Beautiful Weather + Culture + Family = A Good Day

Today was the most beautiful day. It was in the low 60's, sunny and slightly breezy. We headed into the city for a little culture. We took in the Nelson Art Gallery.

Then headed over to the Country Club Plaza for some fountain viewing and window shopping.

Grabbed some very yummy, Vanilla Raspberry Gelato.

And finally, went to view a few of the spiders on display at the Kemper Museum.

A beautiful day, spent with my magnificent family.

More photos to come later this week. Enjoy!

Sneak Peak

I still I have a very long way to go to really get the feel for videography, However, I am so glad that my photos for this wedding were much better than the previous two. There is still much to learn, much more, but I can see improvements from today's wedding captures.

Tmrw, The Handsome Hubby and I are going on a little shoot of our own. So excited! I will be back to blog hopping soon.

It's Official

The business cards are off to the printer.

The website went live this evening.

I have a few Fans over at Facebook.

Ads are ready for print.

It's a small start; a little step.

I'm a nervous wreck, but excited to begin this journey.

A Princess Fix

"When was the last time you spent a quiet moment just doing nothing - just sitting and looking at the sea, or watching the wind blowing the tree limbs, or waves rippling on a pond, a flickering candle or children playing in the park?" -Ralph Marston

Look Into My Lens

Mommytographers (and Daddy's too!), I have some wonderful news to share with you, especially if you are a photography fanatic like myself.

Allow me to introduce you to BorrowLenses.com.

A few months back I decided that if I was going to take this photography business seriously, I was going to have to upgrade my arsenal of lenses. For a novice like myself, browsing lenses and trying to determine what I needed was overwhelming to say the least.

Add to that the price of the lens.

What if I decided on a lens, bought it and then realized it wasn't what I wanted. Maybe it didn't even work with my camera body like I needed it to.

There are so many factors when choosing a lens.

Fear not Mommytographers (and Daddy's), BorrowLenses.com is here for us.


I found BorrowLenses.com through a friend and immediately went to check out their website. It's packed with goodies; more than just lenses. They also rent a huge variety of other photography needs, such as: Lighting, Flashes, Tripods, Filters and the actual Camera Body.

Fabulous Right?! To top it all off, the pricing is very affordable! You can rent most of the equipment anywhere from 3 days to 4 weeks and each item is listed with the cost per time slot. The whole ordering process is simple and user friendly, allowing for a clean cut transaction.

I had the opportunity to rent the Nikon 35mm f/2D AF. I was unsure what type of lens I wanted to rent at first. They were all so appealing, however, my primary focus was to rent a lens that would do what I needed it to and be within my price range should I decide to purchase the lens in the future. After narrowing the list down, I contacted the company and asked for their advice.
I was so happy with the lens BorrowLenses.com suggested for me that I will be purchasing it soon. The people at this company were more than helpful during the entire ordering process. From start to finish, I was comfortable. And when I say start to finish, I have to emphasize that the process took me all of 5 minutes after I figured out what product I wanted to rent.

(This phot0 of myself was captured using the above mentioned rental lens.)

So here's how it works. Go to http://www.borrowlenses.com, browse through their extensive inventory (more is always being added), choose your item, choose your rental period (3 days to 4 weeks), choose to insure the piece of equipment, add to cart, and then check out!

I received my lens in a couple of days. It was packaged safely and the lens was in perfect shape. All packages are shipped and returned via FedEx. Returning the lens was really easy too. Why? BorrowLenses.com packages your rented equipment very carefully to ensure safe travels. They also leave simple yet descriptive instructions with your equipment. When you are to return the equipment, you use the same box and the prepaid return shipping label is in the box and ready to go.

Bottom Line, I was more than pleased with this company, their customer service and their products. I had a fabulous transaction with them and can not wait to use them in the future. I strongly encourage you to hop over and check them out. The possibility of fabulous fun with a new lens awaits you. You can learn more about this company and their policy's by visiting their FAQ page.

Who wouldn't love to try out this baby? The Fisheye is on my list. This would be a great lens to play around with.


And this beauty is on my wish list too. I need an external flash, but I want to try this one out to help determine if it's the right choice for me.

So Ladies (and Gents), let the fun begin! Be sure to tell them Alisha sent you from Izzy 'N Emmy and then share your fun with me. I'd love to see what kind of fantastic photos you can capture using a rented lens you might not have considered before.

Princesses Are The Priority

The weather has been great the past couple of days. Massive thunderstorms graced our sleep and cool breezes woke us in the morning. Summer is winding down and soon the Fall air will slip in and leave a crisp, woodsy smell long after the sun has risen.

The girls do not notice these changes. The sun either shines or it doesn't. It's never too hot or too cold to play outside and everyday is a perfect day for the playground. If only things were that simple on a larger scale.

With Summer quickly coming to an end, I've gone into "finish" mode. The lawn needs a good trimming, the clothes and toys need to be gone through and we need to prepare to winterize the house again. So much to do before old man Winter comes a knocking.

However, on days like today, all that can wait. Today we played.

Wordless Wednesday - Flower Girls

Visit Wordless Wednesday, 5MFM and Ordinary and Awesome

I ♥ Faces - Bubbles

This weeks theme over at I ♥ Faces is Bubbles! I was so excited for this theme, I knew exactly what photo I wanted to showcase! Be sure to hop over to I ♥ Faces and check out all of the other faces and bubbles.

This photo is of Tucker. For those new readers to Izzy 'N Emmy, Tucker is currently on week 9 residing with he and his family in Boston Children's Hospital. In June, Tucker and his family flew far away from home to be in Boston for a new and life changing heart surgery. Tucker received a Whole Heart Repair. We ♥ Tucker so very much and cannot wait until he is home soon.

This photo is one I took of Tucker at a photo shoot just days before he and his family left for Boston. I like to title this photo, "The Thought Bubble". Enjoy!

Sunday Citar - I am Struggling

"Making your mark on the world is hard. If it were easy, everybody would do it. But it's not. It takes patience, it takes commitment, and it comes with plenty of failure along the way. The real test is not whether you avoid this failure, because you won't. It's whether you let it harden or shame you into inaction, or whether you learn from it; whether you choose to persevere." -Barack Obama

I chose today's quote in relation to my new found hobby, not regarding marriages. I am struggling on the road of photography. I am struggling with a lot of it. The above two shots were taken at my second wedding as a videographer/photographer this weekend. I am learning a lot about the video end of it, however I think I have realized how little I know about the photography part of it.

I have come home from these amazing events, uploaded the photos and feel terribly discouraged about the ratio of good vs. bad captures. The bad are outweighing the good by a large margin.

PhotoStory Friday - Starry Night

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

We are trying to enjoy the last bits of Summer and in doing so, we go to a lot of parks. This is our favorite park. The fields are awesome and there is so much room to run. Not to mention a great place for photo taking. I had Daddy take a couple of new profile pics for me but the girls were being cute throughout the evening so of course we took photos of them too.

Things are starting to get busy, but I have tons of photos to upload. I also have my second wedding as a videographer/photographer this Saturday. WooHoo! I still haven't finished editing from last weekends. :)

The second little tidbit I want to share is about the Starry Night photos below. I know they aren't real snazzy, but enlarge them and you will see tons of stars! Daddy and I were out late (and up early) trying to catch a shot of the Perseid Meteor Shower. We missed the morning's peek before but I was able to see 5 in about an hour. COOL, right? I know, I was so excited. However, I was not able to get any in a photo. Those things are moving soo fast!

So Daddy got creative and took the two below shots. We have been brainstorming all day and we are going to try again in the coming days for better star shots. I love these and it's not even a glimpse of how many are really up there.

Wordless Wednesday - Husband

Visit Wordless Wednesday, 5MFM and Ordinary and Awesome

I ♥ Faces - Crazy, Silly, Funny Face

There's nothing more amusing than Izabel's long list of crazy faces. Check out I ♥ Faces this week for this week's theme, Crazy, Silly, Funny Faces! There's bound to be some great ones!

Izabel does all sorts of things to be silly, but her trade mark move is the below seen "eye trick". She can move either eye, one at a time, to the center and leave her other one in place. It's the strangest thing, I give myself a headache just trying. Oh, and in case you are wondering, this photo is Circa April, 2008. She has grown so much, but her funny faces are getting better and better.

Happy Birthday Daddy, We love you so very much and hope you have a wonderful birthday full of kisses, hugs, love and a cake with sprinkles! xxoo

Sunday Citar - Family

"What greater thing is there for human souls than to feel that they are joined for life - to be with each other in silent unspeakable memories." -George Eliot

This photo was taken yesterday, at my first wedding as a videographer/photographer. It's one of maybe five that turned out half way decent.

Wedding photography is not my thing; Lesson Learned.

365 Days, A New Blog, A New Job

I have decided to join in on the 365 Project. One photo taken each day for a year. I quickly put together a new blog to showcase only those photos. Please fell free to hop over and take a peek. Some of the photos I use here will end up over there, but I hope to showcase a different selection most of the time. Clicking on the below image will take you right over.

As for other hot news, Saturday is my first day on the job as a videographer/photographer. I am nervous and excited all at the same time, but I think the nerves are out weighing the excitement. It will be a long day, 15 hours give or take. I hope to improve my photog skills through these experiences and build my portfolio. Cross your fingers. :)

Daddy will have the girls, All.To.Himself. Again, cross your fingers. lol, Just kidding honey.

The Four Doors

"When one door closes, another opens; but we often look so long and so regretfully upon the closed door that we do not see the one which has opened for us."
-Alexander Graham Bell

PhotoStory Friday - The Crown

Hosted by Cecily and MamaGeek

"Princesses wear crowns to remind them that they are smart and beautiful because some days it's easy to forget." -Author Unknown

This little crown used to be mine. And now I have had to let go and give my sweet girlies a chance to rule our kingdom.

Wait, they were doing that before the crown. :)

Happy Friday!

A Princess Fix, For Thursday

"He who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe is as good as dead; his eyes are closed." -Albert Einstein

Just playing with my new lens today and over editing a few of my favorites. The girls were a real treat today. Emmy's looking a little better and Izzy wanted her hair done like a Princess. It was a good day.