Swamped

I feel very swamped right now. I think If I can get 2 good days of editing going, I can get caught up. I finished 4 sessions in the last week. Right now I'm working on photos for the Chicos/VonArb family, The Truex family, and a project for work with the baseball fields that is very challenging! Thanks for your patience!

Editing away....Update

***I am considering my calender as COMPLETELY BOOKED for 2009 at this point. Please let me know if you would like to be on a wait list for any cancellations I might have.***

I have edited 3 sessions this week and am very close to finishing up a wedding I shot back in August. I am about a week & a half behind on my editing schedule right now. I hope to catch up soon, but I really appreciate everyone's patience.
I've heard some questions about why it takes me several weeks to get photos back to my subjects. I thought I might give some insight into the process I go through after a session.
1. I usually download the entire session to my computer within 24 hrs. of the session. I back it up on my hard drive, too, just in case. I then give them a qick peek to make sure I didn't screw them up royally :)
2. I usually wait at least a week before I sort through the photos. Some sessions can have up to 300 photos (up to 1200 for a wedding). I want to give myself some time & distance from the session so I can be objective and really choose the best photos.
I have been trying to give at least some sneak peeks on the blog or Facebook, too. I try to pick the top 5 or so from the session when I do the first sort through.
3. I try my best to edit sessions according to the date I take them. Occassionally I'll have someone who needs their photos back early for one reason or another (like seniors who have a due date for their yearbook photos). Then I have to try to squeeze that session in a little earlier than I might have intended. Usually it's not a big deal and I can catch back up quickly.
4. Now for the editing...
Its not just about removing a blemish or two. Sometimes it much more than that. I color correct the skin from any color cast, like green under the chin from grass below, to the blue grey color left in the entire photo from shooting in the shade, like the sample below. Also in the sample below, I removed the pink strap from her shoulder. Sometimes I smooth skin & wrinkles. The trick is to make it so you won't notice the chages and editing I do.
I then try to make the photo look vibrant, juicy with color, and like something I would want to hang on my own wall...

5. When I'm satisfied with result, I save the color version. Then I make the conversions necessary for Black & White and Sepia versions (sometimes more versions). Sometimes I make extras, like Grad Open House Cards, Christmas Cards, etc. But I only do the extras if I have time, which lately I don't. I then save all the photos to a disc. I also make a slideshow which can take anywhere from a half hour to 3 hours.
6. Oh, one more thing. I do have something that resembles a life. I have kids, a husband, dogs, a part-time job, and a house that desperately needs cleaning. And once in a while I like to watch a TV show , though, honestly, most of the TV I watch I don't really watch. I literally sit at the computer editing and listen to the shows. I could tell you who's who on the Young & the Restless just by the sound of their voice :)
If dinner would just magically make itself and the bathrrom was self cleaning, I might never get behind on my editing.
I hope that gives everyone some insight as to my process and why I do take several weeks to get you photos back to you. I try my best to accomodate everyone, and in return, I truly appreciate everyone's patience. I'm going to try to get some of the shots from the 3 sessions and the wedding up sometime in the next couple of weeks, so check back soon!

The Paulsons

Renee was the last of the 7 siblings of my best friend I had yet to meet. Renee brought her family over from Red Wing for me to photograph and finally meet them.

I love the colors in this one...


Some sisterly love...

and, of course, I made them jump!

Kristin's Daughter

Miss K. is one year old. When we started the session, she was definitely not sure about me...


But then she started to warm up...






Some of the bluest eyes I've ever seen...

Kristin called me the other night to tell me how happy she was with how the photos turned out. We were both worried because there were very few smiles from little Miss K. Sometime with little ones, you just take what they give, and this time it turned out to be just perfect!

This weekend so far...

I got to finally get the 35mm F/18 lens for my Nikon on Friday. I've been waiting for it since its release this spring.
Then we went to the Mall of America with Gene & Lara, just to browse, shop, & hangout.
Lara & the boys but on a concert in Best Buy. Bodie has been walking aroound singing "Yellow Submarine" ever since.

*We went through a new mirror maze at MOA. I felt really dumb because we got lost at least twice. I could feel us walking in circles.

At the end they had a funhouse mirror.

Unfortunately, our bunny died on Saturday. She went into her hut earlier in the week & wouldn't come out to eat or drink. The boys and John made her a nice headstone by the tree in the backyard.

In the afternoon we went to my Grandma & Granda Meyer's house for a get-together. We had a blast. It was so relaxed and a gorgeous day.

Tye with a mouthful...

I think Bodie had dessert at least 3 times.

Tye git a pitching lesson from Uncle Gene. He really learned a lot. Gene is really great at explaing the physics of pitching and had lots of patience with Tye.

Then he had to school Bodie on how to jump his bike.

Lara went for a cruise too.

Then we played Ladder Golf the rest of the afternoon.

Lara was very "happy". When she asked Tye to fetch her more wine, he asked her how she "drank a half a bag already?" It was hilarious. She had just finished saying how nice and polite my boys were.

I tried to get a few photos of my grandparents. Lokk how blue my grandma's eyes are here. They look just like I remember her dad's eyes. almost too icy blue to be real.

Her hair is snow white like his was, too.

Grandpa was in a great mood yesterday. I think he really loves all the socalizing & game playing.

My grandparents used to have horses on thier farm. Now, since they are gone most of the year to Arizona, they don't have any. They are letting one of the neighbors keep some cattle at their place to keep the grass in the fields down. So I got to practice photographing the cows. I think I'll stick with people.

Bodie took a very nice shot of me with the new lens. Ifinally colored my hair again this weekend, too.

I love the evening sunlight in early September.

Today we just relaxed. I had a senior photoshoot & got bitten by way too many mosquitos. I think I ate at least one. It was horrible. The senior, Kelcie, did a great job though, dispite being eaten alive. I think her photos will be wonderful.

Tomorrow is the last day of summer with my boys before school starts.

A little blondie

"In summer, the song sings itself. " ~William Carlos Williams
I love summer, especially in the park. I love it even moree whenI get to photograph little blonde boys in the sunlight...