i’ve been pulling my hair out trying to juggle my summer schedule to meet the demands of travel sessions i have had requests for— while still you know, remaining something other than a ghost to my kids and uncle marty.

sadly this has meant i can’t go to every destination i originally would have wanted. i want you to know that truly depresses me. when i know there are spectacular families out there who could take up a new special place in my heart that i don’t get to meet–well i hate that. but there’s always october and spring 2013 i always say!

a few things to bear in mind:

-these dates do not include the previous travel dates i announced awhile back as all slots for sessions have been booked.

- i have had a good amount of interest expressed in each of these places so if you think you wanna make it happen, book fast! this isn’t even a sales ploy, its the cold hard truth!

-how much does it cost and how do you book? the flat rate for all travel sessions is $950 and includes a full res disk of your edited images with a print relase to go hog wild. Fee is due upon booking, just send me an email to photography.yan@gmail.com and i will send you  time slot choices and an invoice.

so without further ado, travel dates through september are as follows:

Seattle/Porland: July 12-14

Washington DC: August  15,16

NYC – 1 SESSION ONLY THE EVENING OF AUG 17TH

Chicago: August 30-31st

Utah County: September 13-14 

Charlotte: September 27th -29th

added new dates!

Atlanta: October 12-13

thanks y’all. i hope to hear from you!

that’s the only disclaimer i’m going to make about this fancy video interview of me from the radtastic kelli france over at chiccritiqueforum.com. if you have a sec to watch it, please tell me what you think! (read: reassure a girl that she didn’t look like an idiot, wink)
though i was nervous and twitchy about the whole thing, i had a great time visiting with kelli. she’s nice! she agreed with everything i said! she borrowed my tanktop! i couldn’t have asked for more. thanks so much kelli for thinking i was worth the time. xoxoxo

taken with my iphone and edited in instagram. i know i’ve blogged about instagram before. what can i say?

sometimes it feels like the purest form of photography. such a vision shaper. are you on? find me under the user

yanpalmer. xoxo

here (read it! so touching!)

that i fell completely and utterly in love with rachel and her perspective. from that point on, i kept my eye on her. you know the ways of internet stranger platonic romance don’t you? you start to follow them on twitter, you’re charmed by the clever things they say, you learn the names of their immediate family, laugh along at the retelling of their trip to europe, and secretly believe that if only they knew you in real life, you would be true blue friends. that was me and my rachel thurston fantasy.

when i wrote the infamous sick of it blog posts, i was overwhelmed with supportive emails. really. the internet taught me a lesson on the good parts of humanity in that crazy aftermath.  rachel’s was among the first wave. what?! her?! the one i always hoped would notice me??  she said she would love to have me out to photograph her family in long beach (which can i just stop and say how that touches my heart?!!). i wrote back something along the lines of, well, i don’t know if you were serious or not, and you may not know this, but i’m supposed to be your new best friend, so i hope you were a little serious because i would love to come out….

her response still rings in my ears a little bit.

“serious as sin.”

ha. so i did. and after i took photos of rachel, grant and nova, and got so wrapped up in their web of love that i almost couldn’t stand it….. i spent the night. that’s right. be careful when you hire ole’  yan. you might get a bonus sleepover with your package.

and you’re so tired.

and you labored over this blog post until it was just right.

but in the end, no matter the hour, you decide you  can’t give up until you say the right words  to accompany the just right blog post.

so….

. the mom you see in the images below is about as bright and warm as the california sun. of course i am aware of how cheesy that sounds –but if you met tory for even a second, you would know immediately its true. she is the easiest person to be around, the funnest person to work side by side with late at night on a couch with our matching laptops (‘cept hers is bigger). tory is incredible at so many things which include but are not limited to:

being a freaking rad mom

being a freaking rad photographer

and being one of the freaking rad  co head hanchos over at the best new (kinda old now, i guess) blog on the block, let the kids.

on my photo extravaganza in california, i stayed with tory for 2, or was it 3 nights? and let me tell you when i left,  i cried a little, and would like to blame my crying on the fact that her precious little leighton and pierce fussed first. gah, i miss them.

also, just so he doesn’t feel neglected you should know that tory’s husband  sean spoiled us with ice cream (rocky road!), on not one, but two evenings, served to us on the afore mentioned couch where we worked and laughed together.

sigh. in short, the o’leary’s made being so far away from my own little ones way way way more bearable. let me take you through their photos…

we started early by sneaking in to wake up sean…there was many a morning snuggle to be hadquick change of clothes into that dress i regret not sneaking into my suit case…and we lounge on the bed in the pretty light for some more lovin. i’m sorry did i say we? i meant them, i was a mere observer and clicker of their awesomeness.

pit stop at the sink for a drink of water before we head out to the back yard—and the moment was so real, i just couldn’t help myself…

and then bam, this blue guy. which is actually theirs! and it actually runs!!! and it was a photo dream come true…

after a brief intermission, we head to the beach, which you can literally see from the o’leary’s home
and although a red dress isn’t  necessarily beach wear, tory and i agreed that it was just too stinking cute on leighton to leave out of the photos. 

i finished the shoot with my feet in the ocean and the happiest feeling in my heart. thank you so so so much tory for letting me come and do this. you know i love you and all of your crazies.

i miss you guys so much already.

this

is

extreme.

broken promises! this is me shaking my mean old angry man fist! i know i will probably get them tomorrow, but tonight my heart is broken!

but it happens, life goes on, and so does the blog. without or without my new scans of the amazingness i was lucky enough to shoot in california.

which brings us to another instagram post. yes yes, that’s right. here we go.

this week i discovered a new iphone app. frametastic thanks to some way savvier than me instagrammers who were all over it like butter on toast.

and p.s.

who are you following on instagram? who is your favorite? are you on? i’m yanpalmer, though you probably know that already from me spamming facebook and twitter left and right. i am obsessed with this new medium. i am fixated on  shooting my everyday. almost as fixated as i am on checking my email for the notification that my scans are in….

the past week on instagram (all images taken on my iphone):

god bless film.

I think the best I’ll be able to come up with is a whole lotta random. Possibly even a list of paradoxes that will be eerily reminiscent of an alanis morisette song. The number of typos will be even higher than usual (is that even possible at this point?) and if in the unlikely event I figure out how to get a picture in this thing. I will demand a round of applause from anyone reading this. Right where you are. At home in front of a computer or in public on your phone like me…….

Which brings me back just about full circle.

Oh right, a list:
-my heart feels simultaneously unburdened but heavy
-I am sooo excited for my shoot tomorrow, and soooo excited to go home after that
-I shriek with joy at the sight of a baby. Followed by tears that I have been away from mine for so long
-I have had more meaningful meals with more inspiring people on this trip than I had collectively between the years 2010-2011.
-I am losing myself in a sea of gratitude while finding myself in a blanket of new friendships
-I am trying to think of something funny to improve this list but I can’t.
-I want to live in a wes anderson movie, but keep their cooler than coolness all to myself
-I had cadbury mini eggs and diet coke for breakfast while making an ambitious plan to get back in shape.
-I dislike alanis morisette, but clearly can’t get her influence out Of my head.
-I suddenly wish this list had been not about me but about all the amazing else.

Tomorrows post will be better friends, promise! And when I get my film back on Tuesday, lookout! Aw yeah.