I love to find out what people’s favorite things are…what they carry in their camera bags, purses, gym bags…their most important STUFF. I use to love digging around in my mom and grandma’s purses for treasures, I remember getting so excited when I thought I had gotten away with being nosy. The best part of having photographer friends is seeing what’s in their gear bag. Mine is ever changing. But, I will try to post every piece that I shoot with…eventually.

My favorite colors right now are turquoise, coral, and hot pink. I have to admit the new colors of clothing in the stores are making me so excited. I <3 crazy colors!!  I actually had a photographer tell me last month that they HATED shooting girls in neon or bold colors and that made my heart sad.  My wardrobe may look like a flashback to the 80′s era before the end of the summer.

Some of my favorites:

1. Clover camera bag by Epiphanie in turquoise and green.

2. Leopard print wallet from the Fossil Vintage collection is by far my most favorite wallet EVER!!

3. 100 mm 2.8 macro lens…dreamy.

4. Otterbox cover in pink and gray for my precious iPhone 4s.

I have about 12 sessions waiting to be edited so I guess I better get busy!

I just noticed that it has been  a month since I last posted, thanks to the Flu epidemic of 2012, a fantabulous photography workshop, 20 hundred Senior sessions, and learning the ins and outs of lightroom 4…I have been a little busy. I never would have thought my brain could be loaded with so much information in such a short period of time. But, it hasn’t exploded yet, so I consider this WINNING!

I attended After Dark Education in Rockwall, Texas the week of February 27th through March 1st and WOW what an experience it was. I first learned about the hands on workshop through Professional Photographers of America last year, and when they held it in Dallas I called up my friend Lori who is also a photographer and asked if she would want to go with me. Luckily her husband didn’t throw too big of a fit and let her go. ha! It was by far the most hands on workshop that I have ever been to. Top photographers from around the country give classes and then there is a large selection of models for you to work with. So, if you know anybody interested in modeling…I will be glad to give them some info on getting their portfolio built. Every year I try to attend two workshops, but at the very minimum one, because I am constantly pushing myself to be better than before. Photography is something that is constantly changing, so what you learned five years ago will not always apply to this years market. But, the last time I was able to go to such an extensive and more than two day workshop was when I was pregnant with my now five year old…and folks, that’s too long!

This is what happens when your baby model doesn't show up...

Saturday morning I was up with the sun to get ready to head to Ardmore to see my mother, have a spa day with the girls and then a 40th birthday celebration for my very first BFF Carrie.  My little sidekick decided that he was going to his Mimi’s too and packed up some of his things and ran to the car before I could say yes or no. Next thing I knew he was honking at me!!

It has been years since I have had a massage and I will just say that is way too long!! I felt like I was floating by the time I was done. Having a spa party is a must from now on,every birthday must be celebrated in this way! Tuesday was mine and my husband’s birthday…we are both born on Valentines day AND we were born in the same hospital one year apart, cool huh?.  Jerome and I stayed up until 2 am that morning wrapping 50 potatoes, packing up the goodies, and then spent the rest of the day fixing and serving Kaytie’s Junior class baked potatoes and treats for lunch, then Cord’s class party, and then dinner with the family after that. I was very thankful that he was able to take time to go to Walmart and shop for me, then help all that morning, I couldn’t have done it without him!! By 8pm…I was feeling my age. So when the time came for me to spend Saturday at the spa with my friends from way back, well…I jumped on it!! Next year I am NOT helping with any parties…maybe.

Cathy with her 40 year old baby Carrie!

Cord and I kept my Mom up until the wee hours of the morning talking…I hate that we sometimes go so long without seeing each other!! The ninety mile drive, and crazy schedules sometimes makes it hard for us to get together!  Anyway, we left Sunday morning and as we pulled out of the drive Cord yells out “I love ya kiddo” which cracked us both up. We decided about 20 miles into our trek home to take a detour and do some scouting in Davis…and we used our indian names…Cordtacketto and Nataliescarletto, our horse(car) was bullseye and we had a blast. I was so glad it was so pretty outside so that we could really enjoy our day out. He fell asleep on the way home, so I think I wore him out walking everywhere.

I love going on little adventures…sometimes it might take me an extra hour or two to get home, but I always make it back. In fact…I once tried to turn a 10 hour drive to Denver into a 15 hour one by stopping and shooting cool stuff and taking detours, but at a stop just inside of Colorado my husband jumped in the driver seat and wouldn’t let me drive again…funhater haha!

Oh…I also got me some cool new bowls from my favorite gift store in Ardmore The Brown Paper Bag, Happy Birthday to ME!  Since school started I make the big kids lunches almost every day, Cord’s is made every day with the exception of a few lunchable days and I always cut his sandwiches into shapes because he HATES the crust. So every month we find a new cutter to use, and this month I found this little frog cutter. He LOVE LOVE LOVED it!! Frog sandwiches for lunch in the morning…ewwwwww!!!

I loved the four day weekend…and instead of being ready for Tuesday I want another day to relax and enjoy my family. But, it is not happening!!

Friday Morning I was up at 2:20 am…mostly because I had a crazy voxer message from a friend that woke me up a little earlier than I expected, but I was heading to Lawton to capture images of a special baby girl and the granddaughter of  Dawayne and Jennifer Bruner that was being born at 7ish. Well, after I got over to the hospital we were informed that even though the doctor okayed me being in the operating room, the hospital did NOT. So, I had to wait just like everybody else for Miss Kendallyn Grace to come out of recovery with mom and dad. But, they did let me go in before everybody else and take a few shots of her being introduced to her sweet sister Brayley who was NOT happy that she was going to have to share her mommy and daddy. I cried because she cried. She is so stinkin cute that she has everybody wrapped around her little finger!! Anyway, here are a few images from her arrival.

Right before I went to bed Friday night I counted it up and I had slept 2.20 hours in like 40 something hours…and well, I need 8+ hours every 16 hours at least!!

Congratulations to Stephen and Courtney Fish on their beautiful new baby girl!!

It’s funny how different of a parent I am at 30something than I was with my first two in my 20′s.  At least my oldest two are always telling me that I was way stricter with them.  There is ten years between my oldest and youngest, and I guess during that ten years I realized how quickly they grow up. In fact, two days before my baby started school this year he had always been my sidekick…he went just about everywhere with me except most photo shoots the first five years of his life. I packed his bag and we went everywhere. Between his Dad and I we kept him out of daycare except for about two months. The day school started he just grew up, he traded in his blanket for a backpack and a lunch box and never looked back..well, except for a few times a week when he needs to snuggle with it. So, when he sometimes says he thinks he is “sick” I sometimes give in and let him stay home…mostly because I sure wouldn’t want him to be “contagious” to those other kids!  It was raining on his sick day and before I knew it we were at the dairy helping his Daddy feed. It was a very short lived virus, in fact he was feeling much better by 9 a.m.,  and of course I was glad it was nothing serious. Plus I got an extra hour of snuggle time in the recliner watching cartoons with my only snuggler that I have left. 

For the record…he had what seemed to be a very high temperature at 98.9. I just couldn’t risk sending him.

I am falling behind on my posting, I have had the busiest January and February in 12 years, and am ready for a day off.  I have 6 Seniors on the books for the next month and am excited, yet sad that they will all be leaving in the Fall. MacKenzie was just a little kid when I first met her, and now she is about to graduate which makes me so sad.  BUT, she will be going to Oklahoma State and I am so proud for her!!

Kenzie and I have one more session left (maybe) before she graduates, and I am already excited!! Hopefully we will get better weather on the next shoot. This session was 45* and 25mph winds. But, you can’t tell because she is a champ!!

In the morning I am headed to Lawton to do something I have never done before…hopefully, fingers crossed they will let me in the door. We shall see. It’s one of my bucketlist things. So, I am pretty pumped. Just need to go to bed so that I can get up at 530 a.m. and wont fall asleep on the drive!! I will be posting pictures soon if all goes as planned. Plus I have more amazing portraits and basketball action shots to post that are pretty sweet too.

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     I must admit, I have stopped carrying my big camera around with me 24/7, mostly because I love my little iPhone and I LOOOOVE Instagram, but also because I got tired of people saying “Is that camera attached to your hand?”.  It’s funny how I have become so dependent on my iPhone 4s…Siri is my little helpful assistant who tells me my schedule, books appointments, cleans my house…okay, I wish she cleaned my house. Anywho…here are some of my favs, not necessarily because they are of anything impressive, they just hold a special place in my heart.

First Rain of 2012

Chickasha Festival of Lights

Our Christmas tree 2011

Trans Siberian Orchestra from the nose bleeds…

My sleeping baby boy…

Closed sale barn…

Old Iron Top…

The big baby getting a trim…

Up, up and away..

Brawley, California

San Diego Bay.

My Loves.

Trees by the bay.

California hills.

I am planning on making a little coffee table book of images on my one year anniversary with my iPhone’s Instragram.  It will be so cute!! I have got to get back in the habit of ordering stuff for myself like I use to. I am so far behind in updating my images around the house, I guess that happens though. Until the past few years I ordered everything I took, now all of my favorites are stored on my hard drive instead of in albums, I plan on breaking that bad habit this year!

We are at a game at least 4 nights a week and I love watching my kids play…but, it is wearing me out being gone all the time. I am so thankful for Wednesdays and Sundays!  Most of the images are of the girls team…they chalked up another win, and there are a few images of the Hot Shots and Jump team, but by the time the boys game rolled around I had a killer headache. So, there are only a very few shots from that game…sorry boys!  I am going to be uploading all the images to an ordering site by the end of the week, they will be available for a limited time to order. I will post details as soon as they are ready.  Also, I am so proud of Coach Robin Beard and all the hard work that she puts into helping our elementary kids with their ball handling and jumping skills. These kids have the best skills around! If you haven’t seen them in action, you are missing out! Here are a few of my favorite shots…

Besides traveling to a game almost every night I have been taking some time to relax, which was my whole plan for January…but, for some reason those plans quickly changed. I have yet to clean my office and it is rather embarrassing right now. I may take before and after pics…OR to keep from being embarrassed I probably wont. Even though my favorite Pastor popped in for a visit and saw the damage with his own eyes. YIKES!!

 That’s my girl right there…Go #5!!!!

I had some ideas for a session, and I knew just who to use them with…Mrs. Wright. She has just the right kind of edge that I was wanting for what I had in mind.  Against The Grain Sessions are so much fun to shoot when I have a willing body who is not afraid to show some sassiness. I laughed so hard with this shoot because Mr. Wright kept creeping into the shots for some love, yes…let’s leave it at that.

Probably one of my all time favorite sessions, with all the laughs I could stand. Thanks for being a great sport, Steph!!