while I was out

Hmmmm... I have about a 50/50 chance when ever Jordan says he has a "surprise" for me. Sometimes I love it. Sometimes not so much. Like when he tatoos my baby...



And she mysteriously has these scratches on her little nose + a big bump on her head and a then her pinky finger needs help (I'm told this happened when visiting the grandparents yesterday...)



Good thing she's tough. And she was so excited to see me as I came down the airport escalator, which was a wonderful sight. Jordan sent me the below video Sunday morning which I watched about 20 times before arriving home.



Unfortunately, I have to leave Ella again. This week I'm only home for three days, then I fly out for another weekend wedding. I just keep telling myself if I can get through July it'll all be okay (in theory we're supposed to be moved by the end of July also, though we haven't started and the house still isn't ready...um ya.)

But on a more happy note, here's who I spent this past weekend with...the lovely Vikki



and the dashing Mr. Zack Phillips + Dr. Vikki Mango...



While in NJ, I was also paid a visit by a good friend from Connecticut which was lovely. And the food at this wedding was to die for. Plus Vikki & Zach's family and friends were all SO nice. I can't wait to show you more of the wedding and the beautiful Grounds for Sculpture where it took place. Stay tuned!

My Angel

I'm posting these mostly for myself so I can look at them this weekend. I'll be out of town until Sunday night shooting a wedding in New Jersey. I'm excited for the trip (minus the redeye flight) and know the wedding will be fabulous...but it really is so hard to leave this little one behind.

I put together the funnest book with her 18-month pictures (these bubble shots are included, but didn't make the first post). And I can't wait until it gets here so I can share it with all of you. Let's just say it's a "fairy tale" theme mixed with our new West Side accomidations.

And speaking of the house, it's coming along nicely I suppose. I'm ready for it to all be done. But the tile will be finished this weekend, and hopefully that countertop guy will call me soon. All the painting is done. And once we clean up the dust, it'll be ready for furniture. There will definitely be pictures to come at some point.

But for now, enjoy my little angel and her bubbled world. Any work related phone calls/emails will be answered next Monday.

finding true love

For fun, I thought I'd share with you formula for finding true love...in a picture that is. I've been narrowing down my all time favorites in hopes of finding something exactly perfect for my new house. Since my siblings both just got married, and they're all beautiful, I decided, if I'm going to print client pictures, might as well be them. You all remember Jocilyn & Cal's groomals and the beautiful mountain/rainbow setting. Well there was one shot of the rainbow that I love, love...but the portrait photographer in me kept thinking it would be SO perfect if Joc had only been in the shot. True love for me is a gorgeous setting + insert bride here. And while I usually shoot to do this in camera, this time around I had a thought:

Instead of wishing Jocilyn had been in my rainbow shot + wishing the double rainbow/vivid sky had been in hers, I decided to do as The Greats do...Photoshop. Yep. At the bottom of this post is a shot I pulled from Jim Garner's website. He won a huge award with this image at WPPI. When I first saw it I was in awe. And I still do love the shot. But he himself admitted it's a compilation of two images. At first knowing that really bugged me. But when faced with a similar dillema I realized if it's for the sake of art (and you're not claiming pure photo journalism), why not!

I'm so exicted to print this baby huge and hang it...I just can't decide which room will be best. It would be doubly awesome if my bro were in it, but weddings really are about the bride anyway :)

Anyhow, hope you enjoy this peak into how we professionals do what we do. You do have to get it right to begin with, but you also have to know what your options are afterwise. Note that in the two original images, I exposed for the sky, leaning towards an image that was underexposed so I could capture that rainbow. I also waited for that bird to get into the shot... But what came out of the camera isn't what my eyes saw. And that's where Photoshop comes in. The final product matches the beauty that I remember being surrounded in. And so for me, there's nothing fake about it. It truly was the breathtaking. Try as Nikon and Canon may, no camera will ever be able to expose for a scene the way our eyes can. There's no doubt in my mind that God knew what we was doing when he designed us. And he obviously hasn't slacked off since. This mountain setting was incredible and I feel so lucky to have been able to capture it and bring it home.




Jim Garner's award winning image...Maybe I'll enter mine this next year!

Britt

Britt's bridals were a first for me...in that her entire family came to support/watch. Dad himself even made her bouquet. And the whole shoot her little brother kept saying" Liz, I really like you." So cute. I loved how all the different personalities there brought out different sides to Britt. She's so full of life and happiness. I can't wait to meet her other half at the wedding. Beautiful job Britt. Hope you love these!















































meanwhile superman dropped by...