Spring Photo Sessions

So I got the chance to do two photo sessions this weekend and I have to admit it made me a little sad.


First I got to Take Emily over to Valley Forge to do some maternity pictures. Isn't she beautiful? You can see more pictures here.






Then I got to take Chelsea and her girls over to Ursinus campus to get some spring pictures of the girls. You can see more of those here.





So why did this make me sad? Some might think it is because I am still single and as much as i want to be a mom I have no kids but actually that isn't it at all. It is because both of these families will be moving in the next bit as their husbands graduate from Dental school. This time of year is always tough as the friends you make over a 4 year period graduate and move on. But I wish them all the best!!

November already?????

Oh my word, where has the time gone. I can’t believe it is November already. The last couple of months have really flown by. School has kept me busy and I am glad I only have 1 class for the second half of the semester instead of two classes like the first half. Still we have lots of reading and homework to do for the class so 1 is keeping me plenty busy. We will also have a big group project we will be working on. Most of the class is a carry over from one of my classes last semester. So we already know each other a little bit. It is my 4th class with Hannah which is cool. We are also in the same group for the project which I am happy about. She is easy to work with and get along with.

Halloween this year was a non-event. I didn’t even hand out candy this year because I end up eating too much of it myself. I went to our ward Trunk or treat party. I am now part of the activities committee so I was there to help out. The next big event we will be planning is the upcoming Christmas party. We will meet this coming Sunday to discuss what we are going to do for the party. We will also be trying to plan some of next year’s activities or at the very least getting them on the calendar so we know when we will be having the various activities. I am really pushing for an 80’s dance/party. I think it would be a lot of fun and I already have the music aspect covered along with a bunch of ideas for decorations and activities for the evening. I probably have more ideas then we could possibly use for one event, and I know others will come up with things I had not ever thought of so we can all chose the best of the best.

For those wondering about my eyes they have improved quite a bit and are probably as good as they are going to get but I am still not sure if I am happy with it or not since it isn’t as good as I was hoping for. Reading is still difficult and distances still pose a challenge.

The weather here has gotten considerably cooler over the last week but you would not know it here at work. For some reason it is an oven on our floor. We have had doors and windows open for the last few days trying to cool things down in the afternoon. I hope in the dead of winter when it is really cold out that it is still warm inside.

Tonight I will be shooting a corporate event and last weekend I shot a wedding reception. I will probably also being doing family portraits for a few freinds over the next few weeks as the holidays approach. It is nice to be able to use my camera at least a little again. Hopefully when I am done with school in a little over 1 1/2 years I will be able to do more with my photography. Of course oif either of the other business ventures I am working on take off I still might be too busy... Only time will tell. Oh and for those wondering we decided on "The ChellGar Group" as our company name.

New photography website

I decided to do a little photography website as a mini portfolio. I don't have much time to work on it right now so I am sure it will be a slow work in progress but feel free to check it out when you have time. Check back fro time to time for updates.

http://www.freewebs.com/chellsshots/

Where has the time gone

I have not been bloggin much lately since my eyes have been in the healing stage but now that they are slowly getting clearer each week I hope to start blogging more for my dedicated fans. LOL


Well it has been 4 ½ weeks since my PRK laser eye surgery and there has been a vast improvement from before surgery but I am still having trouble with my vision and at my appointment this morning they said it will be at least another 4 weeks. Apparently my close-up vision will be the last to stabilize. That has made reading for school and working a bit more of a challenge but hopefully it will get better soon.

This is my last week for the 2 classes I am currently enrolled in. So that will be another 6 credits completed and 46 more to go before graduation. (then I need to decide about going for a MBA or some other graduate degree but I am guessing I will pass on that since I will be pretty burned out by then.) Then next Monday I start my new class which is class #3 for the fall semester. I have things basically mapped out now through graduation with about 6 credits that I don’t know what I am taking yet to fulfill but have a good idea of which semester I will try to get them completed in. The toughest challenge is spacing things out so that work pays for most of what I am taking. Anything over 2 classes a semester comes out of my pocket and I am trying to not have too many classes that I do that with since it is expensive and I really don’t have it budgeted. So as of right now I have one 2 credit class this fall I am paying for and one 4 credit class I will pay for in the spring and possibly another 2 credit class next fall. The killer will be the one this Spring. The 2 credit ones are a little easier to absorb into the budget.

I took my framed photos down for the art show display here at work this morning. They will be up for 84 days. Thanks to everyone who let me know which ones they liked best. Speaking of photography I have not been doing as much with it since my eye surgery since I just can’t see things as clearly as I would like. Thank goodness for auto focus. I will be shooting a wedding reception in 1 ½ weeks and the following weekend I will be doing the Awards banquet for McNeil. I am looking forward to both.

I am in the process of helping my uncle get his business up online. It is kind of slow going since he is super busy as am I and my father who is also helping him. Plus add in the fact that they both live in Maine and I am in PA and the logistics are not the most ideal but as my uncle funnels information to me I will get things rolling. In the mean time my dad and I are moving forward with our plans to start a business which although slow going is definitely progressing in the right direction and we really are just trying to get everything situated so that we can really run with it come the new year. We are both very busy with our full time jobs and church callings and me with school so we do what we can when we have time and energy. Plus neither of us want to jump into anything without a good solid plan in place. I am hoping this will go well so that I have something that I can set aside for retirement I addition to my other investments. If the people that owe me money would pay me back I would have most of what I need to get things up and running but I am not counting on having that money and am trying to save what I need on the side.

Not much new here this week....

Ahh time for another blog. This one will probably be on the shorter side since there is not much new to report here. I am busy with my second semester at school, and all the reading is kicking my butt. So I will not be reading the new Harry Potter book as soon as it comes out. I will have to wait till August when I am back do only having class once a week….

So I have gotten a couple of questions about the digital back I am thinking about buying for my camera, It is not available in the US yet but here is a link to what it is.
http://www.mamiya.com/cameras.asp?id=1&id2=2127


Also for those of you trying to guess which other friend of mine I think would like the school I mentioned wanting to go to it is Paul…. He is currently in Iraq working but still gets a chance to take some pictures from time to time… Check out the website he has been building.. It is still a work in progress so check back from time to time…. http://www.cprambo.com/ He has some real talent and enjoys photography….

Well that’s all for now. If you haven't done so already don't forget to Vote on my poll....

My Dream

What is your dream? What would you be doing right now if you could do anything? For me I would be doing photography full time, and instead of going to school part time for business I would be going here full time http://hallmark.edu/ I have wanted to go to this school for over a decade now and not a year goes by that I do not still think about it. It is a 10 month program in which you are doing something photography related all the time. It is an intense program but you are immersed in photography and the business of photography. Yep sounds like a perfect 10 months to me. I have one friend looking into going there and another I really think should give it some serious consideration.

But alas the dream remains on hold a little longer for me, and that is okay. Maybe one day I will throw caution to the wind and just go for it.

So I would love to hear what your dreams are, what would you be doing right now if you could be doing anything? Or are you lucky enough to be doing exactly what you want to? If so what is it????

Random thoughts and pictures

So I just got back from a short bike ride, about 15 miles. I had to go retrieve my phone from my friend's house where i left it Thursday evening. It was a great night for a ride. perfect weather and the trail was virtually empty. I think I passed 6 other bikers, 2 people roller blading and about 6 or so walkers. There was a family of geese and about 1 million gnats......

I thought a bike ride would clear my mind and leave me feeling more motivated to come home and finish my homework for the weekend but that was not the case. I did however get a chance to do some thinking. It really is a beautiful trail, maybe next time I head out I will grab and take a long my point and shoot camera and post some pictures on here. Anyway I realized a few things while I was out riding. The first is the most obvious, I am out of shape... The other things I thought about were more about what is important to me and the things that make me smile. It helps keep things in perspective. So I decided to post a few pictures of those things. This is just a small representation..

Oh take a look at my survey on the side. I am trying to decide which big purchase I should make next year. Laser Eye surgery so I can ditch my glasses, or a digital back for my medium format camera so I can do more professional level photography work. Let me know what you think....