A Day at the Fair.....

My day at the Bridal Fair went well.  I gave out lots of cards and info, talked to many brides & grooms (and moms) and scheduled one appointment already. A good start to the year. Turnout was a little lower than usual this year, but we still had a good time.  Some pictures of the day:

A Bride discusses her options

Getting (& giving) Information

A beautiful cake displayed

Sampling the food

The Cake Smash - find a diamond to win a prize!

Lots of flashes going off!

Part of my booth

The Fashion Show Begins

Experimenting with some split tones on this one -tell me what you think :)





Love the look on her face!

Annual Bridal Fair

I will be heading out shortly, but thought I'd take a minute to remind everyone about the Bridal Fair today.  If you live in the area come on out and visit our booth! Even if you're not getting married, I'd love to see you. Lots of fun stuff going on all day.  It will be at Oakwood Mall - across from the Food Court, in the space right next to Claire's.  Time is 1-4 PM.  Hope to see many of you there later today! 

Some Scenic Photography

This week is starting out well.  All is set for this weekend's Bridal Fair at the local mall.  I am really excited about this - so many new things to offer my customers this year!  Also, the fair is shorter this year which I think is a good thing. It seemed to drag after the first three hours with everyone waiting around with little to do before the fashion show.  Now, it's just 3 hours long - we'll see how it works, but I think it will be a perfect fit.  My ad came out in the paper yesterday and I was very pleased.  So, we're doing well heading into the new year.

I've pulled out some landscape pictures (sprinkled in amidst people & vacation pictures) to post here.  I usually don't pursue landscapes too much - I'd so rather have a model between my camera and the background. :)  However, when we take vacations, we usually go to someplace scenic and I try to shoot a few.  These pictures are from 2008 when we spent nearly two weeks in Eminence Missouri and the Ozark National Scenic Riverways. We love National Parks and all things outdoors.

Baby sister Amelia (not yet 2) tries to coax a horse over to her side. She is an animal lover!

We love canoing! This is my only picture of the actual trip because I was not about to take my expensive camera onto the river. We started out in the morning -around 9:00- myself & 8 of my siblings - in 3 canoes, sometimes racing, sometimes resting, sometimes swimming. It was one of the best trips ever! We stopped at noon for lunch (my parents & youngest sibs met us at a riverside park).  Then we spent the rest of the afternoon canoing down the river back to our cabin.

Next day we went hiking in the national forest and went to see several Natural Springs in the area.  This next picture is totally unedited - and just look at the blueness of the water! Never seen anything like it.

Bridge over Big Spring

Hiking up to the top of the falls

Another day we went to Alley Spring Mill in the National Park.  So peaceful....

My sis gets pictures of the young ones

The Mill



Me and my sister



Another Spring - Blue Spring to be exact - even though they're all Blue!

We also went to Wilson's Creek National Battlefield.
This house was used to take care of the wounded.



We finished our trip with a stop at the Laura Ingalls Wilder home.



     It was a great vacation - we loved every minute.  Perhaps we'll make it back some time.

We're now online!

Hooray!  After months of hard work (and sometimes nearly tearing my hair out!) I have finally finished the website and it is now online!  Go take a look www.silhouettestudios.net

Tomorrow's the Day!

I'm tired and heading to bed, but just a quick post to say the site will be up tomorrow so keep checking!  I decided to go ahead and give out the address tonight.  http://www.silhouettestudios.net/   Once it's up and running and you see it, let me know what you think!

I took these pictures in 2007 - it's been fun to get out all the old photographs and see what I did in years past.  Enjoy!

The day is nearly here....

Wow, only one day to go now.  The days just fairly fly by.  The website should be online Friday morning if all goes according to plan.  Of course, one of the qualities that I seem to lack is flexibility - I have always been a little rigid concerning "set plans".  I think the Lord often sends circumstances along to wreck my well-laid plans to teach me to trust Him more.  So, if such is the case, it will be online later - but it will happen ..... some time!  And so, in preparation we will post a silhouette - in honor of our new name and new website: Silhouette Studios.

2 days and counting.....

We draw closer every day - and I get busier with each day that passes!  So, just a short post today.  Laura and I went to the local newspaper office yesterday morning to proof my ad for the annual "Brides" insert that will come out in Sunday's paper. (It coincides with the annual Bridal Fair which is next Saturday - more on that in future posts.) The ad looks great. As an added bonus, several of my pictures will be featured on a two page spread alongside other local photographers. I sent in a number of my favorite wedding shots and they picked one for the ad.  I'm not exactly sure which will be featured in the spread - I'm not too worried, I like them all!  Here's the one they picked for the ad:

I took this picture some time ago - at a wedding in 2008 .... or maybe it was 2007?  I don't know. I could go look it up, but at the moment, I don't have the time.  Anyway, it was a while back.  Richelle made a beautiful bride & this shot has long been a favorite.

Less than one week now....

We are now down to less than a week on our countdown to "Launch Day".  TEN....  NINE.....  EIGHT......  SEVEN......  SIX.......  FIVE......  It gets closer all the time!  We are putting the finishing touches on the website and we're really excited for everyone to see it.  And a big thanks to everyone who has "liked" us on facebook.

Yesterday I received a much anticipated package in the mail.  This small package was the culmination of about 2 years' work.  Included inside was a welcome letter into the Mayflower Society!  My mother was born in Massachusetts (moving away when she was a year old) and had always been told by her mother that their family descended from the Mayflower Pilgrims.  Only problem was that their last name did not match with any who came over in 1620 - so the challenge was to discover to which one were we related?  Come to find out, we are actually related to quite a few of them, but I chose to trace our line through John Howland & his wife Elizabeth Tilley.  They & their descendents (until my mother & grandmother) stayed in Massachusetts and the state keeps very good records. Finding Birth, Marriage & Death records for everyone in the line (and their spouse) can be a little hard to trace sometimes.  My job was fairly easy, but time-consuming.  Life did have to continue - despite genealogical research - and so now two years later, I finally have the official stamp.

Last year, we did something I'd never done before. We went grave-hunting. (Unfortunately, our Mayflower ancestors are not buried nearby - so we went looking for my dad's ancestors.) I must say that driving along the back-roads of Arkansas can be a little ..... ummm, daunting? confusing? filled with potholes?  Something like that - or all of the above. :) Although we never did get lost, I felt as though it were a distinct possiblility.  Regardless of the difficulties, we had a blast! The scenery was gorgeous and I never imagined driving around on some old dirt roads with my mom & sisters would be so much fun!  It made it even more exciting to think that my ancestors drove along those same roads with their horse & buggy. Wow.  What different lives we lead. But I digress....

So, of course I took along my camera.  I got some really neat shots and then added some text in Photoshop.  All in all, it was a great experience.  I hope to do it again sometime soon. 

Located on top of a hill, this spot was so peaceful. This cemetery was owned by our ancestors several decades ago.



I loved this little spider... well, as long as he stayed where he was. 
Located in Cove Cemetery, this headstone marks the resting place of my great-great-grandfather.

Another cemetery - final resting place for my
great-great-great grandfather & grandmother Stewart

Launch day is moved up!

The website launch date has been moved up a few days!  We're now going to launch on Friday, January 20th.  We had some advertising opportunities arise today that we felt shouldn't be turned down.  And since it seems best to be online when the ad comes out, we made the decision to launch sooner than expected.  It is now only 8 days 'til the launch.

Absolute Adorableness

13 days to go.... and we're on Facebook!

The time goes by quickly, and it's now only 13 days until the website is online!  In the meantime, we've opened a Fan Page on Facebook.  Look up Silhouette Studios in Enid and then if you want, Like us.  All "Likes" are definitely appreciated!  Here is one of my favorite action shots.  My brothers running in a local race - all my brothers love to run.

15 days & counting.....

     In just 15 short days I will be unveiling my new website.  I am so excited about this!  The website is looking great - and nearly finished.  I can hardly believe I actually have one.  I've wanted one for some time now, and just never "got around" to doing it.  And now, it's almost done.  So, in 15 days I will be publishing - I can't wait for you all to see it!
     In the meantime, I'll post a few cute pics from a recent trip to the Zoo.  We love zoos. We've been to different ones all over the country.  Unfortunately, we don't have one here, but one of the best in the nation is just a short drive away.  The Oklahoma City Zoo is absolutely wonderful.  The last time we went we saw the newest addition: the cutest little baby elephant.  She is adorable!  I'll have to post pictures of her some time.  Right now though, I have pictures of the Otters.  Otters live in Oklahoma - although I've never actually seen one in the wild.  Wouldn't that be fun?

Photojournalism

I've always enjoyed photojournalism.  In fact, a picture that ran in our local paper (when I was 14) so gripped me that for the first time I realized how much a picture can say.  It's amazing: no words, no explanations, just one image doing all the talking.  A picture isn't just worth a thousand words, it can say a thousand words.  Over the years it's been a challenge I give myself: to make my pictures - at least certain ones - do a lot of talking.  Sometimes, it's staging something, sometimes it's just capturing what's already happening.  Whatever the case, it's fun to try to be fast, capturing the moment from the best angle, with the best lighting.  Sometimes you get that perfect image.  And let's be honest.... a lot of times it's time to try again!  But enough blogging, I'll let the pictures talk.  (Took these last summer)