Things ahead

Late last night, while I was waiting for my rhubarb cobbler to bake, I was browsing Pinterest and came across this quote from C.S. Lewis, so I paired it with a photo in my files from almost two years ago.

This is the North Portal Road in north/northeast Fremont County. You wouldn't think it to look at the photo, but just as you top that far hill you can see spread out beneath you a lush, green irrigated valley, full of crops that include alfalfa, dry beans and corn. At the moment the name of the valley escapes me, but it's a neat area you'd never know was there unless you took the time to drive through this empty sagebrush country.

For more photography, visit C} Images on Facebook.

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.

facebook.com/c.bracket.images

Have you ever been to that website? Well, you should go. :-) It's my photo page on Facebook, and where I post what I think is the best of my work, as well as previews from portrait sessions.

But wait, there's more!

I ordered the aforementioned photo packaging this morning, and I'm pretty excited about it. I still need to find the ribbon I want to pair with it, and I need to get started on designing my logo labels, but in the meanwhile there's a giveaway on the Facebook page!

Isn't that what all good bloggers do? Give away free things?

So here's how it works - visit the page, 'like' it, and post a note letting me know you're a new fan. That will qualify you for a random drawing for a free 8x10 print of your choice, all packaged pretty and delivered to your doorstep.

Easy, right? Just make sure you do it before midnight on Feb. 29. And guess what? If you also refer a friend who likes the page, you'll both be entered for the drawing, and yourself for the second time. So those of you who already 'like' the page can also get in on the fun.

Clear as mud? Can it get much easier? I'll see you over there!

The perfect snow

Sunday was one of those perfect days where the snow fell straight down all day long, light and fluffy without a breath of wind.

Fortunately for me, Sunday was also the day I'd scheduled to take some more photos of Edith and her two Bassets - Royal and Court. We met at 2 p.m. at a place just outside town, and spent an hour wrangling dogs for what we hoped would end up to be some great portrait shots.

I don't have final edits of any of the outdoor photos ready yet, but I was working on some of these from the barn loft earlier this morning. Because there was no wind we were able to open the south door of the loft to let in a flood of natural light, and it was perfect.

Whenever I get back from a shoot and review my photos, I'm very hard on them, and there are always things I would do better or differently, and I always learn something new to try next time. In this case, I was fortunate to have a second chance at the same location with almost the same subjects - the old dog Hank stayed home this time. I put my previous experience to work, and as a result I do love this second round much more than the first.

If I had a third chance, I would do more shots like the ones above, with Edith interacting with her dogs, rather than everybody smiling for the camera. The whole point of these photos is that these are dogs she's had for years, and she has a special relationship with them, so I like the more casual shots.

I've used my new actions a little bit on these photos, but I'm still becoming familiar with them, and most of them are a little much for the style I'm going for with this setting.

I also used my new 50 mm lens a little bit with this shoot, and I really liked how it did. The one thing I learned, though, was that I needed to set my aperture a little higher, because the area of focus was a little narrow for three subjects - it would focus perfectly on Edith's face, but the dogs would be blurry, for example.

Just when I start to figure out how to make aperture work for me, I got on a rabbit trail of photo blogs this morning, with very technical tutorials, and realized how much more I have to learn....

In addition to learning the new lens and actions, I will also add packaging to my photography in the near future. I'd like to have an extra touch when I deliver prints or CDs of my photos, and simple but classy packaging is just what I need. I am also going to look into designing logo stickers and either printing them myself, if I can find the labels I want, or having a printing website do them for me.

A brown paper package tied up with rustic ribbon and sealed with a C} Images label would be just the ticket, don't you think?

New photo actions!

It was quite some time ago that I downloaded my first Photoshop actions - the two free sets that Pioneer Woman has available on her website.

Since then I've used them heavily, and gradually learned that actions are best applied like makeup - you want them to subtly enhance a photo, without being too gaudy and overdone. Also, they're best used in combination at varying levels.

After gaining a thorough understanding of PW's actions, I got the itch to add a few more to my collection. I tried downloading some free ones from random sites, but they just didn't cut it and I ended up deleting almost all of them.

So when I saw that My Four Hens Photography was offering a sale on her action collections, I decided to go for it - after all, I have some money in the bank from recent portrait sessions, so I decided to reinvest.

The photo at the top of this post is straight out of the camera, one of many from our Valentine's Day shoot. The photos below are just a few with actions applied - the set came with about 24 different ones.

Although the original photo is technically correct, and would have been good to go with a little lightening and a few tweaks, I like that added drama that actions add to a portrait.

I suppose the next step will be to learn to make my own actions, but for now I'm delighted to have a whole new set to work with, and to use in conjunction with PW's.

Right now a popular style of portraits is to be a little 'vintagey,' and that's what most of these actions do, and I'm ok with going along with the fad. I like it. :-)

I made this pillow for Levi from scrap fabric in my sewing room, and stuffed it with old t-shirts. Now that I made one for him, I might have to make one for each kid on their first Valentine's, and repeat the portrait sessions each year with individuals as well as the whole group of them. I think that would make for pretty cute Valentine's. :-)

I tell you what though, Levi is a willing model, at least so far. At this point he's not quite crawling yet, so I better get my portrait practice in before he starts moving, because we all have the feeling that once he starts moving he won't stop.

All the actions are just applied at 100 percent across the board on these photos, which I normally wouldn't do, but I ran them all at full strength just so I could see what they could do.

I'm excited to keep using them - I have another portrait session scheduled this Sunday, so it'll be a prime opportunity to use both my new camera lens and my new Photoshop actions.

Fall = Lots of Cows!

I didn't really have anything to write to go along with the above photo, but I liked it so I figured I'd post it. Nothing like standing out in a crowd! I think Mrs. Red Cow is very pretty, even though black is preferred and rewarded in the U.S. cattle markets right now.

After a summer of not doing too much livestock work because of my growing belly and achiness (Is that a word? My computer doesn't think so), this fall I got in on some fall gathering and shipping up at the Association. On this particular day I think Levi was five weeks old, and we packed him up and took him to the ranch while we shipped the calves off this bunch of cows.

My photo trips this fall have paid off when it comes to the paper, because the last six weeks have featured images from the Association.

The photo above also ran on the cover of the paper. When I was taking pictures this day I didn't think I'd really gotten anything I could use, but it turns out we've used several for the Roundup cover.

Have you heard it enough already? I still love my new T3 camera, and my Pixma printer. So far the printer's only been used to print photos of Levi to give away to family members, but I think that's a worthy cause. :-)

This photo also ran on the cover, and features two of the heifers we brought back from Iowa last winter. They were wintered in a feedlot at Thermopolis, then came to the Association for the summer to eat, grow and be bred. So far they look really good, and none the worse for the elevation, but it remains to be seen if they'll calve this spring. Time will tell!

The last month and a half I've been working really hard to keep doing my best work at the paper while taking care of Levi 24/7. It's certainly been a challenge, but I feel like the paper's been going really well. There were a few bumps in the couple weeks after I came back to the office in early October, and I realized the importance of being in touch with the news on a daily basis to generate article ideas. It's really easy to get out of touch really fast, and that's something I'll do differently next time I'm out on maternity leave with Levi's little sibling.

I owe a big 'thank you' to the other half of my editorial team - Saige did a great job handling the paper while I was out with Levi, and came out alive even after a few surprises. I got her a fifth of Pendleton and a set of whiskey glasses for her trouble, because I know that being in charge of an endeavor like the Roundup can certainly call for a drink every now and then. :-)

Speaking of winter...

This ad our designer made from a photo I took in Johnson County for the cover of last year's Winter Cattle Edition. She's turned it into a house ad, and I still really like the looks of it. So much so that I got the red snowflake graphic from her, to perhaps make Christmas cards this year. We'll see if I get to make time for that project in my schedule....

That time of year: Winter Cattlemen's

And so it begins.

This is the time of year when the paper gets busy. It's convention season, which keeps us traveling around the state and listening to many speakers at the annual meetings of several Wyoming ag organizations, like Wyoming Farm Bureau, the Wyoming Association of Conservation Districts and Wyoming Women in Ag.

It's also the time of year when we try to attend all the conventions, put out the weekly paper AND squeeze in two dozen extra interviews and articles for Winter Cattlemen's Edition, which has a deadline in early December. 

Last week I started on my Cattlemen's interviews. This year we're in Converse County, which I planned so that I can drop Levi off at his Grandma Shirley's house for the day while I go out and about to visit with people and take pictures. 

Of course, the day that I scheduled my interviews for had a winter storm warning, which made it a little iffy for driving, but at least I got some wintry photos out of the deal. I was able to get five interviews that day, and only one on the other day I'd planned for interviews.

Because our Cattlemen's editions have grown in size since we first started them five years ago, Saige and I now have 15 articles each, while before each of the Roundup writers only had to do 12. Trust me, the extra three really do make a big difference in time and effort. 

This is my 12th Cattlemen's edition. It really doesn't seem like that many - now I've been in on featuring over half of Wyoming's 23 counties. I enjoy the interview part of it - driving around in new country, visiting with new people at their ranches and businesses. It's the transcribing and writing part of the project that's the killer. Each year I tell myself I'll be more on top of it and get them written gradually, but somehow that's never happened yet.... All the other day-to-day tasks of the paper tend to take higher priority, as they, in themselves, are a full-time job and take up my entire week. There's not much 'spare' time left over for such a big project as a Cattlemen's edition, so I usually end up writing it on the weekends.

And, of course, I haven't started the writing part yet. For now my goal is to get all the interviews accomplished by Thanksgiving. I have seven done, so here's hoping the rest will fall into place in the next couple weeks!

This squirrel was at the Wyoming Pioneer Museum, and he was so upset that I was taking photos of him that I thought he might jump on me to get me to stop.

Enjoy: neighborhood trees and houses

Yesterday Levi and I were home alone, as Scott was still up at the ranch helping with some cow work, so Levi and I packed up in the stroller, grabbed the camera and went walking for over two miles around our neighborhood, enjoying the beautiful weather and trees.

I know I've said it on my blog before, but I think the area of town where we live is the best part. Or maybe I'm just partial. :-) The house above is our neighbors' across the street.

Most of the houses in the well-established area are early 1900s. Ours is 1922.

And I love all the big trees!

The green house above is a favorite of mine. Because the garages in the area are so small some people have turned them into living space and I'd love to see how they look inside.

Needless to say, we enjoyed ourselves very much, and it was a perfect opportunity because Scott could care less about looking at the old houses and their pretty fall decorations on the front steps and porches. :-)

Autumn in Wyoming

The other evening baby Levi was very grouchy, so I loaded him up in my white truck and off we went to check on the mares and colts. That's my mare Jazz, third horse from the left.

I wanted to try to get some good photos of Levi while we were out there, and I even had some props and outfits, but he wasn't having any of it. After I took these two photos of the horses he was crying again, so I put down my camera and got him to carry around while I looked at the horses. That's Jazz's filly, Cindy Lou Who, in the above photo. She's getting big! I love how pretty the rimrocks and shrubs are, with their red and orange autumn color.

Like I said, love the autumn color. :-) Speaking of autumn color... we're headed to Estes Park in a few minutes for the weekend, and I have two fancy lenses that I rented from the local camera shop - one for the fall color and one for the bugling elk.

The girls love it when they get to go somewhere where they can run.

Geese flying south for the winter at sunset.

It was a lovely fall evening.

And now I need to get going to finish packing, because Scott's home and anxious to hit the road. Let's see if I remember everything I need to pack for baby. :-)