Day 18 - Play In The Snow

We took Isla outside to "play" in the snow for the first time today. She's pretty sick right now - first cold EVER (not to bad for being 10 1/2 months old). She's also teething & it was nap time....so let's just say she wasn't thrilled about being outside.

We set her down in the snow bank to try to get a couple of pictures & this is the happiest face I got. Not great in any aspect of the word, but I only had a few seconds until she started freaking out! Haha, oh well. Try again another day.

Day 17 - Samara's B-Day Party

Today I went to my friend's little girl's first birthday party & took some candid party photos for her. I got quite a few shots, but am still editing them (what else is new, right?). I just have so many issues with lightroom being slow! So this is straight of of camera. A little bit of subtle skin smoothing, brightening & eye pop will do wonders. Once I edit them all I think they will be a super cute set. Going to put them on a CD for her. I just wanted to put one up for today's photo since that's really the only photography I did today :)

Day 16 - Photo Studio

I got my new "studio" set up today. By that I mean backdrop stand with black & white muslins, 2 studio lights (which I don't usually need to use), a reflector & some props...all set up in front of our HUGE sunroom window. I took a couple of test shots today of Isla & my niece Kendra. It was so sunny that I had to hang a shower curtain up over the window like a big make-shift soft box :)

The room really isn't big enough for the big (7' x 7' on its smallest setting) backdrop stand, so I have it set up diagonally. I really wish I could get a little farther away, but it's the best I can do in my small house right now.

Here are a couple of shots from today. I really haven't edited these so I know I have to play with color & things like that still. And my muslin clamps didn't come in yet, so the background is kinda wrinkled :)





I also made another really cute hat today! Pink & white stripes with big pom poms on top. It's sooo cute on Isla. I'm going to make some in the next size smaller for newborn shoots! I also want to make some elf hats with the long tapered tails on top! :)

Day 15 - Hurricane's Soup Chowder of Maine

So today was my first ever shot at food photography. My parents, my husband & I are all co-owners of a restaurant in Greene, Maine called Hurricane's Cafe & Deli. Last year, due to the popularity of our soups & chowders, we decided to open a separate soup processing plant named Hurricane's Soup & Chowder of Maine (check out the website!). We make all natural - no preservative soups & chowers for restaurants, hospitals, schools etc. Many are also special-diet friendly, such as gluten-free, dairy-free, low-fat, vegetarian or vegan. We have quite a few customers in New England (Mostly in Maine & New York) & are now working on some advertising materials to get the word out to people that may not have heard of us.

So made a lightbox out of foam board & brought my studio lights over to the processing plant to take some pictures. I heated up & photographed 4 of the soup varieties.

I am not a food stylist by any means, but I think I got some decent shots to work with (all shot in raw so I can play with them a bit) I have not yet edited these so they are all SOOC (straight out of camera) shots. I will post the edited versions when I finish, but lightroom is extremely slow on my computer & it takes FOREVER to edit! I guess a new computer is next on my list.

Day 14 - Winter Sunrise

Isla decided that she didn't want to sleep in until her normal 9am today so I decided to take advantage of the beautiful early morning light. I braved the -5 degree weather with only my slippers & hooded sweatshirt to keep me warm. After about 8 minutes I'd had enough & had to go in before my fingers froze off. So this is what I got in the short minutes that I was outside.


Sunrise through the trees



Illuminated smoke



Sunrise Jet



Frosty window

Day 13 - Toe Sucker

So lately, Isla's new thing is to grab her feet while i'm changing her diaper & suck on her big toe. She's never been the most flexible kid, so I figured she just couldn't reach before. But now that she's figured it out, she does it all the time! No more painting her toenails I guess :)

Day 12 - Little Buddies

Isla had her little friend Ainsley over to play for the day today. Her mommy had to work day shift instead of night shift, so she had no one to watch little Ainsley. Isla LOVED having another little girl in the house to play with. Isla is 10 months & Ainsley is 8 months. They played with just about every toy we own, crawled up & down the hallways and chased the two kitties. All in all it was a fun day :)

Day 11 - Happy Birthday Joe!

I finished another hat last night. This one actually fits Isla's head, unlike the first one. It's marbled pink, purple & brown...so cute! Of course I had to get a picture of her in it for today's post (although you can't see the pretty color in the first one). I just loved these pics of Isla gazing out the window. It's about the only time I can get her to sit still anymore!







And just for fun....it's my husband's 36th birthday today so I had to get a picture of him riding the saddle at the Texas Roadhouse. We went to dinner with my parents & grandmother for a little birthday celebration :) The servers stood up on the adjacent table & yelled to the entire restaurant that it was his birthday. Couldn't resist this chance to embarass him a little!

Day 10 - Crazy Hat Lady

Well I've been making hats like a crazy woman lately. I just learned how & now I'm SOO addicted! I made 2 last night & am working on a few more today. And now I can use my cute hats when I (hopefully) start doing some newborn photo shoots!

And if I go absolutely crazy & make way too many, I can always sell them on my website along with the hair bows, tutus & chef sets. (shameless plug - BelleChicBoutique.com)

Here's the newborn hat - the first hat I ever made! It's too small for Isla so we didn't have a model. Now that I've got the basics down I'm going to make some cute different designs :)

Day 9 - Pictures, Beer & Football

We took a couple of pictures today of Isla in her little rocking chair. It's such a cute prop! I can't wait to get my studio equipment in so I can set it up with a decent backdrop. Here are a couple cute shots from today.




And I had to get a picture of her in the Burberry jacket that I bought for her when I was pregnant! I've been trying to get a good pic of her in this jacket forever, but still no great success.


We went to my sister's house tonight with Isla & Joe. The boys watched the football game while Isla & I hung out with Emmie & her kids. Emmie's kitchen is torn apart. They are remodeling & waiting on the cabinets to arrive before they can put things back together. She was very excited to finally have her new stove hooked up so we made some yummy nachos to go with our beer. It's going to look great when it's done!

This picture is from when we got back home, at around 10:30pm. I hadn't taken my picture for the day so I snapped a few of my sleeping baby girl before we hopped into bed :)

Day 8 - Hunt For Color

Yet another cold & gray day in Maine. Yuck! My sister Emmie & I decided to drive around town today to take some pictures. Looking at our town, trying to find things that stood out to me, I noticed how gray & monotone everything looks in the winter. So depressing! So I set out to find & photograph some color on this dreary Maine winter day. Here's a few shots...

Ice

Day 7 - New Camera Love

Got my new Nikon D90 finally!! I'm in LOVE. SO worth the couple grand I dropped on that baby. But with no interest/payments for 6 months I couldn't resist! Just need to keep up the ebay & website sales in order to put aside $100/week. Piece of cake ;-)

So of course today I've been taking pictures like a mad woman. I just got through uploading 937 pictures to my computer! I think I hit my daily quota today! Now to pick a few (or 9 - LOL) to share.

Here's the very first shot of Isla that I took this morning when she woke up. My make-shift photo studio which consists of a wall in my living room & a chair purchased from Goodwill. :)


I had to practice a little bit before Isla woke up, so the kitties were the logical choice. Here are my furbabies: Maverick & Bella.



Isla & I shared some homemade lasagna for lunch today. Needless to say she desperately needed some tubby time after that meal. Thanks Auntie Emmie for the yummy lasagna!



Crazy girl was standing by the side of the tub while it was filling up, reaching in & then eating the bubbles. Luckily I buy all organic baby products - so a few yummy bubbles won't hurt I guess :)


All clean & hamming it up :) Being naked makes her so happy!



And of course, as you know, I had to take a bazillion pictures today. Here are a couple of ones that I thought were cool. Just messing with my lenses & lighting. The first is of a lamp base. I liked the design & the shadows.


This is an illuminated lamp shade. It was very intriguing & I think the pic came out cool.

Day 6 - I Love My UPS Man

SO SO SO SO SOOOO excited for Mr. UPS man to hurry up & bring me my lovely new camera! When they called last night, they said it would be between 7am and 7pm (hmm couldn't have guessed that)...so every time I hear a truck drive by or a car door shut I'm running to the window to see if it's my UPS man :)

If I wait all day for this guy to get here, I'm going to be running around trying to take pictures at 11pm tonight. So today's pictures will definitely be the last with the old camera.

So today was just a pretty relaxing day at home with Isla & I. We played a little, ate breakfast, played some more, she took a nap, ate lunch, played some more & then daddy got home. Same old same old. I did, however, get some pretty cute pictures of my little bug....even though they weren't with the camera I WANTED to be using!

I am just in love with her big blue eyes! That's one trait of Joe's that I was really hoping she would inherit. Much better that than the hairy back! :) Love you hunny!

Here's miss Isla, looking out the window...waiting for daddy to come home. When I ask her "Where's Daddy?" She looks around for him. It's too cute :)

Day 5 - Isla, Meet Isla

So we met another Isla yesterday. We shared the elevator to the pediatrician's office with a 5 day old baby girl & her parents. A little small talk about the girls on the way up, checked in at the desk & then we went our separate ways. The nurse comes to the waiting room & calls "Isla" so we get up.....and so do the other people! We were both pretty surprised that, with such a unique name, the girls would have the same doctor & an appointment at the same time! Crazy crazy. At least we had the name 10 months earlier! Hehehe (my evil laugh). I guess I can share....as long as the name doesn't become TOO popular!

So anyway, Isla was 18 pounds, 13 ounces (45th percentile) and absolutely healthy & smart & perfect in every way! But of course I already knew that :)

Today was another cold day. I went outside for a few minutes to take some of the last pictures ever on my "old" digital camera. UPS called me tonight saying that my package - i.e. my NEW NIKON D90 DIGITAL SLR CAMERA!!!!! - will be arriving tomorrow. SO excited. As if I haven't already made that clear :) Farewell old camera - I WON'T miss you!

I've been really into photography lately & have been doing a lot of learning & reading. The one thing I keep seeing is that it's not the big expensive camera that makes good pictures. So, trying to convince myself of this, I went on the hunt for some cool things to shoot. Not bad I guess. But if I can take decent pictures with my P.O.S. point & shoot with manual override, I'm sure my future pictures will be even better. Hey, if it takes the frickin' picture when I press the button (not 10 seconds later) then that will be a step in the right direction! I guess that's why my best pictures are of things that don't move :)

Day 4 - Into the Cold

Amen, the snow has stopped! Not sure what the finals totals were, since I still haven't left the house. That thermometer showing 20 degrees right outside my window just gives me no desire to leave my cozy home. I do, however, have leave to go to the post office today to mail some Ebay things & to go to Isla's pediatrician appointment later. Oh well. I really would like to take Isla out to play in the snow for the first time, but I think we'll have to wait for a warmer day.

For now little bug & I are playing inside. Here's the little goofball hamming it up as usual. Playing under the table :) Neither of these pictures are very technically good, but they depicted my day the best, so I used them. I'll do better next time :)

Today I finished up my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days, from dayzeroproject.com It has taken me a couple of days to compile my list, mainly because their website keeps crashing. I guess everyone is making these types of lists now that it's resolution time. But anyway, it's something fun to do with your free time & actually helps put things into perspective as to things you want to accomplish within the next 2.74 years. :) And you can even manage the list & check off things as you go to keep you motivated. I'm going to add my list to this blog as soon as I can figure out how.

Today is Isla's 9 month checkup with her pediatrictian (even though she will be 10 months on the 8th - we're a little behind I guess). We get to see how much she weighs today. She was 19 pounds on my bathroom scale! Getting so big already! But apparently not big enough to sleep in her own bed! :)

Speaking of bed, that reminds me that reminds me of my 2nd picture of the day. Isla went down for a nap at 11am. She slept for 3 hours straight! I kept listening to the baby monitor to see if she might be waking up soon or not. Finally after 3 hours I hear this tapping coming through the monitor. No coos or gurgles or squeals like I usually hear....just tapping. So I'm thinking maybe the crazy cats are in there again or something. Upon investigation here's what I find...

Miss Isla had, using her super quiet stealth mode moves, climbed up in bed & started playing with the baby monitor. When I walked in the door, I found her tapping the microphone part in the middle with her little pointer finger...hence the tapping I heard. Crazy girl is into EVERYTHING now! I'm in for some trouble!