Fruit and Spice

Today my mom finally flew into town for a visit.  Finally!  So after I picked her up we went to the Fruit and Spice Park all the way down in Homestead about as far south west as you can go in Miami.  What a beautiful afternoon we had.  We walked around a little bit on our own and then we hopped on this trolley for a tour and our tour guide was fantastic.  She was constantly stopping and picking fresh fruit for us to taste.  Some fruit I've never even heard of from all different parts of the world.  Rio was absolutely loving it, she was devouring everything we gave her.  She was in heaven, one thing my little girl loves is her fruit.  My mom was loving it too because when she moves back down here she's planning on adding fruit trees to the back yard.  There's this one tree I love from Brazil, the berries actually grow on the bark of the tree.  It looks amazing and the berry is so sweet and turns a bit sour towards the center. 

I love days like this when I feel like I've really learned something about the world while spending time with the people I love.

Questions Answered

I love looking up galleries and artists online to not only see their work but to read their artists statements.  A brilliant artists statement really gives you an opportunity to really "see" a person and understand their process.  I've never sat down with a pen and paper to write one for myself but I sometimes try to write it in my mind and I can never get past the second or third sentence.  How am I supposed to write about myself?  I don't want to speak highly of myself, because that comes off as being conceited.  Is humble but passionate the way to go?  I stumbled upon a blog of a woman quite similar to me...  she does photography and makes pendents with her photography.  She also happens to be a stay at home mom.  So she wrote a list of questions: Does your artwork have a theme to it?  What does creating art mean to you?  What goals do you have for yourself as an artist?  Is there a special technique or process you have to make your work unique?  

Maybe it's time to break out the tape recorder and just talk.  Somethings got to come out of that... right?

Patience is a Virtue

It would make my life so much easier if I was computer savvy.  I'm sitting here trying to open up my online store to sell my photography (Yeah!) but I need to make a banner to go on my home page.  So I find a website that does them for free but the image I want to use is to large and I don't know how to shrink it!  I know, in about two years Rio will be running circles around me on the computer.  I really should know so much more than I do but what can I do... Hmmm, take a class maybe?  Maybe I will, a computer class and a business class.  Then maybe I'll be a little less clumsy, just a little.

Inspiration

I found this great blog  blogs.photopreneur.com and am feeling very inspired.  He created a list "60 Sources of Inspiration for Photography" including everything from shooting at a different time of day, giving yourself a theme, revisiting your past, or even using yourself as the subject.  Writing a blog was on his list as well and I do have to say that I completely agree.  It feels good to see my photos posted somewhere even if it's in my own blog and it keeps me motivated because I want an image or two to share for the day.  Photography is an artistic medium that works perfectly into my life at the moment because I can create while I'm with my little girl and I don't feel like I'm neglecting her.  Actually most of the time I incorporate her.  She really has become my inspiration and it's funny, when I shoot her the images have such a lovely child like quality in comparison to my other work.  She has made me see the world in a different way and opened my eyes therefore I am experimenting and I'm excited with the outcome most of the time.  At the moment, I feel as if a door has opened and there is this constant flow of inspiration and it's exhilarating really.  It makes me excited to see what tomorrow brings and what can be created...

Easter Weekend

Lately my husband, daughter and I have been "living for the weekend" to spend time together as a family.  So when I heard three day weekend because of good friday, I almost did a cartwheel!  On friday, we drove up to Orlando to see family and right after Rio went to sleep we took advantage of having some help and went out on the town.  We ended up getting sushi and then we went dancing.  We are parents and we love every moment with our little girl, but it feels so go to go out every once in a while to enjoy each other and stay out late.  How important it is for a husband and wife to go and steal moments to remind each other how much love there is between them.  And equally important to have adventures as a couple to keep things exciting!

On Saturday we stole another night for ourselves... we saw fireworks in downtown (now that was a surprise) but really good fourth of July grade fireworks that lasted for at least 15 minutes.  

The Easter Egg Hunt was too cute, seeing Rio crawl all over going from one egg to the next, she looked like a little cherub with her short curly blonde hair and puffy dress.  And yes, she had to bite the head off of the chocolate bunnies she found and I had to dive in to get the chocolate and wrapper out of her mouth.  She was showered with so much love from everyone and I think that was the best part of this whole weekend.  To stand back and see how smart and funny she is and how she interacts with everyone.  I really am such a proud mom and Roberto and I would just look at each other and smile.  Watching as she makes everyone fall head over heels in love with her.  What more could a Mama ask for?

Rainy days

I had all these plans for my day yesterday.  I was going to go to a few different locations for a photo shoot and what happened?  I woke up to tornado warnings and constant rain until about 6pm.  That's one thing about Miami, when it rains, it RAINS!  But good news is when the skies finally parted, there was a beautiful filtered light and I did a little mini shoot with the flowers I had just bought.

Here's to a beautiful sunny day today and a toast to my delicious cup of coffee this morning!

Here we go...

           This blog was created quite a while ago and I finally am determined to share my photography with others.  I am inspired by the color green, the magical light in the late afternoon, children and capturing moments that can never be repeated.