I could write a book

May was the last time I did a blog post, WOW!  There has been so much going on in my life that I could write a book.  Since I do not want to write a book, I will summarize for you so you can catch up on all the great things that have been going on in my life.

Not sure many of you know that I have two businesses one is my photography (Re-Image Photo) which I started back in 2006.  The journey of owning and operating a business of my own has been one adventure after another, and a progression of Try-Fail-Adjust, which has been a great learning experience.   I have been blessed to have met so many amazing people, and I got the chance to take a small part in their lives and hopefully bless them with my photography.   Last year while visiting with my hubby in Chicago, IL we both got to meet great people.  They were brought into our lives and continue to be a blessing teaching us principals of what our country was founded on.  I am privileged to get to learn from people who have a dream, and no matter what anyone says their dream can not be taken away.  Just a few weeks ago we all got to see Dr. John Maxwell speak and he lit the room of 15,000 people with leadership principals and explained to us that we need to bet on ourselves before anyone can bet on us.  You have to own your dream.  A new dream of mine is being able to bless people and give them the same blessing that I received last year.  Affecting the lives of others and making a difference in this world is a new and exciting journey.  Helping to change lives and teach leadership principals, mentor-ship, and that love, respect, and dreams are not bad words.

Back to catching you up on whats been going on- April mom and dad came to visit Ralph and I in Oahu, Hawaii!  We were so excited they took time out of their days and spent a fantastic 2 weeks with us.  During there stay the four of us shot over 3,000 pictures,  we flew to 2 islands; The Big Island and Kauai.  The four of us saw a volcano, and the Grand Canyon of Hawaii, which was amazing.  Kauai is my favorite island for sure.  Ralph and I wish it were longer, but we know we will be able to spend so much more time with them and there will be no worries in the future.  Fast forward to July and August, I got to spend 41 days traveling to Chicago for a leadership conference and spent 12 days there after visiting Florida for 9 days.  I flew back into West Palm Beach and stayed there for 20 days.  During my stay in Florida I was blessed to get to photograph many families, and got the chance to capture their family memories with each other.  My trip to Florida was awesome, and the support of all of my clients was overwhelming.  Also during my Florida stay I got to see my cousin which I hadn't seen in a few years and I met baby Connor.  The last day they were in town we went to the beach and it was just like old times.  In September one of my very best friends came to Hawaii to visit me and her stay was so nice.  We got to go to the Big Island and she saw a volcano for the first time.  Right after Lauren's trip then we had 2 more people come and stay with us.  Kristy and Mike were with us for 20 days and we toured Oahu with them, and it was a great carefree time with good friends.  During the month of October I went back to Chicago for another leadership conference which is where I saw Dr. John Maxwell, which leads me back to the beginning of my post.  In between all of my traveling I have been photographing new born sessions, baby sessions, family sessions, seniors, couples, and its been a great year so far!  I look forward and expect next year to be just as amazing.

So there you have it, now you are caught up on what has been going on.

The Merry Bird...: Logo: Re-Image Photo

The Merry Bird...: Logo: Re-Image Photo

Largest Discount Ever

Palm Beach County Mounted Posse members who showed in the 2009 Season will be awarded a chance to order their favorite photographs from last year.  This is a promotion that I will run throughout the year, so be on the lookout for your show pictures each month.  Available items are Canvas Gallery Wraps, Prints of all sizes (pricing is available on website in your order form), mouse pad, coffee mugs, and album design.  I will be re-loading 1-3 new horse show(s) per month, and will send out an email of the new show that will be available online, if I have your email address.  I hope you will enjoy these HUGE savings that I am offering to you.  Never before have I discounted pictures this low.  Packages start at $24.95 and pictures for your facebook will also be available.


Click Here to add your email address and be the first to know when the next show is available to order from

The first 3 people to submit their order will be given a 8x10 for free.  (8x10 will be of the same pose as one of the pictures ordered)

Ko'Olina, Hawaii and the new studio

I can't believe it has been over a week since my last blog.  I am trying this new idea of being consistant.. do you think it worked? ;)  What happened to at least 1 post every Monday?! 
Well any how I wanted to do a blog post so I thought I would go back to few weeks ago when I photographed a friend of mine and her family.  We live in Hawaii so when her family came in to visit naturally they decided to do their pictures outside at the beautiful Ko'Olina resort.   We were all exciting to watch the sunset in just take in the beauty of Hawaii.  The hubby and I snapped a few pictures as the kids played and we had a great time. Here are a few of my fav's
A couple of days ago I photographed in my new studio, and it was a ton of fun.  I had the cutest 4 month old on my white seamless backdrop propped up on a beanbag.  Well, being that he is 4 months and he is pretty strong so I decided that the bean bag was not going to work for to long.  I then remember one of my favorite photographers (Sandy Puc') that photographs mainly family portraits and babies, and we got to work using mom as a prop.  I think we captured some really cute ones of Kaleb and his family.  The portrait session is on the website but here are a couple of my fav's from the session.

I just love this shot that my hubby captured of Jody and Chris

 

Retouching Real People: Before

 

After

I just love his little toes and the way he is holding on to mommies hair

Retouching Real People

In the March issue of Photoshop User magazine one of my favorite instructor's Jane Conner-Ziser, is featured in an article on "Retouching Real People: A Master's Approach," and when I saw this title I got excited.  I have always retouched real people, making sure to keep each individual looking like themselves from the image being captured at the click of the shutter to the final print.  Each step along the way I am enhancing the eyes and touching up ever so slightly so that when you see your print you love it.  You get the feeling of, "I don't know why, but I love this print so much there is just something special about it but I cannot put my finger on it."  That is my favorite response to a final print.  My final prints keep you looking like you, but with a beautiful soft style of retouching.
Another favorite instructor of mine would have to be Katrin Eismann (Photoshop Diva).  A couple of years ago while I was at a weekend seminar I took a class that she was teaching and she said one thing that has stuck with me "The eyes are the windows to the soul."  This statement remains true throughout my retouching style.  Below is a before and after picture of a high school senior that I shot while living in Florida.

Happy Anniversary

I had the honor and privilege of photographing our friends vow renewal's.  Each year Jesse & Vicki renew their vows on their anniversary day.  This year the ceremony took place in Kaneohe, Hawaii on the Marine Corp Base at the beach.  The had a beautiful backdrop behind them as the exchanged leis and renewed their love for each other.  After the ceremony we had really yummy red velvet cupcakes and cookies along with XS of course.  On the XS tabs Vicki made favors and the tabs have cute sayings on them; for instance mine says "A Success marriage requires falling in love many times, always with the same person." Enjoy a few of my favorites below.   CONGRATULATIONS!!

Thank you to Jesse and Vicki for trusting me with your memories and letting loose plunging into the ocean water so that I could capture some amazing pictures of you guys after the ceremony.

Mud Fun

Sometimes you just have to get dirty.  Enjoy a few pictures from today's Swamp Romp at the MCB in Kaneohe, Hi.  Coming from Florida, and having lived there all my life, I felt like there should have been alligators mixed in with the mud.  Back home in Florida you would not want to walk near the everglades (swampy area) because there would be alligators lurking, and today reminded me a little bit of back home minus the alligators.  The view from the large mud area and the view at the ocean were breathtaking.  We are going snorkeling tomorrow and will get some awesome pictures and I will post another blog for Monday.  Today's blog is a special treat.

Live the Dream | 5 Ways To Commit Success Suicide

Live the Dream | 5 Ways To Commit Success Suicide

150 miles in 2 days on an island

Started our long weekend out just right.  On Friday we went and had dinner with a friend of ours and that was the first time I tried and liked Chili! Ha who would have known.  Thanks Crystal for having us over for dinner :)

Saturday morning we decided to take a drive to North Shore on the Leeward side of Oahu Hawaii.  The drive over there is highway until you reach a town and then as soon as you can see the ocean from your elevation it is just breathtaking.  Hundreds and Hundreds of trees line the road so perfectly and at the bottom of the road you can see the clear blue/green water.  I have pictures of North Shore below this post for you to view and aww at.  After our trip to North Shore we has a pleasent evening baby sitting, and then we tried to stay up all night until sunrise, but I feel asleep for about an hour.  The alarms were set for 5:30am and we sprung out of bed and hit H2 and drove to the Halona Blowhole and set up our camera and just waited for the sunrise.  After the sun was up and the sky was filled with light we continued out journey to Kaneohe and made many stops along the way photographing at various beaches.  We caught up with H3 and took that home, took a quick nap and then it was out to dinner at Haleiwa Joes.  Within 2 days we traveled 150 miles on an island that is only 44 miles long and 30 miles wide, and we saw and photographed at many places along our route.  Below are some of our favorites images from this weekend. Enjoy!

 

Makapuu Light House

Monday, February 8, 2010

First off I would like to say a very happy birthday to my sister Dawn.  With her being in Florida and me being in Hawaii we were able to skype (www.skype.com) and I got to sing happy birthday to her with my family and watched her open up presents.. now if we could just figure out a way how to get her birthday cake through the computer that would be awesome!!  You see, every year my dad makes all of our favorite cakes and each one is different flavors and this will be the first year that I will not get to eat funetti cake with them.  My family is coming to visit in April, so I can't wait for my birthday cake a month early!

We had a busy last two weeks, with me getting a new desk with lots and lots of storage and I will post a photo when everything is all set up.  A huge thank you to Chris for helping us move the desk to our house and setting up the desk for my husband upstairs as well as my new one, and a huge thank you to Jody for finding my new desk!  

Saturday my husband and two of our friends went on a hike to Makapuu Light House, which is on the wind ward side of Oahu. Makapu'u Lighthouse is one of Hawaii's most familiar landmarks commanding a spectacular view of the Windward side of O'ahu.  The Makapuu Light house was built in 1909 and the trail that leads to the light house is a 2-mile steep incline to hike so you will want to rest at the stops along the hike and catch your breath.  Once you reach the top you will have a breath taking view of the coastline and the island of Molokai.  We were also lucky enough to see humpback whales in the far distance.  We are planning a boat trip when my family gets here to go whale watching in a more up close range.  The hike is beautiful and is best to do first thing in the morning or during the cooler evening, as there is no shade to escape from the sun once your start your hike up to the light house.  Enjoy the new pictures!