photo shoot

I cannot remember if I mentioned it here, but as a "yay masters degree!" present, I purchased a Nikon D80. I am pretty much in love with it. I am still learning how to use it... it is pretty high-powered. Fortunately, the camera is better at taking pictures than I am, so they usually turn out decently. My biggest goal is to figure out how the heck to use it in low light situation. That is the most annoying thing: many scene I consider to be beautiful happen in low light. Eh, I am working on it.

The camera itself came with a 18-55mm lens. Basically, 55mm is almost like actual length while 18 zooms back away from the scene so that you can get more in. Pretty cool. For Christmas, my parents got me a 55-200mm zoom lens and Jon got me a speed flash. Awesome!

And so I went, armed with my lenses, to do my first boudoir photo shoot.



Turns out there is not a lot of known boudoir photography in the Philly area. As I searched around, there were really only two photographers who publicized that they did this type of photography. One was pretty darn ghetto. The other was a pro. She now charges $500 for a 2 hour shoot incl dvd and published photo book of your shoot. She promises at least 70 pictures, I think, with edits... and you can put 30 in your book of the session.

What is boudoir photography? Well, its a variety of things. Some people would consider the classic "pin up girl" style to be boudoir, but it really isnt. There is a place in Philly that does that, hair and makeup and costumes and the works. True boudoir is much more personal. And it usually involves less clothing.

I guess if I were trying to give you an idea of what it encompasses, I would say sexy, soft, classy, and only as revealing as the person wants it to be. You can wear anything you want, though lingerie is worn most often, and you can show as much as you want with one caveat - no crotch shots! Butt and breasts are a-okay though.

One of the most awesome things about boudoir photography is that it is designed to show a woman's natural sexiness. This means you do not have to be 5 ft 10 and 110 lbs. For this style, the curvier, the better! It is all about how the woman feels about herself. Though most woman tend to do this sort of thing for a present to their husband or lover or partner... I would say that this is something every woman should do for herself. It is invigorating and just a whole lot of fun.



So, as I said, I went to shoot my first boudoir shot. I would love to do more.

The subject was a friend who knew that I was interested in trying this out to see if I could do it. She is pretty open and wanted to do it for her husband for Valentine's Day. I would love to tell you who or to show you some shots, but her job kind of precludes her from being public with this sort of thing.

Anyway, we took a Sat and shot for almost 3 hours. I took approximately 500 pictures. I narrowed them down to about 140 favs... and from that, culled about 35 to put into her book. It was exhausting. After that shoot, I wanted nothing more than a nap and a back rub. Who knew photography was that physically taxing?!

My friend is an amazing model and I thought her pictures looked wonderful. She is so beautiful!!!! I lucked out having such a willing first model. We both had a lot of fun with it and I am VERY excited to see what her husband thinks of her book.


Overall, I loved doing the shoot. Bodies are beautiful. It sounds cheesy, I know, but I really believe it. I was not sure how I would feel about seeing a friends' rack... but it was not strange at all. I just felt professional about it. You sort of forget what you are looking at as you try to find the best angles and best lighting. I am pretty sure she relaxed into it also.

I told her I would not shoot her again until she gets pregnant... I REALLY want to do a photoshoot like that. I love black and white photos of pregnant women. Wow, that sounds weird. But I just think they are gorgeous! There is something innately beautiful about a woman's body doing what it was designed for.


So, my dear friends, readers of my pathetic blog... if you are interested, the offer is out there. I would love to do your shoot. You do not have to be topless. You do not have to show your butt. In fact, I wont shoot anything you are not comfortable with. But if you want to do one, I promise it is fun and liberating in a strange bra-burning 60's sort of way. Just let me know. :)

Welcome!

Welcome to the world Susanna Campbell Johns, born Jan 22nd!

Welcome to Sullivan Kowalski, born Jan 21st!

Welcome also to Mateo Paula, who arrived last week!


Soon you will have Mystery Baby Girl DeRemer to play with!!!!

bye bye jorb

Well, for the first time in 4 years, I only have one job: my full-time one teaching.

I am not employed by the lab at the hospital anymore.


Let me tell you the story...


I was scheduled to work on Sat, Dec 20th, after a 2 month hiatus. The reason I had not worked in so long was because no one would switch with me so that I could have off on my honeymoon. So, I just took off. It sucked to not work in so long, but what can you do?

My boss, who works 3rd, came in a bit early that night and came up to me as I was looking over the schedule for the next few weeks. I was not on it, which was not all that shocking considering that she has often forgotten to include me. I jokingly ask if she forgot about me and why I was not on the schedule.

She gives me a "yeaaaaaaaaahhhhh, I was meaning to talk to you about that."

Long story short: the lab super wants someone to work every other weekend, sat and sun, because she is worried about people keeping up competency in the labs.

She follows up with, "if you do not want to work Christmas Eve, I will work it for you."

So....... am I fired, here??? I ask her what I can do and mention to her that perhaps I can split the shift with K, who would also be pushed out by this. She says I can put in my application for the position online.

Okaaaay. I put it in that Tuesday because I really enjoy working at the hospital and do not want to lose my job.

I work Christmas Eve.

I hear nothing. I email her twice. Finally she responds the day after New Years and says sorry, someone from Chem took the position, she got in her app before I did.



And after that, I hear nothing. WTF?!

Mind you, I have worked at this hospital for 5 years and have been in good standing the entire time. Yet, this was how they "let me go". I wrote to her two more times asking about my paycheck, with no response. I then wrote a very nice letter to both her and the lab super letting them know, nicely, that I was disgusted that they would treat an employee this way. You would think I at least deserved a phone call, let alone a face to face conversation.


Last week, I stopped in to pick up my final two paychecks. I did not get a Christmas card and $30. Or maybe I did, and my boss took it, who knows? She would not respond when I asked her about it. Anyway, I stopped in to see a friend who has been working with me since the beginning. I tell her what is going on. She tells me that she knew that K and the other lady from chem are actually splitting the position, and she has known about it for about a month.

Again... how can you treat good employees like this???

So I make sure she knows my story, because I know she will tell everyone. But how frustrating!!! Bottom line: they lied to me. I was led to believe that they wanted someone to fill the position and that I could actually do that, but instead they knew these two people were splitting the position and had put in weeks ago. What bs!

I had also gone down to HR to ask about my 403b roll-over and they told me that my paperwork had not been processed yet. This was 3 weeks after I had been told I did not have a job anymore. So, I wrote to the lab super again and nicely asked if she had a time frame for putting in my paperwork. At that time, I also asked her for a letter of reference.

Three days after that, I tried to log in to my email to check if she had responded and I could not get in. I guess they processed my paperwork. Awesome.



Anyway, I am overall very very disappointed with the way they treated me. I mean, Sat and Sun nights second shift are NOT desirable positions, and I stuck by them when they needed someone to work. Its incredibly frustrating to me that I am to just fade into the background like I never worked there in the first place.

I told them in a few emails to email my personal address if another position came up, but I dont know that they will after I told them honestly that they handled the whole thing pretty awfully. Its just really sad. I was pretty upset about the whole thing and I will admit to tears...

But overall, I am trying to think of it positively.


Its nice that I do not have to work Sats. Its nice that I have more time in general. I like that freedom. I hope that its just cosmically clearing my schedule for better things. Because I do not have this job, I am able to sing with Project this summer and I do not have to miss Reverb rehearsals.

Really, I am just hoping this turns out to be for good. I mean, I know it is, in my heart, but it still seems pretty sucky right now. Perhaps it is just opening my life up for bigger and better things. Let's hope!