Ursula Graham Photography Blog Florida Panhandle

I will be holding my contest soon, but before I put up the contest post I would like to share with you why I’m offering the contest to begin with and why it means so much to me.

To start my post I would like to tell you a short story of my childhood. I was raised by my single mother who had a hard enough time keeping a roof over my head and good food in my stomach, let alone pay for professional photos. She raised me the best she could with what she was handed in life, and I thank her so much for it. I’m proud to be her daughter and would have it no other way. So until recently I had seen a couple photos of me as a newborn and I have had quite a few of me age 2 and above. There was a large gap in there since I had never seen myself as a chubby little growing baby, what did I look like?! I didn’t know. Until yesterday. My grandmother found these photos my mother had given her, and sent them down.

To share the story behind these photos, after I was born I lived on this boat for a year. The photos you see were taken in Target, where my mother purchased a disposable camera and held a new toy up to me that she could not afford to buy. I really cannot put into words the feeling that I finally know just how chubby my cheeks were as a baby.

And because I wouldn’t be here without him, I thank my father as well. Even though he wasn’t immediately a part of my life until he realized I really was his daughter, he was wonderful when he came into my life. A few years later he passed on but he lives on within me.

So that’s my story I share, don’t let the moments get past without catching them!

What, a computer virus?! I haven’t even considered getting one of them in years. I believe I was around 12 years old and just learning about computers when I managed to find my first one. Up until this past week I’ve never had one, only your average unavoidable spyware. Nothing was damaged thankfully, except for my patience. It took all day to finally reinstall Windows, and now my computer is freezing up! The aggervation could drive one to insanity. I’m sure we’ll fix everything by tomorrow, but in the meantime McAfee has become a new friend of mine.

I will also be selling the puppies soon, they will be 8 weeks old shortly! This is really the hardest time because the very last week I manage to get attached to them all. Even if it’s only the slightest, it’s still like watching children leave the nest. Puppy videos can be found here. Aww.

So recently I made a purchase which was a little against my original plan. I was looking into buying a new phone and had the idea to get an IPhone. I already knew I didn’t want the latest and greatest one out but still cringed at how much this older generation phone was. I honestly didn’t know too much about them other than they look nice and you can call people! However when it comes to being a photographer it’s been the BEST thing I’ve bought, next to my camera!

- Ability to see live radar maps!! Yes, this gives me excitement tingles.
- Keeps track of ALL my bookings down to the time line of a wedding.
- Read and write Email. But, I honestly don’t use this as often as I should.
- I can hand someone my “palm portfolio” of my complete sessions.
- Uses Wifi Internet (Yay, no phone internet costs!)
- Play Bejewled when I often arrive too early. This part alone may have been worth the money!

It really goes hand in hand with being a photographer. There’s millions of other things you can do since you download applications that people create. I personally love all the productive programs from online banking to learning Spanish.

Oh and YES I am very late on this bandwagon. I know half of you are going “Well Duh!”. But if you’re looking into getting one, I do recommend it. So far I’m quite happy with it.

The puppies have opened their eyes recently and I’ve just now had some time to get some shots of them. So far they’ve all been doing well but I wasn’t able to get a group shot of them, so here’s just a couple cute ones. I’m pretty sure getting 3 two year old babies to look at me would be easier than these little rascals.

I see you!

This is the extent of their exercise.

She did end up going into labor yesterday. After 9 hours at an emergency vet, worry willies, some tears, and a c-section later out came 3 healthy puppies. A bit later I was informed mommy was safe as well. Turns out my mothers dog is the father, which is a good thing. They’ve produced wonderful puppies before and I have no worries that they’ll find nice homes.

Now as for me, I have much to catch up on. I am nearly finished with my 2008 favorites so I’ll be posting some of those soon.