NEW BLOG SITE!!!!!!!

Hello all!

I have created a new blog that I believe will allow me to upload and arrange my photos more easily. I will still leave this blog up so that you can view past shoots, but please see my new blog for all new postings. Thanks!

Ally

Chris and Kathleen

Two weekends ago I photographed my third wedding. This was my first wedding as the lead photographer! (And my sister Emily did a WONDERFUL job as my assistant!) The day of the rehearsal nasty rain clouds were threatening to let loose on us, and we were afraid that it would rain on the wedding day too! (It was an outside wedding!)

There were definitely some hiccups the next day (the groom's ring getting misplaced for example) as there always are, but the weather couldn't have been more perfect! The sky was perfectly clear, and the temperature was wonderful (not too cold or hot). There was a slight breeze blowing from time to time which helped me get some neat candids. The trees were starting to change a little, and overall, it made for a very beautiful setting.

It was a small wedding with only 50 or so guests, so it was simple but beautiful too. I loved the brides' choice of a dress with a red sash- it's so fun when a bride chooses something that's different than the norm!

Due to schedule constraints and the time lost searching for the groom's missing ring, I didn't get very much time for photographs before or after the ceremony, so sadly I wasn't able to capture the neat artistic candids that I had envisioned. Nevertheless, I did get all the shots that the bride had requested and a couple extras that I think they will be very happy with.

All in all, the day turned out well, and I am very excited to say that I have my first "on-my-own" wedding under my belt! I can't wait to do my next one!

Elden and Kristy- my second wedding

As I was preparing my blog about my most recent wedding, I realized that in the craziness of moving this summer, I never posted about the wedding I assisted at in June. This wedding was in the same county in Ohio as my first wedding, which guaranteed me to have some interesting shots.

The weather was beautiful that day! We started earlier than we did at the last wedding because the bride wanted us to get shots of her "getting ready". So our day started at about 9:30 and then lasted until about 10:30. Yes, a 13-hour day! Needless to say my whole body was aching afterwards, but it was worth it!

We got some beautiful shots of the girls at the church and some nice ceremony shots as well. My favorite shoot of the whole day was when we stopped at a field of wild flowers and had them walk through it- talk about BEAUTIFUL photos! The wedding, of course, included the traditional Putnam County bar stops and a long reception at the American Legion.

The bride was beautiful, and even though her husband was not totally into the whole photo thing, we did manage to get some nice shots.

Enjoy!

Baby Swartz

I have REALLY slacked on posting on the blog, but until recently I haven't had any shoots to post. Now I'm getting back on track with this post about my first baby shoot! (I'll be posting about my most recent wedding soon.)

A couple of weeks ago, a friend of mine let me come over and take 6 week shots of her beautiful baby girl. We had such a great time dressing her over and over and putting her in different places, and I'm very pleased with some of the shots we got. Seriously she has to be one of the cutest babies EVER. She has a perfect little face with the sweetest little features- a button nose, big beautiful eyes, and precious little ears! Love it!

Enjoy!

Janet S. Maternity

Before we moved back down to GA, I was blessed have the chance to do a maternity shoot for a close friend of mine in Michigan. It was a beautiful Sunday afternoon at the Toledo Botanical Gardens. Janet is so cute pregnant, and she was absolutely beautiful at this shoot. Posing seems to come naturally to her, so she looks relaxed and radiant. Enjoy!

Mast Family

I had the great pleasure of doing my first family shoot last Saturday at the Toledo Botanical Gardens. These are friends from church who graciously let me take up about 2 hours on their Saturday afternoon, and we got some great shots.

Evan was SO into the geese, and consequently, I have like a million shots of him with them. We had to practically bribe him away from them so that we could get some "non-geese" shots. It was funny!

We managed to drag him away from his beloved geese to the stone-walled garden for a few minutes, and we got some beautiful shots with just Phil and Jen.

And it worked out well in the end because when we went to the other side of the garden where the duck pond is, a mother duck and her little ducklings swam right up next to where we were sitting, and Evan was thrilled!

Somewhere during the garden shots, Evan found an empty bird's nest and decided that he needed to take it to the geese. From then on, the nest became like the "where's waldo" of the shoot because it's in almost all of the other pictures that Evan is in! haha! (See if you can find it!)

All in all, it went well, and I'm glad that Jen was happy with "shots that told a story" because with a very energetic and determined young man in the group, we didn't get any posed shots! haha! Enjoy!

Spring in Michigan!!

So spring is finally here! Yes, I said spring... it's definitely not summer weather yet here by any means. (It was in the 40's when we got up today, and it's JUNE!!)

All the BEAUTIFUL flowers that have bloomed have been calling my name, and I finally made a couple of outings and got a few nice shots. (Of course I had to include a picture of my little buddy too since he went with me! :) Enjoy!

Nicaragua- May '09

I just got back from 2 weeks in Nicaragua (Central America), which as most of you know is like my second home! I had a blast spending time with my best friend, Melissa Buzbee, (who is a missionary down there)!















We crammed a lot into the week and a half that we had together. We spent a weekend at the beach outside Chinandega (which provided numerous beautiful photo opportunities!!)



We went to the dump school to pray with the director and to visit the kids. (Yes, the school is really in the middle of the Managua garbage dump!! People actually live there, and this school is like and oasis for the children who would be spending their days digging through the trash if they weren't in school!!)


















We had a slumber party at Casa Havilah (a rescue home for abused girls from the dump that Melissa funds and administrates). We celebrated Naydelin's birthday, and we painted "picture frames" and flowers on the wall in the main living room so that we could mount the girls pictures on the wall. This was a surprise for the girls, and they LOVED it!!














We also saw "X-Men origins- Wolverine," ate lots of flan, and laughed all night!




A small vision team from my Dad's church in Tallahassee, Florida also came down for a few days, and we got lots of planning done for our 5 year mission vision in Los Cedros and Monte Fresco (little villages about 30 minutes outside of Managua). The pictures here are from a feeding program in Monte Fresco.




This was also a fun trip because it was the first time I've been back since getting my Nikon, so it afforded lots of fun photography opportunities. (More bars in more places... hmmm... does that include Nicaragua?? Sure looks like it!)


Enjoy the photos, and if you're interested in getting involved in the on-going ministries down there, let me know!!