I worked Saturday morning and then in the afternoon, we had three models in for a creative photo shoot.  It was a 1960's theme with vintage styled dresses and Go Go boots.  Our makeup artist did a fantastic job on the hair and makeup and we had a lot of fun listening to 60's music, dancing, hula hooping, singing and more.  We even went out on location for a bit and the girls got a lot of attention when down on the historic square.  We've only edited one image from the shoot so far and here it is:

Sunday we put the soft top up and the windows back in on the Jeep in preparation for the ceramic pro treatment it will receive this week.  I took it out for some photos too as I just purchased some HDR imaging software and wanted to try it out.  My intent was to go photograph a high school football stadium to use the HDR images for our senior sportraits business but it was locked up so I used the Jeep.  I haven't had the chance to edit the images but hope to soon.

Our schedule is really filling fast.  I booked two more sessions first thing this morning and we are just about sold out for Fall.  That's a good thing.  The bad thing is that we could probably take on more if we had more resources available to us.  

We've had a pretty good week so far with a good sales session last night and we have a photo session scheduled for today, weather permitting.  It seems we are going into a wet weather pattern for the next week or so which will jeopardize several photo shoots but we will just roll with the punches should they come.  Our Fall is almost booked up and we may explore adding in some sessions to accommodate demand, although that will put quite a bit of pressure on Jodi.  Right now, I've lost my two regular photo assistants to college and finding replacements has been a struggle.  It appears that my new model team members aren't available to help much and that requires Jodi to tag along on shoots, taking away her editing time.  Hopefully we find someone who will be reliable soon.

I've been looking into ceramic coating for the Jeep.  A friend had his vehicles done and it makes them very easy to clean and you never have to wax.  Nothing really sticks to it and the water and mud just run right off of it.  It's pretty impressive but it isn't cheap to get done.  Unfortunately, the shop that does it here is booked through September but they are to call me if someone cancels their appointment.  I'd really like to get it done before our Colorado trip.

We kicked off our weekend Friday evening with a photo shoot that was followed by a consultation and two sales sessions on Saturday.  All went very well and we head into a new week with two shoots and two more sales sessions planned.

Sunday, I dropped the soft top and we installed the Spyderwebshade.  Afterward, we took a ride up north and watched an air show from a private lot across from the airport.  I don't have the gear needed to shoot tight from a distance but I managed to get a few cool shots even though we were some distance from the action.

We enjoyed driving around yesterday, actually taking a couple drives since it was a nice day.  We even did a selfie while rolling down the highway.  

Tonight Jodi and I get to enjoy an evening off and attend a Royals game.  A vendor at my work gave me tickets and we will be tailgating with the company prior to the game.  We haven't been to a game in the last couple years so it will be a fun evening and a nice break from our daily routine of work, work, work, work and work.  I'll be back to that routine tomorrow as I have another photo shoot to do.

JD is back in school and baseball practices have begun.  Although he can't do much, he is serving as the pitching coach as they do not have one right now.  He is also continuing his internship with KCPD and has completed at least half of his required ride-alongs.

We are awaiting word that our Jeep parts have all came in and it will be time to begin the installation process.  Our Spyderwebshade arrives tomorrow and we will probably get that installed this weekend.

I've spent the last two evenings photographing clients and tonight I only have a consultation to do before another session tomorrow.  We go to the Royals game on Thursday followed by another session on Friday and two sales sessions and a consultation on Saturday.  The next two and a half months will be very busy for us.

Over the weekend, we were able to go to St. Louis and pick up a used soft top for our Jeep.  Putting it on was definitely a learning experience and with some assistance, we were able to get it done.  It looks good and we are looking forward to some time where we can do more top down driving.

This past Saturday, we went to the 4WheelParts store and took care of some more wants/needs.  The sale wasn't what we had hoped for but we basically got things for what you can online and no sales tax so we bought locally.  Jodi needed a step to get into the Jeep so we ordered the Posion Spyder Ricochet rockers.  They will be powdercoated in a textured black.  We also ordered our Bartact seat covers, Posion Spyder differential covers, an ARB compressor that will be mounted under the hood, and a Hi Lift jack and mount.  I already have a Rigid 20" light bar and we think we came up with a way to mount it to the front bumper as I had hoped.  We will also get our SPOD installed and outside of a CB, I think we will be good for awhile.  I did order a Spyderweb shade also, which should be here in a few days.  Skid plates will come at some point down the road.  Jodi still wants half doors but they are a major investment.  I thought about trail doors but I don't see the point if she wants the other.  Maybe next year.  

The next couple weeks are really busy for us as we have 6 photo sessions, several sales sessions and several consultations.  I spent yesterday evening on a photo shoot with a fun client and her mom and today we have two sales sessions to complete.  

Yesterday, I booked two more sessions, both who live a distance from us.  The first client lives about an hour and fifteen minutes away from us.  That is outside of the normal area we draw from.  The second client lives six hours away.  It amazes me how far some people are willing to drive to be photographed by us.  That's 12 hours, round trip, TWICE they have to do because they have to return for the sales session as well.  Incredibly humbling to have people willing to do that!

We are looking forward to heading over to Kansas this weekend for the 4WheelParts sale.  I really don;t know what the sale prices are going to be but if they are decent, we will wind up purchasing some things.

One thing I have read is that the seats can get tears from sliding out of them.  I don;t know if it will help any, but I'm thinking of purchasing the Trek Armor seat covers.  They have Molle straps in the back of them so you can mount gear bags, etc.. to them.  We will definitely be getting a Hi-Lift jack but I'm still undecided on the mount.  It appears going the rear bumper route will have the jack riding pretty high and I don;t think it will fit in the garage that way.  Not sure if the hood mount is the way to go or mount it at the door/fender area.  I think of those two, I prefer the hood.  

We still need to figure out a way to mount the light bar to the bumper.  The options I've seen so far I'm not a fan of but we may have to go that route since our bumper doesn't have welded mounting tabs.  

We will definitely be getting a soft top soon.  I haven;t seen any OEM tops on Craigslist or anywhere else and a lot of people are running the Bestop Trek NX.  We may go that route.  It's a frameless top and has a slanted back.  It's available in the premium twill fabric, which obviously costs more but from what I've read, it's well worth it.  A Spyderweb shade is on the purchase list as well.  It's time to get the hardtop off.  

Jodi driving her Jeep.  I have actual video too.  :)

I didn't have anything business related scheduled yesterday so I took the evening to relax.  I probably should have mowed the lawn but chose to just relax for the most part.  Tonight, I have two consultations scheduled and maybe I'll get the lawn cut too.

I had a lot of trouble trying to install the grab bars on the Jeep recently.  I got fed up and decided to return them.  When looking at how to go about that, it said that I could return them to a 4WheelParts store.  I was a bit confused since I bought them from 4wd.com so I called the 4WheelParts store near me and they informed me that that is like a sister site to them and I could return them to the store.  I told them the issue I was having and they want to look at it for me.  So, maybe they will wind up on the Jeep after all.  We are going to their sale on the 13th so we will look at it then.

I've been looking at trail opportunities in Colorado around the Breckenridge area.  My gut instinct is to stay on trails rated 4 or less by Trail Damage.  I saw Peak 10, Boreas Pass and Crystal Lakes, rated 3, 2 and 4.  Elevation is 9,700 feet to 13,400.  They are all rated very scenic.  On the return trip home, I'd like to take a route that was recommended that goes to Rocky Mountain National Park, Estes Park and through Lyons and Longmont.

Jodi got to be my photo assistant yesterday evening as both of my other regular helpers were unable to work.  I think that's only the second time this year that we have worked together on a shoot.  It turned out to be a great one with one of our model team members and we even ran into a guy at the park that had a boa constrictor who let our Senior put it around her while I photographed her with it.

We only have one other session this week but we have a sales session this evening and then two consultations on Thursday.  We usually have three sessions per week but I'm kind of glad we don;t have one scheduled on Wednesday because it's going to be in the upper 90's until Friday, when it cools down to 90 for the session scheduled that day.

On August 13th, 4WheelParts is having their big sale of the year.  I don't know if it is an in store only sale or site wide too but we plan on heading over to the store and taking advantage of any great deals that may be had.  Our more immediate to do items are:

Differential covers
Skid plates
Light bar
Side rails/sliders
Hi Lift jack
Soft top
Hard top hoist

Jodi really wants the Mopar half doors which will be a major purchase, probably one we will do next year.  I still need to send in my rebate form for the free Warn accessory kit that we get with our winch purchase.

Jeep pics

Here are the pics of Jodi's Jeep.  Click on the images to see them larger.  

Jodi and I went out last night and took some pics of the Jeep in the West Bottoms.  She is going to prep them for me to post later today.  We didn't get off road at all but they should be pretty cool looking in the urban environment.  We had a lot of people checking out the Jeep as we drove around.  If only it had 37's!