my new camera...

So, Santa came to visit me this year (thanks mom & dad!) and I got this SUPER FABULOUS new Nikon 300S!!!!!

I love it, love it, love it! The owner's manual is like an inch thick - it will take me forever to figure it all out ( really half of forever to read it and the other half to figure it all out!! The mini get started booklet was as much as I could digest so far!), but I have already shot a few shots with it on the auto and a few of the easier settings and it is FABULOUS!!!

Some day I will be like all those famous photographers and will have a lens display like this one!

Some day, when I have money (I know, ha ha), I'm going to have some of these mac-daddy lenses that all the big pros have! I though it was just sports photographers since you always seem them at sporting events and I thought they were special for action and speed, but NO, apparently regular professional photographers have them to - I have actually seen them being used by other photographers in my field! I get total lens envy ( who me? really? I know you're shocked!!) when I see those big gray lenses, but the cheap ones cost as much as my new camera body, so that's not happening!! (can't count on another santa delivery like this year, this was a big treat!!)

I am torn between thinking the person who photographed all these lenses was very creative and that they were a great big show off! It is a cool picture, but come on, how many of us have that many lenses? I'm going to tell myself that they were hired by a camera shop to to a cool picture for their advertisements - sounds likely, right?

I have hired a friend to redo my website, so hopefully it will be up and running soon - she's waiting on some stuff from me, so I better get off this blog and do what needs to be done! I'll let you know when you can go visit it!!!

Over and out!

Dear Santa,

I know that I may be a little old for this, but just in case Santa reads my blog, I thought I'd put a couple things out there that he may want to drop off when he's flying over Indy Christmas Eve!

Yes, this is the main body of the D3000 - beautiful, isn't it? It's the professional version of the D80 that I currently shoot. Now let me justify this by saying that I love my D80, but 1) I really need to have 2 camera going at most of my shoots and 2) I rented one to see what it's like and the quality of the pictures is waaay better than what I can currently produce! Of course, the lenses for my D80 don't work on the D300, so I would need a couple lenses too! The number one is the basic 18-135mm or whatever the equivalent is for this model - it's the basic, must have lens that will do a lot, but not all, of what my current needs are! Then of course, there are the next line of must haves - we'll call it the 2nd tier of useful lenses!

You need something that will give you a lot more distance, something that will give you a nice wide angle, and a fish eye for those fun shots! Not, I don't currently own a fish eye lens, so I will be happy with one that fit the D80 or the D3000!!

I just want to put that out there for you Santa, in case you were wondering what to get me that I can't/won't get for myself!!

PS The girls are working on their lists, so I'll send them out shortly! Glad to see your mailbox is out at Circle City Center!!

A fabulous assignment...

I had the very distinct pleasure of photographing a beautiful Persian wedding ceremony this past weekend! I have never attended anything other than a christian or civil wedding ceremony and I was so excited to have this opportunity! The bride was absolutely lovely, the groom was sweet and the entire extended family was warm and welcoming! Can you tell I had a blast?

This first picture is of the sofreh aghd - it is a low table covered with all sorts of lovely things - all of which represent something important for the couple's future life together.

These men were on the sofreh aghd and are a personal favorite of the mother of the groom!

This is the couple's name in a middle eastern calligraphy

I love this picture! I worked pretty hard to get their reflection in the mirror to be in focus! The mirror and matching candlesticks on either side were hand carried from Iran by one of the family members -it is old and beautiful and hand carved in silver!

The wedding cake was beautiful! It had the paisley from the sand art on the sofreh aghd and their names in the same calligraphy as the red painting above.

Aren't they sweet?

A few of the guests dancing! It was quite a party! Lots of fabulous middle eastern music and beautiful dancing!

I couldn't get enough of the two grandmothers - I just thought they were darling!

The immediate family on the grooms side - I think some of them might have even left before we took this picture!!

Thank you so much for sharing your special day with me!

So, you may or may not know that I have a little photography business.  I do mean little, it's truly me and my camera (not plural - cameras - tho I would LOVE to have several camera bodies so I could switch things up more quickly, right now I have to stop everything and switch lenses, sounds trivial, but it really slows does the creative process).  Anyway, fall is upon us and time for fall foliage family pictures!  It is usually when everyone starts thinking about getting pictures taken for their Christmas cards (or rather holiday cards) and although each year business picks up a little, I am frustrated with not being able to grow my business as quickly as I want to.  Some would say all in God's time, and I agree, but some of it is on me too, I honestly don't believe that with all the crazy in the world that God's top priority is my photography business - I may be wrong, and if so, I apologize God, but in the mean time, I have free will and know there is more I can do to get my name out there and drum up business.  The eternal problem  is that it takes capital to make capital!  When I'm not producing any noteworthy income yet, where do I get the cash to put into advertising and how do I go about choosing the most effective route with limited funds?  I have take the money I got for my birthday and hired a friend who is a pro to totally redo my website - I am very excited about that!!  And I have invested in a program that changes the way I present images to my clients, but I want more clients!!!  Winter will be here before long and that drastically reduces my opportunity for business since I don't have a studio and work totally out of my home.  Uuugh.  I didn't mean to gripe and moan, consider this me thinking out loud and brainstorming - I've done the thinking out loud, anybody got any brainstorming ideas for me??