Practice.

Good evening, readers (whoever may still be reading this blog). By looking below, it's been 5 weeks since my last post. You know as well as I, we neglect to nourish ourselves in times of stress, neglecting that which is deemed as an 'extra', or 'frivolous', or 'just not a priority' when meeting the tasks of the day. Once of those 'extras' for me, which is more vital than any 'priority' sometimes, is to dip into art and fall into an endless creative cloud of beauty just waiting to be born. Whew! It's been much, much too long to have not indulged in my painting and photographic delights. However, as Divine timing would have it, tomorrow I will be featured at Gangplank in downtown Chandler as a 'featured artist' at the Desert Bloom experience (aka "The sights and sounds of music").

As one may know if they know me well, I get disgusted with the status quo. I so, so, soo desire to live above and beyond that, for the sake of being an example for those around me! "Wake up!" I want to say. As part of this process, I feel a stirring to do paintings and work with my hands. To create beauty. My most deepest desire as I walk the earth is to breathe beauty into everything I do, touch, and especially create. I want to show the beauty of each person that I encounter to them. As childish and even as corny as it may sound, I want to be like a flower for the world, spreading a fragrance of lightness and beauty... through art!

So, this brings me to a big (sorta) announcement: I have decided to end services offered by Under the Orange Tree Photography for large events, particularly weddings. There's been tremendous success, yet I have felt tremendous stress as a one-woman, part-time show :) I would love to "shoot from the heart" regularly now, which means shooting for me, depicting the world as I see it and then sharing this with others. Thank you so much to those of you who added me/this blog to your RSS feed, supported me on facebook, and would send kind and incredibly encouraging notes my way from time to time. I have been and AM today SO BLESSED by you all. Ah, what a shower of blessings :) Thank you, thank you, thank you. There is so much to pay forward when I can, which excites me :)

In conclusion, I want to reflect on the title of this blog, which while you might've wondered where the final tie in or punch line was in terms of its relations to the post's content, it resonates with me so strongly this evening as a new(er) way of being. "Practice" is the subject that is floating through my mind this late evening since to me it is meaning (right now) that many, many experiences in life, many 'things' in life provide us the opportunity to get messy, screw up, make mistakes, take chances, take risks, refine our personal rules or beliefs, to get off track and a disillusioned and then remerge back on the path to find ourselves again. I feel very much life this as of late and especially right now in this moment: I feel born again, renewed. My passion, my voice is through art. I lost that, but I found her tonight. This is a step I am willing to take--in my off-time, on my weekends, in the wee hours of the morning--to pour my emotions into art

Lastly, I want to start a new blog. I plan to keep the official/original Under the Orange Tree Photography website up and going (www.undertheorangetree.com), yet this blog will no longer exists after a few months from now. I've purchased a wonderful tool for self expression which will allow me to truly be able to work with fresh, new platform for a new expression that's been waiting to come forth for awhile now!

My blessings to you all. Another photo for your viewing pleasure this evening. It was taken at the Tonto National Bridge just north of Pason, Arizona. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

Many love and blessings,

Christine

It's a Family Affair!

I had the opportunity to photograph a multigenerational family photo in July. Allison had her baby, Kingston, last November (see photos here ), so with two growing kids and a lot of family in the area, Allison called me up to get some shots! Of course, Kingston was so wiggly and Xander, his brother, was his goofy, slightly prima-donna self (he's a top-notch dancer and little actor, folks! And I say this lovingly, Al! *wink). The rest of the family welcomed me into their home with such warmth and grace.

The images are just a tiny snippet of what I captured at the Francis household. Enjoy!

Life is a Verb (and pardon my dust!)

G'Day! It's been too long since I've given y'all an update!

Arizona has officially been the hottest spot in the country, with temps rising to a sizzling 115 or more. Luckily, though, we've plunged below 110 in the past few days (!). I've been busy with many things, and I've been plugging away at Lani and Steve's wedding, which I previewed for you below at the beginning of the summer. Here are a few more pictures (not in any particular order) to hold you over until the new blog is published. I tooled around a bit with the new templates available on Blogspot, so pardon the perhaps not-so harmoniously designed piece. I did it during a break at work (ee!). Enjoy~

Christine

San Diego, June 3-7

Four weeks ago I went to beautiful San Diego where I stayed with college girlfriend Tanya and her hubby to run the PF Chang's Rock N Roll half marathon. I am a changed person after embarking on such an experience--it brings the best out of you, and wow, it brings together people from all over the country in an endorphin infused event. What a high!

I snapped these pictures the morning after my evening arrival into America's Finest City. Tanya and Oscar were at work, so it was just me and the cats and a teeny tiny balcony in a beautiful mega apartment complex.

Oh yea-- the picture of me is one Tanya took when we went to the Runner's Expo at the Convention Center downtown. I was psyched to find my name (and there was only one 'Slomski') amidst 30,000 others!!

Happy running!

C

Sister Love

Sarah, Emily, and Amanda are three sisters who I've known since I was a teenager. Through the years we've really gone our separate ways by attending different high schools, colleges, moving to new areas of the country, and so forth. So it was such a treat when Sarah, Emily and Amanda happened to be in one centralized location near Phoenix when we had a session at Las Sendas Golf Course.

The light was warm and the day's end was cool (for Arizona standards! Who am I kidding..... 85 or 90 isn't cool!). As wonderful as it was for the three sisters to come together, it was double the wonderful-ness to be a part of it! We all hadn't seen each other in so long, and it was great to see how we've all changed.

Many thanks to you, Lenzmeier sisters, for being so great for me to work with! Here are a few teasers from your album!

Always ~Christine

Mazel Tov, Lani & Steve!

Hello, fans! It's another late-night post coming at you in full Jewish force--that's right! Lani and Steve Turri tied the knot at Congregation Beth Israel in Scottsdale, Arizona on Sunday, May 23. I was so moved by the ceremony, which was my first Jewish wedding to attend as well as to photograph. I found the ceremony to be so sacred, so sincere, and a wonderful experience overall. And... I would another Jewish ceremony in a heartbeat.

Just for refreshing: I shot Lani and Steve's engagement photos last December at the Scottsdale Civiv Plaza (LOVE statue); Lani and I knew each other in junior high! To my amazement and delight, two of our friends from junior high were in her bridal party. Lani knows I've said this before, but I gotta say it again: After more than ten years, we still look the same! Of course, we've all got a little height to us and have got some new lady curves (no more awkward, scrawny knees and elbows--we got lady humps now!), but I'd recognize the gals anywhere. More junior high partners in crime were wedding guests, too; it was like, tooootally cool to witness the deep and meaningful friendship that Lani built and sustained with her long-time friends.

Mazel Tov, Lani and Steve. You two have an incredible story, and you are undoubtedly right for each other. Parts of who are you as husband and wife inspire me to partner up with a man who compliments me the way you two do :) I'll say it, World: they were made for each other!

Blessings on the best years to come.

~Christine

Photo: A small teaser until I finish another project and run a half marathon this weekend in San Diego!

Right before I bid "Adieu"

Ladies and gents, in the words of Miss Clerget, fellow Zag: "I'm le tired". Summer is upon us here in the Phoenix area, and I feel "le pooped!" so I am going to bed.

Moving through the editing process for Rebekah and Phill's wedding, I don't even have a knockout proof to put for you all. I wanted to give you all something, so here is just one photo for the post. Off to get my beauty rest :) Proofs to follow later this Memorial Day Weekend.

Goodnight,

Christine

Ya Gotta Laugh....

I laughed out loud when I took a look at this image. I was going through the digital roll I shot, editing for blurs, closed eyes, over exposures, and then I came upon this. I laugh because it reminded me of the comedic circumstances of taking a stellar photo with a stellar backdrop (unseen this in frame) while the wind howled through the venue and the people just not looking quite right. It reminds me of the website devoted to awkward family photos too, and it tickles me because of the special occasion that this was and how funny the portraits would have turned out. They would have been preserved forever: pictures of people with hair blowing in all directions, faces peeled back by the wind, eyes squinting against the mighty breeze, and skirts/jackets sucked to each body. Mmmm... nothing says "Good times; we're happy and thrilled we just got married; we're so in love, this is so elegant," like a wind tunnel moving through your portrait. Once you see the other photos of the bride, you'll see how dramatic the wind was blowing--her hair looked nothing like this here, when walking down the isle.

Hilarity. We chose to move inside.

Needless to say, this will not be making it into the album.

Christine

Whooooey! Rebekah + Phil Get Hitched

A couple teasers to fill some space until I get to the core of editing the western-themed wedding I shot last weekend. I also want to reflect on what a wonderful experience the wedding was.....

Every time I post here, I talk up the weddings I shoot and the brides and grooms who come together in front of family and friends to take their vows. I touch on how wonderful they are, and really though, I mean it. I've been blessed beyond measure to work with honest-to-goodness heart, down-to-earth, kind people. Saturday, May 8th was another one of those days.

Rebekah and Phil are two beautiful, light-filled people. I had met with only Rebekah before the wedding, and when I saw her husband-to-be, Phil, in his dress blues in the church before the wedding, I knew this was gonna be a goooood wedding! Phil is a US Marine, which brought this experience to a personal level, as I am the daughter of a proud US Marine and dated a Midshipman at the Naval Academy when I was in college. The military really hits home for me. I really enjoyed myself and thanked Phil for his service to our country after the wedding.

The ceremony was beyond anything I'd ever witnessed as a guest or as a photographer at weddings I've attended before. The message from the officiant, Phil's brother, was so authentic, eloquent, and so beautifully brought to life in front of the attendees. It was a message from the heart. And although I was focused on capturing all the right moments, I couldn't help but overhear the ceremony. Truly, it was like poetry, and I even almost got teary-eyed.

Thank you, Rebekah and Phil, for having me capture your special day. You truly blessed me with an incredible experience.

~C

Comin' Up In May!

Hello, sports fans! That's right, you know who you are!

Stuned for May! We've got two weddings coming up~ first is Rebekah and her soon-to-be-hubs (whom I haven't yet met, but no doubt he's great since Rebekah is so lovely herself!). Following at the end of the month is the wedding a great junior high school friend, Lani, and her beau Steve. And get this: can it get any better? I will be covering Rebekah and her fiance's wedding at the famed Ghostfield Goldmine, just a stone's throw from Arizona's breathtaking Superstition Mountains, and Lani and Steve's wedding will be my first Jewish event.

To put it in the vernacular: I'm totally pumped!

So stay tuned, sports fans, as we enter May 2010. It's gonna be a good month!

~Christine

Above photo is a Polaroid Transfer I printed in 2009.

Natalia's Session

I had the sheer pleasure of photographing Natalia, a stunning senior at Mountain Pointe HS. What a beauty she is--she rocks the cute and gorgeous look. See for yourself!

Natalia came with her mother and her friend James to meet me early on a Sunday morning at ASU's campus. It was the perfect company, light, and backdrop for an early morning shoot. This to-be Psych major is so full of personality, and has such a light in her eyes that will dazzle you! We had a lot of fun with multiple wardrobe changes, ending with a high note at a funky statue near the education building (props to Natalia for picking that out!).

Thank you, both Natalia and Doreen (shout-out to James, too!), for making my job so wonderful! It's people like you who make what I do all so worthwhile.

~C