My girls & I were forced to wait at McDonald’s yesterday while our tire was getting repaired.  For like one whole hour!  Do you know how excruciatingly painful it is to sit in a McDonald’s when that is the very place you are trying to avoid for health reasons?  It’s like major temptation!  I had packed the girls a lunch & got myself a salad.  And stupidly…by habit…got a sweet tea as well.  I’ve been counting my calories with the Live Strong app & realized that a stinkin’ McD’s sweet tea is 230 calories!  That was more than the chicken Caesar salad had!  Ugh!  Good thing I went to Zumba last night with my sister-in-law!

Anyway….on to the above photo.  I thought this older couple was just so precious when they walked in to McDonald’s.  It was a bit chilly yesterday.  They came in, ordered coffee, and she sat down.  He took a little longer because he stopped at the drink bar to get ice & coffee fixin’s.  I just enjoyed watching them interact and I wanted their picture.  I STOLE their picture!  Now, when do you think it is okay to photograph people?  I know there are laws on this kind of thing.  My memory tells me that it’s alright to photograph people in public places, where they don’t have an assumed amount of privacy.  For example, say they are walking down the street, like in downtown Annapolis.  It is NOT okay to be in a public place and turn  your lens into a private place, like someone’s backyard, and start snapping away.  I was not in a public place.  I was in a private business – McDonald’s (aka fast food chain from the Devil) – and these people had an assumed amount of privacy.  So, in retrospect, I should have asked before or after I snapped this photo.  Hand slap on me!  I will do better.  What are your thoughts on photographing people who aren’t your clients?  What would or did you do?  You can write anonymously, too, if you’re scared.  I’m pretty sure I don’t have any law enforcement personnel reading my blog that will come & get ya.

Photos I’ve been looking at:  Jessica Claire.  Now most photographers know who the famed Jessica Claire is!  She’s one of the many OC/California photographers who are uber fabulous.  I really enjoyed this post that she re-posted from 2004.  I enjoyed looking at where she began…how she’s evolved…and that it IS possible to get better & better if you just work really hard.  Her 2004 photos were great.  Her 2010 photos are off the charts!

Oh, and sorry this post is a day late.  I’ll be doing a double today.  I’ve been having this mysterious pain in my right hand, my dominant hand, that starts in my wrist, goes up to my elbow, and even all the way back to my shoulder blade. I think I’m straining it too much on the computer with typing, editing, & reading (& commenting) on other people’s blogs.  It’s time for a little break.  Now I’m off to mail a check to Doctor’s Giving Back for my trip to Ethiopia that is exactly ONE MONTH AWAY!  Thank you to all of you who’ve donated & prayed.  I’m half way there & would really appreciate your continued prayers & support.  Thank you thank you thank you!

Okay, let me first start this blog post by telling you how badly my day was going, and then end it with how great Corinne’s head shots turned out.

First, I woke up with a headache!  Argh!  This fickle Fall weather keeps my head spinning.  I’ve recently been using Claritin D & it’s worked!  Occasionally there are times when it’s not enough & sleep is the only thing that can save me.  Well, sleep was not an option on Saturday.  My wonderful husband Josh went in to work so that he could meet a deadline that would allow us to take our VACATION!  My sweet sister-in-law, Ashley, offered to have my girls come to her house for her son’s 4th birthday party while I worked.

Second, as I was driving the girls to Ashley’s house, Brooke’s drink spilled all over the passenger seat & I didn’t notice until I was almost all soaked up.

Third, after dropping the girls off, I began to sip my sweet sweet tea from Mickey D’s when, BAM, the cup malfunctioned, split, and spilled sweet sticky tea all over me & my car!!!!  My first thought – WHAT A WASTE OF SWEET TEA!!!  Needless to say, this ruined my professionally stylish outfit & I was late to meet Corinne at the Annapolis Mall.

However, just because a day starts out badly, doesn’t mean it has to continue in that direction.  And although the mall wasn’t the ideal place to photograph Corinne, it was all we had with the on-again, off-again rain.  So while we dodged rain & a gazillion trick-or-treaters in the mall, we captured some great shots of this up & coming writer!

Corinne is such a neat person & really easy to chat with.  I’m really excited to see her book when she finishes it, and you should be too!  In the meantime, after you drool over her photos (sorry guys, she’s taken), go check out her blog, Following Bliss & leave her some love.  Thanks, Corinne, for being so flexible & patient with me…and most of all, for pointing me in the direction of some non-dairy ice cream!