posting from a winter wonderland

hi there! 

merry christmas, happy new year, and yes i'm still here and still pregnant. :) didn't really expect anything different at 38 weeks, and i'm perfectly content to stay large as i am as long as the baby needs to be in rather than out. my maternity leave will start soon enough and in the meantime, i've got plenty to blog about! i'm also gearing up for the 2013 photo season for weddings and families and getting ready to (in the next 3-4 months) launch a brand new venture for my business... all very exciting stuff!

these past few weeks have been jam-packed with holidays and family celebrations. lovely, amazing times but it's a bit of a relief to have a more normal-paced life right now as we wait for baby. it's also provided us with our official introduction into new york winters and the hubs is now very good at shoveling snow. :):) i couldn't help but laugh today as we were walking outside and 35 degrees felt balmy compared the harsh ZERO of just a few days back. woooo-eee! we are not cold weather people but we're layering up and growing thicker skin. hardcore. that is what we will become. :)

switching gear from holidays and snow, i'd like to focus on some awesome sessions i had the privilege of shooting before all the green and the leaves went away this year. first, a fabulous family that i've gotten to watch grow and change over time and this year's shoot has to be my favorite one with them yet. take a peek at this foursome:

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before i sign off for now, i wanted to use these guys as an awesome example for ways to SUCCEED in having a fantastic family shoot. there were seriously so many images from this family that were knockouts- i had a really challenging time picking which ones to post! so read below and when you think about booking your shoot for this spring, summer, or fall remember these great tips:

1) coordinate (don't clash) instead of matching your outfits
check out how all four of these folks are wearing different colors! and it's OKAY. also, there are a few fun patterns thrown in there to mix it up and they all look like they're comfortable and relaxed in what they're wearing. critical! if you don't feel confident or comfortable in what you put on (or if it doesn't fit!) it's going to be the biggest thing shining through in your photos. don't stress about matching, just don't clash. matching was good... in 1994. :) not now.

2) HAVE FUN.
relax! enjoy each other! enjoy your kids! try to forget i'm there, and even when it might feel awkward to have a camera around you, just laugh it off. let's have fun together.

3) listen to what i might have to share about time of day
lighting is everything, folks! i will shoot straight with you about the best time of day to have your shoot. let's work together to get the best results- i can give your family a shoot that comes out like this, too. you just have to work with me.

4) let's work together on location
some locations have been done and overdone and done again. this just isn't super interesting! again, let's work together to figure out someplace great. even if it's at and around your home- trust me- it can be wonderful.

have a good start to your week, all! i'll post again soon.

crystal + geoff (memories of summertime)

the photo below is symbolic of what has happened to me.

(photo taken/edited with my phone. how do you like our bland, colorless bedroom? oh you don't? haha, neither do we. let's just say we're having issues figuring out where to start. not everywhere in our place, just in our pasty vanilla themed sleeping space. ;))

do you see a head attached to that largely pregnant body? nope? okay because that's me and that's how i feel. hahaha. surprise, surprise, i am still working. there have been tons of photoshoots and weddings this past busy, sunshine-y, warm-weather season. this time of year is wrapping up normally and slowing down a bit and STILL i can't find the brain to post on this good old blog or work on much else besides editing my client's photos and getting them back to the client. which, after all, is the most important thing. but it leaves so much to the imagination!! am i still working? will i work again once the baby is born? do i even like photos? do i like people? the answer to all of this is a resounding YES. i do a wee bit better at periodic updates on facebook and also instagram (friend me there! nnphoto) but that's probably because those things are also attached to my phone. and my phone is usually attached to my hand. and that way my brainless, pregnant self can still somehow manage. :)

don't know what the weather like is where you are, but it's rather chilly here in NY. as i think about photos to post, i think about the delightfully warm and sunny summer weddings i shot. to begin, crystal and geoff. now crystal is actually an old friend of mine and i was honored to be a part of their day. what i didn't expect to feel was a bit of jealousy as i think they may have gotten married at the prettiest wedding venue i've ever shot. i kind of wished that i'd known about the mt. hood b&b when i married in late 2011! it's just ridiculously gorgeous. let's stop the chatting and get to the showing. first, the couple met and had their first look at mcmenamin's edgefield and then we all made the hour+ trek outside of portland, or up to the b&b. this wedding was decidedly oregonian, decidedly lovely and simple, outdoorsy in the best possible way- very much representative of crystal and geoff.

 

  

 congrats, congrats you lovebirds. thanks for letting me capture all these beautiful moments!

joyful little family.

it's a beautiful (extremely) crisp day here in upstate NY, and for once, it's going in a productive direction. :) ever since the move i've felt like there are always four to-do lists i'm juggling that have at least ten items each on them and the past 6 months or so i've just been doing what it takes to live up to my commitments and try and put a hot meal on the table at the end of the day. but- thankfully- my work travel is no more, our apartment is FINALLY looking mostly unpacked, and stuff is getting done. it's mid-afternoon where we are and i've got sufjan stevens playing softly in the background and my little son or daughter is kicking me every so often with soft little jabs to my ribs and side. approximately 13 weeks left to go before we meet this small person and although i can no longer bend over to pick something up off the floor :) i'm getting more and more excited every day. i've always been passionate about families and kiddos and now that i'm in the midst of having my own it seems ridiculously amazing and surreal. i do not take these blessings for granted and thank God everyday that i wake up and have this little bean growing steadily inside me.

thinking back to this past year in oregon, before we left to go east i had the opportunity to photograph some amazingly beautiful families. today i'd like to show you a few photos from my session with michelle, cale, and gideon. they're one of those couples who i've had the privilege of following/shooting through engagement, wedding, pregnancy, and most recently, with their baby boy. doesn't gideon have the most amazing smile, just like his momma?! i'll miss wonderful, supportive west-coast clients like these who have been an absolute joy to work with.

michelle and cale- thanks for trusting me with your memories these past several years! your family is a treasure. :)

a bummer of a tale that has a silver lining.

do you ever have a situation that (frankly) sucks, majorly sucks, and somehow even in the middle of it all you can think is that somehow you have confidence this stinky sitch will push you into something better?

here's my current plight: the company that i paid for building my website in 2009, which has also hosted my website these past three years without a hitch, never invoiced me for hosting this year and purposefully or inadvertently (can't get a straight answer, go figure) sold what was formerly my website domain to something or someone else. yup! nancy-noble.com is no more. unfortunately. and i was none the wiser until a lovely person attempting to refer to me to a potential customer told me my site was down.

oh by the way? this particular site-building hosting company has an "F" rating with the better business bureau and about a jillion angry customers who have told their story all over the internet. of course i had no idea until i was one of the jillion, but gosh, this isn't really a big surprise with that knowledge of how they've handled tons of other customers. it's unfortunate because i was placing a lot of trust in them and now the website which was the foundation on where my business was built isn't around anymore. and there's nothing i can do about it that i know of.

so, for the past week and a half i've been up to my eyeballs in emails and phone calls attempting to try and a) find answers and b) retrieve my domain. no luck.

all that to say: this isn't the first situation i've been in that's been a heartbreaker of sorts (this is on the lighter end of heartbreak, don't worry :)) that, in the end, has been a motivator slash a shove in the right direction. i've been wanting to change a few things about my business for some time, and i think this will push me into better things.
and in the meantime, as i brainstorm for the next strategic move which will probably be the same and different, all at the same time, i will:

a) be blogging and also be around on this facebook page- i'm not going anywhere.
b) be booking weddings and families like usual. know a bride or a family to send my way? send them to look at my work here, for the time being. as always, i can be reached here.
c) be looking on the bright side.

i'm excited. stay tuned.
and be prepared for me to actually be extremely motivated to keep talking with y'all. :)

little boo (it's personal)

well, hello all.

i JUST NOW realized i have never posted on this topic and i figured i'd better do that before some of you see me out and about at shoots and weddings and think i'd better lay off the donuts ;) - we are expecting a baby! and hard to believe (!!!) but the pregnancy is almost halfway over.

i took this photo on my phone about a week and a half ago and even since then i think our little boy or girl has definitely grown. before i know it he or she will be here and we are both SO thrilled to add this baby to our family.

the only way i anticipate this affecting my business: less blogging and posting, as maybe you've noticed. not that i was FABULOUS at doing that anyway, ;) but now my days have a lot less energy (growing a person is hard work!) and i'm focusing on my shoots, editing, and doing what i can to settle the hubs and i into our new place before the baby gets here in january. thankfully new york winters are notoriously chilly and non-photo friendly, so the fact that i'll need a little maternity leave? no big deal. i'm usually just working on my bookings for the next year at that time, anyway. :)

it's pretty surreal to think that in just a matter of months our lives will change forever. being a mother is something i've thought about and waited for my entire life and i just can't wait to see what kind of little person he or she will be. we're very thankful for this babe and i'll be sure and keep you posted as the little one gets ready to make its arrival. :)

hello again.

when i am overwhelmingly busy, the first thing to "go" is this blog. i own it, i admit it. my own google reader is full of wonderful blogs written by other folks who write so much more consistently than i, and even that inspirational fact doesn't ever light a fire under my behind. i think it has more to do with losing the ability to clearly think. when i'm slammed, all my mental energy goes into staying afloat and i feel like i can barely string words together to make a sentence. it's laughable. :)

this season has been one of the craziest- and i never would've predicted it would be that way! but here i sit at my new (to me :)) table in our new apartment surrounded still by a few boxes on the floor and stuff begging to be organized and sorted but i am so content. it's not even about where we are, but it's about being where we're supposed to be. yesterday was my husband's first day of work at his new job and i'm so excited for us and proud of him. this morning when i got home from the gym he was all showered and dressed for his second day on the job and looking mighty fine :), my heart just overflowed with gratitude. i love this man. this past year has been the best of times and the worst of times. we've hit some crazy rollercoaster moments that were totally unexpected- but we're still married. :):):) besides that minor detail, there's a lot to be excited about for our future. i'm thankful to have our house in oregon packed up and cleaned up, i'm thankful to be functional in our new home in new york. i'm thankful to no longer be driving across the country with a compressor that went kaput somewhere between greenville, il. and nashville, tn. (bye bye, air conditioning!) i'm thankful for a kind mechanic named ramesh who cut us an amazing deal on fixing said compressor once we arrived. um, new york summers are a LOT hotter than we wimpy oregonians are used to! i'm thankful to live in a diverse, inner-city neighborhood. i'm thankful for clients here on the east coast who want to continue to shoot with me and i'm excited to re-build my business in a way that more authentically speaks to my heart. like i said, there's just a lot to be thankful for.

because this is a blog about photos, i wanted to switch gears and show you an awesome couple (brianna and dan) and a small peek at their engagement session which rocked my world. i love unique- bri and dan took their own time, pre-session, to scout some AWESOME, very unique locations. it worked out beautifully. working with them was truly a team effort and we all had a blast. thanks for your time guys and for being so relaxed and fun in front of the camera!

happy tuesday :) hope you all are having a great start to your week. more blog posts oh-so-soon!