Just a quick merry Christmas before I lay the last of my little ones to sleep! I’ve got a busy weekend with photo shoots and then I will be unavailable for the majority of next week(at least till Thursday) as my son has surgery and recovers. I’ll be checking email occasionally if anyone needs anything in a hurry and of course I’ll be working on anything alreadynin progress!
Happy New Year and I’ll catch up with a sneak preview soon!
I’ve been up all night filing reports with every agency, dept, etc I can including Bank of America, The Sherrif’s dept, etc…
and as it turns out, I’m not alone…
http://www.nwfdailynews.com/news/monhollon_13486___article.html/bank_money.html
Be very wary of ATMS, etc…
Ok, I’m having a total freakout moment… and just wanted to issue this little bulletin for a few reasons…
First, if you try to reach me tomorrow, unfortunately I will be largely unavailable… I am currently in the thralls of trying to untangle a mess with my check card, which apparantly was stolen(?) or duplicated. I have NO Idea what is going on – only that $1400.00 was withdrawn from my business account in downtown Jacksonville, Fl. Unfortunately, this is also tied to my personal accounts, so what money that was not available in my business account is likely going to be flowing out of my personal account (possibly). I’m hoping I caught it in time, but we’ll see. OMG, I think I’m going to THROW UP.
Second – There seems to be an issue with Bank of America – I thank them for being so kind & helpful over the phone – but apparantly there is evidence of more than one card floating around of mine, and I have only ever been issued one card. They even have different expirations, and apparantly *my* card that I’ve been using since I opened the account is NOT the one with the legal expiration date.
So – my advice to you – SECURE your cards, ensure you have fraud protection, and make sure you NEVER give your PINS! I haven’t given my PIN out, but this card was used without any problems whatsoever, the right pin the very first time. Did I mention I am totally freaking out?!
Finally – if whoever has my damn card decided to come peek at my blog… I have some choice words right now & I just hope youre totally destitute & really need the money more than me and that you have 8 kids who are starving & this is why. Otherwise, I am really totally pissed off. If it’s some scrawny little college drop out or bum, what a really (pardon my language) SHITTY thing to do at Christmas.
Sigh… signing off to go worry my husband to death….
At one of my assistant’s and her family. Shay has the wonderful duty as my friend of being my assistant from time to time & lugging around all the crap I love to carry! Oh, and she keeps me organized… a tough job!
But, then one foggy almost-Christmas Day, we headed out to the beach in hopes of catching some Christmas Pics… the Girls were more interested in playing (which is pretty typical of kids, I’d say), but the beach made for a beautiful watercolor-esque backdrop!
Shay & her gang are Alaskan girls, so you’d think they’d have been loving it up at the beach in December with low-60ish degree weather… but Florida-ness has taken over their system & reset their knobs, so they froze like the rest of us Floridians!
Here’s just a quick peek:
Check out this jellyfish… it’s official… wierd creatures show up everywhere I go!
Check out this Elvis ‘do…
No, really… it’s actually getting quite long, evidenced by the fact that there is any to be wind-blown. She had *the* most awesome hair do EVER quite naturally until big sis (as seen up there in pic #1) decided she really really needed a hair cut!
Ok, now back to your regularly scheduled programming, and back to intense editing & Christmas Card order finalizing for me. It’s a mad dash lately!
Not literally, please!
Tonight is the Biggest Brightest Full Moon in 15 years!
Yep, you heard that right… a photographers dream – so bundle up, step outside & enjoy! I’ll be taking (and posting) pics! I’ll need to dig out & dust off my tripod (because I use it far less than I should).
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/weather/article5327206.ece
If you miss it – so sorry, Charlie. You won’t get a chance again until 2016!
Other cool things as a result:
• Britain will have the benefit of the phenomenon of seeing a Moon Illusion – as the moon rises in the late afternoon, it will appear even larger as it lies in the horizon. It looks really awesome!
• Because of the moon’s unusually close proximity, it will have a slightly stronger gravitational pull, resulting in a slightly higher tide than usual for a full moon – possibly resulting in some flooding along parts of the south-west coast.
• Apparantly the strong tide pull is also putting parts of California on an earth-quake watch! Who knew?!
• It will rise to its greatest hight in the night sky – being almost straight overhead right at midnight.
• This is because it also aligns so closely with the Winter Solstice, on December 21st! And also b/c, thanks to the Earth’s tilt, the sun will be at it’s lowest!
• Bonus treats: We may have the benefit of the Geminid meteor shower the next two nights! With up to 100 meteors/hour flying across the sky, this SCREAMS really long shutter speeds for cool photos… we’ll see how successful I am (and hope for clear skies!).
• Tip – Because it’s such a bright, full moon, though – look away from the moon to see the meteors!
Enjoy! *(And in case you can’t tell, this totally satisfies my hippy-nerdy side! Not everyone has one you know?!)
If youre impatient like me & looking for pics or galleries from your session, skip to the last paragraph (or so).
Ok, I’m taking a (very) short break from my mad editing marathon to post just a quick note…
Rates and deposits (and a few rules) are changing effective Jan 1 – so if you’re planning on booking anything (this includes sessions) book before the end of the year to secure this years prices.
I’m also running a special on prebooked Beach Portrait Sessions… $100 (paid now, and you can schedule an exact date later), and the price will go towards the cost of a wall canvas or print 16×20 or larger.
They’d make great Christmas gifts, and my THIS YEARS price is $150 – so you’re not only reserving a lower price, but you’re getting it discounted… AND to top it off, you can apply that money towards a wall canvas (sorry, not towards anything else, and strictly only to wall prints & canvas prints 16×20 or larger).
And – for anyone checking here for updates about galleries… bear with me. I’m frantically catching up to get everyone’s galleries for everything (portraits, weddings, you name it) up in time for Christmas. On top of my already scheduled sesssions. On top of fulfilling orders for Christmas cards. On top of my other gig that I do to pay bills particularly when wedding season is not in full swing. On top of feeding, caring for, chasing, and wrangling my children (and my husband). Currently my schedule consists of 20 hour days, so please… do bear with me. I was REALLY busy in October & November (and sick), and Christmas stuff of course!
And unfortunately, Photoshop only runs so fast! I’m sifting through a couple thousand pictures a day… so if you’re waiting on more images, or any images at all, hang in there… I’m moving quickly… I promise I’ll have them up soon!
Just a heads up to anyone with questions or needing information:
I will be participating in a seminar this weekend, and therefore will be mostly unavailable until sometime Monday (and possibly Tuesday depending on how crazy my “Inbox” gets). Hopefully I’ll come back with new skilllllzzzz. So please take note – if you try to reach me this weekend – I will be “out”.
We all have a Christmas Wish List right? Well, in case you were feeling exceptionally generous (or in case my husband, mother, or some other random relative are reading), here is this Photog’s Christmas Wish List for this year… it’s not much… really! (Pics coming soon b/c I’m visual like that)
Wish List
http://tracyjoy.com/reese/ with Pink Amy Insert in black or brown
http://tracyjoy.com/kristine/ in black with Platinum fabric
http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5557188
Fabric of course depending on my bag, but I like the whimsical floral, and of course the Ooh-La-Dot (who can resist Polka Dots!)
Or if you’re feeling particularly generous:
http://www.shootsac.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=4
with a cover in either Baroque, Splendid, Regal, Lively, Hot, Effervescent, or Festive patterns!
Of course, upgrading to CS4 is definitely on my list, but not until I get the MacBook Pro on my list! MUST. WORK. MORE. (On the go).
Also on my list is the coveted 85 mm – I could live happily with the 1.8 but I think the 1.2 would be so fantastical! (Is that a word?!) I’m sure there’s a 1.4 out there that’s a nice compromise!
And finally, (for now), an Expodisk! So I can have beautifully perfectly white balanced pictures and save a few minutes in Photoshop!
Ok, I’ve posted some new designs for this year – and now everyone with a gallery has Christmas Cards loaded into their galleries!
So… if you’d like to place an order – you can easily do it from your online gallery – select the design you like, add it to the cart, tell it how many you want – and voila! Please be sure to indicate the text you want inside (or on the back of) your card and a note about what images you want for the card! If you have questions about sizes, just let me know! And if I get the order and have questions for you I’ll let you know!
Refer here for the full designs, and this also shows if it is a flat, folded, or trifold/accordion card:
http://bellavitaphotos.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/fa-la-la-la-la/
The deadline is December 17th for ordering to receive them in time to mail them out for Christmas!
I go crazy when I stay up too late & especially when I stay up too late editing. Perhaps thats why this beautiful song sends me into fits of laughter when I watch this youtube clip:
You’re so hardcore. Bwahahahahahaha!
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