Love is in the air!

We are quickly approaching the busiest season of the year for weddings! Love is in the air and now is the time to book your wedding photographer since many begin reserving dates as far as a year in advance! I currently still have some openings for Spring and Summer weddings but expect to be filling those spots quickly! If you book your wedding with me by the end of February, you'll get what I call my "Wedding Stimulus Package" (pun intended!). Anyone who books between now and the end of February will receive a $75 print credit with any package purchased. Email me for package pricing and scheduling availability! Packages vary from the most basic to the very extravagant and everything in between and can be tailored to meet your specific needs and desires. We can include an engagement session (designed to showcase your unique persoanlities and love for each other) and bridal session (a chance for you to feel like a princess - and look like one too! Bridal sessions are meant to allow you to shine while capturing your inner and outer beauty!) as well as varying levels of wedding day coverage . If given the opportunity, I will give you photographs of this special time in your life that you will cherish forever!

The Moon

So this isn't that great of a picture (as far as pictures of the moon are concerned) but I was excited about the fact that I am learning about the manual settings on my camera! I mean, how many times have I tried to photograph a beautiful sunset or full moon and gotten a completely unimpressive picture? And that's if you could even tell what I was trying to photograph at all! Auto settings just do not enable us to capture things in low light that are beyond the reach of our flash. So what do you do? Shoot in manual! And I am finally understanding how that works! So the picture here of the moon is not exactly an awesome picture, but what it represents is so exciting! Just thought I'd share!

Great Expectations

It seems with every new shoot, I am given the opportunity to push myself and my abilities a little bit farther while having the time of my life! Laura and Matt Cobb are friends of ours. It seems like yesterday that we were mixing and mingling at their wedding reception in the beautiful gardens of Rocky Mount Bed and Breakfast here in Prattville. In reality it was about 3 years ago and now they are expecting a baby girl named Baylor Marie! What a beautiful family! We did the shoot at Rocky Mount B&B (which is owned by Matt's Aunt Sharon) and in addition to offering great nostalgic value, there was plenty of natural light pouring in through the windows which made my indoor studio set up much easier. I shot on manual and am finally beginning to feel like I've got the hang of it! Laura and Matt were great sports and gave me the freedom to really exercise my creativity which made for a fun and diverse portfolio of maternity pictures. I am so blessed to know this wonderful couple and I wish them both the best as they welcome their new addition! (Newborn pictures of Baylor will be posted shortly after she's born so keep checking back!)

Double Blessing

This was an idea I had a day or two ago while talking with a friend of mine (thank you, Britt, for encouraging my creativity and sharing ideas!) so I just had to try it today. The girls (Brooklyn and Skylar) were perfect angels as always! This is only one of dozens of similar pictures so you may see more later. The editing is time consuming so I only had time for one. I couldn't go to sleep until I finished editing and posting the pictures of Baby Grace so it is now 3am! Photography is such an all consuming passion! lol

Baby Grace

I had the opportunity to photograph my best friends little girl today. It's not the first time I've photographed her though. I was blessed to be present when she made her grand entrance into this world 8 months ago and she will always hold a very special place in my heart. She is a beautiful, joyful baby and I loved photographing her! A special thank you to her mom, Harmony, for all of her help during the shoot (and for lunch!). It's always a pleasure spending time with their family and getting to "capture the moments that become their memories" is just a bonus!

Sweet Feet

I was holding Skylar today and decided to bring my hubby, Chuck, in on the picture-taking action. I had him bring me the black sheet backdrop and place it just so around my hands and Skylars feet. Then I suggested the angle he should shoot from. I was really impressed with the picture he took and with a little editing in photoshop to eliminate a few background objects that couldn't be avoided with such a "spur-of-the-moment" idea, we got this beautiful photograph of Skylar's "Sweet Feet" framed by my hands in the shape of a heart. My hubby just may have more artistic talent than he likes to admit! We make a great team!

Brooklyn and Skylar at 4 and 1/2 months

(Above) Brooklyn's feet


(Above) Brooklyn yawning


(Above) Brooklyn sitting pretty

(Above) Brooklyn

(Above and below) Brooklyn on left, Skylar on right

(Above) Skylar being silly

(Above) Skylar yawning

(Above) Skylar being silly again

I took these pictures today and the girls were so wonderful! They actually seemed happy about having their pictures taken. I must have caught them in a happy moment right after eating! I took so many it was hard to choose which ones to post but these are just a handful of my faves that really show their personalities. I'll be taking more soon-they are the perfect test subjects - not to mention I'll never have enough great pictures of my kids no matter how many I take!

New website under construction

(Above and below) Skylar

(Above and below) Brooklyn

I am in the process of working with someone to build my website and I am so excited! There are so many choices out there and I'm having a hard time deciding exactly what it should look like but I believe we will end up with something that is a fairly accurate representation of my personality and my vision for my business. If any of you have gone through this process and have any tips for me, I'm all ears! It will take at least 3 to 4 weeks before it's far enough along for me to advertise the address but I'll keep you posted on the progress. I'm also excited to be taking a photography class at Faulkner taught by Ryan Bartels - the absolutely fabulous photographer Chuck and I chose for our wedding. The class is on Monday nights but I find myself obsessing over everything photography related during the week and wishing I could go to class 3 nights a week so I could learn more and learn faster. lol The mathmatics of shutter speed, ISO, and aperture are a bit of a challenge for me but I am determined not to let my personal fear of math get in my way of learning what I need to know to become a better photographer! I always struggled with math in school to the point that I developed a sort of phobia. Sounds rediculous I know, but the nature of people is to fear what we do not understand and while I can ace an essay test on just about any subject (because of my love for english and writing), I can barely balance my checkbook. lol Fear of math aside, learning it will enable me to do what I love to do and do it even better than before. For that alone, it's worth it!

(The pictures above are from various shoots I've done over the past year except for the top 4 of Brooklyn and Skylar which I took today and edited with a glow effect.)