One of those days....

Ever just have one of those days, you know the ones, where it seems others just don't take you seriously? That's what this cute pic of Lottie makes me think of. All day long this is the look I got when she made eye contact with me. How can you not love a face like this? I loved this capture so I converted it to BW and added grain, because I love me some BW images! Fortunately, I did grab a couple of images where she isn't making eye contact and giving me this incredibly cute look, they can be seen in their Client Gallery on my website.

Made the Cover!

The upcoming issue of Southern Family Magazine will feature images from a wedding I shot last year at the beautiful Gillespie Gardens in Moulton, Alabama. The wedding of Erin and Matthew was absolutely beautiful and I was so excited to learn that those images would be featured with their wedding article along with an image on the cover of the magazine. This is a free publication available in north/central Alabama, so I realize I've not hit the "bigtimes" yet, but for me - this is pretty cool!

In Mommy's Heart

Sometimes you meet someone that touches your heart. This is what I experienced on Sunday's shoot with the Bevil family (well, the girls, her son was sick so Dad stayed home with him). Aaliyah was adopted at 8 weeks old having the misfortune of being born to a crack addict. The Bevil family have taken this sweet girl into their homes and their hearts. She is such a cutie, very curious and so sweet. I enjoyed my time with these ladies and hope that I did them justice in the images.

Getting those Holiday Pictures

I brought my camera to my grandmother's house for Thanksgiving so I could take a holiday picture for my sister's family. She wanted pics of the boys in Santa hats - an idea they weren't too thrilled about. I had them stand back-to-back and asked them to look tough, like a gangsta. They were totally unable to keep a straight face. My teasing wasn't much help! Here's one of my favorites of the boys.

Shooting for Myself

I've read often where other photographers suggest that you take the time to shoot for yourself from time to time. In doing so, you work on skills, creativing, or simply learn to love the craft all over again. Normally, I just don't make the time to shoot for myself since I shoot for others so often. However, this past weekend my family was gone and I asked a friend to spend the weekend with me and practice shooting in varied lighting situations. She brought one of her daughters (who is a great model and up for anything). We spent several hours Friday and Saturday shooting in full sun, open shade, backlit and with off camera flash. Then I played with the images in Photoshop. I don't use textures often, but wanted to apply some here. (Hey, these are just for fun, right?) Here are a few from the day.

Second Shooting

I worked Saturday as a second shooter for Paula Van Hal of Tampa, FL. I love the freedom of second shooting. I find it much less stressful that having to worry about getting every "must have" picture of the day. It's also a great way to learn from other photographers and see how others get it done. Here are a few of my pictures from the day. I also played in Painter for one of the images.

Katie & Hoser (Scott)

Katie was referred to me by a former bride. She has the biggest brown eyes, so I knew she's photograph beautifully. Last weekend was her big day and she had chosen a beautiful vintage dress for the event. She looked amazing. Here are a few images from their big day. The entire gallery can be seen on my website.