Tomorrow's the day my kids have been waiting for.
After school, we leave for Temecula and Mat's big STATE SOCCER TOURNAMENT!
Even Rory is excited! But she's not excited about the soccer.
When I got my new car back in December, it came with all the features I wanted,
plus one that I did NOT want -- a DVD player.
Long story short, to get all the features I wanted in this car,
it had to come with the flip-down screen for the back seats.
Please don't take offense if you have one in your car!
I just don't want one in my car.
I think the world and each other are much more entertaining than a movie on a screen.
Plus, my kids already watch WAY too much TV at home (bad mom).

BUUUUUUT, I do see the value of those flip-down screens for long car trips!
So I told the kids they could watch a movie on the way up to Temecula tomorrow,
and Rory is just about the most excited kid on the planet!
Both kids are busy as I type this, going through the DVD drawer picking out movies.

Once we get up to Temecula, we'll have a weekend of soccer soccer soccer,
and hopefully the Bonita Rebels will go UNDEFEATED! Then we'll drive home Sunday
to watch the Super Bowl and root for the commercials.

GO REBELS!

I've never had so much fun stuffing envelopes!
I'm so glad that so many people are excited about learning more about their cameras!
I was talking to a friend of mine today at Starbucks, and we were talking about how
all of those settings are just so confusing sometimes. I told her that I remember not being
able to sleep sometimes because my mind would be racing with confusion about which
settings are best for which situations. (I've found other things to lose sleep over nowadays.)



People who have ordered their Pocket Guides should be getting them soon,
and I hope they find happy homes in all of your camera bags!

If you want some, you can order them from MyFUNCamera.com.

I'm also making a point of having some in my purse all the time (and more in the car),
so if you me out & about, stop me to say HI and ask for one!

I've also gotten lots of requests for out-of-town lessons (done online & via email),
and lots of moms have asked for Photoshop lessons as well.
Next month, I'm hoping to launch some online mentoring and some other fun stuff, too!
Stay tuned for that, and if you're interested, comment on the blog!
Those comments keep me accountable, so I won't get lazy and drop that project!

Are you a scrapbooker?
Better yet, are you a Barefoot Memories client AND a scrapbooker?!
If so, would you be willing to help me out?

Next week, I'm going to be presenting my WPPI Platform Talk
to the big-wigs up in Santa Monica.
WPPI = Wedding and Portrait Photographers International, and I'm speaking at their
big show in Las Vegas in March. They want me to come up to their offices and talk about
the show, give me pointers, and there will probably be mocking & humiliation
involved, courtesy of my pal Skip. Bring it on, old man!

Part of my talk will be about giving clients digital files on CD.
A lot of photographers do not even consider this,
and I'm determined to open their eyes to the possibility.

That's where you come in, my scrapping friend!
I want to show off your scrapping masterpieces that you cherish so much!
It's a WHOLE lot easier to create beautiful scrapbook layouts if you have the
photographs on CD, isn't it?! I want to see! I want WPPI to see!
Could you please email me a copy of your scrapping layouts that you created with your digital images?
They can be 100% digital layouts, or scanned pages from your scrapbook.
Both are great!
I'm looking forward to seeing them!

~Carey

I'm getting really excited about the February 13th Workshop!
The morning is officially SOLD OUT, and I will try to add more dates soon.
(Maybe some February weekends, depending on how Mat's soccer team does at State Cup)

ALSO, I'm so excited to announce:
THE MyFunCamera POCKET GUIDES ARE IN STOCK AND READY TO SHIP!!

They are JUST as I envisioned, and I'm shipping a bunch out today!
Check out MyFunCamera.com to order yours.
They're made specifically for busy parents who aren't thinking about photography
every minute of every day and need help remembering which settings are best
for different situations. There are tips for Indoors, Outdoors, and Action shots, with clear,
simple instructions for setting your camera (Nikon & Canon) quickly.
Later this year, I'll have to add SONY in honor of Mera!



As a special bonus, I decided to add in something really FUN!
I went to Starbucks today and bought a bunch of $5 GIFT CARDS.
ONE in every FIVE sets of Pocket Guides ordered
will get a fun surprise in the form of a $5 Starbucks gift card!



Enjoy!!
~Carey

We've all gotten those boring, blah, humdrum sports pictures of our kids.
A kid posing with a forced smile with a ball tucked under the elbow,
or a faked batting stance holding a bat (what kid smiles at a camera while batting?!)
It's almost like a legal requirement that we all have to have those pictures of our kids,
and no offense to those kids' team sports shooters! They do a great job!

But I've always wanted something more!
Something hot.
Something cool.
Something with STYLE!

So I went out and got it!

I met my friend, Kelly, at Mission Bay the other day, with our boys,
and my buddy, Rob, did these AWESOME action shots of our little soccer studs!

Here's the first shot of Mat & Camden.
It was supposed to be just a test shot for the lighting setup,
but it came out so cool, it's a keeper!


Here's Camden taking a free kick:

(Rob did get smacked in the face a few times, but this guy was a Navy photographer
and he shoots NFL games. Getting a soccer ball in the face was nothing)

And here's my favorite of Mat:


Are you loving these??!!
I think they're amazing! Rob is a master of off-camera flash lighting,
and he rocked these!

Here's a shot of Rob in action w/his lighting setup:


And some lighting adjustments:


Rob and I are going to be working together later this year to do some large-scale, full-day
photo sessions for clubs & leagues (if you're interested, email me!), but if you're a parent who
wants pictures like this of your athlete, Rob can do it for you!

He told me it was OK to put some pricing here on my blog, so here you go:
One individual "bling bling athlete" shoot (usually about 20-30min): $100.
Get some friends together, and you can have 2-3 kids together for $75 each.
Get some more friends together, and you can have 4-5 kids together for $50 each.
Anything over 5 kids together has to be a team/club session with Rob & me together.
That price includes the session and one 8x10. You'll be able to order more prints & fun stuff online.

If you're interested, EMAIL ROB to set up your session! You're going to love it!

Check out more of his work (including some shots of Mat & Camden) HERE.

Rock on,
Carey