Model shoot

Here are a few from a shoot I just did with Vanessa Filkins. We kind of collaborated and both got some great shots out of it. Kristin (model) was great and was very open to our crazy ideas. We all had a lot of fun I think. This was my first model shoot and I learned a lot just from trying different techniques and lighting setups. I want to do these more often so if you are interested let me know!

Kevin, Shannon, and Beckett

Jeremy told me I could be the guest blogger for this post since this family is near and dear to my heart. (This is Jeremy's wife Robin, by the way). I got to tag along on this shoot last Saturday afternoon with the Kramer family and I had so much fun watching them interact with each other. I met Shannon a few years ago when she interviewed me for a receptionist job. We had just moved to Austin and I had given up on finding the perfect job because at that point I just needed to work. Little did I know then that this company would be exactly where I needed to be- a perfect fit for me at the time. I remember talking to Shannon in the interview and thinking, "We would be friends in real life!" She was so much fun, so full of life, and super down to earth. I was offered two other jobs that paid more, but I took the one with Shannon mainly because of her. Sounds crazy, but I just had a gut feeling that it was the right place for me.

Shannon quickly became a friend, even though she was my boss. I always looked forward to seeing her stop by my desk in the mornings and tell me some funny story about her son Beckett. Not long after I started that job, I found out I was pregnant with twins. The entire office was so supportive of me...I could easily understand why I felt like I should've taken that job. When we had our twins, we found out that our son was very sick and the doctors weren't sure he would pull through. When it comes to that time in my life, I have very vivid memories of things people said and did for us. It's one of those situations where you find out who your true friends are, and Shannon will always be counted as one of them. She was on the phone or the computer constantly wanting updates on Estlin. I remember one time she called to check on him and Jeremy and I were driving into the hospital parking garage to go see him. It was the toughest day, I think, because the doctors had just called with a very negative report. I can still almost hear what Shannon's voice sounded like (not to be weird or creepy :-)). It was just so assuring. She said, "He will be okay. He will be fine, Robin. He will. Okay?" I'm well aware that she was not convinced of that, but it is exactly what I needed right then. Then, in typical Shannon take-care-of-everyone mode, she asked if I needed for them to pay for our parking bill for the garage. Then she asked if people from the office could come up and donate blood to Estlin. Just going back to that time puts me in tears immediately. I will just never forget the way she was there for me.

So there you have it-my sappy explanation of why this family is important to me. :-)

Hope you enjoy the photos. Aren't they just so darn cute? Beckett was a little ham. He really knew how to work the camera. What a cutie.

Ghost Bikes

Ghost bikes are memorials for bicyclists who are killed on the street. A bicycle is painted all white and locked to a street sign or pole near the crash site to serve as quiet reminders of the tragedy that took place.

The first ghost bikes were created in St. Louis, Missouri in 2003, and they have since appeared in over 100 locations throughout the world. They appear in such places as Australia, Germany, Spain, Mexico, UK and even here in Austin. Austin has a huge biking community and I felt like it would be honoring to showcase these powerful landmarks for the art benefit that I mentioned in an earlier post.

Again, the benefit is for Empower Art, a new organization dedicated to teach abused kids to express themselves through art. Art is within us all and I believe whole-heartedly in this idea and it impacted me in a significantly, as I have personal experience in this exact situation (better to be told in another post). Art helped me greatly to express myself and put my feelings on paper.










**For more information please visit ghostbikes.org

Austin

I was talking to Robin the other day and neither of us can imagine living anywhere else now. Austin is definitely our home. We moved here together in September of 2006 and have just fallen in love with the town. It really is a big small town. Some of the biggest events in my life have happened here: the birth of my kids, culinary school, 2 tornados, first house, and many more to come. I know we will travel more as soon as the kids are old enough, but this town has enough adventure in it to keep anyone busy. Here are just a few of my favorite things about Austin (not in any specific order):

- Enoteca Vespaio (more specifically, their bone marrow!)
- The many greenbelts
- UT football
- Home Slice
- Alamo Drafthouse
- There are dogs everywhere!
- Art culture (even though that contains my competition)
- Music culture
- You can get beer at the grocery store (I grew up in the Bible belt folks)
- Mozarts
- Hey Cupcake
- The green movement


**Taken by John "Fat Guy" Houston