We're Engaged!!

Julian and I are engaged and have been for a week now! Ive been slacking on posting our engagement story but I had a good excuse last week. My work computer took a dive and I was stuck using a computer that was not on the open DSL. Therefore, all the good websites were blocked!


So....without further adieu..

Our Story.


So last Saturday night (12/13/08) we had tickets to go see The Nutcracker. I had to picture a Land Rover event early that morning so Julian decided he would use that time to go install a new Norton Anti-virus program on my parents computer (and ask for my hand). We met back at my apartment, went to lunch, took a nap and started getting ready for the ballet. I wanted to get all dressed but I was having a MAJOR wardrobe issue and quickly turned my room upside down in a fit of rage. I was throwing a huge PMS tantrum while Julian kept his cool yet chuckling on the inside knowing what was to come later that night. Anyhow….I finally decide on something to wear and off we went!

We both wanted to get to the theater fairly early because last year we really enjoyed listening to a choir sing Christmas carols softy in the second tier foyer. Hoping for the same this year, we arrived at about 6:30ish. So did EVEYONE else……it was packed……and….there were no carolers this year. By this time Julian began to panic because his plan was to propose to me in front of the choir on the second tier with a minimal amount of people around. They wouldn’t even let us up the stairs. Ugh.

After the show when we were driving home Julian (okay, im going to call him Claudiu from now on) told me he had something to show me and I was not allowed to ask questions. I initially thought he was taking me to Leatherbys for ice cream because of the direction we had taken. After driving down Fulton a few blocks I started to realize what might be happening and it really became apparent when we pulled into the BMW dealership.

He again told me there was something he wanted to show me so we got out of the car and walked toward the lot of cars. He stopped at one point and turned to me saying “Do you know where we are?” I said, “at work?” His reply was “this is the exact spot where we first met” then he got on one knee and asked me to marry him!! Begin the instant water slides! Lol I cried like a baby. After all the hoops we jumped through with his family it seemed it was finally over! Pure excitement !

Want to see the actually security footage of him proposing? Someone help me figure out how to put video on here!!

Wordless Wednesday

Claudiu as a baby...

He's the naked butt on the right side.

Claudiu and his dad in Romania

Photoshop Friday!

This is a trick I use to get pictures off websites that have the "right click & save as" option disabled. For instance, lets say you take a trip to The Happiest Place on Earth... They have photographers everywhere snaping photos of everyone who is willing. The pictures are available for you to view but thats about it. If you want them you have to buy each for a crazy dollar amount. Want to just save the picture to your computer? Easy!

This is how I do it.....
I start by saving the website screen making sure the picture I want is in perfect view. To save, hold down the shift key and press the PrintScreen button on the keyboard (usually in the top right somewhere)
Then, open photoshop and click the New File tab on the top left. It should look like just a white piece of paper. The specs that come up should be fine so just click ok. Now go to the EDIT tab on the top left toolbar, scroll down and click paste!
You should now see your web page! Most times you will need to magnify the image before you crop out the picture but other than that, once you crop and save you are done! I admit...sometimes the quality isnt that great because the file size isnt large enough but hey, at least you dont have to pay an arm and a leg for a memory! Julian, Valentin, Alekzandru and myself in front of Main Street Disney 03/08

Wordless Wednesday

Pictures from Thanksgiving with the fam....

We all gathered at my mom and dads (Howie) house for the day..heres just a few random pics..

Mom and DukeMy Uncle Billy bowling on Wii......check out his form....awesome.

Grandma Teeing up for a game of Wii golf.

My mom and her brothers.

Clever Girl!!

So...being the Britney Spears fan that I am, Ive been listening to songs from her new album CIRCUS on youtube. It will be in stores on 12/2 and I cant wait to go get it.

Anywho...there's a song I like titled "If You Seek Amy" the tune is catchy but I could not understand the lyrics to save my life. I finally figured it out after reading reviews of the song on youtube.
There is a chorus that goes..
" All of the boys and all of the girls are begging to if you seek Amy" BUT what she is really saying (en cognito) is....
if-F
you-U
see-C
kay-K
me-ME!
hhaha....now it makes sense! Clever Brit.....clever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nWyXO4MJBq0&feature=related

Weekend Recap...

I had such a crazy busy day on friday that I didnt have time to do a photoshop post..oh well..

Friday night was girls night and I didnt get home until 12am-ish! We went for a speedy dinner at Peisanos then off to the theater to see Twilight. Apart from a little cheese, the chatty 12yr olds and the endless chair kicks for Ree and Lauren (by the chatty 12yr olds), Id say the movie was pretty entertaining. I think it could have easily been better had we been in a theater with a more mature audience. It was apparent that all the MILD adult content of the movie was too much for these kids to handle...which was made obvious by all the snickering, giggling and ohh and awws. I could have done without all the mindless commentating and sound effects. As the movie ended and we were getting up to leave, Lauren (in a VERY lauren-like fashion) turned to the girls responsible for kicking her and Ree's chairs and proceeded to tell them "Thank you for kicking my chair the whole movie ladies, that was great". As SOON as this was going down Sheree and I couldt have moved any faster away from Lauren. Embarrassed, we made a bee line for the exit leaving Lauren behind to fend for herself. It was a fun laugh filled night with the girls.

On Saturday Julain and I made a trip to the wonderful world of Walmart and purchased a fake tree for christmas this year. I didnt have a tree last year and it just wasnt christmas without one. I hate to admit...but we actually put it together and plugged it in (pre-lit). Im a firm believer in the Christmas Decor Rule...Decorating AFTER Thanksgiving but I couldnt help myself. At least its JUST the tree..i will wait to put ornaments on after thursday's festivities.

Saturday evening we had pizza with my fam and just hung out at home all day Sunday.

Hope everyone is prepared for Thanksgiving this week!

My First Blog Tag!

RULES:

1. Go to your pictures

2. Upload the 4th picture of the 4th folder

3. Post it

4. Tag 4 friends

My forth folder was a Niello Event folder (im at work) and this pic is from our Audi Pound 4 Pound event in El Dorado Hills. We had a Prime Time Boxing Competition and Michael Buffer was our celeb emcee. Good times, eh?

Well...

Gretchen and Zan Im tagging you! I dont have anyone else being as Ash and Ree have already been tagged :)

Wordless Wednesday

Last Saturday Evening in the Preserve..

Duke won Photo Vote!!

http://www.kcra.com/photovote-contest/index.html

Go see!

Photoshop Friday-Before and After

I dont really feel like typing a How-To today so instead I will just share a few of my photos Ive altered with photo shop..

I always tell people that you dont have to be a professional photographer to use photoshop BUT it DOES help to be a pro at photoshop because it will actually MAKE you look like a professional photographer! Tricky, isnt it? ;0 Just check out my before and afters.

Sheree and Gabby in the belly before..

and after!

My not-so-cute feet in Pointe..

and after!

How I met my Julian..

A little over two years ago I was working as the personal assistant to the President of the Niello Company but to be honest, I was bored most days because my boss was never in the office. I started bugging the Internet and Media director to ask for me to transfer to HIS department so I could work for him as a website photographer. I was finally able to transfer in December 06 and started going out to picture inventory on my own in January. This is when I first met Julian. He was working at Niello BMW, Sacramento and was one of the lucky people assigned to help me pull up cars that I needed for the website. He had been working there for a year or so and got the job only to be able to learn english faster. His family moved here from Romania at the end of 2004 and he had a cousin working at BMW at the time that helped him get the job. I would see him once or twice a week, whenever I needed to picture inventory at BMW. About 6 months went by and I noticed that I liked this Julian from Romania (Ive always had a thing for forigners). It took FOREVER for him to want to hang out with me outside of work but once he did...the rest is history! Well....not quite, actually.
We started "dating" by the end of July but it took a turn for the worst when he told me that his family didnt approve of him seeing me. They were apprehensive of the fact that I was older than him (2 1/2 yrs) and american, so...he told me that we could only be friends...ugh. I tried hard not to care and tried to "just be friends" but it wasnt working. I didnt want to give up and, eventually it payed off ;0

We continued to hang out "just as friends" but at the end of September I got a HUGE suprise. I was driving him home from work (his car was in the shop) and he just came out and told me he was in love with me! Wait, WHAT? Just like that? lolI was in shock but completely thrilled because I was falling for him too! He ended up telling his family and they were okay with it enough to "approve" of him and I dating officially.
It was a week AFTER that when we finally kissed for the first time! Yes....let it sink in....3 MONTHS WITHOUT kissing someone you like/love! Despite a shakey start, everything has been wonderful ever since.

Finalist #9

KCRA.COM does this fun contest called Photo Vote. They pick a theme and you submit photos related to whatever the theme is for the week. On Wednesday they pick 10 finalists and let you vote for your favorite! The winning photo is announced on Friday. I read the news on this website just about every morning and also try and enter a photo for Photo Vote if I have something that fits the theme. So far this has been the second time Ive been picked as a finalist! Ive never won but its still cool to see my picture in the top 10! Both pictures that have made it were of my Olde English Bulldog, Duke. This week was one of him as a baby with his toys...

Check him out. He's #9

On a HUGE side note...(I dont feel like starting a new blog)

Ive had quite a hunch lately that my boyfriend Claudiu (Julian) will be proposing to me within the next two months. He has been hinting AND just flat out talking about it to me for a few weeks now. I was excited at first but now Im just down right OBSESSED with it. It consumes my every thought and is giving me anxiety! I wake up every morning now with this darn anxious tight chest feeling because I cant control how jazzed I am at the thought of marrying him! Ugh....cant breathe......need coffee...

Im So Proud.

Julian passed his G.E.D. Tests and will be getting his certificate in about two weeks! I am so proud of him. There were five individual tests ie; reading, writing (q&a's and an essay), math, science and social studies. He passed ALL of them the first try! Imagine taking these tests in a language you've only been speaking for 3 years.....What an accomplishment.

This saturday Im going with him to I.T.T. Tech so he can hopefully enroll for January classes. This is something he's been wanting to do for so long but couldnt without a GED. He went to high school in Romania but its not recognized here. He is so pumped up to finally be able to go to school!

TE IUBESC CLAUDIU!

Thanks to the Dealerships,

Ive taken some pretty random pictures! When Im there working I will get a bit of down time in between picturing cars. I get bored (or my A.D.D. kicks in) because it can take up to 5 minutes for the guys to find the next car I need. I end up taking pictures of random stuff to help pass the time. Anyways, this is just a bit of what Ive taken over the past couple of months..

In the showroom at Infinit, Concord.In the flower beds outside BMW, Elk Grove.Also taken in flower beds at Elk Grove.

Photoshop Friday

Today's photoshop tricks are Lighting Effects! This is just something fun that I use to give a picture a slightly different look. The cool part is there is no need for layers on this trick, sweet right?
So, on the right hand side make sure your "Styles and Effects" toolbar is showing "Filters". If it does not, use the drop box in the toolbar to select it.
All the examples (apples) are alphabetized so scroll down to find "Lighting Effects" and simply drag and drop onto the picture. Once you have done this, you get to adjust the light to be the exact shape and angle for the look you want!
The following are both pictures I've used this trick on.

The first Picture is of Brittany. She is one of my favorite models! The second is a picture of me with some roses I got from Julian.

Side Note: All the How-To's I post on my blog are tricks I used with Photoshop Elements. There are different photoshop versions out there so please be aware that my How-to steps might not be best if you are using anything other than Elements. Im also not a professional Photoshop'er, Im just a girl who loves to use it!

My favorite Camera Trick

Motion Blur! This looks so cool if you can get the settings right. My boss taught me this a few months back and its now my favorite. I used this technique in the pic below.

I did this by manually setting the exposure to zero (I have a Nikon D60) then followed my subject WITH the camera to keep the subject in frame while I took the pic!
I was pretty proud of myself for this especially because Ive had no previous training and have never taken a photography class!
Go me!

If you want to add a motion blur to an already developed picture, you can do so with photoshop! I did just that in the picture below.

There are many ways to achieve an end result in photoshop. I choose to create a background layer that I can use for my motion blur. Using the WIND tool (its a simple drag and drop from the EFFECTS toolbox) will blur the whole picture and thats when layering comes in handy. So my background is blurred or "winded" if you will, but my top layer is still the same. I then use the eraser tool to carefully erase the part of the top layer I want to be blurred.This will allow the background layer to show through the part of the foreground I erased! Presto! You now have a fake motion blur!

Big thanks to my photo models Shawn and Brittany.
(This was per your request Ash! Hope you enjoy!)

Last Week's Events

Last thursday at the BMW store we had the Toys4Tots Marines out shooting a commercial with Comcast. It was fun to watch but I found myslef wondering....
Does it really take 5 Marines to hang a sign?

Apparently so.

On Friday the HR department and I went to all the stores dressed as Super Heros(we've had the costumes since late August) for Halloween and passed out candy allllll day. Its a tough job, I know :)

Later that night Julain and I went to my parents house to take my nephew Shawn aka Optimus Prime and Duke the Lady Bug Trick-or-Treating. Check out how cute they are!!

Im jumping...

As I started this blog I couldnt help but think of a famous line that Im sure Everyone has heard at one time or another...."If your friends jumped off a bridge, whould you follow?"Well it started with Sheree's blog...then came Ashley's and of course, filling my friendship duties...I must follow.
So here I am. Im a website photographer for a pretty big car company in Sacramento and truely enjoy my job (on most days at least). Along with the every day Inventory pictures I do, I get the joy of photographing all our company events. My love for photography has grown tremendously over the years and its all thanks to the job! I've never actually taken any photography classes but have leared a ton from my boss and naturally through trial and error of course.
I give big thanks to my friends,family and mostly my boyfriend....I think he suffered the most through hours of "photo shoots" with me.
I hope you all enjoy the pictures as you follow me down the photography road...weeeeeee!