It's Official! After a day of driving around the entire county, literally, not only is Photos By Karyn registered to operate in Arizona, but my head is overflowing with cool places I saw along the way at which to take incredible portraits! It's been an amazing summer, much of which will probably never see my blog pages because I could simply never catch you up with all the fun we've been having. I'm gearing up for a first this weekend; setting up a table at the local "Christmas In July Bizarre" in hopes of booking a couple of clients to start me off running. One bride is going to win a FREE "Trash the Dress" session among other awesome coupons that will be found at my table at the Ethel Berger Community Center from 9-3 on Saturday, July 11th!

I'm no stranger to Arizona, the U of A is my alma mater after all. But this time around I continuously find myself in awe of the gorgeous landscape around me. I guess the last time I was here I was smitten with a particular Army officer and couldn't see past my own lip lock... I honestly thought I would have a hard time working with the desert "canvas". But as the monsoons deepen the greens and the abundant nature continues to pop up around every turn, I know in my heart that this is "home". I'll blog about the 100 year old house when it's picture perfect and not covered in moving boxes, but don't hold your breath for blog posts - I've got a view off my porch that is the next best thing to ocean front property, I've got a view of the wild western skies! Here are just a couple of my favorites from today, in celebration of being "back in the saddle!"

When the day starts this cute, you know it'll be a good one!


It's a good thing this Mama has nerves of steel, no I'm not using a very big telephoto lens, I was shooting with my 24-70mm!!


Apparently The Baby has nerves of steel too.


My husband cracks me up... encouraging the children to run from spiders...


Always good to find a mountain view and take a rest. This amazing view is just off our front stoop! And these last few are pretty much SOOC (straight out of the camera). I'm pretty worthless to my family at sunset because I become attached to the porch and suffer from a trance like state- I promise not to blog too many sunsets...


"What do you see Scout?"


"An amazing monsoon rainbow I reckon..."


A few nights ago we went "up on the mountain", a frequent request from the boys, where we like to count "Dr. Seuss trees".


The bugle is playing taps. Two things I love, church bells on weekend mornings, which I had through the window of my apartment in Tucson, and bugle calls in the still of night.

We're a family in transition, and therefore I am also a business in transition. Some of you may notice that changes are being made and there are so many more exciting edits to come! I've got a household full of moving boxes and two little ones who are constantly bringing me desert treasures like pokey cactus needles in their shoes and creepy crawlies I haven't yet learned the name of, so the website will come along, slowly but surely, in the wee hours of night when half of us are sleeping! Stay with me, lots of summer fun soon to be posted!

Today is my birthday. Twenty Somethin'. Today also marks the day that my husband has officially received his papers to "clear post". In the military community this means that you are one step closer to moving. So we are now twenty somethin' days away from stepping foot into our new home in Arizona, the next assignment! Which is why THIS will be my last post until July. As much as I love to blog, and as much as I will need to blog the stress and chaos of moving my family across the country, I decided to put my portrait sessions, blogging, and I Heart Faces contests on hold for awhile and focus my love and attention onto my children and the task at hand. Have you ever tried to explain to a preschooler why men are stealing his toys in large quantities with a large truck?? If you have then you know the incredible task I have before me... I will return in July, and if my best laid plans follow through I will be revealing a new blog, and a fully updated website reflecting a winter of military homecomings and traditions and a ton of recent clients. Our family had an enormously busy week; Julie and I took the kids to the zoo in Waco one last time, my college roommate, Meg, arrived from NYC, joining Julie as co-God Mother to The Baby, who was baptized on Pentecost Sunday. Head over to Julie's Blog for AMAZING photos from the day! We were happily entertained by Gary Sinise and "The Lieutenant Dan Band" here at Fort Hood, awesome show, and I took Meg to her first military homecoming ceremony at 12:30am on Monday morning. The Boy summarizes our current state of life by spending most of the last two days upside down! To hold you all over I'd like to share the highlights with the following twenty somethin' images (no, you cannot count the number of images to see how old I am.) See you in July!

Allow me to preface this post by saying "I am not a wedding photographer." Yet. I have yet to accept a wedding client because I do not shoot with flash, need to practice using flash, need to buy an off camera flash, the list goes on and on, but I cannot claim to make amazing images inside dark churches, period. With that said, my husband and I attended a wedding on Saturday and while I packed up my camera, following my father-in-law's advice and never leaving home without my camera, I had this feeling that said "clean your lens, pack your spare battery, you will be photographing this wedding." We battled pouring rain and ominous thunder clouds to get to the sweetest little chapel in Georgetown, TX, just in time to see the bride waiting under an umbrella with her father. When we entered the chapel I tried to locate the photographer, so I wouldn't stand in his or her way as I attempted to build my wedding portfolio. Alas, I could not find him or her. I quickly made my way to the groom, one of my husband's soldiers, and inquired about the photographer, and found that there was no official photographer other than a budding and talented family member with camera in hand. A big apology to everyone for the pushy New Yorker that took over moments later ;) I just couldn't bare the thought that this lovely young couple was about to commit their love to one another and there would be no professional pictures to look back on! Maybe it was my sympathetic Army Wife side who could think ahead to the long deployments, the obnoxious temporary duty stations, the untimely separations when wedding anniversaries go uncelebrated and babies are born before Daddy can make it home. This bride would need an image, a memory from a most special occasion, to remind her of the good times, to remind her of the love she shares with her soldier. I may not have captured the wedding party in it's entirety, my chapel images are dark, the roses in the garden outside were heavy with rain. But I can certainly take a little credit for capturing a few moments that will hopefully carry a lifetime of happiness; the decorations may have been soaked, the dance floor towel dried, but this intimate military wedding could not have been more charming! Congratulations to the happy couple, and should I get any more of these edited before we move to Arizona I will certainly post them right here. Enjoy your sneak peek!

This week is something totally different at I ♥ Faces, and a genuine challenge for yours truly. All week long I was trying to capture a silhouette worthy of this weeks theme, and all week long I failed. I finally figured out that my failed attempts were unsuccessful because I wasn't allowing myself enough time with the new concept and the subject. All week long I was shooting moments that were happening too fast and unscripted, like the surprise wedding proposal in the hot air balloon, and then the wedding we attended last night that turned out to not have a photographer present. (Of course I had my camera and the hopeless romantic in me shot the whole event!) I really needed a chance to play with this new challenge for I had never before intentionally shot a silhouette. I needed willing subjects, no time limit, and M&M's... So after dinner tonight we loaded all the cowboy gear we could pony-up, drove out to a hillside, and wrestled with the wee lads, who only wanted to fight over the broom horsey. I couldn't be more excited with my final image and I am sure that silhouettes will quickly become part of my style, what with all of those amazing Arizona sunsets in my near future! Just three weeks left until the big move...

MY ENTRY IN THIS WEEK'S CONTEST:


Technical notes: These are my two boys. The older is riding one of those bouncy horses on a frame, which was cloned out using a variety of layers and masks in CS3. I use a Canon 40D, had my 35-170mm lens, shot at ISO 100, f/16, 1/125 of a second. I was shooting directly into the bright Texas sunshine at 7pm, with the kids between me and the sun.

Go get inspired and join the fun at I ♥ Faces through the link below!

Correct me if I am wrong Mom, but I think you planted the seed in the mid 1980's... I have always carried with me a dream of floating through the air in a hot air balloon. It started years ago when my parents took us up to a hot air balloon festival in Glens Falls, NY, camping overnight, waking before dawn, and rushing to get to the field in time to watch the glowing orbs take off into the night sky. It was breathtaking to watch and NOW I can confirm that it is breathtaking to experience! My bosom buddy and fellow photographer, Julie Rivera, approached me with the idea of flight a month ago. In celebration of her mother's birthday they were surprising her with a hot air balloon ride and there was room for me in the basket, if I wanted to go. Ahem, "YES!" The morning was perfection, clear skies, a soft breeze, great fellowship, a wedding proposal even! (No, sadly, Julie and I are not getting married. But a charming young Austin couple is!) The flight was as I had dreamed it would be: slow, smooth, calming, quiet, and addicting, it ended MUCH too soon! A huge THANK YOU to Austin Aeronauts, to David Smuck, our extremely talented pilot who practically parallel parked our vessel in a new subdivision, right between a porta-potty and a family of deer, and to Chuck, our chasecar-man, for arriving on the scene a mere .5 seconds after landing! Thank you for the safety of your experience and expertise and an incredible introduction to my new obsession, ballooning!


Ballooning starts before sunrise as the crew assembles the basket and our aerostat, "Willie Nilly".


While a large fan fills the balloon with a stream of air, the colors begin to twist and turn, and I, forward photographer of the day, sneak over to the "groom" and say "are you planning on proposing to this gal today?" I was met with a sheepish grin; every woman on the field knew his plan, except the one that mattered...



Moments after take off, the sun begins to shine through the horizon. Nearing 2400 feet above the ground and I hadn't a single nervous bone in my body, it was calm, cool, quiet, and I found myself thinking about "heaven".


A little later in the flight the "groom" gives me the signal and the surprise was perfect! The ring momentarily blinded me, but I recovered, as did she, and everyone suffered perma-grin from that point on.


By this point in the flight I have already decided that we will balloon in every country we visit and live in, because what better way to experience the landscape than floating smoothly past the hills, streams, neighborhoods, with children running through the backyards screaming "hello up there!" at the top of their lungs.


My favorite, the water reflection, and I'm thinking Grand Tetons in autumn with clear still waters and full balloon reflections, and yes, my children might have to pay their own way through college 'cause Mama's buying a balloon!



We do manage to have a southerly wind, which is apparently NOT the norm for this area, and we fly over I-35 at rush hour for only the 2nd time in five years of David flying the area. It was incredible to be over farm land one minute, seeing our reflection the next, counting pools and picking out our favorite expensive house, and then crossing a major spider web of freeways!

The morning concluded with croissants and champagne and a little ceremonial poetry:

The winds have welcomed you with softness, the sun has blessed you with his warm hands, you have flown so high and so well that God has joined you in laughter and set you gently back into the loving arms of Mother Earth.

And I continue to recite those words to myself, the most eloquent summary of my morning!