Then, for our FHE treat, we ate Oreo moons.  (More on this later…once I upload the pictures from my camera!)  So fun!

And now…for all my photographer friends out there…

I am posting a pull back shot (as promised)!

This is my new studio space I recently set up in my unfinished basement.  You can see that my husband built a faux floor for me (which I love!).  Behind that I have my backdrop stand set up.  I usually keep my Westcott TD5 Spiderlite right up against my floor (as shown in the picture).  The light is raised in this picture because I had just finished taking the picture of the Bub at the top of the little ladder.  I adjust my light height depending on the relationship to my subject.  The previous studio pictures I posted were taken in my front room next to a large picture window.  So, you can see that there is greater contrast to the pictures without the large amount of natural light.  There are 2 windows in the space I am shooting in now, but as the new studio space is in the basement, not much light comes in through the windows.  I have contemplated the idea of getting another light to act as fill.  I think it would soften the look of the images and allow me to photograph more than one person at a time.  Anyways…  In this set of pictures, I am shooting just to the left of the light.  My lens was lined up next to the front of the softbox.  If you have any additional questions about my lighting set-up please let me know!

-Mindy

I have been motivated to read from the classics.  I have always considered myself a well educated person.  I loved school.  So much so that grades and educational status took on a kind of defining form.  Starting in elementary school, I was enrolled in the accelerated programs, where I remained through my high school years and even into college.  I clearly remember, as a freshman in college, attending the first few class sessions of the ASU honors program required class.  We met in a small room, with a large oval table.  I quickly learned that the class curriculum was definitively atheist, the professor anti-Bible/anti-religion.  I made the decision to drop the class, which therefore resulted in the withdrawal from the honors program.  I was really sad to lose the “honors status” that had been a such a large part of my educational experience.  I saddened me to realize that in order to be considered “enlightened”, one must put aside a love of God, a testimony of the Bible (or at least create a pretense of disbelief to satisfy the curriculum/professor).  Now, as an adult, I realize that despite all the higher level thinking and education I received, that I really do not have a strong liberal arts education.  I had not ever (until I rectified the situation last week) read a Charles Dickens’ book.  Or Jane Austen.  Or Charlotte Bronte.  etc. etc. etc.  So, I have begun my quest to read great classic literature, many of which promote love of God, demonstrate strong moral character, and are based upon solid principles.

So, for now, I will share a quote from the book I am reading at the moment:  “Jane Eyre” by Charlotte Bronte

“If all the world hated you, and believed you wicked, while your own conscience approved you, and absolved you from guilt, you would not be without friends.”

These changes have not always created organized bliss in our home though.  Just yesterday, during laundry time, Mae Mae was pestering the Foof.  It didn’t seem to matter how many times I reminded her to worry about herself only and to focus on the task, the pestering continued.  So, in an effort to encourage the girls to focus, I told them that since the Bub was too small to put his own clothes on hangers, whoever finished their laundry last would get to help me put his clothes on hangers.  Well…Mae Mae was the last one finished.  When I told her it was time to do the Bub’s laundry with me, she threw a fit.  Throwing hangers.  Yelling.  You get the picture.  So, I told her that it was not okay to treat me that way.  That she was now responsible for doing his laundry by herself.  Instead of submissively obeying me and accepting her consequence,  she clung to her determination and stormed off to her room.  We had previously made arrangements for her little friend to come over yesterday afternoon.  So, I poked my head into her room and told her how much longer she had before her friend would arrive and let her know that if she had not yet completed her laundry (and now the Bub’s laundry) that her friend would get to play with Missy and the Foof until she had finished her responsibility.  So, she knew the consequence.

What did she do?  She started packing her bags.  She decided to run away.  As she was leaving the house with her sleeping bag and MANY purses/bags filled with stuff, I told her how much I loved her and how much I was going to miss her.  I reminded her that her friend would be over in 15 minutes and then I watched her leave.  I closed the door and watched her walk away until she was just out of my sight, then I called my neighbor and asked her to peek out her window and watch to make sure Mae Mae was okay.  Well, she didn’t even get that far because two minutes later, I saw her walking back towards our house.  She stopped and set up camp in the front yard for awhile before she decided to pack back up and come inside.  I hugged her and told her how glad I was that she decided to come home.  A minute later, her friend arrived.  She knew her consequence.  She finished her laundry.  Then, we baked cookies together and the girls gave each other makeovers.  We had a wonderful afternoon.  I have now officially survived my first runaway child.  So, you see…it has not been all rainbows and roses.  It has been a struggle for our family to adjust.  There are days when I feel discouraged and overwhelmed (today), but I do feel in my heart that this is a good decision for our family.  That some of the best things we can learn right now are to love each other more deeply, to be respectful of everyone (even our family members) and to serve more diligently.

Today, Mae Mae and I unpacked the bags she had packed and put her stuff away.  She had packed: all of her favorite stuffed animals, her sticker collection, the cookbook she got from Grandma Kathy and her Justice Bag full of treasures from Grandma Char, clothes, socks, her coat, pajamas, her wallet (containing $6 and a Buy one-Get one free coupon to Discovery Gateway), ballet shoes, a framed picture of the Bub, her camera and her Book of Mormon.  (At least she was well equipped for her journey!)  I’m glad she decided to come back!

I remember running away as a child.  Only I was not smart enough to go anywhere cool.  I hid in my closet.  It was cramped and very un-fun, but I stayed in there for hours thinking how much everyone would miss me and feel sorry for how mean they had been to me…once they realized I was missing.  In retrospect, I can’t even remember if anyone even noticed I was gone or if I just got sick of sitting in my closet and came out.  But…I sure showed them!

Today, the girls and I “met” Pierre-Auguste Renior, Impressionist artist.  In contrast to stereotypical romantic artist, Renior was known as a lighthearted, joyful person.  His art reflects a delight in the existence of the world and its beauty, expressed in colors drenched with light and sunshine.  Regarding his artwork, He is reported to have said, “…an eternity of the everyday, captured on the nearest street corner; the maid stops cleaning her pots for a moment and suddenly becomes Juno on Mount Olympus.”

Of course, I was selective about which of his paintings we studied. 

Another notable change made in our home:  The girls each have one night each week that they are in charge of cooking dinner.  They have been so excited about picking their own meals and learning how to make them.  So far, Missy made shrimp/peppers & cheese, and Mae Mae made sweet pork burritos.  Tomorrow night features the Foof making chicken & rice casserole.  It is refreshing for me to not hear whining about dinner anymore.  I got sick of the complaining when I made meals they weren’t excited about.  Now, they just understand that we all have different tastes and that while this may not be a dinner they like, that they will have a chance for their favorite meal later in the week.

While in Arizona, I will be offering MINI-SESSIONS!  Here is how it works:  Less time than a traditional shoot.  10-15 images.  And…less money!  Of course, I will also have a few spots for classic sessions as well.  But, if you are looking for a chance to get a handful of amazing images of your family/children at a lower price, this is your chance!

This is the BEST promotion I have EVER offered!  I look forward to photographing your family in the beautiful Arizona weather! 

Okay…I’m off to pack!

BJ and I started setting up the studio on Saturday.  On my to-do list for today is to start sewing my backdrops.  That is going to be a big project, but the backdrops will be so much nicer once I am able to hang them from a rod and have a rod for a weight at the bottom.  It will save me from ironing.  This is a big deal to me because I pretty much avoid ironing at all costs.  In fact, if it weren’t for BJ, I probably wouldn’t even need to own an ironing board.  That is how often I iron.  If it needs to be ironed, I don’t need to wear it.  But, the creases in the backdrops are bugging me.  I even ironed them.  But, since I currently have to store them folded, they get creases again.  So, I am excited to sew them, iron them once and for all, then get them hung.