{What________ looks like} peach picking!

This weekend we braved the heat (yes, it's sizzling here already!) and headed to the farm for some peach picking.  U-Pick fruit is one of my favorite things to do with the kids.  Thankfully they think of it as a treat so they really look forward to it.  We got to the farm at 9:30 so the sun was pretty harsh for these photos by the time we got on the hayride to head to the orchard to pick peaches.  After we filled two bags of peaches we were ready to head to some rides.  It was hot but the kids went on the roller coaster, the giant swing ride, the slides, the big air bounce pad…. again and again and again.  When they finally got tired, we headed home to plan out what to do with our peaches.

Be sure to check out the rest of this talented groups post!  Next up is Kelsey Gerhard Photography, I know her's will be a treat!

{9 to 5 Bloom Forum Blog feature}

I was flattered to be asked by 'The Bloom Forum' to share my day in a fun, new series they've started.  They feature a photographer and little snippets of their day in what's called their '9 to 5' series.  It was fun to be a part of this.  If you're not familiar with the Bloom forum, it's a great place to learn about photography whether you're brand new to photography or if you've been in business for a while.  They have great classes and the forum is VERY active.  I just wrapped up teaching 'Bloom Basics' and now we're getting ready to start our other popular on-line class 'Defining Yourself'.  This class is for those who know how to shoot in manual but are in search of their style....it's a very creative, fun class.  Check it out.  We'd love to have you!

Here's the link to my 9 to 5 feature and a few pics from the feature (below).  Thanks so much to the Bloom Forum Blog for having me!!

{texting trouble maker} little prank

I know this is my photography blog but as I mentioned in my bio, I post about things other than photography sometimes.  Specifically,  things that inspire me, my family and other random posts that I see fit to share.  This falls under 'other random posts I see fit to share'.  Some of you are my friends FaceBook  (on my personal account) and may have seen a text exchange between me and a total stranger.  Weird right?  It started when a random gentleman texted me...he had the wrong number.  But I couldn't let this person know he had the wrong number, that's boring and I can't resist causing a little trouble.   I don't take life seriously at all and I'm always sarcastic, laughing and joking.  So it wouldn't be like me to just say - 'hey, I think you have the wrong number.'  Naughty I know -- it's the 3rd grader in me telling me to do it.  So the text exchange is below.  It's very clear I'm not up on all of today's slang, I thought 'Tryna' was a girls name. I know, I'm cool like that. LOL Anyway, this person tried to call a few times and I'm sure when he realized I wasn't who he thought I was, he's out to kill me.  Ha!  I called Jeff after this exchange laughing so hard I couldn't get words out.  Thank God he wasn't in an important meeting and he literally started laughing as hard as I was when he read the exchange.   #ilovehim    When I read the text to my son he laughed and said 'you know that a ziggurat is a Mesopotamian Temple right? Well, it's Sumerian really. Why would you write to him about that?' Yeah, I so knew that...I did it on purpose (Not really.  I thought I made up that word)  And a skrim is a mountain in Norway. Yeah....I totally knew that too. {I lie.  I had no clue.} My son teaches me something new every day.  Anyway this provided my husband, kids and I complete Friday night entertainment.  So thanks Will, if you're out there. You are a shining light in our house and I really was really bummed when you didn't reply to my final texts bro. You coulda ringed it.... We coulda be tight man.

Today in the mail a package arrives for me.  I thought it was from one of my designers since it was from an Apparel company.  So I casually open it in the kitchen not realizing that every member of my family has their eyes glued to me.  I open it up to find this t-shirt (see below).  Again, this made my night, my week, my month.  My kids and hubby designed this t-shirt for me.  #ilovethem  They know me so well and 'get' my humor.  They immediately asked me to put it on.  It didn't matter that I JUST got in the door from the gym.  They had me put it on over my workout clothes.  So here it is!   And I love it.  They  are begging me to wear it tonight- we're going to Studio Movie Grill to see Cloudy with a s Chance of Meatballs 2.  I think this is my new favorite shirt!

{What_______ looks like} Saturday Morning Breakfast

Hi Everyone!  This month's 'What____ looks like' is our typical Saturday morning breakfast.  We usually all sit together on the weekends and eat a hot cooked breakfast at the table as a family.  Everything starts of normal, calm...average.  And soon the normalcy turns into games.  Sometimes we play 20 questions, sometimes we tell jokes, other times we talk about funny things that have happened or like this past Saturday everyone (except the photographer...me) played with the horse head.  Why do these masks provide hours of entertainment?!  It's a plastic horse! But seriously, we can't stop playing with it.  And so...this was our Saturday morning breakfast together.

Now hop over to Andrea Hanki's beautiful blog to see what she's posted and continue through the loop to complete the circle.  :)

{What_______ looks like} turning 8

It's that time again!  I know, I wasn't able to participate last month and I hate that.  Things have been crazy this summer with traveling, the house remodel and the kids being back from their trip.  When they got home from being on their adventurous road trip with Grandma & Grandpa May I wanted to soak in every moment with them that I could and that meant pushing personal projects aside (boo!).  But I'm back!  This month, on the first of August, my baby girl turned 8 years old!  Yes, 8!  The picture above was Brielle when she was 6 months old.  She was born with thick black hair.  Very different from my blonde little boy.  But soon light brown hair sprouted and her tips were black from birth.  Still trips me out.  Ha!  Brielle couldn't believe she was turning 8 either and was beyond excited for the day to begin so we could celebrate and tell stories of her birth and her as a baby.  I loved every minute of her excitement!   We started the day with a fluffy pancake breakfast, in the afternoon Jeff surprised Brielle by coming home by noon then we were off to play to at Dave & Busters for some games and prizes.  That night Brielle requested a home cooked meal.  What did she want?  She wanted a blue cheese iceberg wedge, steamed broccoli and a juicy prime cut steak (Jeff cooks the best steak), too bad I'm not a red meat eater.  But she devoured it!  For dessert she wanted a Red Velvet Cake with cream cheese frosting and ice cream.  She was in heaven ;-)

Oh and I had to capture my baby the day she turned 8 so when Jeff got home we quickly snapped a few photos before we went off to play.

The next day Grandma Rasmussen flew in to be with Brielle to celebrate her birthday!  She was beyond excited!  And when Grandma is in town in the summer, swimming in the pool is top priority.  We don't want Grandma to go home but we're thankful she was able to spend this time with us and the kiddos.

Thanks for taking the time to pop by my blog.  Complete the circle and visit all of the other talented photographers in this project.  Click here for Wendy VonSosen's post.  She never disappoints!  :)

We're back!! Bloom Basics is back!

After the wonderful responses from the two Bloom Basics courses Stephanie Moore and I have taught, we're back to teach it again!!  And we can't wait!!   The course takes place on the Bloom Forum in a private classroom so if you're not a Bloom Forum member you will just need to sign-up for a couple of months so you have access to the classroom. Who is this course for?  For those of you who have a DSLR camera and want to know how to shoot in manual mode and learn how to edit in photoshop.

I'm continually amazed with prior students and how far they've come after taking this course.  Several have started their own photography business after taking this course and then completing our second course 'Defining Yourself'.

Are you really going to be able to learn in an on-line course?   I 100% believe that our teaching methods make on-line learning easy.  We utilize video explanations when needed and some of the course material is presented via video, photos, diagrams, etc.  I'm a visual, hands on learner so we really strive to give as much visual guidance and teaching in this course.

Our prior courses have sold out so be sure to purchase a seat before they're gone.

Please contact me at kara@karamayphotography.com with any questions you might have or for pre-registration links.

{'My Instagram Life' - it's more than just food photos}

Most of us have them...another life on Instagram.  We may have a Facebook life, an Instagram life and 'real' life.  Instagram is a fun outlet for me to post everyday moments with ease and without lugging my big heavy camera around.  And I can honestly say I don't know if I've ever taken a food photo (shocker I know...)  oh wait....I have taken a picture of what I'm putting in the crock pot since cooking is a struggle for me as well as healthy smoothies I've made.  So I guess I lied...I may have a handful of food photos.  I'm just not a foodie. lol  Anyway, when I first started Instagraming I thought it was my own private albums and a place to store pics.  I had no idea they were shared for any user to view if they so choose.  Then my friend Laura & Haleigh informed me one day that they commented on something on Instagram...I was like, 'What?'  Yeah, I do that a lot.  I had seen comments but thought they were an auto thing from Instagram.  I know....you're laughing at me.  But now I get it and it's such a fun way to share pictures with friends near and far with ease.  So what can you do with your Instagram pictures?  That's what I wondered after taking dozens of pictures.  There are so many places to print your Instagram photos now!  Places are popping up everywhere with the most creative way to display and print them.  I just ordered my first set of images from 'Origrami'  http://www.origrami.com  I love them!  They're printed on heavy 4x5 postcard quality paper and they come in this cute little box!  I love them.  I plan on pinning them up with little clothes pins in my office...either within a large frame or just on the wall. I'll take a picture when I remodel my office and put it up.  The back of the print shows 12 unique designs if the photo map information is not included on your photo. This makes Instagraming even more fun!  I'll be sharing more Instagram randomness soon - I may make this a series too.

You can follow my instagram life at karaphotogirl on Instagram if you'd like.

{I did it! I finally have a Facebook business page}

It has been extremely very busy, insanely fun, ridiculously non-stop time for me and my business lately (and it's not even busy season).   I have so much to post about.  Workshops I've had the honor to speak at, ladies I've met and now call my friends, shoot after shoot, traveling like a nomad, and yet trying to be 'in the moment' as a mom, wife, friend, etc.  So with all of that business - I finally gave into the pressure from friends, clients and peers to get a Facebook business page.  I know...it's about darn time right?  {shrug}  Here it is!  https://www.facebook.com/karamayphotography  I'll be posting recent sessions, things that inspire me, everyday things that help with my creative juices, and more.  I try to blog as much as I can, but I have to be honest...it's much quicker and easier for me to post on FB and interact with you all.  I love hearing from you and of course getting to know those that follow my work.  We have a common passion, otherwise you wouldn't be here reading this right now.  So come visit me and say hi.  I'd love to hear from you.  Thanks!

{New Workshop: 'Defining Yourself' on the Bloom Forum}

I'm excited to tell you all about a workshop that Stephanie Moore and I are putting on April 8th to the 18th on the Bloom forum.  There are only a few seats remaining since we pre-sold a most of them.  This is a 2-week on-line workshop that will take you through various 'shooting' and 'editing' styles to help guide you and your business to a more defined style.  We'll share editing using Photoshop so an understanding of the basics in that program is needed.  Shooting in Manual mode is also going to be beneficial for this class.  Does that mean we'll be showing you exactly how we edit?  No, we'll be talking about various ways to edit to enhance your images and/or add drama.  Here's a little information about the class below. Please contact me at kara@karamayphotography for any questions.  Thanks!!

{When a Commercial Shoot turns into a Circus}

This week is Spring Break for my kids.  Woo Hoo!  But this is the first year we haven't gone to Mexico during Spring Break and just stayed home.   We have been busy with to-do's appts and working around my crazy schedule and the kids have just had to go with the flow.  Well today was no exception.  They were peacefully playing when I announced I really wanted to do a quick indoor  commercial shoot with them.  They were excited at the idea of staying in and shooting at home so we didn't have to leave the house and completely disrupt what they were doing.  Um, I have a schedule too kiddos, and it doesn't involve playing all day.  I've got deadlines, orders to package, editing, more editing and a couple of workshops to get ready for.  But for some reason this week the kids think it's 'their week'.  I get that...but really, I need to get my things done too and it's hard.   I'm trying to make it fun for them....I really am.  So that means I've had to put some of my work aside and just live in the 'now'.  I'm trying to do that more and more even if that means pushing back deadlines a touch (those that can be pushed).  This week I'm a momma all week with moments of work sprinkled in when they are sleeping and sometimes when they are awake and needed for my 'commercial jobs'. Thankfully, Tyler was excited today  - he got to help me move furniture!  He felt like the man of the house - cute to see.

So this was a partial attempt at an indoor commercial photo shoot.  They lasted a good minute before the craziness broke out.  I told them we'd try again later and they happily ran off laughing.  Kids.  This is the struggle photographers deal with when working with our own children.  It's a blessing and a headache all at once. ;-)