Hello!? Anybody Home?

So.... I feel like it's been forEVER since I've updated my blog (okay, 2 weeks can certainly feel like forever!) Where on Earth have I been? Someplace far removed from anything resembling an internet connection? Hardly. Nope. I've been here (and Nashville, at a conference) but mostly... here. What in the world could have me so busy that I haven't had time to blog oodles and oodles? Besides, it's winter. As a wedding photographer, doesn't that mean I'm pretty much on vacation until spring? (yeah right!)

One really cool/challenging/healthy thing I've been up to is...... running. Not in the usual way (which is in circles, all around like crazy trying to get 10 zillion things done), but rather.... in the kind of way that should hopefully prepare me for the Lincoln Marathon (half marathon) this spring. I have never considered myself a runner, so you might be asking yourself why in the world I would start now?

For starters.... It's healthy. And that, in and of itself is really the only reason one needs, no? :) My friend Christina convinced me to sign up for a marathon training class (which is great, considering I had no clue what I was doing when I started!). It's offered by Ann Ringlein from the Lincoln Running Company. If you're a runner... I'm sure you know who she is. The woman is pretty much an icon in this town when it comes to all things running, so I knew I was in good hands.

Marathon training class started on Jan. 7th... and since then, would you believe I've already run 80 miles!? (Not bad for 5 weeks, considering I could hardly make it 2 miles when I first started.) I've also met some really cool people, seen different parts of Lincoln in ways as I've never seen them before, and managed to lose about 10lbs so far! All the running I've done has been outside... even when it was literally only 2 degrees out and snowing with howling winds. When you get home from a run like that.... I have to admit... you feel pretty darn badass (in the very best of ways!).

I've also spent the past several weeks doing the production work on several wedding albums (on their way here as I type!), designing various wedding invitations, strategizing and re-building my senior and kids&families info packets, and creating a few various framed pieces to donate to different local fund-raising events (not to mention meeting with all the newly engaged brides in the midst of planning their weddings and looking for a photographer!).

And teaching. Another couple of classes start next week!

Plus, I'm really excited be working on the development of a really cool product for photographers (so much fun! hopefully coming soon!).

And perhaps even more exciting than that (is that even possible?), I've been preparing for a flurry of fun at the upcoming WPPI conference in Las Vegas. Booking travel, finding the best deal on hotel rooms... and of course, creating and polishing all four of the different speaking engagements/presentations I'll be delivering! Teaching a master class on InDesign, speaking at the AsukaBook booth (not once, but twice!), and wrapping up the entire conference as part of Photographer's Ignite at the closing session. Seriously... I am PUMPED!

In the meantime, I've got my nose to the grind stone.... my eyes focused on my goals.... and my chin a way up high! :)

Yay for 2010!

Santa. Merki. And Snow.

Santa must've forgotten to bring me a shiny and spacious craft room this year, so I'm still stuck schlucking all my sewing gear out onto the dining room table if/when I want to get crafty. I had high hopes of whipping up some special goodies for the nephews this year... but then time ran short and... well... it hasn't happened. Yet. (Gina was quick to tell me that the Denominator has enough stuffed animals and toys already, so I guess I'm off the hook with him... which is good b/c what I was planning to make for Dom would've required a miraculous channeling of someone else's sewing skills. I got lucky on that one!). In the meantime, I guess the dedicated sewing room can wait until I can at least remember how to thread the bobbin.... ha! ;)

The days and days of snow we've had hasn't slowed Merki down much. She begs and begs to go out, only to repeatedly act surprised when she sees the snow is in fact, not an illusion. (She is hilarious to watch while she pounces around jumping in and out of snow drifts!)

When she gets back inside, she knows from experience that positioning herself between us and our computers is the best way to ensure constant attention. Here she shows Emir the right button to get the job done....

I love snowed in holidays. :)

2009. Good Stuff.

What a great year it's been! Peppered with lots of travel, speaking engagements and three (count 'em, 3!) new nephews.... 2009 has been as fun as it was adventurous! Here are a few quick highlights. Speaking at BryanLGH's Women's Day

Experimenting and playing with classic vintage pin-up portraits

Attending WPPI in Las Vegas was a blast! It marked the beginning of a 2-wk whirlwind adventure starting in Vegas, traveling through San Diego and finally wrapping in San Francisco. Part business, part pure fun.... it was all good!

While on our little west coast adventure, we met up with Lan and Vu Bui of the Bui Brothers to produce a video to show couples what it's like to have KaBloom Studios photograph their wedding. We were joined by past wedding clients Kjerstin and Joel to capture their thoughts on camera and capped the day off with a Cuban dinner. Perfection!

Shortly after WPPI, I climbed back on a plane and headed west (again!) but this time to the gorgeous coast of Oregon for our annual PhotoGirls get together. We rented an incredible beach house in the picturesque town of Manzanita and spent a week of photo/girl/nerd bliss enjoying each other's company. (We're about to pack it up again and head out for PhotoGirls 2010, the location will be a surprise, so stay tuned!)

Bring on the nephews! First to arrive, was Nick & Jamie's little Cole. Emir immediately began calling him 'Col-e' (like in Austin Powers 2 when Mike Myers points to Fred Savage's mole and says, 'mol-e, mol-e, mol-e!'). It totally stuck and I'm pretty sure Cole thinks that 'Col-e' is his actual name. :)

A mere 5 weeks later, Gina & Roy's little 'Denominator' entered the picture.

Adis & Laura chimed in only 1 week after Dominic with little Haris! All 3 boys are within 6 weeks of each other. I am *so* excited for their little birthday parties as they grow up... it's going to be a blast!

Summer brought lots of fun travel opportunities and several destination weddings, the first of which was Annette & Brandon's wedding in Grenada. We did a special 'day after' shoot to make sure we had time to capture the gorgeousness of the island. Emir and I headed down a few days early to enjoy what's known as 'spice island' before the wedding. We spent several sun soaked days snorkeling, laying on the beach and reminding ourselves to stick to walking and avoid driving while in town. Ha! The entire experience couldn't have been better... we felt and were treated like family. Already can't wait to go back!

Learning from 2008, I did a much better job of managing my schedule this summer, which left me with a small pocket of time to do a couple of a fun shoots I've been wanting to experiment with for quite some time. Using simple incense and a pan filled with water, Emir and I created two colorful series of images.

After years of avoiding the mac hype (I had dug in my heels pretty stubbornly....), my PC finally drove me to the point of surrender and I bought a new Mac Pro. This was sometime in July. It sat in the box it came in until December when I finally had time for the monumental task of migrating my entire work flow and all of my files to the new system. The switch wasn't without its hiccups, but.... overall.... I can see why some people are Mac evangelists. Even Merki became a convert. :)

Jeff & Megan's destination wedding took Emir and I to Michigan where we had the opportunity to spend a few days on Macinac Island on Lake Michigan. We passed our time riding bikes, eating fudge and listening to the rhythm of the trotting horses. Highly recommended! (There are no cars allowed on the island... it's kind of an old fashioned escape. A fab family vacation spot!)

I was thrilled to find out that I will be teaching a Master Class at 2010's WPPI in Las Vegas!

An international conference with more than 10,000 photographers from around the globe in attendance, it's a place to learn new things, make new friends and become the best you can be at what you do. I am honored that I will play a role in helping to shape not only the experience of some of the attendees, but hopefully I can have an impact on helping them improve their workflow, design skills and overall work efficiency. I can't wait!

I'm especially honored that my appearnece is being sponsored by the incredible folks at AsukaBook, Adobe... and of course, Banti.

A long proponent of using InDesign for all my layout and design work, I was pumped when AsukaBook approached me to present a webinar demonstrating how to create Asuka-friendly files from InDesign. I actually got a lot of feedback from folks to told me it was extremely helpful... which is always great to hear! I even created a super easy-to-read pdf to help explain the process and an action script to save photogs time in the process. You can find the recorded webinar listed among others on AsukaBook's site.

After wrapping the photography for Christina & Jason's destination wedding in Denver, Colorado... Emir and I hopped a quick flight to Santa Fe (full post here! Lots of yummy eye candy!). Considered by many to be one of the most artsy and creative cities in the country... it's been on my 'to-visit' list for quite some time. While there, we had the bonus opportunity to have breakfast with one of my favorite design authors, Robin Williams.

I've been teaching photo related classes (photoshop, photography, digital cameras, etc....) for going on 5-ish years now. This year, I added private workshops to my repertoire. Customizable to anything you're interested in learning, it's perfect for small groups... and is always a lot of fun!

Public speaking? You bet 'cha! I love when people invite me to speak at various clubs, meetings and workshops/seminars. This image is from a twitter presentation I did for the American Advertising Federation of Lincoln's 'Ad Camp.' A real joy!

This fall was especially enjoyable:  The Huskers had a promising season. Our apple tree produced its first apple that the squirrels somehow managed to miss. And.... I spent lots of quality time with family and friends (including our delicious three nephews!). I already can't wait for next fall!

Thank you 2009 for bringing wonderful clients, friends and new family members into my life. Here's to 2010!

Makes Moms Happy - The Best Present. Period.

The best gift for someone who has it all? Photos. Hands down.

Trekking across-town through the insane three day blizzard, we made it safely to my parents' house and quietly snuck my gear inside, hoping mom wouldn't notice the nine-ft. long tube and random cables, etc... strewn across the corner of the living room. Of course, within minutes she asked, 'What is this thing? It looks like a photo backdrop.' She was onto me!

I caved and told her my gift to her & dad this year was a post-party family ShootShack session. She loved it.

My apologies in advance for what is very much a marathon blog post.... but... it *is* mom & dad's xmas gift after all.... :)

The Cole Train. We now refer to him as 'Col-e' (based on Austin Powers 2 and Fred Savage's character with the mole. 'Mol-e, mol-e, mol-e')

The Denominator (wha? see an explanation here) Love that smile almost as much as I love the shot of him pulling Gina's hair! Ha!

Yours truly!

So..... mom!

Brother Nick (Col-e's papa). I'm so proud of this guy! He's kicking some serious booty in his pre-med program at UNL and is nearly impossible to spot without a book or a laptop in tow. Pretty much any conversation you have with him winds up in a discussion of organic chemistry or quantum physics. He is one passionate dude. He almost makes me excited about physics and chemistry. Almost.

Male parental unit (aka: 'Doad'). He has spent the last couple of years building his version of the Taj Mahal (our up and coming family lake-house in Ashland) with his own two hands. Having recently introduced his hammer to his thumb, he sports the evidence here. Ouch. (I love that he's wearing his UPS sweatshirt in this photo. He retired from UPS after 25-ish+ years of service and is still loyal to the core.)

Sister Gina (Denominator's mama). Typical! She was always the kid who couldn't wait for Christmas morning to open gifts (and routinely snuck peeks of them in advance!)

The boys.

Brother Tony. Quite possibly the sweetest guy on the planet. If you know Tony (everyone knows Tony) you know that teddy bears really do exist!

Sister-in-Law Jamie. Col-e's mama and power-house extraordinaire! Her strength goes far beyond her power-lifting record.... she's kickin' butt in her nursing program while managing to keep an eye on Cole and an ear on Nick's bio chem lectures. :)

Too fun!

Brother-in-Law Roy (Denominator's papa). Roy dresses in character as a writer sporting a corduroy jacket complete with elbow patches!

Emir looks so cute in his vest! :)

This shot makes me laugh. Out loud. I think it represents a good chunk of our childhood. Ha ha ha ha!

Tera-dactyls?

The girls. :)

What fun! Love you!

The Star City Parade Goes Green: Kermit Style!

I've been looking forward to this past Saturday for YEARS. It's been quite awhile since I was free on a Saturday that happened to coincide with the annual Star City Parade, but this year, the stars aligned and I got the 'holiday cheer' fix I was looking for! :) Cranking the awesomeness up an extra notch was Nelnet's sponsorship of Kermit the frog!  Emir and fellow Nelnet crew members brought up the rear of the parade while livin' large as 'balloon handlers' for Kermit. Good times!

Kermit was the tallest balloon in the whole parade with an impressive height of roughly 30 ft!

The lovable muppet had a crew of roughly 18 people helping him along the parade route. Talk about teamwork!

Up close and personal with the Nelnet team.....

Kudos to Katie who spearheaded the organization of Kermit's 'balloon handling.' Here, she celebrates her victory!

Thanks for helping to make another memorable Star City Holiday Parade. So fun to be part of it with the crew! ;)

Grateful to be Thankful

This year, we decided that no one felt much like spending hours in the kitchen, so we had our celebration catered. It was basically, the best. thing. ever. We wavered back and forth as to whether or not we would still cook our traditional Cuban standards.... and ultimately decided that even though we had sworn off cooking, Thanksgiving just wouldn't be the same without at least having some black beans and rice to go with the rest of the American staples. Phew!

My dad was appalled that 1) my plate was so over stuffed and 2) that I took a picture to document it.

But I am grateful. Grateful to have a plate that's filled with both American and Cuban traditions (if the Cubans did celebrate Thanksgiving, it would certainly include black beans and rice!). And grateful to be enjoying it while surrounded by family (even though our crowd was *much* smaller this year than usual).

Now that we've had a break in the kitchen, we are gearing up for a full-blown Cuban Christmas. Yucca and all.

Today we're off to celebrate Eid with Emir's parents which means--- yummy Bosnian food and more to be thankful for!

Braca: Emir & Adis

On a glorious Sunday afternoon last week, I managed to squeeze in time for some portraits of my own family..... including Emir and his brother Adis. I haven't had a chance to look through all the photos yet, but these caught my eye and I couldn't help but share (especially for family overseas!) Aren't they adorable?

Drawing on Imagination

When I was a kid, I loved to draw. Among the things that routinely inspired me to put lead to paper.... were trees. I don't know where I got this concept, but I always (read: ALWAYS) drew tress as shown below. Complete with what I imagined to be, an owl hole. You can imagine my sweet surprise when I spotted this tree while out shooting a few weeks ago. It was definitely a eureeka moment!

Col-e-Cao

I can't believe my little nephew is 7 months old already! He gets cuter and cuter every time I see him (which is never often enough!). I caught up with him on Sunday to find that among his (several) Halloween costumes, was this cute little cow get-up. I will admit that I've often thought it silly to dress up small humans (cute babes) in animal outfits.... but I can't deny my own amusement in this case. I love you Cole-e Cole-e Col-e!

Falling

I love when you can see 'fall.' As in, when you watch the leaves actually falling from the trees. Of course, it's best to enjoy it someplace other than your own backyard, where it's hard to ignore the impending raking! Headed out the door to an afternoon shoot on Friday, I saw these two pieces of loveliness in our backyard and had to catch 'em.  :)