Preparation

I got an eye opening-reminder today. The bride who's wedding I'm shooting posted this as a Facebook status update: "4 days."

Four days. That's it. Four little days, 96 hours,  until I photograph my first wedding.

To say I'm nervous would be an understatement. To say I'm excited would be an understatement. I keep trying to remind myself that even though this is a big deal, the bottom line is that I love photography. And above any other emotion, I should be incredibly excited to get this opportunity to do what I love.

I did have a nightmare the other night that the wedding went terribly wrong. I didn't get any pictures of the bridal party and the wedding ceremony was over before I took a single shot. Thankfully I woke up before it got any worse.

Now I may never have photographed a wedding before, but I have certainly been in a few. Counting the wedding I played violin in last September (hi Dorrie!) I've been a part of seven bridal parties. So I know how weddings work. And honestly, I know how photography works. Here's hoping that come Saturday I'm able to remember everything I know about both.

This is all to say that if I'm silent for a few days on this blog it's because I'm preparing for the wedding, photographing the wedding or recovering from shooting the wedding. My family is getting together on Sunday at my parent's lake house for a bit of a mother's day/father's day/mom's birthday celebration. I'm looking forward to it because even if my wedding nightmare comes true, time spent with my family always goes well.

Where I See Myself

I spend a lot of time dreaming right now. Awake or asleep it seems my mind is always set on what is to take place in the future.

It's not that I'm some aimless drifter with my head in the clouds, always pondering the great what if. It's the exact opposite. I know exactly where I want to be in five years, and I'm so excited to get there. But the thing with the five year plan is that is takes five years.

I never used to be able to answer that question: Where do you see yourself in five years? The answer forever eluded me. My standard reply was always some sort of philosophical, non-committal response - something along the line of, "Well I don't know if five years ago I could have predicted that I'd be where I am today. So I really don't know where I'll be in five years, but I hope it's grater than anything I'm thinking of right now." It's a great non-answer.

I was reading a blog entry the other day of a very gifted photographer who's taking her final exams for school. She's expressed her anxiousness to finish with classes and just get going with her life. I remember that same restlessness of the last few months of my senior year of college. I knew my exams were a formality, and that in a month's time my real life, beyond my school and everything I'd known for the previous four years, was just waiting to start. I kind of feel like that these days. I've got a clear vision of where I'd like to be, what I'd like to be doing in five years time. I'm presently doing all I can to get there, so I've just got to wait for the pieces to fall into place.

On Sunday, Mike and I were running errands when I suggested we hop over to a neighborhood in the city that's been peaking our interest as of late. It's a great old neighborhood with brick bungalows and mature, arching trees lining the streets. It's not anything I would have thought I'd want five years ago, but I found my self oohing and aahing over homes that suddenly didn't seem that far out of reach. After coasting down several city streets, Mike and I found a neighborhood joint and ate our lunch outdoors with beer in hand. We talked about the future, about the common things we want - a yard, dogs, studio (for me), a garage (for Mike) - and did that wishful sort of planning young unmarried, folks with no kids can do on a Sunday afternoon.

As Mike and I headed back home on Sunday evening, to our perfectly fine neighborhood in a great part of town, I found myself dreaming of the day when we will be living in the perfectly fine neighborhood in that other part of town. Someday, I know it will happen. I just need to be patient and give it about five years.

Jack!

The folder on my hard drive that contains Jack's photos is called "Jack!" I felt the need for the loud punctuation because I could not love this shoot more. Plain and simple. Jack was just perfect, could not have been any better.  And those eyes, my those eyes. I couldn't stop focusing on them, as you can tell by these pics.

Can you believe neither of his parents have blue eyes? It's true. But these eyes run in the family and his parents are hoping they stick around. And I promise, I did nothing to doctor them in photoshop. They are that blue.

We got out the football specifically for Jack's uncle, who I am guessing is a big football fan. I happen to think this beefy little man could make one heck of a linebacker some day.

Jack's mom sent me a photo of him ahead of time as a preview of her little boy. In it, he was wearing the kicky little hat in the photo above. I kid you not I looked at that photo almost every day leading up to his shoot. It made me smile because he's just so darn cute.

This is Jack's debonair look. I feel like he's saying "Why hello ladies" and saying it quite effectively.

After hanging out at home, we rolled to a nearby park and found a little patch of shade. By this point, Jack was getting a little tired. I didn't blame him. We had a big morning and he was such a trooper. So he hung out with his mom for a bit...

And then he was done. He and his mama went home, but not before I snapped this last pic.

Thanks so much Jack and Kathleen. I loved our morning together. Hope to do it again soon.

I Could Not Wait

I just got home from a shoot about an hour ago. When downloading the pics, I just couldn't wait to share these two.

I have to give you fair warning and say you are not ready for these rolls.

And you are certainly not ready for these baby blues.

I know I wasn't. So, so many more to come. I am ridiculously excited to share this shoot.