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2 Days, 24 Sessions, and Pneumonia

What a weekend! This weekend I had my Christmas Card Special.  In 2 days I had 24 photo sessions.  There was a lot of work, worry,  prep last week leading up to the sessions when my daughter who has not been sick in years (seriously) , suddenly came down with Strep Throat.  No problem, we'll just give her the prescribed antibiotics and she'll be up and running...right????  Not this time.  This all started on Monday, by Friday she was still running a fever.  I was told not to worry about it, maybe the meds were just taking a little longer to take effect.  Saturday she was still running a fever so while I was at the sessions my husband took her to Urgent Care.  They said, no problem, give her fluids and rest.  Saturday night, high fever and lethargic.  Sunday morning she was fine and seemed normal, but by the time I got home on Sunday night....high fever, lethargic.  I took her in this morning, got chest x-rays and  discovered she has pneumonia.  Now my counter looks like a pharmacy   : 3 different antibiotics, Singulair, and 2 different types of Albuterol to be given with the nebulizer every 4 hours throughout the day and night.  She also got a very PAINFUL antibiotic shot on her bottom..poor girl is limping around here.  Hopefully she will feel better soon.  I am not used to her being the sick one.  One thing she is thrilled about is that she is on strict orders not to go back to school until next Monday.  I don't think I ever saw her smile so big!  I am just so thankful we have great medical insurance, a wonderful doctor, and that I have the ability to take care of her.  It melts my heart whenever she looks up at me with those big brown eyes and says (several times a day) "Thank you for taking such good care of me Mommy."  Sniff!

Anyway, the photo sessions were Grrrr8!  Each family was terrific and so much fun.  Thanks guys!  You were so relaxed and fun and full of terrific ideas!  I loved it when so many of you said  "We'll just play and let you take the pictures!  One couple even got on the slides for me.  How cool are they????  I hope that you all had as much fun as I did.

I have lots and lots of editing to do, but will post  photos soon.

Wowie, wow, wow!!!!!

This Christmas Card Session is filled  bursting at the seams.  I have 26 appointments in those 2 days! I still have calls coming in for requests!  Wowie wow wow!  I honestly didn't think it would fill up like this, but now I'm thinking I may have to open up another day for last minute people like me who have not done their Christmas Card photos yet. 

I am sure that the 2 weeks after this huge photo session I will be glued to my laptop and attached to some kind of caffeine I.V....Holy Editing Batman! 

Honestly, I am so thrilled and excited.  I am also very humbled that you all would trust me to take your family photos.  Every time someone calls me for an appointment, I get a warm, gushy, sappy feeling...and think "Wow!  They are trusting me to take their family photos!  What an honor!"

FYI, if you are a local photographer doing large shoots at a city park, get in touch with the film commision to obtain a permit, otherwise, the park rangers can make you leave. I got mine yesterday and I will be sure to post it up for them to see.

Anyway, thank you all so much for trusting me.

Oh...and Stacy, thanks for your advice..I bought the 50mm 1.4 yesterday and love the results so far.  I think it will be really helpful in some of the lowlight situations too.  I hope I get the opportunity to use it this weekend! 

It doesn't take Sigmund Freud

It doesn't take Sigmund Freud to analyze the dream I had last night.  You see, I have a huge Christmas Card Photo session coming up this weekend...lots and lots of families...and understandably, I am a little nervous.   So last night I have a dream that I am at the photo session and my camera stops working.  Just stops.  I change the batteries, the CF card, all the settings...nothing helps.  By this time I am running way behind schedule and families are lined up down the street.  Then a woman stands up and shouts "How can we trust you as our photographer if you don't even know how to work a camera".   Suddenly it's mutiny and everyone starts yelling at me about how I suck and they all start walking away.  I try to tell them I'll happily reschedule and even come out to their homes, but nobody wants to hear it.

Like I said, we don't need Sigmund Freud for this one, just gotta let go of the fear and know it will all turn out GREAT!

Lens advice / Bokeh Please

I am having a lens dilemma....I am looking for a good portrait lens.  I checked out an 85mm and it gives me the same effect as my 70 - 200mm.  Now I am looking at 50mm lenses.  Do I go for the affordable 50 mm f1.4 so I can have it now  OR do I hold out for the 50mm f 1.2 which is about 4x more expensive.  If you have experience with either one of these lenses, please let me know.  Does the 50mm f1.4 cut it as a good portrait lens?

Maniwala Y'all

2 posts in one day????? Guess I am feeling rather blog-tastic today, but I was thinking about the name of my LLC.  My business is "S.L. Smith Photography", but it is under my L.L. C. "Maniwala".  My husband knew I wanted to start a business and helped get me started.  He picked out the name "Maniwala" (man -ih-wahl-uh).  It is Tagalog, one of the dialects of the Philippines where my mom is from, where I was born.  Here is what it means : to believe



understand
understand v. to know well, to know how to deal with;  to be informed, to learn; to believe: to supply in the mind; to understand thoroughly, to comprehend


faith
faith n. 1 trust, believing with- out proof; to have faith, to believe


think
think v.  to have ideas, use the mind; to imagine; to reflect, meditate; to remember

He picked this name  for all the definitions of MANIWALA :because he believes in me, because he knows I understand people, and I love to learn,  because he thinks my photos are creative and cause people to reflect and remember.

How awesome is he????? 

Then, when I was opening my account at the bank, the woman helping me told me that in her country maniwala means "a person of much success".  I love when a name or a word fits...especially in different languages!

Pretty Please

Hey Everyone-

I really didn't think that many people read this blog since I am so new and not many comments are left (and it's probably only my friends and my parents who read this), but it has been brought to my attention that one of my images and some of my exact words from this blog and my official website are being used by other people as their own.  It's amazing how fast things can get back to you when they are posted on the internet. I'm not going to say who you are, but  really, if you ever want to use my words and change them a bit or use my photos and give me the credit, just ask and I will probably say "Okey Dokey", but it kinda hurts my feelings when you use them as your own. Thanks for understanding.

When it Rains it Pours...

When deciding to open a photography business, all the photography organizations that help ill children were a huge reason I decided to open a business.  From the time our son was ill I wanted to do something to help others in any way because of all the help we were given.  Here is one of the greatest birthday gifts I was given : I was accepted as a photographer for ACPCG.   This is an organization started by Erin Drallos, a brilliant photographer in Michigan.  The ACPCG gives free sittings and portraits to families that have extremely premature babies or critically ill children.  I am honored to be able to do this.

Then yesterday I find out that Flashes of Hope does not have a San Antonio Chapter...so I have volunteered to be a Chapter Director and start a San Antonio chapter.  Flashes of Hope is an organization that has free photo sessions and framed portraits to children suffering from cancer and other critical illnesses.  How perfect is that?????  It is exactly what I was looking for.  Hopefully we can get started soon.  Stay tuned because I may be looking for volunteers to help (photographers, set-up, make-up artists, fund raising).  I am seriously so excited about this.  I will let you know as I find out more.

I really can't wait to get this all started and give back some of what was given to our family.

Thanks for listening.

Happy 34th to me!

Today I am 34 years old.  I honestly still feel like I always have...only better.  People always complain about getting older, but I see it differently.  I feel so lucky for each year I get here.  Life seriously gets better the older I get.  One of my close friends J ( who is in her early 70's) tells me the same thing. 

      The older I get, the closer I get to the me I really am.  I am more and more comfortable shedding all those layers I worked so hard to cover myself with during my teens and 20's.  What a waste of time it is to cover up who you really are.  The clothes you wear, the car you drive...they are not you, they are just things you have...who cares.

        I am less afraid.  I spent so many years with a "maybe someday" attitude...all because of fear of failure.  Now I know that the only time you fail is when you fail to try.  Now, if I want to run a 1/2 marathon, I do it.  If I want to open a photography business, I do it...no matter how scary and intimidating it may be. If I want to sing out loud in HEB while cruisin' the produce aisle, I just do it. I just have to do the things I am afraid of.

      I know how to let go...fear, guilt, "friends" who are not good for you..I know how to let those things go.  Of course I still have fear and guilt, but I know how to let it go now.  I'm happier and I sleep better at night because I do not worry as much.  I have learned that for the most part, things work out the way they are supposed to.  Usually, the things I am worried about are things I have little control over, so I HAVE to let it go.  As for "friends" who are not good for you...you all know what I am talking about.  The friends who are competitive or jealous; I let them go..come on y'all...the universe is big enough for EVERYONE to achieve their greatness, don't be jealous when good things happen to your friends, support your girls. The friends who have mean comments to say, I just don't have the time or energy for people who ask me if I used pesticides to cause my son's cancer, or "Do you really think you can handle having 3 kids AND a business???"...All I have to say is "Buh-Bye...come back and play when you can be nice.

  Anyway, I have learned so much more than I though I would by the age of 34.  I still have a long way to go.  Right now, I really have all that I can ask for.  A wonderful and healthy family, supportive friends, the start of a new adventure..wow!  Speaking of wonderful family, here is a picture of my birthday gift from my husband:

Yes, you are looking at BBQ ribs!  Not just any BBQ ribs, but BBQ ribs from the 2 best rib places in the whole USA.  Both are located in Memphis.  You have to understand how much I LOVE BBQ ribs.  I love them more than sushi...more than hot wings ( and I love those a lot)!  My husband walks in yesterday with 2 big boxes of ribs from Memphis for my birthday.  How cool is that?  One rack of ribs is from Rendezvous and one rack of ribs is from Corky's seriously the best in the world.

They are waiting for me in the fridge and I am seriously tempted to have them for breakfast..but I will wait...hopefully by the age of 35, I will be able to add Patience to the list of things I have learned.

"I'm not photogenic"

Whew!  I have been so busy this week I did not even realize I totally missed a week of blogging.  Here are pictures of a  Maternity photo shoot I did on Monday.  Before we start, this tall beauty of a woman says "I'm not very photogenic."   As you can see by these pictures, she is waayyy wrong.  In some of these , she reminds me of a 1940's Glam beauty icon.  She is beautiful and photogenic.  She was so cool and laid back and had many great ideas of her own.  Her kids were hilarious and had me taking pictures of their dinosaurs and their bedrooms....the little girl even wanted to show me her dirty clothes hamper.  She was so sweet.  The photos of the kids were not prompted at all.  They just began to cuddle with mommy as I shot away.  I love when photo shoots just become natural, I become invisible, and it just becomes playtime for the family. Even the dog wanted to get in on the fun.  These are a surprise for her husband, but he doesn't even have a clue who I am, so he won't be looking here.    It was awesome (do people still say awesome??????  well, I do because I'm awesome!)   So , here they are.  More are posted in the maternity section of my web page if you are interested in seeing them.

A learning weekend for Steph

The theme for today at Picture This is joy.  Here is what made me joyful this weekend.  Check out other talented moms at this site too.

So, I had a long , fun, busy weekend with my family that involved lots of photography.  Most people probably don't care about the details of my suburban weekend, but I like writing about it.  We started off our weekend at the airport.  One of the businesses got a new airplane and I was there with my whole family to take pictures. When my husband asked me to do this I thought "Ho-hum...BOOOOR-ing"...but since my husband LOVES airplanes so much, I decided to do it.  I really loved it!  So many cool angles and practice with 3 different lenses! I really learned so much in just a couple of hours.

The next day I got up and ran my 7 miles with my friend  running guru-machine, Annie.  A group of us ladies only have 5 weeks to go before we run our half-marathon.  YIKES!!!!!!  I had a photoshoot for that afternoon that I wisely rescheduled...don't think I can take many good photos if I can't even walk. Anyway, I know that after the milage I am putting on my favorite shoes, they won't last long, so I took a pictures before they faded away...sniff!

I was in such a hurry to get home after my run that I skipped my cool-down stretch...NOT SMART.  My almost 34 year old legs couldn't handle that.  I spent the rest of the day walking limping around the Valero Open with my family. I learned to never ever skip my stretch.

Anyway, through all my photography practice this weekend, I learned something so cool about my 70 - 300mm lens.  I can use it to get similar results as the portrait lens I sooooo covet.  I am sure many of you photographers out there are saying "Duh Stephanie...we all knew that...that's common sense!"  I am so excited that I was able to figure it out.  It is a bit large and bulky compared to the lens I want, but it will do for now.  I have had this lens since February and it has taken me this long to discover it.  I guess I spent so much time looking at it's telephoto capabilities that I didn't even think about it's portrait abilities.  Anyway, here is a sample  I took of my dog to show you what I mean...see the nice focused subject and the blurry background????  Did I mention how excited I am about this?

Tomorrow I am doing photos for the Benefit for Children Golf Classic ( I don't like golf, but I like kids) and then a maternity shoot in the evening...can't wait to see what I learn!!!!!