldn't tell you what he did before the McGowans came along. Eventhough neither Trevor or I work there, we often go to the company functions. The company is definitely part of the family. From helping Liz get her driver's license to trying to entice Trevor into the business, they've definitely been a part of the Dean story. I suppose at some point one of us is going to have to put in an hour or two of work to make up for all the events we crash. We always have a great time. Everyone always welcomes us with a great smile. It's always fun to see the kids get a little older and Tim Lee dress up as a bird. I wonder if he's saved the costume for the Christmas party?







P.S. I have to give a shout out to 4's wife, Nicolle. She looked so FABULOUS that it literally took me 10 minutes to figure out who was talking to me. Ughh...suppose I should get off the computer and to the gym.

Lake Party 2009

Every year that I've known Tony, he's thrown his lake party. I love going. Mostly because, even though it's not the beach, it's a body of water. I miss having water nearby. This year I begged Tony to let me build my portfolio and take some snapshots of some good 'ol lake party fun. It was a great learning experience. I learned two things. Adults are a lot harder to photograph than kids. Probably because, as adults, we know whether we're photogenic or not. Which leads me to my second lesson. I need to be there when the adults are drunk and not quite aware of what is going on around them! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there once everyone got sloshed and more smiley. I think I still got some great pics.