I Moved!!!

I have found a new home. Blogger has been great to me but I needed a little more. I will not be updating this blog anymore. Please bookmark my new blog: www.monikaleephotography.squarespace.com :)

NOLA Part II

As promised here are pictures I took today in New Orleans East. They are all in black and white because it is so heartbreaking to see homes and businesses still look like this after 3 years following Hurricane Katrina. My fiance actually grew up in New Orleans East so it definitely hits close to home. So when people ask me how New Orleans is after Katrina, I will show them my blog and they can answer from seeing this post and the post below :(.

Friday Night Lights!!!

I can not tell you the last high school football game I went to but tonight I had the awesome opportunity to watch Independence play Salmen in Slidell, LA. I had another fantastic opportunity to watch and shoot Dominique while she cheered for Salmen High School. Isn't she a gorgeous? My camera was in love with her. These are just a few of the shots I took of her. I can not believe it has been 8 years since I graduated from high school. Watching her made me miss my cheerleading days. I wonder if I can still fit my uniform? :::running to try it on::: :-) Independence beat Salmen 25-20 :(.

I HEART New Orleans

Today I went to the city to test out my new camera. Within a 5 minute span I ran into 4 musicians playing at 10 a.m. (2) guitar players, (1) saxophone player and I had the chance to meet "Hatch" playing his trumpet outside of the yummy Cafe Du Monde. The pictures on my camera came out so clear. I love the picture of the famous St. Louis Cathedral. All the pictures posted are straight from the camera with no post editing. I love my camera but I see a new lens in the very near future. The kit lens is 18-105 mm and is great but I will need a zoom lens to get closer to my subject from a little further away. These are pictures from nice part of New Orleans. Tomorrow I will go out to the not so nice side and show you how badly some parts are still damaged by Hurricane Katrina from 3 years ago. If you are ever in New Orleans please feel free to contact me.

It's Here!!!

My camera is here. I am so excited. I can't wait to start taking pictures with it. Come back to see some pictures I take with my new DSLR camera :)

And the winner is........

The Nikon D90. Yes, I took the plunge and bought it today. This was a very hard decision but I had to go with the newer model. I would have regretted not going with this one if I would have chosen the D80. It should be here next week so look out world. I can't wait.

Which Camera

So after months of researching SLR cameras, I made my decision and was set to buy the Nikon D80. However, Nikon just released the D90 last week and I am in love. They are both awesome cameras and will make anyone look amazing. I am not ready to pay $2,000 and ^ just yet for a camera but I do want a camera that is reliable and will last me a long time. As I was looking at their picture quality in the store the picture quality was almost identical. So which one should I go with? The D80 which has been out for about 2 years or the D90 which is more expensive:(. but has movie mode and there are no customer reviews just yet. Whichever I choose I know my clients will look stunning :)

Photography 101

After adding this class late and evacuating from Hurricane Gustav, I finally went to my Introduction to Photography class at the University of New Orleans. I was very nervous since I missed the first 2 classes but once I got there, I was very impressed. I made a camera out of a box. I know it sounds crazy but it was really a shoe box. I went in a darkroom for the first time in my life and had the chance to actually process my own photos. I am so excited and can't wait to go back to class. I love learning and I feel this is what I was put on this earth to do. Now all I need to do is buy my new camera :)