PHEW!!!!!!!!!!!! and WAHOO!!!!!!!!!!!!

Ah!!!  Great news!!!  My mom received my camera today and took it to Precision Camera http://www.precisioncamera.com/, in Enfield, Connecticut and they said the only thing that needs to be replaced and repaired is the LCD!  WAHOO!!!!!!!!  They are going to test it out and make sure everything is okay with the rest of the camera, but thinks it shouldn't take long to repair it.  Mom happened to say, "Too bad it wasn't fixed before I head out to visit my daughter."  The manager asked, "Oh, when are you leaving?"  She replied, "Monday next week."  The manager then said, "We'll expedite the repair.  It should be ready for pickup on Saturday."  Another WAHOO!!!!!!!  Apparently, this place receives over 7,000 cameras a week to repair.  Thank you Mom and thank you Precision Camera!

My dear friend Amy and her dog Brady came to visit me, Matt and Biskey.  We had a great visit and it was so sad to see them leave this morning.  I can tell Biskey misses both Brady and Amy really bad.  She's pretty sad today.  :(  But, I'm looking forward to have my Mom and step-dad come visit!

Here are a few pictures of my sweet dog Biskey and a picture of my Mom at the Breakers Mansion in Newport, Rhode Island http://www.newportmansions.org/.

New friends and new photos....

Meet Ziada!  She is a new friend and fellow photographer!

Meet Nicole!  We were fellow sherpas at the Free To Be Me workshop last week.

Meet Chandani, our beautiful model for the day and a new friend as well!

Nicole invited me along to join her and Ziada to photograph Chandani Saturday morning.  We went over to Crissy Fields and got started.  It was a little windy and a bit chilly, but we all survived... especially Chandani!  She came well prepared with two blankets!  We spent time shooting at Crissy Fields and then we walked across the street over to some buildings to get some "barn door" shots and then, I spotted this beautiful car to be a part of our photo shoot.  We thought we would shoot until we got asked to move away from it.  Thankfully, no one came out and shooed us away!  

After the photo shoot, I got dropped of at home and set my camera down on the counter.  I made some lunch and thought that while I'm enjoying the yummy BLT, I would upload the photos that were just taken.  So, I grabbed the body of my camera and turned to head towards the living room.  The strap attached to my camera got caught on the handle of a kitchen drawer and as I walked towards the living room, the camera was pulled right out of my hands and fell onto the tire floor so fast.  I GASPED folks... GASPED and GROANED in complete agony.  I didn't know if I should scream or cry.  Instead, I remained calm and quickly turned on the camera to see if I could take any pictures.  I heard the shutter clicking, but I couldn't see a thing in the LCD screen.  I called my fiancee Matt, but he was on his 17th hole about to start his 18th hole.  So I called my Mom and just broke into tears.  It was a sad day.  After I got off the phone with my Mom who comforted me, Matt called me and asked me in the most concerned, sweet voice, if I was okay.  I then proceeded to tell him what had happened and he said he'd be home soon.  After I was off the phone with Mom and Matt, I quickly snapped some pictures and uploaded all of the photos I had taken that morning and just then.  On the computer screen, everything looked as it should.  So, I am pretty certain the camera is functional, but the LCD is just BUSTED.  It has a "crack" in the screen.  I'm shipping it out to my Mom's and she's going to take it to a camera repair shop known for their excellent repairs.  I hope to have it back next week.  

I can't tell you how devastated I felt for those few hours, if not entire day.  I think it felt for a moment like all my dreams were about to be shattered.  But they aren't.  And thanks to Matt and my Mom who have such wonderful ways of calming me down and having so much wisdom, I was able to let it go, relax and be reassured that everything was going to be okay.  Thanks Matt and Mom!  

So here are a few more photos of Chandani.  She is a beautiful gal and so are Nicole and Ziada!

WEBSITE!!!!!!

AHHH!!!!!  I'm so excited!!!!!!  My photography website is going to go live Monday by midnight.  :)  I don't know how many hours I've worked on it, but all I can say is that for the last two days straight I've barely seen daylight, my poor doggy has been kind of neglected (I almost forgot to take her out to go potty this afternoon), I haven't taken a shower in two days (gross I know), and Matt has been extremely supportive and even brought me a Subway sandwich for dinner tonight!

I can't wait for everyone to see.  I hope you like it!  And thank you to all the lovely couples, families, and friends who helped me build my initial portfolio to launch the website!

I have a couple of weddings I'll be shooting in the next few weeks.  Both leads came from Craigslist and I couldn't be more thrilled!

Take a look at some of the cutest kids I recently photographed!

Free Wedding Photography for the first three brides...

It's true!  I posted a Craigslist ad in the Bay Area to brides looking for a wedding photographer.  When I was talking to David Jay at the Free To Be Me workshop, I asked him how do I start off pricing a wedding when I am just beginning?  He said shoot the first few for free.  I thought he was crazy for a second, but then he continued to say how he did that when he was first starting out and look where he's at now!  So... I did it.  I posted an ad.  Now... I wait....  And if you're a bride-to-be looking for a wedding photographer, and you're on of the first three brides I hear from, yours can be free too!

Here are some pictures I shot as second shooter (actually, I was the third shooter) at a recent wedding, and from an engagement session I did a couple of weeks ago...

First blog posting

Last night, I attended my first ever photography workshop.  It was the kick off of the Free To Be Me tour by Showit.  Guest speakers were David Jay, Jasmine Star and Jessica Claire with special musical guest, Molly Jenson.  They shared about their business successes and how wedding photographers in the Bay Area can apply some of their ideas to better their businesses.  Showit and Action_Runner products were discussed and demonstrated to show how they can help wedding photographers increase their work flow but also decreasing how much time is spent on editing photos and create unique and different websites that sets you apart from everyone else. They also emphasized how much clients are looking for trust and relationship with their photographers, not just because of their photographs and editing skills.  This was SO important and timely to hear at this point in time as my career is just beginning.

I was so happy to have listened to all the speakers and to meet some of the crew behind Showit.  I volunteered to help set up and it was wonderful!  I got to meet new friends and share ideas.  It was inspiring and refreshing!

My dear friend Jackie introduced me to Jasmine Star's photo blog and then I "liked" her on Facebook and saw that she was going to be speaking in San Francisco.  That's how I ended up at this wonderful workshop!  Thanks Jackie!  And... here's a picture taken with my blackberry... with the built in flash.  Yes, we look a little orangeish and we were ok with that.  :)

I'm currently working on getting my website up.  I wish I could use Showit products, but have already purchased my website and will use that for the first year.  And then, hopefully move over to Showit.  It's awesome!  Check it out:  www.showitfast.com

Here are links to the guest speakers and singer of the night:  www.jasmine-star.com/, www.jessicaclaire.net, www.davidjay.com, www.mollyjenson.com/.  And check out Action Runner:  www.actionrunner.com/