It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown!

Happy Halloween!

If you missed it on TV the other night, please enjoy It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown! here today. Nothing will get you in the spirit more! As for myself, I am currently finishing up my nutritional shake breakfast (I use the Isagenix system) and will be hitting the gym shortly thereafter to combat the 11 pounds of candy I have sitting in my kitchen right now. I stupidly bought the good stuff - Almond Joys, Heath bars, Rolos, etc. - and already put a dent in it last night. We haven't had Halloween on a weekend since we've lived in this house, so I have no idea what time kids will start showing up. In the five years we've been here it's always been on a weeknight, and because the kids can't go until the parents are home from work, our first usually come around 5:30. Should I be prepared for earlier today? Maybe the early bird kids will just get rocks like Charlie Brown.

Leaf Me Alone

Image copyright Bloom Creatives 2009. All Rights Reserved.

New fine art print up in my Etsy Shop! I made this photo the day before yesterday at this historic watering hole called Greasewood Flat in Scottsdale, AZ while showing Kai's father around to some of our favorite places. I always get some great Wild West type shots there, but this was different and a pleasant surprise. Hope you enjoy it as much as I do...

Happy Birthday Winona!

I watched The Age of Innocence the other night and was reminded of how magnificent Winona Ryder is... She owned that film. Michelle Pfieffer and Daniel Day Lewis had nothing on Winona's subdued yet compelling performance of a woman we think is flighty, unintellectual and clueless but is truly cunning and calculating while rallying her allies and devising a plan  to keep her marriage and her good name intact while her husband's hormones lead to several makeout sessions with her own cousin. Winona deftly develops this character throughout the entire film with a well-placed question here and a pointed look there until she drops the hammer down towards the end. Whammo! Winona wins!

Anyway, today is Winona's birthday and in celebration I thought I'd share this photo... An oldie but goodie of a troubled actress having at least the sense of humor to mock her situation.

(PS - If you enjoy historical fiction and haven't read Edith Wharton's masterpiece novel upon which the movie is based - and to which it stays rather true - please treat yourself and do so immediately. You won't be sorry. Wharton's description of 1800's New York society is spot on.)

The ol' magnet in a box shenanigan

Just say no to drugs, kids. (Love the silent film editing on this!)

Casper the Commuter Cat

Been spending the week getting our home ready for the arrival of a VIG (Very Important Guest)... Kai's father is visiting from South Africa for three weeks and gets here Saturday morning! Visitors are the perfect excuse to get all those odds and ends done around the house. I've sorted out all the closets, gone through all of my clothes and gathered three bags worth to bring to HALO Animal Rescue's resale shop, repainted the living room, washed the curtains, got a new living room rug and a matching one for the entryway, finally put a bed frame on the bed in the guest room, put new bookshelves in the guest room that coordinate with the rest of the furniture and hid the new ones that don't behind the couch as a sofa table, gave the grout in our tile floors a good scrubbing, gave the pussycat a hair cut (tummy and butt fur only)... We still need to hang additional shelves in the laundry room, wash the baseboards, tidy our own bathroom, drop off the stuff we want to donate (the aforementioned clothes and an old TV), drop a broken DVD player at our town's electronics recycling center, and tidy our office. And I need to plan some menus and go grocery shopping.

Sigh. I think I'd rather go for a ride on the bus through the English countryside with Casper. (FF the video to 10 seconds in past the advertisement.)

Nicole & Joe Scottsdale Engagement Photos

All images copyright Caroline Goddard/Bloom Creatives 2009. All Rights Reserved.

(Click on any of these photos to see full-size...)

Nicole and Joe joined me last week for a really fun engagement shoot! Nicole is a model (gorgeous, no?) so she was very comfortable working the camera, but her fiance Joe was a bit more reticent. Okay, a lot more reticent. However, Nicole knew just how to get him to relax and soon he was having fun and they were being silly, goofy and loving together -- the perfect recipe for engagement photos with personality!

Nicole shows off her ring while Joe whispers a silly joke about dancing the tango...

How sweet! (Until he tried to shove it up her nose... Goofing, of course!)

This shot drove me a little crazy... Neither the wall nor the bench were flush to the ground. Both were angled in opposite directions. I opted to negate the angle of the bench, but in doing so the wall behind them seems a little wonky. Gotta love that terra cotta color, though.

(Click on this for a full-size view - it's totally worth it!)

Talk about personality! They demonstrated their secret handshake for me as I snapped away. (Guess it's not so secret now that I put it on the internet...)

This was one of the last shots of the session, and also my personal favorite. Very big and dramatic, just like falling in love feels.

Best wishes to Nicole and Joe, and thanks for such a great shoot!

For information on hiring me as your AZ engagement photographer, for Phoenix engagement photography or Scottsdale engagement Photography, please contact me via the Bloom Creatives website.

Nicole & Joe engagement photos - Preview!

Image Copyright Bloom Creatives 2009. All Rights Reserved.

Stay tuned for more photos of this fun session in Scottsdale, AZ...

One year

Image copyright Ursula Graham 2008. All Rights Reserved.

A year ago today, I married this amazing man. While I'm sure he often wonders who invited the Tasmanian Devil into his living room, on the whole he tolerates me very well. He even cleans! Much more than I do! He inspired me to leave a job I hated for a life I love, doing things I only would have dreamed of - if that - ten years ago. He's the reason I now get paid to write and make photos; he impressed upon me that life is way too short to not spend every day doing something you're passionate about.

But mostly he just holds my hand, and makes funny jokes, and plays with the cat and generally makes my world a much brighter place.

Happy first wedding anniversary, Kai. I love you more than you could ever know.

Etsy!

Photo copyright Bloom Creatives 2009. All Rights Reserved.

I finally did it! My Etsy shop is all set up and ready for customers! I currently am featuring seven prints, with more to come in the next few weeks - including holiday cards and greeting cards. Check it out, and if you're so inclined do purchase a print! (This rooster would be lovely in a country kitchen...)