I was recently sent the Pelican MPB35 mobile protect backpack and guys it’s a keeper! First, let me say this, it is not a photography backpack. It’s not fully protected and doesn’t have a lot of compartments or dividers that we usually like when it comes to holding our gear. With that being said, it is a fantastic backpack and might I say… diaper bag? Yes, you heard that right, diaper bag. I am a mom to two biological kids and also a foster parent, so at any given time I could have 3-5 kids with me in a variety of ages. Life becomes very unpredictable as a foster parent and it has been super helpful during it all as a backpack. I know what you’re thinking — that sounded extremely cheesy. But

Early Saturday afternoon we headed to the zoo! It turned out to be the perfectly little family getaway. Uncle Gar and his girlfriend were able to tag along and the weather was perfect. Not to hot, a good little breeze and hardly any crowds. The kids absolutely loved it. Rock got to feed the giraffe...which by the way licked his pinky finger! :) He also learned that the giraffe was a 15 year old boy, who was going to be a dad any day and has and 18 inch tongue. Gator girl loved playing on the playground, riding the elephant and seeing that she was as big as a black bear! One crazy thing did happen though....while we were looking at the gorillas playing outside I noticed that the giant male go

I was attending a workshop with Matthew Jordan Smith years ago when I saw first-hand how a photographer used a light meter. At that time he had a Sekonic meter. I remember him explaining how he never does a shoot without one and that it was one of the most important pieces of equipment he owned. He went on to demonstrate how he metered around his set and around his models’ faces. Metering every light individually, more than once and then how he would meter all the lights together at the same time. He would then combine all those numbers together and get this perfectly exposed image. It was fascinating! I instantly drooled over the piece of equipment and realized I needed one. Flash forward y

I recently got my hands on the Oben CT-3451 Tripod and I couldn’t be more grateful. At the first of this year, I made a big change from Nikon to Lumix and was super frustrated with the fact that my Manfrotto tripod was massive compared to my mirrorless camera. I felt weighted down and not interested in hiking much this summer till I could find something to replace it. Then, in walked the Oben CT-3451 Carbon Fiber Travel Tripod with BE-113T Ball Head and I was ready to hit the trail again. Weight This entire tripod weighs just 2.5 pounds and folds down to an easy-to-transport 12″ piece of equipment. This is perfect for a mom like me who is also probably carrying a child, a diaper bag and an e

If I told you I went to school with this chick would you believe me? Well I did and to be honest I didn’t know much about her at the time. All I really knew about her was that she was on the debate team and extremely good at it. Our friends’ groups never really crossed path which is sad to think about because now years later she is one of my favorite humans. We ran into each other years later at an event for the Cache Valley Photographers Club where she had done the hair and makeup for a group of models that we were photographing. At the time I had no idea she was even doing hair or makeup. So, we began to catch up on life, family and I eventually went on to take newborn picture of her now k