Obviously, someone needs to practice wearing glasses or contacts when they have to use manual focus. And steadying the camera. And white balance.

the Nielsen Family holiday photos,

the McDaniel family holiday photos,

and the Rief family photos.

This one too, because it shows the true exhaustion she felt at that moment.

Baby Abby and Baby Dillon,

and the Ekdhal-Jackson Family.

She is an avid antique-er and collector of vintage glass. She gave me this sugar dish that I absolutely love and use every single day for my morning coffee.

And then she brought Erik this old 7up bottle from the 60′s (?) from when they were probably running a college football promo. Erik’s favorite team is Notre Dame.

I just love thoughtful gifts and thoughtful people

Restaurant/bar profile of Cafe Americain,

and Gabrielle Tougeron’s Family.

I picked up this cool mug while thrifting this week for $.49, so I figured I’d try it out. I didn’t have any cookies, so I used a small orange.

But let me tell you, I’m not proud of this particular cookie splash because I happened to be SO FREAKED OUT while doing it, for a few different reasons.

1. I’m a total wimp and was panicking about hitting the shutter on continuous mode while also dropping the orange, because that’s how uncoordinated I am. It’s the same freak out I have when I go in the spray tan machine, because I can’t handle hitting the start button/taking in a deep breath and holding it/closing my eyes/getting into my “star pose” as to get even coverage in the five seconds before the spraying starts. I seriously almost have a panic attack.

2. The proximity of my camera to the mug isn’t that far away, because the closest telephoto distance I have is 70mm, which means I have to worry about the liquid spraying all over my camera which would = no bueno.

3. I have to worry about my neighbors and/or Erik seeing me doing this ridiculous thing on the porch in my pajamas and slippers, and being shamed. Not to mention the gigantic coffee spill all over the deck that Erik would for sure yell at me about.

So I really only gave myself a couple chances to get a good splash, and this was the best one:

I now have to do a better cookie splash, with great props and a great setting, but might need to use my little camera so I can use my 200mm telephoto lens, just to cut down on one the possibilities for panic attacks.

That, or I could get a life. Whatever comes first.