Paul + wind farm = field trip

My brother Paul volunteered to come collect me from Salina on Friday night. This was important because Erik was joining me in Wichita on Sunday and we wanted to be able to ride back to Salina together Monday afternoon.

So...we went to Martinelli's, one of Erik's favorite places to go.

After dinner, I asked Paul if he had a little extra time and would like to go on a field trip. He agreed, so we headed west from Salina, heading toward Ellsworth on I-70. He filled me in on his engineering classes, and it turns out the subject of wind energy has come up in one of his classes. I filled him in on the back and forth debate over the wind farm in Ellis County as well.

We headed off the Interstate and hit some back roads. THEN we took Paul's little Honda OFF ROADING! It bottomed out once, but made it up the hill to where one of the turbines was. This photo was taken basically at dusk. Minimal sunlight, and mostly moon light. It was taken at 1/7 of a second, which is SLOW, but sometimes possible for photojournalists. :-)


So...it looks like Paul is going to do a college project on wind energy! Excellent! (yeah, this photo is a little blurry, but it's at about 1/7 of a second, which didn't hold still this time!)


This last one is NOT in focus at all, but I like the eerie feel of it ... sort of ghost like. I'd not been up close to a turbine in a long time ... and both Paul and I were certainly given a sense of perspective about our place/size in the universe.


I'm also hoping to make a longer term documentary project out of this wind project, which was also strongly contested. I'm going to apply for a grant next month, so we'll see what happens.

Easter

Erik joined me at the Sheldon household for Easter. Dad grabbed a few photos.

The twins were over and I spent lots of time holding Clare. She's cute as a button!



I have more pictures to share from the weekend, so be sure to check back!

Self portraits

One of the quirky things about photographers is that we take self-portraits. Often, we are not seen in photos of family events because we are BEHIND the camera. Sure, we captre the event, but we are also a missing component.

This is the Willie from my freshman year at K-State (1999). I adored him because he'd always come over and take self portraits with me. :-)

Today, I thought I'd share some of my crazy self portraits.

This is Kelly ... he asked for some self portraits for a class he's teaching, which prompted this post. Kelly and I were both accepted to the Eddie Adams Barnstorm in 2002.



Here's my one from college graduation.


This is also from my time in Independence. I went to Sedan, Kansas for a clown festival to celebrate famed clown Emmett Kelly.


This is when I was the designated animal shelter photog in Independence. It was rough to go see the kitties and puppies without homes. The kittens enjoyed crawling on my shoulders. Esse did this when she was wee, too.


Also near Independence, a sunflower field ... I went one night to photograph and dis some self portraits (yes, I'm a TOTAL ham!)


This was when Robin shaved her head for a St. Baldrick's fundraiser.


These two were from when I photographed a group of women who take "girls trips" on their Harleys (I want one!!!!).





After the trip, I got this shirt, and sent an email to everyone I knew, telling them I was going to go to the Harley Davidson mechanic school in southeast Kansas! It yielded some awesome responses from friends! It's also the shirt I was wearing the night Erik and I first met.


This was taken when I was in Rome photographing ... I LOVE it!



I shot this last year when I went to Salina for a work trip. I went to Coronodo Heights ... then it snowed the next day. Itw was CRAZY!


This is Louie, Allison and I. Allison and I teach CCD on Wednesday nights and have too much fun with our second graders. Over the summer, she invited me to watch her in a cow milking competition ... but later told me that she needed team members, so I had about 5 hours to learn how to milk a cow! I dressed accordingly, though. :-)


Heidi

Last year, my friend Heidi and I went to the POY judging in Columbia, Mo. I told Erik I was going to go pee on the pillars ... we had a little fun!




To finish it up, this is Eirk and I. He told me to stop flashing my ring when we were taking a photo for our Christmas card. This was my response.

On ChristopherRobin Blog!

HA! So Robin & Chris picked out a blog header!

About a week ago, I posted a few blog headers I put together. I couldn't pick a favorite, so I left it to them, and I think they did a fantastic job. It looks SOOOOOO good, especially with the blue background of their blog.

I am SOOOO excited for Erik and I to have our engagement photos done so I can make a better blog header for us!

What inspires me?

Part of my morning routine involves blog stalking. Yes, I admit it. I AM A (blog) STALKER!!!!!

Now that that's out of the way, I was stalking Jules this morning and saw her NEW WEB SITE!!!!! It's totally yummie, so check it out. (I'm super excited because we're overhauling the Heartland Web site as we speak! I'll let you know when it's up for public consumption).



I LOVE to comb through other photographer's Web sites because it inspires me. I see photos I admire and think "wow, I would never have THOUGHT of that" or that I make a mental note to avoid.

One of the biggest reasons I will return to a blog day after day is that it is frequently updated!

Here are a few others I *adore*

Heather Essian (She's going to come and photograph OUR wedding!!!)


Kara Pennington


Anne Ruthmann


Davina Fear (I just LOVE her name!)


Millie Holloman


(There are SERIOUSLY too many to name, so if you want a more complete list of the places I visit regularly, start by looking at the sidebar at the right, then drop me a line or leave a comment!)

It's time to CELEBRATE!!!!!

I looooove the above photo. Sort of dark, moody and almost abstract, isn't it?

Anyhow, it was time to break out the champagne this week! Heartland Photography is really starting to roll. We're booking up nicely for this summer, and this week, we sold our BIGGEST wedding package to date! Certainly worth celebrating. So, I broke out the bubbly!


Poor Mike thought something was wrong when I called him in tears this morning. I was so excited that all I could do was cry. :-) But in a good way.

Do you ever have one of those days when it seems as if EVERYTHING goes right? I mean EVERYTHING???? After our big booking, it turns out my car repair today was FREE because it was under warranty. THEN my champagne was 10% off because it was a Tuesday special (note to self: drink more wine/champagne on Tuesdays, or at least purchase it on Tuesdays!)

Leave a comment and tell me about YOUR best day EVER!

Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS)

Now I lay me down to sleep
I pray the Lord my soul to keep
if I die before I wake
I pray the Lord my soul to take

Many of us are familiair with the child's rhyme, but probably few are familiar with the orginization by the name Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep. The group's Web site explains how the orginization began:

Maddux Achilles Haggard was born on Feb. 4, 2005, with a condition called myotubular myopathy that prevented him from breathing, swallowing or moving on his own. On the sixth day of his young life, his parents had to make the excruciating decision to take him off life support. But before they did, they called Littleton, Colorado photographer Sandy Puc' to take black and white portraits of them cradling their son. Puc' photographed the couple with Maddux at the hospital before he was removed from life support and after — when he was free from the tubes and the wires that had sustained him.


“That night was the worst night of my life. But when I look at the images, that’s not what I’m reminded of. I’m reminded of the beauty and blessings he brought,” Cheryl Haggard (Maddux's mom) said.


Those tender photographs documenting Maddux’s eternal connection with his parents inspired Cheryl Haggard and Sandy Puc' to found a nonprofit organization that has provided thousands of families of babies who are stillborn or are at risk of dying as newborns with free professional portraits with their baby.

Sandy and Cheryl founded the organization in April 2005 and called it Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep after the children’s bedtime prayer. To date, The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation has nearly 3,200 affiliated photographers in 12 countries worldwide.



I signed up a few years ago, but have not been requested to do a session (then my friend, Nicole, let me know I should probably go to the hospital and introduce myself and give them some literature about it .... and I intend to hit the hospitals once I move over to Salina).

As I grow older, I have friends who have gone through the pain and loss of miscarriage. None have carried to term, but I cannot imagine the heartbreak of carrying a baby, feeling it moving and kicking inside you, then birthing it ... and immediately saying goodbye.

It's been getting quite a bit of press lately, especially after an appearance on the Today Show. (WARNING: This is a tear-jerker; it also might be difficult to view in Safari, so if you have difficulty, try Firefox).

It's also been making its way around photographer blogs around the state and country as well ... including Mike Colon, Jennifer Cook, and the Blink Blog.

Bad llama....

So I say the phrase "bad llama" ALL THE TIME. Some people wonder where it's from ... well it's from the movie "The Emperor's New Groove." (I LOVE this movie; Erik got it for me for Christmas!) It probably sounds strange for a grown woman to say "bad llama" frequently, but I figure it's better than letting lose and swearing like a sailor! ;-)


This is the first time I'm trying to embed a movie, so we'll see if it works!

Blog header — Christopher Robin

Sooooooo, I've been meaning to do this for awhile.

Tonight, I created a custom blog header for Robin and Chris' blog. They didn't really ask for my help, I just did it and then sent it to them. I hope they like one of these, because I do!!!!




For those of you who don't know what a blog header is, it's the photo or words at the TOP of a blog. See the photo strip of Erik and I? I put it together, but it was a quick/temporary blog header.

Isn't it nice how Chris is actually on the left side and Robin is on the right, so "Christopher Robin" makes sense with people's placement in the photo? (YES, I am a TOTAL nerd!)

I TOTALLY can't wait until Mike takes my engagement photos with Erik, because I TOTALLY want to make one of these for US!

Soooo...which one is YOUR favorite? Leave a comment!

RIP, Fred

Sad news today.

Erik's dog, Fred, was put down. He had a kidney tumor, and any treatment would just delay the inevitable. :-( We're all so sad about the situation, because Fred was SUCH a friendly fellow. He didn't know a stranger, except for Erilk's brother, Bryan. For whatever reason, no matter what Bryan did, Fred would have none of his good will.

Fred and Erik met when Erik lived in Missouri. A co-worker of Erik's brought Fred over after the pup was heisted from a puppy mill. They were buddies ever since.


When Erik moved to Salina, Erik had to move in with "grandma and grandpa" because Erik's apartment didn't allow dogs. :-(

Please CLICK HERE to view the slideshow I made the first time I met Fred.