Friday Photo Dump: Week #5 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

  Ok, so I know I'm a day late.  I had to work today (I normally have weekends off) and it completely threw my week off.  I crawled into bed last night and my last thought was, 'oh crap, it's Friday isn't it? I didn't post my photos!' And then I went to sleep, because I had to be up at 330 this morning, and therefore it didn't seem that important.  So here I am posting last week's photos a day late. Enough excuses.

This week's theme was cold, and despite the fact that my fingers were numb for the majority of the time I spent at work, I didn't really have a lot of cold to take pictures of.  See in Georgia, even though it may be freezing outside, it'll still probably look like swimsuit weather (and then the next day it probably will be swimsuit weather, as a matter of fact).  So let's just say that I struggled with this week a bit.

But even if they weren't what I was envisioning, I still think I came up with some pretty interesting photos.  Let's see what you think!

1-25-14: After meeting with some potential clients about a Wedding, I spent my morning wandering around Savannah (there's a post to come with photos of that whole adventure).  Every time I am downtown I try to take a photo of the fountain, and I never actually like the photos I take. But this time there were icicles on the statues and the light was hitting them just right and-- well you can see it for yourself.

1-25-14: What better way to warm up on a cold day than... ice cream?  What can I say, I just love the stuff.

1-27-14: The nice thing about this winter being a little cold is that I got to bust out all my old winter clothes.  It's even been scarf weather lately!

1-28-14: I'll confess, I was a bit uninspired this day with the whole cold thing.

1-29-14: Ok so Wednesday was kind of a big deal.  This was the day of the big southern storm that everybody was all freaked out about.  It even had a name- Winter Storm Leon.  Sounds pretty intense, right?  The forecast predicted in snow in Savannah which hasn't happened in basically forever and I was very excited.  Well what I woke up to that morning was rain.  We got some sleet and some serious ice build up, and half of my coworkers called in to work due to ice and closed bridges, but I didn't get any snow. It was very disappointing.  I did get these wicked icicles hanging off the back of my trashcan though.  Maybe that counts for something?

1-30-14: After that storm craziness, I just needed a cold beer. Or cider. Close enough.

1-40-14: Which leads me to Friday: more rain.  This started as a picture of water droplets on my car but I started messing around with it and it became something abstract, yet pretty cool in my opinion.

So there you have it: my week of cold photos.

I still don't have a theme for this week, so if you have any last minute suggestions please leave a comment below. Otherwise, I may just make it a freebie week.  We'll see.

How I Feel about Winter Storm Leon (In Poem Form)

For a blog called "Poetry and Pesto," there sure hasn't been a lot of poetry on here lately. Well, have no fear, I am about to change that.

So I live in Georgia, and right now there is this big hype about the fact that it might snow tomorrow.  Apparently it hasn't snowed here in like 20 years.  Well, I'm from Washington State where it snows all the time, so I'm finding the whole thing quite entertaining.  I get that down here our houses and vehicles and power lines aren't prepared to handle snow, but come on guys, its a possible inch. In fact, I will be legitimately mad if it doesn't snow after all this hype.  I haven't seen a proper snow in years!

Anyway, I wrote my feelings on the matter into a poem, partly because I was inspired to do so, but mostly because I didn't want to work. Here it is:

So there you have it-- My thoughts on Winter Storm Leon (in poem form).

Enjoy the soon to come snow!

Friday Photo Dump: Week #4 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Hey guys! It's that time of week again for a bunch more photos. This week I came up with a last minute theme (I seriously decided as I was taking the first picture).  The theme is:

Outdoors

it's pretty straight forward.  You would think that would be quite easy except for one little thing--

It's been really cold.

Okay I probably have all my readers from up North shaking their heads right now.  Fair enough, it's been really Georgia cold.  But the thing about Georgia cold is that it's not pretty in an "I want to go outside and play in the snow" kind of way.  Things are just brown and dead and cold.  I also haven't been feeling super motivated to leave my house this week, so that left me with the challenge of finding things to photograph in my cold, dead yard.

Let's see how I did.

1-18-14: For Saturday and Sunday I did actually leave my house.  My husband and I took our dog Jerry on a walk at the park.  It was pretty dang cold in the shade, but when these lovely rays of sun showed up it was perfect out! The rare thing about this photo is that my hubby is actually in the picture.  He hates cameras, so this may be one of only a few photos of him this year.

1-19-14: After my dad brought home my childhood kite during Christmas, the hubby and I decided to take it out for a test spin (I never got the chance to use it as a kid).  Well, during this endeavor we learned that Jerry loves kite chasing.  I'm just lucky those big sharp doberman teeth didn't snag my kite!

1-20-14: Did I mention that it's cold out!  Well, I had this brilliant idea that I was going to have a bonfire with the Christmas tree that is still sitting patiently in the backyard.  Turns out I kind of suck at starting fires.  This is the best flame I got.

1-21-14: I took advantage of this blue sky day to take a silhouette picture of the tree in our front yard. I love the crisp lines in this photo.

1-22-14: Here's Jerry basking in the evening sun.  Don't let the warm colors of this photo fool you though. I still had two sweatshirts on.

1-23-14: The Christmas tree is still in the backyard.  I should really do something about that.

1-25-14: It's just another beautiful, blue sky, sunny day.  And freezing.  I had to continuously pause from my paperwork at work this morning in order to breathe on my hands to warm them back up.  And that was inside the store!

And that's it for this week.

Since I've used this word entirely too much in this post, I've come up with a theme for next week and it is: Cold.

I'm still on the hunt for new themes, so if you have any ideas please leave them in the comments.

See ya next time!

Chia Seeds (What do you do with that?)

Alright everybody, after some grocery store inspiration last night (Thank you publix cashier), I have come up with a new segment for the blog called, "What do you do with that?"

Let me explain.

Almost every trip to the grocery store I buy something that most Americans would consider to be weird. Maybe I watch too many cooking shows, but for some reason, where most people would give it a glance and walk by, I find celery root, rutabagas, or parsnips in the grocery store and I see them as an interesting challenge.  I often fill my fridge with foods that I have no idea how to cook or eat.

Every time I get in line with these items, the cashier will ask the same question about at least one of them, "What do you do with that?"  I always have the same response: "I'm about to find out."

So this segment will chronicle my experience in figuring out how to cook my unusual food purchases.  I grocery shop twice a month, so you can expect these posts about that often.  So, shall we give it a go?

This week's item is: Chia Seeds

My first step in any unknown food endeavor is to check the internet.  In this world a person can teach themselves just about anything with a little youtube and pinterest.  I am sure to take full advantage of that.

Well according to Pinterest there is approximately a million things you can do with chia seeds. Case in point:

After a lot of browsing I did discover a few interesting things about the little guys.

• They are super healthy.  They are high in protein (great for all you vegetarians out there) and, according to a pinterest user called mygreenworld, they are high in antioxidants, useful for weight loss, good for the heart and brain, and much more. (http://www.pinterest.com/mygreenworld)
• They are also very useful in cooking.  A blogger who goes by Wellness Mama says she uses them as a gluten free substitute for just about everything.  She even uses them as an egg substitute in some recipes (seeds instead of eggs, really? This is where I get a bit skeptical).  She also says that they make a great thickening agent in many recipes, which is something I'd be very interested to try since my cooking usually involves a lot of flour. (http://wellnessmama.com/4981/10-uses-for-chia-seeds/)
• They actually taste very good!  This one I didn't learn with research so much as trial and error.  I happened to be making a tortellini salad last night, and since the Chia Seed bag said they were good with salads, I thought I'd give it a go, so I threw a tablespoon in.  They added a slightly sweet and nutty flavor which went perfectly with my haphazard recipe.  Doesn't it look good?

Does anyone else have any great ideas for how to use Chia Seeds? Let me know in the comments!

And if you are interested in seeing some of the recipes that I use in my cooking (well adapt into my own, anyway) you can follow me on Pinterest at http://www.pinterest.com/mikaelajoyphoto/

Friday Photo Dump: Week #3 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Alright everyone, are you ready for another Friday photo dump? This week I decided to do something different.  I did a specific theme for the week.  That theme is self portraits.  I kind of stumbled upon it on Saturday when I was dying my hair and decided to take a picture of the process for my daily.  I liked the way it turned out and wanted to do more like it.  But I didn't want this to be like the selfies you see on facebook everyday, you know the crappy cell phone pictures in the bathroom mirror.  I wanted to do something a little more artistic.

So I came up with a "pieces of me" idea.

I am pretty happy with the results, to the point where I think I might do another theme next week.  I just need to figure out what it will be.  Any ideas anyone?  If so please leave a comment for me.  I am open to suggestions.

Anyway, here's this week's photos.

1-11-14: This is the hair dye photo.  The original idea was to show my hair back and covered in dye, but it came out as more of a raw self portrait.  I don't have a shutter remote so I have to hold the camera at arms length for selfies, meaning that all my photos have to be pretty close up.  I feel that makes these pictures more vulnerable.  What I love about this one in particular is that it is truly me, no makeup, freckles, and unplucked eyebrows.  The uncropped version also shows where I accidentally dyed my forehead red, but it wasn't necessary for this particular picture.

1-12-14: I have a confession.  I kind of cheated for this photo.  On Sunday I hadn't realized I was doing a theme this week, and took a picture of the orchid on my desk.  I thought about leaving that as the photo for honesty's sake, but felt it was more important to stick to the theme of the post.  I took this picture on a different day, but feel it's a better representation than the first.  This necklace is one that my husband gave me back when we were still dating and he was graduating from basic training.  It may not be much, but it is one of my most prized possessions.

1-13-14: I decided to try my hand at making Pizza dough this day. I had a lot of trouble with the stuff (the dough was too sticky) but still, the pizza turned out delicious.  By the way, did you know that it's incredibly difficult to take a good picture of a hand in action when it is your own hand?  Well I do now.   I would have preferred this picture as two hands kneading the dough, but then I couldn't have taken the picture.  

1-14-14: Lips.  I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. It's pretty self explanatory.

1-15-14: With all this talk of hair dye I suppose I should show off the new color right?  Even though this isn't my natural color, my hair is a big part of my representation of myself.  I am a natural redhead and have always taken a lot of pride in that.  Although I choose to dye my hair sometimes, I still consider my red hair to be my defining feature. 1-16-14: This one is pretty self explanatory too, although I will say that I love the way it shows my nose ring.  That's another part of me that, although many people don't notice it, I feel is a big part of who I am.  I got it done on my 18th birthday only because my parents wouldn't let me do it a day sooner.  For me it kind of represents my first step towards independence.

1-17-14: That brings us to today.  This photo was taken minutes before I fell asleep on the couch cuddling with all three animals, my two Siamese cats and my doberman. This was just a cozy, catch up on sleep kind of day.  I am so ready for the weekend!  Also, please ignore the fact that I need a pedicure.  Or don't, because maybe outgrown toenail polish is another defining factor for me.  Lord knows I don't have the patience to keep up with that stuff.

So this week turned into a bit of an all about me post.  If you like the themes and think I should do a new one for next week, please leave your suggestions.  And be quick, I start tomorrow!

Friday Photo Dump Week #2 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

My first full week of my photo a day project is complete and I'm here to share the results.  Want to see?

 

January 4th, 2014: A close up shot of the Christmas decorations that I just can't bring myself to take down (more out of laziness than the fact that they are pretty, although they are.)

January 5th, 2014: This morning started out with some canadian bacon that my dad cured and my husband cooked (delicious!)

January 6th, 2014: After having company at my house for almost a month during the holidays, I needed a few days of me time.  So after work I got lost in a good book.  In case you are wondering, the book is Enduring Love by Ian McEwan and it is quite good.

January 7th, 2014: Just another lazy day with my pets and my books.

January 8th, 2014: It's been surprisingly cold for Georgia this week, and the weather inspired me to start a knitting project.  I picked this gorgeous yarn, but the problem is that the yarn is very thin.  I might be done with this scarf by summer, just when I don't need it anymore.

January 9th, 2014: With the house to myself this day, I consulted my Julia Child cookbook and made a huge mess of the kitchen, leaving not much time for anything else.  I did happen to snap this shot of Blitz being cute though.  He does it every once in a while.

January 10th, 2014: I wanted to play around with Bokeh today and using it as the subject of a photo, rather than a background.  Technically that just means I took a blurry picture, but hey I think it looks cool. I took this using the Christmas lights since I still haven't taken down our tree.  I should probably get on that before it dies, huh?

This week was a pretty slow one, but it is exactly what I needed.  I spent some time in solitude, just relaxing and working on my own projects.  It may have left me with photos of food, books, and cats, but that's not a life that I'll complain about.  I could pull of crazy cat lady/librarian any day.

Friday Photo Dump: Week #1 | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

If you read my last post you know that in honor of the new year, I've started a 365 photo project in which I will get out my DSLR and take a photo of something, anything at all, every day for a year. Seems like an easy enough task right?

Well I'm pretty bad at sticking to big, time consuming projects, so the idea here is that if I post about it on my blog all the time there will be something or someone holding me accountable.

I'm counting on you, people.

Anyway, I've decided that every Friday (yes I know, I'm a day late already, but in my defense I hadn't really decided what I was planning yet until today) I'm going to post a photo-dump of the seven pictures that I've taken for the week.  They may come in collage form in the future, I haven't really decided yet.

When I'm done I'm thinking I'll create a photo book representing everything I saw this year.  We shall see.

So this is Week #1 of my weekly photo dump.

Let the photos commence!

January 1st, 2014: This is a photo of a fallen bud from a plant that my aunt and uncle gave me during their post-christmas visit at my house.

Each time one of these falls my cats totally freak out.  It's great.

January 2nd, 2014: I was making broth for Thai soup and when I dumped the spice packet in it just looked so pretty.  We Americans have such boring spices, I think, because when I made this broth the house smelled amazing, in a completely different way than my cooking has ever smelled before.

January 3rd, 2014: So when I woke up the morning of this picture, I saw my cat playing in his water dish.  I didn't think much of it until I went to put on my shoes (keep in mind this all happened at 3:45 am as I was supposed to be leaving for work) and found that they were completely wet and sitting in a puddle.  It turns out this little bastard had been scooping water out of his bowl and into my shoes.  Damn cat.

---

Ok so this was a bit of a short week seeing how the year started on a Wednesday, but it's a start.

I've also started my sentence a day project, which you can follow at my new twitter page: https://twitter.com/mikaelajoyphoto

Be on the look out for next weeks Friday Photo Dump!

(And if you don't see it, don't forget to give me a hard time about it! Really, it's for my own good)

Until next time!

Make Everything Count

It's New Year's Eve, that time of year when everyone's talking resolutions and about how they are going to be better in every way in 2014 (after one last night of heavy 2013 drinking that is).  It's the time of year for weight loss goals followed by leftover holiday candy binging and a sense of failure when none of it works.

Hooray for 2014!

I asked my husband about his resolutions this year and he had a rather interesting take on things.  He says the whole idea of resolutions is stupid, and that January 1st is no better day to change yourself than say, February 1st, or September 17th.  Why wait, he says.  I asked him if, regardless of resolutions, he wanted to change anything about himself or his life and he said no.  He is already working towards his goals and is perfectly satisfied with the life he leads.  Wow, if only we could all feel that way.

While I agree with his point about waiting for change, the New Year sparks a time of reflection for me, and that prompts me to question what I would change about my life.  For that reason, I always think about resolutions, regardless of most of them being cliche and useless.  I am at a point in my life that is all about discovery and working towards the life that I've always wanted.  For that reason, I think it's important for me to point myself in the right direction.  There's a lot of things that I'd like to work on this year, but I've boiled it down into one short phrase:

Make everything count.

Now that's pretty vague, so I've broken it down into a few smaller goals.

1. Spend time on art. In 2012 while I was still going to school I read 55 books.  In 2013 I only read seven.  I also wrote poetry and watched interesting movies, and listened to music with substance in 2012.  Last year I did hardly any of that.  I've got into the habit of spending my time watching movies and TV that I don't actually care about and listening to music I don't like on the radio because, well, that's what's there.  There are so much better things I could be doing!
2. Have personal projects. I want to work on my writing and photography without necessarily having a set goal other than to create.  To kickstart things, tomorrow I will be starting a photo 365 project (at the risk of being cliche).  It will not be photos of anything in particular, I just want to push myself to take an interesting photo every day of the year using my DLSR.  I also will be starting a journal in which I will be writing a sentence a day.  This idea came from my creative writing professor Benjamin Alire Saenz (look him up he's a great author) and I've been meaning to try it for quite a while now.
3. Learn to love my job, or find a new one. I have a good job at Sam's as an auditor.  It has great hours and decent pay and I've advanced quite a bit in the past year.  That said, my Sunday nights are filled with dread for Monday morning.  That's now how I want to spend my life.  This isn't about career advancement or happiness, it's about finding joy in my day to day life. This leads nicely into:
4. Focus on my business. Last year I developed a love for photography and decided I wanted to make a career of it.  While I've done a lot of dreaming and planning, I haven't actually gotten down to the wire and created a legitimate, pay the bills kind of business.  This year I need to put in the hours to establish myself and make that happen.
5. Eat good food and be healthy. Last year I spent several months calorie counting and lost a pretty significant bit of weight as a result.  During that time I cooked a lot of great food, tried new things, and felt a thousand times better than normal.  And then I stopped cooking as much.  Calorie counting became frustrating and restrictive, I put some of my weight back on and lost that healthy feeling I had enjoyed so much. This year I'd like to re-explore that relationship with food where I can be healthy with out restricting calories, per say, but by cooking and eating really good food.
6. This one's a big one for me- Save money. I started reading Eat, Pray, Love, last night and realized just how badly I want to travel.  The idea of a trip to Italy, or anywhere really, with my husband just seems so romantic and wonderful that I'm ready to pack my bags and leave tonight.  But then reality sets in and I realize there is no way I can afford a trip.  But you know what?  If I set aside a bit each month then eventually I can.  It won't take much sacrifice and the reward will be so worth it.  Yes, my husband and I will be going on some kind of adventure, and I'm starting to work towards it with this next paycheck.

OK, so I started things out a bit cynical in this post, but the truth is, I love the idea of a new year as a new beginning.  I'm young with a lot to look forward too and I think it's a good exercise to look back and to figure out a set of goals for the next time around.  I'm starting this new year full of hope and confidence and, until next year, I'm not looking back.

So what about you, what is your New Year's resolution? Or are you already happy with the life you live (If so, bravo!)

Merry Christmas from Mikaela Joy Photography!

Changing it Up

So this weekend I decided to try something new-- a different hair color. I go through this phase about once a year, and I really don't know where it comes from.  I am a natural redhead and I love my hair color.  It is unique, and it is a big part of who I am.  One of my poetry teachers asked once what my defining factor is, the one physical thing that I am known for, and my red hair is what I came up with.  So why would I want to change that?

Well, honestly, I have no idea.  But every year I get the urge to do so, and then about a month later I don't like it and want my natural color back.  That is then followed by several months of some boring, brown color that I don't like while the dye fades.  It's a vicious cycle.

But nonetheless, I found myself at walmart on Sunday next to the boxed hair dye.  I have a go-to color that I use normally, raspberry truffle by garnier fructis.  Its a dark brown with just a hint of red in it.  I know it looks good on me and, although the red fades out fast, it is a safe color choice.

But I asked my husbands opinion and suddenly all bets were off.  His ultimate idea would be for me to do black hair, but seeing how I have that whole pale skin with freckles thing going on, I know I couldn't pull that off.  So this is what he picked instead.

So yeah, definitely not safe.

I like the color a lot.  I was just pretty sure that it was going to turn out ronald mcdonald red or something. They dye itself was the color of red food dye and that scared me.  A lot.  I decided to go for it, but I bought a box of my raspberry truffle color, just in case.

Let me just start by saying that my hair looks nothing like the color on that box.

Please excuse the crappy selfie here, but I just wanted to show off my new color.  It turned out more burgundy then red, and, after looking up reviews of this hair dye I found that a lot of people have had this happen.  Many people were complaining that their hair turned out black (wouldn't that have been ironic).

Luckily, I actually like the color a lot.  It looks different in different kinds of lighting, and it is definitely something  out of my ordinary.  That's what I was going for, right?

So there you have it, it's the new me.

If you like this post and want to see more of me, please give my blog a follow.

And if that's not enough, go and like my Facebook page at fb.com/mikaelajoyphotos (there's a link just to the right of this post).  I am so close to 100 likes it's not even funny (just one away), so who wants to be my lucky 100?

But seriously, go do it.  It's good stuff, I promise.

Now then, back to the excitement of laundry folding and dish doing (or maybe sleeping on the couch).  Either way, this is me signing out.

Later y'all!

Giving Thanks (Without Buying Things)

This Thanksgiving was a very special holiday for me this year.  It was the first turkey day (or ham day, as we did it) in my husband's and my first home.  We had a gathering of family and friends that, despite a lack of space and chairs, turned out to be quite wonderful.  We had enough food to feed an army and yet were blessed with very few leftovers (thank God! My fridge is already full).  But I think what I loved most about our holiday is that we didn't spend hours in line at some store.  

This may turn into a bit of a rant, and if so I apologize, but I find it absolutely despicable that Walmart and other major retailers have turned Thanksgiving into an extension of black friday.  I may be lucky enough to have one of the few retail jobs that don't require me to work on Thanksgiving (we'll see how long that lasts), but a lot of people don't. Workers are pulled away from their families so that shoppers can move quickly through the thanks and family part of the holiday in order to literally fight with each other over flatscreen TV's and other things that they don't really need.  With trends like these towards black friday on thursday, Thanksgiving is no longer about giving thanks, but rather about getting things.  The CEO's of these companies are eating turkey and raking in the millions, while their employees are being mauled by crowds of crazies, and it is all supported by every person that leaves their Thanksgiving dinner to hit that 6 p.m. sale.

I have never participated in the black friday thing personally.  I don't have the patience.  I did try, last year, to go to Walmart to buy my husband a TV, but saw the lines snaking around the store and said screw that.  There is no deal good enough to make that okay.  I saw something on the news about people bringing tents, food, and microwaves and camping out outside of best buy a week before black friday in order to seal the sales.  What could possibly be that good?  I'll take my warm bed and home cooked meals over $100 off a computer any day.  Maybe I'm just weird.

I understand that Christmas is coming and everyone is looking for a good deal.  I totally get that.  Buying gifts for everyone can easily break the bank not even considering the cost of a giant ham and christmas decorations and travel expenses. But really, that's not what's important.  I love the holidays as a chance to spend time with the people I care about.  I don't need anymore than that and I don't think anyone else should either.

The best gift for me these days for me is a morning spent sleeping in with the hubby. I don't think it's fair to take that away from anyone in exchange for just another day of profit.   

The Longer the Waiting (The Sweeter the Kiss) | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Jen and Matt were the couple of the hour when I took their photos at Bethesda a little while back.  Jen is a friend of mine and while I know her pretty well, I'd only met Matt once before these photos.  You see, Matt works overseas and these two chose to spend a precious hour of Matt's month at home with me, taking some photos.

Because of their limited time together, I really wanted to make something special of this session.  After all, a picture can be a huge comfort while in a long distance marriage.  As an army wife, I've thought a lot about what I would do when my husband gets deployed, and I know that I would want to get some good photos taken before he left.

This was also a special shoot because of the fresh emotions that come from a happy reunion.  It was important to me to get shots that really captured what these two feel for each other.  In a way this session was kind of like shooting a wedding.  We were just missing all the chaos of an actual wedding.

All of this combined made this session feel pretty important, and one that I truly wanted to get right. We were all nervous at first, but as usual we took a few shots and everybody started to loosen up.  We wandered haphazardly around Wormsloe for a while (I'd never been past the main area with the trees and therefore didn't know what was what) and then finished out the shoot at Bethesda.  We explored, talked, and tried out whatever poses we could think of (some that worked, some not so much) and most of all, had a really good time doing it.  I quite enjoyed working with Matt and Jen and am excited by how the photos turned out.  Most importantly, I hope they are too!

If you like what you see here, please check out my website http://www.mikaelajoy.smugmug.com where you can see this full album and more of my work, as well as contact me to book a session of your own.

One Year Together for Kyle and Cailey | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

A while back I took some photos with Kyle and Cailey, a lovely couple that had just reached their one year anniversary.  It was a last minute session (although we had been trying to plan it for weeks), that came about when our schedules finally just fell into place.

Kyle and Cailey had just reached their one year anniversary and wanted to celebrate with some pictures.  They came prepared with props, different clothes, and lots of ideas.  That, combined with Cailey's previous experience in front of the camera made this session a breeze.  We didn't have to worry about posing much, which kept this session relaxed and fun. In the car on the way there they were issued a challenge- I said they'd end up on my blog, only if they proved to be interesting enough.  Well they most certainly did. Kyle started out the session by talking to some chickens (as in cluck, cluck) and I could tell right away that we'd get along just fine.

Although the session flew by, it did take me a little while to get these photos edited.  That's because the photos were turning out so great that by the time I was done I ended up with fifty edited keepers.  Fifty!

But enough with the chit-chat.  Let's get to the photos!

Don't these two look so incredibly happy together?  Congratulations on your anniversary, you two, and here's to many more!

Promises and Pistols | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

On Sept 29th, my brother in law and his fiance got married and they chose me as their photographer.  When they first asked, I said no.  I didn't think I was ready for an event as big as a wedding, and looking back at the pictures I took on the day they asked, I was right.  I still wouldn't agree to anyone else's wedding just yet, but they are family and they insisted, so of course I said I'd do it.

Just because I said I'd do it doesn't mean I was confident though. For the days leading up to the ceremony I was pretty stressed- probably more so than my own wedding! I spent way too much time worrying about what I was going to do and how I was going to do it, but when it came down to it, everything seemed to fall into place and I think I pulled it off.

The ceremony was small and beautiful.  I helped the bride, Mallory get ready and took a few pictures and then rode in with her dad to the park where the ceremony took place.  The boys set up the arch and decorated the dock with bows, and (thank god for my husband) did a wonderful job putting everything in the best possible location in terms of lighting.   The ceremony was conducted by Robert, the groom's brother who is also my husband. A group of close family and friends gathered on the dock to watch Matt and Mallory looking so happy together (Look at Matt's face when first seeing his bride!)

After the ceremony we made our way around the park for portraits.  We had a slight setback when Mallory (who is pregnant) got sick after I suggested Matt pick her up and spin her around (my bad), but it turned out all she needed was a cheeseburger.  After that we were good to go.  At this point the stress had melted away and we were all relaxed enough to just really have fun with the pictures.  We even got some photos of Matt and Mallory with some kick-ass guns on the railroad tracks.  We were told to leave halfway through, but it doesn't matter.  I got the shot.

Afterwards we went to the reception at a friend's house for a delicious low-country boil followed by champagne and cake.  I think the highlight of the whole thing was during the cake cutting when Mallory forgot to put the knife down before smearing cake in Matt's face, and accidentally stabbed him.  What a great start to a marriage!  This wedding was unique, quirky, and so much fun, just like the bride and groom.

It really meant a lot to me that Matt and Mallory trusted me to capture this life-changing event of theirs, even when I didn't fully trust myself to do so.  It'll be so great to see this photos in big print on their walls and I hope that it will help them to savor this wonderful moment in their lives.

As for me, the experience has made me realize how much I would love to do weddings as a job in the future.  I know I'm not ready yet, but it's something to work towards and that is a very exciting prospect.

Anyway, congratulations to Matt and Mallory!  I'm excited to be a part of this new life that you two are starting together and I wish you only the best.  You two deserve it.

A Recipe for Fall| Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer.

Fall is here- or at least it looks like it in Sam's Club (Yes I'm writing at work again). There are giant pumpkins on display, halloween candy, and even the first hints of Christmas items.  A lady called in at work a couple of days ago asking if we had Christmas trees yet, but I think she was getting a little ahead of herself.  Nonetheless, it looks like fall in here. Outside it's about the same as it has been all summer-- sunny and warm.  I think most people would find me crazy for complaining about that but I've always loved fall and winter.  I love boots and peacoats and snuggling up next to a warm fire.  I will say this, Savannah has better seasons than El Paso ever did.  Nonetheless I find myself craving snow capped mountains, and crisp morning air.  I guess I need to go back to Washington for that.

The thing that fall and winter holds for me that I can control though, are the traditions that come with it, and today I'm going to share one of my favorites-- Hot spice tea.  This is my mom's recipe and she starts making it every November at about the same time that she starts getting out the Christmas music.  I like to start a little earlier in the season.  I'm not very patient.

Before I post this recipe, I will add a bit of a disclaimer-- this recipe is not for everyone.  It's the kind of thing that you either love or hate.  I think it is spiced goodness, but my husband can't even stand the smell.  The same goes for my parents.

Ok enough of that, here's the recipe:

This is meant to be drank hot, but I prefer it chilled.  Either way, it's delicious.

Ok now let's hear the reviews-- who loves it and who hates it?  It'll be my first Poetry and Pesto case study.

Why I'm Drawn to Photography | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

All my life I've been a writer.  It's always come easy for me, articulating my thoughts and feelings on paper.  I've off and on kept a journal since I learned the alphabet (that's only a slight exaggeration) and I've always excelled at anything reading and writing related in school.  I remember writing an essay about my favorite place, Green Lake, BC when I was in 4th grade and my teacher liking the details and descriptions so much that she gave it to the schools middle school language arts teacher to use as an example for her students.  Writing just comes natural for me. But I think in words, not pictures, and anything that requires visualization I struggle with.  When I was in middle school I was asked to solve a math problem that most of the class finished in 10 minutes or so. I, trying to use algebra, couldn't get it until the teacher finally showed me the simple solution-- draw a picture.  The thought hadn't even crossed my mind.

Fast forward to my last semester in college- I was taking a poetry class and wrote a poem from the perspective of an army wife whose husband is deployed.  It talked about everything that is different around the house- "your army boots left/ there is no longer dirty digi-camo on the dining/ room floor." and ended with something along the lines of, "I try to picture your face but/ I can't remember our nose."  Everyone in my class had basically the same reaction when I read the poem aloud-- a laugh accompanied by a question, "Is that supposed to be sincere or funny?" My answer was both.  Even if my husband is just in a different room than me I can't picture the details of his face.  I can describe him, but I can't picture him.

So at the beginning of the year when I picked up my first DSLR camera, I was introduced to a way of thinking very different from my own.  Sure, you have to think in words and numbers to understand the exposure triangle and get proper settings, but none of that matters if the image on the screen isn't interesting and well composed.  Photographers have to see the world in terms of light, color, and shape.  Theres a big difference between looking at a sunset and seeing beams of yellow light slicing through the pink clouds, and actually composing that into a picture that you hang on your wall.  I like photography because it's a challenge and a new way of seeing.  Even when I watch a movie now I see film techniques and shapes of bokeh where I used to see plot holes and underdeveloped characters.  It's so different.

The other thing that draws me into photography is the ability to save a moment.  Because I don't have the ability to picture a person's face, a photo is that much more valuable to me.  I may not be able to imagine how my husband and I looked today ten years down the road, but with a photo I can always remember.  I think that's pretty great.

Sunday Inspiration | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

It's sunday and the weekend is disappearing way too fast.  My plans of a carefree motorcycle ride today got rained out and now all I can think about is work, business strategies, and other monday-related things.  I'm not exited.

So to pick up the mood I thought I'd share one of my all time favorite quotes for  bit of inspiration.  I came across this poem in a class taught by one of my favorite teachers, Sasha Pimentel Chacon (if you like poetry, look her up because hers is wonderful).  I didn't understand the poem at the time, and I probably still don't get it completely, but this one line really stood out to me.

Some might find this a bit morbid.  One of the main premises is that we are all going to die.  But it also says that our bodies are not the mark that we leave on this world, our words and art are.  

What this quote tells me is just how important it is to do something meaningful every day.  It begs the question, if I were to die today, what would I leave behind?

This is my inspiration, but maybe something a bit more upbeat would work better for some of my other readers, so let's share.  How do you find your Monday morning inspiration?  

If your answer is coffee, I can already tell we'll get along just fine.

Family Photos at Bethesda | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

Last weekend I did a photo shoot with a mother and son, Stacy and Riley.  This was a special shoot for a couple of reasons.  First off, it was one of my first formal sessions working with children.  I'll admit, I was a little nervous, but I had absolutely no reason to be.  Riley was a blast to work with!  It took him about five minutes to get comfortable in front of the camera and from then on out he was full of ideas (many of which involved taking action shots of him skateboarding and jumping off of things-- my favorite!).  In fact, quite a few of the poses in this set were set up by Riley.  He's got a bright future ahead with all that creativity!

The other really cool thing about this shoot was that Stacy is a local to the area which means she was able to show me some new locations.  We met up at Wormsloe, which I had seen in so many pictures of Savannah but had no idea where it was, and then finished up the shoot at Bethesda.  Both of these locations were absolutely gorgeous and I definitely will be coming back for future photo sessions.

We ended up shooting for somewhere around 2 hours and had so much fun in the process.  The pictures turned out great and I'm so excited to see them in print.  I'll be looking forward to working with these two again, and watching Riley grow up.

After doing this shoot I've realized that I've only scratched the surface for the beautiful photo-locations that are around Savannah, so I think it's time to play the tourist for a bit and do some exploring. I'm open to suggestions, so if you are from around here and have any suggestions please leave a comment.  I'd love the feedback!

I Shoot... Canon? | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

I was very prepared to shoot some portraits of Meg when we went out to the lake.  I had a big bag packed with everything I own, my tripod, three lenses, my reflector.  The only thing that was missing-- my camera battery, which was plugged in in Meg's kitchen.  That was going to be an issue.

The lighting was perfect and if we went back for the batter we'd miss it.  Luckily for me, Meg had brought her Canon t4i with her 55-250 mm lens.  Unluckily. I shoot nikon and don't know the Canon setup.  Meg uses auto mode, so she wasn't going to be much help, either.

Unwilling to call it quits, I decided to give her camera a try.  I wasn't going to give up that easily.

It took me a bit to get things sorted out.  The setup of her camera is completely different than mine (I feel like my camera does in one button what hers does in three) and I had a few bad exposures because her light meter is backwards from mine.  But I did manage to figure it out and am happy with the results.  How do you think I did?

This wasn't the end of our troubles though.  It turns out that the raw files produced by a canon don't get along with my computer.  Her's either.  It took us about 45 minutes to figure out what kind of file converter we needed to make it work.  But hey- now I know how to work a canon and if the situation ever comes up where I need to, I am prepared.  It's all a learning experience, and what can I say, I'm adaptable.

(click a photo to see the whole gallery)

The People of Savannah | Mikaela Joy: Savannah Lifestyle Photographer

With my new 50 mm begging to be tested, I went downtown a couple days ago for some more street photography.  As usual I met a lot of crazy, weird, and wonderful people.  Here's a quick run-through:

As usual I started off a bit shy and kept my distance.  With a 200 mm lens that works, but with a 50 mm you have to be a bit more bold. Most of my first shots were barely usable and only with extreme cropping.  That said, I did manage to capture this one.  Although it's not technically perfect, I do love the emotion that is captured in it.  The guy was playing football or something in the park, was very close to winning, and decided to bombard his woman with a sweaty hug.  I love her expression!

This one is probably my favorite shot of the day. I saw this guy sleeping (or so I thought) and thought it would make and interesting picture.  I got closer and realized he wasn't sleeping, he was smoking a cigarette.  It wasn't until post processing that I realized there was a prosthetic leg attached to the shoe beneath the bench.

On a bit of a happier note, meet Cabin (pronounced say-bin).  He spends his days on river street making art.  I had seen him before, and even taken his picture, but today I decided to stop and chat for a bit.  It turns out Cabin has a bachelors in writing (that surprised me a bit) and he likes to combine visual art with words.  Each of his pieces makes a strong political statement.  This isn't the kind of art you hang on your wall because it is pretty- this is the stuff that makes you think.  Cabin explained to me that what he really loves is carving driftwood.  He said that his dad taught him and that he has friends on the boats in the canal that pick up whatever driftwood they find for him.

This man caught my eye when I saw him walking around river street in tall white socks- no shoes.  The socks were clean, somebody must have just given them to him.  I was trying to figure out the best approach to take a photo of him when he came up to me and asked for a cigarette.  When I said no he asked if he could take my picture for me.  I said no again, but asked if he'd let me take his.  I explained my project and he agreed to a few shots.  We chatted while I took them and he left me with a little advice, "Keep taking pictures of what you love."

I took so many photos with so many stories behind them that day that it's too much to fit in one little blog.  I've created a collage to showcase a few more pictures.  So here it is: The people of Savannah.