Palm Desert Fine Art Photographer- "Game Face"

"Game Face"

July 2015

Go Soak Your Head Series

Just around the time I finish a few images in a series I have undertaken, 

I get an idea for another series.

People often marvel at how eager my daughter seems to pose for me.

The secret is jelly beans.

When jelly beans are at stake, not only is she willing to pose,

she will come up full concepts for shoots.

This image is a product of one of those jellybean quests.

This child would live in the water if she could.

Though she doesn't swim yet, she will jump at any chance she has to get in the water,

even if it's just the bathtub.

In true fish fashion though, she decide that this would be the perfect chance to test out

her new goggles and swim floaties. 

Of course, because she is who she is, she tested them out in her own way.

"Circling the Drain"

July 2015

Go Soak Your Head Series

Palm Desert Lifestyle Photographer~ And Then We Snapped- 365 Blog Circle- Week 21

For the last 21 weeks, I have been blessed to be part of an amazing group of photographers documenting our lives through a daily photography project called a "365".

My first complete 365 is actually coming to an end as I started mine on December 31 last year. 

I am fairly sure the only reason I saw it through was because

 of the amazing support of these fabulous ladies. 

I can't wait to start again for 2015! 

After you've taken a gander at my week, please be sure to keep going along the circle and visit my friend 

Melissa Pizzalato Photography 

She is supremely talented as are all the ladies in this group, you will be so inspired by the end that you will not regret the time you spent-especially if you remembered to start the journey with a cup of your favorite beverage handy! 

Didn't we all do this? It's like some sort of childhood rite of passage. 

A glimpse of the future- a scary one indeed. If she is this gorgeous now, I don't want to think about when she's a teenager!

He's very particular about his clothes. I am very particular about the light. 

This day our worlds met in the middle.

I love that on her career aspiration list, "Mommy" is still at the top. 

Along with all the other attractions the Children's Museum has to offer, this

open field with this view just happens to be one of them. 

Early Christmas present and new family members- Frazier and Niles.

We were out of blueberries to adorn your oatmeal, but mangoes did in a pinch.

If you look hard enough, I'm in there!

<<<<<<>>>>>>

That's all for my week! Be sure to head over to 

Melissa Pizzalato Photography 

for more! 

And Then We Snapped Week 20

As this year is winding down to a close, I find my activity level winding up faster and faster.

I still shoot almost daily, but getting everything edited and into a blog post is becoming more and more challenging. I am anxious to close this year up and start fresh. I have lots of changes planned in the upcoming year.  Both for my blog/website and for my photography focus. 

So I will offer up what I have finished in the past weeks, as more highlight than documentation. 

Feel free to stay a while and meander around. When you are done, be sure to keep the circle going and head on over to see the amazing work of 

Shelley Glimcher | Time to Play Photography 

These next three shots were from Thanksgiving Day at my mother in law's house. She has these great windows and an amazing view in her front yard. The light was just too irresistible to not get the big camera out. Almost as irresistible as the pies.

These next two shots are from a client session. I've known this senior and her mom since she was in eight grade. It was an honor to shoot her sweet sixteen and now her senior pictures. These two shots however, were for me. They were shots I wanted to take and used the session as an excuse to experiment. I'd consider the experiments successful,

We haven't been eating out much these days, and I have had my camera out and about with me even less, but this day I just happened to have it. The light in this particular Panda Express was  and extra treat on top of the fortune cookies.

When I deliberately stop and take account of all the blessings in my life that I am grateful for, I am utterly overwhelmed and doubly blessed- 

first by the blessing itself 

and second by the realization of it. 

It was my intention to spend the last 30 days of the year documenting them visually.

 Of course this whole year has really been about that too, 

so though I may have slacked on the daily images of gratitude, 

I seriously live with an attitude of gratitude every day of my life. 

God has brought me through far too much not to see behind me with 20/20 vision just exactly how He was there all along and preparing me for the next stop on the journey.

Just an iPhone shot, but I could not fail to document this

 gorgeous view in my mother in law's front yard. 

I was able to treat myself to a little bit of new gear this month. 

This shot was taken utilizing a macro filter. 

Perhaps a macro lens may be in my future, but for now, I think this shot is nothing to sneeze at. 

The hubs and his new band were able to play a fairly large venue at a local festival.

It was a perfect opportunity for me to get some good performance shots of the band.

Performance shots are fairly boring to me, so in addition to those I got creative.

Shooting with an almost five year old in tow has it's own unique set of challenges, especially when there are carnival ride nearby that you don't get to go on until the band is done playing. 

She waited patiently (mostly) and we were both rewarded.

I am far from a girly girl. I do not like jewelry, 

flowers seem wasteful, and I am hopeless with hairstyles. 

Though my oldest child is a girl too, being the mom of boys for so many years served me pretty well. This girl though, she likes the girl stuff and this mom is just going to have to deal with it.

So this is the first time I ever painted her nails, even though she is almost five. 

It was so sweet to see her keep her hands and feet safe while her nails dried 

and then admired the color sparkles for the rest of the day. 

She drew and colored the crown all by herself and her daddy helped her cut it out. 

Her other crown broke and she wasn't willing to wait 

for a visit to the dollar store to pick up a new one.

I tend to think this one is way prettier anyway.

When I shot these next two images, I knew they might be black and white.

I could see it in my head. But I was also trying for color. 

There is something about strong directional light in small amounts

 that lends itself so well to a dramatic black and white edit though. 

It also might have something to do with the way all my Christmas decorations make me feel. 

Ninety percent of all my Christmas decor belonged to my mother. 

Most of it bought in after Christmas sales just after the last Christmas she spent here on Earth.

 She passed away before she was able to use them. 

Though Ember never met my mom, she reminds me of her so much. 

This first shot is a bit of an inside story because my mom collected teapots 

and she bought this particular ornament for herself, 

and now Ember has claimed it as hers. 

Not to end on a sad note at all, because I truly do love the season of Christmas. 

Though I don't love all the shallowness and hoopla and stress. 

I love instead, the hope it represents.  

Hope of the eternal and of redemption and most importantly: 

of magnificent love.

Be sure to head on over to see the fabulous work of   

  Shelley Glimcher | Time to Play Photography 

You will so glad you did. I always am!

Love and Blessings,

Julie

Palm Desert Lifestyle Photographer~ And Then We Snapped- 365 Blog Circle- Week 4

We are already on week 4 of this collective adventure! 

We had a busy week getting ready for school to start and a last minute trip for the little miss.

226 to 232

August 17th to August 23rd, 2014

Day 226/365

"Curve"

{noun}

: a continuously bending line, without angles.

She is my daughter. 

She will have curves, it is unavoidable. 

Better she learn to dance with them now instead of fighting with them later. 

~~~

Day 227/365

"Smooch"

"If kisses were rainbows, I'd send you a storm"

Unknown

She is the last of my four children and by far the most affectionate- with me anyway.
She is still very cautious with her affection for anyone outside our immediate family-
and even Daddy and brothers are far less likely
to be the recipient of hugs and kisses than I am.
And though I have always been one is very affectionate of my space bubble,
I am more than happy to let her pop said bubble when she says,
"Mommy, I always smile when you kiss me!"




~~~

Day 228/365


"Summer's End"


"Summer ends, and Autumn comes, and he who would have it otherwise would have high tide always and a full moon every night; and thus he would never know the rhythms that are at the heart of life." 
~Hal Borland

Summer lasts until late October here in the desert ,climate wise, 

but we are feeling the end of summer as we prepare 

for my son to start his junior year of high school. 

I am acutely aware of this season of his childhood coming to a close very quickly, 

and as much as I would like to hold it off, 

I know that life is done a disservice in my attempt to do so.

~~~

Day 229/365

"In My Shadow"

Bed head and peanut butter face, like it or not I cast my shadow on her.

I pray that shadow is short and light as opposed to long and heavy. 

~~~

Day 230/365

"Haze" 

“We grow great by dreams. All big men are dreamers. They see things in the soft haze of a spring day or in the red fire of a long winter's evening. Some of us let our dreams die, but others nourish and protect them, nurse them through bad days till they bring them to sunshine and light.”

Woodrow T. Wilson

I haven't free lensed in a while, especially outside. 

It's a scary proposition sometimes, but ,oh my, sometimes the return is worth the risk.

~~~

Day 231/365

"Unicorn"

“The Unicorn looked dreamily at Alice, and said "Talk, child."

Alice could not help her lips curling up into a smile as she began: "Do you know, I always thought Unicorns were fabulous monsters, too? I never saw one alive before!"
"Well, now that we have seen each other," said the Unicorn, "If you'll believe in me, I'll believe in you. 
Is that a bargain?” 
― Lewis Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass

"I'm a unicorn. Mommy! I'm a unicorn!"

"Yes, dear. Always be yourself- unless you can be a unicorn- then 

be a unicorn!"

~~~

Day 232/365  

"Down"

“Life is like an escalator. You see, it carries you on regardless. And you might as well enjoy the view and seize every opportunity while you're passing. Otherwise, it'll be too late.”

― Sophie Kinsella, Twenties Girl

This was the first time we had taken the escalator together without me holding her.

 I am almost NEVER at the mall, 

but today it happened to be the most expeditious route to

 fulfill the goal of having sneakers for her trip to her cousins. 

They happen to live very near the beach

 and experience quite a variance of temperatures in any given day. 

Where we live in the desert, you can pretty much get by with sandals 75 percent of the year. 

I almost couldn't believe, that I didn't have a shot like  this in my portfolio yet, 

but in a way I was really glad because I don't think 

I would have been nearly as successful with it even six months ago.

Oh, and by the way, she did awesome on the escalator. 

To keep the fun going, follow the blog circle to Kelly's blog by clicking on the camera below.

Palm Desert Photographer~ And Then We Snapped~Blog Circle 365 Week 3

I have the privilege of belong to a blog circle group called
And Then We Snapped...
We share our work on Tuesdays.

Tuesdays are quickly becoming one of my favorite days.
I get to see some of the most amazing imagery
AND
people leave me nice comments about mine.

That's a recipe for addiction, I'm telling you!
It's also an awesome recipe for accountability.
I don't know about the other ladies,
but I had extra incentive to get my daily shots taken.
Here's hoping you enjoy what life served up for me this past week...




219 to 225

August 10th to August 16th





219/365 "Games"

Time is a game played beautifully by children.” 

― Heraclitus, Fragments

 

She is just starting to understand and have the attention span to play simple games.

Her daddy is not much of a game person, but for her, he makes exceptions.

~~~

22/365  "Scholarship"

"True scholarship consists in knowing not what things exist, 

but what they mean; it is not memory but judgment."

James Russell Lowell

We are preparing to start school again. 

For my oldest still at home it is at public high school.

For my younger son and this princess it is learning at home. 

I have spent a great deal of time this summer reassessing 

what my view of education is, who it is for, and why. 

It's an adventure I really can't wait to begin.

And though this will be my 12th year doing it, 

this adventure is going to be totally different.

The kids are now in charge.

Yep, the lunatics will be running the asylum.

~~~

221/365 "Dip"

“The key to success―keep swimming. Even when they tap you on the shoulder to say the pool has been drained, just keep swimming.” 
― Richelle E. Goodrich

She was born to be in the water. She would live there if she could. 

Not being able to swim yet, is of no consequence to her.

~~~

222/365 "Geography"

Everything has to do with geography.

Judy Martz

So even though this was actually a set up to take promo shots 

for upcoming back to school mini-sessions, it seems appropriate 

in light of of events on the world stage at the moment.

 In our own country and abroad.

~~~

223/365 "Lips" 

"When you look at the brain regions associated with picking up data from the body, 

a huge amount of the brain is devoted to picking up information from the lips and tongue."

Helen Fisher

Her mouth has a language all it's own in the way it shapes itself into expressions 

that reveal far more than her four year old vocabulary can convey. 

~~~

 224/365  "Obscurity"

“If you desire the path of sincerity, develop a love for obscurity. Flee from the clatter and clinks of fame. Be like the roots of a tree; it keeps the tree upright and gives it life, 

but it itself is hidden underneath the earth and eyes cannot see it.” 
― Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak

I have no real desire to be known as a person, except to those closest to me.

And that is a ridiculously small number.

 I want them to know exactly who I am and why. 

For everyone else, knowing my work is far close enough, 

and sometimes too close. 

I sometimes wish I were different, 

but I have come to be settled in the trueness of who I am. 

I spent quite a lot of time when I was younger 

trying to be someone slightly different, 

someone better, more worth knowing.

Not only was it exhausting, 

it turns out the someone better was already there 

when I didn't try so hard.

~~~

225/365 "Dessert" 

“Look, there's no metaphysics on earth like chocolates.” 

― Fernando Pessoa

There is this generational curse from my husband's side of the family. 

It is the belief that ice cream is a food group.

Chocolate frozen yogurt is, however, an acceptable substitute,

as long as there are rainbow sprinkles on top.

~~~

To follow the blog circle click on the camera and head over to Erica's blog. 

Blog Circle 365

As the year started out and my first 365 project began, I had wanted to treat it as a separate entity with it's own Facebook page. It was called Momma Snapped. It wasn't too long of trying to maintain multiple pages and sharing images across them that this momma was in fact ready to snap. I downgraded my project to just my blog, business page, and personal page. Very quickly that got downgraded again to an album on my personal page that gets shared on my business page. One thing I did do though was keep shooting, pretty much daily- even if they didn't get edited or posted, images were being shot and moments documented. I haven't been perfect, but when I haven't, I've made it a priority to catch up. I am still a few days behind. 

Here I will share with you images from my past week. Sunday through Saturday. 

July 27 to August 2nd, 2014. Images 205 to 211 of 365. 

~~~

Continuing twirl practice. Had to use a flash bounced off the ceiling to freeze the motion and then play with blur effects in PS to speed it back up!

205/365 "Vortex" 

"The image is more than an idea. It is a vortex or cluster of fused ideas and is endowed with energy."

Ezra Pound 

~~~

206/365 "I'm a fan."
"Absence diminishes mediocre passions and increases great ones, as the wind extinguishes candles and fans fires.Francois de La Rochefoucauld

She knows her time is valuable. She will no longer let me take her picture unless payment is involved. For now, she is thankfully content with jelly beans or m&m's.




~~~

207/365 "Rasberry" 
Dark Helmet: Raspberry. There's only one man who would dare give me the raspberry: Lone Star!
[camera moves in closer and closer during his dialog until it smashes into Dark Helmet and knocks him out] 
~Space Balls

~~~

208/365 "Contagious"
“There is nothing in the world so irresistibly contagious as laughter and good humor.” 
― Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol

~~~

209/365 "Shopping"
"The quickest way to know a woman is to go shopping with her."

Marcelene Cox




~~~




If you know me at all, you know how much I detest physically going to a store to do any kind of shopping. Occasionally, if I bring my camera, the trip is worth it. 

210/365 "Expression"
“I have 26 silly faces, each represents a different letter of the alphabet. So while you think I am grimacing over what you are talking about, I am really spelling out I love you.” 
― Jarod Kintz, Love quotes for the ages. Specifically ages 18-81.

What kills me the most is how much she looks like my mom in this picture.

My mom passed away about eight years ago, so these moments are bittersweet but precious.



~~~

211/365 "Daddy"

"My fingers may be small, but I can still wrap Daddy around them"
~Unknown 

She is going to be absolutely spoiled for other men down the road. Her daddy treats her like a total princess. I wouldn't have it any other way.



~~~

That wraps up this past week for us. Be sure to head over to

 Nadeen Flynn Photography

to keep the circle going!

See you next week!