http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss en liana@lianalehman.com copyright©lianalehman.com Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:54:36 -0400 Thu, 23 Aug 2007 16:46:52 -0400 iBlog 1.4.6 liana lehman liana's bananas This is the mobile news blog of photographer liana lehman. liana lehman liana@lianalehman.com liana's bananas Arts & Entertainment http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070703165115/index.html
Today is my last "work day in the office" this week before we close for the 4th of July and then I leave Thursday AM as I'll be shooting Bridget and Wei's wedding in Aruba on lucky 7-7-7 :)

According to this article on Yahoo , there may be a WORLD RECORD this Saturday for the most weddings ever:

" The Knot.com a wedding planning site, says that on any given Saturday in July (the most popular month for weddings), there are typically 12,000 weddings taking place. But on 7-7-07, that number has more than tripled - to 38,000. That could possibly make this the most popular wedding day ever."

Here are some of their ePics that we shot in early May :)









]]> Tue, 03 Jul 2007 16:51:15 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070703165115/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070702120424/index.html
This weekend, Sara and I headed up to Athens, GA to the Georgia Botanical Gardens for Sarah & Derek's wedding Saturday afternoon. It was a beautiful day out (HOT hot HOT) and Gardenia Floral did another awesome job with the decor & unique arrangements. The flower girls were quite camera-friendly and there was no lack of fun dancing at the reception so we'll get a slideshow hooked up soon for more.

For now, few of my favorites from the day:











CONGRATS you two!! ]]> Mon, 02 Jul 2007 12:04:24 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070702120424/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070628124048/index.html Yeah! The internet has been restored to Freeport/Lucaya!

It's might not be so bad if it wasn't rainy out today ;)

This is the 2nd time in the past three weeks when the internet went out for a day or two straight on the Island were I was working - first in Negril, Jamaica and now in the Bahamas.

It's INSANE how much I depend on it to work / communicate.

Well I'm headed to the airport in about an hour so I'll save blogging more until I get home.....
]]> Thu, 28 Jun 2007 12:40:48 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070628124048/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070626231301/index.html
As I walked out of the cool dark lobby of the yellow Westin building, the wind caught the tails of my painters dress... threatening to beg the same response I got from Christina two weeks ago in Jamaica. I hobbled along to the beach bar where I knew I could indulge in exactly what I was looking for: beach fare with a beach view and enough shade to finish up my work oceanside on my Macbook.

It was like the heavens were smiling down on me today: sleeping until 10:30am in a heavenly bed, unseasonably perfect weather, finding a fresh juice stand for mango, lime, and pineapple concoctions at lunch, and at dinner - a perfect rainbow in perfect view arching over the beach and ocean!



Naturally, as any photographer in their right mind would do, I reached into the pockets of my painters dress.. grasping for my tiny point & shoot camera. Nothing. Nada. The whole wallet gone. Did the wind take ahold of it as I walked out of the door? Had I put it in my bag instead? Nope! Perhaps it was left in the room? Uh oh. The weren't letting people into the hotel without showing a key. I contemplated canceling my order to go find my wallet and keys... but opted to sip a margarita and enjoy the view instead while I waited for a tasty grouper sandwich to arrive. Besides, I had my Macbook handy so I could at least get a bad image of such a beautiful site!

And as the heavens would have it... one trip to the lobby later.... I found my wallet safe and sound in the room where it had missed falling into my bag... camera still there.

]]> Tue, 26 Jun 2007 23:13:01 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070626231301/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C608413158/E20070625135101/index.html
Check out my HEAVENLY BED!!!



I *heart* the Westin so I was super excited upon check in today to the Chicks that Click convention here on Grand Bahama Island ....that the folks at PPA put me up here :) Yeah!

I'm super excited for this trip because I got to pack extra extra light (no camera along except my mini-point-and-shoot) and I'm here with 100s of other female photographers from all over the place! It was a huge honor to be asked to speak at this and I'm excited to get to meet a lot of new faces. The pool / beach looks awesome here too... off to go check that out soon!



PS... I'll be back in the office Friday AM but the gals will be around this week if you need anything feel free to email any of us :)


]]> Mon, 25 Jun 2007 13:51:01 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C608413158/E20070625135101/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C2019414179/E20070622095525/index.html
I remembered back to right before I went to Brazil when everything broke. ... and how, weeks after returning , my Treo 650 was still on the fritz. And I didn't care one bit. I'd broken free from "the addiction."

The addiction I'm talking about (*see #9 below) is one that is so annoying I'd rather not be around people that have it (yes, I used to be one of them and may still be...). I'm talking about when someone is more concerned with what's going on online, what email might be coming in, and who might have called in the last five minutes that they seem to have a twitch... constantly eyeing, fiddling with, checking their mobile device. The person makes it very clear that those things are more important than being where they are at present. The addiction had become an epidemic within the walls of corporate america especially... I can remember sitting in meetings a year ago... wondering why we even bother because no one was really "fully present."

Well, I'm happy to say that I've removed the email and internet access from my Treo ... so now the Treo is a phone at best... if you can call a piece of plastic that turns off every 5 seconds and breaks in the middle of calls a "phone." It's been a much more fruitful, productive, and happy 1/2 year without the constant annoyance of email reminding me how much I have to do. I received this fun list today from the people at PINK magazine who I had the pleasure of interviewing a few years ago when they were just starting the magazine. Enjoy! (And see if we can abide... )




]]> Fri, 22 Jun 2007 09:55:25 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C2019414179/E20070622095525/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070620232143/index.html
Bet you can't guess what happened to me to elicit a laugh like this from Christina!??







]]> Wed, 20 Jun 2007 23:21:43 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070620232143/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C802208573/E20070619170511/index.html

After many requests... it's time to go PUBLIC with a recent favorite recipe : Horseradish Crusted Salmon!!

It's SUPER easy to make so even if you "don't cook" you can surprise friends and family with this tasty treat. Not a fish-lover? Try it on steak or chicken - it's just as good!

1. Pre-Heat oven to 425-degrees
2. Place fish (or steak/chicken) in a baking dish with foil in the bottom for easy clean-up

3. Mix the following ingredients together to create the sauce then pour over fish to coat :)

2 cups mayo
1/4 cup white wine
1/2-3/4 cup capers (they come in a jar near the pickles... strain the juice before pouring in!)
1/2-3/4 cup horseradish (not horseradish sauce! Usually you can find regular horseradish near the butter/cheese - it's refrigerated.)
1 cup parmesan cheese (to thicken)

4. Bake for approx. 30 minutes or until cooked through (may differ for steak or chicken). Mmmmmm mmmm good!


If you want to be a Super Chef... get a bag of those "steam in the bag" green beans, cook a little less than it says to, then saute in a pan coated with butter. Add a pinch of pepper, garlic salt, onion salt, and sugar to make them SUPER yummy and slightly browned on a few ;)

I'd love to share the salad recipe from that dinner too but need to get it from my friend first ;)
Let me know how it goes!!!

Cheers!

]]> Tue, 19 Jun 2007 17:05:11 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C802208573/E20070619170511/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C790289431/E20070618223621/index.html
Take a young, mildly-allergic, healthy young 20-something.... mix in work overload, starting new businesses, moving, living in state where pollen count exceeds previous world records and forest fires leave the air thick with smoke, an average of 4 hours of sleep per night, email overload, attempt at having a life, an average of eight flights per month, and apparent immunity to antibiotics.... and you get how I've felt for the past year.

Most days I don't notice that I have very little sense of smell due to allergies and the above keeping me from being 100% healthy, but there have been a few times this past year where confined-to-bed-with-a-flu is the case or somewhere in-between. A week ago today the familiar swallowing-glass feeling snuck up on me just as we were seeing the light of day on the to-do-list. I spent three days in bed with a nasty fever, hoping it would pass before leaving the country. Jamaican heat did not help....but I'm happy to be taking previous "cure for the common cold" recommendations to heart and focus on getting back to 100% this week.




My momma always made this A-MA-ZING turkey/chicken noodle soup any time we had a big thanksgiving or holiday dinner.. apparently she ate it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner for two weeks and it finally got rid of a cold she'd had for four months! After much slaving in the kitchen, all in good company of course, I ended up with a three-week supply of the tasty soup. Check it out! (Yes, that's only HALF of the batch shown there!!)





The other natural-home-remedy that we swear by is one recommended to me by a former boss of mine. She called me into her office one day after hearing my angst, sniffling, and coughing.... and revealed the only remedy that has cured her daughter from suffering from sever allergies. It's far from pleasant, seldom practiced in the US, but quite common overseas. It's pretty darn disgusting actually. And it HURTS! As my friend Alecia so fondly puts it (it cured her cold when she and many of my good photographer friends came to stay with me back in the days).... "it's like snorting battery acid!" I'll spare any further description here but CLICK HERE IF YOU WANT THE CURE . Ewwwwe!





]]> Mon, 18 Jun 2007 22:36:21 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C790289431/E20070618223621/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070616165033/index.html
This morning we made the trip from Negril where the wedding was back to Montego Bay, Jamaica where we'll be shacking up at the Ritz Carlton here before leaving tomorrow.

This place is SUPER swanky... kind of reminds me of a tropical version of the Ritz at Lake Oconee in GA... the hallways are tropical pink, blue, and yellow... LOVE it!

It's so hot here that when we came in for a break from the heat our room window was all fogged up!!





I think tonight we're hitting up the "Jerk Shack." According to our driver, it's so good people can't help but dance. We'll see....
]]> Sat, 16 Jun 2007 16:50:33 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070616165033/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070616165224/index.html
We lost our internet connection at the resort where the wedding was yesterday in Negril.... no fear though... I'll share a few pics of them here now :)





Their ceremony was at 2pm in the afternoon so it was BLAZING hot and I got a nice temporary burn from running around afterwards shooting pics but we had a blast.

Christina wasn't satisfied with any of the many dresses she tried on, so her dress is a one-of-a-kind-custom-made-for her! It was so suiting and perfect and she looked so gorgeous!! She had a stunning pair of Kate Spade shoes to finish the look while Shane and the guys opted for the destination wedding must - flip-flops!!

More pics and details to come of course ... I have ALL of next week to catch up on blogging - yeah!!






]]> Sat, 16 Jun 2007 15:52:24 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070616165224/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070615112517/index.html ... to use this shower!!


WOWSER - this thing is AWESOME!! No less than Eight ... nope, four or five is not enough... only EIGHT will do in this Jamaican resort shower!

I have to admit it was my first multi-shower-head experience and I'm glad I had no less than eight shower-heads to spoil me rotten from here on out. Now I know why I've waited so long to design the bathroom that we're putting in the basement ;)






Okay... I'd blog more but I think I'm going to go take another shower instead... it's HAUT down here in Negril!!

]]> Fri, 15 Jun 2007 11:25:16 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070615112517/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070614182934/index.html
Hello Mon! We're back in Jamaica - check this totally goofy pic of me and my friend Beth who is in the wedding tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have an internet connection at the resort where we are staying :)

]]> Thu, 14 Jun 2007 18:29:34 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C95324921/E20070614182934/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C2019414179/E20070612192316/index.html
It's a MIRACLE!!!!!!!!!

No really - I can't remember the last time I was ALMOST this close to the bottom of my inbox! When I wasn't fully self-employed I made it a mandatory rule that my inbox have less than 5 emails in it at the end of each workday. That is nearly impossible these days.






You see, how it works is that things stay flagged in my inbox until I can reply or complete the task. Some tasks get moved to the to-do list if they require more than a few steps to complete. The to-do list is still quite long but getting better every day.

If you haven't heard from me yet, I've gotten quite a bit of bounces back lately so feel free to resend (only if important of course).

I keep emails meticulously organized so they are easy to find - on one of my laptops - and everything also goes to the main office computer and is backed up there (but not organized like this). It sure makes life easy when things are well organized.




]]> Tue, 12 Jun 2007 19:23:16 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C2019414179/E20070612192316/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070610195921/index.html
Yesterday, Sara and I drove to Virginia and back to shoot Hannah & Steve's wedding and Hannah's niece was SUCH a doll and was a great little helper throughout the day.

First, she entertained us while we were waiting for everyone to gather for the group photos by running up and down the aisle with a banana in her mouth.




At the reception, she came over right away to help us pick some cute photos of her to put in a slideshow at the reception. (Sara being the PJ gal she snapped the ones below.)





She must have a future in wedding photography because she even resumed the classic editing-on-the-floor pose




How adorable is she !??




Okay... I'm pretty tired today from yesterday and told myself I should nap and kick back instead of work so back to R&R....

]]> Sun, 10 Jun 2007 19:59:21 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070610195921/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070609071010/index.html
It is eaaarrrly and we're about to hit the road to head up to Virginia where we'll be shooting a wedding this afternoon.

Here's another shot of Carmen that I'm really liking:




. ]]> Sat, 09 Jun 2007 07:10:10 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070609071010/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070608184039/index.html


*** CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE SLIDESHOW ***
]]> Fri, 08 Jun 2007 18:40:39 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070608184039/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070607171340/index.html
Remember that crazy wedding weekend I had last month? In the calm of all of it was Amanda & Justin's absolutely, positively, drop-dead-gorgeous, classy, elegant wedding. The reception was held at the fabulous Biltmore Ballrooms and her dress was a one of a kind - and BLUE - one of the most gorgeous things I've ever seen! Swarovski crystals decorated the dress, flowers, and dripped from the amazing details at the wedding. Thanks to an awesome team of photographers Katie & Chris Torres and Matt Yung, we had complete coverage of the event and what seemed like zillions of images to filter through. Because the dress had so much detail to it that needed last minute attention, we decided to postpone Amanda's High Fashion Bridal Session to after the wedding so we'll be doing that soon and Justin should be able to join in too - yeah!

More of my favorites to come, but for now....



View a slideshow of Amanda & Justin's Wedding Album Drafts:


]]> Thu, 07 Jun 2007 17:13:40 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070607171340/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070606175237/index.html
There are so many gorgeous, fun pics from Carmen & Bryan's wedding in Jamaica Memorial Day weekend.... it's been really difficult narrowing them down for the slideshows and blog pics... so for now I'll post something even better: the Album Drafts!!! Yeah!


The Wedding Album:





The "Day After" Album:




These are just drafts so they're not retouched or anything yet but that all happens once it's approved.

The designers do such a great job (IMHO) of pulling the best shots and putting them together in a way that tells the story of the day with a mix of sequences, details, and portraits. I'm thinking I'm going to start having albums made of my personal/stock photography too - they're just so cool to see printed out!! The really awesome thing about these too is that my clients get to pick what kind of album they want it printed in (leather vs coffee-table, etc) and can even order really cute mini- and travel-albums to go with them.


]]> Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:52:37 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070606175237/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C2019414179/E20070606172351/index.html
I'm sooo excited I can't wait to post everything!! We've got a whole handful of album drafts, slideshows, and images to post from the past few weeks.... thanks for the patience as we prepare everything and get them loaded :)

We have the June PUG meeting here tonight so we'll be tied up with that but stay tuned for everything to come very very soon.... ]]> Wed, 06 Jun 2007 17:23:50 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C2019414179/E20070606172351/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070605173332/index.html
All of the albums are almost finished and I just can't wait anymore... have to post one of my favorites from Carmen & Bryan's wedding in Jamaica!

How beautiful is she?? Fit for a museum, if you ask me!
]]> Tue, 05 Jun 2007 17:33:32 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1680919799/E20070605173332/index.html http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1040404574/E20070605004520/index.html My buddy DJ has a talk he does and I think I've heard it so many times from all the conventions and trainings and stuff I had to stop going (okay, not really... they just make us talk at the same time lately). What it pretty much comes down to is automate everything you possibly can, outsource as much as possible, and enjoy doing what you do best and (trying to) have a life.

Anyways, we're in the same school of thought and while it's something I preach about regularly it's still a struggle. It's been my big goal this year and I'm happy to report today that I've happily LET GO of yet another thing...

House Cleaning!!!!

If you know me you'll know I may have a very very mild case of OCD, keep a generally clean & tidy house, and actually get into cleaning kicks and enjoy it from time to time.... but also that I seem to be drowning with too much to do lately. I mean... I haven't had time to blog... tragic!! *gasp*


This AM I made the call and was happy when they said "we'll have a team over by 3pm!" So while they made adorable rosettes and structures out of the toilet paper, my mom, Sara and I played musical computers to see who could automate the most!

Look... how cute is this!!??





Did I mention my mom and Sara have come to my rescue? Mom drove down for the Lightroom class and has been practicing the past few days and Sara, who shot Carmen & Bryan's wedding with me about a week ago, has decided to move to Atlanta right when I can use the extra help on some special projects coming up!


You should have seen us running around the house admiring all the special touches left...

Kleenex Flowers





Sparkling glass for REAL purdy flowers to be displayed on.






Furry-throw rolls! (Oh, that's fun to say.... Furry-throw rolls!!!)




LINES in the carpet (okay, that's not that uncommon in this household... we practice vacuuming a lot thanks to the mindless entertainment using a Dyson provides)!




Have I mentioned my BIG monster mirror I got from my new awesome framing company ??? Look how sparkling it is now :) :)




Towel Art




Kleenex Fans





Did I mention the toilet paper rosettes??





The scent of industrial cleaning products was so strong in here we added our own touch by burning every candle in the house to get rid of the pine sole smell!!




Phew it feels good to have such a productive day. Okay, maybe it just feels more productive now that everything is sparkly clean :)


Tomorrow I'm going to try to battle the inbox once more and hope to have a date with iBlog again. I think I may have won the automation battle today because a process I started before going out to dinner is still going on now! Sadly, it's on the computer that holds the photos I planned on blogging today so you get pictures of my sparkly house and toilet paper rosettes instead ....until tomorrow ;)

Stay tuned for princess-blue wedding dresses, day after session at the A natural beach in Jamaica... and many pics from in-between!


]]> Mon, 04 Jun 2007 11:45:20 -0400 http://homepage.mac.com/lianabanana/blog/C1040404574/E20070605004520/index.html