Slacker?

I have been just awful at posting on this blog lately, but life has been truly crazy! Between spending as much time with Johnathan as possible now that he is home, outings with my Little Sister, my new job - which has me much busier during the day - all of the daily sturm and drang of life and my new business venture, I rarely even have time to think about this blog, much less write a post proof-read it 5 times, post it, proof read it a couple more times, edit it because I'm just not satisfied, repost it and then sit and think about it it for another half hour...yes that is usually my process when I blog.

But what I want to talk about today is the new business venture mentioned above. Whatever loyal readers I have may remember my post back in December about doing a photo shoot for a coworker. Well, things have really been progressing since then and I am now officially Constance Elyse Photography! You can also check out my Facebook Fan Page here. I have not yet decided if I want to start including personal blogs over there or keep things separate and try to be more active over here.

For now, here is a picture of Alivia in the bluebonnets. They are moving back to Texas in July and I absolutely cannot wait to have them close again!

No Explanation Necessary

I have always been amazed by the sky. I cannot see a sunrise, sunset or interesting cloud formation without taking a moment or two to stare in awe of the beauty in our world.

I was at Johnathan's parents' house this afternoon and when I turned out of their driveway I was confronted with a glorious site. Fortunately, I did remember my camera today and I may have stopped the car in the middle of the road and hopped out to snap a picture.

It's things like this that make me realize how tiny I am and remember that my creator's vision for my life and the world is infinitely better than mine.

Since I took the pictures of my coworker's family back in December, I've been blessed to have other generous people in my life volunteer to play "model" for me. A few weeks ago, I shot another coworker and her little family. It's always a different experience working with kids of varying ages. This little guy is three and was much more interested in running around than having his picture made, but who can blame him? All of this is a learning experience for me and I'm just grateful for the opportunity. Here are a few of my favorite shots from the day:

I adore his big, green eyes.

Mini Dream-Come-True

I remember the first camera I ever had. It was one of those long, thin rectangular ones and it was a bright neon yellow/green color. I got it for Christmas and took a bunch of pictures of my cousin's and uncles playing basketball, but only managed to shoot their feet. In high school, I was on the yearbook and newspaper staff as a photographer and I again got a camera for Christmas, only this time it was a 35mm SLR. Since everything went digital, I've had a couple of point and shoots, but I always longed for a digital SLR. Finally, around Easter, I decided to make the investment and I think it was one of the best things I could possibly have spent my money on.

I usually find myself shooting plants and animals, because there are not too many willing human subjects out there, but last weekend I got an opportunity that was really like a dream to me. A coworker mentioned to me that she was going to have some portraits done at JC Penny. When I heard that I believe I gasped (no offense to JC) and insisted that she let me do a photo shoot for her. She has a little boy who turns two-months tomorrow and her husband left yesterday for his second or third tour in Iraq, so it was very important to her to have photos before he left.

So on Sunday, they gave me the great honor of doing my first ever professional (though actually not, since I didn't want to be paid) photo shoot. I'm so thankful to her family for being my guinea pigs. I have a [not so] secret dream of building up a portfolio some day and maybe turning my hobby into a side job. Here are a few of the shots I took: