i love when an image just stops me in my tracks. usually they are the photos that happen naturally when the photo session has taken a back seat to real life.  it makes me happy that the real life happenings far out weigh the photo session happenings these days.  and while it’s always nice to have one or two “pile em up” photos for posterity i just find that there is far more more soul in the workings of real life. tears and all.

i want to take you to a special place where lasting friendships are made, guards are let down, trust is established, and provide  for you heart felt imagery that will stand the test of time, fads, and technology.  my clients are unique and love stepping out of the box.  they have their own style and don’t seem to care what others think. they are outgoing. they are shy. they are confident. they are sassy.  they are down to earth. they are sweet. they are straightforward….and they truly hold a special place simply for the uniqueness and unconditional love they manage to bring time and time again.

are you bold enough to be boring?

• Jucie:  Apple, carrot, celery.   The kale actually went into the vitamix.
• Shryner loves carrots.  I think he can smell them as soon as they come out.  He gets all the little tops and a today he got little extra bits for the sake of photos.  Lucky boy.
• Brunch: apple, carrot, celery juice. Kale, spinach, frozen cranberries, frozen banana, and a ice.  A little “greener” than usual but had been making them with almond milk instead of the juice.  Still tasty.
• Black berries:  On sale at Henry’s this week for 69 cents a carton.  WHAT?  I should go back and get more.  They are actually good even though it’s Dec.  Not sure how that works but ok.  nom nom.
• I cut an onion when I made lunch.  It was pretty inside.
• The best meyer lemons on.the.entire.planet grow about 25 yards from my front door.  No seeds. Compliments of rad neighbors.  Thankful.
• Shryner, what was that?
• He’s a very very serious ball player, competitive, and uh, flexible.
• Love this perspective.  Took a similar iphone shot the other day wishing it could be a real photo.  Thank goodness for the hill he was on today and some eye contact.  Good boy.  New favorite.
• The MOON!  Holy cow it was huge.  It was just peeking up from behind the mountain as I walked up the driveway. CF card – 00.  50mm.  not cool.  rushed in side.  Whiney dog wanting ice.  Slapped on the 70-200 + a new card and shot this from my back yard.  This weird refraction thing happens where the sun goes behind the mountains in the west and shines light on the hills even after they have been completely shaded. Trips me out.  Not sure exactly how that works but it was pretty fantastic.  I don’t think my photo really does it justice.  The moon sure was fat though.

Next up Amy Lucy | Minneapolis Photographer

Be sure to follow the circle all the way around until you end up here again. You are sure to run across something good.

]]> http://www.aboringphoto.com/blog/2011/12/10/10-on-10-december-2011/feed/ 8 http://www.aboringphoto.com/blog/2011/12/01/lazy-susan-december-moms-famous-carmel-corn/ http://www.aboringphoto.com/blog/2011/12/01/lazy-susan-december-moms-famous-carmel-corn/#comments Thu, 01 Dec 2011 14:00:14 +0000 aboring http://www.aboringphoto.com/blog/?p=6884 This month, for our second edition of Lazy Susan, we have a bounty of sweet treats. Be sure to follow the links found at the bottom of each post all the way through to complete the circle.  If you are coming from Tara’s blog, thanks for stopping by. There is bound to be something that strikes your fancy sweet tooth somewhere along the line.

When Shannon suggested a cookie/candy exchange  for December my  mom’s  famous caramel corn immediately came to mind.  I realize this goes against all of my recent sugar and dairy excluding ways but tradition wins this time. Bring on the corn syrup! I got shot down at first and thought for sure I was going to have to come up with something else because this woman had a serious death grip on this family favorite. Rightfully so. Fiddle Faddle ain’t got nuttin’ on my mama.

For the last several Christmas’ there has been a large clear cereal tupperware container under the tree, complete with shimmery bow, stocked with a double batch of the this family tradition for each of us kids. (and don’t forget the airtight handy dandy container for future use…score!) Then just like clockwork the afternoon phone call from my oldest brother in Florida claiming that he got twice as much as the rest of us. Funny guy. Sorry brother…. looks like Christmas came early this year.

When I arrived the other day I walked in to  “I set up the ingredients like your friends did on their blogs.”  and then she Vanna White’d the Orville Redenbocker.  Classic!

Love you mom.
You’re hired.

Next up….Chenin with a concoction she refers to as Christmas Crack.

But first….Move on over Cracker Jack, Ma Boring is in town.

Ingredients for a single batch:

• 13 cups popped popcorn (7 tbs kernels)
• 1 cup light brown sugar-packed down
• 1/2 cup or 1 cube butter
• 1/4 light (clear) corn syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup peanuts or nut of your choice (optional)

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• Heat oven 200˚
• pop the corn, divide between two ungreased cookie sheets, 13x9x2
• In a sauce pan add brown sugar, 1 stick butter, corn syrup,& salt.
• Stir ON LOW, watch close, when it starts to bubble around edges, cook 1-2 minutes more
• Remove from heat, add baking soda, stir until foamy.
• Divide sauce between two trays of popped corn. Stir to coat best you can.
• Place in 200˚ oven for 1 hour.
• Toss and coat every 15 min.
• Remove, store in tight container.

Listen to your mother:  Don’t turn oven passed 210˚ or it will get sugary, dry….and gross.

and now for a chemistry lesson.  it totally poofs it up like 3x.  fancy!

…..and just to give you an idea of how much two cookie sheets makes…. chomp.

Now you can head on over to Chenin’s blog for her Christmas Crack.  

Congratulations to you both! Thank you so much for having me.

Flowers: Flowers by Melissa
Venue: Darlington House – La Jolla, CA
Dress: David’s Bridal

If you have not seen it yet, check out Kyle and Tricia’s spunky Seattle wedding

Photo edited with RadLab.

Since the time this happened I have read numerous beautifully written articles from friends in the photography industry who have tragically lost clients, friends and family members to illness, car accidents, natural disasters and sweet little babies that just didn’t stand a chance.  This article comes to mind and I so wish that I could turn back time so that this story was different.

It started back in 2009 when I chose Patty’s family as a winner to my “tell me why your family is not boring” contest. Her son, Colyn, had a service dog named Fina and she stole my heart immediately. The bond between them was palpable so, it was a no brainer. I wanted to tell their story. A fifteen year old boy with freckles and the most beautiful black retriever  I had ever seen. Yes, please!

After a few attempts of trying to get the family on the calendar the holidays had come and gone. I had just moved from Murrieta to Fallbrook and the holiday rush had finally ceased and I was back to work.  I called to pester Patty one last time to get her session on the calendar.  The phone rang and she answered, “hello?” I started to talk but after a few words my brain had caught up to my mouth, in typical amy b. fashion,  and my words just stopped and it was silent.  I could tell that her world had been rocked within that single word.  I had no reason to believe Colyn was gone. He was not terminally ill.  All that rang through my body  was Why didn’t I place more stringent deadline on booking?   I could physically feel her pain in her silence and a sense of guilt and failure washed over me as a photographer. It was certainly something I had never felt before and it has most definitely changed my outlook on the actual value  and importance of what we do as photographers.

I was devastated for this family I barely knew and for a sweet boy that I would never get to meet. There are no words.  It simply was too late.

Over the past two years Patty and I have become quite good friends through facebook and recently she was nice enough to share her perspective:

I was so excited to enter the contest the Amy posted in her blog in July 2009. I had been wanting to have photos taken of our youngest son and his service dog, Fina. He had her less than a year and she was already his best friend. I knew I needed to document the love that was growing between them in some way. Honestly, I had scheduled an appointment at our local WalMart only to be given grief about bringing the dog with us even though she was a service dog. It was ok though because I wanted something much more than what WalMart could offer. So, I wrote up Colyn’s story, included a few snap shots I had taken, dropped a video I had made and sent it off to Amy with my fingers and toes crossed! It felt like an eternity until it was announced on August 10 that we had won a session! Even Colyn was excited, not about getting his picture taken, but having his picture taken with his girl, yes, she truly was his best friend.

We were busy planning a big vacation to Alaska so we decided we would schedule the photo shoot for when we got back. Our son got sick during the last days of our vacation and was admitted to the hospital as soon as we returned home. The admission lasted 2 weeks. We celebrated his 15th birthday when he came home! It took him weeks to really recover and get some energy back. I knew we could finally schedule the photo shoot as soon as the craziness of the holidays were over.

January 12 everything changed again. Colyn became so sick again and this time never recovered. Instead of scheduling a photo shoot, we found ourselves sorting through the photos we had of our precious son, longing for just one more. We realized that even though we had a large file of them on our computers, it just wasn’t enough. If we had just taken the time before our vacation and had those pictures taken. We also found that we didn’t have any recent pictures of Colyn with relatives even though they were with him frequently. Sadly, they didn’t like to have their pictures taken. We’ve learned some hard lessons through this. *You can never have enough pictures.  *Your hair/make up won’t matter, what matters is the memories that are captured in the photo. *You may not like to have your picture taken but loved ones might want pictures of you.

When Amy called me a month after Colyn had passed away, it was another loss. It was then I realized I had lost the opportunity for a photo shoot of my son and his best friend because I was too busy packing.  If I could go back and do it all over again…. well, that goes without saying.

I had the pleasure of meeting up with Patty and her family a few weeks ago for their long over due session. We ventured into Colyn’s room for a spell and Fina immediately jumped up on the bed, grabbed one of Colyn’s stuffed bears and touched our hearts.

Because I could not have said it better myself…I leave you with the wise words of my talented friend Michele -

If you have not had family pictures taken within the past 3 years, promise me right now that tomorrow morning, you will find someone to do it. I don’t care if it’s a neighbor, I don’t care if it’s a portrait studio, I don’t care if it’s a tripod and a remote. Just do it. We have no guarantees in life, but at least we can have the photos to prove that we were here, we were together, and we were happy.

 

xo, amy b.

You can see more from their family session HERE.

Congratulations Brian and Natalie!

Stay tuned for the second half of their session. In the mean time….show them some love. Just for fun 20 comments here on the blog and 20 facebook likes (at the bottom of this post) could snag them something fancy.

It has been another whirlwind of a week and I have loved every minute of it. My work is finally taking me places other than southern california!  i have a lot to share from my time in washington dc.  so please stick around to see some of that action unfold.

full speed ahead facing backward is exactly how this was shot in the tunnels under dulles airport. it was taken with some atypical settings for me F8 – 1/15 – 3200 iso.  i would love to see this big!  I think that many people can relate to what I am about to spill. This is the part where if you fall into any of these categories you will say oh that amy boring she is such a blah blah blah…can you believe her?  oh the nerve..i am so offended….UNFRIEND! or you feel the same way and can totally relate to what i am talking about and will want to become a FAN if you aren’t already.

i guess i just have to say this:

if you are going full speed ahead, looking behind you and not paying attention to your own path….what exactly are you trying to accomplish?

i have heard so many stories lately about how people are being treated by their “friends” and their colleagues that make me so sad. i have amazing friends that do their own thing and treat each other with respect. the one’s who don’t buhbye. so…i am happy to say I am not speaking directly to anyone I know personally but rather about several instances I have heard over the course of the last month or so from various associates/friends experiences first hand or being caught in the middle of others lamesauce. People… there is no time to take sides, make enemies, or worry about so and so. this is the  small little vent i am throwing into the universe. i think it’s actually quite positive….

remember what we all learned in elementary school? i think many people need to be reminded……  turn around in your seat. sit down. keep your feet on the floor.  worry about yourself.  don’t hit your friends.  no one likes a cutter.  less talk. more action. make art. don’t talk behind your friends backs. use your words. share.  pay attention. speak up.  stick up for your friends.  don’t lie.  don’t plagiarize.   you are unique so don’t try to be anyone other than yourself.  have fun. don’t be competitive with your friends or associate with people that treat you bad.  speak the truth.  don’t be sneaky.  jealousy is really really really ugly and if you were actually working  you wouldn’t have time to participate in any nonsense. none. so knock off the bs and get to work would ya?

the end.

I am off to photograph a baby coming into the world.  so excited and nervous.

to see past 52 weeks posts HERE.

Get a load of my Spring 2011 Special. Who needs groupon with all of you fine people out there with the power to share?  Come out here and I’ll take you around my epic little town of Fallbrook, CA. If you are from Orange County, San Diego, Temecula or surrounding areas it is well worth the drive. It is absolutely gorgeous out here and I’m cool too so it’s a win win. If you have something else in mind….let’s talk. A lifestyle session perhaps? I am pretty flexible and love mixing it up!

It’s the only session fee discount all year and you may never see a promotion like this again.  There is some fine print but that’s just so everyone is on the same page.   You can also visit my FAQ page for more details.

Do I need to say it again? This is for 35% off the entire farm with with orders of $500 or more (press printed cards and books not valid.)

It’s my birthday gift you!! I am off a little early to enjoy the rest of the day. Hope to hear from you soon! Grab your space via the paypal link at the bottom!