Carolyn is a Mrs.!

Carolyn is one of my high school orchestra friends.  I was so excited that she invited me to her wedding.  Yes, I said "invited"!  In the past several years, I have only just attended 3 weddings! I've worked at dozens of them, so it's a real treat to get to be a witness at the wedding of a friend! But, my inner shutter-bug got the best of me, and I had to get some pictures of her gorgeous wedding! 

  

I love this next one.  After their adorable first kiss (above), Carolyn wiped off a little lip stick from her new husband's face :) 

 

Virus!

Yesterday, in the middle of editing Nikki and Kaylee's shoot, a virus decided to take over my lap top!  Things had been running sort of slow, so being the paranoid person that I am, I double backed up all of my un-edited photos.  Wouldn't you know, the day after I did that, here comes the virus!  Nate is such a wonderful husband, I swear he should be working for Geek Squad.  He totally fixed it!!  So, after a few hours delay, I finally finished up Nikki's photos. 

I love these two girls.  Kaylee was one of my first  babies when I worked at the day care.  She was always plopping herself down in my lap any time I was sitting.  She always has kisses to give, and she's got some MAJOR personality!  Nikki actually came to work at the daycare with me for a while, and we became very good friends.  I'm so excited that she is getting ready to have a baby girl in November!

Johnathan was such a funny kiddo!  He was NOT in the mood for pictures! It took about half an hour just to get him warmed up to pictures, but as soon as his Grandma was about ready to give up, I mentioned a change of scenery...to a park, and Johnathan perked right up!  This kid has some seriously funny facial expressions.  He was cracking me up the whole time!

Hello Monday!

Mondays seem to be my productive days.  I've already managed to get to my third load of laundry.  If you don't know much about me, I would rather let the laundry pile up until I can't see the floor anymore.  The dishes are still dirty, but I've got to take this "housewife" thing slowly. :-)

I'm working on my editing today, trying to get as much done as possible.  I have an editing schedule, so I can eventually get my turnaround time down to just a couple of days, instead of a couple of weeks.  I was up until midnight last night, watching a movie out of the corner of my eye , editing my 4th shoot of the day!! *Whew*

I've got to say, I really enjoy doing mini-shoots.  I did one for a sweet little girl named Paisley for her 9 month portraits.  Her mom has been amazing about keeping up with getting her picture made every month!  Here's her session:

She's pretty stinkin' cute, huh?


I'm off to get some more editing done (and possible a tiny cat nap).

Here Comes Fall!

I'm just going to warn you now, this will be a long blog. I am going to do my darnedest to keep up with this now!!

Summer is gone (technically). The heat, I'm sure, will be here to stay for at least a little longer. I'm more than ready for the cooler weather. My air conditioner is as well. With the change of seasons comes changes in business. Wedding season is wrapping up, and I'm in full swing with Christmas photos! I say wedding season is wrapping up, but I still have about half a dozen weddings to shoot before the new year. It's amazing how fast this summer flew by! So many things have changed in just the past couple of months. I (reluctantly) quit my full time job at the day care I was working at to pursue my photography full time. God had been tugging at my heart to just trust Him, and when I did, I was floored by how He provided for me and Nate. To kick off the new chapter in my life, we finally went on our honeymoon to Vegas!

I got that picture from our fancy-schmancy dinner at the Top of the World restaurant in the Stratosphere. YUM-O food.

We had so much fun, and I'm happy to say that we get to go back in December 2011 for our first destination wedding! *happy dance* By far, the best part of the trip was seeing Beatles LOVE. We are huge Beatles fans, so it was one of those pee-your-pants-from-excitement kind of experiences. We hit up all of the hot spots like the Coca Cola store, M&M World, all of the major hotels, and walked until our shoes nearly melted from the 200 degree pavement.

A week after Vegas, I made the 15 hour drive with my mother in law, sister in law, and 7 year old nephew to Maben, Mississippi to visit Nate's grandparents. On the way there, my wonderful family humored me and let me make a little detour to Mineral Wells so I could revisit the Baker. I stayed at the Baker back in 2001 when they were still conducting "ghost" tours. We spent the night, hunted for ghosties, and scared ourselves silly. Ever since then, I have been itching to go back. The hotel is condemned now, which makes me sad, but it's so beautiful. I love the architecture, the fixtures, the pool...everything. Just the history of the place made me fall in love with it. Read up on this place. People like Bonnie and Clyde and Judy Garland stayed at this fabulous hotel.

www.bakerhotel.us/

Now that vacations are over and school is back in session for you smarty pants type people, I'm starting to think more about my second year as a serious photographer. I'm planning on adjusting my pricing, especially for weddings. I like doing weddings, but I am finally able to understand why photographers charge what they do. Don't worry, I will still offer "Name your Price", but I'll be creating a few packages so people can tailor their photography experience to their needs.

Please bear with me as I try to keep you all updated on what's happening in my crazy world! This blog is not just about my photography...it's about me and my crazy, messy, sleep deprived world!!

What Goes Into Editing

So here we are...the beginning of the editing process! This is just to give you a little peek into what I put into each and every picture I present to you. I will use my sister, Mollie, as my example, since she is adorable and I love her :)

Here's the original photo. Pretty cute, huh?? It's nice, but I think it needs some work.



The first thing I will do is adjust the lighting, because the original was a little underexposed in my opinion.

Next, I will do some airbrushing on Mollie's face and chest. Now, I usually wouldn't edit out her adorable freckles, but I'm just using them as an example of the difference it can make on an uneven complexion (Instead of freckles, my face is usually covered in an uglier kind of spot!). I also took out some flyaway hairs around the top of her head that I just didn't want there :)
Next, I will adjust the contrast and coloring. The original was a little dull and yellowed, so I fixed that. Also, adjusting the contrast and coloring brought her eyes back to their original blue, which was lost because of the yellow tint that the original had.
The last thing I do is just some final finishing touches, like highlighting her zebra print bra under her sheer top. It's a little thing, but it adds some more dimension to the photo. I also adjusted the color once again, and added just a tad more contrast to her face to define her features.



This process takes about 20-30 minutes (yes, I just timed it!). This is a very basic and straightforward photo, and is a good representation of several of the things I adjust in each and every photo. A lot of pictures don't need much work! Some of them need it more than others...it all depends on the look I am going for! These original images are like my raw sketches. I take them and work with them to make them into art...not just a snapshot.

My sessions take several weeks to complete because I first have to sort through hundreds of images from your shoot to select the best ones for editing. Then, I spend hours working on the selected images to perfect them!

You can't rush art...

:)

What is a "Boudoir" Shoot?

Let me preface this post by saying that none of the photos in this blog, on my website, or on my facebook are posted without express permission from the subjects.  I NEVER post photos, especially boudoir, without permission! (So if that is your biggest hang up with booking, no worries!).  

People are constantly asking me "What are Boudoir portraits?" The easiest answer I can give is "bedroom" or "sexy" pictures or even "glamor", but man, they are so much more than that.

Even before I do a boudoir session with a woman, the first thing they tell me is how nervous they are, and how they hate their mommy marks, crows feet, or some other silly thing that I never would have noticed. For most women, it takes a HUGE amount of courage just to call me or email me. I think women today have been brainwashed into thinking they have to be a certain form of "perfect" to be beautiful. Let me clarify something for you: "perfect" is what you already are. 

It takes a lot to be comfortable in your own skin. I may only be 23, but I've never been more confident and comfortable with myself than now, and I hope and pray it only gets better from here. My body isn't perfect. I'm overweight. So is most of the country. I have acne scars from years of fighting being a teenager, and more blemishes right on top of those scars. My eyebrows will always be uneven...I've accepted it. My legs are permanently scarred from years of falling off of my bike in the street, shaving accidents when I was 13, and many battles with the awful MRSA infections I will continue to battle. I'm pale, I have cellulite....I could go on.

But you know what? I'm okay with that. Because after doing so many of these boudoir sessions, and constantly trying to reassure women that they are beautiful just the way they are, I've come to realize...so am I. Girls, none of us are perfect in the way we think we should be, but you have to see that we are PERFECT to our Creator. God made us exactly the way he wanted us. And if you are going to criticize one of His most glorious creations, well, then...I will just have to kick you in the shins.

Girls, seriously. Your mommy marks are beautiful because they are signs that your body has created something glorious and beautiful. Your crows feet are just a testimony to how many times you have laughed and smiled with friends. And that cellulite...well, I can't explain that one, but trust me...we've all got it.  Maybe it's just proof that you can make some dang good brownies, and for that you should be proud.  :)

I don't want anyone to think that these "sexy" pictures are just for the sake of being sexy. These pictures give women the confidence they need, and the PROOF they have so desperately been seeking that they ARE beautiful!

Many women shy away from boudoir sessions because they think they are supposed to wear their undies for pictures.  That's not the case.  I have had women wear their favorite dress and heels, something they might even wear to church, for their boudoir sessions.

Just like Monica:

The night before here session, she called me, in a panic, trying to think of any excuse to get out of it! At the time, she had already had three children, and was terrified of showing her "mommy marks".  I told her I wasn't taking any excuses, and that I would see her the next day at my apartment.  I told her to bring some more modest outfit choices that she simply felt "pretty" in, and some more revealing outfits, just in case.  She was so nervous, but I promised her that after her session, she would see it's a priceless experience!  We started her session with a simple dress that showed off her gorgeous legs and shoulders!  I mean, come on. Look at her!  She wore a sweet summer dress and wedges, and looked incredible! And you can't even see her face!

Of course, after realizing my nephews know her kids from school, and that we were both in orchestra in high school, and me gushing about how jealous I was of her gorgeous hair,  she warmed up to me.  I can't help but tell women how gorgeous they are.  I don't really do it on purpose.  Some may think I am weird for saying the things I say.

I once told a client she had gorgeous ankles!  She still makes fun of me for that!  

Monica now has a poster of one of her favorite boudoir shots on her bedroom wall, which I think once hung above her fire place, and takes the opportunity to show if off whenever she can!(I'm almost positive this is the one)

You don't have to reveal all to be beautiful either.  Katey has the most stunning facial features and the most beautiful blue eyes! 

 Plus, she knows how to rock a t-shirt supporting breast cancer research!

Age doesn't make a difference in how beautiful or sexy you are either.  I have done sessions with women of all ages.  My mom was probably the best boudoir session I have done for a more "mature" woman.  She is 45 years old and has never felt more beautiful in her life.  When she asked me to do a session for her, she worried I would have to be in therapy for life because seriously, who really wants to see their mom in her skivvies!?  However, knowing that my confidence and self worth came directly from my mother, I was honored to do it!  My mother has always been the most beautiful woman to me, inside and out.  It was an incredible experience to see my her let her beauty shine!

Um, hello gorgeous.  Check you out!


I believe our bodies are beautiful.  I mean, look at what they can do! We make babies! Has any man ever been able to say "Yeah, I made a lung today, what did you do?"  Nope, don't think so. We should celebrate ourselves!  Even if you and I are the only two people to ever see any of your pictures, you will always have them to look back on when you are having an ugly-frump day.



I figure when I'm 80 years old, I'll be pulling these out to show my grand daughters.  I'll say "Yeah, honey, that is me! I was pretty good looking, don't you think?"



This is me. I'm goofy, I have curves, and I'm comfortable. I'm a glorious creation of the Lord, and I love that He created me!

*photos by Deanna Keese of Keese Photography. She's awesome. Trust me.


I also understand that finances play a big role in whether or not women take part in these sessions.  Please, contact me if you would like to take part in my June 25th boudoir special.  I will do whatever it takes to make it work for you financially!

Oh, and by the way: Friends and hubbies are welcome to join you for support!