Jessie's Back!!!

I didn't break her!

LooK --->

Jess was always my favourite model... agreed to have photos taken almost anytime and would let me experiment and posed so well...
Then I broke her :(
I'd posed her so often that she couldn't act naturally anymore.

Every photo I got of her was fake, forced and uninspiring...

So I gave up for a while... still took happy snaps and all but nothing serious.

The other night I was showing a friend some of my favourites from this year on Hello and we both noticed that I hadn't taken many of Jess at all this year.

Also, her birthday is next month and she's having her party here (YES!) so we decided on photo invites. She was going to use one of the photos taken in October but she's changed a lot since then and I wanted to see if we could get something fresher...

I happen to think we NAILED it! And I'm sooooo freakin' happy with them.

I love colour... it's so bright, happy, fun... out there...

but I'm really lovin' B&W lately too.

This one just blows me away....

Remember - she's only 11 years old! She turns 12 at the end of next month.

We spent about 20 mintues on this shoot... definitely not more then 30. It was all natural light, with a reflector. We had a brick wall for the background. I had quite a few other 'good' shots but next to these they just looked pale... she also thinks she's older then she is and tries to pose more suggestively... she KNOWS that I don't allow this and she also knows upfront that I'll delete any like that (why do I take them? Sometimes she moves just as I click or I don't realise until after I've clicked)

For processing... all the colour ones are with my Colour BAM! action, plus a new skin technique I'm trying to get right. The B&Ws are my own conversion. I burnt a vignette onto each of them. They're all in camera crops too... except that I cropped a little of the ends to be 5x7.

A shoot - start to finish...

When I get to do a photo shoot with Pacey I know I have to be prepared because it wont last long. This time, it was about 5 minutes only...

We start with the nice shot...

Then we get the first funny shot...
He loves showing off his muscles - can you see them?

Next he has to 'twirl' like his big sister...

Right here, he was singing "picking flowers for my mummmmmmy"

Awwwwwwwww....

aaaaaaaaand - we're done!

Outtakes...

So yesterday I was raving about how gorgeous she is - and she is, really.... Check out these outtakes from today...

Not so bad, right?

And all downhill from here...

Go away!
aaaaaaaaand... we're done.

I think outtakes are a lot of fun sometimes. So I'm going to tag Julie, Tina & Jen to share their outtakes too. Check them out!

At the park...

The last week has been just CRAZY with my mum opening her new shop and all the stuff that goes with that. Hopefully, from now on it will all calm down.

We had some time to go to the park today. We haven't been for ages, even though the weather has been great. The last time we were there the older kids wanted to go home and asked not to go back. The equipment is covered in graffiti... and some of it is pretty explicit. We went to meet up with Piper's best friend and his mum today. They were too busy having fun to take any notice of the graffiti today, which was good.

Seriously, this boy freaks me out. He's such a BOY! I think he might just be the one who comes to me with our first broken bone. He was jumping off the top of the ladder you can see in the background. I started out telling him to stop... but he was fine. Then, I notice how the dust flies as he hits the ground. Ok, here comes the photographer in me. I set up and he does it over and over for me.

Not to be outdone of course, Jadzia had to give it a go. I didn't get a great shot of her with the dirt flying but this was the best of the bunch.
I just love this girl. I cannot believe there was a time when I didn't want to be near her. I think back to those years and it just seems like a distant nightmare. She's gorgeous - inside and out. I think I will feel guilt over all that for the rest of my life. If you've read my blog from the beginning you'll know what I'm talking about. If not, sorry for being vague. I should probably explain but it's my blog... so I don't have to :p ;)

Ugh. Really... that just about says it all, doesn't it?

Setting up shop...

My feet hurt... seriously - throbbing, aching, stinging... just all over hurting.

My legs hurt. Yep, them too... a dull, not-going-away, soreness.

My mum bought a shop. Everything settled on Friday last week. Friday - LOTSA running around getting all the legals sorted out. Saturday/Sunday... painting, cleaning, building new counters, moving big heavy crap, learning to cook, cleaning, keeping 6 children under control, cleaning, counting stock, making decisions, sorting everything out... did I mention the cleaning yet?

This morning, Monday, first day trading. Yay mum - it's done and ready!

Busy busy busy. I was soo surprised by how constantly busy it was. From 10:30 until 3:30 there was not a chance to sit down. I know that's great for business but it's not so hot for my poor legs and feet that just aren't used to it.

So, for the last 4 days, it's been absolutely NON stop. I'm just about to head to bed now... but knew I just had to come post... I know you all dwell in darkness without regular updates *insert sarcastic grin*.

I also wanted to thank everyone who has purchased the Booster Baby! action. I'm working on a few more to add to the mix. I have a stronger colour boost action and an eye pop action that is super easy to use and adjust to your personal taste. I just need to get a little more time to post some examples for you all.

No photos today :(

This put a smile on my face...

I've been feeling in a funk lately. It's extra frustrating to me as I have good weather. I have sunlight and it's easy for me to take photos if I want to. I know that towards the end of our looong winter, I'll be screaming for sunlight... the weather is starting to turn now... getting colder, raining more... but yet, I can't seem to pull myself out of it.

What I have been doing is getting caught up on editing photos. I'm still behind on getting all the pics from our holiday done... can't believe how many I took. I've gotten behind on my photo of the day to... and that's annoying me.

Anyways, the photo above put a smile on my face tonight. It's of my sister's youngest girl, Little Miss B. She's adorable. She wasn't feeling very well though. She'd just had some medicine for a temp and was having some time out in the bath.

I used my new colour action, Colour BAM, on this as well as my It's in the Eyes action (an eye popping action). I'm really happy with the way it's turned out.

This is for Mum...

My mum told me that I HAD to blog something and soon. So here I am...

I've had the best laugh night tonight. The good kind... the kind where there's tears in your eyes and your cheeks start to hurt.

First, I watch a YouTube video of Steve Irwin. It's 11pm while I'm watching it... Danny came in from the loungeroom and Pacey came in from his bedroom... both wanted to know what I was laughing about. We were watching it together and just laughing and laughing. You've got to check it out. I've tried to post it with this... hope it works.

Then I'm watching Sex in the City reruns. I haven't been watching for a while (I get sick of seeing the same thing over and over). I couldn't resist watching tonight though as it was the Paris episodes. I looooooooove those episodes. Just love them.

I'm watching, and even though I knew it was coming I STILL laughed my ass off at Big saying, "I'm kickin' some Russian ass." Then he's off and after the Russian... and then when she trips him in the hallway and they're just laying there laughing...

I love laughter... when was the last good laugh you had?