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I had the awesome opportunity to photograph an american indian (washoe tribe) last week. my dear friend amber hobdy helped get the session set up and the weather was beautiful. lloyd is one of those rare spirits who says what’s on his mind and doesn’t apologize or brag or complain. he is completely genuine and is grateful for everything he has.

lloyd is a good friend of amber’s – like family – and he told her he wanted some pictures with some of his special tribal pieces before he passed on to the spirit world. i was so excited when she told me! not the typical session for me but, i grew up with navajo indians all around me so the american indian has a special place in my heart. lloyd had so many stories to share and a few times i caught myself just listening and the pictures paused for a minute or two.

the next morning lloyd had a heart attack. he is still with us and amber said his sense of humor wasn’t affected and he is still just as stubborn as the day before. he is now a little more anxious to share the photographs with those who mean the most to him. i am grateful i was able to help make this happen for him. thank you amber for pulling it all together – i love you girl!

naomi and her mom, karen, were referred to me by a dear friend, Jessica, and i knew as soon as i met them that we were going to have fun! time flies when you’re having fun and the new part hotel in park city, utah was the perfect location! thanks to karen for calling ahead and talking to the right person so we were able to spend so much time in and around the hotel. i definitely want to go back. naomi was incredible to work with – easy to pose and great energy! i’m so looking forward to working with both of them again.

i’m excited for our next shoot together and an upcoming shoot with karen as well! what a fabulous day – the weather was perfect and i am incredibly pleased with the outcome of the photos! check out more high resolution photos here.

Last Thursday I finally gave in and bought the Lensbaby Composer that I have been longing for…and I am in love! Friday we were hit with another storm so I got to try it out Saturday during the Photwalk in downtown Ogden. I had never been there before (crazy to say out loud since I have been in Utah for almost 20 years!) so I was excited – the night before something came up and I was worried I would miss it. Things settled down just before noon and by 3 I was on my way.

The weather was beautiful and almost no wind! The architecture of Union Station was awesome – I love the detail of the iron work and the mouldings inside and out. The next two hours were spent walking up and down Main Street and although I brought my brand new 24-70mm 2.8 lens, I used the Lensbaby almost exclusively. I can’t think of a better way to get the hang of it and figure out how to control that sweet spot.

I’m heading to Vegas for Easter and I am super excited to play with the Pinhole Optic that I also got for my new crush

You can see more full resolution photos I made during the photowalk here…I’ve bee like a little girl at Christmas so let me know if you like them, too!

Day one of WPPI (Wedding and Portrait Photographers International) was Sunday, March 7

I was about 10 minutes late after taking the wrong freeway exit on my way to the MGM Conference center and my first class was full (all the 12:00 classes filled up) so I found the line for my second class and plopped myself down and waited. While standing in line I met Sally Miller, a Vegas wedding and and event photographer. She had been to WPPI before and had a lot of great advice and suggestions about what to expect.

After an hour of waiting, they let us into the room to sit down and wait some more. Sally had purchased some new equipment days before and we (she had a friend with her and we chatted with the people sitting behind us, too) had fun seeing the results…time flew by for me. When we first came in the room, there was a photo of Doug Gordon – wearing nothing but boxers and socks looking very sexy on a chaise lounge (remember the Seinfeld episode with George and his photo – he’s got nothin’ on Doug). That set the tone and I had a hunch we were going to have fun!

I knew I was going to like him when, during his intro, he sent out his love to his wife and kids and got choked up a little. Oh great – anyone who knows me can tell you that I am very “in tune” with my emotions and these things get me every time – yes, i am a crier. I admit it and I’m not embarrassed or ashamed. Get used to it because I did a lot of it at WPPI. (mostly happy crying)

Doug’s amazing talent and incredible energy was more than I could have even hoped for. He was hilarious and offered so much valuable information for me. I told my mom later that night that, if I were sent home right then, I would be happy I came and I knew I there was so much I could take from his presentation to benefit my business.

Here are a few of the things I jotted down over the next two hours…

the client knows what they look like – do we show who they are? (I had a client, also a dear friend, tell me last night that the family pictures I took of them last fall captured the joy they experience together as a family – yeah, tears welled up and I was grateful she told me!)

our deepest fear is that we are inadequate

dare to be Great (via Rocky Balboa)

change the way you think and change your world forever

failure is not an option

there is not expiration date

make the invisible visible

don’t let fear stop you (this one is starred, especially for me)

dare to be YOU!

Doug spent much of his time showing us “flow posing” – more than 200 different poses for the bride/groom. It was pretty amazing how effortless he made it look (he can get through all of them in 10-15 minutes during a wedding session). I am excited to put into practice what I learned from him. I’ll never forget the photos of Vinny and how he supported Doug and put on the wedding dress and posed for Doug while he perfected his talent. A Doug Gordon Workshop is definitely on my list of “must attend!”

I have to give credit to Animoto for the photo – they have A-MA-ZING slideshows – Check ‘em out!

p.s. I’m a dork when it comes to this technology stuff so until I learn how to do the hyperlinks (this will be done tomorrow – I can handle being laughed at about one post but, that’s it!) I’m listing the above mentioned websites below:

http://douggordonworkshops.com/#/home/

http://animoto.com/go/doug

I spent all last week in Vegas at WPPI (Huge annual convention for Professional Wedding and Portrait Photographers).  I have heard about it in years past but, my circumstances just never allowed for it. I was watching/listening to another great live streaming video of the [b] school and was also taking note of the comments in the chat feed – at one point there were close to 300 listening. After about 15 minutes, I recognized a name, @tofurious and quickly got excited when I saw one of his posts…”I still have another ticket to WPPI.”

I couldn’t believe that no one commented back about…so, I did. We exchanged a few quick chat posts and then he asked me to email him…HOLY COW! A few quick emails later, I was anxiously waiting for a registration form to complete and send in…less than 48 hours later, I was registered and the planning started.

I’m fortunate that my parents and two of my younger sisters live in Vegas so, I had a place to stay and someone to help feed me (I was laid off from my “day” job only a week earlier so fundage was a concern). Lawrence (Tofurious) assured me that it was something that would change my life and if I could make it, it would be incredible.

I had no idea what to expect. I headed to Vegas with my youngest daughter in tow (she got to hang out with cousins, aunts and grandparents all week) and to WPPI *ALONE*  I’m a shy person so I was bordering on being terrified to walk the halls alone…walking class to class with no one to share the experience with. The first day, Sunday, my first class filled up and I ended up sitting in line for almost 2 hours waiting for the next class. (I’ll go into more detail about what I learned at each class in separate posts)

Day two, Monday, was also day 1 of the trade show at the MGM Grand. I walked in the ginormous room and had to stand back against the wall to process it all (it has probably been 10+ years since I have been to a trade show). After a brief anxiety attack – yes, I escaped for several minutes to my car in the parking garage – I made myself go back and decided that I would just walk through to see all the booths.

Tuesday it got easier to walk through the trade show and I was able to sit down at a few of the presentations going on at a few of the booths. I also ordered my new Canon 24-70mm 2.8 from B&H Photo I met some incredible ladies and made some new friends. Had I attended WPPI with a friend, I don’t think I would have pushed myself as much to take the first step to say hello and start a conversation. The ladies I met were so genuine and even inspiring. I met photographers who were here for the first time and some who have been coming for years and had great advice for the newbie. I think this is the day I was touched and moved and inspired the most – and I cried a lot – I knew I was here for a reason and despite my shaking confidence (Utah has some amazing photographers) I know I don’t want to do anything else (for my career).

Wednesday, I hit my first class at 8am and then spent the next 4 1/2 hours at the trade show…there were SO many things I would have loved to take home but, I was proud of myself for sticking to my modest budget (I’ll start saving for next year). I headed home early and spent the rest of the afternoon vegging with my baby girl and sharing my experiences with my sisters and my mom.

Thursday was the Photographers Ignite presentation and it was so worth staying for – such amazing, creative, inspiring artists. I can’t imagine having the nerves to stand up in front of that many people (the room held 900) without going completely blank. That being said, maybe – just maybe, one day I’ll be worthy of the opportunity to share something I have learned on my journey to success as a photographer.

I have a long road ahead of me but, this week at WPPI has allowed me to focus on what I want to do and where I want to take my career. I really do eat, drink and breathe photography – my life circumstances haven’t always been cooperative and I have had to put my dream on the back burner more than once. This experience has changed my outlook and I savored each and every minute of this conference. This is my year to make things happen…

It felt like Spring today – the sun was out and it seemed unusually warm for this time of year so I decided to take advantage of it! All Paige was interested in was hitting the playground. I convinced her to compromise and she let me get some great pictures of her before. I had no problem capturing her spunky personality and, not to mention, that beautiful smile. As quickly as I pulled out my camera, she was off to the playground…

I can’t believe how perfect the colors were up the canyon this past weekend! Every fall color was vibrant and it made for a beautiful backdrop for the families I photographed on Saturday and Sunday.

The Rutland-Nielson family was a blast to shoot - great kids and an amazing mom! Jordan kept us laughing and made my day when he reached up for me to pick him up, awww! Here are a few of the photos from their session and you can see a full resolution gallery here: http://cindirenee.smugmug.com/Family/Rutland-Nielson

Remember, you can see the full resolution gallery here: http://cindirenee.smugmug.com/Family/Rutland-Nielson

I drove down to Utah county for this shoot with the Weinheimer kids and I was SO excited when we arrived at out location! It’s places like this that remind me why I love location shoots so much! Great kids, photogenic, and willing to let me move them around until we got it right. The sun was tricky on a few shots but, I made it work for us and not against us – I’m so pleased with how they all turned out…what do you think?!

Visit http://cindirenee.smugmug.com/Family/Weinheimer to see the full resolution gallery and more pictures, of course!

Don’t forget to check out the rest of the full resolution gallery: http://cindirenee.smugmug.com/Family/Weinheimer

Sipinga and Hosea’s beautiful baby boy, Siosiua Tevita (did I spell it right?) was such a joy to photograph! He gave us a little of everything – He slept, he was alert and looking around and he even cried. I am pleased with the pictures and always enjoy the feedback… you can see the entire gallery by clicking on any of the photos.