1. I am covered – COVERED – in bug bites. I was going to count them for you so you’d understand what “covered” meant, but I got to 7 just on my left ankle and gave up. I need to invest in some long yoga pants and a pair of Hunters so my poor legs don’t get any more torn up as I roll around in fields, hike through woods and lie in long grass to get a shot. I need a sponsorship from Off bug spray, stat. Or at least a huge can of it to keep in my camera bag for me and my clients.

2. Besides bugs, there are other hazards to shooting in scenic locations. Like when you ask a pregnant lady to take two steps forward and she steps on a snake. Luckily no one ended up in labor (instead, her husband showed my kid how to poke it with a stick) and she didn’t run screaming from the field. I’ve also ruined a pair of shoes by walking right into the ocean to get a shot, not to mention the little girl who followed me into a lake and ended up soaked herself. I’m already dreaming of a nice, snake-free climate controlled studio.

Sit right here, in this long, unmowed grass! I’m sure there’s nothing lurking in it!

3. Cutting down the number of photos I offer is SO HARD. My session package comes with 12 digital files the client gets to choose out of 30-40 edited pictures. I set it up that way so I wouldn’t have to spend a million years editing every picture from a session, since I usually take around 300. AND YET. I can’t bring myself to skip anything that’s even halfway good, so my galleries have 75+ pictures. I’m going to have to a) edit faster and b) learn to cut back so I don’t spend 20 hours on every session (which would mean I’m only making $5 an hour before you even add in travel and insurance and equipment). Yikes.

4. Setting up a business is a lot less fun than just taking pictures. There’s the tax stuff, the legal stuff, graphic design for business cards and web and more (huge thanks to my friend Alena for my logo), packaging, labels, price guides, what to wear inspiration, websites…it’s a lot, is what I’m saying. If I wasn’t already pretty good at this blog stuff I might have quit after the first 24 hours. I don’t know how the really amazing photographers can even be so good at both parts – the part of my brain that loves the artistic elements of photography curls up in a corner and cries every time I have to fill out a tax-exempt certificate.

Don’t even tell me if there’s a typo on my business card design. I am the world’s WORST proofreader (I ordered 200 wedding invitations without a time for the ceremony/reception) (not to mention birth announcements with the WRONG DATE) and I can’t handle it right now.

5. I love it. Despite the bug bites and snakes and crossed-eyes from editing and hours spent staring at different flash drive options and paperwork and having to answer the phone when strange numbers call and OMG TALK TO STRANGERS…I’m so, so exited. I’m getting better with every single shoot (practice makes ever-so-slightly-closer-to-perfect) and the experience is priceless. I’m still sort of stunned anyone would pay me in real actual pennies to do something I enjoy so much. AMERICAN DREAM HELL YEAH.

OK, I swear I’ll blog about something else soon. Who wants to hear about how blue-colored Icees turned my children in MONSTERS yesterday?

 Website / Facebook Page for Ginger Snaps Pictures

I thought I didn’t like newborns, but I was wrong. Well, except for the fact that I could barely walk the next day I was so sore from crouching/squatting/kneeling/bending in weird ways to get the shot. I need to get in better shape for this.

Our week was busy, except for when it wasn’t because of the pouring rain and flash floods. But mostly busy.

Sunday:

I mean, I only have three doll houses, why not buy another one? (I did not)

Caroline is destined for music videos with lots of mind machines

I appreciate how the trees on the point hide most of the nuclear power plant. More scenic.

Monday:

I’ve never actually seen the state capitol before

Confucius say: Give a man $120 and he will give you an LLC.

Sometimes I take pictures of stuff I want to remember to keep on my phone, but then I forgot to leave them on my phone.

Tuesday:

The local tax office is located in part of an old TB hospital.

HUGS

We love the sunflowers

Wednesday:

Really excited for gymnastics

Playdates make me hungry, and this was super delicious

I told Evan he is my photography assistant, and he said that means he has to push the stroller.

Thursday:

Grocery store in the pouring rain

Destroying the house and having pillow fights in the pouring rain

Watching Thor in the pouring rain

Friday:

Princess Sadface returns

Five kids under a table.

Despite that face, the rainbow ice was delicious.

Saturday:

Home run!!

I never should have showed her how the front-facing camera works.

Restarted C25K. This time I am determined to finish.

The urgency to do as many things and have as much fun as possible before summer is over has hit. I was actually grateful for a rainy miserable day to stay home and relax (even though we ended up having friends over and totally wearing out my kids). July is almost over and August is going to FLY by and then Evan starts 5 days a week morning pre-k, which I am both totally ready and not at all ready for. They grow up so fast, etc etc, but I’m looking forward to a new stage where I have a lot more time to focus on things I love (especially photography) instead of just being Mommy.

We got to Sunflowers for Wishes every year, and this year might have been the best so far. Even though we got rained on. Hard. Which was totally my fault because I insisted on trying for just a couple more photos.

The fields where the sunflowers bloom is one of the most popular photoshoot spots in Connecticut – we must have seen more than a dozen people with their fancy cameras and bags trying to pose families in the sunflower field…without getting all the other photographers and families in their shot. I know in theory a huge field of sunflowers SOUNDS like a gorgeous spot for photos, in reality it’s less romantic. Sunflowers are a lot taller than kids, so posing them in the sunflowers just shows up as posing in a forest of green stalks. The outside of the field is all bright sun. There are TONS OF PEOPLE and you can only Photoshop out so much. Plus if you bribe your kids with ice cream, they’re either whining to go get it now now now or a sticky mess from already eating it.

I am sure there are photographers who get amazing, dreamy, fabulous pictures. I am not that talented yet – plus I went with my kids to, you know, have a good time while they were open instead of waiting until 8 pm for the magic hour light. But I do think looking back on my previous years at Buttonwood is a great example of how far I’ve come:

Sunflowers 2012 – Just a few pictures

Sunflowers 2011 – Evan and Tiny Fat Baby Caroline

Sunflowers 2010 – Avert your eyes from my terrible Picasa photo effects!

So…yeah. Improvement!

Mooing like a cow is hilarious.

Baby cows!!

Pay no attention to the horrible gash on his left eye. He banged it on the couch (????)

Caroline, look at me. Look at me. Look at me. Show me your eyes!

Team Sunflower, roll out!

When we got home, E asked why our daughter was wearing a bag.

Strawberry cheesecake

My precioussssssss…

This is her “Why am I sitting on this quilt when it is raining on me?” face.

Hiding from the downpour. It was an impressive amount of rain. p.s. He had blue cotton candy ice cream.

Last Tuesday the kids and I headed up to East Hartford for a fun blogger playdate sponsored by Hood Ice Cream and their new Harvey Bars. If you live in New England you’ve probably seen their commercials (Who put the bar in the bar-di-bar-di-bar…)(It’s actually pretty cute) but I hadn’t seen them at my grocery store yet so I was excited to give them a try.

It was 90+ degrees which I think is perfect weather for ice cream. Especially free ice cream.

A++++ will buy again. The kids loved the cookies and cream but the toffee crunch was amaaaazing.

It was also great to see some of the Connecticut bloggers I’ve met over the past year again, plus put actual faces to the names I see online. Everyone was so nice and Evan declared at least five kids to be his new best friend. Even Caroline had a good time blowing bubbles for a “baby friend.”

The question was: Who wants fore ice cream??

The Hood Company was founded here in Connecticut and has been making ice cream for more than 100 years. The Harvey Bar is named after Harvey Perley Hood, who started the company and always wore a bow tie (it’s the tie on the bar wrapper a cute tribute?) We love local companies, plus we love ice cream, so it was a great event for us. Thanks to Hood, Shift Communications and Julie for inviting us!

I was invited to the Hood Playdate by Julie, who is in my local Facebook group. We receives snacks, ice cream, and coupons in exchange for attending, with no obligation to share our experience.

I took some family photos for a friend last night. 456 photos. I’m only 1/8th of the way done editing, but I skipped ahead to the end, when her daughter copied my very bad example and waded right in. Would it be weird to frame a photo of someone else’s kid?

p.s. Literally the first time EVER I got the horizon straight in-camera.