celina d baldwin photography

i'm moving! (and I'm leaving this blog here)

2010-10-27T10:59:00.000-07:00

Well, I guess it's time to grow up...
I've got a brand new (totally customizable and totally sweet) blog!
This is super exciting and I can't wait to do some posting there!
First up: McFadden Wedding!

Anyway, give this blog a big old hug, shed some tears and kiss it goodbye!
Don't worry! I won't be deleting it because we've come to far for a break up like that. I mean we'll still be friends, but I won't be carrying all my old posts over to the new blog and I won't be posting anymore here.

Please check out my new blog here: www.celinadbaldwin.com

Thanks to all my faithful readers and fans! Now let's move on (and up) in the blogger world!

some of our best friends

2010-10-19T20:54:00.000-07:00

It's always a bummer when you have best friends who are moving away from you. I'd like to believe that the Haddix's are not moving to Kansas City because of all the work we made them do on this little project, but I can't be sure....
Anyway, we love, love, love Paul and Kristin and we have spent the last year or so intentionally building community with them. It has been an amazing time for all of us as we purposefully asked deep questions of one another, sorted through issues, shared our "loves" and "hates" in life, talked about work, went to baseball games (my personal ~~nightmare~~ favorite) and visited churches.

With the Haddix's we have the kind of friendship:
-where we feel perfectly comfortable sprawled out on their couch or dressed up together at Nosh.
-where we can watch hours of TV or talk about the latest marital spat: we're just glad to be together.
-where we have so many areas we relate together in, we're not sure which one to talk about first.
-where we might be pretty worried about who we will hang out with when they leave.

The reality is that we will really miss them when they go, but we are so excited for the next phase of their journey. It has been an incredible experience to walk beside them as they have embraced the direction of the Lord in this season.

Paul and Kristin, you are such a blessing to us and your life is a work of art. Thank you for letting me capture it before you leave!
P.S. We're excited to spend Thanksgiving with you!

i could have taken three million more pictures

2010-10-17T17:06:00.000-07:00

I'm always amazed that when surfing the web a complete stranger sees the 756,000 photographers in the Colorado Springs area and they pick ME! That's what happened last week. Allison called me and we set up a shoot for a few days later.

The lighting was absolutely incredible on the day we met in Monument Valley Park. The kind of lighting that makes me want to cry it's so beautiful. The kind of lighting that as a photographer, I live for. Anyway, Allison, Clint and 6 month old Wyatt made it easy to do a great job with this shoot. Allison is gorgeous, Clint has a great smile and Wyatt has an adorable name and an adorable personality to match, and was an absolute joy to capture.

Anyway, please enjoy these few favorite images from the day. I could have posted 50 here, but if you want to see the whole gallery, you can click on the title.

Allison, THANK YOU for choosing me! It was a great experience to capture your lives!

so that we may live....

2010-10-14T08:08:00.000-07:00

I always consider it an honor when a family invites me into their lives with my camera. I don't take it lightly because for me, the job isn't just "taking some pictures" it's capturing peoples lives- and lives are precious and families are unique and for a family to trust me enough to let me in, I consider it a privilege. That being said, I was never more privileged than last week.

Chad Arnold works with me at Compassion. Sometime a loonngg time ago, he asked me to do some family pictures at his home in Castle Rock. Of course, I said "yes!" What I didn't know was that Chad had a rare liver disease and he was waiting for a transplant- a transplant that if he didn't get, he would die. A few months later the time came for the transplant- his brother Ryan was a match for him and agreed to a live liver transplant. The live transplant was not without risks. Of course, with surgery there is always risks, but in this case, the major risk was to the organ donor. When the day came for the surgery, the Compassion family gathered round with their prayers. The first few days would determine the course of things for both of them. We got regular updates from email and Facebook. At first, it seemed that the surgery was a success. Both Chad and his brother, Ryan, came out OK. However, a few days after the surgery, the updates took on a serious tone. One just said, "pray for Ryan" then it was, "pray for Ryan, he went into cardiac arrest and flat lined" then everything went quiet.... Until we learned that Ryan, a completely healthy father of 3 boys passed away from complications caused by the surgery. Tears gather at my eyes as I type that.

What a picture of the Fathers love for us. Without His death, we would have died in our sin, but He would have it no other way. I don't know Ryan, so I don't want to tread on something that I don't understand completely, but I want to say that I believe Ryan did not see this as a choice. "Your brother is dying and only you can save him, but at the risk of your own life." Ryan is absolutely a hero. Ryan exemplified the Fathers love in a way many of us will never experience this side of eternity. Ryan "did what he saw the Father doing" just as Jesus did. And now Chad lives. And his life is now worth more than it was before, because it cost someone else's life in order for him to get to keep his own.

We all must live knowing the same is true for us. Without the death of Christ, we wouldn't be here. We wouldn't get to live and move and dance and celebrate and cry and laugh. But we do. And so does Chad.

If you want to hear about this from Chad himself- you can (and should) check out his site. You can see the story Fox news did on the surgery and hear from Chad how life is today, just two months from his life altering (in a million ways) surgery.

For now, please enjoy the images I have captured of this (amazing) family.

Chad, Cristine, Jake and Luke- THANK YOU- from the bottom of my heart, for letting me capture your life.

children watching America's Next Top Model may be good for photographers

2010-09-23T21:36:00.000-07:00

I have had the privilege of stepping into many families lives to capture their life moments and I have loved every shoot I have ever done! I must say, though, that this shoot was by far the best I have ever done with kids. Amanda & Mike were so laid back and didn't yell, bribe or demand that the kids do anything special. This (lack of yelling, bribing, and demanding) enabled me to do a really good job of capturing their (unbelievably adorable) kids just being themselves. Which in the end would be what you would want to remember, right? Anyway, let it be said that some kids need coercing to just be themselves or behave and there is nothing wrong with a good old fashioned bribe or discipline. I've gotten some good smiles for gum, "a treat later," or the threat of a spanking.

Anyway, back to this shoot: Apparently, Mia has been watching America's Next Top Model and so she was full of poses and ideas about what we could do next. And DeSean- well, he had a mohawk, what more could you ask for?

Please enjoy these images and tell a friend to become a fan of celina d baldwin photography on Facebook! I'll thank you for it!

i knew this sink would fit a baby

2010-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

This kid is like 6 months old besides...

He seemed to like it so much we almost left him there...

an old friend

2010-09-18T14:17:00.000-07:00

So, pretty much the only stuff I remember from high school is what an ass I was.
Luckily, Jen (selectively, I'm sure) forgot some of those things. Jen and I were friends way back in 1993; we graduated from the same podunk high school (class of '95 baby!) in upstate NY. Anyway, we reconnected on Facebook (it is good for something) and when I found out I was going to California where I knew she lived I asked if I could visit and photograph her adorable child.

What a fun day it was: meeting her bf Ryan and their son Torin, walking around Capitol Park in Sacramento, eating delicious Indian food, petting her 6 cats (she knows it's weird so that makes it less weird), and catching up on old times.

I am so glad that we reconnected and that I had the opportunity to take these shots. Hope you enjoy these pics as much as I enjoyed taking them!

Thanks, Jen and Ryan for letting me into your life to capture these precious moments!

just a reminder

2010-09-18T12:59:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post a quick reminder re: Wilson the Whoodle.
He is for sure, without a doubt the cutest dog in the whole entire world.

Thank you for your attention to this matter.

Sincerely,
Smitten

sister comes to town

2010-09-17T11:23:00.000-07:00

Recently, Andy's sister "Betsy" (names changed to protect the innocent) came to visit. While she was here....

She typed on her computer (she called it "work")

She hiked with us

She posed for pictures

Twice

She took this family picture for us

And in addition to the items pictured above she: cooked some delicious eats, played with our cat, used my flat iron, talked with us about life around the world, politics and adoption, helped Andy with some home projects, taught us a new card game, read, slept, walked, went to the mall with us, and didn't compliment my cooking until I got upset about it.

In other words, she hung out like a sister does.

Good times.

Loving this new prime lens (and what the heck is a prime lens?)

2010-09-10T17:59:00.000-07:00

Well you may or may not know that I am still winging this photography thing- OK so you probably know that. Whatever. It's OK. I'm secure. Regardless, I love to learn, so that's what I am doing. Capturing life's moments and learning along the way.

Anyway, I wanted to buy a new lens for my birthday and I have been saving up, researching, and asking those who know more than me about what kind of lens to buy next.

In my research for a new lens, I knew I had to consider two things. 1. What I already owned and 2. What I was going to focus on for this next season of my photography.

The answer to number 1 was just a trip to the camera bag to discover that I already have the following Canon lenses in my arsenal (as of now, I only buy Canon lenses):

a 50mm fixed portrait lens aka "nifty 50" (great for portraits, but kind of a cheap lens, doesn't always focus like I want it to)
a 70-300mm zoom lens (good for distance shooting and portraits, but you have to be far kind of away to get the shot. It does give a nice blurred background, though.) side note: blurred background is called Bokeh
an Image Stabalizer 28-135mm (good for everything- if I was going on a day trip, I would probably heft around this monster because you can shoot pretty close up and shoot from a distance with it)

The answer to number 2 was easy as well: portraits. I LOVE capturing people. If I had to chose one subject type to shoot the rest of my life, it would be singles or couples. I love capturing one person just being themselves and two people interacting.

As I researched for this new lens I came across the phrase "Prime Lens." Since I didn't know what that was and I figured I should know if I was buying it, so, I did what I do and I learned about it. A prime lens is either a photographic lens whose focal length is fixed, as opposed to a zoom lens. (Wikipedia) This just means that you can't "dial" the lens. It has one number. My "nifty 50" is a prime lens as opposed to my 70-300 which is a zoom lens. As I continued to read about prime lenses, I learned that they are cheaper to make because they don't have any moving parts. Not only are they cheaper to make, they are better lenses, because they have only one job. Also, they have a larger aperture (smaller f stop) so they can generally create images with better Bokeh- also known as my favorite photography style. Ok, so prime lens it is- now what?

Originally I had my heart set on an L Glass lens. This is the very, very best lens that Canon makes. It has some special kind of glass that makes even crappy photographers good. Ok, probably not. But they are pretty amazing pieces. The L I set my heart on was the EF 85mm f/1.2LII. This is a legendary portrait lens and apparently the best that Canon makes. It was around $2000. More research helped me understand that while the L is amazing, Canon makes a similar 85mm lens. It's f stop is a little larger, but comparison reviews (if you really care, check out one review here: here) said the 85mm f1.8 was honestly just as good as the 85L. At $400 it was way more in my price range and just as good of a lens. So without further ado, here she is- it's not an L glass, but this lens is amazing:

Here are some images I have taken with this lens. All of these are straight out of the camera shots, also known as SOC (that means I did not edit them- at all).

See how clear his face is and blurred the rest of him is?

Oh I didn't mention most of these pictures are of Wilson and Wilson's belongings

ALEX the LION!

I would never put this picture in my portfolio, but check out the definition in his hair

Better than the naked eye: I honestly did not see those cobwebs on his face when I took this picture. But geez he is adorable, right?

Check out the crystal clear focus on the foreground and my blurry hubby in the back (and yes, both my husband and the computer technically belong to Wilson- Ok, maybe not the computer.)

In conclusion: I made the right choice on this lens and I am excited for all the shoots I will do in the coming years with it!
I look forward to shooting YOU with my "Prime 85" (I just made up that name)

Full Disclosure: Part 3- MARATHONER

2010-08-31T23:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I am not sure why it has taken me so long to write this blog; I guess life, busyness, and general putting it off all contributed. Anyway, I am happy to report that on Sunday, July 11, 2010, I went down in history as a marathoner! Months of preparation, sweat and tears all culminated in the amazing moment when I crossed that finish line.

My top three marathon insights are this:
1. Your race is your own. Since the race was relatively small and I am a relatively slow runner I found myself at the back of the pack pretty quickly. The race was in the high country of Missoula and there were moments when I really could not see another person. I didn't enjoy that feeling of isolation at all. Anyway, somewhere around mile 14, I connected with another girl who was as slow as me. We talked and ran together for a while and pretty much decided we would finish together. I began to see as we were running and talking that slow girl #2 was not nearly as physically or mentally prepared as I was. She stopped at every aid station to stretch and walk around and chat with the helpers whereas my tactic would have been to walk through them for a drink and keep going. But we were in it and I figured I needed to stretch as much as she did. Around mile 18 she spent 8 minutes in the porta john "resting". Around mile 20 she began to cry. Around mile 21 she began to walk- and not run again. By this time I knew I was stuck. We were essentially running alone at the back of a race that almost everyone else had finished and she was holding me back from doing the same. I knew that I could not leave her. Aid stations were shutting down and she would get lost or hurt or worse. I had to walk, encourage and console her for some of the last precious miles of the race. We did cross the line together but it took much longer than it would have if I had run alone. I have spent a lot of time debating if I did the right thing for myself by staying with her. The plain answer is, "no." As soon as we started running I should have said something like this, "Let's run together as long as we want and then if either of us needs to go on, let's be OK with that." But I didn't even think of that, so the end of the story is we crossed that line together. I have thought often that I gave her my race. It's a sad ending to months and months of solo training. I think the bottom line is that we can't let anyone distract, stop, or slow us down from doing what we should be doing. Your race is your own!


Please ignore my pained look...

2. Your life is not your own. Could I have finished that race sooner without my running friend? I really believe I could have. Should I have left her somewhere along the way? Probably. But insight number two is that your life is not your own. Yes, that was my race. But it was hers, too. I wonder if she even could have finished without my help. Maybe by Tuesday. But maybe, just maybe, I helped her achieve a dream that she wouldn't have realized without me. My life is not my own. Being a Christian means that I am willing to lay down my desires and dreams for His greater purposes just as Christ laid down His life for me. I have to know that at the end of the day. Could I be filled with remorse at how the race ended? Sure. But believe me, there's two sides to this story and the other side- I won't know until eternity. I'm not sorry I tied for last place in that race. Really. Because no matter how long it took me or how I placed, I accomplished one of my own dreams. I DID what God asked me to do and maybe by helping someone else along the way, I won that race. Folks, a ten year dream was realized when I crossed that finish line. And I couldn't have even dreamed it without HIM, let alone finish it. My life is not my own and if living that out means I finish last, then so be it, I was not destined to be an Olympian anyways.


I had some fun doing it!

#3. Your greatest goals and dreams will never be realized without love and support. Three demonstrations of this on my journey to the finish line have shown this to be true.
First of all my husband. I know I have talked about my husband and how I could not have done this without him. Seriously, he was there when it was raining or cold or hot and I didn't feel motivated. He made this happen for me. I mean I'm the one who got out there, but 9 times out of 10, I wouldn't have done it without a cheerleader.
Secondly, the night before we left Colorado for the marathon Andy and I were working hard on our home renovation. I was tired and grumpy and had 57 flavors of paint on my clothes. Andy said something like this, "I'm going to go....blah, blah, blah" I said something like this, "grr...ok see you grrr." A few short minutes later he walks back in the house with a cheery "Hi, Honey!" I respond with a less cheery, "hi honey" and he moves to the left to reveal MY MOTHER in all her glory! She came all the way from New Jersey to see me cross that finish line. Now, let me be honest. I knew in my heart of hearts she was coming. How did I know? #1 It was part of the training to envision yourself crossing the finish line and I never once pictured the finish line without her. #2 At some point during the training she became a little bit disinterested in my marathon talk. I knew that she knew this was the biggest deal of my life, so I found it odd that she checked out of the process. Andy told her that I would say I knew she was coming and he was right. It was amazing to have her there and a moment in my life I will never forget. I honestly would have been devastated if she wasn't there. I would have felt unloved and unsupported and the two people who love me most in the world knew that and conspired to make it not so.
The third thing that demonstrated this for me was of course your notes!!! Those notes kept me going. I read some the day before the race and some the night before the race when I was so nervous I couldn't even talk! Many of them I read while I was running on the hot pavement. They made me smile. They made me laugh. They made me cry. They made me remember how I got to where I was. And they made me keep running even when I thought I couldn't go another step. I shared some of them with slow girl #2 and I inserted her name where mine was to share in the gift of encouragement that you gave me. To all of you- THANK YOU! You helped me accomplish the single greatest thing in my life by loving and supporting me.


I am not posting the photo of the back of this sign because it will make you cry :) It says, "go fatty go." But like I said, the race was like giving birth, you really don't care who sees you "naked" as long as it can be over :)

We did it! You, me Him, him and her!

Guess who is getting married?

2010-08-28T11:05:00.000-07:00

Well, we know it's not me since I am already (happily) betrothed...
I'll just tell you since you may never guess- it's my co-worker, former neighbor, and all time most sarcastic person I have ever met: Laura Petersen.
This may be a record turn around time from engagement to engagement photo shoot. I think it was less than 48 hours. With good reason, Jeff lives in Texas and he surprised her by showing up on her doorstep Monday morning, he was leaving Wednesday afternoon and so Wednesday morning it was click, click, click...
Anyway, for two people who swear up and down they a) hate getting their pictures taken and b) insist they aren't photogenic, I think these pictures turned out pretty amazing.
I'd like to say that being able to turn around a & b for someone makes me a good photographer, but I'll let you decide. Are these two just self-depricating, did I make magic or is it a little of both?

I would say of all the images, this one most reflects these two, although I only spent 47 minutes with them (not counting later when Jeff came to work) I'd like to think I am pretty good judge of these things.

I love this picture. As you know, my style is for sure capturing moments and not worrying about "look at the camera, smile."

Love the grunge in this one

I learned something about Jeff quite by accident. He wasn't a big fan of kissing in front of the camera. This was a fair compromise.


I love the processing in this photo. The black and white is so contrasty.

So congrats to my co-worker, former neighbor & friend. I'm excited for what lies ahead and I can't wait to travel to New Braunfels, Texas for your wedding! Is there anything in New Braunfels? I guess I'll find out.
Click on the title to see the full gallery!

Wow! My husband is a rockstar!

2010-08-17T21:00:00.000-07:00

You may have seen on my Facebook page that we were renovating a house. Well, it's all but done and my amazing husband did all the work on his own. He plumbed, tiled, installed hardwood, tore down walls, set up a gas line, installed a pantry, built kitchen cabinets, tore out and installed windows...the list goes on and on. This guy is a real Bob Vila and thanks to him we are moved in, pictures are hung and life is good. Wilson has a nice fenced yard, I have a kitchen so huge I might start my own cooking show, and Andy has a garage!

Before you read on, please let me offer this disclaimer. Renovating a house is NOT romantic. I don't care what you see on the movies or read in books. It is dirty, nasty, and hard work. While renovating a house you may or may not experience the following things: 32 fights with your spouse, dispelling black snot for days on end, 500 trips to Home Depot, stress that causes you to not be able to see straight, friends who won't answer your call because you have asked them for two weeks straight to help you renovate your house, buying 18 cans of paint because the color on the wall doesn't look anything like the chip, 18 said colors on every article of clothing you own, eating fast food for months because you don't really live anywhere, and if you are lucky -- unbelievable pride in the person you married and what they are capable of....again, you may or may not experience these things. Please proceed at your own risk. Although I have not yet given birth, I think I can accurately compare this house renovating experience to that. When you are in it, you think, "I'll never do this again" and when it's over you think, "I could do that again if I get something this great out of the pain."

I need to say that none of this would have been possible in the time frame it was accomplished without our amazing friends and family. Special thanks to Joel Strayer and his wife Kristine who stayed home with their son so Joel could offer his assistance. Huge gratitude to Paul and Kristin Haddix who exemplified the body of Christ by standing beside us as we worked for hours and days on end. Honestly, without friends like these, we'd still be living nowhere and fighting 32 more times. Special thanks to Andy's parents, Charlie and Carolyn without who none of this would have been possible. We are blessed!

You may notice in the pictures that that not everything is done. I could point out what is missing, but who cares. Ok, so there is no trim, no bedroom doors, and no window coverings. But anyway who is worried about all that stuff? We'll get it done- someday.

Anyway, drum roll......Check out the work that my husband did all on his own. I mean "we" did.

the second time around

2010-07-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

I love when I get to photograph a wedding for total strangers and it turns out to feel like family by the end of the day. Nathalie and Brock have a great story: when we met for the first time they shared with me that they had been married years ago, got divorced years ago and recently hooked back up again on Facebook (who knew it was good for more than checking status updates?) They told me their wedding would be less than 50 people and it was more of a family picnic than anything. Low stress, small engagement, couple getting remarried? Sign me up!

It was a fun day with a fun couple and if you want to know what I think, I think this will be their last time around!

Their guest book was a framed picture from the first time around. Nathalie also put together a book of all their old photos for guests to enjoy.

All of Nathalie's best girlfriends were in attendance and we made sure to get pics of her with all of them. I loved seeing that most of her friends had been her friends for years. I pray my friendships will withstand the test of time the way that hers have!

My favorite part about this was the Harley and all the Harley guys and girls. When Nathalie told me about this being a big part of the day, I was excited! Not that I want to ride a motorcycle, but I love taking photos of things like this!

Who says you can't get cool pictures of guys standing around? Not me. This is a great picture!

Nathalie's granddaughter was ALWAYS willing to let me take her picture. If I was that cute, I'd want everyone to photograph me, too.

The Honey Bus! I found this bus when I arrived exceedingly early and was forced to waste time exploring the grounds of the Black Forest Bed and Breakfast. I am so glad I found it and they were willing to use it as a backdrop.

Arriving early does have perks.....

She's cute in pink and blue!

The Black Forest Bed and Breakfast has an amazing view of the peak.

My favorite "candid" of the day. The girls decided to sweep Brock off of his feet. I love the faces!

Congrats again, Brock & Nathalie!

P.S. As always, for the full gallery of images, click on the title.

my favorite (repeat) clients

2010-06-20T19:07:00.000-07:00

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, then surely you have seen this family before.
Joel and Karen Top are great friends of Andy and I. So great that Karen (in all her infinite wisdom) actually hooked me up with my husband, Andy. (She will never let me forget this, by the way, and as if I could...)
Anyway, Karen was an early adopter of loving my work. We did our first shoot when she was pregnant with her first child, Connor. We did Connor's 6 month and one- year photos and now we have just finished a combo pack family shoot and 6 month shoot for her second son Ramon. I am grateful this family is so photogenic!

For this shoot, I am just going to share what I love about each photo that I chose for the blog. As always, you can see the entire gallery by clicking on the title.

The reasons for loving this one are that sweet Connor was not really in the mood for the photo shoot (and what two year old should be in the mood for a photo shoot??), so this is one of the rare gems where everyone is doing what they should be doing for the photo. I love that Ramon is reaching for Connor and Connor is leaning away. The love of brothers....

A dad's heart for his boys...I love the processing on this, Connor's excitement, Joel's interest in whatever Connor is saying and the fact that Ramon is the only one paying attention.

Ok, I love that this is the absolute non-photo. It looks like something that belongs anywhere but on someone's photography blog. Love the processing on this one too!

This one breaks all the rules but I don't care. Karen is so gorgeous and the setting sun makes this look like a model shoot. I love the house you can see in the left background and the vignette on this one...

I love Karen's strong hands holding her baby and the fact that you can see, although not identify, her necklace and bracelet that have each of the boys initials on them. I love that Ramon is NOT looking at the camera and that although Karen is, you can't see her eyes, just her smile.

A kid being a kid. Not a kid pretending to be a kid in some studio with a blue cloud backdrop, a stuffed animal and a tricycle. I love my job!

A great black and white and a priceless expression.

Thanks again, Tops for letting me capture your life! It's an honor!

And Karen, if I haven't said it lately, thanks for setting me up with Andy- who knows where I would be today if not for you :) Love you!

Full Disclosure: Part 2

2010-06-15T20:39:00.000-07:00

"The last six miles is the last half of the race."

This quote about marathon day from The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer (from here on known as NRMT) during week 12 totally resonated with me. I am in the last "six miles" of the training program and I feel just like that.
If you haven't read Full Disclosure: Part 1, please read it to catch up on my adventures in marathon training, then read the rest of this post.

All that talk in Part 1 of dedication, trusting God and stretching my self to the limits and in the last two weeks, I almost quit. More than once. During week 11 of the 16 week training, I was exhausted. My body was literally not cooperating with me for training runs. I was getting so discouraged and so exhausted and finally Andy, my sweet supportive Andy said, "You are a slave to the running schedule right now, you need to rest and let your body recover." With a little pouting, I took his wise advise and took a weekend off. I got back on the horse. In week 12, I discovered that there was something seriously wrong with my knee. Not like the kind of pain you run through, but like the kind of pain you know is damaging. So, I took another break and missed my first 18 mile run. Now at this point I have missed a 16 mile run and an 18 mile run and I only have one long run left and I am 25 days away from the marathon. I'm starting to freak out. When I talk to people who ask about how the training is coming I say, "Oh I don't know, I hurt my knee, I've missed two long runs, blah, blah, blah." I secretly know every time I am waiting for someone to say, "Listen, you have come so far, you can do it!" But no one said that. So I keep offering my whiny, undedicated, half-hearted answer when someone asked how its going.
All that changed-tonight when two amazing things happened.

Amazing thing #1: I connected with my friend Caitlin who has been training for a marathon alongside me. What I mean by that is that we decided at the same time to train for a marathon and were originally going to do one together but the plans changed. We've connected a few times during the training to see how the other is doing and it is always so fun to talk to someone who knows. Someone who is enduring the pain day by day with you. Anyway, guess what Caitlin said when I told her about my knee? First she demonstrated some stretches and then she said, "You can do it; you've come too far to quit now." I'm paraphrasing....but guess what, that is just what I needed.
Amazing thing #2: After I got home from that sweet connection, I decided I could handle reading this weeks chapter in the NRMT. Guess what I read, "If something should happen that interrupts your training, that doesn't necessarily mean that you have to drop out of the program. In the 1995 class, a couple of people hit medical roadblocks, but went on to finish the training and complete the marathon. Here are there stories. If something similar has happened to you during the program, take heart, all is not lost." I read this and the personal story that followed out loud to Andy and literally had to choke back tears. I cannot tell you how many times this book has done that to me. Spoken to me EXACTLY where I am and brought tears to my eyes.
I am so amazed right now. So blessed. So excited that again, I can apply this lesson to life. Sometimes things happen beyond our control to get us off track, but no matter how long you have been off track, you can always get back on. The goal is to finish.

I don't know what Full Disclosure:Part 3 will look like in a few weeks after I FINISH THE MARATHON, but I know this: quitting is still not an option.

Thank you to all of you who have supported me during this training. Your comments on Full Disclosure: Part 1 were part of why I just didn't want to quit last week. I knew you were rooting for me and I realized that maybe this isn't just my race, maybe this is for all of us who know that the "easy" way out of anything is to quit. And maybe this race is for us who are too well acquainted with giving up. If you're off track today, my hand is reaching out to you. I just got back on and I invite you to get back on here, too. Trust me- you'll thank yourself when you are crossing the finish line.

"Don't give up! Don't ever give up!" Jimmy Valvano

"Never give up, for that is just the place and time that the tide will turn." Harriet Beecher Stowe

Page Family (Re)union

2010-06-12T15:10:00.000-07:00

Although this was a (re)union, I thought of it more as a "union" since I didn't know anyone who would be there. Andy and I were a little nervous about this and made a back up plan of just talking to each other in case everyone there was like your crazy drunk uncle. Turned out to be OK- amazing actually, the people we met were awesome and it almost made me want to live on a farm in Wyoming. The (re)union was for Andy's dads moms cousins. Crazy, I know. I was glad we got there early so I could figure out who was who. Too bad the first guy I asked didn't know either. Thanks for nothing, Bruce :)

Anyway, it really was a great weekend and hanging out at the farm was relaxing. The photo opportunities were limitless; between the gorgeous views, the Kitten Barn and the kids running around everywhere there was no shortage of things for me to capture.

Ok, these are the cousins of Charlie's mom.
Left to right, Sandy May, Jane, and Mary.

This is Bruce and Jane. The (re)union was at their farm in Wyoming.
Andy and I are going back next May to help brand that cattle.
A photo montage is sure to follow that adventure!

This is Sandy May and her husband, Everett.
We enjoyed their company very much!

A kitten from the Kitten Barn. As soon as we can unload our old heifer cat, we're going back to the Kitten Barn to get us a cute cat :)

Ok, you guys all know I am not one for flattery, so trust me with what I am about to say. The food at this (re)union was AMAZING! Jane makes the most amazing bread- so amazing in fact, that she sells it by the loaf at a local farmers market. This was a spinach and feta bread that I ate 6 pieces of. The only reason I helped in the kitchen was so I could get first dibs on the yums....

And have you tried Sandy May's Rhubarb Pie? Well, let me tell you, it was also amazing. The first night we had brisket from one of Bruce's cows. There was also brisket from the store. No comparison whatsoever would be appropriate between the two meats. Good food!!

Self-dubbed "Team RayBan" I don't think RayBan would hire either of these girls, but they did beat us at the beanbag game, so maybe there is something to it....

If I could have pried this baby out of her grandmother or great grandmothers arms I would have held her. I settled for taking 50 pictures instead.

Bruce has a crappy business
that he runs on the side.
hahahahahaha- ok, get back in your chair.
Walking around, I discovered the port-potty graveyard.

And the best for last. Yes, I did take this photo.
No you can't have my autograph.
I really do love this picture and don't tell my step-father, but I think he is getting a framed version for fathers day. He is a Chevy guy.

Thanks for looking and if you want to see the entire gallery, just click on the title.

Don't forget to capture your own life's moments; they only come once!

Full Disclosure: Part 1

2010-05-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

"I am a marathoner. I love to run. I never quit, I never give up; I always give 100%. I run fast and smooth; injury free. I eat healthy and I live healthy. I love to run. I am a marathoner!"

This morning, I ran 16 miles. I got out of bed at 6:37 AM, ate a little snack, drank a little water, got dressed and had Andy drive me 16 miles from home. If you would have told me on January 1, 2010 that by May 23, 2010 I would be able to run 16 miles I don't know if I would have believed you. But, it is true.

When I got home from 16 miles of running this morning

I believe that the Lord told me 10 years ago to run a marathon and sadly I am just getting to it. I'd like to say "better late then never" "God knows when we'll do what He asked" and offer a whole other host of rationalizations, but I won't. I should have done it a long time ago. Even though I am just getting to it now, well, I am getting to it. Every year for the past 10 years I have felt His word to me. I have known and known over and over that I needed to do it. I would remorsefully and in a high-pitched whiny tone say, "I KNOW I need to run a marathon. I know God told me to." And then throw my head back onto the pillow. Unfortunately, you don't just wake up "knowing" that and be able to do it the next day. That's the beauty of it, though.

Throughout our three years of marriage, I have told Andy several times about this desire/dream/goal/command and a couple of times I have even started running. But every time, it flopped. I would get tired or discouraged and eventually quit. Until I got the best Christmas gift I have ever received from my sweet husband. In 2009, he gave me The Non-Runners Marathon Trainer by David A. Whitsett, Forrest A. Dolgener and Tanjala Mabon Kole. This book has changed my life. For the past 5 months it has literally been a constant companion. Even though I travel frequently for work and try to pack light, I have brought this book on every trip I have gone on since I received it in December. It not only speaks to the physical aspect of training for a marathon but addresses the mental and even without knowing, the spiritual. I have learned that training for a marathon is only 40% physical and 60% "can-do" attitude. That my thoughts really do dictate how I perform, that how I respond when someone asks how training is going really does matter and that getting to the goal requires sacrifice, but if I miss a run it's not the end of the world and if I have a crappy run- there's always tomorrow. These lessons have translated into my daily life-not just running. This book is exactly what I needed!

And somehow between the book and the constant support Andy offered me, I am now up to 16 miles of running. On May 10, I ran the Fort Collins 1/2 Marathon and finished in just over 3 hours. I cried for the last 100 yards. Not because I was sad, but because I was beginning to see why God had called me to this. I mean, I feel like everyday I see a little more of why a marathon, but crossing the finish line of that 1/2 I felt the Lord say to me, "You are an overcomer!" Seems silly when I type it all out, but it's not. For me to go from sitting on my couch 5 months ago to crossing the finish line of a 1/2 marathon is amazing.

What you don't know about me is that I am a quitter. When times get hard, I quit. If dieting is too hard, I quit. If we have a tough moment in our marriage, I quit. If something requires more of me then I imagined it would at the start, I quit. It's sad really. But God knew it would take act after act of me overcoming during this training to teach me that I am not a quitter. When every week for months you run farther then you a) ever have in your life and b) ever dreamed you could- something starts to happen. Something like hope, something like self-confidence and something like belief that maybe, just maybe all those times I quit, I was just one step away from the breakthrough I needed to keep going.

Today I weigh 174 pounds- that's probably 25 pounds over what my body type would say I should weigh. And I'll be honest, when I tell people I am training for a marathon, I get a whole host of responses- from, "Wow! Way to go!" to "Why on earth would you want to do that?" My favorite reaction though, (and I have had this happen more than once) is when someone literally (subconsciously I am sure) looks me up and down after I say that I am training for a marathon. I know what they are thinking. But really it doesn't bother me. I know I will never be super fit or an elite runner. I smoked a pack of cigarettes a day for 10 years of my life. I still would eat ice cream every night if I could. But you know what- everyday I get up and try again. And everyday I do more than I did the day before. And when people are sorry enough to look me up and down I just think, "how many miles did you run this week, Skinny?"

These shoes have carried me 168 miles since March 21, 2010 (I actually did start pre-training in January, but got a stress fracture during that almost kaboshed this whole thing-needless to say, it's fine now.) The first long run I did was only 5 miles. On July 11, I will run 26.2 miles in the Missoula Marathon.
It will be the culmination of months of hard work and in the probably 6 hours it will take me to finish (although I am a slow runner, I also run at 6000 feet elevation...) I will be thinking the whole time about how I AM ABLE! And I bet, just maybe when times get hard next time, I'll think twice about quitting and give it just one more go.....And maybe next time God asks me to do something hard, I'll start right away because I know that He knows exactly what I need to be the best me I can be.

a mixed bag

2010-05-26T18:23:00.000-07:00

This shoot was for: a (gorgeous) little girl and her (fun) momma, a (spunky) little dog, a (fifty year) anniversary, and a (happy) extended family.

This is my friend, Terri and her daughter, Mattie. Terri works for Compassion and was trying to explain to Mattie (who is pretty shy) that I would be taking their pictures. Mattie and I have only met once but for some reason Mattie was sooo excited when Terri told her it would be me. This went on for some time until Terri finally figured out that Mattie thought I was a former student teacher that she loved. Poor Mattie.....she must have been so disappointed to see me!

The balloons were my idea; they were fun and added some dimension to things, but we had to untie the strings from a hundred different things they got caught in!

This is Terri's parents, they have been married for 50 years!!

I love this picture!

Editorial commentary on wardrobe choices follows: I really loved that Mattie and Terri coordinated, but did not match. I mean it is fine if you all want to wear black or white (think Modern Family) but coordinating is even better. The colors are not exact in their outfits, but they do help center your eye and give your mind the sense that these two are together, but not the same. Does that make sense? Probably not, but I will sum it up with this, the main thing in wardrobe choices for pictures is: don't clash and don't wear patterns.

Match if you want to, but you may just end up featured on Awkward Family Photos

Look at all of that gorgeous hair!

This is what love looks like after 50 years!

Now this picture is worth a thousand words!

You can see the full gallery of images here or by clicking on the title.

Zenfolio Site

2010-05-26T17:54:00.000-07:00

If you are looking for your photos, they are available here:
http://celinadbaldwinphotography.zenfolio.com

my family and the dogs we love

2010-05-01T21:15:00.000-07:00

This is my family. Left to right my brother- Jonathan, his wife-Katie, my step father-Jon, my mom-Chris, me- Celina and my husband-Andy.

This is Jonathan and Katie's dog, Tucker. He is a labradoodle. They got this dog about 14 minutes after they got married. Nesting or something....

This is mine and Andy's dog, Wilson (I think you have seen him on here before). We got him off Craigslist. He is a Whoodle (wheaten terrier/poodle mix). Not as photogenic as Tucker, but way cuter in person.

This is Mom and Jon's dog, Allie. Actually, this is Mom and Jon's house dog. Jon has two dogs, but unfortunately, they will not be featured on this blog as they each weigh over 100 pounds and live outside. Allie is Pomeranian and mini American Eskimo, my mom got her at a pet store in the mall (gasp). As a side note, although we got Wilson off Craigslist, his original owners got him at a pet store in the mall (gasp).

This is Tucker mid-yawn. One thing about Tucker you should know is that he will go to blows with you if you are sitting in his chair. Another thing you should know about Tucker is that when I was leaving his house last week he attempted to unpack my suitcase one item at a time by bringing various items into the dining room.

This is Wilson on our porch chair. One thing you should know about Wilson is that he is the cutest dog you will ever see in person. Another thing you should know about Wilson is that if you say, "Wilson, where is your kitty?" He goes and finds our cat, FC, and gives her a good licking to which the cat just gets all annoyed.

This is Allie sitting on a chair where I put her for this photo shoot. One thing you should know about Allie is that she lost a leg to a tractor accident. The vet told my mom that the dog would never even know she only had three legs. Whatever that means. I try to remind her all the time that she is a three-legged dog, but she just ignores me.

Anyway, that's my family and these are the dogs we love everyday.
Tell your dog that our dogs say, "hi!" and if you don't have a dog, this is me suggesting that you get one. They make bad days seem OK and they make good days great! And when they die, Lord help us all because we have given our hearts to them.

trash the dress version 1

2010-05-01T20:13:00.000-07:00

I don't know who came up with the concept of "trash the dress" but I can only assume it was either a photographer or an angry bride. I'm guessing (and hoping) it was a photographer. The way I view these shoots is that it is a chance to create, not destroy. For most people the wedding day is a total blur so "trash the dress" is a chance to wear, for the second and probably last time what may be the most expensive piece of clothing they have ever owned. Considering most brides spend the entire day trying to keep their dress clean this is a chance to do things they wouldn't have dreamed of on the big day and have fun and relax doing it.

Anyway, I always wanted to photograph one of these sessions and luckily, my sweet sister in law obliged me. I'm pretty sure I asked her the day she got married if I could photograph her trashing her dress. We finally got the chance a couple of weeks ago when I traveled to NY for a visit. We didn't exactly trash it. There is a couple of reasons for this- #1 is that we are going to do this again with her groom in tow. We've got big plans for that shoot. #2 is that the best bonus was that Katie's friend (and my new upstate NY hairdresser) Erica, agreed to "trash" her dress too. So I got two brides for the price of one. Enjoy these images- I, for one, could look at them all day and not get bored.

Now if only I can come up with a way to photograph my own trash the dress session....
Katie & Erica- thanks so much for letting me photograph you in your beautiful dresses, hope you love the shots as much as I do!

the prettiest senior photo shoot

2010-04-29T19:12:00.000-07:00

I feel like I could get into trouble by saying that this was the prettiest senior photo shoot, but I haven't done a female senior shoot in a while and really, I live in the moment, so the next female senior photo shoot could be the prettiest one, too. *Side note, your position as favorite/prettiest/funniest etc is always in jeopardy with me, so enjoy it if I tell you something like that. As I said, I live in the moment and the next thing could be the favorite/prettiest/funniest.*
Anyway, this shoot was a BLAST! Rachel is gorgeous, as you will soon see, but she is also classy, creative, and totally unique in the best way. I mean who else gets their senior pictures done in last years prom dress??
It really was such a delight to do these photos. As I told Rachel's mom (Dawn), it's rare that I fill up a memory card in one photo shoot, but I just couldn't stop! The lighting was amazing, Rachel is a natural in front of the camera, and the location was gorgeous!

I mean, seriously. Gorgeous, right?

This is one of my favorite pictures. I love the beauty and the grunge.

I want you to know that I know that just about anyone else in that pose would look cheesy. With Rachel, it works.

This is my second favorite picture. I loved Rachel's wardrobe choices!

And who else would think to bring their dog to a senior photo shoot?

I mean a saxophone, a horse, a varsity jacket, a football - sure. But your dog? I LOVE it! So unique!

I love it when someone just is who they are and it is so naturally creative and neat and they don't even know they are like that, but it totally works. That's what I love about how God created us; when we be who we are, it works every time. I digress...

And this is the "mom shot." Dawn gave Rachel and I full creative license, she only asked for one (I gave her more than that) good, classic, "this is my gorgeous daughter" head shot. So, here you go!

Rachel, as of today this was in fact, the prettiest senior photo shoot ever. Thanks for being a part of it and for letting me capture your life, which is truly a work of art!

a gift certificate (finally redeemed)!

2010-04-18T07:55:00.000-07:00

Sometimes it just takes a little longer to get together than you might think. With kids and work and life, things (like scheduling a photo shoot) can take time. Sara and her husband Andy purchased a shoot for his son (Karson) and wife (Beth) for Christmas in 2008 and we finally did the shoot last week! What can I say, good things take time.

This is Sara and Andy. They bought the gift certificate.

And inspired this weeks special- see below for details!

These are Karson and Beth's cute kids.

Sara brought some bread for them to feed the ducks. The geese were really the only ones who got any food, which are actually quite mean and scary birds. My mom got chased by one one time, this is not a joke.

I love the setting sun in this image. God really is the best creator of such things.

It was a fun day and a good photo shoot! All fun days end with a kiss from the one who loves you the most! Karson, Beth, Sara, Andy, kiddos- thanks for letting me glimpse into your life. It is a work of art!

The Sara and Andy Special iiisssss (drum roll....) buy a gift certificate for a friend or family member and receive a *mini- photo shoot for yourself (and spouse)!
*Rules and regulations apply. A mini photo shoot will consist of meeting 20 minutes prior to the photo shoot that is scheduled for your friend or family member. 15-20 images will be taken of you and yours then a full photo shoot will be done for whoever the gift certificate is purchased for. One CD of all images will be given to the purchaser to be distributed to both parties. S&A Special Expires April 30, 2010 (shoot must be purchased by April 30, 2010, but can be scheduled at a later date).
Please email or call for further details. celinadb@gmail.com or 1 (970) 497-9533

a sweet Filipino and some awesome food

2010-04-11T18:58:00.000-07:00

I have a friend.
She is a sweet *Filipino.
She came over.
She cooked some Filipino food.
We ate it.
It was delicious.
Here are the photos.

*So the place is the "Philippines," and the people are "Filipino." Michelle explained it to me and it has something to do with being colonized by the Spanish. I didn't fully understand it and I can't be sure I used the correct spelling when referring to some things, so please forgive my ignorance and feel free to correct me where I have misused these two words.

Sweet Michelle. A great friend and an amazing cook (also check out her sweet new glasses)!

She cooked.

I chopped

(I fried, too. But she did the work- I had nothing to do with the taste of the meal.)

Filipino food is not complete without RICE. Yes, we did cook it ON the washer but IN a rice cooker. Listen, counter space was at a premium with all the chopping going on. Besides, in 900 square feet you have to be creative.

Some other offerings from the Philippines. Michelle says the chocolate sticks are given out at Christmas time at the Compassion project she was a part of as a child. They were delicious! Mangoes are essential to any Philippine diet. She says the mangoes here have a medicinal taste that they don't have back home. Probably the pesticides...

The "lumpia" basically a Filipino version of a spring roll.

Almost ready....

Aaaannnnddddd, eat!!

Michelle, thanks for coming over and serving us delicious food!
Your life (and your cooking) is a work of art!

the pioneer woman's macro photography assignment

2010-04-11T15:10:00.000-07:00

The Pioneer Woman (who I LOVE for her cooking, writing, and photography) often assigns her (millions) of followers with photography assignments. The deal is, you submit your picture that correlates to whatever the assignment is and somehow, after a week, she looks at all the 50,000 submissions and picks a few winners. The point isn't to win, but it is super fun to follow the assignment and yes, maybe hope to win a B & H gift certificate.

The assigment this week is "macro" and since I happen to love macro photography, I decided to take a few shots. Macro photography is essentially super close up with a shallow depth of field (blurry background). Sometimes there is no background at all because the item is so close up, there is nothing else to see. You generally need a good lens for this type of photography, but it can be achieved with any old lens, it will just take a little more work. Anyway, I am submitting a few photos for the assignment but in the meantime, I thought it would be fun to show you some of my recent macro shots. Not all of them will be submitted, but I did have fun taking them!

If you have any good macro shots- submit them on PW's Flickr group and maybe you will win!!

Do you get the feeling that I love glass jars?

And, no photo shoot is complete without a little Wilson action...

I don't think I am going to submit this one, because I think it is hard to tell what it is, but I do think it is cool and it follows the assignment well. Can you tell what it is?? (I'll give you a hint, it was a Costco purchase made by my husband for a windy day date...)

If you have been following my blog, you may remember this from a post I did about Sweet Daphne Confections. Weird, another glass jar....

Well, I will let you know if I win. If I don't win, I had fun anyways. Hope you did, too!

she's having a baby (shower)

2010-04-05T20:41:00.000-07:00

My job at Compassion International is amazing, but it wouldn't be half as good if a) my organization didn't have the mission they have (releasing children in the developing world from poverty) and b) I didn't have the wonderful friends that I have there (Valeen Tschamler et al.) This post is not about why you should sponsor a child at Compassion International (although I am certain you should), this post is about my amazing friend Valeen and her baby shower. First let me just tell you that Valeen is such a good friend and exactly the gift that I needed during this time of my life (please note my use of bold and italics indicates that I say this statement very strongly and if you know me then you can probably hear the inflection). Valeen has endured, with grace, the many facets of Celina. I will not expound on my flaws, because after all this is about Valeen and I wouldn't want to steal her thunder, but again if you know me, you know exactly what I am talking about. At any rate, Valeen is amazing and without her, there are many days I would have given up. I am so grateful for the friendship we share and super excited that in less than 6 weeks, she is having a baby girl!! Her and her husband Chris aren't spilling the beans about her name, I happen to think it's Ebenezer (even if it isn't, this baby has a legacy of obedience and faithfulness that WILL shine,) my suspicions on the name, however, are unconfirmed....
Anyway, the shower was a great production thrown by her friend, ~~Martha Stewart~~ Sydney Schwarz.

This line of tea pots was just too pretty not to capture

In honor of spring and new life, the party favor was little nests filled with chocolate eggs. So cute!

The gift pile was a small picture of how loved and cherished Valeen is and

how loved and cherished this baby will be!

This little gift is called a "Hooter Hider" and apparently, it's one of those things you need when you have a baby, I won't expound because if you don't get it then you probably shouldn't. Anyway, Sydney made it and it perfectly matches the baby's room.

Ok, raise your hand if you not only have good friends at work, but also a boss who actively seeks to mentor and develop you? Oh, no one has their hands up... yeah I am blessed. Above is my boss Quinetta and she is every bit as amazing as any boss I have ever had-- combined, times 3, plus 4. She is amazing!

Valeen was surrounded by so many women who love her and cannot wait to share in the life of the little Tschamler coming soon to this world!

Valeen, I hope you enjoyed your special shower.

I can't wait to meet your little girl and I am sure I will love her as much as I love you, friend!

grow, little garden, grow!

2010-03-28T20:11:00.000-07:00

To celebrate spring, to encourage good health and good eating habits, and to continue our pursuit of living simply the Baldwin's are planting a vegetable garden. We have never really grown anything significant. In fact, I have killed all but two plants in our house and the flowers that bloom in the front yard do so without my consent or assistance. I planted them two years ago and although they are annuals they just keep coming back. They don't seem to know that a year is all they were destined to live. I am fully aware that a vegetable garden may be another story and we are both actually looking forward to the work it will take. We are entering into this knowing that probably more than 1/2 of what we plant won't turn into anything at all, but I don't know anyone who grew vegetables by sitting around doing nothing, ~~except maybe a couch potato~~ so we're doing something and hoping for the best!

To begin our adventure in gardening we decided today was the day to take the big Home Depot trip.

We priced out the raised bed project:
approximately $80 USD

We dreamed of how wonderful our year of composting will serve us in our new garden:

(Indoor compost bucket for kitchen scraps gets saved up and then dumped

in the back yard compost pile- it's honestly not as gross as you might think.)

We purchased seeds:

(we bought organic because if you don't start with organic, who knows what is in the seeds...)

(these seeds are "guaranteed to grow." We'll have to see about that :)

and other useful items for seed starting:

We talked about where the new vegetable garden would go:

(on the far right against the fence where the morning sun will cast it's magical spell.)

(On another note, does our yard look trashy? I feel like it does. Nothing a garden won't fix I guess...)

When we got home, we got the pots ready:

Finally, we planted our tiny seeds in our tiny pots:

Lettuce seeds...(above) so tiny! Snow peas (below) a little bigger than you might think.

Andy is using an ancient Chinese seed planting technique.

Ok, so not actually, but his idea of using a chop stick to open the pots to make room for the seeds was a good time saver that also helped my nails not get so dirty.

And that is the beginning of our gardening adventure. Stay tuned for giant tomatoes, record-breaking squash and an abundance of vegetables so huge we have to start our own farmers market. Or something like that.....

No matter what grows or what doesn't grow, we tried, we had fun, and together we dreamed. If nothing grows this year, maybe next year, or the next year. And if after many years of trying still nothing grows, maybe we'll try raising cattle or goats or buffalo. That can't be hard, can it?

Happy Spring, friends! Enjoy the sun, your life, and the abundance your own hard work can produce!

a wedding assistant

2010-03-20T20:44:00.000-07:00

This week I got to assist my fellow photographer and friend Becky with a wedding she landed. It was great to spend time with her and "talk shop" for 4 hours while we snapped away. She posted a funny blog about us inadvertently photographing each other here.

Anyway, here is some of my work from the wedding. I just bought a new action set from Totally Rad Actions and for these photos I tried to exclusively use my new actions. It was hard. A couple of times I cheated. There is such a learning curve with these things and I have found that sometimes an action will look AMAZING on one photo and horrible on another. That's why as a photographer, I earn whatever anyone pays me in the post work (aka photoshop magic). Unless you are a die-hard naturalist, don't hire anyone to do photography for you who doesn't do post work!! (I'm not saying my post work is amazing, I'm just saying it has to be done...)

This is Ben. He is amazingly adorable!

I love rounded corners, they remind me of the '70's!

This is a new action from the set called "cinnamon toast" it is one that I tried on another picture and it looked AWFUL! On this one, though, it did just the trick!

Here is a good example of a broken rule. I posted a tip here about photographing children and the fact of the matter is that sometimes you just want to capture things the way they actually are- like this little cutie.

Quick! Someone take a picture! I dare you to find someone in this shot without a camera.

My favorite thing about weddings is the details. That is why I like when I have the opportunity to assist someone; they get to do all the worrying about not missing big moments and I get to capture the little things happening on the sidelines.

Melissa's dress was so sparkly with the setting sun filtering through the window. I tried to capture it, but I didn't do it justice...

And they lived happily ever after (as did I with my new actions)!

a fellow new yorker and a fellow western sloper

2010-03-20T16:31:00.000-07:00

Lyndsey= fellow New Yorker, Andy = fellow western sloper. (I think I made up the word "sloper", but that's no problem since it is my blog, I can make up words all day long.) Anyway, it was fun to talk about Montrose with Andy and of course, Lyndsey and I have long ago discussed upstate NY. These two cuties are getting married in July; I'm excited for their upcoming union!

The shoot was planned for Friday, but snow was coming and it was 60 degrees on Thursday, so we made an adjustment. Oh the wonders of Colorado weather...We decided to do this shoot at the Broadmoor since that's where they got engaged.

Apparently, Lyndsey had a stint with modeling; her smile shows it!

I love when people are easy to photograph!

Andy wasn't as comfortable with the whole "camera in your face thing", but then he said, "wait, so you are asking me to kiss and hug my girlfriend? Ok, sure!"

I guess that's all it took for him to get into the moment.....

I love, love, love Lyndsey's ring!

It is so dainty and vintagey (told you I could make up my own words)

Andy's transition lenses kept transitioning, so that's why he's wearing sunglasses.

This bridge is where they got engaged!

I always love hearing "engagement" stories and theirs was no exception.

Andy and Lyndsey, your life is a work of art; I enjoyed capturing it for you!

a dancer + one

2010-03-09T13:20:00.000-08:00

My friend Daniella is a beautiful person and an amazing dancer...today (and for the next few months) she is a beautiful pregnant dancer. It was her great idea to shoot inside a dance studio and do some maternity shots. I can take credit for very little except showing up.

The above image is my favorite!

Love the pose, the expression and the post-work (aka, photoshop magic.)

I'm sure good publishing would have me save it for the end, but I couldn't wait!

If there is an image in this set that I think most reflects Daniella, I would say it is the image above. Since they say a picture is worth a thousand words, I'll let you figure out what that means. If you happen to know Dan, I'd love to hear your thoughts on this. Is there another image here that you think better reflects her? Dan, what do you think?

This is a good runner-up for the image that best reflects this pregnant dancer....

Love this image (above). My favorite shots are always those with a strong foreground and a shallow depth of field. Maybe someday when I actually understand depth of field, I'll post a tip about it, until then, good luck!

Instead of us striving for another hour to create some posed dance moves, we finally decided to play some music and have Dan actually dance. What do you know, it worked: juiced up our creativity and we got some good images to boot.

Of course, it is hard to not get good images when your subject is this gorgeous.
Daniella, your life is a work of art; thanks for letting me capture it!

the most beautiful person I know

2010-02-25T21:00:00.000-08:00

“…to give them beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he might be glorified.”

My friend, Charity Freeland is the most beautiful person I know. Without telling her entire story I will tell you this:
At the age of 17, Charity was driving her sister and her sisters friend to a dance. There was an terrible accident and the car they were driving in caught fire. The two girls escaped, but Charity was stuck tight in her seat belt and unable to escape the flames. On-lookers to the accident had to watch the vehicle burn, knowing that even if they attempted rescue and went unharmed themselves, the burning victim inside the vehicle would be in such bad shape, they would likely not be able to recover from their injuries. Inside the vehicle, as she struggled for release, Charity said to herself, "someone has to cut this seat belt or it has to burn through." (This was more of a prayer than anything because seat belts don't burn; they melt.) At this miraculous moment, something gave and the seat belt released. She escaped the car and was aided by those at the scene. Another few moments and their prognosis would have been accurate.

Charity died twice in the course of the next couple of weeks. She spent years in rehab and physical therapy, had countless surgeries, and attended her high school graduation in a full body pressure garment (jobst suit).

I met Charity in 2003 at a time of deep pain and wounding in my own life. I moved to Montrose, Colorado to get some healing and help for the insurmountable issues I was facing. As soon as I got there, my host (another instrumental person in my life) started talking about Charity and how she was so "whole." I'll be honest, I had no idea what that even meant, but I was interested to find out.

The thing that is most striking when you meet Charity is how comfortable she in her own skin and how beautiful she is despite her injuries. She is famous for saying that most peoples scars are on the inside and hers are just on on the outside. She doesn't see herself as different from the rest of the world. She knows that on the inside, most of us look just like her. Despite what she has been through, Charity does not have a victim mentality. (In fact, I don't believe I have ever heard Charity refer to herself as a "victim", burned or otherwise.) She knows and trusts God to a level that has allowed her to understand that whatever happened in her life, it will somehow be used for His glory and purposes. Her life is a bright, shining reflection of how God can take our pain and not only redeem it but also use it to help others.

Charity has an amazing vision to help children who have endured traumatic events heal and then re-enter society as functioning and healthy. Hope's Journey International is her newly birthed, but long awaited non-profit. She is a someday author and speaker, and one of the very best friends I have.

Her beauty is evident.

These hands aren't broken despite what you see; in fact they know something that you and I could do well to learn: the only way to live, is to die; the only way to be whole, is to be broken.

Charity, your life is a work of art; thanks for letting me capture it!

a tip for photographing children and pets

2010-02-24T22:02:00.000-08:00

One thing I believe about photography is that anyone can do it. Of course some possess natural gifts and talents and some don't, but I don't believe that excludes anyone from capturing life's moments in a half-way decent way. Not everyone is going to be amazing, but there are small things that everyone can do to make their photography even just a little better. This new section of my blog is an attempt to help you do just that; get just a little bit better.

I will say right now that I am NOT by any means an expert photographer. I just love what I do and I do what I love and I learn along the way. As I learn, I will pass that onto you! Always, if you have any questions or want to add any suggestions to what I post, please feel free! Now onto the tip....

My tip for photographing children and pets is this:
Get down on the level of your subject.

As with any tip, there are always reasons to not follow it. The reason that you would want to follow this guideline is that when you get down on the level of your subject, then the camera sees the image as it really is. You can always photograph a child or a pet from above because then the camera sees the image as you see it. The subject will appear diminished when you shoot from above, but at eye level, they will appear more as they actually are.

Don't be afraid to experiment! Try one from above and one from the subject level. And always with photography, don't be afraid to get dirty. Get down on the ground, climb up on a tree, stand on a pedestal. Do whatever you can to be creative!

Just remember that your life is a work of art; capture it!

Notice the difference in the images on the left and the images on the right.

Which one appeals to you more? Does one stand out as better? Are you wondering if this dog actually has a fourth leg that you can't see? (She doesn't.)

My next tip is going to be on shooting black animals. It is tricky, but possible!
When you look at Wilson are you wondering how we got so lucky as to have the cutest dog in the world? I know you are. Please don't feel bad, your dog is OK, too.

a high noon senior photo shoot

2010-02-15T19:36:00.000-08:00

The key to a successful high noon photo shoot is to, well, get out of the "noon." It is, in fact, the worst possible lighting situation (aside from the absence of light) that I know of. You know this, too. Imagine your family picnic last summer. "Come on everyone, let's take some pictures." The results probably were something like this: squinty eyes, shadows under eyes, and flat images. Tip # 1 for this situation: find shade. Tip # 2: ok, well that's actually all I got....there must be some answers on the web. I'll post a tip about this soon on my Facebook fan page.

Luckily, there were a ton of cool buildings that we could hide behind, lean up against, and find shelter in for this shoot. I think these photos turned out great!

Hope the Redigers enjoy them, too!

Thanks, Michael for bearing with me as I tested out my new camera and all it's fancy settings!

I would love to say the above image is my favorite, and in fact it is, but I also really love the rest of these, too. Michael, if you ever join a band or something, feel free to use this photo. :)

This above image is probably also my favorite; it looks like a movie. Can you see the shadows under his eyes, though? Sometimes, you just have to deal with it, but this is a good example of what happens at noon.

And this is a good example of what happens when you hide behind a building :)

Michael, your life is a work of art.

Thanks for letting me capture it!

a sweet Valentines post for all you lovers out there

2010-02-14T19:28:00.000-08:00

re·new

v. re·newed, re·new·ing, re·news

v.tr.

1. To make new or as if new again; restore: renewed the antique chair.

2. To take up again; resume: renew an old friendship; renewed the argument.

3. To repeat so as to reaffirm: renew a promise.

4. To regain or restore the physical or mental vigor of; revive: I renewed my spirits in the country air.

a. To arrange for the extension of: renew a contract; renew a magazine subscription.

b. To arrange to extend the loan of: renewed the library books before they were overdue.

6. To replenish: renewed the water in the humidifier.

7. To bring into being again; reestablish.

v.intr.

1. To become new again.

2. To start over.

This weekend, after years of separation, talk of divorce, and desperation, my parents renewed their wedding vows. I remember years ago saying to myself, "I never want a marriage like that." And I can now say with confidence that the whole thing is renewed and I would be honored to walk as they walk today in my own marriage. It has been an amazing transformation and journey that I have been blessed to watch. The truth is that until both of my parents realized that they were each individually the problem, nothing changed. It was when they both fully surrendered to God, accepted responsibility, and began to work on their own garbage, that life began to change and renewal blossomed.

To celebrate this event, we had a big ole party! We called it a Pioneer Woman celebration, in honor of Mom and Jon and their love of a) country life, b) The Pioneer Woman's food. Everyone had to dress up either in city or country garb and we all had to bring a favorite dish of Ree's. It was delicious and fun (and a great theme if you ever want to have a potluck).

Honestly, I am amazed as I sit here and type this about all that God has done. The truth about God is that His love for us is so complete, so perfect, so amazing and so true that He will never change us without our permission. If you are struggling today to regain control of your life- give up! Give it all to Him and HE WILL DO IT!

Here's to two lovers who gave Him complete authority.

I don't know if you can see the kiss mark on this babies forehead, but it's from my mom, who in the absence of me having any children yet (exclusively for her benefit, of course) went to Montrose to find some grandbabies of her own....

My favorite kind of picture is the laughing kind. People are the most beautiful when they are so full of joy that it comes out in a great big laugh!

For the renewal of their vows, Mom and Jon did both a sand ceremony and a rope ceremony. The sand is the equivalent of the unity candle, but cooler in that you always have the sand to remind you of your promise. You normally take two colors of sand and pour them into a transparent jar as a visual reminder of two lives mingled. They added a new twist by pouring a third color of sand at the bottom to symbolize their old life. My husband had a friend who did this at his wedding and from what I hear, he used to tell his wife if she wanted a divorce, she would need to separate all the sand. The rope ceremony is to demonstrate that a cord of three strands is not quickly broken (husband, wife, God.)

Two couples I am eternally grateful to personally. David and Kathleen Tabor (left) who I lived with and was discipled by for four years or more. (Right now I could use four more years, but thats another story....) John and Gayle Strantz (right) who did Andy and I's pre-marital counseling. Both couples have not only spoken into my life, but they were instrumental in this renewal for my parents Mom. Folks, you can not imagine the reward you will have for investing in God's favorite creation- people! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And to my own sweetie, I love you so much! You are my strength, my love, and the best thing that could have happened to me. We've got a long way to go, but we've come a long way and believe me, I am NOT separating that sand! Love you, Andy!!

Thanks to Jeff Tabor for teaching me about my camera and filling in with some shots! And special thanks to Charity Freeland and Marie Perez for all their hard work!

My beautiful, lovely 90 year old grandma (and some rounded corners)

2010-01-29T20:53:00.000-08:00

I swear to you my grandmother looked exactly the same 30 years ago as she does today and I love her for it. Her familiarity, her grace, her smile, the way she never ages, the way she remembers a story that happened 60 years ago, but doesn't remember that you just told her about your new job. She is an amazing woman and I am grateful to be hers.

My dad (her son) died in 2001, but I know he would be proud of his kids loving on his momma. We have her and she has us and together we remember what we will never forget.

In all her grief, she still has room for love.

Hug someone you love today and let them know how much they mean to you; you don't get the guarantee of tomorrow and neither do they.....

Atha Wedding//Getting your groove on

2010-01-29T20:00:00.000-08:00

As I said when I took Ian and Diana's engagement pictures, this is one fun couple. The reception was absolute proof. Even the photographer got to do a little dancing (there is no evidence of that anywhere, though, so don't ask and if you happen to hire me to photograph your wedding, don't worry, I'll behave professionally.) All in all, I am happy about how this wedding turned out. I hope Ian and Diana are as happy with their choice for photographer as they are with their choice for each other. Well, OK, I don't expect that kind of happiness, just gratitude.

This is quite possibly my most favorite image from the entire wedding

I think the effects on this image are cool; not something you can do to every image, but when it works, it works!

Oh the father/daughter dance always makes me cry and this was no exception.

The Weavers have done it, they have married off their last daughter. Now that boys will stop knocking on their doors, they can probably get some rest. Oh wait, now it's onto granchildren....speaking of grandchildren. Here's one cute one below.

Oh the dancing! SO much fun!

This is not what I was doing when I was dancing, in case you were wondering

But I did get in on this action; who can resist the YMCA? I think I see the caterers and the clean up crew in this picture, too, so don't judge me

Happy, happy life to a deserving couple!

Can I have a couple of these?

2010-01-25T19:02:00.000-08:00

I just had to post this picture. This baby is amazingly, wonderfully, fully and completely gorgeous.

Getting Hitched//Atha Wedding December 2009

2010-01-23T19:35:00.000-08:00

Well, you can tell I am a little bit behind....this wedding was December 12 and I am only 2/3 of the way done with my editing. BUT, I am 2/3 of the way done with my editing!

I'll be honest, the ceremony is my least favorite part of any wedding to shoot. The reason is that there is never a good place to stand without feeling like I am that annoying photographer. You know the one that distracts everyone from a beautiful ceremony by running around, flashing lights in everyone's eyes, and generally being in the way. If anyone has any tips, please pass them along as to how I can get the good shots without being obnoxious. Thanks, and enjoy the ceremony from where I stood.

Getting Dressed//Atha wedding December 2009

2010-01-04T17:54:00.000-08:00

I don't usually do this, but I decided to do three posts from Diana and Ian's wedding. Most weddings really consists of three parts anyway : Getting Dressed, Getting Hitched, and Getting Your Groove On.

Since I have only edited my way through the Getting Dressed pictures, I think I will get some personal gratification by posting a blog about it. Helps me get through the rest of the work, you know?
Anyway, as I expected- super fun wedding for a super fun couple.
Congratulations again to the newly united Atha's.

P.S. Just after I shot this wedding I was gifted with a brand new Canon 50D from my super amazing in-laws; dreams really do come true! Now, I for sure can't wait to shoot my next wedding. Who will it be???

You won't be getting a Christmas card from us, but here are the 2009 Baldwin Family Pictures

2009-12-21T16:26:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas and happy new year!

Baldwin Downtown Denver 3 Year Anniversary Bash (and the Denver Microbrew Tour)

2009-12-21T16:24:00.000-08:00

Well, we made it. 3 years. It went by so fast and yet seems like an eternity. Sometimes I feel like I have never known a life without Andy. Sometimes I wonder who he is and what he is doing inside my house. Anyway, we are in love and we, just like everyone else who is "happily married", are regularly working through issues in our relationship. And really that is what marriage is all about. Being committed to slogging through the crap together so you can enjoy the life God has for you. Not that the crap isn't part of it....you know what I am saying? It's hard, but it's good. And I don't know if I would have it any other way.

Here is our standard anniversary image. Self taken in the lobby of the downtown Denver Hyatt.

Andy is usually in charge of the surprise anniversary cake (he started this tradition our first year since we couldn't bear to eat year old wedding cake, he commissioned a friend to make us one. Since he doesn't work with said friend anymore, I asked Sweet Daphne to make us one.)

It was gorgeous and delicious!

Cool bikes in downtown Denver.

The weekend highlight was the Denver Microbrew Tour. This event was super fun, inexpensive, and educational. It's only $20 and a serious blast! Below are images from the tour. Seriously, check it out. I'm not kidding. Take your friends or your mom or whoever, but be prepared to have a good and tasty time.

You start the tour at the Great Divide Brewing Company. It is a microbrewery that actually brews thier beer on site. You get to see everything!

I felt like Laverne and Shirley.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight.
Sclemeel, schlemazel, hasenfeffer incorporated.
We're gonna do it!

Give us any chance, we'll take it.
Give us any rule, we'll break it.
We're gonna make our dreams come true.
Doin' it our way.

Nothin's gonna turn us back now,
Straight ahead and on the track now.
We're gonna make our dreams come true,
Doin' it our way.

There is nothing we won't try,
Never heard the word impossible.
This time there's no stopping us.
We're gonna do it.

On your mark, get set, and go now,
Got a dream and we just know now,
We're gonna make our dream come true.
And we'll do it our way, yes our way.
Make all our dreams come true,
And do it our way, yes our way,
Make all our dreams come true
For me and you.

We tried "Pattys sweet chile beer"

Once does so happen to be enough if you can believe it....

In summary, a good time was had by all in attendance at the "Baldwin Downtown Denver 3 Year Anniversary Bash." Yeah, it was just me and Andy, but whatever. We had a good time.

the Baldwin family truth about consumerism

2009-12-17T19:58:00.000-08:00

I love this quote, "You can't do everything, but you must do something." When it comes to consumerism, I want to do my something and join in the fight against it. Maybe it's because I work at Compassion and I know that when we throw away our "antiquated" computers they end up in the developing world being stripped for parts and all the poison we didn't want in our own nation ends up in the water ways of the poorest of the poor- making them, well, poorer and sicker and stripping them of what little resources they had. Maybe it's because since we have gotten on a budget, I see more and more that having the newest and best always ends up being the oldest and the dullest in just a few years which makes the newest and the best rarely worth spending on. Maybe it's because I know that one day all the "stuff" we hold so dear will end up in a trash heap.

I hate consumerism. I hate how it makes me feel, how it draws me in and how it controls my wallet. I hate it. And yet I know I am just like everyone else. I am not living in the woods churning my own butter and walking to work. I buy and want, buy and want and the cycle never ends.

Maybe it's an awakening....no matter what it is, I feel compelled to share what we are doing to join the fight. I am not pretending that we are doing this the best or doing anything original or even that we are doing our fair share. I think the fight is lifelong. I think that consumerism is a mindset that has been working in my brain since at age 8, I got my first look at the JcPenny catalog. I literally wanted every thing in there. Everything. Since this mindset is so ingrained, I know it's not going to end tomorrow, but I can do something today and doing something today is better than doing nothing.....

The Baldwin family truth is not revolutionary and I bet if you ask grandma how she lived 50 years ago she might tell you this....."If it isn't broken, we don't need a new one." That's how we live...that's our truth.

Example # 1 of the Baldwin family truth about consumerism: our washing machine and dryer. Soon to be married, we bought our first house in 2006. It came with the washer and dryer (pictured above) and the same ones we have today. Neither of them are energy star approved or shiny or red or steam fluff your clothes, but guess what- they both work and they will probably continue to work for many years to come. And I happen to think that until they stop working, we will own them. Unless our next house comes with another set, then we might trade up :)

Example # 2: 1989 Honda Accord. Andy's first love. This sweet friend of ours has been back and forth to Montrose more times than Fed Ex. She has over 220,000 miles on her and she purrs like a kitten. Do I love this car? No, I don't, not at all. It doesn't have power steering, things break on her sometimes and one time right exactly at 200K some piece of metal flew out of the transmission and caused a leak that many would say was a terminal injury. After a few attempts at fixing it with JB Weld it stopped leaking! (I don't know what that is, but Andy does and he fixed it himself.) It runs on ethanol because one year Andy wanted to convert her over and now that's how she rolls. This year a trucker side-swiped her and made the lovely design you see below on the rim of the driver side tire. The owner of the trucking company paid us more than the car was worth, we pocketed the money and she still runs like a top. Do we need a new car? NO! Do we want one? Of course, and while I somehow doubt our next real estate deal will include a Honda Element, we'll be happy either way.

Why? Because we have not one but TWO cars that run, a washer and dryer that wash and dry our clothes for us, a dog that eats better than 60% of the worlds human population, 50 pairs of shoes, and an outfit for every day of the month and lots of other nice things that many people in this world live without. While many people say that they NEED a new car, many people walk everywhere they go because they have to. While many people say they NEED a new jacket, many people go cold all winter long because they don't even have the essentials. I'm not saying we have deny ourselves the things we want, I guess I am just saying "consider." Before you buy something you just have to have, consider what someone else doesn't have. Maybe the way you fight consumerism is to give away your old coat when you buy a new one. I don't know, but what I do know is that I am just a steward, not an owner of anything and when it comes time to answer to HIM, I want to know that I can show what I did with what I was given was more than just please myself. I'm not pushing guilt here, either, I'm just saying, be conscious, be generous, and be smart about the things you buy.

Anyway, you can see that we are not doing that much, but we are doing something. We're killing our flesh and not letting the next thing "we have to have" run our lives. We're using our resources until they can't be used anymore instead of ditching them for something shinier.

Oh- and one more lesson, since we decided this is how we want to live, we buy stuff we can live with for a while, since we know we won't get to trade it in all the time for the next best thing.
Now this, this I can live with and it's the best thing :)

If you have 20 minutes, click on "the Baldwin family truth about consumerism" and watch the video, "the story of stuff" then ask yourself, "What do I need to do with what I know?" Let us know what you are doing and what you think of what we are doing by posting a comment.

Sweet Daphne Confections

2009-12-14T18:18:00.000-08:00

So my friend from work, Candy, has this amazing niece Megan. I first met Megan when she invited a bunch of us over for dessert at her super cool house in Black Forest. I was amazed by the beautiful deliciousness she served that day and I was inspired by her pure talent! Megan is one of the most amazing confections artists I have ever known personally. OK scratch that, she is the most amazing confection artist I have ever known personally. (I may or may not have made up the term "confections artist" but either way, I like it.) Anyway, I scored myself an invitation to the "soft opening" of her bakery under the clever guise of photography. If I was able to stop eating canolis and eclairs for a few seconds, I probably could have gotten a couple more pictures. I don't regret any of it and I am going back this week for some more treats. It was fun to do some product shots and I hope to learn more about this aspect of photography. Tips are welcome!

As for Sweet Daphne, you won't regret supporting this amazing, delicious, and affordable local business!
2825 Dublin Blvd
Colorado Springs, CO 80918
719-599-7178

This is really what our dog does when we are not home- I'm serious

2009-12-06T10:26:00.000-08:00

Yes, that is our clothes dryer. Yes, that is Wilson lounging on it. No, we have no idea why.

(cold) December Saturday Family Pictures

2009-12-06T10:14:00.000-08:00

The more I learn about Photoshop the more I learn that you really don't have to be that amazing of a photographer, you just need Photoshop! Ok, that's not entirely true. You do need to know something about your camera, lighting, working with people, and capturing a good image. Anyway, this family made it all pretty easy- so thanks, Hardage's for the opportunity!

The Golden Hour Engagement Session

2009-11-29T11:59:00.000-08:00

I reveal my ignorance to you when I say that I have never heard of the term "Golden Hour" until Diana asked if the lighting was going to be OK and her soon to be groom said, "Yes, it's the golden hour." Now of course, I have known for sometime that the very best natural lighting for photography occurs at sunrise and sunset. I just never heard it coined "Golden hour" but I love it. As much as I love these pictures. Thanks Ian and Diana for agreeing to my every suggestion on location, time, and even wardrobe. Hope you enjoy these and can't wait to shoot your wedding in a few weeks!!

Please believe me when I say that I did not ask these two to dance. I turned around for one second and when I looked back they were spontaneously cutting up a rug. Or the barren trail we were on. If this is any indicator of what their marriage will be like, I hope they invite me over for games because this is one fun couple.

P.S. This is my first collage in photoshop, please don't make fun of me :)

Told you they were fun. They did this within minutes of our arrival.

The Hacketts

2009-11-27T09:50:00.001-08:00

As an aspiring photographer, I have encountered many challenges in various photo shoots. This job was no exception. Three challenges presented themselves to me. Challenge #1- Weather/temperature. It was much much colder than appropriate. So cold, in fact, that even though we were on the playground, the kids asked more than once to go home. Challenge #2- Dogs. Dogs are always a challenge, especially if they are deaf. Chance did great, though, and I got some good shots of him. He is very clearly a member of the Hackett family! Challenge #3- Lighting. Oh my. Even though we scheduled this shoot as the sun was setting, the light was unbelievably bright and direct. And cast very long shadows.
I'd like to say, "lesson learned" but none of the challenges above are rare or changeable. What I tend to do in these situations is overcompensate by taking too many photos instead of taking careful photos. But kids are fast and I was afraid I would miss something, so instead I made it harder on the photoshop end of my workflow and had to chose 80 or so pictures that worked of the 510 that I took. Anyway, I love the challenge and the lessons and I loved shooting this family! Next time, though, lets do it when it is at least warm!!
Thanks so much to the Hackett's who gave me the chance the capture their life!

your life//a work of art
celina d baldwin photography
970//497//9533

Thanksgiving 2009

2009-11-27T07:48:00.000-08:00

What a great Thanksgiving it was...
Andy and I spent the weekend with my parents in Montrose, CO. We enjoyed a delicious meal, great desserts and a nice walk.
Things I am grateful for:
A life redeemed by the love of Christ
A husband who loves (and at times tolerates) me
Parents who have a restored marriage
Financial provision in a time when we could be down and out (see Daveramsey.com)
Friends who love me and tell me the truth
Photoshop, which has revolutionized my photography!
Crafts (I am an unabashed nerdy homebody)
A great job at Compassion
A lovely family
Grace and there's much much more, but for now, here is your photo tour of our Thankful day....

My mom's dog, Allie. Even with three legs, she is highly photogenic. She loves Thanksgiving. Well, she loves turkey. This is before she smelled it cooking.

Wilson eating his Thanksgiving dinner. Since the cinnamon roll incident*, he didn't get anything special for the holiday. (*Wilson helped himself to a large plate of homemade cinnamon rolls and while doing that broke the pie plate, ingested glass, made Andy mad, then made us worried that he would die of bloat or a bleeding throat or intestines- he is fine)

This turkey was gorgeous! And it fell off the bone! My mom knows how to cook a turkey.

Yay for Costco turkeys!! (Have I ever mentioned that I love Costco? If I was going to get any of these pictures developed, I would do so at Costco)

Since my mom was a 70's child, I thought it only appropriate to run the 70's action on this photo of her. I love her and her cranberry sauce!

Andy cutting the turkey, although he didn't hardly need to since it fell right off the bone....

We took turns resting. Unfortunately for Jon, he was the one resting when I was photographing. I have seen Jon sleep upright in a chair like this more than I have seen a lot of things in this life. He was tired from his new job, he is keeping up with the 20 year olds, or should I say they are keeping up with him.

Our simple, humble table.

Our family. I love these guys and my remote control that lets me take pictures of myself

A gorgeous afternoon walk

I dare you to find me a dog cuter than Wilson the Whoodle.

Can't wait to take engagement pictures in this field today!

The people who raised me. They are to blame, but I'll take some responsibility....

He tolerates and loves me- I am very blessed to have this man...

Jed and Mandie are having a baby!

2009-11-26T16:31:00.000-08:00

I'll be honest. I love taking pictures, but I get nervous. Really nervous. Sweaty nervous. When someone has paid me to capture their life- I take it pretty seriously and I don't want to mess up. Amazingly though, sometime during the shoot something almost always happens: everyone has relaxed a little, we find a cool spot and all of the sudden I get goose bumps and I know that everything is going to be OK. Maybe better than OK. This is what happened when we got to the blue wall in Manitou Springs. I didn't even know it existed, but I am glad I know now! I love these pictures and had a hard time picking my favorites. Thanks again Jed and Mandie and I can't wait to meet Avery!!

Beauty

2009-10-15T19:08:00.001-07:00

I don't believe beauty is only skin deep.
You can be pretty outside and you can be pretty inside.
My friend Karen is both.

Wilson the Whoodle

2009-10-01T18:28:00.000-07:00

We never thought we would be those kind of those people.
But, we are. And I guess we have decided that we are OK with it. In general, I loathe these kinds of people. But, sometimes, you become what you never dreamed you would be and it happened to us: We are crazy about our dog. Crazy. We LOVE this animal. He is funny and smart and cute. I know, it sounds like I am talking about a boyfriend I want all my friends to meet and I do want all of you (all 4 of you) to meet our dog.
He is seriously adorable. Every time, and I really mean every time we take him for a walk or to the dog park, people stop us to ask us about him. And we don't mind because we are those kind of people. We like to talk about our dog. He has been called a mophead, a muppet, and Chewbacca. Before we cut it, he had layers and layers of long silky hair. And it's real hair. Not nasty animal fur. He's hypoallergenic, so he doesn't shed and I don't have to clean up after him. And that makes me happy.
His funniest trait is that he is a complete noodle. He gets in our bed at night to snuggle and when it is time to get out, he acts dead. Literally, he doesn't even move his head. Then you can move his legs and stick them straight in the air and they stay exactly that way. You can push him off the bed halfway and he stays right there. I believe he would lie that way for hours if we let him. Front legs off the bed, head hanging over like he is dead, and back legs planted firmly so he doesn't have to leave.
When he walks his hips sway in the funniest way and we love to watch him. His nub is adorable and we love to see it wagging. It never gets old, talking about our dog or laughing with him (yes I said with) or telling people what a Whoodle* is. He is going to be one year old in a few weeks and we are going to throw him a party. (Ok, it will be me, Andy, Wilson, and FC) but it will be fun. Because we are those people. If you want to see how adorable he is- you can look at these pictures I took. And if you don't want to see these pictures, then please never talk to me again. Okay, you can talk to me, but just keep it short. Just kidding.

Best paws ever- ever

Brown eyes

He's even cute when he scratches, but it wouldn't be cute if he had fleas

A great jumper- and he loves that he can jump.
He is happiest when 3-4 paws are off the ground.

*WHOODLE-(wh-oooo-dle) n. 1. Mutt 2. cross breed dog combining a Wheaten Terrier and a Poodle

The Rediger Family 2008

2009-09-26T14:17:00.000-07:00

I know, I know- I should have posted these ages ago....
The Redigers have 6, yes, I said 6 children. I LOVE this family and I hope you can enjoy these images. Just know that it was a COLD day!

SRFM Silent Auction Photo Shoot Winners

2009-09-26T13:51:00.001-07:00

Special THANKS to the Huff Family of Montrose who won the photo shoot at the SRFM silent auction. This family was a joy to shoot! I hope they enjoy these as much as I did!

Brett & Tara Rye

2009-09-26T13:39:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Brett and Tara Rye!
Married on May 16, 2009
Sterling, CO

A real website?

2009-09-26T13:28:00.000-07:00

Well, I thought long and hard about getting myself a "real" website. I even went to squarespace.com and tried out their web page builder for the free 7 day trial. I added pictures, came up with a new name and started to build. Things were going great until I realized that a) I don't have time for that. b) I am not creative enough to build a website that will make me happy. c) I like taking pictures and I think I'll just focus my energies there and when someday I make enough money to pay someone or have enough time to learn how to build a website, I'll do it then.
In the meantime, I'll keep learning and keep posting!

Tera, Aubriana, & Zach

2008-12-21T16:09:00.000-08:00

Why yes, I did shoot these at the world famous Broadmoor Hotel....Check out this cute family!

The Happy Ila Family- Colorado Springs, CO

2008-11-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

I have been wanting to take some pictures in an urban setting and when my friend Megan asked me to do artsy family shots, I heartily agreed! I used my new lens a Canon 28-135 IS (it has an image stabilizer in it, which is awesome because I hate using a tripod unless I am the only photographer on site and I want to be in the pictures.... :) Enjoy!

I don't know what he is saying, but I promise he isn't screaming!

The Barnes Family

2008-11-08T17:36:00.001-08:00

The Dilger Family Fall 2008

2008-11-04T16:28:00.000-08:00

Jonathan & Katie Trotta 9/27/08

2008-10-11T16:01:00.000-07:00

Lauren & Mick Pregnancy Winter 2008

2008-08-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

Baby Makes Three

2008-08-06T11:28:00.000-07:00

Mother & Son Photos

2008-01-21T14:48:00.001-08:00

Valeri & Michael
December 2007

A Baby on the Way

2008-01-21T07:42:00.001-08:00

Joel & Karen Top are having a baby!

The Tabor Family Photos

2008-01-19T21:20:00.000-08:00

Wedding August 2007

2007-09-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Senior Pictures Jeff '07

2007-08-07T20:07:00.000-07:00

Hot Air Ballon Fest Ridgway, CO

2007-06-08T13:27:00.000-07:00

Wedding May 2007

2007-06-04T07:13:00.000-07:00

Addie & Aaron Engagement Photos

2007-05-25T19:38:00.000-07:00

This is Me

2007-04-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

Hello. My name is Celina Baldwin and I am an aspiring photographer. I shoot with a digital canon rebel xti. The camera does most of the work, but I have an eye for great shots.
This blog is a small sampling of my recent work. I would love the opportunity to shoot pictures for your family or event.
Call or email for pricing and more information

celinadb@gmail.com
970-497-9533

Bowman Brown Wedding August 2006

2007-04-13T10:43:00.000-07:00

Justin Senior Photos

2007-04-13T06:30:00.000-07:00

The Happy Ila Family

2007-04-13T06:29:00.000-07:00

Black Canyon Montrose, Colorado Sunset 2006

2007-03-12T21:06:00.000-07:00