What is wrong with this picture???

Why are my tomatoes splitting like this??? Do they need more fertilizer? Are they getting too much water or too little? I don't understand because they have been producing so beautifully for the last couple of weeks. In fact they are such champion tomato plants that I am giving away tomatoes every couple of days. I just can't eat them fast enough and I don't want even one tiny perfectly round red orb to go to waste. Any suggestions on what can be done to save these poor plants?   

Stacy's Maternity Shoot

Here are a few pictures from a maternity session I did with my good friend Stacy. She was such a fun subject and was such a good sport about trying different poses and locations even though it was freezing out side. I had a really hard time narrowing down the ones to post because she was so great in all of them. Thanks Stacy for such a fun shoot!! By the way, I have no idea why this is all underlined nor do I have any idea how to change it. I will save that for another day.I couldn't decide which belly picture I liked better because they both have such different feels to them. In the end I couldn't cut either one. 

My New Business Site is DONE!!!

I have been pouring my heart and soul into redesigning my business website. It is a labor of love because I really wanted it to represent who I am as a photographer. After hours and hours of wading through color schemes, fonts, layouts, and designing and redesigning my new logo trying to figure out what felt like "me", I called in my sweet husband. I did this for two reasons, 1-there are times that he knows me better than I know myself, and 2- all things technology based come easier to him. So with my love by my side and Jon sitting next to us (by "us" I mean me and my Mac) we toiled away all weekend long and are both proud to launch: www.shamaleaphotography.com

I decided to do a redesign along with changing the name of my business from "Moments Photography" to "Shamalea Photography" a few weeks ago but have stalled because of the work involved in making a change over like that. I loved Moments photography because to me being a photographer is all about capturing those little moments that are authentic and convey a sense who a person is, but there are so many other photographers using that same name or a variation of it that I felt lost in the crowd. It occurred to me that my parents gave me a beautiful unique Irish name and that nothing could represent me better than that. I also figured that after having my name mispronounced, misspelled, and misunderstood my whole life, it was time to let it be celebrated a little, poor abused name :). I am still working on the blog, but I was just so pleased with the way the website came out that I couldn't keep it under wraps any longer. And Jon is so bursting with pride at our creative venture together that I was barley able to keep his finger from inching towards the "publish" button before the finishing touches were complete.  So check it out and let me know what you think. shamaleaphotography.com

PS-if you know any seniors who are interested in getting senior portraits, I still have a few senior rep slots available. A senior rep receives a free senior shoot and lots of incentives for referring their friends to shamaleaphotography. I am looking for energetic, fun, charismatic seniors who would benefit from being a senior rep. I only do a handful of these shoots a year so if you know someone who fits the bill have them e-mail me as soon as possible: sl@shamaleaphotography.com

Danali is one month old!

Here are a few photos from Danali's one month shoot. She was so sleepy that she wasn't even bothered when I jostled her about in a field and in the forest. I think she has resigned herself to the fact that her mother is a little nutty, especially when there is a camera in her hands. This was the first shoot that we have done together that didn't involve tears, hers or mine. She is now my favorite subject!

Three week old Danali...

This baby truly tortures me- when she isn't being the most delightful light of my life. As she is our last baby I wanted to make a really concentrated effort to photograph and document her infancy so that it didn't slip by in the craziness of everyday living. So I have done a photo shoot with her every week as she turns a new week old. EVERY time I pull the camera out my sweet snuggly girl turns into a crying pooping mach

ine. She hates being naked or uncovered in any way. In the photos where I am holding her you can see that she looks truly disgruntled even in sleep, and in the photo where she looks like she is sleeping alone my friend Monica is wrapped in a black cloth (what a good friend) and holding her because my darling girl acted like I was neglecting her whenever I tried propping her up against the back drop alone. So this is what I came up with from that shoot. 

My day at a glance....

7:30 am- Get kids up, dressed, fed, snack packed, and off to school #1. 10:30 am off to school #2 for open house. 11:30 am run to the post office to mail a bunch of stuff (not an easy task with a baby hanging off one arm and a toddler in tow who has no fear of traffic). 12:30 pm dog to the groomer. 12:45 grocery shopping (we we are out of everything). 2pm home for Ella's nap. 3:15 pick Caden up from school. 3:30 pm give both kids snacks and quick house clean up. 4:30 pm soccer practice. 6pm make and clean up from dinner. 8pm help get kids showered and off to bed. 9 pm start working on photography web site/blog (I have changed my business name and am really excited about the blog I'm working on, more to come on that later) and stay caught up on my editing. 12 am feed and change the baby off to bed. 3 am feed and change the baby and hopefully only be up for a 1/2 hour (but the last two nights it has been more like 2 hours on and off). 6 am another round of feeding and changing, and then I get to sleep until 7:30am and it starts all over again. I need to go because I didn't budget for time to write this blog, nor do a see a moment to take a shower or nap, and by the way I see that I didn't feed my daughter lunch or pick the dog up from the groomer. *Sigh*