Monday, May 17, 2010

Its BIG Announcement Day


Pack your bags everyone.........


.........WE ARE MOVING. No joke. I have a brand new blog and not only that, I have a band new website too. So hurry up, click on the link below to be transported to a spanking new blog and a spanking new website.



www.karenshinkinsblog.com



Saturday, May 15, 2010

Photo-booth Fun


The photo below might have you believe that its Mardi Gras again or maybe Halloween but you'd be wrong on both counts. These were the props used for a little photo-booth fun at wedding this evening. Yep, tonight for a couple of hours I help a photographer friend of mine put a little crazy into the wedding celebrations of a very cute couple.


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It was so much fun and the guests enthusiasm to play took an already enjoyable day to a whole new level.


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Friday, May 14, 2010

Big Announcement Coming


Hold on to your pants everyone, there is a big announcement coming early next week. I'm so excited and I can't wait to share. But for now you have to be patient and let your imaginations go crazy.

Ok, and in this shot I was suppose to be fabulously cute, clever and coy, but sometimes things don't turn out exactly how you expected. It was a solo project and trust me when I tell you, this was the best of a very bad bunch, sad, I know.

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Have a Happy Friday Everyone! Its been a tough week and I'm off to meet some friends for a cocktail.

Wednesday, May 12, 2010

Left V's Right


Something happened early in the morning, something small, but for some unknown reason it p*#%ed me off bad and consumed all of my emotional energy for the rest of the day. I couldn't push past it. As a result I almost got into a confrontation with the lady at the sandwich shop cos I was convinced her tone was condescending. Or how about yelling at my GPS, Maggs, cos she kept changing the estimated time of arrival at my destination. "Seriously Maggs, I'm not in the mood for mind games."

The left size of my brain, if that's the rational side, knew I was acting completely irrational. Yet the right side of my brain, if that's the emotional side, overpowered all reason. As a result I sit on my couch this evening depleted, drained, pondering my lack of ability to shake things off and move on. I guess that's why I married Husband. He appears to have this ability in abundance. Its so annoying.

Anyway, todays Photo of the Day I wanted to be of my amazing friend Rupa, but Rupa was not feeling her most fabulous, so instead she offered up a gift her husband had purchased for her as my subject. Why? Cos it was hugely expensive and hugely expensive gifts deserve to be visually documented. And I agree. So Voila


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Tuesday, May 11, 2010

Oncoming Traffic


Boredom in the car and yet another red light lead to more camera play. However I'm sometimes a bit paranoid when I shoot randomly in public. I know I don't fit the stereo typical profile of a terrorist, but who knows these days. So I did my best while hanging out of my car window and aiming my lens at the oncoming traffic, to do it in complete style. Therefore looking less suspicious and more fabulous.



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Monday, May 10, 2010

Shopping List, Man Style


I don't love Home Depot, not like Husband loves Home Depot. On a day off he would choose to hang out there all day, but not I. Going to Home Depot gives me anxiety. Usually I'm being sent there under Husband's orders for some very specific things and usually I mess it up. Why? Cos I'm a girl and girls don't speak man and if you hand me a list that says 5 x 2 x 10 x 12 then my instinct is to whip out my calculate and start doing the math or I'll just break down and cry cos how the hell am I suppose to know that that is code for a particular plank of wood? Seriously.
Or what about 3/8 of an inch x 10 inch 50lb spike nails? I'm smart enough to see the clue in this one, "spike nails" so obviously we are talking nails here. But have you ever gone to the nail section at Home Depot? It's (insert Irish girl profanity) huge. Rows and rows, ceiling to floor of nothing but nails, in all shapes and sizes on both sides of the aisle. Its completely overwhelming and what is a girl to do when overwhelmed? Why breakdown and cry of course. That or call the Husband and yell at him for setting you up to fail, cos trust me, in this situation failure is guaranteed.

However, numerous failures at the Home Depot have allowed me to acknowledge my weaknesses and adapt a new technique of delegation. Now when I'm sent on a mission of lumber, nails or tools, I simply hand my list over to a very friendly Home Depot helper and ask them in a manner of Tim Gunn, a la Project Runway, to "make it work". Thus avoiding all kinds of stress and increasing the chances of a successful outcome.

All this is bringing me to my Photo of the Day. Today I accompanied Husband on a shopping spree to Home Depot. A stress free trip cos today he was with me. Today he would know exactly what to get and where to find it and all I needed to do was play a supporting roll. Easy. Before we left he handed me his shopping list, not on a post-it, not on a scrappy piece of envelope or the corner of an old newspaper, no, he handed me a piece of wood. Shopping list, man style.


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Sunday, May 9, 2010

Night Light


Tonight we took the camera out for some night time fun. Husband's business partner, Piotrek popped into town for a 24 hour visit and for the evenings entertainment we headed out into the darkness with a camera, tripod and a couple of torches in tow.

Long exposures and painting with light was the theme of the evening and by leaving the camera shutter open for 30 seconds, it gave us all enough time to write our various messages into the darkness.

My message was of a personal nature.

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Husband tapped into his marketing skills to promote my brand, but got the "S" a little ass backwards. I still love the effort and I like his thinking.

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Here the goal was to light up Piotrek and I think we did pretty well.

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Saturday, May 8, 2010

Natural Backdrop

Let me give you a little inside knowledge, photographers love long grass. Now if that long grass can also pull off some tall yellow flowers, then whooo, Hello, a photographers Christmas. And this evening I found my own mini Christmas.
What would have been even better? Having family and friends show up so I could have used this amazing backdrop to shoot some killer photos. But the next best thing was my trusted side kick and some times assistant, Dexter. I can't say he was particularly happy with my request to snap a couple of photos, he would rather I let him loose to run and explore, but he obliged for a good 30 seconds before a bumble bee grabbed his attention, then he was off in hot pursuit.

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And just for the curious, here is today's progress on the carriage house.

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Friday, May 7, 2010

Hooked Up


This evening Dexter and I were on our way to the forrest to run some trails. We were in high spirits, bouncing and singing along to the radio. Its Friday and both of us are excited cos the weekend is finally here.

At one point I look in my rear view mirror and there behind me are the evil blue flashing lights. Seriously? What did I do? I know my singing skills are not excellent, but getting pulled over because of if? Surly not. But I pull over. I roll down the window as the officer lady approaches and Dexter being the social puppy he is, sticks his head out hoping to get a "Hello".

Officer lady asks me for my license and insurance. Then she asks my dogs name. Thinking nothing of it I say, "Dexter" and I hand her my license. "Do you remember me?" is her next questions. I stare at her for a second. My head is racing, oh no, have we met before and if so what were the circumstance? Please, please let the circumstances have been pleasant. "The dog park she says". Then it all clicks. She and I had bonded at the dog park last week when her dog and my dog had become quite smitten with each other, but I had no idea she was a cop. This is awesome. I'm feeling confident that she may let me of the hook. The hook I'm currently dangling from says I was going too fast through a school zone. Not a good thing.
She goes back to her car, plays with her computer for a few minutes, comes back a lets me off with a warning. Waaahooo. High fives and chest bumps all around. Dexter saves the day and now I have a connection with the law enforcement, which means I can speed all I want, run a few red lights, maybe rob a bank or 2 and my new friend will do nothing more than slap my wrist and ask me what time and day Dexter will next be at the park. Talk about hooked up.


As far as the carriage house goes, things are starting to take shape.

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And are moving along fast.

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Its a little airy and spacious right now, but soon it will all start to make sense.

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Unrelated photo, this is me, Mike and Fanz, playing with a little self-timer after dinner and vino at a downtown Atlanta restaurant.

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Thursday, May 6, 2010

Under Construction


Big things happened today. The walls on the first phase of our home went up. So exciting. Husband and some helpers, under the supervision, guidance and assistance of a more experienced builder, worked their tails off all day in the blazing heat to build the shell of what will be our carriage house. The carriage house will serve as our residence until we get the plans drawn up and finalized for the construction of the main house. Its a serious project and one with quite a long timeline, but seeing things start to happen, makes me giddy like a child waiting for Santa.

I just can't wait for all this unglamorous man stuff to be done so I can get cracking on what's really important, pretty kitchen appliances and layout, pretty wall colors, pretty furniture, pretty bedroom and bathroom designs, pretty much everything that will complement all the practical stuff that Husband is working on, like walls, a roof, running water and electricity.


The first wall goes up.

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There were supervisors a plenty on site today. Supervisors to supervise the supervisors.

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Later in the evening I hit up an Atlanta photographers meeting.

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Where they served cupcakes. Really, you can't get much better than that. A new home in the works and cupcakes for the masses.

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Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Cinco de Mayo


Today is Cinco de Mayo, Olé. For those not in the know, its Mexico's equivalent to St. Patrick's day. And since there is a huge hispanic community here in Georgia, its a pretty big deal. So where should one be on a day of celebration such as this? Why a mexican restuaurant/bar shakin her maracas of course. But where was I really? Shakin the lactic from my calves, hamstrings and butt after several 500m beat downs on the track, Olé.

For me, sometimes the line between a competitive athlete and retired athlete feels kinda blurred. In order to pace-make I still have to retain a pretty high level of fitness and endurance, which means sucking up some tough workouts and pushing through the physical pain barriers I was sure I left behind when I announced to the world "Yo, world, I'm Retired, no more lactic, pukey, track beat downs for me. Peace out suckers" Yet here I am, still pounding it out. Who's the sucker now? The sick thing is, I love it. I'm addicted. For most of my life, its all I knew. If I can't find ways to challenge myself physically, then I feel lost and out of balance. Twisted, right?


Anyway, here's my view of the track today. You'll notice its very close to ground level, cos thats where I was, laid out, all over the ground, waiting for booty lock to pass.

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And there were no Corona's for me today either. It was smoothies all the way. Healthy, well balanced and perfect post workout.

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Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Down on the Farm

We live on 12 acres but the only animals we have are a cat and a dog. The only things we grow beside grass and trees, are grapes, yet Husband insists on calling himself a farmer. We do have a barn though, so I guess that counts for something.

This evening Husband got busy on the farm and I tagged along to capture the moment. See how pretty our grass now looks cos of all his hard farming.


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Monday, May 3, 2010

Sick Day


Something felt off as I went to bed last night and this morning when I woke up, I was full blown sick and absolutely miserable. I'll spare the gory details of my emergency sprints to the bathroom, but honey, it wasn't pretty.
I tired snacking on some grapes. For some reason grapes felt like the solution, but I was wrong, grapes were actually a trigger for violent stomach reactions that left me on my knees getting better equated with the toilet. Misery.

And for the record I would like to officially say that I'm blaming my Dad for this. Why? because he saw it coming. Last week while we were chatting to told to me slow down "you'd want to be careful Ka, if you don't slow down you'll make yourself sick". My reaction, "Da, stop worrying, I'm fine, I like to keep busy". Well I wasn't fine and don't you just hate when your parents are right? But the good news is I'm mending.

But I didn't mend enough to pick up my camera and shoot today, it just wasn't in me, so I'm sorry but todays photos are a bit of "Here's one I made earlier" situation.

These particular photos I took of a church in Southborough, Massachusetts, a town close to where my mother-in-law lives "Hi Diane" and I promise I'll have my camera back in hand tomorrow.


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Sunday, May 2, 2010

Sleepy Time


We arrived back from Jamaica late this evening so I was kinda pushed for a photo to shoot and post. That was until I walked into Husband's office and spotted Fintan sleeping hard in his favorite bed on one of his favorite spots, Husband's bookshelf.

How cozy does he look?

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And since we're on the topic of sleep and I'm finding myself too tired to type, its off to bed for me too. I've reached a very intense part of the book I started reading, "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" and I'm anxious to see what happens next.

But let me leave you with one more shot, a close up, of the sleeping Fintan. Come on, you know he's adorable. Even you non-cat lovers have to agree.

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De Feet

Its after midnight and we are just back from the stadium. I'm sweaty, tired, hungry and thirsty. Everything you'd expect to be after a long evening at the track, but thankfully all went well. I paced my ass off and then sat back to watch and support my fellow athletes in their respective events.

The highlight of the evening was Usain Bolt. For those not in the know, Usain is the Olympic Champion and World Record holder for the men's 100m & 200m and tonight he proved once again why he's the best in the world when he sreaked to a comfortable victory in the 200m.

Because I was using the old point n' shoot I tried to position myself as close to the finish line as possible to snap a photo of Mr Bolt and I did get a couple.


These are some of the photographers waiting to capture the worlds fastest man.



This is my snap shot of the word's fastest man.



And just for you Don, here are De Feet of the worlds fastest man. It was almost De Legs, De Torso and De Head too, but some random dude threw his backpack into my shot at the last second. Sorry.