Just some things that I’ve been thinking about lately… and some random things I’ve been doing…

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First off, Slumdog Millionaire won the Oscar for Best Film. Yay! I absolutley loved that movie and think there’s such a great story behind it. So glad to see a movie I loved win that award.  Sometimes the “best films” aren’t all that great in my opinion.

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The national economy is awful and California’s current state is even worse. Come on, Sacramento! Get it together!

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I’ve been playing my “Kings of Leon” station on Pandora all the time lately. I love it. Any suggestions for some other good Pandora stations? I like all genres of music.

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I spent some time with my Grandpa yesterday and made good on my promise to myself to take more photos while I’m with him. Here he is standing by the tree he and my Grandma planted when I was born and dubbed “Heather’s Tree.” Each of the grandchildren have a tree somewhere in the yard, which I think is such a cool tradition. I didn’t have my wide lens with me, so this shot of him next to the tree trunk will have to suffice for now.

• House of Flying Daggers buy Funny Face move

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I went to the driving range today with some friends I’ve known since high school. (Thanks for the use of the clubs, Raci! Even though they were carried in a Chicago Bears bag… ::cringe::)  I went for the first time a couple of weeks ago and really love it. Today was my second shot at it. I kind of feel like it’s similar to yoga because you really have to concentrate, breathe, focus, etc. But, it’s actually more rewarding because you get to hit the golf ball really hard and, when I actually make good contact with it, it’s so awesome to see that thing fly! I’m not sure about actually golfing… I’ll have to try that sometime… but the driving range is really fun. NOTE: If you fancy yourself a golfer and notice that my form is completely off… I know. But, don’t hesitate to comment here with some pointers! I think this is going to be an actual hobby of mine.

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A few weeks ago, Meg had a lovely birthday bash at her apartment. She set up the photo booth and we took some really fun photos. Here are a few of my favorites. (Those guys in the two photos on the left are our fabulous photo friends Roberto Valenzuela and Regis Chen. Very fun people! Then that’s Meg, Meg’s cousin Morgan, and me bottom right.)

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I’m going on a very fun “just for fun” shoot with Meg tomorrow in downtown LA and am really excited to do some super creative stuff with off-camera lighting. Can’t wait to see what we come up with!

Happy Saturday!

It creates a little anxiety to show my work to anyone– clients, friends, family. Don’t get me wrong, I’m super proud of the work I do, but opening up any form of artwork to critique is always a little scary. That said, you can imagine the feeling I would have right before getting up in front of a room full of photographers to show a slideshow of my work. That’s exactly what I had to do as this month’s LA PUG (Pictage User Group) Studio Spotlight. And it was so fun.

Every month, one photographer gets up to share a little about their work, business, history, etc. This month was my turn.

Here are two images Meg snagged for me with my camera.

Agent Cody Banks the movie

Here are some Jules, our fabulous PUG leader, shot. Thanks, Jules!

The rest of the meeting we spent talking about what each of us learned or took away from WPPI last week, which was great. It gave me a chance to reflect on all the great pieces of information I got while there, which I haven’t taken sufficient time to do yet.

Happy Friday, everyone!

It’s been quite a while since I’ve mentioned Wolfie (Wally) here on the blog. And, I’ve never even mentioned the newest addition, Nouvelle (she was named before we got her, so I just call her Nugget). Today, we took them both to the local German Shepherd dog show. Nouvelle needs some work in the ring, but the judge says she looks really good. Wolfie won a trophy! Although he was in a class by himself being the only untitled 2-year-old male. hehe. He is a fantastic dog, too. We just need to work with him a bit more.

• The Borrowers video

Rise of the Dead psp

They both made me proud today. But, they make me proud everyday just being awesome dogs and adding to our family.

Here they are in all their glory. Nouvelle, the sweet attention-hog on the left, and my studly Wolf-man on the right. And, no. They’re not related… but they do look a lot alike in these photos!

• Eagle Eye psp

The Way of War movies

For the Moment download

One of the BEST things about WPPI is the friendships that are formed here with other photographers, people with whom I have a lot in common. Last night I had a great time eating dinner and hanging out with some fabulous photographer ladies from all over the country. More on that evening later.

One of those ladies was Lee Ann Fuller, a lovely lady from North Carolina who is so much fun. We hung out for a bit today in our room just chatting about life and business, etc. She sat down on the couch in our room and I was struck by the way the light was hitting her, which started a shooting frenzy. I have been sitting in so many seminars the past couple days, it was awesome to have a model to practice a few new techniques.

Thanks Lee Ann for being so fun and being such a great model!

The Borrowers move

The next two are tied for my favorite image. I love the feeling of this one…

But, I really love the look of this one, too.

I’m so sad that WPPI 2009 is over now and that the fabulous people I’ve been able to get to know this week are all going home. But, I’m so excited that I get to go home, sleep a full night, and start to implement all the new things for my business.

I’ll have a more detailed recap of what I learned this week soon!