Music is such an integral part of artistic expression for me and a lot of photographers I know. Here’s what’s currently feeding my soul. BTW, I am in no way a country music lover. Quite the contrary. This song does have a slight country feel to it, but its somber, easy melody resonates with me nonetheless.

First, let me start by saying that if you’ve contacted me about participating in the photo exchange, I have you on the roster and we will be getting it underway after Thanksgiving. Here’s what I need you to do. Put together an image board with a handful of prospective images that you are wanting to exchange with another photographer. Label each image with letters and put your name or studio name and location on the board as well. Keep the file somewhat manageable so it can be emailed easily…. like  5-7 MB. Email the image boards to me. I will use these to match up photographers and the photographers will use them to select the image they want to edit. Once I’ve put you in contact with your exchange partner, you can let them know which image you selected and they can send you the file (SOOC), sized at 5-6 MB. If you need to review the rules of the exchange, go here. You will edit the others’ image, label them edited and sooc, email them back to the owner and to me as well and then post them on your blog, linking back to both the exchange photographer and to my blog. If you do not have a blog, no worries, they will be seen here.

Here’s an example of what an image board should look like:

On to tonight’s exchange! I recently met a fabulous photographer out of Colorado Springs named Ken Mellott. His studio is called Alpine Photographic. He has a studio partner named Hunter Thompson who also participated in the exchange with us. Ken’s work is fresh, consistent and edgy. He has a large senior market, but his goal is to expand into more kids and families with the urban twist that he uses with his seniors as well as more in-studio work. He intelligently uses off camera lighting to add another dimension to his images, giving them that richer and gently surreal look. I’m so thrilled that Ken will be getting me going with off camera lighting in the coming months, as this natural light photographer is *clueless* when it comes to artificial light. This is an area I’ve been wanting to expand into for a long time now. Be sure to check out Ken’s work and his blog and let him know you stopped by.  Without further adieu, here’s the exchange:

Ken’s image with my edit:

My image with Ken’s edit:

{{ I love what he did with this }}

My image with Hunter’s edit:

{{ looks like an album cover or a concert poster }}

These truly came out of nowhere. A whim this afternoon lead to these. Yesterday I snapped off a few random images with no premeditation or forethought  as to what I would do with them. Here’s where they ended up. This is truly where my passion lies. And, I may come back in the next few days and show you some of the out of camera shots of these images. It’s pretty crazy!

This fall has started off as a bit of a whirlwind. I thought things would slow down for our busy crazy life when Aiden started school. Quite the contrary. Juliet remains on the warpath, terrorizing the house on a daily basis. I may finally have a couple of months of respite from trying to simultaneously be super mom and a work from home photographer. Looks like there might be some daycare in our future. Once there are some kidless hours in the day, I can get back on track with editing and getting some projects going that have been on hold for quite a while. Plus, this fall’s schedule is packed full of sessions…. those gorgeous fall colors get people thinking photos every time.

There have been so many crazy random things going on around here lately, here’s just a few:

• Finally lost 1/2 of my big toenail after smashing it earlier this summer. Then…

• Got stabbed in the *other* toe last night after walking past the open dishwasher, banging my knee into the utensils container, dislodging a large cooking knife (the size you see in horror movies when someone is about to be slaughtered) and walking straight into the tip of the blade as I stumbled past the dishwasher. It went directly under the toenail, pretty dang far. The unmitigated pain made me sick to my stomach. Can’t imagine ever being stabbed in an actual organ.

• We’re dealing with a bully at school…. already. This is *kindergarten* people!

• Barely sleeping, incredibly sleep deprived and not feeling myself lately.

• A certain 2-year-old has mastered all her wooden puzzles and is begging to be challenged further.

• A certain 6-year-old is finding himself smitten with little girlies left and right and tortured over how to tell the 5th grade girl down the street that he thinks she’s pretty. Endearing and scary at the same time!

• Had another credit card number stolen. Apparently boutique clothing and $600 handbags are the items of choice to buy with fraudulent credit cards. This happened again earlier this summer with a different credit card.

• Encountering all sorts of bugs and setbacks to my computer after updating to Snow Leopard OS. Quickbooks is just one of the programs tweaking out. But on the sunny side, at least now I have a legitimate excuse for putting off the bookkeeping for our two businesses. Unfortunately estimated taxes are due next Tuesday. Urgh.

• I was threatened to be arrested by a police officer while taking the above photo. Apparently it’s illegal to shoot on the VA Hospital grounds. Good to know.

• Feeling incredibly grateful for my awesome photographer friends and clients that have been a great support and network for me. I appreciate you guys more than you know.

Still working on editing a few sessions. Can’t wait to share those. FYI: Bookings are getting really full for the the remainder of the year, so if you’re considering a session, best schedule now, as there are only a handful of spaces available.

And I wanted to share a site that I recently discovered that I’m really digging… Davina’s Blog. She’s running a series of interviews called Women and Business. I’ve really enjoyed the interviews. Check it out for some insight and inspiration from some of the best women in the business.