At least not when the EMBRACE WORKSHOP will be here!!!
Here are some little location teasers to TEMPT you, ENTICE you .....
Registration will be opening soon .... so GET READY!!!!!!!!!!
ALSO - we are getting GOBS and GOBS of vendors for you! BUT - we're looking for MORE! If there are any of you out there that would like to participate as a vendor in our workshop - please email me at karaelmorephotography@gmail.com.
For good.
I know ... WEIRD huh? Like .... (valley-girl imitation) Didn't I JUST live in PHOENIX? So - WAIT ... what the ????
Yep - my words exactly.
Not QUITE sure how it all happened. But the LONG story SHORT version is that we were swept up in a tornado and we landed BACK in Utah. So ... for those of you STILL confused .... last Saturday (the 11th... aka ONE week from TOMORROW ... aka 8 days BEFORE my birthday!) Nate and I sat talking about our life. Contemplating on what to do. Job hadn't solidified like we had planned. Training was AWESOME. Job offer was NOT as awesome (our versions of AWESOME were apparently different. How can that be??) So - with 2 weeks left on our lease we decided to up and go on Sunday. Monday the moving truck was called and by Tuesday night we were completely packed. Thanks to AMAZING people in our Pleasant 2nd ward! I mean REALLY! AMAZING people that I LOVE! They just SHOWED up even in their PARTY attire (after just attending holiday parties) to help us pack up. Then we drove away from 68 degrees ... and into 30 degrees. HOWEVER - it WAS only TWO FREAKING degrees in Nephi, Utah ... which is just a few hours away. That is like SO awful I want to vomit. Ok, I just did.
FUN PART? I surprised my sister and her kids on their front porch. We all laughed and cried and did funny dances in her entry way.
So - we're regrouping, Figuring out our life and making sure it's for real.
GOOD NEWS: The EMBRACE WORKSHOP will be a WHOLE lot easier to plan now that I'm living here!!! :)
I'm wrapping up (shoooot .. actually just STARTING) my Christmas shopping. You all gave AMAZING ideas! And THANK YOU darling Target for providing such FABULOUS darlings for me to purchase for MYSELF instead of waiting for them to be purchased for my BIRTHDAY (which you KNOW is in 2 days. LESS if you don't count what hour it is!). No really - my girls are going to FREAK at the darlingness that Santa will bring them. My sister and I had a HAY DAY buying for ourselves/our kids.
While getting ready for the workshop, I found this picture I had forgotten about. HOW/WHY does that happen???? How do photographers take random pictures and then do nothing with them?? I'll tell you how it happened? I was taking a picture of my parent's house and my Fluffy Head was sitting by the window .. and WOLA!
Oh my - look at the cookie crumbs on her lips!!! OHhh please - no one clone those out. They're darling!
I actually STILL need to blog some of my phoenix photoshoots... so here I go. :)
This little tiny thing was GORGEOUS! Her mom got this because she said she looked like a little 1920's doll. And she DOES!
And THEN ... she got BUSY.
Ohhh have I mentioned that I ABSOLUTELY LOVE taking pictures in CLIENTS HOMES!!!!!!!!
Something I loved SO much about Arizona (besides the AMAZING people I met and ava's teacher that I ADORE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) was trying to find beautiful, interesting, texturized spots for new photos. I'm sorry ... but it's REALLY easy to photograph in a place that has LOTS of backgrounds, and textures, and buildings and green things. But it's A LOT MORE difficult to see the beauty in something you've NEVER seen before that you otherwise would've deemed bla. So I LOVED that about Arizona. Seeing through different eyes. It was SO good for my photography eyes and brain. I LOVED that. And having it be SPUR of the moment too. Like YES - pull over - that works GREAT! And having to decide RIGHT THEN if the light was gorgeous. Loved that part of it. Maybe that's why I love traveling for photography as well.
And I will miss the people. And my friends. And my next door neighbors that I dreamed about last night. And the heat (imagine me being Bella from Twilight now ....). OH the heat. I loved that. I didn't think I WOULD love the summer heat -but WOW it's a LOT warmer than right now. :) Arizona was QUICK to embrace us and we felt very loved ... very quickly.
We'll be back soon. Just not in July. :) Love you all!
The wait is over. The teasing on my part is done. This is real. This is IT kids!!!
ARE.
YOU.
READY?
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AHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's real!!!!! And I am SOOOO excited!!! It's actually been like a YEAR in the making!
Go HERE for our blog. And BOOKMARK it because we will be updating like CRAZY!!!!!!!!!!! We have AMAZING vendors! Ohhh SO amazing! Their links will be uploaded shortly. AND - we'll have sneak peaks of WHERE this workshop will be taking place. But you'll have to keep checking back as we will update it QUITE often (unlike MY blog posts that happen sporadically!) There's SO much more information to come .... but for now ... do the HAPPY DANCE WITH ME!
Ooohhh wait - did I share the link to THE WORKSHOP ???
Wait - yes I did.
OHHH shoot - I think I forgot to give you the address to the workshop BLOG.
AND one more - just in case. :)
http://amandakeeysphotography.com.au/embraceworkshop/
Any questions????
:)
Can you handle the news?
Are you sitting down?
Have you skyped ALL your friends so they can watch your response?
Are you going to put your response on YOUTUBE for all to see?
READY???????
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OHhhhhh SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT ... that wasn't the right file!
DARNET!
Wait - let me try ONE MORE....
CRAP ... what the ??????????? Why won't it load right???
:)
I thought this would get you to giggle. Or maybe you're mad now because I teased you/lied to you???
Guess what ... I'm actually going to launch the news TONIGHT. Like - in a FEW MORE HOURS! So - if you're watching "The Office" season 5 (like I am) - put it on pause every 12 minutes to see if I've announced it. :)
And I PROMISE this time ... it will be for REAL!
I've just spent the last HOUR and a HALF RE-DOING my blog. And I AM SOOOOOO mad at it right now. CAN YOU FEEL MY ANGER? (sometimes I get angry while tilting my head to the left and smiling.)
SO - I am walking away. I am breathing. I am PRAYING that someone miraculous will call and FIGURE OUT MY BLOG FOR ME! If you can figure it out - I will give you ALL my passwords. Really. I will.
WHERE is that person??????
Oddly enough - (for just moving here) - I am out of control busy! Finishing up an album - working on Christmas cards - proofing seniors sessions - proofing family sessions and WORKING LIKE MAD on that itty bitty little tiny giant project that is going to be SO GREAT and SO EXCITING! And yes - two of you are SO close. SOOOO close I want to squeeeeeeeze you with glee. I think it will be REVEALED this week!!! AND ... I just found out I'll be working on another project with another photographer! YIPPEE! I'll get you more details on that in a few more weeks. Maybe just in time for Christmas.......
So - on to reclaiming the anger from my blog. I decided to NOT be angry. INSTEAD I will post HAPPY PICTURES from my proofing. Want to see? Anyone??? YES??? :) Happy photos = happy kara when she wants to DELETE typepad.
Britain. One of my lovely LOVELY FRESH FACES winners. I really really REALLY want to post MORE of her pictures. But she hasn't seen them. OOPS - I forgot to tell her I'm posting this teaser. Anyone know her and want to call her?? :) This is REALLY one of my ALL-TIME favorite couples image. Like - I keep looking at it. If I had a store-front studio - I would SO put this up. Like 30x40.
And now - some of my "senior" images. Katie is GORGEOUS! I love these dark haired lovelies. Funny - because I'm blond. Well ... as blond as blond I can be before my hair guy PAUL (HEY PAUL!) gets his hands on my REALLY REALLY behind hair. I pretend when I go in that living in Arizona puts a damper on flying to Salt Lake City to have him do my hair. And he pretends that he understands. When in actuality he and I would BOTH prefer that I drive up every 6 weeks so my hair would ALWAYS be pretty. Anyway ... you KNOW I get on tangents.
Katie - was brave enough to drive with me to all these crazy locations. The last one REALLY and truly giving me the ULTIMATE creeps. She was LAUGHING at me. "Come on, Kara - you're fine! Are you REALLY afraid." I tilted my head to the left and smiled and said "nooooo - not AFRAID - just wondering if I need a HEP shot in the ER tonight!!!"
You tell ME if I should get a booster shot after seeing this location??
Ooo and LOVE this one (another HEP shot contender. But I think it WAS worth it!) :)
I LOVE that Katie is a photography student. And I GUESS she's been stalking my site. WHILE in her photo class! She actually turned the camera on me! So - if you're ever wondering what I look like while taking your pictures ... here you go! We were wearing the accessories .... But I think I need to use this hat more.
I also think I should've been doing bi-cep curls.
Hopefully my next post will be ALL about the news!! OHHH THE NEWS~!!!!!!!!!
**edited to add ..... after 3 hours to being MAD - Nate walked by and asked if I had pushed the REFRESH button on the new design of the blog. Uhhh YA. Of course. Now ... where is that button? And WOLA! idiot me. ugh. ***
Well - not really! But at least it's around the corner right? Ohhh and just meaning that I've blogged 2x in ONE WEEK! My sister would be SO proud!!!
There has been .... shall we say .... "TALK" that I must not be as IN TO New Moon this year as I was LAST YEAR about Twilight! There has been ... shall we say ... "SLANDER" that my loves have been LOST! There has been ... shall we say ... "UPSETTEDNESS" that I haven't BLOGGED correctly about TWILIGHT/NEW MOON! And my answer to all of that is:
YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT'S IN MY HEART!!!!!!!!!!
:)
'tis true - 'tis true - that I haven't written/talked about it as much! But OHHH the swooning I will be doing TOMORROW at 5:30. THAT IS RIGHT ... I get a rented out theatre at 5:30 on Thursday! hahahahaha!!!!!! So - I will be taking pictures and posting them ASAP. Ooo MAYBE even BEFORE the rest of you "non 5:30 goers" have even SEEN the movie. Wouldn't that be TORTURE?
Edward/Robert would want me to. I know it.
And really now - if you are actually one of those FEW that are questioning WHAT IN THE WORLD I AM TALKING ABOUT ... OHHHHHH MY naughtyswearwordthatIshouldsaybutiwont!!!!! You must love brown.
:)
I have about 10 trillion things going on in the next few weeks. My poor husband will be picking up the slack - but that's OK, right??? I've got quite a few shoots coming up. Lots of families, a MODELING one, a commercial one. Ooo and I'm even working on a CD cover! SOOOOO excited about THAT ONE! BUT - I DO have some REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY ... REALLY exciting NEWS!!!!!! (and no - not preg). I'll be posting that SOON! Anyone want to guess ???? Post your guesses in the comments section - we'll see if there are any that are right. Hmm - I SHOULD give something away for a winner, shouldn't I? SHOULDN'T I???
THIS is how excited I am about this EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT! Sooooo EXCITED that I want to JUMP up and DOWN on my bed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (this is another one of my favorites I forgot to post 2x ago).
Alright..... START GUESSING!!! :)
... SORRY! I PROMISE to be better! I PROMISE! OH MY WORD - stop YELLING AT ME.. I PROMISE!!!!!!!!!!!!! :)
Now - really though ... It's kind of a mix between a few things. A) trying to sort through our life still. Getting things in place takes a REALLY long time. ESPECIALLY when you're trying to set up ANOTHER new clinic. I envy the people who say w/ a smile .. ya - my husband just GOT THIS job without looking and EVERYTHING fell into place and he's home at 4:00, TOO! I kind of smirk while listening to that. Knowing that I've NEVER known such easiness for a job. And because everyone in my family owns their own business, this is just NORMAL to me. But NORMAL to me still takes a LOOOOOOOOOOONG TIME to get going. And B) ... hmm what's B? Well - I guess A takes up for B, C and so on???
Lucky me though - I've been able to photograph a few ARIZONA families lately - and have a few more set up in the coming days. I LOVE looking for new places to photograph. I think it's one of my favorite things - aside from actually taking the photograph. Looking for that light. Looking for that angle that will be different than what others offer. yaaaaaa - THAT is what I love! Making it DIFFERENT!
So I'll share a quick one as I continue to proof. WHO DOESN'T LOVE DIRT????
Well - I thought that GIRL (that's what her brothers call her!!!) wouldn't like the dirt AS MUCH as her older BOY brothers. So I quickly SNAGGED this bowl off my table. :) Yep - that's how it works. And I LOVE IT!
And yes. Apparently Arizona DOES HAVE TREES if you look hard enough. And they're pretty too!
Now - BEFORE my totally cool and FUNNY sister BEATS me for not showing her how my girls looked in their HALLOWEEN costumes .. I will share. I warn you - these were taken w/ my POC (piece of CRAP! $100 camera). But OH MY WORD - they're STINKIN' CUTE costumes! And if you hadn't guessed .. I did NOT sew these. SHE DID! That's why I love her. She does RANDOM kindness things for me. THANK YOU! I LOVE THESE COSTUMES!
I GIVE YOU ... baby maby.
And yes - I WAS a 1950's house wife. The funny thing ... I actually WEAR all these things. Except my hair - that WAS a stretch! :)
I rarely post pics of Nate. Not sure why ... he's SO handsome! This was at our "trunk or treat" party we do the night before halloween. He's VERY proud of his barfing pumpkin.
SERIOUSLY ... this is fluffy head. LOOK AT HER!
I figured Lisa would be most proud of this last image ... because it's SO her. And SO what her costume was MEANT to look like on!!
Hmmmm ... as I look back at these there's a BIG difference in "mom photographer" and "kara photographer" ... haha. Can't seem to put my "photog" hat on for halloween w/ a crap camera. :)
More pics soon. And I PROMISE not to go that long between posts. PROMISE! :)
(she violently screamed!!!) ... LEST ye be green with envy!
Yaaaaa ... it happens QUITE often (like EVERY shoot I do) that I get wrapped up in this little FAMILY that is letting me in and I ***sigh*** some serious sighs and think ... "Can I have MYSELF take MY OWN family pictures .... right now - right here .. because this is MAGICAL!!!"
That's how I felt with this family. Again. Repeats I tell ya - LOVE THEM! She was one of my Utah shoots - a lucky one who will get all of her images on DVD. Ohh happy for her. Happy for me. She originally requested an outside shoot. And I was happy to oblige. Then her husband mentioned an interest in shooting in their home... and I SQUUUEEEEEEEAAALED with delight (when I add extra eeeeee you can't tell if I'm spelling correctly or not). But really - I LOVE doing in-home shoots. Really - one of my favorites. FAVORITES! It's what I chose for MY family shoot last year and every time I see my picture, I smile. Still.
The hard thing about shooting in someone's home is you DON'T.KNOW.THE.LIGHT. And for a photographer that is SCARY! Especially one who shoots pretty RAW like me. Shadows/light are my "frenemy". :) But I choose friend.
Yep. That's her real wall color. Her real headboard. And that baby is real. Despite my baby maby coming up a bit ago calling her a "FAE BABEEE". (fake baby) seeeeeeee SQUEALING with me??? Somehow I'd like to have this in a magazine. Like a gerber baby magazine ... or a wall color magazine. Just something. Because baby L is BEAUTIFUL and SO pretty she DOES look fake! :)
Don't even try to be this flexible. I tried. I cried.
HOLY CRAP - reaaaaaaly now? REALLY???? Can I TAKE YOU and have you as my own???
uhhhhhhhhhhh huh!!! This is actually the one I choose for them to print big. Because I want it to be big for them. So I choose it. Not them. Me. I'm choosing. :) Ahhhh she'll choose it because I tell her to! :)
LOVE YOU DARLAN! Love you!!!! And ohhh there's LOTS more - this was just the bedroom!!
And a HUGE THANK YOU for my participants of my contest previously posted. GREAT entries. And some funny begging going on! That was funny girls! DARLING kids - how will I choose? I'll get working on those and let everyone know. THANK YOU!!!
For those fellow ARIZONA residents of mine. Those Cacti dwellers (although I know it's grammatically INCORRECT - I like to call them CACTUS dwellers. I try and stand out that way!) :)
Because I LIVE here, BREATHE here, SHOP here, EAT here (wellllll you get the picture...) I decided to offer something FUN to my ARIZONA FRIENDS!
I am offering TWO SPECIALS!
FRESH FACES: I need some ARIZONA faces on my website! So I'd like to do a little "search" if you will - of new faces! Please submit a picture of your child between the ages of 2-8 (I'll do an older group in a few weeks) to my email at karaelmorephotography@gmail.com with the words FRESH FACES in the subject line. I will actually have a little "panel of judges" look over the images and then public voting will begin! The child with the most votes WINS a free session and a FREE 11x14! And you will receive an additional 10% off my la carte prices. Value of $245.00. Rules are as follows: must be willing to wear clothing I decide upon (whether from your own stash - or mine). You must be in the Greater Phoenix area and willing to travel to the location I choose. SEE - SIMPLE!
FRESH FAMILIES: You know I LOVE families!!!!! So I'm extending this SAME offer to families. FREE session, FREE 11x14 and 10% off my wall galleries. No minimum order required. Rules are as follows: must be willing to wear clothing or colors I suggest (whether from your closet, or my props) and willing to travel to a location of my choosing. Just email a picture of your family (just grab any old photo!) to karaelmorephotography@gmail.com with the words FRESH FAMILY in the subject line. If you absolutely do not have a photo of your family (which is SHAMEFUL in and of itself!!) - just send a picture of all of your children together (not separate). A panel of judges will look over images - and then voting on my blog will begin.
DEADLINE for ALL ENTRIES: midnight on Sunday, NOVEMBER 1, 2009.*** ETA - I've had some questions about engaged couples as well. YES THEY COUNT, too!!! :)
Any questions in the meantime... go ahead and email.
Now - I'll leave you with some sunshine induced happiness :)
and her brother ... see the orange dots in his eyes ... that's his MOM! ;)
And my favorite one today:
Can't wait to see the entries!!! Now -get emailing!!!
