Breakin' in the new 40D!

This week has flown by.. tomorrow I have to do my monthly paper work for my day job so I will get paid and we are also doing more super top secret crime fighting tomorrow evening... dun dun dunnnn! More on that later... today I trained 17 more servers in responsible alcohol serving tactics... and as of right now, I am finished with those.. yay!

Yesterday, Timmy and I took our twin 40D's out for a shoot, of each other! The weather was beautiful and it was a lot of fun. He is doing a great job learning the settings on the upgraded camera! He took some really nice shots of me and now I just have to get him to edit them himself!! hah! yeah right.

We found some great spots on the river and I look forward to going to more locations.. all these shots were taken within 500 yards of one another.. so there's a lot more ground to cover downtown, I CANNOT WAIT until the weather gets better for the summer!

I am donating a portrait package to the PHS Crew Team for their annual auction! As an alumni of the team, I wanted to help them out, so on March 14th goto Stout Methodist on Broad at.. 6pm? maybe 7.. Ill let you know... and bid on the package and other great items! I am excited because I will likely meet someone completely new through this, that never heard of me before (okay, alot of people haven't heard of me, but I am working on that!)

In my previous blog, I told you I sat at the mall all day Monday for my day job, during which I worked on a few pieces of media and got in my mind what I want for my logo, I am going to have my good friend from way back when, Lauren, work one up for me from my idea.. she is a talented artist herself that happens to work freelance for people who need logos and design! If you need her, let me know and I will hook you up with her.

Some things to do before I die...

Alright, its Monday. The last one in February 09. BRRRRRR. I am so ready for some warmth! I am glad it has been snowy this winter but I am suffering from severe "its too cold to shoot outside and I don't have a studio!!!!" syndrome.. ugh

I spent all day at the stupid mall for work.. it was a really long day and since I do not feel great today, I was sooooo happy when 5pm came around and I got to come home.. ughh again.

I have been watching some serious America's Next Top Model lately, for about 8 years I have known that one day I want to be a photographer on that show. Tyra.. call me. I am always inspired by the editorials they come up with and can see me shooting one of the crazy shoots with awesome bright makeup or one of the crazy shoots they with props or underwater.. etc.. I love it.... it's on my list of things to do before I die.

Another thing that is on my list is to adopt a rescue pet. Mr. B and I have decided on a Sphynx cat, yes, the hairless kind. We are putting in application and hoping that when we purchase our home we will be able to quickly adopt and take home our new baby! They are quite adorable and affectionate, I love cats that act like they need you, not the kind that you only see when they are feeling like it, so they are perfect.

While we are on the topic of things I want to do before I keel over, I might as well make a little list...
-be mommy to a rescued sphynx kitty and a pound mutt(perhaps not at the same time)
-be a photographer and judge on America's Next Top Model
-travel with a successful music group on tour and photograph the journey (The Avett Brothers, Holy Ghost Tent Revival, The Everybodyfields, Langhorne Slim, preferably!)
-publish a cookbook, publish a music coffee table photo book and publish a WV photo book
-get invited to compete in the pillsbury bake-off!

and now, photos of Mr. B & I's journey to Johnson City, Tennesee to see some wonderful live music in December at the Down Home..

the TN cabin!

Doc Watson at the Down Home

Sam Quinn of the Everybodyfields at Down Home

I love Food.

I'm catching up on Top Chef, my favorite show on TV right now... GOSH I just love it! Carla and Fabio are my favorite, they are both so cute, Fabio with his broken finger and broken english and Carla with her ex-model looks and fun personality. I just watched Carla win a Toyota! that's awesome.. DARN IT.. Fabio just got sent home :( I guess I know who to cheer for now.

Now it is time to watch Iron Chef America (my favorite thing to do with my husband is watch cooking shows, btw) Michael Symon is my favorite, and lucky me, he is on this episode!

Tim will be home shortly and we will begin our weekend together! we only get half of them together, because of his work schedule!, but this weekend is special because it is our anniversary! its a whole year on Sunday since we eloped at the courthouse in Charleston. Time has flown by but it definitely seems like we have been married longer, just because we lived together and shared everything long before we were married.. I am soooo lucky to be married to such a wonderful person and a hard working man. He amazes me all the time and not a day goes by that I don't thank God for him... I guess we are making it.. living the dream... now if we only had a dog we would be in great shape (kidding, hunny!) sort of.

We don't have any big plans for the weekend other than a few dinners and a movie or 2.. we are saving money and keeping long term plans on the front burner.. it's challenging sometimes to think long term, but i know it will pay off..

Rewind to this week, I have been teaching TIP trainings and trained almost 40 servers and bartenders about responsible alcohol service for my job at SOBER, these trainings can be tedious but all in all, they are fun. Most people who work in restaurants and bars are hilarious, so I have a good time. After a horrible experience at the library last week when I did my training, I have vowed to never teach there alone again! I'd tell you all about it, but don't really feel like reliving it, Mr. Tom Jamison laughed his butt off over it, and that made me feel better. So, after about a week of being irritated off and on, I am officially over it!

Fast forward again and I am looking forward to next weekend, when we will again see our friends from Holy Ghost Tent Revival (go back 3 posts to see thier pics!) in Huntington and I will be shooting thier photos.. hopefully be able to get some fun promo shots. I am also trying to get some clients lined up on a $30/hour you-name-it portrait shoots in Huntington. So if you are in Huntington, contact me for an appointment at the location of your choice!

Fast forward another weekend and Timmy and I will be double teaming the Capital Convergence 2009 WVU Center for Civic Engagement conference... we are shooting this for free and selling CDs of the images to the conference goers.. we shall see how that goes, but I know it will be fun because we are going to a Gala at the Governor's Mansion, meeting the first lady and Congresswoman Capito, and hanging out with plenty of wonderful people from my past life as a Student Council camp counselor! Plus, it is great practice on live models! score!

Having to do with no fast forwarding or rewinding.. I love food. In the past couple years, I have learned to cook a lot of things and recently have started making my own recipes with my new oven!!! Having a nice oven makes cooking so much more fun! haha! I am submitting a recipe to the Pillsbury Bake-Off 2010.. I can't tell you what it is, but I will tell you that my ingredients off the "must use" list are Smuckers Concord Grape Jelly and Pillbury Cinnamon Rolls.... umm it is soooo good! Cross your fingers and I will win $1 million dollars to spend on paying off my and tim's cars and buying a house/studio! haha YES!

photos... photos.... what photos to share with this incredible random post...
I know, a new self portrait in my bathroom... a kitty jumping in mid air and my sister and her hub dancing at their Las Vegas wedding!

so, I married an artist..

As I promised, my latest blog is about my artist husband.. Mr. B, who has a day job as an x-ray tech at MedExpress in Charleston.

in 2006, I believe, we were dating and vacationing at the infamous Myrtle Beach when Mr. B purchased a painting from a local selling at Starbucks. This is only one in a series of paintings that Mr. B purchased during his time working as an x-ray tech in PA, WA, CT, etc. He has always been an art collector and finally he was sick of spending so much on things that "he could do himself." So we went to the Myrtle Beach Michael's Craft store and I purchased canvas, paint and brushes, etc to get him started. I was in art school at the time, and knew that he needed the creative outlet. In the first few months he took off with it. I am sitting in our living room now with 22 paintings he has done in the last 3 years.

One of the main things that Mr. B has taken to in his painting is listening to music, picking out a line that strikes him and turns it into pop art. He then takes the paintings to concerts and attempts to get them signed by the artists that inspired it. It has worked out fantastically so far and he and I are thinking about doing a joint show of my photos and his paintings somewhere down the line..

anyway, here are a few of his images..

I am a breathing time machine.. i'll take you all for a ride

Well, we made it through Monday and into the second week of February! I can't believe how fast time flies when you are having fun! I just got home from my old high school where I had a meeting with the Key Club that I used to be a large part of.. It was for my Grant job and we are going to be starting up a SADD (Student Against Destructive Decision) chapter there, hopefully! It was fun to see those kids, not much younger than me and I see myself in them.

Anywho, I went to Borders and found a nice wedding photography book to pull some inspiration from.. I am living and breathing this business right now. I think constantly about it, even when I should be doing something else! opps! hah i went out yesterday while it was a little warmer and got some location shots and pinned down some portfolio spots.. I was pleasantly suprised with all the little nooks and crannies this town has to offer a photographer.. and now I look forward to Spring even more, when I will be doing a few engagement shoots and hopefully several seniors!

What else... Mr. B is working almost every day this week, he is off tomorrow but is shooting down to Clarksburg to see his Daddy and Uncle before having a training in Morgantown on Thursday.. He is a hard hard worker everyday!

He has been uber supportive of this Photography venture of mine. He has known for a few years that this is the path I eventually wanted to be on and was the person to push me to get the first Canon 40D and now he is telling me I need to go ahead and get some new flashes and such (I hate spending money, so I need prodding sometimes!).. It is really nice that he understands and supports me in this.

He is an artist too, you know.. I will have to blog next time about his art.. I will show you some, and if you ever come out to the house to get shots done (I have a stellar idea for a cute laundry line backdrop!!, most details on that later) you will step into our studio.. uhm... living room. I can see 22 paintings from where I sit and I have 3 photographs from college in my office. We have about 15 posters that need frames and a home.. we are just in need of a bigger house so we have wall space for our art... its a problem! HAH!

Photo time... yay!

Locations for portrait and engagement sessions in Parkersburg! Just imagine them on a slightly sunshiney-er day and with greener grass... more Spring like!

and for Blair, the bride to be! if you are reading this, email and tell me which ones you liked best, I think the last one would be great, if we can get Barry to let us on the rooftop!

i live my life one concert to the next

Can I just say how good of a weekend I just had? Mr. B and I made the trek to Columbus, Ohio this weekend to
a.) visit my big sister, Sarah and her new hubby Aaron (I did pictures at their Vegas wedding, if you go back about six entries in the blog you will find them!)
b.) see one of my favorite bands, Holy Ghost Tent Revival (http://www.myspace.com/HGTR)
c.) see some members of the Avett Nation (Jerry, Mark, Diana!)
d.) buy a new Canon DSLR. (okay, we didn't plan this one originally, but I will explain)

My sister and her hubby live in Hilliard, in this cute house with 2 dogs (Chili the Chihuahua and Falcor the Shi-tzu ) and a cat named Kitty. We ate at this place called the Starliner Diner, I can't recall but the food was great Cuban-esque style. yum!
We went to the Scarlet & Grey Cafe for the show and ordered Hounddogs pizza, if you haven't eaten this and you live in the Bus, GET ON IT. Yum. Sarah recommends the spicy sauce! I had Cheese with Mild sauce and it was awesome, the crust is garlicky and delicious! mm now i want some hounddogs pizza....... darn it!

HGTR is a band Mr. B and I saw in 2007 in Greensboro, NC after an Avett Brothers concert.. They were playing in this dive bar called The Blind Tiger and I was instantly hooked. They have grown and evolved (read: done some housekeeping) and now they are better than ever, buy the CD SO LONG I SCREAMED online NOW! http://www.holyghosttentrevival.com

It was good to see my one and only blog follower at this point JERRY! or Jer-Bear as I call him.. he is one of my favorite people in the world and he took good care of me all evening at the show (thank you, thank you, thank you for all the beverages you bought! hah) I can't wait to spend another weekend with Jerry and live music!

Mark and Diana are the other folks that met us out there, we have known them for 2 years? something like that. Met all these fine folks at Avett Brothers concerts and have a really great bond with them. We will be crashing on your couch sometime in the near future! (the offer remains if they ever come play Parkersburg, yes a long shot, but still!)

okay, now you are probably wondering about the new CANON 40D! Timmy and I took a detour in search of FrogRanch Peppered Pickles (something he got hooked on at our wedding reception!) and although we didnt find peppered pickles, we did find a Circuit City that was, obviously, closing. We went in after Compact Flash memory cards for my existing camera (got 2 at $18 each!!!!!!!! WOOOOOOO!) and came across my Canon 40D DSLR for $909.... the wheels started turning.......

We talked all the way home about that good deal, and how I needed a back up camera and how Tim would like to exchange his Film SLR for a Digital.... well long story short, we went to our local Circuit City that was going out of business and picked one up..... AND I FEEL GREAT! I am so relieved to know I have a back up for events and that now Tim will be assisting in many events that I have booked or will book (weddings, conferences, etc)

Thats good news for all of you out there who are considering booking me, now you will most likely get 2 for the price of 1!

on with the photos.. i know! Here are some shots from the HGTR show!!

in my next post, I will have new Parkersburg area locations for shoots, fresh off my CF memory card!

For more HGTR shots, view myspace here!
-Allie

Fairchild Family of Kitties

My friends Heather and Trey Fairchild just bought a house! yay!!! in this house, they have a gaggle of the funniest kitties ever seen. I was torturing.. ahem.. photographing them the other night and here are some of the shots! Enjoy!

Winnifred, the newest edition to the fam!

Simon, or Simone, however you wanna say it. He is a ladies man.

Queen of the Castle, The Dinahnator. (Dinah)
Cat fight!

Heather and Winnie

Dinah and her momma