She's a rock star

Wanted to share three photos from a quick portrait session today. Trying some new backdrop ideas, and playing with lighting and postwork techniques. I thought it was a rock-star-looking set, so she dressed the part :)

More hats

It's a momentary creative kick, I'm sure. I'll get bored within a week and not touch a crochet hook again for months or years. But at the moment, hats are the perfect size keep-the-hands-busy project to stuff into the visiting-the-hospital bag, easy to take out when the visitee is sleeping peacefully, and put away quickly when needed.

Yesterday I sat with my grandmother in the hospital (who isn't doing so great--prayers are appreciated) for much of the day, and got almost all of the blue/green hat done--just added the pompoms when I got home. It's probably 6-9 months in size

The brown one has a detachable pompom for two separate looks. The pink/orange hat is probably sized 9-12 months, the flowers are on clips, so can be used or not.

I didn't use a pattern for any of them--ooh, except for the flowers.

Hats for newborn sessions!

One of the promotions our studio offers is free newborn sessions. Yesterday I was thinking on ways to market that aspect, and new ideas for newborn photos. I've had more than a few inquiries from expecting moms, one of whom is due within the next three weeks. So I went cruising over to Etsy, a fabulous place to get über cute handmade items for kids (and just handmade items in general, but the kid stuff seems to be the most impressive). Not only are there some fabulous PHOTOS of newborns, but also really cute hats and whatnot as well.

And I was inspired.

Not to spend money, though. I got looking at quite a few of the photos and thought to myself, "I can do that." So I gave it a shot since I already had materials on hand. Figured if it turned out that I actually could NOT do that, I could always go the 'spending money' route. As it turns out, I think I did okay. Made two very different hats.

The green one shown took a couple of hours, just 'cause it's essentially single crochet (scattered triple-crochet stitches create the bumps). By the way, I used this pattern for the green hat. I'll probably forever associate it with Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, because I was listening to a few Stuff You Missed In History Class podcasts about her while I crocheted.

The ear-flap hat took only about an hour (double crochet goes a LOT faster!), not including the braids and weaving in the ends of yarn pieces. For that one, I started with this basic hat, and elaborated on it... while listening to 'How the Taiping Rebellion Worked.' :) Multitasking.

Why Photoshop will always be in my toolbox...

I had a two-year-old in the studio yesterday, and her mom brought along a baby boy she watches. So in the 'break' times (when said 2-y-o was not keen on being in front of my camera), I turned my lens to the little guy, who was very agreeable and all smiles. Mr. Handsome has itchy eczema pretty badly on his face and head, which did not in any way dampen that killer smile. However, my friend said she wasn't sure his mom had ever gotten 'real' photos done of him because of his skin.

So this morning I was sifting through the photos and couldn't help 'fiddling' with the photos of Mr. Handsome. This is why I love Photoshop (original on right, 'shopped version on left--click to see larger):

Air Hockey (and air guitar) Queen

I realized today that I haven't been sharing 'real' photos here lately--just snapshots of the studio. I've been posting my work on the Shutter Muse Studio fan page on Facebook, rather than here. Hmph. Will have to work on putting a few here as well.

Anyway. Last weekend we brought the game table over to the studio. I love the air-hockey feature (am almost as good at air hockey as I am at air guitar!), so that's what it is most of the time. May have to offer special discounts for people who can beat me :) It also transforms into a small pool table, a foosball table, and pingpong. And checkers/chess/backgammon. Should help teens and parents loosen up a bit before they get in front of my camera :)

Photo above is straight off the camera, all window light, no flash. Aperture: 4.5; Shutter speed: 1/100; Focal length: 53mm; ISO 800.

Ribbon Cutting Day (Day 19)

The studio isn't TOTALLY done, but it's ready for opening. The ribbon cutting ceremony today was fairly low-key. About 25 ambassadors for the Burleson Area Chamber of Commerce arrived to take a photo and network a little. My mom and David were able to attend as well.

Anyway, I took some time after I dust-mopped the floors to take some photos of the nearly-finished interior, and have paired them below with 'before' versions. I was looking back through the photos I took during my first tour of the place, and I wonder now how I ever saw the potential. It's a dramatic transformation.

Progress! (Day Twelve)

My sign is finally up! Though it doesn't look quite the way I'd hoped, I'm happy it's up. Woo! This photo was taken through the windshield of my truck into direct sunlight, so pardon the bug guts. :) The painters were there patching the walls, and I didn't want to distract them.







Okay, here's a progress view of the front right portion of the studio. The boxes contain two loveseats that will go in the corner (gotta love IKEA and sofas that come in small boxes). The rubber wall base still needs to be installed along the bottom of all the walls, and the floors are a dusty mess.

Here's what it looked like twelve days ago, and here's what it looked like before that.



The front right portion of the studio, or what will be the 'office' area. Those sliding glass doors are on the side of the building and were quite handy when the place was a dry-cleaners, but will just be a window for my purposes. Yes, the walls are light gray.








The back portion of the studio, where the 'magic' will happen. Walls are darker gray. That wall cabinet will have to be painted out gray or black. And all the crap in the middle of the room, will have to paint that out, too, so it's not as noticeable. *grin*

For comparison, here's a similar shot from Day One.




Shot taken from the back door. Notice the stacks of folding stools waiting to be put together (just adding the footrests). And M inspecting some other IKEA purchases.









And lastly, the bathroom. I guess since I requested flat paint in the rest of the studio, they went with flat in the bathroom also. Have already scrubbed a thin spot by the sink, trying to clean up watery gray dribbles from the painters' cleanup.

LOTS of work still to do, as you can see! Stress level is rising a bit since the ribbon cutting is a week from today. But the studio will be a work in progress for several months, I'm sure--I just need to get it presentable by March 11th. :)

Thanks for your interest and support!