{a creative journey}

"It is good to have an end to journey toward; 

but it is the journey that matters, in the end."

                                                                         -Ernest Hemmingway

Marta Locklear is hosting a creative journey of hue and texture on her blog.  This is just the type of creative exercise I'm looking for to battle the winter blues.

Last week's inspiration points were

hue. silver.  texture. shiny.

You can see this week's theme here if you'd like to join in.

{believe . . . }

This picture is old (and noisy).  My baby's not that small anymore but I do love the look of wonder in his first meeting with Santa.  We're headed off to one of our holiday traditions tonight - a train of lights - which is where this shot was taken.  My kids are so excited!

{anticipation}

"Never forget that anticipation is an important part of life. Work's important, family's important, but without excitement, you have nothing. You're cheating yourself if you refuse to enjoy what's coming." – Nicholas Sparks

Christmas week is in full swing at my house.  We spent the weekends with my-inlaws and the extended family of siblings and cousins.  Boxes from long distance relatives are rolling in, populating the area beneath the tree with tantalizingly wrapped presents and driving much speculation about what may or may not be contained within.  The kids are as excited as can be about the nightly frolics of our house elf and the imminent arrival of Santa.  I wonder if this is the last year they all believe?  Maybe I have one more year but if not, I’m enjoying this one.

. . .{yawn} . . .

I feel like I’m waking up from a long snooze.  My poor blog has been neglected for so long.  I wanted to say a huge thank you to those of you who have dropped me a note whether in a comment here or on Facebook.  It truly gave me a wonderful feeling to have someone check in on me or say something kind about my work.

Truth be told, I have missed the challenge, perspective and creativity of my 365 project – the joy in the details shots that I never would have taken otherwise.  I need to find a way to reharness that creativity without the crushing pressure of a 365 so I’m trying to decide what the new year will bring in that regard.  Probably a 52 week project.  I’m toying with "things I love" as a theme.  Anyone have a photography project on tap for 2011?  If so, I’d love to hear about it and be inspired!  I’m working on a fresh new blog so I’ll some place to start anew. 

Despite neglecting my blog, I haven’t abandoned my camera.  I shot a couple spring lines for an online boutique which was lots of fun and indulged my slight obsession with cute kids' clothes.  This weekend, I had a chance to meet up with some amazing photographers from The Bloom Forum to eat, bond and shoot some gorgeous models.  Here are a few of my favorites . . .

curls

curls, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

When my oldest was a baby she had this ringlet curl that dropped down the middle of her forehead. When I saw my little guy with this one the other day, it totally took me back.

my guy

my guy, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Just kickin' it.

Fence Friday

Fence Friday, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Blogged a day late!

Going urban

We took advantage of the quiet holiday weekend in the city to have a girls day out and do some urban shots.  Lots more to process.

picnic

picnic, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Nothing says holiday weekend like a picnic. The baby was to small to reach the table from the bench so I plopped him down on the table to eat.

Silly Bandz

Silly Bandz, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Are your kids into these? The girls had a bunch of them that they received over the summer but were totally uninterested in them until my oldest got to school and figured out they were all the rage. Now, she's obsessed with them. But we only let her wear 2-3 to school so she comes home and piles them on.

, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Boring shot for the day but it's time to start getting some fall clothes into the kid's closets for those cool mornings. It's likely to stay pretty warm here for a while though.

Fence Friday

, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

the daily grind

the daily grind, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Just uploading my backlogged pics. This is my guy at the end of the day. Messy hair and countless stains on his shirt. It's been kind of an uninspired week. I'm looking forward to the weekend to (hopefully) get my groove back.

, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Hey 365ers . . . or anyone thinking of doing a 365

I loved everything about this post by Madeline Bea on her blog.  http://madelinebea.com/blog/2010/08/365-days-plus-thirty/   Now, she's undertaking her second 365 and is assembling a group of people doing the same (start time is irrelevant).  A little support never hurts right?

Check it out here--> http://madelinebea.com/blog/365-days-a-photographic-journey/

Picking a sweet one

Picking a sweet one, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

The last vestiges of summer

The last vestiges of summer, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Few foods say sumer to me more than a caprese salad. The tomatoes from the farmer's market were so yummy!

buds and bokeh

buds and bokeh, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Back to School time

Playing catch up . . .

What else is new?

In a sea of flowers

In a sea of flowers, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Trying to catch up on some 365 uploads . . .

yeah buddy, me too

yeah buddy, me too, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

Ever have a day like this? I feel like somewhere along the line I raised my hand for too many things. This month seems to have every activtity and obligation going crazy. I'm pooped!

, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

I had grand aspirations for some cute shots on this new stool I got but she wasn't in the mood. The good thing about the stool is that it's high so she was kind of stuck on it for at least one shot.

, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

His big sisters were playing peek-a-boo with him. He was so excited when they appeared!

Some more workshop images

Here are some more images from Brianna Graham's workshop in Salt Lake City.

Gorgeous senior

Gorgeous senior, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

I've been out of town travelling - part work and part fun - and hopelessly behind in processing and uploading my 365 shots. The fun part of my trip was my first in person workshop. It was with Brianna Graham and I had such a blast. We got to work with the most gorgeous seniors! I've got a ridiculous number of files to process but this is one of the first ones.

golden light

golden light, originally uploaded by murpheyblue {ali c}.

I've been playing around with Lightroom and trying to figure it out because people seem to love it and they say it speeds up editing time. Right now all it's doing is slowing me down (though I'm pretty sure that's my fault not the program's) but I'm committed to giving it a shot.

This is actually the second time I've tried. The first time I threw my hands up. So I guess I'm resiliant. Or just a glutton for punishment.