Love It!
1. Anniversary and 4th of July! David and I celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary on July 5th but really we spent the whole weekend celebrating! We put the boat in the water Saturday with the help of my sister and her boyfriend and then just hung out. We played cards, ate shrimp and jumped off the back of the boat whenever it got too hot. Definitely a perfect Saturday 🙂 Sunday we came home and napped for awhile (who doesn’t love a lazy Sunday nap!!!!) and then it was back out to the boat to find a spot to watch the fireworks. Having no idea where to go we just looked for a safe place to anchor with other boats around, we figured they might know a little more then us about where to go. Turns out they were right and we had the best spot on the river I believe! We were able to see no less then 30 different fireworks shows from the water, it was amazing and so beautiful. I love that our anniversary will always be celebrated with fireworks!
2. Second Shooting! I had the oppurtunity to second shoot with Mike Topham Photography the other week at the Kenmore Inn in Fredericksburg, Virginia. It was a beautiful wedding and an awesome day! I was shooting with Terry Brown who is great with people! She had the whole family telling her how wonderful she was by the end of the evening, they loved her. I learned so much from her just regarding her interaction with the family of the bride. She made things fun and lighthearted while still getting the job done. For me second shooting is great, I get to show up and do what I love for a couple hours and be a part of something wonderful. At the end of the night I get to turn over my files and I’m done. I can pick and choose which images I love the most and edit those for my own portfolio but I don’t have any of the other stress that goes along with being the primary shooter. Sometimes a break from being the primary is nice although I have to keep reminding myself that I’m not the primary and make sure I get those great moments that happen away from the bride and groom.
3. Unexpected Emails! This weekend I received two emails from photographers that found me through searching for ProPhotoBlogs information. It was so nice to hear from them and I love answering any questions I can about ProPhoto. I love even more just hearing from other photographers and knowing that my little blog doesn’t go unread 🙂 So I’d like to give a shout out to Nicole in Holland and Rachel in Washington State, thanks for stopping by and I hope you love your ProPhoto theme as much as I do!
Hate It!
1. Sick Puppies! No I don’t mean those weird people we refer to as sick puppies 😉 I walked into the house after a long day at work last week to find the most God awful mess. Our baby Maxie was sick and it was not a pretty sight. I spent the next 48 hours cleaning up her messes and feeding her chicken and rice along with meds from the vet. I swear I spent more time making her dinner then I did my own! I’m happy to report she is fine now but sick puppies is something I definitely Hate!
2. Sunburns! As a girl with fair Irish skin I’m an expert at treating sunburns by now. You would think I would have learned my lesson and become an expert in not getting burned but no such luck. Ironically the one area I did want some color in managed to stay pasty white. I am now sporting a lovely X shaped burn on my back, some crazy red circles on my thighs from my suit and a very pink face with wide white circles around my eyes from my shades. I am one hot chick right now 😉 Yes I did put sunscreen on but apparently not soon enough, not applied correctly and not applied frequently enough. I do have 3 bottles of afterburn care in my fridge at all times for occasions just like this though!
3. The Heat! Making a second appearance on the Hate It! list. Just in case you missed it the first time, the heat is back and I hate it.
Melissa Arlena is an award winning lifestyle newborn photographer in Charlottesville and Richmond, Virginia who has earned her Master Photographer Certification from NAPCP in maternity, newborn and family photography. Her natural and simple work has been featured in magazines and online blogs worldwide. She has been named Best Maternity and Newborn Photographer in Richmond and Charlottesville, VA in 2023.
