knight light

Something kind of cool going on with Knight Light this summer…we got an intern! Emily was a client two years ago as a Senior in high school. Since she’s now in college and studying photography she asked if I’d like an intern for a couple months. Why, yes…I do need someone to fetch me lattes.

I threw her right in with one of our cameras and told her to snap away. I’ve also been showing her the ropes with Photoshop although I’m trying not to overload her. She’s a quick study and really seems to be enjoying it. Plus she puts up with my husband’s extreme goofiness so bonus there.

Occasionally she’ll snap a picture of me in action which I always enjoy seeing. I rarely am in front of the camera so it’s nice to have those pictures.

I think by the end of summer I will be wishing she wasn’t going back to school!

I was determined to finish up all Knight Light work this week since last weekend was my last shooting weekend. I’ve spent most of my evenings this week working away at the computer and even decided yesterday to take off work at noon to process pictures. I didn’t move from the computer yesterday except to eat and take a quick nap. And just like that I finished up. I still can’t believe it!

The big project was the last wedding album. Once I finished that up yesterday, I got it uploaded for the couple to view and already started to feel better. And because that couple is so awesome I already heard back from them approving the album.

I have made all of the calls I needed to make, my inbox is empty, my call/waiting list is updated… Knight Light is officially on maternity leave.

Josh and I were joking that I won’t even know how to handle the weekend with absolutely nothing hanging over my head or any sessions. He suggested I sit on the couch all weekend, play Lego Batman and eat. I just might do that. Now if only my hospital bag was packed!

- When we go into labor, Josh or I will tweet so be sure to keep an eye on our Twitter accounts.
- We bought Lego Batman for the Wii and I can’t believe how fun it is. Josh and I can play as a team which works best for us. When you beat up a bad guy the little Lego pieces fall apart.
- I’m wearing my “We’re Hungry” shirt today. Figured I better wear it while I can!
- Not sure if it’s nesting or just the fact that my house is so dirty, but I would love to be at home cleaning.
- I heard some good news last week and anytime I forget I get really excited again when I remember.
- If we have a little girl, we’re not going to name her Piper. A couple that live a block over named their baby Piper (she was born last month) and I’m hearing a lot of people using that name. We just don’t want to end up with a “trendy” name.
- It’s not even 8am and I would love some ice cream.
- I’m really proud of where Knight Light is this year. No advertising or promoting really… This just might turn into something great!
- I have finally settled on a new cell phone since mine is over two years old. My PDA has been acting flaky for awhile and I know I really need to replace it. I wasn’t sold on the cell phone/PDA combination until I heard about the HTC Touch Pro. I can’t wait until it gets released!
- Two Senior sessions left to process and one wedding album to wrap up. I really want to be done before the weekend.

I had my last scheduled photo sessions on Saturday and I was so thankful to be done. This past week I had a session on Sunday, Monday and two on Saturday. That was a lot for me. Okay, I’ll admit it…it was too much. I should have been done the Saturday before. Saturday’s morning session was at a nature preserve where you had to hike anywhere to get to different places. The mosquitoes were terrible and by the time we were done I was wiped out. I just kept telling myself that I had one more after that.

I was so relieved to get to Saturday afternoon’s session, anticipating it would be an easy one. Hmm…well, two hours later I finally finished up the Senior session. My longest Senior to date! I think she had nine outfits. If Josh hadn’t been with me I would have sat down on a picnic table halfway through and said, “I’m done”. I was huffing and puffing by the time we got done. I even got a little snippy with Josh which I hate. I just was so exhausted, tired of walking around the park, and so thirsty! We got in the car and my wonderful husband took me to get ice cream. I had a Braxton-Hicks contraction when we parked the car at the ice cream place. I laughed that my body was really saying, “You did too much!”. I get it, I get it! Sometimes I just have a hard time accepting it.

My Knight Light To Do list is shrinking and my client waiting list is getting bigger. My goal is to wrap up all outstanding sessions this week. Then ideally I would have all next week to clean my house and prepare for the baby! Holy moly…this is happening!

Having my own business on the side has been a really great experience. I can choose when to schedule photo sessions and when not to. I plan everything and usually just let Josh know what is coming up. I guess that’s the bad thing about being the “assistant”, you just have to go along with everything. With only two sessions scheduled for the weekend (one on Saturday and one on Sunday), I felt like I was doing pretty good. I got an email last night from Saturday’s client. She had to cancel. I told Josh that we no longer had a session on Saturday. He stopped in his tracks and repeated, “No session on Saturday?”. He asked if we had anything going on this Saturday. I thought for a minute and realized for the first time in THREE months we have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING planned. He then proceeded to tear around the house with Bebo running and barking at his heels.

Poor guy, he needs a break too. I know he would never complain at how busy I’ve been keeping him. He just is there for me and completely supportive. I’m lucky to have him. And I’m feeling lucky to give the guy a Saturday off!

Five more sessions to go… Hopefully none of the others include me in two inches of mud. Hiking around a creek in flip flops is hard enough but add being 9 months pregnant!

I took my sister-in-law’s Senior pictures last night. We were running out of light quick so some of the shots were completely dictated by that. She wore a prom dress in the middle of a creek and it was awesome.

She’s fearless that girl and didn’t mind anything I asked of her. We actually ran out of daylight to finish up her pictures so we’ve got one more outfit to do. I wonder what other crazy things I can ask her to do.

I haven’t had much to say lately because my free time has been spent on Knight Light. I was determined to get caught up and yesterday I succeeded! My chalkboard checklist all was marked off in the past two weeks and it’s such a great feeling. The only thing outstanding is the wedding album for the wedding we shot on the 6th. Woohoo!

I’m down to five scheduled photo sessions before maternity leave and one I need to try and squeeze in that was rained out. I really wanted to be ahead of the game so that when I go into labor I don’t have anything hanging over my head. I’m feeling good about where I’m at!

Josh and I shot our last wedding of the year on Saturday and finished with a bang. The wedding started at 11am which was great for me. I was home and on the couch by 5:00! The problem with an early wedding is that things get delayed so quickly. Pictures didn’t start until 10am so that left us about a half hour to do family pictures and a few of the wedding party. Luckily the bride and groom both had small families. We did a large wedding party shot immediately after the ceremony and then stole the bride and groom for 15 minutes before their reception. It was crazy quick and I know I could have done better with more time. Josh kept reminding me that we can only do what we have time for.

I had never shot a Catholic wedding before so that was interesting. The church was ENORMOUS. I couldn’t get over the size of the sanctuary. The lighting was impossible but the church made for some amazing pictures.

The reception was held right after the ceremony. The place had loads of windows and since it was afternoon it was pretty bright. Normally receptions are pitch black and our lenses have a hard time finding what to focus on. I think we got a lot of good stuff at the reception this time!

As we were leaving the reception, I had the biggest Braxton Hicks contraction yet! We were still in front of the building and I had to stop walking for a second because it surprised me so much. Kind of funny that I would have a contraction at the end of the wedding I was so anxious for.

Josh and I joked that we should put in our wedding contract that to book us your wedding has to start before noon with the reception following. It was awesome to get home so early especially since I get tired so quickly these days. I felt relief to have the wedding over even though I was a little sad because I had looked forward to this couple for so long!

I have my calendar on my computer set up to show different types of appointments in different colors. Green is for Knight Light appointments, Aqua is baby-related things… The past few months my calendar has been loaded with green. Most weekends were solid green. I opened up my calendar for September and was surprised to see a whole lot less green and a whole lot more aqua. Photo sessions have been replaced with child birth classes and doctor’s appointments.

I have been telling Josh that I would slow down and I somehow managed to do it. With the last wedding done, I have just a handful of sessions scheduled before I will officially be on maternity leave. I’m actually looking forward to a break from Knight Light since I’ve been so busy with it this summer. Although…I do have a waiting list started already for Spring!