Shoot Sac Has Arrived!

I couldn't wait to get home today because my Shoot Sac came in!
I was so excited, that I opened the box in the office of the apartment complex and showed the girl who got the package out for me.
Here's what I saw when I opened the shippping box.

Such beautiful packaging isn't it?

 

I think I'm going to keep it and put my covers that I collect in it.

 

I LOVE green with black and white as well.

 

Fling cover! yay!

 

I like the people at Shoot Sac and their little "Thank You!" stickers. How nice!

 

My shoot sac with Fling cover and added shoulder pad.

 

Now, if I could just figure out what my husband had delivered today as well.

Do you know what it's like whenever you buy a wonderful new dress or amazing pair of new shoes that you are so excited about you wear it around your house for a couple of hours once you finally get it home?  Yeah, I've been walking around the house wearing my shoot sac. It is THAT cool!

Monday is Going to be Bittersweet

There are two good things about the upcoming Monday and then there is one bad one.

I'll start with the bad and end with the good, because I like to leave you with happy thoughts.
1. School starts back on Monday.....which means I have to go back to work on Monday...boo.
However, the good thing about Monday is that I enjoy the job that I have. I like working with technology and the more I'm on my computer the more I learn about the programs I'm working with, which leads to expanding my knowledge in more than just my job. Now, if the kids are just not annoying and bothersome we will be fine.

Now on to the good. There are two REALLY good things and two other pretty good things going on Monday, January 4:
Really Good things go first:
1. My Shoot Sac that I ordered for my camera lenses comes in!!! I am so excited about this it's not even funny. I took some of my Christmas money and splurged and bought the shoot sac with a "Fling" cover. I can't wait to go out shooting with my good friend Sydni Rae with our shoot sacs and get a picture of them together so I can call it "A fling with a cowboy;" I can't help but think it's cute even though I know it's totally goofy. The idea comes from my shoot sac name being "Fling" and Sydni's being "Cowboy." Here's an example of what my shoot sac will look like:

2. My best friend will be induced for labor to give birth to her precious baby girl. I already know this little girl will be precious because first off, her name is going to be Lexi Jo, and second off, she is Terrie Smith's Autrey's daughter. Terrie already has her room set up and it is just dripping with girly cuteness with all the pink, brown, and green in the room and the fantastic custom bedding that Terrie's mom made. Terrie is fantastic at making anything cute and turning any house into a home and she's done the same with Lexi's room. This girl already has a bow holder full of bows. The really dreadful part about Terrie having Lexi on Monday is that I won't be able to be there. BOO.  I can't exactly take off work my first day back, believe me I'd love to though.  However, I will be making my way out to Mount Pleasant next weekend to officially meet Ms. Lexi Jo and of course, produce her first photo shoot for her and take tons of newborn baby shots. :) 

Now on to the pretty good things about Monday:
1. Zumba starts back up at the MAC.  I'll have to dish out some money for my annual dues to the MAC and for my monthly fees for Zumba, but it's totally worth it.  I finally found a way to work out that doesn't feel like total torture and I really enjoy it.  I love to dance and this allows me to dance my face off.  I also use Zumba to stay active and will hopefully help me in slimming down and reaching my weight loss/slim down goal.

2. Cliff and I start our 21 day body makeover/DIET.  This will suck and be pretty good at the same time.  It will suck because I have to give up some things I love to consume in my body, such as: sweet tea with caffene in it, white potatoes, red meat, etc.  However, it is a good thing because I know that this is doing something good for my body and it will help me cleanse my body of toxins and help me begin to loose the weight I need to.  The great thing is that Cliff will be doing this with me and I'm better at this sort of thing when I have motivation and an accountability partner.  I have already made some changes in my diet such as drinking more water and have cut WAY down on cokes, but other than that I've never really gone on a full out lifestyle change diet.  I need it, and I am looking forward to seeing my body slim down and back into a proper 24 year old's body.

Well, it's a pretty exciting Monday ahead of us.  I hope yours is just as exciting as well, that is, if you wish it to be.

A New Transformation

Well, it is about time that I did it; I'm going through a transformation phase with my photography.

I am FINALLY taking an official photography class through UTA's Continuing Education courses and one of my goals this summer was to set up an official website. If I really wanted to portray that I was serious about photography and turning it into something for myself, I really needed to set up a real website. I have set up my new website, christinaleephoto.com, which led to a new logo design, and a new blog, which is leading to new business cards, and as of today, a new camera strap is in the works. I've also had the opportunity to hang out with some of my photographer friends this summer Sydni Thomas and Justin O'Keith Higgs, which has pumped adrenaline into me and has inspired me to become more serious of a photographer. However, I don't need to quit my day job yet, (I like teaching anyways, so I'm okay with that!)

The last two days, Sydni and I have met up in Arlington and have gone over some photography stuff as well as doing some prepping for a wedding that I am helping her with next week, (yay!) Well, Sydni is apparently a blog junkie, and now she's gotten me into searching through blogs and has inspired me to create my own, which really isn't a problem for me because I love writing, especially journaling. It really is amazing some of the stuff I have found just this week online.
For example, I have decided to make my own camera strap cover because for one, the strap cuts into my neck, and two I saw one that Sydni has with her name ironed on to it and I thought it was super cute, so in comes the research and creativity. I found some great online instructions for making my own strap through Tidy Mom's blog. I like her idea of using two different fabrics so I've decided to do that as well and add some quilting batting for extra comfort. One thing I would like to do different though is before I actually finish the sewing myself, I want to get this thing embroidered with my logo for an added authentic bonus; I also plan to add a little memory card pocket.

I am also in love with a new lens bag that I have found through photographer Jessica Claire, called the Shootsac. It is compact, hangs over your shoulder, and it is stylish with the variety of covers you can add to it; not to mention it makes it very easy to change your lenses out while shooting an on location event. I already have three camera bags though so I think I'll have to wait a while on that one. I have other things that would probably take the priority list first.

Well, since this is my first blog entry of my christinaleephoto blog I might as well introduce myself formally.

My name is Christina Carpenter and I am a part time photographer out of Mansfield, Texas, (the DFW metroplex.) During the day, and school year I am a teacher at an Arlington ISD high school where I teach Technology Application classes focusing on Web Design and Multimedia, but I try to sneak in some photography as well.

I got my start well, pretty much from when I was born being around my mother and her Pentax SLR camera. By the time I was in 2nd grade, I had my first point and shoot camera and I remember my dad making comments about how you could easily find me wasting film by taking pictures of tree branches, leaves, and flowers--I truly love being behind a camera, always have, but it started from being in front of my mother's. My mom has an interest in photography and was interested in picking up pointers and getting into the semi-pro circuit and she passed some information along to me. While in college at East Texas Baptist University, I was a student publications worker on the Martian yearbook staff, where I worked with a great team for three years. During this time, I was able to add to my brief knowledge of photography and composition which led to my photography position the third year. About the spring of 2006, I began drawing interest by some of my fellow students at ETBU for contract hire photography, and before too long, I had several photo shoots throughout the next two years and began shooting weddings in the spring of 2007.

To my delight, my parents have been very supportive of my photography passion and my mother was probably tired of me constantly borrowing her Nikkon D70, so they allowed me to purchase a new DSLR camera of my own for my college graduation--a Canon EOS 30D. I currently still have the 30D and have added to my collection of equipment over the last two years. Most recently, I added a new lens to the collection which is the Canon EFS 18-200 mm F/3.5- 5.6 thanks to the graciousness of my husband and birthday presents. I like this lens because it not only has image stabilization (praise the Lord!) but it allows more light in than my other Sigma lenses and was also great for my recent travel to Chicago. I was able to take just one lens with a variety of zoom available.

Well, that is about it for the first entrance, I think I'll be lucky if anyone makes it through the entire post! Whew! Time for some rest!

'Till next time,
Christina Lee