Changes have been made!

2 days left until the show!!!!  Well, technically 2 days and 29 minutes as of right this second :)

The gallery opening is going to be amazing!  I have to share a few things about my day today that had everything to do with my gallery!!!

First off - 

I loaded the van this morning with most of my prints (minus 9 of them) and headed out to Southern Pines to deliver them to the Gallery and help set up what I could.  This is that the van looked like....

Now what you can't see is the three boxes underneath the big box, the super cute pink tool box and my Canon camera case.  Along with two other boxes with my 9x14 prints in them up against the front seats.  See!  A LOT of stuff!!!!

After we got there we unwrapped stuff and set things out to see where we might want them to go.  

There was already the perfect nail for my Lightning Strikes aluminum print so we hung it first, just to make sure it was perfect.....

Cell Phone Picture

Canon Picture

Brian (the gallery owner) started on my three large 20in x 30in prints first......

So glad he knows how to use a tape measure and is really focused on the tiny details of hanging everything up!  See the Grand Canal, Venice Italy picture on the floor next to him?  Yup, a 9x14!  It's super awesome too!!!!

After we helped as much as we could, my best friend Sandy and I went downtown Southern Pines and ate at the super cute Ice Cream Parlor!  It's like this little town took us back in time.  I'll be going there more often for sure! 

As we were walking around, about 10-12 stores had my awesome little print/poster thing hanging in their windows.  I tell you, it's just awesome seeing your name in large letters in so many windows!  So many people out there rooting for me and showing their support!  I'm forever grateful and know this event is going to turn out amazing!!!!

THEN!  To top everything off, I get a text from Brian with this picture.....

Yup, that is totally MY BIO in the newspaper!!!!  EEK!  How amazingly cool is that!?!?!?!?!

Everything is coming together perfectly.  There are so many people interested in my photography and I am hoping there will be many MANY more after the Gallery opening on Friday night!

And just in case you missed it.....

And now there is just 2 days and 9 minutes until my show!  That's it folks and I will be a SOLO Gallery show pro....well, maybe not a pro at the gallery shows but one step closer!  Hope to see you there!!!!!  (Cash and credit cards accepted)

~Till Next Time

What a life it is.......

SO MUCH has been happening in my life lately that I'm needing the moment to just sit back and "chill" a minute!

To start things off, on Sunday while my husband was still home, we went and talked to a guy named Brian about me getting a wall in his gallery.  I was super excited to have a whole wall.  When we got there it was not what I had expected at all.  It's not a "art council" type of gallery.  It's a "real world" type of gallery.  Does that make sense???  It's basically a small apartment that has been turned into a gallery.  I was a bit skeptical at first, I mean, who really does that to an apartment?  BUT, he doesn't live there, just rents/owns the space for this gallery.  His first show was a solo show of his work.  He does some really awesome paintings on canvas.  He had three hanging in the room when we walked in, the Jack Daniels sign, some dance steps and the gang from the foxtrot cartoon.  It didn't take me long to figure it out that the three went together as "Whisky, Tango, Foxtrot" or in people terms "What The F***".  It was actually quite neat.  

Brain told me I would be the first actual Photographer to be in any of his shows.  That most of them are local artists from the Southern Pines are and most just do cell phone pics, canvas painting, wood drawing, or even sticky note drawings!  But I guess it's been a great turn out for him so far.  We were talking about my favorite images of his and his all time favorite was the Lightning strike one (duh LOL).  Brandon said something about me getting that image as a large one and Brian said that would be great.  Then all of a sudden Brian says, "wait, you know what.  Your pictures are just so amazing and different then what I've done in here before, I'd love to start the new year with you doing a SOLO show!"

WHAT!!!!!  A SOLO SHOW!!!!!  How in the world could I pull that off in such little time????  GAH!

But low and behold, my husband came home that night and sat me down and we made it work!  I ordered every framed print I needed from my website and also ordered a bunch of 4x6, 5x7 and 8x10s for little back up pictures.

The prices for my work I think has turned out good too, not too high, not too low.

The 4x6's will be $15, 5x7's will be $30, 8x10's $50, 9x14's $150, 20x30's $400 and the big 48x32 metal print of the lightning will be $550.

I often ask myself if someone would buy these prints at that price.....honestly, I have NO idea!  The 20x30 that I already did at the gallery downtown was $400 and it sold so......possibly LOL

Should I make then a little lower in price though????  *sigh*  

Anyways.....The stress of all this was deciding what pictures to put where, what size those pictures need to be, how many to put on each wall......Here's a small run down of what we came up with.

There are 4 main walls that I will be getting.  I'm just now thinking about it and I might ask him to put some more up through-out the little apartment so there is more room....hum, a need to ask question for sure.  Then I don't have to have the "door wall" so cluttered with prints.  AND I have 20 more prints ordered that aren't accounted for in these diagrams so yeah :)  I'm SO EXCITED!  What do you think?  Does this look like enough?  Too much?  Should I change some around a bit?  See how this could be so stressful?  LOL

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

In other news, there has been a little bit of chatter on my part about going to Australia next spring with my MOM!  Yup, I've always promised her that I would take her to the wonderful land of OZ and I'm not going to disappoint!  We both are getting older as the days go by and I want to make sure that we are able to still have an amazing time while we are there!  So, plans are being made as of right now, to go in April of 2016!  What does a trip like this cost?  Well, an estimate I came up with is about $12,000.  But the cost is totally going to be all about how long we stay and how many amazing trips we want to do while we are there!  I even saw they had a hot air balloon ride along the Great Beerier Reef!  How amazing would that be.   And could you imagine the pictures I'm going to get while I'm there!  EEK!  So much to think, plan and do.

Because of this new adventure that's in the works, I'm doing a bit of babysitting on the side while the kids are in school.  I'm also going to be pushing my photography a lot more :)  Who knows, if these prints don't sell at the Gallery Night I might just sell them from my Facebook page and lots of people who really love me and my work can buy them from me!  Wouldn't that be great.  (Jeanne and Marnie, if you are reading this, I've got the perfect ones for you ladies LOL).

So if there's anything anyone of you need from me, or pictures you'd like to see me take, please don't hesitate to ask!  I've got 12 grand I need to make in a YEAR!  hehehehe

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

OH!  And I've done more weeks with my 52 week photography challenge.  Remember me telling you all about that a few weeks ago?  Well, here's what I've done so far.....

WEEK 2 - TIME

This pocket watch belonged to my husband's grandfather.  He was an amazing man!  From the moment I met him (and Granny) I knew they were going to love me like I was blood family.  I would do anything for them (and did when I was needed).  Paw-Paw was our Santa Clause.  He was the closest resemblance I have ever seen with the white hair and beard.  He even had his very own Santa suit!  He always made me smile and loved listening to my stories.  He passed away in 2009 and I miss him so very much.  I know he's keeping an eye on us though.  While we lived in Italy, every 6 months or so, we would see a guy who looked just like Paw-Paw.  He would always smile at us with a twinkle in his eye.  Every time I saw him I would be sure to stop and ask how he was and that I hope he had a great day.  I would leave him with a tear in my eye.  I had seen him twice before my husband saw him for the first time.  When Brandon saw him he couldn't hardly believe his eyes.  I told him it was Paw-Paw checking in on us and from then on every time Brandon saw him he would shake his hand.  Since we've moved to the states it's only been once a year or so that we see someone resembling Paw-Paw.  It's only been while Brandon and I are together and every time I squeeze Brandon's arm or hand, smile, make it a point to at least say hi and walk away with a tear in my eye.  I've never missed anyone so much after they've passed *sigh*

WEEK 3 - NATURE

I'm sure you remember this picture from the frozen fountains post but it's really been brown and a whole lot of nothing lately so I haven't taken the camera outside much at all.  So Ta-Da!  Nature LOL

And there you have it, my few days in one (kinda long) blog.  Next post will be MY PRINTS ARE HERE!  Hopefully LOL  Stay tuned!

~Till Next Time

FROZEN......fountains that is :)

Well, because of yesterdays little trip downtown I couldn't help but go back down there today since it was still super cold.  I wanted "good" quality shots of the frozen fountains and I'm super glad I went.  I didn't want to go and waste the gas but I knew if I didn't I would regret it and this year I am hoping to not have any regrets.  So far, so good LOL

Yesterday morning I got these cell phone pics of the frozen fountains downtown.....

I knew of the two fountains downtown and ended up driving by a third one that looked really neat too so I stopped and took a few pictures of it.  Then I headed to the Veterans Memorial in hopes that their fountains were frozen but they weren't.  Not even a little bit of ice on them *sigh* but the plants/grass had some amazing frozen parts so I took pics of those instead.  Here's what I got this morning ;)

Fountain at Linear Park near the Wells Fargo building - 

Fountain downtown Fayetteville on Hay Street - 

Fountain at the round-a-bout in downtown Fayetteville near the Cumberland County Library - 

Veteran's Park at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in downtown Fayetteville - 

So, what fountain is your favorite?  I kinda love all the pictures myself LOL

~Till Next Time~

2015 has started!!!!

Wow, 2015.....I can't hardly believe it.  I've been out of high school for 15 years *sigh*  where does the time go?

I've got an idea for this year, it's not a resolution because those always get broken at one point or another during the year.  This idea has to do with my physical health.  With my appearance and hopefully my mood.  I've joined a "club" if you will.  It's a biggest-loser type of club.  There's cash prizes for the ones who lose the most weight, inches, etc.  I'm not sure how long I can stick with it but since there is something in it for me then maybe, just maybe, this is the push I need to get going on being back down to my after college look.  I was way too thin in High School so after college is good for me :)  My starting weight is, well, I don't want to put it on here but it is 18lbs higher then the "bad" mark for me.  We'll see how it all works out!  Wish me luck!

I also had to go downtown today to pick up my things from the Gallery.  Super happy to have gone through that whole senario.  It's been a great experiance.  While I was downtown I found these awesome fountains....

I'm really kicking myself for not having my camera but I might head down there again tomorrow morning and see if they are still frozen.  They really are awesome aren't they!

As far as my photography goes this year, I'm going to get out and push it.  I'm also doing a 52 week challenge.  I'll have to keep the blog updated with those too :)  Here's the list!

Super cool huh?  For my first week, the "you, at the beginning" I put this picture.

Granted this was a few months ago (November) but it's me.  Tank tops, glasses and my really awesome streaks in my hair :)  I've got some really great ideas for several of the weeks so we will have to see how they turn out!  I can't wait to finish this challenge.  It's going to be AWESOME!

So that's my year so far, lots of great ideas on the burners and hopefully everything works out perfect this year!  Love to you all in this new year!  Happy 2015!!!!!!

~Till Next Time~

The next step.....

I was thinking of a different and better way to put my landscape, animal, fine art, etc prints out there to sell and I found the perfect place for them.  It's a new website that I have, it's got a lot of really great features for me as a photographer and is super simple for you as the buyer.  Interested in knowing a little more about this amazing new venture of mine?  Well here you go.....

Cassandra NightThunder - Fine Art

The link above will give you complete access to the amazing world of me.  These are not images of people but of places I've been or things I have seen.  All of these images are through the lens on my cameras and seen through my eyes.

Here is a little rundown of how the site works.

On the left side you have a little "all about me" section.  This is where you can follow me, tag me in a FB page, google+ page, pinterest, twitter and stumbleupon. You can send me private messages about my work or questions you might have.  Also join the email list (will let you know when a new photo is added, when something sells, etc.),  The visit website tab will take you to my Looky Lu Photography account that has most of my pictures already.

To view my images and see how to order your prints you would first click on any of my images.  Once this is done it should look like this:

Notice on the right hand side it has many of buying print and greeting card options.  This is the best way to order any of my images.  You can order canvas, framed, just the art print, acrylic, and metal prints.  You can also order greeting cards (which I'm going to be using for christmas this year I think).

Say you want a framed print of this image.  Click on Framed print and it will look like this:

The best part about this website is you can choose the size of print you want, the type of frame, mat board, paper and finish.  The prices do change as you add your selections to your images.

Some of the images you are able to see full-resolution previews.  Those images look like this when opened:

This is only on some of the images where I thought detail was key to the photo.  My mushroom pictures, cotton pictures and any other macro photo will always have the full-resolution preview on them.

As time goes on I will be adding many more pictures.  They might not all be ones I have taken within the past week but they are all taken by me.  I would love to have you follow me on this website as well, if you can, and if you'd like to order anything, please, don't hesitate.  I'm really looking forward to this new venture in my life.  I'm so glad to have you with me!

~Till Next Time~

December 1st.......*sigh*

So today I woke up and was in a good mood.

Then I started some laundry and thought "well, it's not going to be all bad since I did get most everything washed yesterday."  - good mood still there.

Came downstairs and the house is really trashed.  There's no way I went to bed with it looking THIS bad last night *sigh* - good mood dwindling quickly.

Took all the trash out, cleaned the litter boxes, got the kids on the bus and jumped on the computer (instead of cleaning) - at this point my mood changed to excited.

Looked all over online for something to buy on this wonderful Cyber Monday and found NOTHING!!!!  Not one single thing!!!!  What the hell is up with that...... - excited mood changed to blah.

Since it was after 830 I decided to call the Spay and Neuter clinic since I called back in October and got put on the wait list for December.  It is December 1st after all and I had not heard a single thing from them so just checking to see when my turn was up.  They called me one time, the beginning of November, didn't bother to leave a damn message or nothing so how the hell was I supposed to know they even fricking called?!?!?!?!?!  All the spots for December are now full and they haven't opened up January spots yet so it could be January IF I'm even able to take the cats in there to get them fixed.  They only charge $75 to spay a female cat.....$75 is totally doable this time of year.  And if I don't get Stripe fixed so she quits spraying and pissing on everything I'll go totally nuts and give her ass away to someone else.  I will not live with a cat that continues to do that all the damn time.  So I call the Vet and see how much they charge and when......$350 damn dollars and they can get her in tomorrow!  How the hell am I supposed to pay $350 dollars at Christmas time.  This totally killed any chance of a good mood I had left.......Such bullshit! - blah mood changed to depressed with a quickness.

So now I have a trashed house, a $350 stupid ass vet bill I have to pay because the Spay and Neuter clinic is such a pain in the ass, a $400 plumbing bill but drains now work great again, a fear the kids aren't going to get their amazing Christmas this year because money just keeps flying out the fricking door, a husband that is gone more then he's home, a house I have to decorate for a stupid holiday I don't even want to come now, a massive headache and a total feel of dread.........

Bah Hum Bug

EXCITED doesn't even explain it......

OH MY GOSH!  HOLY COW!  NO WAY!!!!!  

Yes, this is REALLY happening to me!  Of all the time and hard work I have put into my photography.....EEK!  It's really REALLY happening!!!!!!!!

Ok, so here's what is going on:

Last month I got an email from the editor of Array Magazine.  This magazine is the one whom I shoot for (all the time now a days).  This last minute email was for an art exhibit called Colorblind - Artwork in Black and White.  I thought, what the heck.  It couldn't hurt to put my name in the basket too could it?  So that's what I did.  I submitted four different photos......

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Parthenon in Greece

The Roman Coliseum in Rome

The Zugspitz in Germany

And a tranquil shot at Raven Rock State Park here in Lillington, NC

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These images all mean a great deal to me. They are all some of my all time favorite shots and I couldn't choose which is my favorite even if I had to!  Although I love these images and I feel like they are totally worthy of every ounce of praise they get I just never in a million years figured any of them would be accepted into an art exhibit!

Last Thursday, the 9th of October, I get an email at like 7am. The email read:

October 9, 2014

Dear Casandra,

Thank you for entering your work in Colorblind – Artwork in Black and White. The exhibit is hosted and sponsored by the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County and curated by the Ellington-White Community Development Corporation.

Congratulations, One of the  works you submitted has been selected for the exhibit. 

  ( Raven Rock)

Attached is the timeline for responsibilities and events leading up to the exhibit, contact information and if you are shipping or delivering your work. Artists are responsible, at their expense, for shipping their work to the Arts Council. All work will be returned at no cost to the artist, but paid by the Arts Council. 

We are so excited to have your work in Colorblind – Artwork in Black and White and hope you are able to attend the member’s reception if at all possible.

Sincerely,

Arts Council

I almost had a heart attack!  I couldn't believe what I was reading.  There is NO WAY that one of my photos made it into something so important!  EEK!!!!  (Start of excitement) And then I read the time line.  (Enter PANIC)  The timeline said I had to have my print framed and to them no later then Wednesday the 15th of October.  That was LESS THEN A WEEK!

Because I had no idea how this worked I didn't order a print, I didn't do anything to prep for the "just in case I got in the exhibit".  So Thursday morning after the kids got on the bus I got online and ordered my 20X30 print of the Raven Rock photo posted above.  My heart just sank knowing it wasn't going to get here until Tuesday because there was no way they could get it here Friday, they didn't deliver Saturday and Monday was Columbus Day (a holiday) so I wasn't sure they would deliver it then either *sigh* (insert heart break).

To my surprise, my print got here Friday night!!!!  Super excited to see it I tore it open and it took my breath away.  The image was even more beautiful then I could have ever imagined it would be and it was JUST the PRINT!  Gah!  Could it get any better!!!

Saturday we had family photos and I didn't have time to take it to the Frame shop so we went looking for somewhere first thing Monday morning.

We found an amazing shop called Ty's Custom Picture Framing and let me tell you, he is AMAZING and a HUGE life saver!!!!  (insert relief)  He really worked great with me to help me figure out what I could get on such a super short notice.  He didn't have everything he needed in his shop to do my order, so he had to place the order and wait until it came in Wednesday morning to get it done.  Wednesday, mind you, is the day I needed to have it turned in to the Art Council!!!!  To say this stressed me out is an understatement.  But the guy at the framing shop had it worse then me!  He didn't want to use the type of adhesive he always did because it might warp my photo with the type of paper it was printed on, so he used a new product.  He'd never used it before so he too was a little worried about how it would turn out.

Needless to say, he called me a little after noon on Wednesday and told me it was finished!!!  (insert nervous excitement)  I went in right away and picked it up and it was BEAUTIFUL!  It literally took my breath away when I saw it.  I couldn't believe that this amazing print was mine!  This framed beauty was all MINE!  I took that photo!!!!  I still can't believe it!

Below is a picture of my art work.  It's not the greatest picture as there are glares in it from other things that were around the room but this is what it looks like!  Isn't it amazing!!!!!

*sigh*  Yes, this is my art work.  This is my image of a quite little place in Raven Rock State Park.  There's actually a little creek flowing through right there at the tree line.  It just looked like the most amazing place to sit and read a book or to just listen to mother nature.  This is the photo that was picked and I absolutely LOVE it!!!!!  

In case you are curious, here's what the color photo looks like....

So you see, I'm so super ecstatic about this!  I'm very honored that MY art work was even considered let alone chosen for this amazing event!

Thursday the 23rd is the Art Exhibit Reception.  This is where all those who have artwork entered can go and mingle with their fellow artists and also those of the Art Council.  I went out today and bought two different dresses (basically the same but different) to decide which one I want to wear to the reception.  It's a cocktail party event and I'm super stoked that I get to go.  My +1 is my friend Sandi because my husband isn't going to be home to make it.  (We bought her a new dress today too!!!)  Next week I'm going out to get my shoes (yes, I'm probably getting a super cute pair of black high heels)!  (insert fear of falling) and we are getting our nails done before we go too.  I'm thinking white french tips will look amazing but I'm not sure yet.

So there you have it, The story behind why I'm so excited, nervous, and a whole lot of other emotions!  This exhibit goes on until the 13th of December and I'd love it if you could get down to the Arts Council in downtown Fayetteville and check out my art work!  It is for sale!!!!!  I can't wait to see it hanging on the wall!

Thank you all for believing in me!!!

~Till Next Time~