A Featured Article, a Webinar, a Chubby Baby, and Catching You Up

I am one busy girl this week.  Wanna take a peek at what's on my plate? We are on our last week of portfolio reviews over on the Chic Critique Forum.  Trying to get caught up on those!  They're a lot of fun, and I love being able to help other photographers take a fresh look at their work!

Today I'm sharing a bit of my black and white processing tips over on The Creative Mama.  If you would like a little bit of a peek at my before and after, processing a backlit near-silhouette photo from color to black and white, then check it out.  And yes, I do show you blown highlights and all.  On purpose, but still... it's pretty intimidating.  If you choose to comment, please be kind.  ;)

Last night, we had the dress rehearsal for Chic Critique's Celebrity Secrets Revealed Live Webinar, and it promises to be pretty amazing.  I'm honored to be considered for the lineup of photographers presenting!  On Monday, May 5, I'll be talking about shooting in low light, and giving you pointers and tips for doing it in your own clients'  homes.  You can sign up HERE and be a part of it!

I'm working on some improvements and additions to my Bloom Forum Mini-Workshop, Lifestyle: Your Style.  I hope to have that ready to roll out soon.  And I'm working on some updates and facelifts for the blog as well.  In all my spare time. ;)

And I'm shipping out a small truckload of client orders and prints this week.  I'm so behind!  A huge thank you to my ever-patient clients who have been so kind and gracious recently.  I can never thank you enough for all of your support and understanding.  You're so wonderful, and I'm lucky to know you.

I realized that I haven't shared a photo of Charlotte lately.  She turned six months last week!  Would you like to see how chunky she's gotten?

Loves nibbling her feet, having conversations with the ceiling fan, and laughs and smiles constantly.  And most recently, she loves avocados.  That's my girl.  Thankfully, our littlest love is sleeping through the night fairly regularly now.  She slept 10 hours last night and I think she barely moved the entire night.  She usually flip-flops around and ends up on her tummy by morning.  If we could only get the rest of the occupants in our house to stay in their beds, we would be all set!  Sadly, it seems that Lila cannot sleep separately from Parker.  When he sleeps in his own bed, she tiptoes into our room before dawn, without fail.  When he does sleep in her room, she has a bad dream or hears a noise and ends up in our bed anyway.  Which in turn wakes up the puppy, who is asleep in his crate in our living room.  And so the howling begins.  Our poor neighbors.  I can't tell you the last time either Chris or I got a solid eight hours of uninterrupted sleep.  No wonder I need anti-depressants, right?  ;)

Alright, so you're all caught up!  I have to go catch up now, myself.  I have a lot of matting, wrapping, shipping and writing to do before Parker gets home from school.  I've made him my official after-school running partner!

Seeing in Shades of Black and White

My "other job" is co-owner, co-editor, and collaborator over at The Creative Mama, a wonderful little blog that focuses on nurturing creativity within our everyday lives.  I'm excited to have my article published today on why I shoot black and white images, a few key elements I look for when crafting my black and whites, and what inspires me to shoot black and white images (almost) exclusively.

Funny, but looking around my home right now, there is very little color surrounding me, besides whites, creams, blacks, greys, beiges, and browns.  It would appear that I also live in black and white!  I guess that's my comfort and where my heart truly is.  And I'm more than okay with that.

I hope you'll read along and feel a connection to the way I see my world:  In Shades of Black and White.

THE DRESS. (AND A LITTLE PRESS.)

As some of you know I visited my family in Kentucky a couple of weeks ago (more images to come, a little later, from our time together).  While I was there, I seized the opportunity to photograph my daughter wearing a dress that was mine as a little girl, in a field in my hometown.

When I saw the field, I gasped.  It was filled with Queen Anne's Lace (can I get a nostalgic smile from the Anne of Green Gables readers/viewers out there?) and so beautiful.  It was perfect.

If you'd like to read a little more about my journey in getting this photograph, please hop on over to The Creative Mama:  my article is featured today, entitled "The Dress.  And Other Treasures." and gives you a little idea into why I ask my clients to bring those special loveys and heirloom items to your Stacey Woods Photography session.  Thank you for reading!!

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And a couple press announcements! I'm so pleased to find out that, through The Creative Mama, my photograph (and referencing article regarding hanging photographs in an artful way) was published over at Apartment Therapy recently.  Go check it out!!  And try not to get lost for hours over there... I love Apartment Therapy and their fantastic ideas for modern living.  I could easily spend hours browsing their ideas and inspirational articles for home decor and living more simply.  (Oh and yes, that is my son and I making silly faces in the photobooth strip.  That's my son in the Polaroid on the left, and my daughter in the right two Polaroids.)  :)

From that same TCM article on displaying photographs, my grandfather's circa-1960's Polaroid images (and my crafty display of them) was featured over at Creative Apples today as well, in her weekly "Crafty Connections" piece.  Go have a peek. What a fun day!!

IT'S HERE. THE CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHER.

I know you've been waiting!  Head on over to THE CREATIVE MAMA for the  2 n d  A n n u a l  T h e   C r e a t i v e   P h o t o g r a p h e r s e r i e s.  It's a full TWO WEEKS packed full of interviews with amazing photographers, giveaways, contests, and inspiring articles, tips and resources for photographers, mothers, artists and any "creative mamas" out there.  You will not want to miss this, I promise!  In fact, so many people visited The Creative Mama blog today that it took a toll on her servers... over 6,000 people clicked over today alone!  :)

Angie Warren, the heart and soul behind this blog, has worked so very hard to organize this amazing feature for you, and I do hope that you'll click on over for a visit, leave a comment or three, enter a giveaway, and subscribe to the blog.  Even better, grab a The Creative Photographer button and paste it to your own blog, tweet about it, share it with your friends and colleagues.  We'd be so grateful for you spreading the word!  We're excited to invite you to be a part of this wonderful sharing community of women.

As you know, for Angie's For The Love of Photography series last year, I was humbled and honored to be asked to write a guest post, telling my little story and exactly why I do what I do.  Soon after, I joined Angie's newly formed group of regular contributors and have loved every minute of it!  I can't tell you how amazing it feels to be among such talented, strong, insightful artists, mothers and women.  These girls are pretty fabulous, and I'm humbled to be able to be a part of this team.

PS... if you want to catch up on a few of my latest articles on The Creative Mama, you can read them HERE, HERE, HERE and HERE.  And you won't want to miss THIS ONE either. ;)

SEE YOU SOON AT THE CREATIVE PHOTOGRAPHER!

COMING SOON ON THE CREATIVE MAMA | tampa child photographer

As most of you know, I'm a monthly contributor to The Creative Mama, a blog that is near and dear to my heart.  Last year, Angie approached me about writing a featured article during her "For The Love of Photography" week.  I was thrilled to participate, and I absolutely loved working with her.  To my excitement, she asked me to come on board and write on a regular basis, and with that, I joined the magnificent team of truly inspirational women who make up The Creative Mama. This year's "The Creative Photographer" series promises to be just as fabulous as last year, with inspiring contributors such as Deb Schwedhelm (her work just drips with raw emotion, and I'm blessed to be able to call her my friend), Jose Villa (THE single most amazing film/wedding photographer on the planet), Joyce Smith (how I adore her and everything she touches; can't wait to see Joyce at her workshop this weekend!), Sarah Lane (really wonderful work, especially her senior sessions!), Brenda Acuncius (ahem, I may or may not have arranged marriages between her two gorgeous children and mine... just sayin'), Leigh Taylor (super stylish wedding and relationship photography; I had the pleasure of meeting Leigh and her family a few years ago), the lovely team at Luxecetera (I always sing their praises; they designed my branding for me!), and lots more fun stuff to be announced soon.  I've had the chance to meet most of the photographers (and designers) on this impressive list, and would love to meet the rest of them someday (Jose, are you listening?)!  ;)  I know that you'll be blown away when you see their work and read the words from their heart.  Go, now, and bookmark The Creative Mama site, subscribe to the RSS, and make sure to come back and read what Angie has in store for everyone this year!

And if you'd like to read my latest featured article on The Creative Mama, you can go here.  Between the article and the glorious links above, you might be glued to your desk chair for a few days.  I've warned you.  ;)  Happy Reading, folks!

an opened door

Remember that little article I wrote for The Creative Mama a couple of months ago?  Well, it looks like you're going to be able to read more of my articles in the coming months...  I've been asked to join The Creative Mama's team of permanent writers!  There are some pretty amazing women over there already, so please, go over and say hello!  And don't forget to add The Creative Mama to your blog reader.... you're definitely going to want to check it on a daily basis.  Whether you're looking for ideas on creative living, organization, home decor, menu-planning, green-living, photography, motherhood, and how to balance it all, Angie and our entire team will surely be posting about it.  So go see!  And remember to check back tomorrow for more. Happy reading!