Ten on Tuesday~Susanville Portrait Photographer
I thought I would share 10 of my favorite daily internet reads today. When I have downtime, I sit with my cup of tea, or coffee and soak up the immense knowledge that others are kind enough to share with us Internets! These are in no particular order, and I am sure I will share others later.
Chocolate Covered Katie~ I can’t even tell you how amazing this site is. If you love dessert as much as me, you cannot miss this one. HEALTHY DESSERT RECIPES…WHAT? Oh yes. I have made the cookie dough dip, it was the bomb!
I Heart Organizing~
I love pretty much every post on this blog. I might be a slight bit ocd 
Natalie Norton Blog~ Ugh every word just resonates. Natalie just knows more about life than the rest of us, She lost her precious baby and her brother very young. I just want to hug her.
Enjoying the Small things~ I don’t think there are too many out there who haven’t heard of this one, but I had to share. This is one of my favorite places to just take in the words and picture. Kelle’s blog is a perfect example that life does go on, and happiness does happen after you are thrown a curveball.
I adore self improvement anything. I think I just always want to strive to be better at everything.
Here is a great blog that I enjoy ~The Happy Seeker
If you were alive in the 90′s and not a baby,this is the best site EVER. I stumbled on this one, and I had to cut myself off, I was spending way too much time here. This has all the songs that you will remember back in the day! Press play and enjoy! ~8 Tracks
What would you tell yourself if you could go back 20 years? ~The Wisdom Journal
Vivian Maier~ Of course I cannot leave out a photography blog. It’s the essence of how I spend my time online. The story of Vivian Maier, and how her work was found is amazing. Her work is stunning. Just take a few moments and browse, you won’t be sorry.
Fevered Mutterings~ Do you have a kindle, an iphone, or an ipad? This is a site for you. FREE BOOKS. ‘Nuff said!
Shabby Chic~I love this style! I have strayed from it because who needs all that white with 5 kids. I have decided I will start embracing it! Laugh at me when I call you crying please!
Last but not least,go watch this video NOW, you won’t be sorry!
Did you make it through the list? What are your favorite sites? I will check out the links and maybe add them here with credit for you in the future. Let me know if you checked out my links, and tell me which was your favorite!
As always, Thank you for visiting me!
My Life Monday~Susanville Dance Photographer
So since a recent rumor has spread about my character, I thought I would try to focus on what happens in my life on Mondays. I think if more people can see who am I am, it may help. I am definitely all about my family. If you don’t know or are new here, I have 5 kids. I have been with my husband since high school and yes he is the daddy of all of them. I get asked that question a lot more than you would think lol. When I am not hanging out at home with my family, there is probably only one other place I am …DANCE.
We recently traveled to San Mateo for the Showstoppers dance competition. It was our third time going but it was Maggie’s first time as a soloist. She was very excited, and not as nervous as I would have been. Heck what am I talking about? I wouldn’t do it at all!
She did really well and placed with a gold trophy, she was just half a point from getting a platinum. The next day we got to watch the other dancers who all placed with gold trophies as well. I love watching all of them , they are such a talented group of girls!
On our last day there she performed with a group of girls older than her in hip hop. They did so well they won a platinum trophy, and placed second overall which qualified them for nationals in Anaheim. They worked so hard and deserved to win and I was so proud of my girl. She works harder than most adults, dancing almost 9 hours a week some weeks. It really just shows me how you succeed when you have determination and dedication.
I took over 400 pictures while there, so I am just going to share a little snippet of our time at Showstoppers!
This is my girl rockin’ out in her solo of”Superbass”
The Nationals team.
Thursday Thoughts~Random musings~I love Pinterest
I am madly in love with Pinterest. If you are not on the Pinterest bandwagon, you are surely missing out. What is it about Pinterest? Well for one I believe it is a major time saver, but can also be a major time sucker. I try to spend no more than 30 minutes a day on there, but oh it is so hard.
How is it possible for there to be so much cool info on there? I enjoy browsing others photography, learning how to make delicious food, new workouts to add to my routine, and just beautiful home, and landscapes. If you are on Pinterest please come follow me. We can be friends! If you are not, then quickly email me, and I will be ever so happy to send you an invite!
Here are just a few of my most favorite pins, also I have now added a pin it button on every post. See something you like on my blog? Go ahead and share it!
Ok I have to add this one, I pinned this last summer and it has since been repinned from me something like 52 times, I guess it’s a good one lol.
Source: google.com via April on Pinterest
I adore all the great quotes on there, here is a lovely one. Wouldn’t this make a great poster?
Source: Uploaded by user via April on Pinterest
I did actually make this one. It is now one of my kids all time favorite dinners. I only do it as a special treat, all that sugar worries me!
Source: ahensnest.com via April on Pinterest
Then there are some really funny ones. I hate to admit it, but I could actually see myself writing this note, yeah I’m that kinda mom.
Source: i.imgur.com via April on Pinterest
And last I never mind a little bit of controversy. I did not repin this, but I do feel this sends a strong message about the way we treat each other in this world today. I will admit when I first saw it, I laughed. I am sorry, I often find inappropriate things funny. I will also tell you that when the creator of the sticker came out and said it wasn’t racist, I laughed then too. So take it for what it is. How does this sticker make you feel? can you say how it makes you feel without getting angry, or wanting to start a debate about how people hate Obama? I bet most people cannot say yes to that, me I just clearly laugh it all away. I have better things in life to get crazy over than some idiotic sticker! Let me know what you think. See you on Pinterest!
Source: news.yahoo.com via Sandy on Pinterest
What to wear Wednesday~Susanville Photographer
I often get asked what people should wear to their sessions. I think doing a weekly post that clients can reference will be so helpful. For my style of photography I prefer that clients dress up a bit, but not too formal. I mostly recommend not all white and not all black. You can always bring a more casual change of clothes if you feel like this doesn’t fit your style. Here are some examples for this week. Spring is coming and I think summer will be here before we know it. Please let me know if you have any questions!
One of my all time favorites~Susanville Child Photographer
I am entering this picture into the Love that shot “Show and Tell” contest. The theme is Black and White. This is one of my all time favorites that I have taken. I entered it into the WPPI contest, and did very well. Much better than I expected actually. Go check out the other entries, and show some love to your favorites!
A day in the life~ Susanville Family Photographer
Sundays are heavenly around here. Family day. No dance, no errands, just family. I love Sundays so much that I really want to cry when they are over. Then dreaded Monday comes and I wait in earnest for Sunday to come again. This weekend started with a little bit of coffee(always),cleaning, and just relaxation. We take the time on Sundays to shop if we need to, and then we make our healthy lunch for the week while we work on dinner. This Sunday for the first time in a long while we all sat around the table and discussed life, and upcoming stuff such as what to do for My son Noah’s 14th Birthday. It was wonderful to sit and relax and enjoy the day together. We are so scattered, and running willy nilly during the week that it is such a blessing to have this day. i decide to capture a bit of it. I am aware that these aren’t perfect portraits. I wasn’t being a photographer. I was being a mom trying to capture moments that I cherish. What do you do on Sundays?
VIP~ Susanville Family Photographer
I swear by the fact that my clients are important to me. I become friends with most of my clients, and they are very loyal. Having clients who love what I do and spread the word is what keeps my business afloat. I decided that I will be implementing some great referral perks for thews who love to tell their friends about their experience with me. That will be coming soon. In the meantime, I can’t help but bring a little attention to my top referrer for 2011. CATHY WHEELER! I met Cathy through dance, and we have quickly become fast friends. She was responsible for the majority of my referrals last year, and I had the absolute pleasure of photographing two of her girls last year. Clients like Cathy just make my life easy. So to honor her, she received a gift card for $25 to her favorite store. Thank you Cathy for allowing me to get to know you , your family, and supporting me in my business.
I love Las Vegas!
I had the opportunity to visit Las Vegas for WPPI again this year. I can’t even describe how amazing it is. The whole conference is so much fun, and so educational. The reason I go is so that I can learn whats new and cool in the photography world, and I get to take classes and learn from the leaders in my industry. I met some amazing photographers, and even made a few new friends along the way.
There were quite a few highlights from my trip, but let’s start with my amazing teachers. I have to give a shout out to all of them, and show them love because not only am I so inspired by all of them, I just soaked up so much knowledge from them.
I have to say I EPICALLY failed at taking pictures while I was in Vegas, but I did use my instagram when I could. If you want to follow me on instagram, I am AWilliamsphotography!
I took my first class from Lori Nordstrom. Her class was so educational and all business. I learned a lot about creating value for my clients. I love value for my clients!!!
Then I learned from the amazing Jenn Hudson. This girl is seriously the most inspiring artist I have EVER met. She has such passion for her work, and doing what is just right for her. I got to watch her do her work live. She is by far my very favorite.
I got to learn some really cool lighting techniques from Scott Robert Lim Oh my goodness he was super funny.
I took a class from the famous David Beckstead. he was by far the craziest! He showed us the funniest pictures of mistakes he had made in his own photography and my favorite thing about him by far was the fact that he called out anyone walking out of the class. It was totally hysterical. And his website is so cool!
I cannot forget to mention the most information filled class I took. Emily Potts, who is also the owner of Moms with Cameras, was so informative. I had hand cramps from all the notes I took, and my pen ran out of ink. I am not even joking.
On my last day I got to take the class I was most looking forward to. Paul Ernest. He is by far my all time favorite photographer. When I actually got to hear him speak, it sealed the deal. I cannot stand ego. this man has not one ounce of ego in him. He is the most humble photographer I have ever come across, and he is an upstanding man with obviously great morals and values. I learned a lot about why he does what he does, and to me that is so inspiring. If you don’t know who he is, or have not checked out his work, please go look. He won all kinds of crazy awards at WPPI, and once you see his work, especially his fine art, you will understand why.
Last but not least I took a business based class to learn how to apply all the things I learned to my business.
If you have read this far, thank you. I really think that education is so important. So many people these days just grab a camera and call themselves a photographer. It really is so much more than that. If you are a photographer and don’t know who these amazing photographers are, you are missing out on valuable information. If you are a consumer you really need to ask yourself if your photographer really knows what they are doing. Don’t just spend your hard earned money on the cheapest photographer available. Be an informed buyer. You won’t be sorry!
My January
So I am working on a photo a day challenge, I didn’t as well as I wanted in January, but between my iPhone and camera I did manage to pull it off!
I Heart Faces~Oh So Silly
These little ladies might kill me for this one! These lovely little ladies are all dancers. After a long day in the studio, it was time to let off a little steam,and have fun ….in the shower!
This photo was submitted to the I Heart Faces photo challenge – www.iheartfaces.com