This week has been WONDERFUL, as my Dad is in town!  He visits me 3 times per year, and I am always excited to see him.  I was super happy to show him my new photography studio during this visit, and I think he really likes it.  I’ve been splitting my days this week editing for a half day, then enjoying Sun Valley with Dad during the second half.  Look for more posts in the near future from recent weddings and family shoots.  HUGE thanks to Hillary Maybery for stopping in the studio to grab this shot of Dad and I.

Valentine’s Day is just around the corner…still haven’t bought your loved one the perfect gift?  Look no further because right now I am offering 15% off maternity, newborn, senior, portrait and family photo sessions if you purchase a Cheatwood Photography gift certificate by 12pm on February 13th!  I have been asked to gift several certificates, and they are definitely appreciated!  Even though the sale ends on the 13th, the certificates are always available for purchase!

In today’s post you won’t find any photos (sorry!), but instead, a journal entry, of sorts…

Today while working at Acerbis (my day-job) I was booking yet another flight for this fall and realized that by the end of this year I will have flown 75,000 miles, which is something I haven’t done since I stopped following the Supercross/Motocross circuit back in 2004.  I used to travel 20 weeks per year attending motorcycle races all over the states (and some in Spain and Holland).  Although within these past few years I have continued to travel to motorcycle races (they have been very far and few in between) I am now traveling equally as much for work (races) as I am for my photography business.

I have always LOVED flying.  In the past, I used to love flying because I got to watch he hustle and bustle going on in Atlanta’s airport, and would fly in anticipation of my destination.  I used to love flying to see my friends that would also travel the circuit and absolutely loved (and still do love) the smell of race fuel.  A very strange fact about me is that the day after a race, I would never (and still don’t) wash my hair.  Yes, yes, I do take a shower, but don’t wash my hair.  Why?  I love motorcycle races soo much that having the smell of the dirt and the motorcycle exhaust in my hair was (and still is) soo comforting to smell as I sat on the airplane on my way home.  I was able to take in the entire race experience from the previous day all over again as I sat in that confined space.

Nowadays, 6 years after traveling the “moto circus” my love for flying has changed quite a bit.  It is now the experience on the actual airplane that I love more than the destination (don’t get me wrong, I still love seeing my buddies at the races, the races themselves, and absolutely love photographing and capturing lasting memories for couples on my “destination” wedding trips), but nothing beats the experience of being on an airplane.  I look forward to getting on the airplane and for the first 30 minutes after the door closes, HAVING to sit in my chair, with no phone ringing and not being able to open my computer to work (which, nowadays, when I’m not sleeping, I’m either on the phone or working.  Period.) but instead I get to sit there, look out into the horizon (I always take a window seat) and just THINK.  Then, once the little “ding” goes off, I get excited all over again, knowing that for the remaining time I have on the airplane I can work away on my computer knowing that there are no distractions.  Just me and my computer.  I am so very productive on airplanes, and when the announcement comes on that all devices must be turned off, I get excited yet again, that I can “shut down” and once again stare into the horizon and be proud of what I’ve accomplished or simply just think.

What does this have to do with photography?  As I thought about all of this today, I realized that in the 25+ years that I’ve been flying, my love for flying has always been the same up until about a year ago…when I finally started making progress with my photography business.  I am busier than I have ever been both with my very exciting day job at Acerbis as well as with Cheatwood Photography, and I love every minute of it.  In December of 2007 I was asked to photograph my first ever wedding, which took place on June 21st, 2008.  I loved the experience soo much that a few months later I contacted a few local wedding photographers to see about getting some extra work in the field as a “second shooter” and it was Hillary Maybery who returned my call first.  She actually decided to hire me to second-shoot for her not because of my wedding photography experience (or lack thereof) but because as she simply put it “if you can run around and keep up with motocross racers and freeze their motion, I know you will do great shooting weddings.”  Ever since then I have been photographing weddings with Hillary, and this past year, even more on my own, and it hasn’t stopped there.  I now photograph maternity sessions, senior portraits, boudoir sessions (I am about to launch an entirely new and separate website for this business) and more!

So, I guess this random rambling of a blog post to celebrate my 100th post since the creation of this blog is my way to say THANK YOU.  Thank you Josh and Stacey for taking a big chance on me when you hired me to photograph your wedding (I am forever grateful for you two), thank you Hillary Maybery for believing in me and providing me with such great guidance, friendship and for continuing to challenge me with each and every new wedding we shoot together and thank you to each and every one of my clients who have let me into their lives to capture their most precious memories.

Sincerely,

Kristin

Hello all, I wanted to share something that is very near and dear to my heart.  My good friend Monica Van Wegen just a few days after her birthday, found out she had two tumors in her brain.  She was able to get an emergency surgery with one of the top doctors in San Francisco, however with top doctor service came a hefty bill.  Monica also has a long, costly recovery process ahead of her and needs our help.  This Thursday a benefit party will be held at Whiskey Jacque’s bar in Ketchum.  The cost is only $15.00 and gets you beer and pizza!  See details below.  There will also be a raffle drawing held for some awesome prizes including a FREE 30 minute photoshoot provided by me!  I hope to see you all there.  If you can not make it, you can still help Monica out.  Checks can be made out to: Bald Mountain Fund.  In the memo line of the check write: In honor of Monica Van Wegen.  Mail to: Bald Mountain Fund PO BOX 370 Ketchum, ID 83340.  If you can make the party, be there by 7:00 to obtain your raffle ticket.  The raffle will take place at 9:00, although you do NOT need to be present to win.

An image I took of Monica just days before she found out about her tumors:

The event flyer:

45 degrees and rainy…not the best weather for a volleyball tournament, but the staff at Sun Valley pulled it off!  Sun Valley contacted the Open Room Furniture Store in town to obtain a few of Aeroplastik’s Queen of Love Chairs!  I work for Aeroplastik’s sister company, Acerbis, and, of course, being such a dedicated employee, I decided to head over to the event to capture some images of our chairs in action!

Hello All!

I have returned from my semi-annual vacation to Playa Del Carmen!!  I had a blast spending the week relaxing in preparation for this summer’s weddings!! I am back home editing and preparing to photograph some AMAZING families and couples!  Stay tuned for more blog posts!! In the meantime, here’s a shot from a day trip I took in Cozumel…the water was the most amazing blue water I have ever seen.

~Kristin

Sofie is my dog.  She’s my buddy and was willing to sit for me this morning as I played with the settings of my brand new strobe light.  I was really bummed because after several hours of trying to figure out why my camera wouldn’t set off the strobe with the cord properly connected, I called the store from which I bought the strobe to find out, after more testing that the cord is not working.  So, I am having to resort to using a speedlight to set off my camera, which, is less than optimal, but I am going to have to make it work, because I want to use the new strobe to photograph the baby bump of my good friend Brittany today!  So, back to Sofie.  In order to get her to “sit” for me, I knew I had to put her in her favorite new coat that she received as a Christmas present from Hillary Maybery, as well as her favorite toy, yet another gift from Hil.  She sat nicely on the couch and I fired away.  I think we have the settings ready to go for Brittany’s photoshoot!  Stay tuned…

I LOVE this new Queen of Love by Aeroplastik!  It is a unique new chair that is made of enviro-friendly polyethelene and is perfect for both indoor and outdoor use!  I was able to get this chair into Hillary Maybery’s studio for a little photoshoot, as well as my friend Jen as model   This chair is also positioned just inside the entrance of The Open Room Furniture Store here in Ketchum, so if you are in the area, make sure to stop by and give the chair a try!  It’ll put you in a happy place!

Check out all the colors available!

The red chair is currently at The Open Room Furniture Store:

I have recently been hired for photoshoots as a gift for dog portraits, maternity shoots and family portraits.  So I went ahead and ordered quite a few gift certificates and want to spread the word that I’m available for hire   So if you have a friend who’s birthday is coming up, an anniversary or any occasion and you’d like to give them the gift of photography, give me a call

Oh my goodness!  I’ve really been slacking on new posts!  I’m very sorry, I’ve been super busy!  But the new posts will start coming more regularly as I’ve had a LOT of great photoshoots lately, including the sneak-peek boudoir photo that you see below   Stay tuned…lots of GREAT new stuff coming up!!