Boulder gloomy no-photography day. Had to post a few of a session from a few weeks ago….Have to figure out how to reschedule 16-20 mini family photography sessions because of the Boulder cold, dark weather this weekend. Almost a blessing, bc I am still so sick with the evil old woman witch disease and got to rest ALL day. Nice, Mom is staying an extra week. Extra points for her. Spoiling the kids like mad, but that is ok with me at the moment.

UPDATE: my intern’s adoptive baby was born tonight. SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO happy. Yeah! I can’t wait to meet and photograph your baby girl!!!!!!!!

So, this weekend, the weekend I have TWENTY mini sessions in Boulder, Co, is going to be cold, snowy, and rainy. How the heck am I going to reschedule that many photography sessions? Kellie, my awesome super office manager, will handle it all and make it all right, so don’t worry. She will contact you. Don’t worry. We’ll find another date….

Well, I *need* start with happy news again bc things are not so easy right now. I have been doing all of these incredible, beautiful, photography sessions ever since Ms. Barb Uil came into town and taught me everything she knows. I am so inspired to use light, and love, and just LIFE to express who my families are. I am a good portrait photographer. Meaning, if you want a perfect photo of your kids close up, or far away, or a family picture where everyone is happy, then I am your go-to girl. But I want to be more creative, and make things more fun, and that is what I did with this shoot.

So the not happy news is that they looked into my belly today and found only really bad things:( My dad has’ crohn’s both my sisters have it, and both my brother’s have it. I have always been the one with “mild” chron’s, and now it is severe. Stupid old woman evil witch disease.

Happy news again? I have like 50 shoots planned in the next two months. LOVE photographing, no matter what. I have outsourced everything else, so no stress there. Just taking beautiful photos of beautiful families. Love it!

xoxo stacey

News first-I booked up all my Boulder mini photography sessions so I have opened up October 5th, October 12, and October 22nd. Email me asap if you want to book a session, you can read all the info here. Some will be at Wonderland Lake in north Boulder, one will be at Chautauqua in south Boulder. Either way, we will get beautiful, amazing photographs!

Barb Uil (aka Jinky Art) is just magic. She is my most favoritist photographer, blah, blah, blah, I have said this 8 million times on my photography blog. But really, these photos are beautiful and stunning and sweet and magical. I love them. I can’t wait to move in to our new home so I can put up beautiful big canvases. I still am in awe that she photographed my family. And really captured who we are. For sure.  I strive to be half as good of a photographer as her. As always Barb, I love you! Thank you!

So, news on the being-sick-thing. I am definitely surrounded by loving, supportive people who want me to heal and get better from this chron’s (autoimmune). I called my mom crying yesterday and she jumped on the first flight out there. That is a GOOD mom, right? I have a procedure tomorrow and hopefully we will find out what is going on. I saw a naturpath today and and plugging away with my awesome acupuncturist, Kate, but I am up to 40 mg of predizone (steroids) and ug, that SUCKS. Send me some good healing-belly-energy if you have some to spare.

xoxo stacey

ps. happy jinky art photos of my family are really helping me feel better:) Nothing like beautiful photography of your own family from your favorite photographer to make you happy.

pps. Thank you mom, Luanne, Natasha, Kate, Kellie, Adam, Rich, and Arturo for being such a solid community of support for me. It means everything to me to be supported.

These sweet newborn boulder twins are all I can post for tonight, Mom is flying in tonight bc I need the help. More tomorrow.

xoxo stacey

Another good day. And not so good. I got to photograph three gorgeous families and I am sooooo happy with the beautiful photos I got. Bad, bc I just am still sick, and want to not be. This is a shoot from a month ago, I am so behind! How sweet is Sasha? 7 Years old’s are so easy compared to two year olds.

Anyways, four more mini photography shoots at Wonderand Lake in north Boulder tomorrow. Sooooo many blog posts to come!

Ok, I have to start with bright, happy news. I photographed one of my favorite families tonight. The mom was looking GORGEOUS in a vintage dress that I covet (give it to me when you are done-*if* I can fit in it, ok?). There were three cool homeless men hanging out like 5 feet away smoking pot. Yes, this is day two in a row that I am talking about mariuana on my baby photography blog. Whatever, obviously I need something to make me feel better, and I wish it was that but it is not. Anyways, they were super polite as they smoked their joints around this adorable 2 year old and sweet, sweet 4 year old. Perfect.

Well, I got the salt-on-fire-in-the-belly-button treatment again today, but I am feeling so bad. I think with a chronic illness like this, you get to this point where you are just so tired. So tired of being sick. The hard part is that I am not actually getting any food in me, so I am weak. And tired. And my husband is obsessed with aquaponics and is mostly only doing that and Amelia just had the flu and I am just tired. And caffiene makes me sick so I have to give up coffee and I am sad about that. Did I mention that I am tired? And can’t have caffeine?

Overall, though, I am super happy that I have booked TWENTY FIVE mini sessions. That is just nuts. And I still have people emailing and calling to request a session.

We have a crazy month ahead of us. My lovely office manager, Kellie, will take good care of everyone (and me!) and Reg, my gorgeous sales manager, will help everyone with ordering. All I have to do is take the photos, and that is what fills my heart with joy, so I think it will be a good month as long as Kellie and Reg pick up my slack (total bonus included at the end of the month if they are reading this post and mention the bonus:). I mean, they have to read my blog, right?

So, I filled up my two weekend mini photo sessions completely, and opened up two more dates if you are interested. Wendesday, October 12th at Chataqua in south Boulder, and Wonderland Lake in north Boulder on Saturday, October 22nd. So if you were on the waiting list or just want to schedule a mini session email me asap.

How am I going to remember all these kids names? That is the thing I am worrried about the most. I know I will get beautiful images of each family that is special to who THEY are, but if I see them on the street I might not remember, and I ALWAYS remember kids names. Parents names, eh. Kids, for sure. So, if you are doing a mini session with me and I call you a weird name during the session or ask what your husband’s name is ten times, please know that I LOVE all my families, but this year there are just so many mini photography sessions and I am tired and might not remember. But I still love you and your kids.

More tomorrow.

xoxo stacey

p.s. posting another sweet photo from this session, because it is all I have on my laptop, and my hard drive is still stupid crashed. So, this is all I have that is sized for blog.

pps. That is my sweet new kitty simba. He has the same roar and tenacity as the real lion king. Love him.

ppps. I did everything for my computer hard drive crash and I still can’t see my photos:( All edited shoots for the last year are backed up though, so no worries….

Yeah, well I have not been blogging because my HARDRIVE CRASHED. Yeah, that is like the most devastating thing a photographer can say. I *know* all my photos are backed up, but I don’t KNOW it yet bc I can’t see them yet. So I am in an uneasy in between place right now. I just want my computer back. So sad.

And I have been sick, sick, sick. Yeah, I have crohn’s disease. Such an ugly name. I wish it was Sunshine Disease or something more happy. But a crohn is an old woman-evil-witch, right? So I have old woman-evil-witch disease, and it sucks. I have so many emotions around it, but mostly I am sad and mad. Sad, that I can’t love my babies in the way they deserve right now, and mad bc it is a stupid disease that they don’t know anything about and they can’t cure it and it is just stupid. And it hurts. And I can’t smoke pot to help it like they suggest bc I don’t like mj. It makes me feel weird and paranoid. But, on the upside, I DID gain 55 pounds when I was pregnant with Amelia, and I have lost the last 15lbs in 4 weeks. So I am looking good. I am thin now. I am trying to eat lots a fat though to not lose any more. So now you know my life. It is what it is.

I have about 30 mini sessions booked. It is nuts. I am opening up a few more days if anyone else wants to book a mini session. I am SO looking forward to just going out in nature and photographing loving families. That is a good day, to me.

xoxo stacey

ps, Amelia’s stomach bug is gone but I *hope* i have it and it is not my evil old woman disease.

pps. Christian, my computer guy, just told me at 8:30pm that my computer looks good. There is some program that has to run and then it will be fine. Give me some good energy for it to run again!

pps. do you LOVE this picture? So sweet.

ppps. I just want to let you know that I let my acupuncturist filled my belly button with salt and lit it on fire today. AND-I feel much better. So go-fire-belly-salt. Fire belly salt rocks. Thanks Kate. I love you.

So, it is that time of year again! I have been so busy that I have not gotten around to announcing my fall mini photography sessions and I am getting emails every day from clients asking when they will be. Since I have had so many inquiries I have opened up two weekends for the mini sessions:

Saturday October 1st

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

Sunday, October 2nd

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

Saturday, October 8th

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

Sunday, October 9th

8am

8:30am

4:30pm

5pm

5:30pm

6pm

*the fine print: sessions are nonrefundable due to the nature of them being back to back (who wants to sit in a field for a half hour waiting for the next family?:). But they are totally transferable!  Session includes custom holiday card design but the cards or digital negative is purchased separately. Small and large animals welcome. I have a new kitty if anyone wants to borrow it.

Please email boulderbabyphotography@gmail.com or call me at 720.310.0336 to schedule. Please also mention a few of your top preferred times when emailing so I can try and juggle the schedule for everyone! Once I confirm your session, I will send you all the fun info on how to prepare (what to wear, bring, etc…).

Can’t wait!

xoxo stacey

Okay, okay, you all know I have been gushing and awing over Miss. Barb Uil, Jinky Art (from Australia) FOREVER. She is my favorite photographer EVER, and I am so inspired by her daily.

Well, I am the kind of person that just goes for it. You know? I have an idea, and I DO it. Sometimes it works, sometimes not.

9 months ago I wrote Jinky an email telling her how fabulous Boulder was, how cool my cohousing community is, and how perfect it would be for her to do one of her US workshops here in Boulder. And….a few months later, she wrote back and said YES!

So, I hosted Barb and 30 photographers from all over the country in my home and community a few weeks ago. It was awesome. I learned so much, and was inspired to change my art in a way that is already filling my heart with joy.

So, whenever, 7 months ago, when we decided to have the retreats here, I asked Barb if she would have time for a family session. This is before i asked my husband. I casually one day, after making sure to make him HAPPY, asked him if we could throw down $5k on a shoot with Barb. My idol.  My favorite photographer in the WHOLE world who is coming to OUR house. He answered with a big fat, absolute, “NO.” Anyways, Barb wrote back and said she had no time as the workshops were hectic and too much was going on.

Two days before she arrived I got a casual call from Barb: “So, Stacey, did we talk about me doing a shoot of your family as a thank you for hosting? I hope you can come up with something that is amazing and totally YOU guys.” In two days. Two days.

So I freaked out. I told all my neighbors and friends and posted on my photography forums that BARB UIL was photographing my family. MY family. In two days. What ideas did they have?

Nothing.

I was taking Amelia on a walk the next day and saw that my neighbors had brought their orange vw bus out of storage. Well, I remembered an awesome shoot that Barb had did with a vw, and thought it would be perfect. AND, I used to be a dead head, (even though I was only 15 when Jerry died)-but I did go to SIX shows and had front row center for the Grateful Dead’s very last show in Chicago. And I wanted to drop out of school and get a vw bus and follow the dead, but a good teacher talked me out of it. So I went on to get my college degree and then my master’s in Boulder where there are a lot of old deadheads anyways.

So the bus idea was perfect. We took it up to this ridge in north Boulder. And got these photos. Is she the most freaking amazing photographer you have ever seen?

Then, casually, she says later that night “It would be cool (or maybe she said neat? I don’t know or remember Australian lingo) if we did a series of shoots with your family in Kombi’s.” Btw, “Kombi” is what they call vw buses in AU. Never heard it before, but I like it.

I posted IMMEDIATELY to my Boulder mom’s groups and to craigslist looking for two more buses. The next night we had an awesome red bus out in a field. The night after that we had an amazing yellow Kombi that was driven into the MIDDLE of a sunflower field. I kid you not. Freaking amazing. A full-on sunflower field.

So, here are a few photos from the first of the shoots. I am not sure why I am so lucky, but I know that the more I open myself to others, the more these amazing things and opportunities land in my lap. I just feel like it is unreal.

Thank you Barb, I love you!

xoxo stacey