Art from other people

Do you love this? Do you not just LOVE IT? I don't know why, but this print by Niki Kelce just speaks to me. Clearly it's the uber-pregnant chick with the sailor tattoos, which I am a) not and b) not in possession thereof. But it delights me all the same.

So! We're back! The wedding was out of control, as most things that involve my family can be. I remember most of it as a big blur, punctuated by my flash and several memory card dumps into my laptop. I took about 950 pictures, with 600 or so being usable, so I'm currently in post-production mode... the final step of my wedding present to my uncle and new aunt is an Asukabook, custom-designed by yours truly and coated in some shiny crap and SWEET LORD does it look FANCY! I can't wait to get it back from the printers - it's also going to be my sample book, so I'm stoked.

And yep, I have another wedding tomorrow, at the Tucker House in Raleigh. Have I ever been there? Noo. Do I have any idea how to navigate Raleigh? Noo. But am I excited? Oh my yes. God, I love this job.

First time "bass" and "romantic" have appeared in conjunction on this website.

Sunday's wedding was good. Really good, actually. I went outside my comfort zone in a big way, and learned that sometimes that's just what you need to succeed. (And now that little "The More You Know" star will shoot across your screen. Really! Just watch!)

Nah, seriously, I'm happy with how my work turned out, this one in particular. Bass Lake is a lovely location for a wedding - the wind and completely unexpected and unforecast chilliness moved the ceremony inside, but whatchagonnado... we did the portraits on the deck, and it was lovely.

So now I prep for my uncle's wedding in Daytona Beach, which is on St. Patrick's Day - we're leaving the Tuesday before, so I'll have plenty of time to test lighting, shove my lens in everyone's face 4000 times, etc. I think it's kind of funny, what with mon oncle being 50-something... we're partying in Daytona during high spring break season, baby! He's so excited about it, though, that I can't really laugh about it without feeling like a jerk. And besides, it's Norah's first trip to Florida, and we MIGHT be able to pull off a trip to see Mitty and Mannie Mouts, don't you know. It's going to be fabulous.

Saturday warm-up


Out across the lake
Originally uploaded by annieandrob.
I've got a wedding tomorrow (for real dollars! woohoo!), so I felt obligated to go check out the site today. Good thing, too, because Mapquest totally lied and sent me in the opposite direction from where I needed to go, making Norah and her buddy Lillian rabid from hunger. (Jasmine and the girls joined us, because my plans are always SO ROCK SOLID AND RATIONAL.)

We eventually got to Bass Lake, which actually turned out to be pretty cute - although I'm wicked nervous about the lighting situation. At 4:30, the sun will be shooting death rays directly behind the happy couple's ceremony. Backlighting makes me panic... but it's okay, because I've been studying up, practicing, all that jazz, and I think I've got it. Still - cold sweats all over the place. Cross your fingers for me.

And from the "how fun is THIS gonna be" department: the park guy I talked to there said he would be happy to take me out in the little ranger motorboat so I could shoot back at the deck, and he also said I could climb onto the roof to do group shots. If I don't drown or break my neck, pictures up soon...

In other news, Norah has decided that talking is for sissies, and she's moved right on to screaming her conversations. We'll be trotting merrily through Macy's, and she'll break into "MAMA! SEE PURSE! SEE NORAH'S PURSE! I PURSE! GET IT! I LOOOVE PURSE! AND HOT DOGS!" which actually comes out "hoddogs." Hoddogs get thrown into most of our conversations these days. What should we have for breakfast? Hoddogs! Where's daddy? Get Norah hoddogs! What can we use as a handy doorstop? YOU JUST GUESS.