Adobe Lightroom.. It arrived!

When a photography classmate mentioned that we could buy the program at a student discounted rate ($99 versus the $299 retail price) since we're enrolled at Wake Tech, I jumped on the chance. She had used the discount that the Adobe site offers, but had to wait a couple weeks for it to come in and had mentioned it was kind of a headache. So I tried JourneyEd. The process was super simple (just emailed a copy of my class schedule confirmation and payment) and it arrived in less than a week. I honestly have no idea what I'm supposed to do with the program, but I'm told it's amazing and I will love it. Can't wait to try it out!

American Tobacco District

A fellow budding photographer, Katie, and I got together on FRIGID Saturday morning (the frost that I had to scrape off of my windshield was not a great sign) for a shoot at the American Tobacco District in downtown Durham. Our frozen fingers could only last so long (changing the camera settings with gloves on is not possible for me), so I'm considering investing in a pair of fingerless gloves - perhaps these cashmere beauties? But we had a great time swapping resources and ideas (lucky me, I was on the receiving end of most of the info!) and we found out that we both share a passion (maybe even a little obsession) for Tamara Lackey, a local but nationally renowned photographer famous for her children and babies portraiture (you'll see her book sitting on my nightstand below). I also learned about some other great photography blogs (like Jasmine Star... love!) to follow and classes to take (Katie's enrolled in the online course, The Art of Seeing, and I'm learning new lighting techniques through Wake Tech's Creative Camera III). We managed to squeeze in a few shots before we called it quits and headed to Nosh for a breakfast of warm flaky biscuits and mocha latte. A great way to start off the weekend!

The Midas Touch

Since Phillip and I do not have a dog of our own just yet, we regularly volunteer to dog-sit. And so, a couple of weeks ago, we had the pleasure of hosting Midas. Midas is a very special Dachshund. He was rescued from a  lady who happened to be a hoarder, and so the first weeks of Midas' life were crammed into a crate with 8 other puppies. Luckily, he does not carry a bitter bone in his body and is one of the happiest and funniest dogs I've ever met.

One particularly funny moment involved our laundry. We had "puppy-proofed" the house, and kept the doors shut to our guest room, which occasionally turns into the laundry staging room. I had run into the room to grab something as I was getting ready for work and Midas was at my heels to see what lurked in this forbidden room. Since I was running late I didn't notice that in the 2 seconds I had been in the room, Midas had managed to grab three pairs of underwear, plop himself under the bed, and chew up (and eat) them all. But how can you be mad at a face like this?

Unfortunately for Midas, I was informed by his mom, that karma does indeed work and he did pay the price (digestively) later on. Poor guy.

A House Divided: Wahoos vs. Demon Deacons

It's ACC Basketball time in the Simson household, which means there's lots of discussion "friendly taunts" on whose team will end up on top. Unfortunately for me, it was not meant to be for the Hoos. I took it well. I wasn't entirely horrible to be around after the loss. Fortunately for Phillip, our good friend Jenny was with us to serve as a mediator. She grew up in Virginia, attended Wake Forest, and deals with a classroom full of 8 year olds on a daily basis, which made her adequately trained to mediate put up with us. But not all is lost! There's always February 6th to look forward to when we'll take on those pesky deacons on home turf. Go Hoos!

Coco

Coco (the nickname was given to her while she was still in utero and mom & dad couldn't decide on a name) is a very happy baby as evidenced by the fact that I have met her quite a few times, but have yet to hear her cry. In fact, the only pet peeve her mom really has is that she's such a squirmy worm, she was having trouble capturing a picture of her without her arms looking like a blur. Thank goodness for fast shutter speeds, because she was not kidding! Luckily, we caught a few moments of Coco in repose - which I think was mainly due to her questioning what I was doing sticking my monstrous camera in front of my face (see the fourth pic down). She warmed up soon enough though.

 

 

Every little girl should have a pair of red patent shoes!

Winter Time in C'ville

As a Wahoo, there are few places in the world that are more dear to me than Charlottesville, Virginia. Last winter, on a trip to visit friends in Roanoke, I decided to take the long way and stop through C'ville for a brief photoshoot down memory lane.

 

 

 

 

 

Spring in January?

I don't know what's going on with the weather in Raleigh lately, but for once I'm not going to complain! After 2 weeks of freezing temperatures, we finally caught a break just in time for the weekend. Saturday was sunny and in the 60s. A perfect day for a pick up game of soccer for the boys and frolic in the park for dogs. While Phillip and his friends kicked the ball around, I was joined by a friend's dog Ze, an Australian Shepard. Ze is a ball of boundless energy, but was willing to sit patiently for a picture or two... as long as this was followed by a game of catch or exploration of the park.

Mr. Handsome

Ready for that game of catch he was promised.

Focused.

Barking at the soccer ball since he was not invited to play.

But all was forgiven once he retrieved a ball of his own.

 Coaching on the sidelines.

 

And we're done for the day!