Happy New Year!!!

Welcome to 2008! Well...almost!

I wish you all the most amazing things that the new year has to offer!

2007 has been a whirlwind year, but it's been amazing! Before I start making resolutions for the new year, I want to take a few minutes to be thankful for all the things that have happened in the past year.

The weddings portion of my business has been thriving, and I'm thrilled to offer a new product that I'll blog more about in my next post! 2007 was also the first year that I got involved with Operation Smile and National Family Portrait Month! It's also the year I unveiled my new website and started this lovely blog! Thanks so much to the brides I've worked with, the brides I'm currently working with, and to all the families, children, friends and individuals who have helped make this such a memorable year!

Check back soon for more on the new products, as well as a big announcement for some studio plans in '08! Have a happy and safe new year!

Merry Christmas!

Yes, the children were nestled all snug in their beds, with Emma's arm slung over Eddie's head...

Merry Christmas, and may the spirit of the season be with you always!

From Atlantic to Pacific...Gee the Traffic is Terrific!

What is Christmas without family? What is Christmas without a 15 hour car ride to visit family? This holiday, we set out with kids in tow to visit our Florida family! The trip has was great, and the kids were awesome. That is, until we hit Atlanta... After a half hour of deliberating the pros and cons of taking the outerbelt versus driving straight through downtown Atlanta, we decided on the latter. I'm now convinced that it doesn't matter which way you choose...You'll run into traffic like this no matter what!

After we made it through the mess, I needed to invoke the power of the green mermaid



to ensure that we would make it to our destination by nightfall. We finally made it, and we've been basking in the love, hugs and kisses of our family ever since! Some of them we haven't seen in over a year (since we moved back to O-H-I-O), but it seems like we saw them just yesterday! Adding to the fun was my brother's manufacturing of the newest holiday rage, the marshmallow gun! If you've got some PVC pipe, a hacksaw and some mini marshmallows, you're in business...kids love it!

The wonderful thing about family is that sometimes the distance really doesn't matter. We're still connected, no matter how near or how far.

This Christmas Eve, I wish you all a holiday filled with love and happiness. Whether you're surrounded by your family this time of year, or just wishing you were...Remember the true meaning of Christmas and have a very, very Merry One!

Santa Claus is Coming to Town...

For years I swore that I would never feed my children a line about Santa Claus. "After All", I told my family and friends, "Why start your children off with a lie that they'll never forgive you for"? Then I actually had children. I saw the mysterious mixture of joy, excitement and magic that sprang into their eyes when someone mentioned the jolly old elf.

"Well", I thought to myself, "It'll be fine if I just don't actually say 'Yes, there's a Santa'. If some one else brings it up, fine...but I'll never confirm or deny because well...it's cute. I'll just stick to referring to St. Nick in the historical sense and that's that." So would someone please tell me why on earth I find myself stashing gifts in closets, telling the kids they had better shape up because you-know-who will be here soon and even helping them sprinkle reindeer food on the lawn (so Rudolph can find our house, of course)?

When did this happen? How did it happen? And when the day comes...how will it end? The truth is I want my kids to be able to give thanks appropriately for the gifts they receive. But I selfishly want to see those little faces light up when we read "The Night Before Christmas" imagining themselves sound asleep while reindeer hooves shuffle about on the roof. So I'll keep it going as long as I can because the grown up world will come around soon enough for them. If this is one other way they can hold on to childhood a little longer (and by default, I get to hold on too), then so be it. Now, if someone could help me out with the zip code for the North Pole...

A Few Good Books...

A couple posts ago, I mentioned that a lot of my friends and family members were going to be getting photo gifts for Christmas from me this year. As much as I would LOVE to be able to share those images on todays post, they must be kept under wraps until the big day because I know a few of them read this blog! :)

So I thought today I'd do something different and post some reviews of some great photography and wedding-related books. I'm a frequent reviewer on Amazon.com, but there are a few books that I haven't reviewed there and they may be helpful to some of you out there! Whether you're planning a wedding and want a good planning book, or you're just looking to capture some better photos of your kids these are some fantastic books!

The 35mm Handbook by Michael Freeman: IMHO the best basic photography book out there! It's pre-digital, but explains ISO, shutter speed and aperature on the most basic level and guess what...that translates right back into digital! The book describes focal length, depth of field and the camera itself so that anyone can take great pictures!

The Art of Wedding Photography by Bambi Cantrell: A wonderful book with lots of great examples of poses, techniques and processes. Short on words, but long on images! For every picture, she jots down exactly how she acheived the desired look. She goes into a little bit of album design too, and although this book came out before the digital revolution there are still some great principles there.

Storytelling Wedding Photography by Barbara Box: Another one that came out before digital, but still some really great examples of photojournalism and black and white photography. She gives great tips on how to find great photo ops. Amond my favorites, "I look for those elements which, like sculpture, display an elegance of form and composition while capturing the essence of the subject. These could be details like folds in the gown, wrinkles in a glove, or the flow of the veil".

Light Science & Magic by Fil Hunter and Paul Fuqua: A good textbook-like approach to studio lighting. Although it goes into more detail on lighting situations more appropriate for product photography (think "spatulas"), and the photos are all black and white (color would have shown some of the techniques a little better), it's still a good read.

Professional Techniques for Digital Wedding Photography (2nd Edition) by Jeff and Kathleen Hawkins: One of my all-time faves! The authors show great examples of composition and then go a few steps further by showing some of the techniques achieved by good digital editing! Everything from partial colorization to special effects and vignetting!

The Lighting Cookbook by Jenni Bidner: Although so much of what I do now is with available light, there are still times when studio lighting is neccesary. This book provides "recipes" for different situations. Example: For "Fail Safe Portraits" You take 1 studio flash unit with umbrella, 1 lightstand, 1 fill flash, and backgrounds of assorted colors, etc. etc.

And finally...Bridal Bargains by Denise and Alan Fields: Great strategies for staying on budget! Complete with lists of questions to ask each vendor (including the photographer), and helpful information of what your best bet is for flowers given your wedding date and your locale!

Whew! That's a lot of books!

Birthday Wishes for my Son...

Six years ago today, my life and my husband's were changed forever when our little Eddie arrived. All 10 fingers and 10 toes, and so calm... I imagine every mother remembers the very first time she laid eyes on her newborn child and I'm no different. We felt so blessed to have such a beautiful little miracle in our arms.

Through diaper changes, first steps, first teeth, potty training, and now reading...I often stop to marvel at what this little child has become, and imagine what he will continue to become.

Eddie, you bring us so much joy every day...Thank you for all the love you've taught us we are capable of. Happy Birthday.

And just because his birthday happens to be so close to Christmas, I just had to post this little bit... These guys make me think back to my vocal music days! It's a little slow at first, but when you think about what all they've got going on here, it's pretty remarkable!

Winter Wonderland

Well, it's that time of year again! Schools close, snowmen are made, sleds are dusted off and hot cocoa is poured (with marshmallows, of course)! It's been a crazy couple days with a major move taking place and Christmas shopping to be finshed, so I'm sorry to say that my shutter didn't click much over the weekend! There are a couple projects I've been working on which I'm excited to post just as soon as I put the finishing touches on! In the meantime, I'm conducting a little informal poll for the day...What do you do with all the Christmas cards you recive after the season is over?

That's the Spirit...

It's not hard to get in the holiday spirit when there's so much of it around! It's been in the stores for quite some time now, it's on the radio, it's on our tree and mantle...It's infectious, and we love it! So yesterday I tried to take advantage of that spirit and snap some pictures of Eddie and Emma for our annual Christmas cards. I was set on having Emma's hair curled for the shoot, and Eddie wasn't into getting his picture taken at all ,so I made this deal with him (yeah, yeah... so bargaining with our children is a bad way to go...I know, but when it comes to the Christmas cards it's got to be done!) I would let him snap a few pictures while I got Emma ready and "I'll post the best ones to my blog", I told him.

He was so excited! So when I saw this one, I told him I would post it. "Who Hoo", he screamed "Mom's puttin' me on her 'glob' (arms pumped in the air for emphasis)"!

There you go, Eddie...You're on Mom's glob... I mean "blog". :)

It's hard to keep their attention for too long but hey, it's another opportunity to click the shutter! Here are a few more from the day!

I found all the red from the tree skirt a little distracting, so I played around with some saturation levels in post-processing...

And then there's Emma...

Here's hoping everyone's getting in to the Christmas Spirit!

Anatomy of a Shoot...

I recently had the pleasure of accompanying my friend and fellow photographer Chantal Stone on a wedding shoot last month that involved a really fun couple, a beautiful day, and some amazing locations in downtown Columbus! She always amazes me with the lengths to which she will go to capture a great shot! So, as she was directing the bride and bridesmaids for this particular photo I thought I'd take a couple frames to document just how a picture like this is created...



Step 1: Leave to comfort of the nice, warm church (it was downright cold this November afternoon)...

Step 2: Look both ways before crossing East Broad Street...

Step 3: Recruit an able-bodied, willing individual to direct oncoming traffic around the bridal party...

Step 4: Get the group ready for the shot...

Step 5: Get back inside said "nice, warm" church! (Did I mention it was freezing that day?)

To see Chantal's final image (and a few more from the same, amazing wedding), click (and scroll) here!