Photography Observations - June

Serious awesomeness this month!

A while back, I was scrolling through NextDoor and came across a poster named Karyn who was seeking an affordable photographer. She wanted maternity photos, but she hadn't been able to find anything within her budget. A few neighbors posted recommendations, all in the several-hundred-dollar range.

Side note--I totally get photographer pricing. A good photographer is worth the money. And usually, you get what you pay for! But I totally know the struggle of justifying the money for what is without a doubt a luxury item.

After a great deal of internal debate, I decided to write to Karyn with an offer. I told her that I am currently working on building my portfolio, that I had never done a maternity shoot before, but that if she was interested, I would love to take her photos, free of charge.

She wrote back and said that she'd like to meet me. We got together that weekend. I showed her a few of my photos, and after our conversation, she said she felt good about it. We went ahead and scheduled her maternity shoot for early June, when she would be 7 months along.

I met Karyn and her husband at Duke Gardens on a Saturday evening. I hope it didn't show too badly, but I was quite nervous! It was my first time taking photos for someone I don't know. It might be a little strong to call her a "client" but that's how I thought of her, and it was really important to me to be professional. I think I rushed a bit, but beyond that, I had a great time shooting. Similar to my sessions last month, I feel like a got a number of decent shots, and a few real treasures.

Just prior to this session, I acquired a (small) new piece of equipment: my first reflector.

Its purpose is pretty straightforward. It reflects! =) This is helpful in situation where a subject is underlit, or lit only from one angle. I used it for a couple of shots with Karyn. In the photos below, you can see what a difference the reflector made:

No reflector

With reflector

Before I left Utah at the beginning of the month, I also got to take some informal portraits at the baby blessing of my new little niece. The lighting wasn't ideal in many shots, but I still enjoyed capturing some happy memories.

And, naturally, a few photos of my beloved boys. =)

Until next time!

Camp NaNoWriMo

If you haven't ever heard of it, National Novel Writing Month (aka NaNoWriMo) takes place each November. Aspiring novelists all over the world embark on an epic quest to pen 50,000 words in 30 days. Camp NaNoWriMo is a less formal version that takes place during the summer, this year in July. I am excited to participate!

I have done NaNoWriMo as well as the Camp version many times in the past. (Every year from 2006-2013!) In fact, portions of both my published novels were composed as NaNo projects. I love the motivation and support that NaNoWriMo provides. There's an incredible energy to it.

The past couple of years I have skipped NaNoWriMo, because I had a couple of babies. :P Seriously, though, I never imagined, before having kids, how much it would affect my writing.

A) Raising little boys takes up a lot of time and energy. During my formerly-most productive times of day, I now either have little boys to care for, or I'm exhausted from caring for said kidlets.
B) Post-partum depression seriously affects my creative energy.

I read an article a few months ago by an author who declared that sometimes mom-writers mistake writer's block for what is really PPD. This article was a real turning point for me. Previously, I have felt really guilty and/or frustrated with myself when I have struggled to work on my books. I mean, writing novels is supposed to be fun, right? But while battling depression, doing anything creative feels a lot like pulling teeth.

It's hard because I know a number of people have been waiting for mine and Sam's third book for a long time. I get asked periodically when the trilogy will be completed. It's hard to admit to my readers, whom I want so desperately to please, that I simply haven't written anything in months. That I haven't wanted to write. That I haven't really been able to write.

Happily, the fog of depression is beginning to lift. This happened about a year after Joel was born, so I'm excited to been feeling a bit more like myself only 8 months after Xander's birth. I still struggle some days, but I actually feel like I can commit to Camp NaNoWriMo this time around.

Camp begins on July 1st. My goal is to write 30,000 words. Or more! Since I have already 33k written in Buk Tri ("book three" of our Seventh Empire series), this should put me around one-third complete, if the third book is similar in length to the other two. And hopefully it will get me back into the habit of writing consistently, so that we can get this thing done! Wish me luck!

#HolleySummerRoadTrip Return Journey Log

June 3:

Day 1 of the ‪#‎HolleySummerRoadTrip‬ return journey (aka Valerie's crazy adventure driving 2000+ miles solo with two kids):
-I actually managed to fit everything in the van. I was worried. We inherited a giant bean bag from Kyle Mechling that I was DETERMINED to fit in with all the luggage, and I DID. (Barely.)
-We stopped for lunch in Green River. I was in the middle of nursing the baby when Joel spilled most of his milk all over the floor. Ugh. A nice family next to me helped clean it up. I finished feeding the baby, turned my back for seriously two seconds, and Joel spilled what was left of his milk on the floor. And when I had just gotten that cleaned up, he proceeded to spill half of his curly fries. I was about ready to kill him!

-Hit rush hour traffic in Denver, which made the last 30 minutes of our trip take 70 minutes. With two screaming children. And an increasingly agitated mama.
-I tried to minimize how much luggage I would need to take in and out for our hotel stays, but with two babies, my diaper bag, a pack 'n play, a suitcase, a cooler, and my camera backpack (which I daren't leave in the car overnight), plus Joel's blankie and Pooh Bear...getting up to the room was a challenge. On the plus side, an old man who was sitting outside smoking complimented my pro mom skills?
-After getting everything up to the room, there was just no way that I was going back out again. So I ordered a pizza. To my astonishment, Joel ate almost half (3.5 slices!!). I mean, I ate 4.5 slices, and I was quite full. I'm not sure where he put it all!
Whew. Three more days to go!!

 June 4:

#‎HolleySummerRoadTrip‬ return journey Day 2:
-My hotel last night was preeeeeetty bad. Bad customer service. Lumpy, small pillows. Cigarette burn hole in my bedsheet (at least it didn't smell like smoke)! The breakfast options were cold cereal, yogurt, and Eggos. (At least Joel was content with the fruit loops.) And there were only four tables, three of which were occupied by solitary men reading newspapers. Smh. So Joel and I ate breakfast on some chairs in the lobby, while I held squirmy Xander and tried not to let him stick his hands in my yogurt. :-/

-Then when I got back up to my room, the key wouldn't work. I seriously tried and tried. I finally called the front desk on my cell phone, and they were like, "Come back down and we'll get you a new key" but I had seriously had it, and I said, "I'm standing here with two crying babies, I'm not coming back down there, you send somebody up here!" And they did, thankfully, so I was able to get packed up and out of there!!
-The drive today was decent. I'll admit that Joel watched three movies over the course of the day, but it was totally worth the resulting calm. ‪#‎therulesaredifferentinthecar‬
-Joel spilled again at lunch today...but fortunately it was only water. :P
-I passed a dead armadillo on the side of the road somewhere in the middle of Kansas. I'm not sure I've ever seen an armadillo in real life before. It was big!
-Joel scraped both of his knees. The first was at a rest stop this afternoon, and the second was literally walking up to the door to our hotel this evening. That's when he lost it. Poor kid.
-On the plus side, Xander was super happy to get out of his carseat for the evening! I sure love my happy baby!
Halfway!!

June 5:

#‎HolleySummerRoadTrip‬ Day 3:
-Hotel last night was way better. The bed was pretty comfortable! I would have enjoyed it even more if Joel hadn't gotten up at 6am and refused to go back to sleep. -_-
-Getting up that early meant I was pretty tired today, which meant that I had to stop more for breaks, which meant our drive took even longer today. Sigh.
-So, we watched Tarzan this morning (third morning in a row!) Joel has taken to bursting out in hysterical laughter whenever Sabor (the leopard) attacks someone in the movie. It's a little disconcerting. Is my son a psychopath??
-Stopped for lunch just west of St. Louis and had a very sympathetic waitress. Turns out her two kids are 19 months apart, so she totally got it. Like after ordering our food, I warned her that I was going to the restroom so she didn't think I'd up and left, since I had to pack up both kids and my bag just to visit the ladies' room.
-Joel didn't spill anything at lunch!! He made up for it at dinner, but I was so happy not to have to clean up after him for one solid meal.
-I've been booking my hotels as I go. Last night as I was looking for tonight's hotel, I found this unique-looking place with good ratings and a great price, so even though I typically stick with chains, I decided to give it a shot. MISTAKE. It's a charming old hotel with lots of southern charm....and no elevator. Apparently all the first-floor rooms were already filled, but I about cried when the concierge told me (standing there at 9:30pm with two exhausted, wailing children) that I needed to get back in the car, drive to the other side of the hotel, climb a flight of stairs and walk down a long hallway to get to my room. With two babies, a diaper bag, a suitcase, a pack 'n play, a camera backpack, and Blankie and Pooh Bear. Needless to say, I took two trips.
-On the bright side, I got to see the most gorgeous rainbow EVER while driving across Kentucky this evening. It's rained on and off for the last few hours, and this rainbow was ama-za-zing. I wish I could've gotten a photo.
Tomorrow we get HOME!!!!!

June 6:

WE'RE HOME!!!
‪#‎HolleySummerRoadTrip‬ Day 4 highlights:
-I called to request some help getting all my luggage OUT of the hotel this morning. The concierge said he'd send someone....20 minutes later I gave up and decided to do it myself. You should be impressed. I managed to get both kids and all our stuff to the stairs in one trip! Joel demanded to be carried down the stairs, so I had to take two trips there. But I felt super awesome. And then very sweaty. It was quite muggy in Lexington this morning!

-The drive was GORGEOUS. I drove through Kentucky, West Virginia, Virginia, and North Carolina today. Lush green hills and fog-shrouded (little) mountains all the way home.
-The only snag in the drive was the 50 MINUTE wait at the tollbooth for the West Virginia Turnpike. Don't think for a single minute that I am exaggerating. It was torture. Fortunately my children napped through it, or I might have murdered somebody.
-Over the course of my journey, a number of people have cooed over my children. (Naturally! They're beautiful! Lol.) However, I am given pause by the number of people who have mistaken Xander for a girl. I do not dress him in androgynous clothing! So there might be a small haircut in his future.
-And the best of all: home!! When I passed the first sign that said "Durham" on it, I felt a wave of relief that crested as I pulled into our driveway. James gave me the biggest hug! And Shadow was ecstatic to see us and clean up all the snacks Joel had dropped in the van. ;)
-Final note: I refuse to get into my van tomorrow. And maybe the day after that. Gus Gus is a great car, but I am awfully tired of driving!!!!
Goodnight!