I am going to miss 2 of my favorite people

I am a little on the sad side today.  Julie and Steve (sis and bro in law) officially made the move to Colorado Springs this past weekend.  That means that two of my favorite people…Emma and Luke aren’t going to be so close any more.  I am really going to miss them…all of them.  I wish Julie and Steve all the best while they are in Colorado Springs and I know that Kim and I can’t wait to visit.  Kim and I got to babysit Emma and Luke a few weekends ago while Julie went up to check out some houses.  We got a chance to take them to a museum and have a picnic and make dinner and breakfast with them.  We had so much fun.  These pics are from Sunday morning…Emma’s hair…well, that’s all I have to say is Emma’s hair.  Man, I am already missing these two little squirts.

Kaela

It has been a challenge lately to do portraits outside in Austin, TX.  With it being 100+ degrees outside.  Sweat is always a factor and that pesky huge ball of fire in the sky constantly beating down on you.  What is the solution?  Well shoot later or early in the day.  The problem with shooting early is just that…it’s early.  During the summer the sun rises right after 6am.  Not many people want their portraits taken right after they have rolled out of bed.  So go for later in the evening.  Sure it makes for a longer day, but that is the sacrifice for being a patient, willing, and professional photographer.

With Kaela we kind of started in between the hot and the magic hour.  So for the first part of the shoot we stayed in shaded areas or where the sun would be at her back.  Once the sun started to fade and the light got softer we could do a bit more.  Kaela needed a few shots for her modeling portfolio and she also just graduated from HS so congrats to her on that milestone.  I think there is a future for her as a model…she has a great attitude and such a fun laid back and approachable personality.  People can be beautiful but if they have bad attitudes a lot of time it makes them very hard to work with…Kaela was so easy and cool to work with.  Have a look.

Visit to LIVESTRONG

Last Friday I volunteered to do a photo lesson for some of the amazing folks over at the LIVESTRONG office.  For those of you who don’t know, I am a 2 time cancer survivor and I continue to try to look for ways I can give back to the cancer community using my talent.  When I rolled up to their uber cool office (East 6th Street if you have never been by) there was a ton of activity in the parking lot.  Motorcycle Police a fairly large crowd and about 60-70 cyclists.  Apparently I was just in time for the kickoff of the Texas 4000.  The Texas 4000 is a team of cyclists traveling from Austin to Anchorage Alaska (4500 miles) over the course of 3 months to raise money and awareness for Cancer……WOW….  So right away I grabbed my camera out of my bag and shot a few of the riders as they took off on their journey.  Can you imagine 4500 miles on a bike.  That is just absolutely inspiring.  Check out their website to learn more about their epic ride.

While I was there Amber Wadey, LIVESTRONG’s volunteer coordinator, asked if I could take some photos of a new project they have started.  There is a tribute wall that they want to cover with tiles that are either in memory of, in honor of a loved one with cancer or to celebrate a survivor of cancer.  You can design your own tribute tile with words or images of your choice and an artist will render your work onto your tile.  Only 400 of these tiles will be made and I believe can be purchased for a donation of $500.  I can’t wait for them to fill up the entire wall.  Find out more about the wall HERE.

Do any of you watch American Choppers on Discovery?  Remember a few years back when they did a custom chopper for Lance and LIVESTRONG?  Well, the bike is now at the LIVESTRONG office…just got there the day before I was there so of course I had to grab a few photos of this amazing work of art.  The thing is seriously unreal.

And lastly walking around the office there are all kind of inspirational phrases and artwork.  I couldn’t help grab some from their manifesto wall.