Work Weekend

I had such a fun "work weekend" and now officially have five "family" clients.  Crazy, huh?  I'm also excited that by next weekend my family clients will double.  WOW!  All five this weekend were "mini-sessions" and the goal of most was just to get a good family Christmas card picture. Lots of traditional group shots and then some other candid kid shots too. Twenty-five minutes FLIES by and I didn't want to miss any potential cute candids so I j.u.s.t k.e.p.t s.n.a.p.p.i.n.g. I'll be paying the price this week while I go through and edit them. :) The last family each day got additional "bonus" time. Its just so fun that once I get started I don't want to stop. :)

Had this cute family today.  At the end of the posed stuff I busted out the fake mustaches and glasses. It was hilarious. At one point the mom had the mustached on her stomach (she's preggo with her 3rd boy).  Feeling lucky that all of the families this weekend were so much fun to hang out with!


I learned a TON this weekend.  Some highlights:
- be prepared for anything at your location.  on saturday there was a wedding there (had to move to the back side of the museum for the last shoot).  on sunday there were other photographers/families everywhere.  we had to side-step around each other (i quickly realized i don't know what photographer etiquette is in these cases). 
- be prepared for kids that cry, kids that whine, kids that have really runny noses (need to carry tissues in my camera bag!), kids that fall and get bloody, kids that rummage through my bag (fine with me...the kids were thrilled to find my tictacs -- note to self: keep them on hand all the time).
- be prepared with a step stool if you are 5' 2'' and your clients are 6 feet tall.  woops.  learned this one in hindsight.   thank goodness for the seated shots.  :)
- be prepared with props.  they are a huge help (fun factor, mix up the standard stuff, etc..)
- be prepared to act like a kid, run around and play a bunch (anticipated this to be true and it really was.  really love this part of it. had two families tell me their last photographer didn't do this at all.)
- the best light really is the last hour of the day.  its amazing, dreamy light.  all other light just drives you to the shade. 

WOW Weekend Wrap-up:
Tonight I got a call from an acquaintance (mother of Noah's new bf at preschool) who asked if I'd be up for taking a picture for a friend of hers on Monday afternoon.  I said 'sure'.  Turns out its for a non-profit organization called "Leave A Legacy" and my job is to take photos of the mayor signing a proclamation naming this week "Leave A Legacy Week."  I mean, seriously, I'm going to be in a small room with the mayor tomorrow because of my basically amateur photography?!  I can't tell you how many times I've said to Mike, "I just feel like the Lord is opening all of these doors....this is all happening so quickly....it just feels like its His timing, preparing me to make an impact, to provide a service offering....something."  Who knows how the future will unfold...I just know my heart is open (and I'm excited to meet the mayor!  :).

Boys at the Mint Museum

I took the boys to the Mint Museum last night for a little playtime and to check out the lighting.  I have six family mini-photo sessions there this weekend -- my big official launch of 'brooke brown photography' -- and I wanted to check out the area one last time before the they start.  I've done other sessions for trade and just to practice (here is one) but these are the first family sessions that people are actually paying me.  Wowza. 

My friend Allison let me borrow a cute antique chair.


I brought a quilt and some pom poms and asked the boys to "throw them in the air on 1-2-3!"  Guess its a developed skill to also get all the kids within sight on the frame?  :)  I'll keep working on that one.


I also brought chairs with me.  Miles got them out of the back, set them up, and then they all got in.  This isn't exactly what I had in mind.  HA!



There are some bricks steps there.  I thought, "let's try over there...."  Again, not what I had in mind.   Although, I will admit, their styling may be some of the problem  :)



Miles kept giving me fake smiles.


And when I asked them to "please sit down on the brick and just don't smoosh each other" it turned into this.  Really?!?!


Again, "can you just sit/stand nicely next to each other?" turned into this:




There were other shots that I love, except for the funny expressions or complete head turns - like these:



(for the record, i love sunflare pictures.  they hold so much emotion in them for me.  mike, on the other hand, thinks that many of them should go straight to the trash -- so I don't blame you if you hate these too :). 

But, after all the flops, these melt my heart and make all worth it. 



Wish me luck this weekend!   Hoping (needing!) to get more than just "the one" shot that makes the mother's heart do flip flops.  If you are the praying kind, I'll take some -- for peace and a calm feeling during the shoots....for an excellent memory (not my forte) to remember everyone's names....for a quick mind, as I only have 25 minutes to spend with each family so I need to make each shot really work....and for a joyful spirit throughout it all --- I really want all of these sessions to be FUN. 

Park with Friends

On Saturday afternoon the boys found a baby Halloween/cat hat in Miles' closet.  It was a gift to Miles from Mike's parents when he was 6 months old (Halloween time) and I decided to keep it out so that I could take it to VA next week and take some funny pictures of my new niece Adelaide in it.  On the way out the door to the park, Griffin decided that it would look cute on a 3-year-old too (his opinion, not mine...haha) and proceeded to put it on and not take it off for the next 3 hours (park, trader joe's, etc...).  Its a nice combination with the grateful dead t-shirt (Mike found it up at Target) he now insists on wearing e.v.e.r.y s.i.n.g.l.e d.a.y (good grief).  







As soon as we got to the park, we were greeted by the Foster kids (Angus & Maclaren).  Our kids can go an entire year without seeing each other -- and yet upon first glimpse the recognize each other and start palling around.  I love that.  Really love that.






The kids played on the playground.


They rolled down the hill.



They went on an adventure hike.


And sometimes they just chatted.  :)




And one of Mike and Griffin.  Just because.

Soccer

They boys are still loving their soccer clinic.  Mike and I are loving that they are loving it.  :)

Miles usually starts by hanging out with me and Griffin in the 3-year-old group.  If Griffin ever tires out of the little exercises, Miles either cheers him along or he just does the activities with me himself.  It works out perfectly.


Around 1/2-way though, Miles usually tires of the 3-year old group and he wanders over to hang with Mike and Noah.  Last week the 5 year olds had their first little scrimmage.  Just before they started, Mike leaned into Noah and said, "if everyone crowds around the ball, just jump in, kick it out of the group, then run after it."  I have to admit, I was SHOCKED to look over and see Noah doing just that over-and-over again!  Our less-than-aggressive guy was in the mix!  And, even cuter was that Miles was cheering screaming (!) for Noah the entire time.  Mike couldn't have been prouder of either or them.


And, I know I'm all excited -- but I do have to remind myself that this is just a clinic.  Not a full-force league or anything.  But who cares, I'm still loving it.  PS Is anything cuter than a bunch of 3 year olds in a huddle/cheer at the end of practice?!

Peggy

I had so much fun at my awesome friend Peggy's 40th birthday party last weekend.  Isn't she just the cutest?!  Her heart matches that smile.  Pure and true.  Joyful and honest.  Caring and dedicated.  My friendship with Peggy brings me so much happiness, comfort, and laughter.  I love her so.


Our really good friend Ashleigh (in the center...sweet Elaine on the left) came in from DC for the big event.  I met Ashleigh at my first temp job out of college and have loved her every day since then.  Ashleigh started our dinner club, then up and moved to DC, changed her name to Paige, went to law school and now is a big deal lawyer working for a pharma company.  She's amazing. 


Peggy & Leigh.  Leigh was in dinner club for a few years before she moved to Spantanburg.  Really miss her and was so glad she came to the party!


The dj played the tunes and we danced all night.  It was so much fun.  :)

Ramblin Rose

The day after the Mud Run, Trish, Shannon and I did the Ramblin Rose Sprint Triathlon.  It was an amazing event!  The course was a great short length (250 yard swim, 9 mile bike and a 2 mile run) and the volunteers were AMAZING.  These old lady bones came in 110th out of almost 1,000 participants.  I was so excited (and I'm been really slacking at the gym lately, so next year I'll likely come in 999th).   

One of these days I'll put together a little video of the event (Mike was there with the boys taking video snipets).  Until then, here are some of Trish's (Jon's) pictures.

Here we are, doing our prerace stretching, calming our nerves.  We were a bit shaky, as normally you can be in the transition area (where you store your bike, sneakers, etc...) during the entire race.  During this race they closed the transition area 30 minutes before the race started.  We literally had 2 minutes to find our spots and set everything up.  It was all a blur once we left....we were just hoping we'd be able to find our helmets, socks, shoes, etc... once we needed them.  :) 



Here I am in the pool, getting ready to start.  Everyone starts 10 seconds apart from each other -- and the girl in front of me had a 1 minute break before the person before her.  Somehow every time I got to the end of a lane it seemed there were 3-4 people hanging around not swimming (drinking coffee, telling jokes??).  On top of that, the pool that I was swimming in was 17 feet deep (1/2 of the participants were in one 'regular' pool, the other 1/2 of us were in a diving pool)!  I had no idea it would be that deep -- and I seriously felt like I was in a horror movie -- like all those women drinking coffee and telling jokes at the end of each lane were going to shove me down 17 feet and I was going to die.  Good grief.  I was panicking during the entire thing. I ended up with such a slow swim time...and it was the longest 6 minute of my life.  :)


So often during a race you are on the bike course by yourself.  Every now and again you'll see another biker for a few seconds, then one of you passes the other and you're solo again.  During this race Shannon and I were on the bike course together the entire time.  It was crazy/awesome!  She and I started around the same time in different pools - so it was much fun to see each other in the transition area.  Check out how refreshed/smiley Shannon looks....and look how whipped/pained I look.  HA!


Here we all are at the end....so happy to be done!  :)   It was so awesome to do the race with Shannon and Trish.  No pictures of it, but Trish and I passed each other on the run too.  It was such a friend event! :)  It was Trish's first triathlon and when she finished I literally burst into tears.  I was so proud of her.  She did amazing!!  And, it was fun to train together too.  Can't wait for next year to do it again!   (Check out Trish's awesome post about the race on her blog, too.) 

Mud Run

A couple of weeks ago Mike and I and two friends, Carolyn and Scott (both married - but not to each other) participated in the USMC Mud Run.   Our team was called "Mudilicous".   Ha!  Its the largest mud run in North America with over 14,000 participants -- so the traffic was ridiculous to say the least.  We were in a traffic jam for at least 90 minutes (and missed our start time) but once we arrived, we just checked in and started the race.  We came is 967th overall. 

Mike's sister Shannon was originally on our team, but hurt her back.  She tagged along anyway and snug onto the course to take a few pictures.  She said whenever she saw someone she just acted like she was one of the professional photographers out there.  :)

This obstacle was really hard (meaning you could NOT do it by yourself).  You had to move across the bars without your feet touching the ground.  I went first and grabbed it oddly and it took all three of my teammates to get me across while I hung like a monkey.  

The rest of the group "stiff-armed" it across or road on shoulders.  Much better technique!




We had to flip this tire a certain number of times (4?  can't remember).  We all kind of thought this one was random. 


Climbing up and over a super-high wall.  There were a few versions of this.  Not sure how someone afraid of heights would handle it. 




Mud pools were throughout.  This one we just had to run though.  There was one that was 12 feet deep (or something like that).  Mike dove in and swam across.  I jumped as high as I could like a crazy person.  It was CRAZY swimming in a mud pool - but surprisingly it "washed us off" a bit and made us look cleaner, just really tan.  :)

 

There were a few versions of this obstacle.  You go under practically like a snake.  This one was really muddy, but there were some pockets of air in between the mud and the rocks.  We went one where you literally had to go under the mud to get under the log.  The tough part is that when you come out, you have mud in your eyes, but you can't wipe your eyes because you have mud everyone else on your body too.  People wiped their eyes with canvas ropes enclosing the obstacle, random leaves on the ground, whatever they could find.  Mike had a ton of mud in his eyes during one of the obstacles and couldn't get it out.  A volunteer eventually brought him a bottle of water to wash his eyes with.  Very nice and very appeciated!


This obstacle was "over/under".  The logs were about 8 feet high and there were maybe 40 of them (not sure).  You had to move over one and under the next one without your feet ever touching the group.  You had to really latch on to one log (underneath) and then slowly swing one arm, then one leg over, then propel yourself to the top of that log to go over it.  One of your teammates was positioned to give you a boost if you needed one.  I've heard a number of people say that they thought this one was the hardest. 


The last "obstacle" is carrying a team member on a stretcher.  Carolyn and I fought each other on who was the smallest ("no you are!"...."no you are!").  I won....she rode.  Mike shoved me aside and wouldn't let me help carry, so Carolyn and I both got a little break. 


Here were are at the finish line.


Check out how you get clean!


Our shoes went directly into the trash can. 


We all LOVED it!  I think I yelled out at least a dozen times, "I love this!"...."This is so fun!"  If I could pay $10 and do this weekly as a gym class, I would.  It rocked.   Can't wait until next year!


PS Shannon -- thanks for documenting our fun day!!