Cleaning Machine.

This is what I'm doing today.

CLEANING.

I HATE to clean. I love a clean house...but I hate to clean. Isn't that the way it always is?!?!?!

Well, we're having our house appraised today (we're refinancing our house) and they're coming INSIDE and taking PICTURES. So Travis put my butt to work. He worked on the outside and mowed the jungle that was our yard...and I cleaned the inside.

I do believe this is the cleanest my house has been in a LONG time...so I'm going to take pictures. I'm so proud of my cleaning that I might even share with you guys. :) I have to document it somewhere!

Wish me luck...off to clean toilets!

Ok...this is gonna be a long one. Get ready.

The other day we were at my dad's house for dinner and my niece Megan was looking SUPER adorable. Her hair was still curled from church, she's all tan (with a few bug bites all over), wearing a cute white tank top and green shorts, and feeling spunky.

It was after dinner, before the boat ride, and the light was ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!

I sweet-talked her into a little mini photo shoot...and I have to say I THINK THESE ARE MY FAVORITE PHOTOS. EVER. And it's not even my kid. At least she's a relative. :)

So I sat her down on some deck steps leading down to a dock, and the light was hitting the back of her head just right. Her hair is so light and streaked with blonde and curled and PERFECT.

Can you tell everything was perfect and this is what a photographer DREAMS OF?

Sorry. I'll stop talking about THE LIGHT!

So starting out, when you say "smile", you get one of these.

Well, that's not really what I was going for. Cute....but not what I was wanting with THE. PERFECT. CONDITIONS.

So then it's telling her NOT to smile, and you get this.

After we warmed up a bit, she really got into it. Every time I hit the shutter, she did a different pose. Then we got to the silly faces.

So, here they are, in all their glory. I'm starting with my favorite. Enjoy!

Senior Photo Time...

With school starting, and fall fast approaching, I'm getting into Senior Portrait Season!!!! And by the way, I absolutely LOVE doing senior portraits. The kids are so much fun to work with, they're willing to do anything, and are normally pretty easy in front of the camera.

Back when I started this photography business, I needed some "models" to help me promote my senior portraits. So I called my wonderful friend Tammy and asked her if I could borrow her kids for a session.

One had just graduated...and one was a freshman. Not really "seniors"...but close enough.

Here's a few from that session....

And then a couple of weeks ago, I did my big family session AND the senior session. Tina was SUPER to work with, literally went ANYWHERE I asked her to go, and almost got drenched when I made her walk through a creek and she freaked out when she saw fish.

Sounds like something I would do. I wait...I had my telephoto lens and was on dry land. :)

I really hope the senior portraits take off this year. They are a pleasure to do, and I love capturing their fun and almost-grown-up spirit.

One of my favorites of the day....the 9-iron...with a little help of Photoshop. Enjoy!

My son cracks me up.

I'm sorry...but I have to post a little funny conversation my husband had with G-Man the other morning.

The other night I raided G-Man's goody bag from a birthday party and was eating some shock tarts. I didn't figure he'd like them (super-duper sour)...and since I love them...I would eat them myself. Good logic, right?

This is the perk of having a child go to birthday parties with goody bags and a child who enjoys trick or treating.

We get to eat their candy behind their back.

So I ate a few shock tarts while watching the Olympics and left a few of them on the side table (I only eat the red, purple, blue and green ones). The next morning, G-Man is watching Spiderman (his new obsession...and it has taken over the TMNT obsession) and he apparently found them on the table.

****

Travis came into the living room after getting ready to see G-Man leaning over the side of the couch, with his arm behind a picture frame that sits on the table.

"Whatcha doin' buddy?"

G snatches his arm back to his side and says "I found sooooommmmme-ting" in his sing-songey voice. And it's 'ting'...not 'thing'.

"What did you find?"

"Caaaaaaaaaaaan-deeeeeeeeeeeeeeee" again said in his sing-songey voice.

"Where is it?"

He reaches back behind the frame, yanks it out and AGAIN in his sing-songey voice says, "Taaaa-Daaaaa!!!!!"

Travis can't help but laugh. "Did you eat some of the candies already?"

"Yeah" he says kinda quietly.

"Are there any left?"

"Yeah."

Travis, figuring he's eaten 2 already...might as well eat the third one says, "Do you want to eat the last candy?"

G-Man pops up, shouts "Yeah!!!!!!" and then proceeds to tell Travis, "THANK YOU DADDY!!!!" real excited-ly and like he can't believe his luck that he gets to eat MORE CANDY in the morning and DIDN'T GET IN TROUBLE!

****

This was all before Travis noticed G hadn't even touched his cereal at the table. Oh well. He made him eat it...and it taught me to hide my evidence of candy-stealing.

I need to do better next time.

Family Fun

So since swimming is over and the 10m diving has yet to start, let's get some client photos out of the way.

I shouldn't say "out of the way"...because I think they are terrific and I'm very proud of them. I should just say that "during this lull in my Olympic coverage, I'd love to share with you some client photos I've taken recently".

There...how's that. :)

So the other day I had a family session AND a senior session (the senior was a part of the family) and had about 3.5 hours of shooting and endless time spent editing. I've figured out that my home computer monitor is different than my work computer monitor...and some of my client's computer monitors.

Some images are too light....some are too dark....and I'm having a hard time finding a good balance. I tend to like the light, airy photos....and sometimes they come across as being "blown out" and "overexposed".

So, I'm working on it.

I'll share some of the senior ones later...but these are my favorites of the family.

And let me tell you what....I absolutely LOVE doing family portraits (especially this fun family) and one of the best things I love about doing families...is getting the mom & dad photos!

Most of the time...they're concerned with getting family shots....or kid shots....but rarely do they think of Mom/Dad shots. And let's be honest here...how many times do you just take photos of the parents?

Not very often. And I absolutely love my parent shots.

Like these!

There were a few that I didn't post of them...because I'm not sure they'd appreciate them shown to the Internet (they were funny!...and a little graphic! Like I said...they were FUN!). So you'll just have to enjoy the good, family-friendly ones.

And they sure make a pretty family.

DORK.

Last week I spoke more about Michael Phelps than I did about my husband and son, COMBINED.

Yes, I have a problem....but I am now finally getting caught up on my sleep. Track and Field doesn't really do much for me so I can get to sleep before midnight now. Thank goodness. I have been tired since 8/8/08.

So anyway, enjoy my favorite athlete in the world. I think what makes him so special (to me) and sweet is the way he's such a great sportsman. And a great son (who loves his mother to death...did anyone see the interview with his mom the other day?!?!?! Awwwww.....). And he's not too hard to look at, either.

And please don't laugh too hard...but I'm seriously considering buying the DVD about him and his Olympics journey. Just don't tell my husband. He thinks I'm nuts.

Dude. I need to get a life.

Dear Internets:

I would love to be writing wonderful blogs about me, my life, my son G-Man, new photos I've taken recently (I had a KICK-A$$ photo shoot this weekend...consisting of a family shoot and a senior shoot all at the same time), and all the other going-ons in my life.

However, I can't do that.

Why, you ask?

BECAUSE I AM SHOVED UP NBC'S BUTT ON TV AND THE INTERNET ALL THE DAMN DAY WATCHING THE FREAKIN' OLYMPICS!

Hi, my name is Julie and I'm addicted to the Olympics. Specifically Michael Phelps. Lord help me that man is handsome and buff and SWEET AS PIE and loves his mother to death. Did I mention he's hot?

I love Michael Phelps. And I stay up ENTIRELY too late in the evenings so I can watch him swim LIVE and receive his gold medals.

Oh, and gymnastics. I love women's gymnastics. Brings me back to the time when I took gymnastic lessons and pranced around in my leotard and curly pigtails.

And diving. SO COOL to actually know an Olympic Diver. You all know Thomas Finchum? Well, I work with his mother and she's a good friend. We have followed his career this entire time (last Olympics he got cheated out at age 14 to attend) and he's the sweetest guy out there. So it's pretty cool to see him on tv...and everyone talking about him. Unfortunately he placed 5th in the synchro 10m diver with his diving partner David the other day. Stay tuned for the individual 10m diving competition next week.

So, it's basically Swimming, Gymnastics and Diving at my house. With a little synchronized swimming (it's coming!), women's beach volleyball (I wish I had those ladies' bodies!) and more Michael Phelps diving and interviews.

I have a serious problem.

So, until the Olympics is over...it will be sporadic with my postings. Unless you all want to hear about how hot Michael Phelps is and how I was SCARED TO DEATH HE WOULD NOT WIN GOLD during the 200m fly race due to WATER IN HIS GOGGLES! I knew something was wrong...I just thought he was tired...but oh my word I was worried.

I hope to post again sometime soon...and hopefully I'll finish editing my images from Saturday and you'll get to see those (because they turned out AWESOME!)...but don't hold me to it. Lots more swimming to get done!

And did anyone else see that Visa commercial after Phelps became the most decorated Olympic of all time? Oh my word...the tears were a falling. Way to be on the ball, Visa.

Giving Gifts Part II

I absolutely, positively love giving people the gift of photographs. Remember Teri? Yeah. The best present ever. Or at least to her....and to me if I were to request one single gift.

Most people don't think of getting photos of their kids/families done to cherish forever. Or if they do...they go to Sears or Target or Wal-Mart for their cheesy portraits.

Now, I'm not knocking those type of places. I myself went there on numerous occasions (3!) when G-Man was 3, 6 and 9 months old. I didn't know any better. And I didn't own my kick-ass camera then.

Kid #2 is going to have kick-ass baby portraits. If Kid #2 ever decides to grace my womb.

*Sigh*

So, back to the topic at hand. Most department store portrait studios use flash, cheesy backdrops, and un-natural poses. That is not what I provide. And most people don't even think twice about taking them to these places and don't venture out into the land of "jvw photography" and other awesome places/photographers Indianapolis has to offer.

When I got a birthday invitation from a good friend of ours the other day...inviting us to her two daughters' birthday party, I got a wild idea to give this to her as a gift. Her and her husband are very close to us, and we love them very much. Their kids are adorable and I knew she would cherish this forever.

So I sent her a quick message and asked if I could photograph her entire family. I caught her just in time. They had an appointment at a portrait studio in the mall set for last week and I told her immediately to cancel it. I would do it for FREE. And they would be better than what she would have gotten! (If I say so myself)

They all came over last weekend and we did our shoot. Boy, she makes pretty, toe-headed babies. And talk about blue eyes! Her husband will have to beat the boys off with a stick!

So, without further adieu....I give you the Ray Family! BTW...I absolutely LOVE the girl's matching tops! Adorable!

Enjoy!