so much for not getting used to it…

Shortly after I posted the last blog post, I got a message on Facebook from a high school friend of mine (I was going to say old high school friend but that doesn’t sound right and simply wouldn’t be very polite of me.  Also, my friends from high school are all about the same age as me (give or take a year or two) which would imply that I am old as well… haha) Anyhow, Allen Doberenz sent me a little note with an invitation to tag along at the wedding he had booked for Saturday.

I typed up a polite refusal stating the reasons I couldn’t make it and then got on the phone before I sent it; I had to extinguish all possible options before I said no.  I’m so glad I did — my mom and dad ended up being the heroes of today by coming down last minute to watch the boys as David was working and wouldn’t be here (on a Saturday!  I know!) to watch them for me, even though I had planned to drive up there to spend the day with them while Dave worked.

I’m so very glad I didn’t send that message.  A quick changeroo and it easily became an “I’ll be there!  When and where?”  I’m so very glad.

The wedding was pretty far away (but I love driving!  the coupe!  it has a radio!  that works!  and no kids!  no whining!  no fighting!).  The venue – Marquardt Ranch – was built for weddings and absolutely stunning.  Amanda, the wedding coordinator from the venue, kept everything running absolutely smoothly and even made sure we got to eat.  I’m actually surprised I remember her name now, since I couldn’t remember it at the reception and just knew to look for “the pretty girl in the teal green shirt” when someone asked me where she was.

I have to say “Wow.”  Allen is one of those photographers that I hope to be like someday.  He’s oozing with talent and yet so humble about it all.  His style is classic and he gets such genuine emotion from his couples.  After watching him in action tonight, the three words that come to mind are calm, cool, and collected.  BIG HUGE thank you to Allen for letting me tag along!

I shot entirely with my brother’s 5D and either my 85 f/1.2L or Allen’s 35mm f/1.4L and actually found myself missing Jerry’s 70-200 f/2.8L during the ceremony.  I definitely love the 85.  There is not a doubt in my mind that I bought the right lens.  There might be more lenses on my wishlist, though, as a result of finally purchasing some L glass (oh, they’re soooo solid… you can’t beat the feel of the workmanship on those lenses!) but I definitely loved shooting with the 85 tonight.  I also never found myself thinking it was too heavy.  On the contrary, now my 30D feels like a toy camera.  Especially with my itty bitty nifty fifty.

Oh Jer, how am I ever going to find it within myself to give you back your 5D?  I guess I’ll have to – and just start saving up for whatever next full frame body Canon comes out with that has more than 9 measly fiddly diddly AF points all squashed together in the middle of the frame.  Huh.  That’s my complaint and I’m sticking to it.  Pfffft.  (just kidding, y’all!  The 5D is a sweet camera, even the Mark I’s.)

Again, I just want to remind you that you won’t be seeing any of my pictures from tonight.  As with the Kathryn’s bridal, this wasn’t my gig, those weren’t my clients, and I wasn’t the photographer.  Instead, you get to see a slightly blurry James.  Going down a slide. Enjoy!

Victoria - How fun for you!

The Amanda wedding coordinator Amanda Dudley by any chance?March 7, 2010 – 9:36 am

Jen - Not the same Amanda. This one I think was somehow related to the family that owns the land?? Maybe?? That’s the impression I got – she came with the venue.March 7, 2010 – 10:06 am

sometimes assisting is the best thing you can do

I got an IM a few days ago late one night.  It was my brother.  He was letting me know that there was a possibility that I would get to assist at a bridal session here in Austin with the lovely Kathryn Krueger, who he second shoots for.  The possibility worked out and I did, indeed, get to spend the afternoon and evening at the bridal session with the loveliest of brides (stunningly beautiful, she was) and the coolest of photographers.  I just adore Kathryn’s work.

I did some running around and some — how do you say — other photographer scolding (there was another photog there with his camera aimed at the bride), some chair carrying, and some shooting.  Yes!  Kathryn let me, nay, she insisted at the end, that I pick up the camera and shoot.  My brother was kind enough to send along one of his full frame camera bodies so I’ve got that for the next few … weeks?  Too bad I don’t have anyone scheduled for a session while I’ve got the primo equipment.  Seriously.  Anyone want a second shooter in the next 2 weeks?  I come with a full frame body and an 85 f/1.2!  Alas… I almost don’t want to “get used to it” because I have to give it back.

It was certainly an education.  Wow.

Kathryn’s style is so unique and so lovely.  I adore her and I can’t wait to see what the bride lets her post on the blog!  The wedding is in April so it will be at least 6-7 weeks before she posts the real blog post about it but I’m excited nevertheless.  Hmmm… now to process what I experienced.  That is going to take awhile, I am afraid.

In the meantime, here is a picture of my silly James being silly.  No pictures from the bridal session because, well, I wasn’t the photographer and the bride wasn’t my client.

peg hook rack thingys

I added some peg things (the words are escaping me as I’m blogging in the afternoon, not evening) to the walls recently and they were life-changing.  In a good way.  Now the boys have a place to hang their superman capes.  and pants.  and flashlights.

They were so amazing in giving a few things a “place to belong” that I went right out to IKEA and forked out the $10 for a wall full of pegs.  I love it!!!  Cheapest makeover ever.  Our hallway now serves as a storage place.  Hopefully now, most of the junk (bags, purses, diaper bags, etc) will stay in the hallway and not clutter the kitchen up.

I’m really looking forward to replacing those jackets with lunchboxes and back packs!

Jen K. - I may just have to steal this idea. I have “MADELINE” letters (that are still wood, haha) and I really didn’t want them over her bed/crib. I would like to display them somewhere in her room and I would love a peg hanging system like the first picture in her room!! I think a trip to Hobby Lobby this weekend to buy the darn thing is totally in order!March 3, 2010 – 7:08 am

admin - Yep, that’s where I got this one. Though I don’t know if all the letters for her name will fit on just one! :-) March 7, 2010 – 8:52 am

Life is hard.

After asking for comments two days ago, I’m going to turn comments off for this one.  I just need to get this off my chest but it’s not aimed at anyone and I’m not trying to achieve anything other than venting and it’s not a problem that needs to be solved and I don’t want any advice.

Being a stay-at-home-mom and living off of one income is the hardest thing I’ve ever chosen to do.  While I don’t necessarily want anything to change, I’m really feeling the strain of “being poor” lately . . . and I feel guilty about that because we are so very, very rich when you step back and look at the world as a whole.

I had an entire post typed up but I deleted it in order to just say those two sentences above.  They completely sum up my frustration.  While I am sure that most of you feel like you can relate, I didn’t say it to hear that.  I just needed to put this out there.  Thanks for listening.

Complementary picture:  A Boy and His Spoon.

Ok, whew…

I’m so glad I’m not just putting all this out there for the spambots to crawl.  That sounds all Matrix-y… I imagine the web crawler bots like google has (I think they’re even called spiders??) to look like the long tailed things that they fight in Matrix 2.  Of course, made up of lots of 0’s and 1’s … that are green.  I mean, of course.

I’ll post some about the home improvement projects we have going on this week… I mean, I’ll post this week… not that the home improvement projects are going on this week.  Not necessarily.  We tend to do things 2/3rds around here and that makes me sad.  Maybe by blogging about it, I’ll be held slightly more accountable to getting that last 1/3rd of the way done.  Now that I think of it, maybe it’s more like 3/4ths or 4/5ths than 2/3rds.  Eh, who’s keeping track anyhow, right?

Maybe that’s the Austin way… get things most of the way done but not all of the way done.  Oh, I’m just referring to the metro rail fiasco.  Set to open March 2009 but had all kinds of issues.  One of which is that their trains didn’t weigh enough to trip the sensors in the crossing guards up here in Leander.  D’oh!  I mean, come on.  They’ve made so many mistakes with that thing that there’s even a MetroFAIL website up.  Ha!  I had to laugh.

Having lived in Chicago, I know (and appreciate) what a good public rail transportation system can do for a community.  I doubt we’ll get that here in Austin as it’s only set to run from Leander to Austin in the wee hours in the morning (with, like, way fewer trips back than down – huh?) and at rush hour from Austin to Leander.  No mid-day runs, no back and forth.  If I were to ride down with my boys to visit, say, the Children’s museum… we would have to leave at 6 AM something to go down and catch a train back before mid-morning when they stop running.  OR be stuck downtown until 5 PM.  That, my friends, is truly a MetroFAIL for us.  That is not what I voted for when I voted for the rail system, what?, six or seven years ago.  So disappointing.

Okay, off that tangent.  (I just heard a train go by and they’re not supposed to toot their train horns at that crossing (once the MetroRAIL starts running, however many more false “opening” dates they give us) which reminded me about the whole rail fiasco.)  It’s a mess.  I hope commuters will get good use of it, but Austin needs to take some lessons from DC and Chicago regarding making a useful rail schedule.  I know I know … they have to run freight trains on the same tracks, I know.

Where was I?  Yeah, 2/3rds..

We got the crown moulding up but not finished.  I was debating changing the interior paint colors so I never finished with the moulding.  I need to paint the joins and then go around with the wall color and edge in a new line.  For that, I’ll need a new brush, though.  We don’t have the right kind of paint brush.  I tried.  I failed.  I made a mess.  I’d also like to paint the ceilings.  Uhghhh… I think we’ll need the boys out of the house for a few days to accomplish a project of that magnitude.  I know it will make a big impact, though, so it’s pretty high up on the wish list.

Some smaller projects will be easy to photograph.  Namely peg racks for stuff to get hung upon.  Ah!  I just added 7 of them and LOVE THEM.  Why have I not added peg racks to the walls earlier?!  It keeps the hallway soooooooo much cleaner and the two in the boys’ room gives them a place to hang their superman capes and the jeans that they wore out but didn’t get dirty.  SO Handy!  Yes, I will photograph those.

Enough rambling for tonight.  I leave you with a picture.  of a clothespin.  Because I can.

And that, my friends, is why I bought a two thousand dollar lens.  Oh, not for the picture of the clothespin, but for the blur.  The delicious creamy magnificent blur.  Or bokeh, whatever you want to call it.  Mmmm!  If it can do that for a clothespin, imagine what it can do for portraits.

misty - hey, forgot to comment on the last post, but I read them all! :) March 1, 2010 – 10:41 am

Becca - I love the clothespin picture. :-) And the blur/bokeh is certainly delish.March 5, 2010 – 12:47 am