“Hey, I can figure this stuff out myself!” I happily tell myself.  About everything.  Read almost any business book and you’ll find lots and lots of information about why that’s no way to run a business.  Yep, I’ve read them too.  But I like working on my websites and blogs, so that’s something I’ve spent a huge amount of time on.  Unfortunately, while trying to change my website hosting plan to allow me more control over it, I seem to have lost it.  And as confusing as it is to me, the companies that I thought had the information about these things (and, I thought, backups) seem to know what’s going on even less than I do.  So either my poor little website is out there, lonely and scared in cyberspace and wondering how to get back to where it was before…. or it exists no more.  I really don’t know.  And, apparently, neither does anyone else.

So, for the moment I’m simply redirecting everything here.   Hopefully the main site will be back up soon.  Hopefully it still exists somewhere.  I’ve got my fingers crossed…..

Stella and her parents just moved to the Bay Area a few weeks ago, so it was great to be able to introduce them to one of my all time favorite photo spots.  China Camp Village has the perfect mix of old fishing boats, bright blue skies (on a good day anyway) and relatively warm water for little toes.  There’s always a new place to explore and I’m a big fan of outdoor locations that help me get a great variety of images while keeping the kiddos happy and entertained.  Little Miss Stella had a great time hanging out and playing in the water!

I love the bloomers! I can’t remember how many times I’ve left  portrait sessions with the intention of ordering some to keep on hand for photo shoots.  So I did a quick search and found Three Little Starfish, an Etsy shop with lots of fun colors and designs if you’re in the bloomer market.   Ok, so I’ve found it… now if I could just get around to actually ordering them.

I had a great time hanging out with these guys and can’t wait to meet the new addition to the family sometime in September.  More photos of Isabella and her new little playmate will be coming soon!

But now it’s time to get my gear packed for a wedding in the morning and my bags packed to jump back on a plane (no sleep for me- leaving for Alabama a few hours after the wedding ends)  to see my mom in Alabama for her birthday for a few days.  Happy Birthday Lady!

it’s just about time for an adventure…

Ah… the weather has been amazing lately (except for the rain today) and it’s making me fall in love with the Bay Area all over again. But, as much as I love springtime in California, I also love a good adventure, and I just couldn’t resist an amazing opportunity that was recently offered.

In a few weeks, my fiance will start work in Tanzania as a Program Officer in the East Africa region for PREDICT, a project working to develop a global early warning system for emerging diseases that move between wildlife and people. I’m not only excited that he’s managed to get a job that’s right up his alley (that boy is right at home hanging out in the fields and cracking Swahili jokes with the Masaii men he’s working with), but I’m also very happy to have been offered a contract to photograph and document the program. If the logistics work out, I should have some very interesting days ahead of me, following game scouts around Ruaha National Park and the Wildlife Management Areas.

I’m also thrilled to be working on a project of my own with an organization called Neema Crafts, that works to provide handicrafts training and employment for deaf and physically disabled people in Iringa, the town that will be our home base while in Tanzania. Photography is such a huge part of my life and has become a way to express how I see the world, so I’m looking forward to sharing a little bit of what I’ve learned. I’m in the process of purchasing cameras and materials for a small photography workshop that I will be running for some of the Neema artisans, and I can’t wait to share some of their photographs and stories with you in the coming months.

I’ll need to get in better shape before the next photo session because Spencer was just taking some of his first steps that day.  If he’s anything like his big brother, all of our future portrait sessions will be require me to be VERY fast to catch up with these guys.

I was happy that the boys’ mom, Shana, took advantage of the puddles left behind by days of rain and brought along Griffin’s rain boots and coat for some fun puddle jumping shots too.  I love cute kids in puddles!

It was great to be taking photos again and I couldn’t have had a better subject to start with.  Look at those baby cheeks! Don’t you just want to pinch them like your crazy Aunt Betty used to pinch yours? I’m so glad Fuller’s mom decided to go ahead and bring him into the studio.  We had scheduled his photo session for next month, but she didn’t want to miss capturing his “babyness” in it’s full glory.  Good thinking on her part!  They change amazingly fast in that first year,  so the sooner the better.

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Haiti‘s capital of Port-au-Prince Tuesday afternoon, collapsing buildings, including at least one hospital. Tens of thousands are feared dead in the largest quake to strike the impoverished Caribbean nation in 200 years. Power is out, telecommunications are spotty and food and water are reportedly growing scarce.

The destruction from the earthquake in Haiti is unimaginable. Last night as I was sitting in my warm comfortable house, I couldn’t stop thinking about how fortunate I am to know that the people I love are safe and healthy. I can’t even fathom what it would be like to not have anyone to turn to with an injured child or mother after my world had crumbled around me. The people of Haiti desperately need our support and assistance.

Please make your contribution to the relief effort by visiting http://www.mercycorps.org/fundraising/mistyrichmond.

The Fine Print…..

- Offer doesn’t apply to previous or current orders (you know I like you, but I have the pay the bills and I can’t give refunds for old orders).
- Retouching not included.
- The full resolution images will be e-mailed within one week of your donation.
- Photo session must take place before May 5, 2010 to qualify.