Horses + Sunshine = Springtime?

As winter turns to spring here in Wyoming - and it's happening unusually early this year, and it's making some nervous - we've kept busy here in the Martinez household, as usual.

It's bull season for Wyoming's cattle industry, which keeps the Roundup office hopping. We are consistently running 20 percent larger this year, in terms of advertising, so business is on the upswing! That means, in addition to being bull season, it's nose-to-the-grindstone season to get everything done. There are three major deadlines this week, with our regular weekly running twice as big as usual, plus a special feature edition. Two of those deadlines were met early, and one more to go!

So far this year we've consistently received very positive feedback on the articles Saige and I have been running lately, which means we've been working hard but it's paying off.

In addition to all that's happening with the Roundup, I've also been putting more time and effort into building the photography business, C} Images. For more photos, check out C) Images on Facebook, and become a fan to keep up with the news and cash in on the giveaways!

Because I've been so busy with the paper, I haven't got my logo, labels and packaging finished, but I have a good start and I've been able to ship and deliver my recent prints in a more professional manner. So far, this endeavor has also had positive feedback. My husband has declared himself my business manager, and because of that I have a few opportunities I will follow up on within the month, before tourist season hits the state.

Our cutest little pride and joy, baby Levi, is six-and-a-half months old now, and learning new things every day. And, I swear he really is cuter every week. We're very much looking forward to our trip to Iowa in April to see Granddad and Nana.

Oh, you know how I said spring is coming? My bulbs that I planted last year are coming up in my flower garden, so it really must be here, right? I'm looking forward to daffodils and tulips in several weeks.

So, in case it's another couple weeks before I make the time for another post, I hope your weather and life in general is treating you as well!

The mysteries of new software

Yesterday a friend of mine innocently sent me a link to Amazon.com's deal of the day, which was Adobe Lightroom.

I have seen Lightroom used by many photographers, and been curious as to what it was, but hadn't yet seriously considered purchasing it. The software retails for $300 (a rich price tag, as is the case with all Adobe software) and Amazon had it for $90 yesterday.

So after thought and research, I went for it, and my new software should be here in a few days! In the meanwhile, when I was researching, I downloaded the 30-day trial version so I could take a look at it.

And I realized I'd have a lot of work to do to learn the program.

But, it will be worth it. While Photoshop's specialty is detailed manipulation of single files, as I understand it, Lightroom is an image handling and archiving system that makes your workflow a lot more efficient and seamless when you come back from a photo shoot. It can also do some basic editing, but I will probably still use Photoshop primarily, as I know enough about it now to have my favorite little tricks that I combine to produce the style of photo that I like.

So now I have Lightroom tutorials open in tabs on my browser, but it's too bad that we're 28 pages in the paper this week, and will be so busy with the paper for the next month, because I won't have a lot of spare time for my new program. It will have to be my early-morning-hours project.

In the meanwhile, here's to lots of income from lots of ads in the Roundup! It makes for a lot more work on the editorial side, but we've got to make hay while the sun shines.