The Colbecks

Meet The Colbecks

Justin, Brittany and Brinley! Oh- the love they have for this little jelly bean is amazing. Luckily…loving your baby beyond belief photographs beyond well! I've been trying to coax Brinley's mom into the studio since she's been born. I finally got her here! In my studio. In my lens. And oh, the amazing things she did….Here's a peak at our time together

Brinley brought out this glow in Brittany that I only usually see in pregnant women. I can't believe she looks so well rested after all the night feedings she's been doing! You see, Miss Brinley came bursting into this world early. I remember being out of town and chatting with her momma about her blood pressure and what mine was like during my crazy pregnancies. I prayed hard for her that weekend. I prayed for strength for her momma and daddy. But, most of all - I prayed for lil Miss Brinley that she would have those fighting genes that all preemie's need. Guess what? God answered my (and I'm sure many others) prayers. 

Here she is. Just over 7 pounds at 8 weeks old. She just got baptized today…in a dress made from her momma's wedding dress by her Nana. Isn't she perfect?!

She was a sleeping angel the entire time. I got great photos of her and lots of snuggles. 

She decided to wake up at the end. But just to talk to her daddy. She had lots of grunts for him. The look on his face here makes my heart flutter. Nothing like a daddy's little girl.

It was a pleasure to finally meet you lil Miss. Brinley. I've prayed and thought about you a lot in the last 11 months! You've got wonderful parents and I can't wait to see what kind of glitter your going to sparkle around this world. Shine on baby girl.

Please visit my page to see The Colbecks entire sneak peak!

Leonard, Asya & Daniel

Leonard, Asya & Daniel

I got to spend some time this afternoon with this new family of 3. 

 Mama looks fantastic for just having a baby 3 months ago. I would love to know their secret for looking so rested! You'd think that they didn't have a new baby in their house, they look that good. Daniel is the cutest little boy with lots of soft hair. I got one semi-smile out of him the entire hour that I got to visit with him! Little stinker. We are going to try again on Saturday to see if we can get some smiles on camera. 

Here is their sneak peak!

This is the semi-smile I got out of little Daniel!

I love this…he's like - What do you mean Santa is coming to town?!

Look at that new mama glow! I love it!

Daniel loves being held by mama

Mr. Sleepypants…Mama said he just started playing with his hair when he was tired the other day...

I LOVE this one!

See you guys on Saturday! I'm praying Mr. Sleepypants is awake and ready to roll! :)

Learning the ropes

In every job you learn something every day. Sometimes those bits of knowledge aren't life changing, but sometimes they can change things drastically. At the beginning of this journey I did lots of research on the 'triangle of light', the actual functioning of my camera, and the best times to shoot outside. Then we discussed opening a studio and I started researching lighting for a studio. I've learned a lot about light. Tons. However, I've always been afraid of direct sunlight. Each time I've been outside shooting I run for the shade. Anywhere there was shade, I felt safe. I was watching a YouTube video the other night (if there was a degree from YouTube, I  would have one by now.) about shooting in direct sunlight. It was only about 6 minutes long. The well-seasoned photographer explained that as long as you put your subject between you and the sun that you would get stunning photos. I didn't believe him. No way could it be that easy! But, guess what? It is. 

It's a sunny, warm day today. The nicest day that I've seen in November thus far. (Where was this weather two days ago for my outdoor shoot Mother Nature? You wench.) I took my second minion outside to test this theory. Here's our results….

Are you kidding me?! I've been scared of something for the last 5 months that produces images like this?! In the short 4 minutes that I had minion #2's attention (that's long for her) I was able to play around with at which height I snapped these beauties. I has on the same level as her for the image above and below. Seriously…I'm so excited to have this knowledge!!

Yes - I know she's in her plays in the afternoon. Who cares…and yes it was warm enough for her to be outside in the sunshine for 5 minutes. 

Then I got a little crazy and lowered myself to my elbows. I kept seeing this halo of sun out of the corner of my eye when I was snapping away. This is the results of being on a different plane then my minion.

Seriously stunning!

They make filters that do this same exact thing…I know - I've bought them. They are in my editing arsenal of things I work with in Lightroom 5. It just amazes me the kind of work you can produce with just the sun and your lens. I only had her for about 4 minutes so I wasn't able to change up my ISO, aperture, or shutter speed - so all of these were taken at ISO 100, APV 4.0, and SS - 1/200 - I would have loved to have played around with the settings but minions will only sit for so long. If your a new photographer and finding this as life changing as me, awesome! I'm happy to have helped with your craft development. I'm working on developing this craft I call a job, everyday.

Camilleri Family

Meet the Camilleri Family

This gorgeous family of four braved the cool temps and wind for their family session. They picked a great location and even brought their dogs out! It's funny when you book a session. I usually book with the mom or wife. Then if I haven't seen their husband I'm left to dreaming about poses and what we can accomplish in our session. Little did I know that Todd (dad) should have been drafted for the NBA. Jen and his girls fit in his arms just perfectly! 

See what I mean?! Jen fits perfectly in his arms! Swoon!

Did I mention their girls are beautiful?! Talking about giving Mom and Dad some heartburn and sleepless nights in a few years!

This session was relaxed and even though the girls were freezing everyone was in good spirits. Maybe, it had to do with me suggesting mom and dad provide them hot chocolate afterwards? I'm so glad I got to meet them and capture these moments for them! Please continue to my Facebook page to see their entire sneak peak! 

Online gallery and printing lab changes

Hello Clients!

I wanted to let you know that I am currently organizing a new online gallery through a different provider. I was using Smugmug.com when I first started this "putting it all online" venture due to cost to me and a lessening the cost to you. However, when I got my test prints from the labs that they offered to print through there was absolutely NO comparing them to Millers. I love Millers Professional Imaging. I started using them in the beginning of this career venture and it seems that changing that up isn't going to work. Their prints are more expensive but it's worth it. Believe me…it is!

I am currently switching all the galleries over to Zenfolio which is an online provider to Millers. I know your probably thinking…what does this mean for me?! Well for a couple of days some galleries won't be up online for viewing. I'm hoping this transition will be over in a couple of days. Definitely by the weekend. As far as cost wise for you, my dear clients, I am taking the loss. I am going to keep my prices the same but provide to you THE best quality printing lab that there is out there. I work too hard and long on editing your images so that they are prefect and I want that for your prints as well. If it's coming from my hands to yours it's going to be the best quality out there.

So, please have patience with me for a couple of days and I'm hoping that the mobile view site will be easier to view as well!

Jennifer Angel

7 months….how did that happen?

Well folks, this little lady is is going to be 7 months old in 2 days….

Super cute dress courtesy of Aunt Barb….She's such a chunk I can't button the top button.

How did that happen so fast? This little love is the happiest baby ever. Drooliest too. God really blessed us with this tiny being after all the sadness we went through with losing our third baby. All that pain and sadness…but here is the reason why ~ Lucy Sue was intended to fill our lives with joy!

Seriously…can she be even more camera ready?

She is the perfect mix between mama and dada. She's got a hot temper and this raspy laugh that I get to hear all day. She's the only baby that I've seen do the rock eyebrow as such a young age. That means she's intended for greatness, right? We did a little photo session to commemorate the 7 months that this heavenly Angel has been with us on Earth. 7 months of giggling, watching her big sisters fight over hugging her first thing in the morning, lots of slobber, sleepless night, cuddles, blown out diapers, and lots of first. First smile, laugh, rolling over, tooth, crawl. What's sad is this is the last time we will have those 'firsts' in the Angel household. She's it. Our last baby. Dear Lord, she's growing too fast. It makes my eyes water just thinking about it. I thank God every day for this special little lady. Thank you for lifting my life from a pretty dark space. Thank you for letting me know that goodness exists in everything. Every sleepless night, every tear from your eye, every cry from your lips. For those things, although sometimes heart wrenching…means your alive. Your here for me to hold, kiss, smell and love on. I simply would not change a thing that has happened in this crazy life we've made. Thank you Lucia Susana….for every little bit that is you.

See that tooth?!

Sitting up like a big girl!

She's on the move…it's all over now!

We'll have to try this again, when she's a little bigger, and the wings fit a little better and she can sit up longer then 4 seconds!

I love you sweet girl…sweet dream!

Alana Rose

I had the very great pleasure of meeting a little bundle of joy this afternoon. Her mama called me a few weeks ago and said she had heard from my dad about my photography business. She made an appointment that same day without seeing any of my work. That's faith!

Alana is a happy 6 month old girl. That loved smiling at her mama and wasn't afraid of the strange lady with a big black camera in her face. Here are some of the shots we got out of her session. She barely made me work!

She though the snow in the crate was so cool. Cool enough to try and eat.

I'm so glad she love this basket! 

This is actually a really cool shot I got while she was laying down. She's not able to sit up yet…so she was slowly slumping down!

She was very interested in my little wagon…maybe in a few months little lady when you can sit up on your own!

I'm so glad she was my first in the studio on the day is was 'officially' open. Her mama was extremely easy going and so was she! Merry First Christmas Alana Rose!