Megan's First Attempt at Riding a Two-Wheeler

Life Changes

No, I did not drop off the face of the earth. I am still around. I have just been very preoccupied with things other than photography going on in my life.
Back in June I went to the doctor for problems with anxiety and tightness in my chest. I was put on some medication, and sent to a few specialists. I found out I have a heart condition called "Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome" (or WPW), which means I have an extra electrical pathway in my heart than when activated causes my heart to race. If left untreated I could have black-outs or instant death (wonderful to think about, huh?). The side effects from the medication would be too much for someone my age to thing about dealing with for the rest of my life, so I was told I should have a procedure called an "Ablation". The would run catheters to my heart, find the pathway and burn it. I was put on the waiting list (since specialists who can do it are rare here).
Then in July my husband was offered a new job and accepted. He started a week ago Wednesday, and now is working from home. Last week he went for training in Florida for a few days. With the changes in insurance from the new job I was taken off the waiting list for the heart procedure, and I can't go back on until my new insurance kicks in at the beginning of November. I could possibly be looking at not having it until March.
Another thing that is time consuming is getting two kids ready to go to two different schools. My daughter is going to kindergarten, and her first day is next Monday. My son is going to the preschool my daughter went to, so I at least know what to expect since I know all of the teachers and some of the parents.
With all that said, photography seems to have been put on the back burner, even as a hobby, with everything else going on. Right now I have no desire to take or edit photos. No matter what I always come back to photography as a creative outlet, though, so this isn't a goodbye, just an explanation.

Take Care!

New Prints for Sale in my Store!

The following photos are for now sale as prints in my photo store, which can be found here: http://www.jblackphotography.com/html/flash_store/frames.htm

Changes

I have officially changed my website to reflect my new decision about not doing portrait sessions. I have also redesigned my html website (once again) to make it easier for uploading (long story) and along with that, my store matches. I have discluded my testimonials from portrait clients, which I feel bad about since they took the time to write them for me, however people aren't going to be hiring me for portrait anymore, so it doesn't matter to visitors what past clients think about me as a portrait photographer. My front page looks a little screwed up because I added new screen caps. That will be my next project.

Photoshop Tutorial for Gritty Effect on Portraits

I found this cool tutorial http://photoshopfrenzy.com/?p=94

and here is my before and after.

STRAIGHT OUT OF CAMERA:

After Tutorial:

A Tough Decision

How to begin...........

I have decided not to do portrait sessions anymore. The biggest reason is that I don't find it fulfilling enough to justify the time I spend at it. It's not the session itself, but the editing that takes time. It's not that I don't like taking portraits, but it's just so much more fun when I don't feel the pressure to please anyone but myself.
NONE OF MY CLIENTS MADE ME FEEL THIS WAY. I just feel this way.

I came to a point where I had to decide whether I wanted to get more equipment, therefore possibly making my portraits better, but still not have it be as fun and fulfiling as I would want it to be, or give myself more time to explore other types of photography.
I got a taste of what it would be like if I had more buisness when I had a shoot three weekends in a row. Now I know that I would have to devote a lot more time if that was a regular thing. I am a stay-at-home mom for a reason. Now I know that I don't want it to develop into a full-time business.

My dream would be to take photos of whatever I wanted and be able to sell prints. My first step was to put a print store online, but I haven't really done anything else to promote myself in that way. I did have a chat with a man who is currently trying to get a coffee shop up and running and he was interested in displaying the art of local artists. I am waiting to hear from him when it's finally open.

To all of you who planned to use me again, I am really sorry.

My website should reflect this decision soon, I just have to decide how to change it. I will still have a website (at least for a couple years because of my contract) to promote my other photography.

You will still see portraits now and then because I'll never stop taking photos of my kids...now I'll just have more time to do it.

-Jen

The U Family

The "U" family have been friends of our since before they were a family. We've been through dating, marriage and babies together. I was so honored that they asked me to do their portraits. This is my second shoot at "Toledo Botanical Gardens". I still wasn't crazy about having to hide in the shadows, so I'm now, more than ever wishing for an external flash....one of these days, perhaps. Here are my favorites from the day.