Happy Holidays to All!

My blog...such a quiet place! I am working on some changes for the new year and restructuring my online presence. Watch for some future announcements!

The subject of blog circle I am participating in this month is "holiday." I have taken a lot of holiday photos for my clients, some I can share and some I can't until the holidays are over, but each photo will become a special memory for the family.

The holidays are a special time to get together with family and friends. I love the beautiful decorations, especially sparkles and snowflakes! Below are a few detail shots from my own decorations. Head of over to my friend Livie's blog and check out her "holiday" post!

Country Roads

Totally a country girl at heart so when our blog circle theme is "roads," I just had to go for a drive on some local country roads, both gravel and dirt. We get so busy and the road is just a way to reach our destination but there are so many things to see when you take time to look around, drive slower, take the road less traveled and enjoy the country. Hope you enjoy my little drive and the views of the scenery along the road. Stop by my friend Kristi's blog and see where roads lead her!

 Love my Terrain! :-)

Life....it's what's happening!

The theme of our blog circle this month is "Life"....well, it's been happening and getting in the way of this blog post! I am just going to do a quick post as I am off to visit my son in Minnesota for a couple days.

I have been loving these warm summer like mornings on the porch with my cup of coffee....In the perfect life,  I would be relaxing in the warm sunshine every morning!!

 While I am there, I am currently enjoying the scent of lilacs and lily of the valley, as well as this beautiful view!

Then it's back to the reality of the day in my home office, but that's not all bad as I love my work as a photographer and the freedom of being self employed! Stop by and visit my friend, Lynnea and see what "Life" is to her!

April Showers...

Enough with April showers! I am ready for May flowers! The weather here in East Central Iowa has been cold, rainy and miserable. On the plus side, we have mostly have had just rain, not the ice or snow that other people have had to deal with.

Since "April Showers" was our blog circle theme this month, I had plans to do some fun April showers pictures with rain boots, puddles and umbrellas. Those things never happened because if it was raining during the day, I wasn't home or it was just nasty misty stuff. Plus, I hate the cold and the temperature were in the upper thirties or low forties so it was just damp and miserable and we even saw some sleet and snow (yes, I am whining!). This severely hampered my creativity!! Not at all the kind of weather I like to go outside and play in! We seemed to have a lot of heavy rain at night, so I took a few quick photos in the dark with a spot light from the protection of the porch one night. This was my favorite from the group.

I brought a wet daffodil in one morning and using a piece of black fabric and the light shining in the window from behind the flower took this photo....it's what I am looking forward to...May flowers!

Stop by my friend Lynnea's blog and check out "April Showers" in her part of the world.

Lucky!

This is the time of year when photographers usually focus on marketing programs and plans that will take them through the year. My blog circle subject for the month is “lucky,” so this has been in the back of my mind as I have been working on business goals and marketing plans. It is clear that success isn’t simply a matter of luck, but hard work and good decisions. However, sometimes it seems luck plays a part when something you hadn’t planned works out! Conversely, bad luck can be a painful learning experience! So, let’s be positive and think lucky from a business standpoint!

These are some quotes I found about luck and being lucky that I liked. Unfortunately, most of them did not give credit for the quotes but they were good ones.

1. A real man makes his own luck. 

2. I'm a great believer in luck, and I find the harder I work, the more I have of it.

3. I've found that luck is quite predictable. If you want more luck, take more chances. Be more active. Show up more often. – Brian Tracy

4. Diligence is the mother of good luck.

I am lucky to be doing what I love. I am lucky that I can set my own schedule, even though I tend to be a workaholic, I can work late and sleep late, at least most mornings! Lucky to have a studio space in my house! My house isn’t large and my studio space is not space I would dream of having but it works. Living in the country means I have beautiful outdoor locations right outside my door, even if the gravel roads aren’t always very nice getting here!

Lucky is often a matter of perspective. We had a strong wind that blew down a tree. It wasn’t lucky that the wind blew over the tree, but it was lucky the tree feel where it did and made a great spot for family portraits!

I am lucky to have great clients that believe in me and my ability to capture moments that they will treasure forever. While I feel incredibly lucky to have all of my clients and to enjoy each area of my business, these little people make me feel especially lucky! 

Stop by my friend Livie's blog and check out her take on "lucky."

Love is...

February is the month of love! It's also a good month to snuggle and stay warm! As I type this, we are hearing more information about the expected snowstorm for tomorrow in Iowa and we are currently under a winter storm warning. Right now, my area is supposed to get around 9" of snow, but the worst thing is the wind that will be whipping around at 25 to 35 mph. I had to run into town today so I stopped a the grocery store to pick up a few things so we can weather the storm with plenty of good food to eat! Typically out here in the country, we get snowed in for a day or two....sometimes more.

The subject of our monthly blog circle post for February is "Love is..." Love mean different things to different people so it will be interesting to see what everyone in our circle comes up with!

Love is...

Living in the country and seeing sights like this.

Love is...

brother and sister giving each other a kiss.

Love is...

a big spotted, goofy Dalmatian with a cold, black nose!

Love is...

a little beauty in everyday.

Love is...

family... three boys with one married giving me a daughter-in-law that I dearly love!

Thank you for stopping by! Take a minute to check out my friend, Livie's, blog and see what "Love is..." to her!

January 2013!

So, I fully intended to do weekly blog posts starting at the first of the year. Despite my good intentions, that just hasn't happened! My major excuse is having surgery on Dec. 27 that has really hard to bounce back from. I had a nissen fundoplication and hiatal hernia repair. The surgery went fine but eating and feeling good since have been really hard. In the three weeks since the surgery, I have lost 20 lbs. While losing weight is a plus, the loss of strength and muscle tone are definitely not! On a more positive note, I am feeling better and I have been able to have some photo sessions but strength and endurance are taking a lot more time to return than I would like!!

Our monthly blog circle theme this month is "black & white." My first thought was that's easy...I have the perfect subject, my dalmatian, Callie. Trying to get the photo that I envisioned of her was an epic fail! Yesterday, I had a maternity session and I love maternity photos in a warm black and white so I will share a few of those with you.

This afternoon, I looked out to see it was snowing hard. I couldn't resist a few black and white snow pictures to complete my post.

Thank you for stopping by and checking out my blog! Take a minute to stop by Livie's blog and see her black and white vision for the month!