Monday, May 30, 2011

Internal conflicts of a forward dreaming mind

With the teasingly warm days interspersed with these annoyingly cold ones, it's like dating the invisible man. Why won't summer come and put away these winter coats?

Today was a snuggle under the covers and tax your brain kind of day. As you may or may not have noticed, the blog is a lot simpler. The theme has changed and now it actually matches our website, a bit! (And there is a link to it.) The website, meh, is still incomplete as of today, but soon, lovelies, soon it will be complete! Mwahaha-err*cough*erherm...

With all of that working it's magic on my little known coding brain, I've been tossing around the idea of doing a Groupon (or something) to get the ball rolling. Not to say that is isn't already! We're starting to get requests more and more often! I'm excited my the number of inquiries! My hesitation for the Groupon? Well, besides selling 500+ (as another photographer just did yesterday!), I ran one at my restaurant and, well, the people who bought the coupon were 70% Awful! Only 25% ranked Normal and a lousy 5% were Good or Better!

My grading scale must be confusing. For a restaurant? How am I grading them? Level of complaints, difficulty dealing with complaints/person, person trying to wiggle extra coupons out of you and getting angry when you don't give it, tips, listening/attention skills, and finally, personality/kindness levels.

Kind of hesitant? Maybe. I have a lot of friends who buy Groupons or Livingsocials and some are tough characters, but none would be disrespectful. Heck, I buy them, too! I don't know. It sounds like a great way to jumpstart the networking and open up opportunities with people whom we may not have had the chance to meet with otherwise! It's a big deal! (Ka-dun-cha!)

There's a lot to do before then, I know, but gah! Internal conflicts of a forward dreaming mind, indeed! What say you, lovlies? Would you be Game?

Sunday, May 29, 2011

It's almost June and it's COLD!

Today in our fair city of San Diego, it's cold.  I don't mean Chicago or Minneapolis in mid-winter just after a white-out blizzard sort of cold, but the kind of cold that only people who have lived in Southern California for a few years can complain about.

We're gearing up for our first photobooth assisting gig tonight.  400+ guests in 6 hours, we're going to have our hands full!  I'm nervous about energy levels and whether I can hold up over that long of a session, but between Chelse and I, and after meeting the couple at their engagement session (so much fun, they are ridiculously cute together), we should be good.  Their guests should be just as much fun as they are, and with the props provided, I guess I needn't worry quite so much.  And now, back to the weather:

You see, it's bright and sunny today and although there are some clouds in the sky, it's 59 degrees.  59 above zero.  That's more than half-way to 100, but it sure doesn't feel it to this guy.  It's a computer day for both of us, and we're in our usual spots pounding away on the keyboards.  Well, I pound with fists clenched, she basically flits across the keys in her usual graceful manner.

Anyway, I open the window shades for some more interior guidance to edit photos by, and I open the window leading to our back yard.  It's windy!  It's cold!  I'm officially a Southern California cold-blooded wuss!  Back in Minnesota, where I didn't exactly finish growing up but finished high school all the same, we would have taken a 59 degree day and RAN with it.  Fishing on the river, swimming at the lake, trimming the ice off the trees in the backyard, doing something outside and being joyful at the radiant sun and warmth.  Well, I'm not in Minnesota anymore, and so I'll gladly soak up some sun today but I won't be diving into the ocean with just my shorts on.  And for that, you should be glad.

A warmer day, not so long ago...

Monday, May 23, 2011

Bonjour Mes Amis!

As you lovelies have noticed, our layout is currently down and under construction (once I can figure out how to get DW working on my computer again)... =\

In the meantime! Here are some of my images as of late!


Previously, on Voir L'amour: Tina and James! <3 They were good people, positively amazing! I could tell the moment James whisked Tina into a dip as they tangoed on the corner that this was going to be fun (and it was!)




The spark of Little Italy was dulled compared to these bright flames! They were so much fun to photograph!

Thanks Lovies! 

Thursday, May 19, 2011

Bright Sun on a Thursday

Anthony's turn to blog!!

Isn't it odd how some days are so much brighter and more vivid than others?  Even with everything else being equal (cloud cover, rain or lack thereof, temperature, location, etc), some days just make you squint a bit more than others.

This morning, we had a craving for donuts.  Chelse has the day off from work, and I've been catching us up on post production for the past few days, so we hopped in my new car and sped over to Serra Mesa to try out Goody's Donuts.  I'm actually finishing one off right now...so I guess we got lunch too.  They weren't the best donuts I've ever had, but they were pretty darn close to the best I've had in SoCal and the drive over was nice.  I found a new way to get from that area down into Mission Valley area, complete with a nice downhill drop.  I'm going to stop talking about the drive now.

We've been pretty busy lately both in photography and exchanges with possible/future clients, and with other life activities.  My parents have a house up in the San Joaquin Valley and we're painting the interior for them as they prepare to either move into it full time or part time, splitting with their apartment in west Los Angeles.  I'm definitely a list-maker, and I've almost gotten to the point of making lists of the lists in order to prioritize my various projects and "Honey Dews."  Not even close to complaining about this, as I love the action and mini-planning sessions each day before getting down to business.  Here are some somewhat recent pictures, in no particular order!


Spring day at the beach.

Flowers down the road from our apartment.

Little guy skating better than I usually do!

Tools for one of the projects around our place.

Downtown San Diego, CA.  Shot on real film!

Techie info:
Velvia 50 in '69 Spotmatic w/55mm f/1.8.

Another film shot.

Delicious way to wake up.  Well, after you take the picture, of course!
As always, if you want to see the pictures larger, just give them a click!



Have a great weekend, everybody!  Enjoy the sunshine, if it doesn't keep raining!

Monday, May 16, 2011

Busy busy Bumblebees

Hello again, kits. =} You'll never begin to imagine the adventures we've been having the past few weeks! Driving up north for mini paint-cations, looking for employment *cough*, oh, and shooting shooting shooting. =]


Within the past few weeks, we've had the honor of shooting the Lovely Linnea and her Charming sister Natalie as they begin their hell week in preparation for Graduation from SDSU! Woot! These two dashing young heroines are ready for adventures beyond the classroom walls and bound to find them! Bright and charismatic, the both, they're sure to be an instant success! =D




And let me tell you, SDSU, for these ladies, you have become water under the bridge. =]









As Linnea would put, "What now, SDSU?" What now indeed =P








Sunday, May 1, 2011

It's too beautiful!

It's way too beautiful here in San Diego to be inside.  Walk the dog, polish the car, head over to the neighborhood block party.  Maybe more coffee?





I'll be back with another post, possibly a new blog post series I've been thinking about.  What are you folks doing today?