capturing moments....

Weekend, weekend! I've been so happy to sleep in - I may or may not have refused to get out of bed until almost noon today. Don't judge me, I earned being lazy. Next weekend will be super super busy, so this weekend I really needed some down time to get some client editing in.

This week, I shot a birth for a sweet family that I've been doing family portraits for for a few years. Shooting births is usually tricky - since babies typically come when they want to come. I'm on call for my birth sessions, but -- some babies come faster than others! Fortunately for us, Miss Lillie was stubborn, so they scheduled her birthday.

My favorite thing when I'm shooting is telling a story -- which isn't always possible when I'm doing portraits (but IS why outtakes wind up being my favorites!) -- so shooting things like births, weddings, events are such a rush for me. I have in my head what it would look like if I were to lay it out in a photo book. It's also amazing to be in the delivery room with Mom & Dad, to capture the biggest moment in their lives with them.

It's also a great moment for me to shoot B&W, which is one of my biggest loves.

A quiet morning it was!

10:43 a.m - the time little Lillian took her first breath. 

Welcome to the word, sweet Lillian Grace!

The important part of the day was getting big sister in the room to meet her little sister - she couldn't have been anymore smitten with that baby!

And she never let her baby sister out of her sight! 

Happy Birthday Sweet Lillie! Mom & Dad already have her signed up for 5 sessions for the next year, so I'll be getting lots of time with this sweet face. I can't wait to watch her grow!

"What I like about photographs is that they capture a moment that's gone forever, impossible to reproduce." - Karl Lagerfeld

Ouch!

Sigh. Today wasn't the day I wanted it to be.  How did I spend my afternoon?

Getting another injection, thats how. My knee and I are officially no longer friends. Also, could these shots be any bigger? (Don't answer that) Injections in the knee are no freaking joke, my friends. 

The good news is I got the shot to help with pain & inflammation. The bad news is my knee is flaring up because of the training I've been doing for my marathon. (I guess I should have started out more with brisk walking or jogging and not quite so fiercely running!)  I can't actually complain - the whole reason my knee is injured to begin with is because of my clumsiness. It turns out you actually SHOULD NOT stand on a tall chair with wheels to hang up a photo canvas on the wall. When you come crashing down and land knee first into a hardwood floor, it's not going to end well.

If I continue to have flare-ups, we will be looking at surgery later in the year. And let's not lie- the thought of knee surgery totally freaks me out & I will do whatever it takes to stay away from it! Which might mean NOT running in the Disney Princess 1/2 Marathon. We'll see. I will be so incredibly disappointed. Sigh.

However, when I came home, this gem was waiting on the front porch for me!

Kelly Moore made this a seriously quick exchange - I shipped back the other bag at the end of last week & I had my new Mimi before even a week went by. Review coming soon for my photographer nerds, but I'm going to say - this bag really DOES function well as an every day bag with or without the camera gear!  I carried my B-Hobo for a year - hope Mimi lasts that long too!

Now it's wine time - after the day I've had, I think I've earned it!

The woes of a female photographer....

Why is purse shopping so ridiculously hard? This was no big deal before I became a photographer. I had a purse addiction, they filled my closet, and I was certain they were the reason of my happiness.

And then I went a little deeper into photography world and thought "Hey, I can't be without my camera EVER!", and carried my handy dandy DSLR everywhere I went.  I've been known to slam on the brakes & pull over to take a picture -- I've gotta have more than just my iPhone on me! And when I entered the whole "adult world" and had to start paying for all my own stuff, reality hit real quick that carrying in my purse wasn't the greatest idea.

Enter the world of camera purses. I did so much research on them and was so incredibly specific on what I wanted. There are SO many out there that are massive, and those come in handy for shooting weddings. But I needed something that fit and protected one camera body (with a lens attached), one small additional lens - and one flash. I don't always carry a flash, but I wanted the space for it -- and then my every day stuff -- wallet, sunglasses & case, compact, lip gloss, keys, etc. This way I could carry my camera every day, and I could even take it to a portrait session without having to swap bags. All this, and I needed it to be super cute.

My first was the Lola from Epiphanie Bags:

Gorgeous, and I loved it at first - but the angle of the top made it slightly difficult to get the camera out. I overlooked this, until the purse started showing a lot of wear and tear -- not even a year after purchase. (The same problem I had with what I bought after it, from Jo Totes. Cute bags, but my Jo Tote started coming apart less than 4 months after purchase.)

I sold it and eventually moved onto the world of Kelly Moore - who is AMAZING. I love love love her bags! My first KM was the B-Hobo. I LOVE my B-Hobo.  It's a great feel, fits how I need to stuff to -- and after TWO years of use, it's just now starting to show some wear! 

Anyway, I decided I wanted something different & ordered the Posey 2 from Kelly Moore this week. It arrived today, and....I wasn't as in love as I thought I'd be! I was able to fit in the basics using two dividers (as shown in this crappy photo below --- too much effort to dig out my 2nd body for one quick pic!):

That fit one body with a 50mm attached, an SB 600 & in the middle I was able to put in a medium size lens & my sunglasses. I was able to fit my coin purse, lip gloss, phone, hand sanitizer in an outer pocket. But pulling the body with the 50mm attached was difficult, and I didn't like the way it fell when I had the strap attached to the sides. I was contemplating keeping the bag and using it for super light days, when I don't need my flash -- but I REALLY want that space to take my flash if I need it....so I emailed Kelly Moore tonight to exchange for the Mimi.

I've secretly been in love with the Mimi for awhile, but was concerned she was too big for every day use -- she's a little wider than the B-Hobo and the Posey 2. But after 2.5 hours of review reading -- I think this one will work perfect. Fingers crossed she's my perfect bag!

Are there any other bag designers worth checking out, photogs? I don't know that I'll carry anything other than Kelly now -- but I'm all about looking for new bags!