Zone of Fantabulousness!

I blogged earlier about a topic related to one's "Zone of Genius" here. It's basically the area in what you do that you not only excel, but you enjoy the most. Photography is my zone of genius. But because I love to change everything to fit me, I call it my Zone of Fantabulousness. I love made-up words, just like my photography idol Jasmine Star. It's like language is a puddle. Some walk through it, others splash! She and I like to splash. Fantabulously making messes of our language.

Back to my point....

When I am photographing someone, I am calm and having the best time of my life. And I had no idea it would be like that! I was soooo nervous to start my photography career. I've always loved snapping pics of beautiful things and people I love, but that was so casual. No pressure there. So the idea of photographing people I didn't know as well was sort of a bitter sweet fantasy. My soul urged me on to do it, speaking to me in supportive non-splashy language, like, "you have to do it, you won't regret it". But then the insecure side of me screamed, "what if I am so nervous that I can't get the shots I want?"

Yes. I have some issues with being nervous. Ok, crazy whacked issues. Sometimes. So of course, I thought I'd choke and bomb and sputter around like a cheap dying firecracker. Bbbbzzzzeeeee! Pop pop. Smoke. Then nothing. That's the image in my head of what my potential failure could have looked like when beginning my photography career.

But wait! Something brilliantly, oh-so-fantabulous happened! My natural talent soared through the air like one of those giant commercial, totally illegal fireworks that your rebel neighbors shoot off at the 4th of July. I rocked it! I freaking blew my mind!

And so it began...my journey to greatness. Or at least just totally diggin' what I do. And in the dream-crushing world of choosing a career, there's nothing to hope for more than that.

Here's a shot from one of my latest sessions...the beautiful Jenny. And she said she didn't take good pics because of some crazy silly reason...proved her wrong....huh, Jenny? ;-) Nothing short of photogenic!

Love her amberlicious eyes! A gorgeous mom to be x3!

xo
jbnewcomb<3

Children & Families Session with Wings!

"Red Bull gives you wings!" but children certainly don't need Red Bull!

Last week, I had a high-energy photography session with the ever-beautiful Jenny and her gorgeous children. My kids look like veals next to these adorable little firecrackers! Their energy is boundless! They sure kept me on my toes in order to get great shots that really showcase their personalities.

Here's a preview of the shoot:

I just adore this family! And I feel honored to have immortalized their adorable lil personalities in photographs. :-)

xo
jbnewcomb<3

Boobies!

Boobies are fabulous! At least that's what my infant daughter thinks. ;-) Yesterday, we went to a nation-wide event called The Big Latch On by Le Leche. The goal was to have as many women as possible to breastfeed in public for one minute at 10:30am. We had about 70 momma and baby pairs. Woohoo! Go boobies! Here's an article by the Sarasota Herald Tribune.

There were tiny, practically newborn babies, and babies that were not-so-little babies. And then there was my fat little piglet Elena. I just loooove to breastfeed her! {Obviously! She's 18 and a half pounds and only 4 and a half months old!} It's relaxing for us both {and we sleep well together because of it}. This momma isn't losin' sleep, and all because of these glorious lady lumps on my chest!

How cool is it that we are built for this? Ready-made food for our little ones....no bottles, no sanitization, no expensive formula, no gross poopy diapers! That last one makes it totally worth it. And you might think I'm nuts {I do}, but I actually enjoy changing Elena's poopy diapers. lol Ok, I'm not some poopy sicko, I just really like mothering. I enjoy all aspects of taking care of my baby. Oh wait...there's one thing I haven't appreciated this time around...vommit all over my bed! lol But let's not delve too far into that subject!

Watching all of these beautiful mothers breastfeeding inspired me to want to photograph mommies feeding their babies. I am SO in love with breastfeeding, that I want to celebrate it with my art. So, my next goal is to take a ton of pictures of breastfeeding mommas. Maybe I'll even create an art book. Maybe I'll title it Celebrate the Beauty of Breastfeeding. ;-)

A very cool thing is that I saw several women from my midwifery birth center Birthways. AND I got to chat with Risa Segal, a gal as beautiful as ever that I went to high school with! Her baby boy is GORGEOUS and only a half month younger than Elena! Too cool!

Alright, it's settled...I'm shootin' boobies! lol

And here's a pic of my 100% breastfed piglet...look at those arms! I just want to eat her up!

xo

jbnewcomb<3

Learning to Shoot Manually

I dreaded learning it. I've always photographed in auto mode, and I knew if I wanted to learn photography, I had to go manual, baby! Guess what? It's not that difficult (adjusting the settings, that is). Phew! Of course I have a lot to learn about photography in general, but at least I'm not whining about my pictures being crappy. I like them anyway. :-) That's saying a lot, for me. GO ME! :-))

I've been shooting in manual mode for only a few days now (only shot in manual focus toward the end, though). It's actually a lot of fun! It's hard to believe anyone with a nice camera wouldn't shoot this way because you get such great photos in manual. I love the control. I love to play. I actually LOVE learning how to shoot manually. Who would've thought? Not I!

Here's a few of my first photos in manual mode...of course they're of my favorite models, Aurora and Elena...

Aurora and her favorite buddy, Juliet. <3

Juliet doesn't mind...she's a glutton for attention ;-)

I just L<3VE Aurora's Eyes in this one!!

My Sweet Girl :-)



Elena's eyes look just like Aurora's did at this age...so precious...



Look at that mouth! (Background's not so cute lol)

My smiley baby :-))

xo

jbnewcomb<3

Get over it ALREADY!

I love photographs. There are thousands of pictures of my babies and they're only five years old and two months old. It's mind-boggling to think about how many billions, no trillions, no gazillions (lol) of photographs there probably are out in the world, all because of the digital revolution.

My first digital camera opened up a whole new world for me. I LOVED seeing the pictures I took in real-time without them being polaroids (another camera I was gaga for). I took thousands of pictures....a huge majority being of myself :P I was a teenager refining my look, and my digital camera was my mentor. Its biggest lesson: my ridiculously thin eyebrows didn't suit my face.

My husband still makes fun of me to this day when he finds on my camera phone pictures I took of myself after taking some of our children. But the truth is, if I didn't take pictures of myself, there wouldn't be very many of me at all because I am usually behind the camera. If I'm not behind the camera, then my children are still the main focus because they're so darn CUTE, so there really aren't many pictures of me besides the ones I take.

The first photograph I was truly proud of was that of a pelican on the jetty in Venice, FL. The composition was breathtaking. A large brown pelican peacefully sitting on these gigantic rocks, the beautiful Gulf of Mexico in the background. Ok, so the Gulf isn't the most beautiful body of water, but I'm a fan. And I still have that photo.

Until now, I've refused to tell people I was interested in photography as a career. Despite what people think when they meet me, I am pretty shy. I fake it well because I am friendly and like to make people laugh, but I protect my vulnerable side like a momma bird sits on her eggs.

Before I voice my passions, I like them to be mature so I can be confident enough. But confident enough for what? Even if all of the sudden I wanted to be a cheerleading instructor, my close friends and family wouldn't kill my dream with negativity despite me never being a cheerleader. But I still can't bare to let anyone know what I want or what I am capable of until I feel proud of it.

I loved art classes in high school, yet I couldn't STAND...I mean COULD NOT STAND drawing or painting or sculpting anything in a room full of my peers. There was no rational reason. It's not like people were staring at me (though I was paranoid they were).

I would barely get a thing done in class, so when I brought my finished works to class, people must have thought I was getting my big brother to do them or something. People were always impressed, and I won awards for every piece I produced.

I'm so mad at myself for not being more of a risk taker. I never get shot down, so why do I wait and wait and wait? Why do I torture myself?

It's time to be a risk taker and shout out to the world what I want.

I want to be a professional photographer! Most of all, A WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER!

There. I said it. I'm soooo tempted to delete this, so before I do. PUBLISH.

I took this of myself....duh :-P

xo
jbnewcomb<3