{the rumors are true...}

we're moving!   This is a bitter-sweet post.  I'm thrilled my husband accepted a new job in Scottsdale Arizona, but I'm sad to leave my friends and clients here in South Carolina.  I'm also going to miss my favorite locations and all of the open spaces.  I've neglected my blog a bit since we found out, we've been so busy prepping the house and trying to figure out the logistics of our move.  I plan to stay here through May so I can work with my Spring clients.  But if our house sells sooner (which is not likely in this market), that may have to change.  I've gotten so many sweet e-mails from clients and friends who heard the news - thank you, they mean a lot to me.  It's so hard to leave my loyal clients and the friends we've made but I'm excited and a little nervous about the adventures that await me in Arizona.  I've been asked if I will come back a few times a year to do sessions and many of you have kindly offered for me to stay with you or in your guest houses!  I appreciate your offers and may have to take you up on it since I would love to come back once a  year to do sessions!  

Soooo for the next few months my life is going to be CRAZY with Jeff gone, being involved with my children's activities, getting ready to move,  keeping the house spot-less for showing, doing sessions, etc.  - so if you've e-mailed me for a session I'm sorry if I haven't gotten back to you.  Feel free to harass me a bit, since sometimes things get nuts and I may not get back to you in a timely manner.  I don't at all mind you e-mailing or calling if I haven't been able to respond to you right away.   Those of you on the wait-list for a session I will be contacting you as well.  Thanks so much for your patience!    

{Pieces of The Picture – Interview}

A while back Tommy Peterson, of Pieces of the Picture, contacted me after seeing some of my work on flickr.  He's a fabulous interviewer and our discussion is featured on his blog.  His blog has become a resource for many photographers wanting to learn more about the industry.  His interviews are thoughtful - digging into various aspects of the art from the photographers he spotlights.  Check out our interview at Pieces of the Picture.  Thanks! 

Had to include a little bit of eye distraction and post this picture.  I saw these mailboxes at a trailer park not too far from me.  With the recent snow fall (yes, we got snow in the south again!  Can you believe it?) sprinkled onto these somewhat sad mailboxes I just had to capture the stillness and abandoment that they spoke.  Random, I know but I love random.

{the way I see...}

I've driven along this long country highway dozens of times.  Each time I see more and more that I ache to photograph.  Photograph it the way I see it (or want to see it).  This is my interpretation - very ordinary but also aged with decaying beauty.   Most would pass these on the road and think they were just an eye sore and I admit, billboards are such an annoyance to me but sometimes one or two will stick out and beg to be photographed.  And I love old metal signs - I can't pass one without  wishing I had my camera with me.  Anyway sorry this post is so short - I have a busy week ahead of me and wanted to make sure I posted before things got too crazy.  Thanks for taking a peek :)

{already missing the fluffy, white snow...}

Yesterday a wish of my kiddos came to fruition... it snowed here in South Carolina!  They've been wishing for snow since we moved here 2 years ago.  We got snow each year in Snoqualmie so it was strange for them not to get a taste of it each year.  Tyler was so excited at the thought that we might get snow that he woke up at 3am (that's not a typo) to look outside only to be let down that there wasn't any.  He was up on and off all morning and both kids squealed with anticipation when big white flakes finally began to fall from the sky.  Of course we spent most of the day outside playing in it, eating it, riding bikes in it, throwing it, etc.  They both made a 'snow pie' - you know, a bowl full of snow and I chopped up bits for fruit and put it in the bowl (as they stirred it) and then they ate it.  So fun!  We also made real snow cones! That was such a treat - I poured FUZE juice in it and they were giggling with excitement.  Then we took breaks , came in and had hot cocoa topped with mini marsh mellows.  This was the best winter day yet!    Now it's melting and Tyler and Brielle keep asking when we'll get more.  I'm afraid this was the last of it, but we enjoyed it while it was here.    Below are a few pictures of the snow! 

The first thing both kids did.... let the snow drop onto their tongue ;-)

Tyler running to throw a snowball at daddy's truck!  I've never seen someone love the snow as much as Tyler, he couldn't get enough of it.

Brielle the problem solver:  She insisted on wearing her sunglasses so the snow wouldn't get in her eyes.  She didn't take them off until the snow stopped blowing so hard.  I couldn't resist running in to get my camera to remember this moment.   Oh and she has a spoon and an apple slice in her hand making her tasty snow pie. 

{New Look - Launch of my NEW WEBSITE!!}

I'm so excited to announce the launch of my NEW WEBSITE!!!  It was time to for a new look so I'm thrilled to finally unveil it to you all!  I'm not sure who's more relieved it's done, me or my husband.  I've had this new site for months now but busy season hit and I had NO time to work on it.  Finally, now that I'm taking this month and part of February to catching up on administrative to-do's that have been sadly neglected during busy season, I can complete (or at least attempt to complete) my long to-do list of business projects/plans.  Wow, that was a major run-on sentence {shrug, wink}.  Anyway check it out and let me know what you think!!  Thanks for stopping by!! 

{Designer Spotlight - Kennedy & Friends Co.}

Oh my these tutu's are so fun!   I received an exciting package of goodies a while ago from my  friend Nathalie, amazing tutu designer and shop owner of Kennedy and Friends Co. , with these beautiful  tutus!   I love them both!  Of course my daughter was tickled when she saw them - her eyes got big and she said in a slow whisper  'Oh they're beautiful mommy'.  Then she carefully picked one up and then the other and put on not just one, but two tutu's and began dancing around the house. Then she ran upstairs and grabbed the other tutu's Nathalie designed  and put all of them on.  She was covered from head to toe in colorful tulle.  She even put one on her head and started 'dancing like a princess'.  When she saw I noticed her she started to giggle and said, 'How do you like me mommy?'.    

I processed these in a faded age washed look - actual tutu colors can be found at Kennedy and Friends Co.Check out her store site for more styles.

Below Brielle was coming up with her own poses - I thought it was funny yet cute since it was her trying to be very posey posed.  She even laughed as you can see below.

{it happened...}

Tyler lost his first tooth today.  I can't believe my little boy is growing up. 

As I pulled into the school parking lot I saw Tyler talking to Briella and I noticed something was different.  I gasped knowing what had happened.  I waved excitedly to him and mouthed the word tooth while pointing to my teeth, eager to have him jump in the car and show me his missing tooth.  When I was finally within talking distance, I whispered excitedly 'Oh my goodness look at you!'  He was anxious to tell me.  He said 'I lost my tooth mom'.  I smiled and said 'I know, I can't believe it'.  And he corrected me and said 'No I really lost my tooth.'  He told me it happened at lunch.  He was eating and he asked his friend Bobby if his tooth was gone and Bobby said yes.  Tyler looked all around where he was sitting, in his apple, everywhere and he couldn't find his missing tooth.  His teacher is fabulous and said that she's pretty sure the tooth fairy will take a note instead of a tooth since he couldn't find it.  So guess what he did right when he got home?   You got it - he wrote a note to the tooth fairy all on his own - as you can see he tried to spell everything himself.  Wow, my little boy is turning into a little man and there is nothing I can do to slow things down.  He is so proud of his toothless smile and shows me every few minutes - as if I've forgotten.  No way... before we were even out of the parking lot at school I gave him my cell phone to call both sets of Grandparents - I knew he'd want to be the one to share the exciting news.  Briella wanted to share the news with Grandma too - she said into the phone in her little voice 'My friend Tyler, has a loose tooth.  I mean a lost tooth.'  I love how she refers to her brother as her  friend.  Daddy won't be home until Friday but I was able to talk to him briefly and tell him about Tyler.  He requested a picture - so I'm blogging it in hopes that he can see it tonight.  Excuse the poor quality of the image - we were inside in low low light on this dark and rainy day so I maxed my ISO.  Thanks for taking the time to read through this post.  It's such an emotional milestone for me - I'm sure those of you who are parents can relate . ;-)

{December 2008 Synopsis ~ Overdue}

I can't believe it's already January of the new year!   Wow, where has time gone?  Well I thought I'd dedicate this post to the last month of 2008.  What a month with Christmas, family, friends, and all of the festivities that go along with the holiday's and leading up to New Year's.  In summary:

- We had a new house guest this year.  A silly looking but irresistibly fun little elf named Zig Zach (the kids named him immediately - Tyler came up with Zach and Briella came up with Zig so we combined the two - a nice compromise).  The kids miss him terribly but we're hoping he'll be back to visit us next year. 

- Tyler has his first loose tooth - makes me a bit teary to think not long ago we were counting each tooth as they came in.  Now we're counting how many loose teeth he has.  Why is this so emotional for me?  He's so excited he can hardly stand it while I'm wishing I could make time stand still.

-  Brielle at age three was so into the magic of Christmas this year.  To her  everything was 'beautiful'.  And I mean everything - from the partially squished grasshopper she brought me to nurse back to health, to the cracked Christmas ornament of the Seattle Ferry.  I loved her sincere expressions of how everything was so amazingly beautiful - she'll say it in soft whisper as if she's almost lost her breath it's so stunning.  And Santa brought her some pink princess shoes and when we ask her where Santa left them, she replies with her cute little lispy sing songy voice, 'he put them in a big thSock (sock)' ~aka her stocking.  

-We also talked to both kids about why we celebrate this amazing holiday so they were reminded of the real reason.   

-  We had family stay with us in the beginning of December and the end of December - such a great way to start the beginning and end of the month.  Wish we could see them more.

-  We had our first ever family portrait done!  Woo hoo!!  I'm so bad, I'm never in pictures since I'm the one behind the lens.  So this was fun for me even though I was still the photographer ;-)  We used some of the pictures on our holiday card.   And I'm hoping to take more pictures of our family together in the future, this is time we can't get back so I want to capture it now.

Overall we had a wonderful end of 2008 and hope to have more fun memories in 2009.  I also wanted to thank my clients for such a wonderful 2008 - I couldn't have imagined such  a great year, meeting so many new people and their beautiful children.  Thank you! 

Happy New Year!

Here's a compilation of  images from December - just a taste of the final month of 2008. 

And our Holiday Card: Front

Card: Inside Spread

Card: Back {couldn't resist including the dork factor ;-) }

{Giving Is Awesome - Decision Time}

Thank you for the many powerful and moving stories you sent to me.  This was truly a very hard and stressful decision.  So difficult that I couldn't just choose one person/family to give this gift to, so I've selected two nominees.  Even narrowing it down to two families was painful since every nominee had such inspiring, powerful and courageous stories.  I hope to donate to some of the others at a later date.  I'm currently in communications with the selected families and want to ensure I get their permission before sharing their names and stories on my blog.  But as promised, I wanted to make a post about it this evening.  Thank you again for taking the time to participate in this important project.

Merry Christmas!  God Bless.

{the calming fog}

Thank you so much for those of you who have nominated a person/family for my give-away below. The stories I've gotten so far have been heart-wrenching reminding me how important it is to give to others and to give often.  There's still time to send more nominations - just make sure you send them to kara@karamayphotography.com  telling me your nominations story, their name and your contact information.  I'll be posting the results on Christmas Eve (after obtaining permission from the recipient). 

I love mornings like this morning.  I woke up to deep mystical fog outside my window.  I love the quiet, calm feeling fog brings - everything seems to slow down a bit.  It's almost as good as snow (I love snow and have been so jealous that my family and friends in Seattle are seeing snowfall - I miss it and Tyler does too).   Anyway, after I dropped the kids off at school I rushed home to get my camera and set out to take a couple of quick pictures before heading back home to packaging orders.   Here's some of what I captured today.   I haven't had time to look at all of my images just these few.  The second image I played around with my two of my homebrewed processings to give the image a different look.  

Image below: I drive past this old tree and decayed shack every day. Something about this path takes me to another place.  I'll even take the 'long route' just to get another glance at my lonely, beautiful tree an the long narrow path.