Nan and Friends

Shhh! I'm not putting these up on thepurplevan.org site until the slideshow goes up. I should really wait to put them up here... but I know everyone is anxious to see the fantastic job Nan and Chrissy and Leah did! (Thanks Nan for letting me know your fantastic helper's names!)

I just love the Z's they had all over the room. (The first letter of the Kim's new last name.)

She also had some of Kim and Jason's engagement pictures out as you can see on the wall and behind the shoes.

Lights, candles, flowers and flower petals, etc... beautifully adorned the entire room!

Because the hard work and thought that these ladies put into decorating the dressing room, detail shots like these were a SNAP! Beka and I hardly had to think. The light/candles added soooo much to the photos.

What a gorgeous background to go with such a gorgeous bride!

That's Kim's parents in the background.

And just one more for fun!

Now, you will just have to wait for the slide show for the rest! hahaha!!!!

So again, thank you Nan and Chrissy and Leah! You made my job much easier!!!

***Edit*** Okay, I couldn't resist... I put the pictures (along with a couple extras) on my facebook.

Looking for Good

The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity.

But the optimist sees opportunity in every difficulty.

--Winston Churchill

He who diligently seeks good seeks favor...

Proverbs 11:27

Finally, brethren,

whatever is true,

whatever is honorable,

whatever is right,

whatever is pure,

whatever is lovely,

whatever is of good repute,

if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise,

dwell on these things.

Philippians 4:8

But examine everything carefully;

hold fast to that which is good;

1 Thessalonians 5:21

Lord,

I again ask for forgiveness for looking for

and dwelling on the negative

in situations and in people

rather than all the GOOD

that you have blessed me with

and the good that you have placed in others.

I thank you for your goodness to me!

I thank you for friends who love me and accept me - shortcomings and all!

I thank you for the people you have placed in my life who challenge me to new levels in you.

I thank you for my family.

And I even thank you for the struggles.

For I know that you have taught me many valuable lessons

as I have walked through them.

And I thank you for your perfect love!

A love so deep and true I cannot comprehend it!

You are GOOD!

And I declare my commitment to looking for the GOOD.

CONGRATS!

Today Kim and Jason were married. They are a very sweet couple!! When I first met Kim and asked her how she saw her wedding she said, "Simple Elegance" and that is exactly how her wedding was! Here's a few pictures from their special day....



(Just a little aside... Kim went to school here and so she grew up playing on this playground! There's more playground pix coming.)

(They are getting ready to build.... so we took advantage of the equipment for some fun shots!)

All the girls had different shoes. So of course, I had to do a shoe shot!

More pictures coming soon!

The thing that always amazes me about each and every wedding is how helpful EVERYONE is - and this wedding was no exception. People went out of their way to help me. And when it's all over I honestly feel like I have made lots of friends in the process and it can be hard to say goodbye.

But today's wedding... I got to see an 'old' friend that I met at Ashleigh and Kevin's wedding back in January... HI NAN!!!!! :)

Nan was in charge of the girls dressing room. I knew it was in good hands... but I was still completely blown away with how BEAUTIFUL their dressing room was. WOW!!!!! Sorry, no pix today... but there will be some in the slide show!! A special thank you to Nan for a job well done! (And I really do want to meet up sometime! Even if I am busy - I will make the time! :)

Childhood Thoughts....

I thought I was behind before... now I'm really behind! I think most everyone who reads my blog knows that Brett was taken by ambulance to the hospital on Thursday morning. Turns out he had a substantial ulcer along with a blood clot. Three nights in the hospital, hooked up to IV's for both food and medications, along with three units of blood and he is home and recuperating nicely. He just needs to regain strength and stamina. He'll be back to work by Wednesday.

Today, I am catching up with cleaning along with finishing some photo editing. I finally finished up this session. :) And hope to get another done tomorrow... I have a wedding on Saturday and it would be nice to be all caught up BEFORE the wedding - but I don't think that's going to happen.... I'm just too far behind.

Please Vote for My Photos!

Head and Shoulders Above the Rest

I don't take too many florals. I guess I just don't know how to make them interesting and unique! And they all start looking the same to me! But the other day as I was waiting for my client to show up... I took a few snaps of the flowers. This was my favorite!

Carleigh's Senior Portraits

Bubbles

I'm Hooked!

This one belongs on a large canvas!!

More fun with Textures...

This is the University of Rochester. I did a recent engagement session here. The campus is BEAUTIFUL for taking photos!!!! Lots of flowers, trees, vines AND architecture! And there is a park right across the street. Very fun!!!

I took this photo of a local farm several years ago. I was taking a photography course and was attempting to get a photo for one of my photo projects. Anyways, I pulled it out and had some fun with it.

If anyone is interested in learning how I edited these photos to add the texture to it feel free to visit www.thepurplevan.org!

Marissa's Senior Pictures

I finished Marissa's senior pictures. Enjoy the video presentation!!! (Don't forget the popcorn!)

Bubbles!

Jaycee

I had another senior today. Due to rain, we only did the studio portraits! So... more to come! ;)

I'm SOOOOO Jealous!

What an amazing journey this must have been!

Dancing

Hot Dog!

I purchased some pink paper for a baby I'll be photographing soon. I decided to try it out... Poor Teena! She was the victim tonight.

Trying Something New....

I really like the textured look that so many photographers are doing these days (when it's done right of course!) but I've never really tried it. Today I decided to give it a try. Here are my results...

What do you all think????

More Before and Afters...

I've got lots and lots of sessions going on... Which means I'm getting a bit behind on processing again. As well as blogging.... So, I thought I'd post another before and after from a session this morning and eventually I'll get more photos up from some of the different sessions I've had recently. Fun! Fun!!

So, this is Carleigh. We had a blast this morning and plan on doing a few more tomorrow... not only was it getting sweltering hot outside (my kind of weather - but most people would rather it be a bit cooler!) but she had to go to work. So, I told her that since I had a cancellation tomorrow morning we'd take it up again then. A few more outdoor locations and then some studio portraits too.

We had a heck of a time carrying her keyboard out into the middle of the orchard let me tell you! hahaha!!! We must have made quite the picture. (tee-hee!!) After we got it all the way out there and snapped our pictures Carleigh had the brilliant idea of driving the truck back there to get it back to the house. Now, why couldn't she have thought of that BEFORE???? But I'm sure glad she thought of it cuz I really wasn't looking forward to lugging it all the way back.

BEFORE....

AFTER...

So... for this picture, I used my 70-200mm lens. The lighting was pretty harsh so I opted to backlight it and throw some light back into her face with a reflector. Someday I'll have portable lights.... but until then, I'm very grateful to models like Carleigh who can somehow keep her eyes from squinting with such harsh sunlight being bounced into her eyes!! She did a GREAT job - so long as we gave her a break every now and again. :)

Cropping can totally change the whole feel of a photo....

This first one captures the whole scene...

While this one is more intimate...

I'm often amazed when I try different crops how different they really are! Sometimes a funky crop will make an otherwise humdrum photo really stand out!!

I'll try and post some more sessions soon!!!

What's a Parent to Do????

Court overturns father's grounding of 12-year-old

Finalist!

I just discovered I'm a finalist over at Better Photo this month. You can check it out here.

There are 329 finalists chosen out of 29800 entries. I feel so honored every time I get one!

So far only 1 win.... we'll see if this one goes any further.

Stephanie