It's a sign.

Remember that post where I was all 

"I just do this stuff because I like it and you can keep your stinking money!"??

Me, too.

Well, it seems that the Universe has other plans.

A few weeks ago, we got a notice from the city. It was addressed to both of us, with Steve listed at the top, so I set it on his side. I assumed it was something to do with taxes (rightly) and that he could add it to his papers and send it to our CPA (wrong.)

The city, it seems, cared greatly that I had made money in 2011 and 2012. Greatly. They cared that it had been made, not that it happened in finite terms and resulted in checks well below the poverty line. I made money on my own while living in San Jose and that made me a business operating within city limits and that meant I needed to register.

Long, long, story short: I have paid the city TWO YEARS of back processing fees and fees for the pleasure of potentially making money in 2013. The fact that I had no concrete plans to do so was also of no concern to them. 

Luckily, I have a business degree and have been kicking around some ideas and filing things and buying things and before you know it, embrita.com will no longer be under construction. 

Until then - there's a whole lot of this going on:

(soundtrack: here.) 

In other news, this arrived from erincondren.com a few days ago. I love a good life planner! 

On Why I'm Not A Pro...Anything Right Now

I had the pleasure of shooting a friend's Christmas card and newborn photos today. This particular friend is one of my oldest California friends. Her daughters are close enough in age to my sons that I harbor fantasies of calling them my in-laws one day (just kidding. [not really.])

Because we both live in newborn land (and her 'hood also includes graduate school) nothing happens on the timeline we envision. Nothing. Which works out nicely because it meant that neither of us was too bothered when 10am became 11 and then 11:30 and then I finally made the 5 minute drive to arrive promptly at about noon.

Two hours and 242 images later, she has a few keepers and a few that will be great if either of us can muster to time/energy to edit them.

She hadn't hired a pro (and we know some good pros) partly because of budgetary concerns and I understand both sides of that. On the one hand...they're photos. Every gadget on the planet has a camera in it and we tend to want to document every single moment of our lives. Paying hundreds (or thousands) of dollars for photos feels low on the totem of budgetary line-items. I have placed it there myself. We would not have had our Christmas card photo were it not for a lucky opening in the mini-sessions being offered by a friend/pro of ours. On the other hand - you want photos that capture your important moments and sometimes you rearrange and write the check.

But I can see why the pros charge hundreds or even thousands of dollars. When you are the one who has put in the time to learn your craft, the money to learn even more, the money and time to invest in and then master your equipment, and you spend hours with your clients and many more editing... and then you have someone call you to tell you "well, those are nice, but my husband can take those in our living room with a disposable camera..." Well, that makes you want to throw your shoe at them. Or start drinking before your shift at the mall photo studio is over. (Not kidding. That's a direct quote and it was the first time I ever wanted to scream at a client. The photos I got were so beautiful that corporate sent 16x20s to every studio to hang on their walls and put it on their website. It was a rare session where the stars aligned and there was no need for post-processing. In a mall studio. In 2002.

And now I'm looking at 242 images of my friends being thankful that I do not have an editing deadline aside from the casual "let me know if there's one you want me to fix for your card" - I get to take my time with these and enjoy them. I get to be excited at the finished product. I got to stand around and taste olive oil from their Greek trip and hear songs from their 3 year old. My payment was cookies and film (!!) It was a treat and not a job. It is a pleasure and not a chore. Long live the barter system.

The same is true of writing. I write for the Natural Parents Network. For free. Because I love to write, because I believe in their mission, and because (is this redundant?) I love to hand out unsolicited advice.

Here's some:

Read this book.

Listen to this song.

Subscribe to this podcast.

Make any -or all - of these cookies.

Call your mother. ;-)

Find things to do that fill in this blank:

"__________ is like sex. If I like you and you appreciate it, it is free. Otherwise you can't pay me enough."

Happy Holidays!

Photo by Heather Avrech Photography

WW - Kids with Cameras

More (of Baz) at NPN.

{this moment}

From Soulemama.com:

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

I grab my camera, he grabs his...

Snap Shop: A Review

FOLKS, can I just take a moment to spread some Ashley Ann Campbell love? Because as you know, a few weeks ago I invested in her SnapShop course - an online photo course designed to get beginning photographers away from the automatic setting of their fancy new DSLRs.

In the interest of complete honesty: I was not strictly a beginner. But my fancy DSLR is the first DIGITAL SLR I've owned, and the ISO control was mind-boggling, so I had been shooting to give myself control over the Aperture and Shutter Speed, but leaving my camera to do auto ISO. It did a decent job, but it was only 2/3rds the amount of control I really wanted to have. (if you care, my 35mm SLR is this one. Ashley Ann shoots on Canon, but has helpful Nikon info as well.)

As an example - here are some of my BSS (before Snap Shop) images - all fine, but none stellar. There are unedited, and I used my kit lens.  

 In retrospect - adjust the framing and the exposure.

 Again - framing, exposure...it drives me crazy that his face is so dark.

I'm ok with the framing on this one, but the exposure...whew. And now all I can see is the orange that looks like an earring.

So - then I took the plunge. 3 weeks, at my own pace, with her advice and techniques rolling through my brain. Composition, tell a story, get the exposure right, don't be afraid to use an action when the light in your office/music room is all kinds of wonky.... and while they're not perfect, I can see that it is equal parts my pushing the equipment to its limit and pushing my own technique to its limit. With practice (and better glass) my images will only improve. But what I've got now is nothing to sneeze at:

 This is a Nelly Nero Action - like Ashley Ann, I find that actions to be an amazing timesaver. Could I have sat at the computer and adjusted curves and color casts until I got here? Sure. But, as I'm sure you can tell by the frequency with which I've been posting lately, life is busy. 

Let's just say Actions are to Photoshop as Dishwashers are to dishes. (I say as someone with NO DISHWASHER. It's inhumane, really.)

Other actions/PS goodies I love can be found here and here.   

 This one is imperfect. I do not care. 

This is one of my favorites - I managed to catch this expression (he's delighted that Daddy has just come to "light" his coals) and the lighting is good and there are no weird mergers and I'm happy with the cropping. I've got this one printed and waiting to be hung already. (The little barbecue can be found here.) 

Let me just say that if she ever sets up a Snap Shop Phase Two, I will be all over it. Or even if it's Snap Shop Photo Retreats...and if we're ever in the same town, I am buying that woman coffee. Or a smoothie. Or something. Because SHAZAM...I love her.

If you're looking for tips/inspiration and you just can't wait for the next snapshop - check out her Photo Tips here. Some of my favorite inspirational images are among those posts.

PS: At the risk of just going completely gooey-centered....she's not just an amazing photographer, she's a great mom, a fun crafter, and a truly inspirational human being. If you follow that last link, make sure to read about the incubator project and what became of it - she's not only opening her home to a child who needs one, she's helping improve the lives of children she'll never meet. We should all be so lucky to have someone like her in our lives.

In Which I am a Genius

Before: do you see where the toy company failed?

Solution: I used a pin instead of a paper clip because a) I couldn't find any paper clips and b) I felt the clasp would work better with the glue - more surface area to stick. 

Voila!

Voila! So simple, a toddler can do it.

PS - I'm almost finished with my photo course - I'll do a wrap post with a couple of general tips next week - it ends this weekend. Photos (mostly unedited) are appearing in my flickr feed, perhaps progress is already apparent there?

PPS - not so wordless this Wednesday, but I'm ok with that. I don't blog regularly enough to restrict myself like that. ;-)

Photographing Everything

Tomorrow I start taking my first photography course in over a decade. It's called a SnapShop: fully online and being given by (who else?) the magnificent Ashley Ann Campbell. I'll have a set on my flickr to document my progress, but I'm not going to share anything aside from what I'm bringing to it...which may not be a lot since the last time I studied this we said "film speed" instead of "iso."

Here's hoping I go from loving 10% of my images to 90% of them...

...and that I use my "good" camera as much as I use instagram. (so used because...have you SEEN the light situation on an iphone?)

The One Where I Talk About My C-Section

You can find it HERE.

And you can find the entire birth slideshow, here:

http://kellymphotography.com/slideshows/Sebastianbirth/

And this is the little man yesterday:

Happy Monday!

She Left Proof

So this morning, Ashley at Under The Sycamore, led me to a flickr group. I immediately joined. If you have children and a camera, you should join, too.

Here's the "mission statement"

"Many scrapbookers knew Aleida Franklin. She was a wonderful wife and mother and a brilliant artist. I didn't know Aleida personally, but she taught me something I will never forget.

She emailed me last year to tell me she loved my blog and to ask if I liked my short hair-cut. This lead to a series of emails which eventually led me to remark that I really loved how often she posted pictures of herself with her children on her blog. And she replied to me, "Have you ever seen a photograph of your own mother and thought to yourself how fat she looked? Or how she wasn't wearing make-up? Or wasn't dressed in a glamorous outfit?" Of course my answer was no.

She then responded with saying that she made it a goal to take a picture of herself with her children at least once every month. And that to use excuses about how we look, as women, is ridiculous, since our children will never care what we looked like, but only that we had physical evidence of the bond between mother and child.

Aleida tragically and unexpectedly passed away in an auto accident in September of 2008, leaving 2 small children and a grieving husband. After she passed I thought of how those children must feel to have those precious photographs. I have made it my personal goal to follow her wise suggestion and I try to take photos of myself with my children....double chins, make-up free, bed-head and all.

I invite Mothers everywhere to take Aleida's Challenge. To photograph yourself with your children each and every month. And to post them here so that we can see Aleida's legacy unfolding."


There's a little flashy in my sidebar right below the link to my flickr. If you click the flashie it will take you to Emilie, who created the group and the flashie. Get your own. Every time you see it blink, pull out your camera and get in the shot.

(4 Generations - my Grandmother, my sister, my mom, my great-grandmother, and me. circa 1982ish.)