But some of you have told me that you enjoy getting a glimpse into my daily life here on the blog.

As it is with a puppy, this is a big part of my daily life right now:

I can’t make any promises for no blog posts at Halloween though… cuz this guy will definitely be wearing a costume :)

Any suggestions???

15. Read five books for my business.

Almost a year ago Jason & I made a trip out to Phoenix for me to attend a workshop taught by Melissa Jill. I learned a lot from her while I was there. A LOT. (PS-I highly recommend her workshops!) But in the midst of all the “photography talk,” Melissa mentioned that she read every night before bed. You see, when you own your own business, chances are good that you are constantly eating, sleeping, breathing and thinking about your business. It’s kind of hard not to sometimes. And this can  make it hard to sleep at night. But by reading, you are able to kind of “escape” from the rambling thoughts in your head. (of course, I’m a bit ADD so my thoughts do actually “ramble” :)) Plus, you can learn a lot from reading. So it’s a win-win as far as I can see.

With all that in mind, when I sat down to create my 36 in 365, I knew I needed to add reading in as a goal. So I set out to read 5 books just for fun as a means to help me escape the constant business thoughts and then 5 business books as a means to help me better focus those rambling thoughts in my head. Clear as mud? Good :)

I also joined Goodreads.com –It’s a great way to find new reads! It’s kind of like an online book club with tons of reviews. If you love to read, I definitely recommend it.

I promise to get back on the blogging wagon soon, but for now, here are a few images from some of my latest sessions.

And of course an image of our newest trouble maker. So ugly he’s cute, huh?

Congrats you two! Jason & I were honored to be able to document your special day. May God bless your marriage abundantly!

Cake, Flowers, Coordinator: Pam Campbell

Ceremony Music: Chris Rigney

DJ: Fernando Martinez

Hair/Makeup: Christina at Belle Ame

Such a sweet moment when Tim was able to first read the inscription inside his ring. His uncle asked us to take a picture of their hands on Tim’s dad’s Bible. It may just be one of my favorite images from the day.

Such a fun couple!

Stay tuned for their wedding day images…

In order to help me post more, one thing I am going to do is to start a weekly series. Once a week I am going to post a before and after image. Of what, you ask?

How many times have you been somewhere taking pics and thought, this background stinks? How in the world will I get a good picture? This series will hopefully be a tool to help you think outside of the box… much like I have had to do in the past. There are times when you just have to rely on your creative juices to work over time!

So on to our first installment of this series…

I was hired to shoot a wedding at a location of which the bride and groom both warned me was not the best place for photos. Now as a wedding photographer, this is the last thing you want to hear. But for me, it happened to appeal to my side that loves a good challenge.

So as I usually do before our weddings, I went to scope out the location. I met with the facility manager who told me that most photographers bring backdrops for weddings at this location. Wait…. WHAT?!? Bring a backdrop to a wedding?? I don’t think so… not my style at all. Nothing wrong with it… but just not my style. And definitely not what my clients hired me to do.

While looking around the facility I realized that my bride & groom were right– at least at first glance. This was no place for gorgeous images. So I headed outside to see what I could find. This is what I saw:

Behind the building I found a field of weeds and even a little trash that hadn’t made into the dumpsters (that also happened to be located back there). Definitely not a place that just jumps out and screams “gorgeous” to ya! In fact, the above image doesn’t even show all the parked cars, dumpsters, trash and dead grass that were back there. But I knew that with a little bit of creativity and some warm sunlight this would be the perfect place for the images they were hoping I’d give them. Combine some fancy manuevering and a willing bride & groom (major key component!), and we managed to get this image from the same field of weeds and trash:

We ended up with images that they didn’t expect to look good. Even while I was shooting, I think they were still a little skeptical. But in the end they were both surprised and loved the final images :)

So where does *your* part come in? In order to help me blog more consistently, I would love to know what things you would like for me to post more about. Feel free to send me an email or post a comment below with any suggestions or questions and I will do my best to answer them!

It’s AH-MAZING what you can do with your camera and one single off-camera flash!

As most of you know, I have been a natural light photographer up to this point in my career…. which means I rarely use flash (except during times like wedding receptions). I use whatever available light is in my shooting environment. This kind of photography can be challenging and definitely limiting at times. So because of this, I wanted to get over my fear of those intimidating flashes and master how to use them both correctly and creatively. There’s nothing worse to me than a pic that screams the deer in headlight look of “I used flash in this pic.” I hate flatly lit images too. And I think that’s why I’ve shyed away from it for so long. But after I started following photographers like Zack Arias, I knew that there was hope for me. So I signed up for Zack’s OneLight workshop. As soon as he posted the dates I jumped on it because his workshops usually sell out quickly. And I can honestly say, it’s some of the best money I’ve spent this year! He’s an excellent teacher!

I’ve been looking for inspiration to take my skill to the next level. I feel like I am still searching for my “corner” in this field. And after this weekend, well, I think I may have found the path towards it :) The use of one off-camera light makes your creative options endless. And I can’t wait to get out there and have fun!

FYI for the photographers reading this: I’ve done NO edits to these pics. They are straight out of camera.

The workshop was held in Jeremy Cowart’s studio. And I think we all fell in love with the red velvet drapes he had there!

This above image was literally taken in the middle of The Factory’s lobby. The lights you see behind him are actually the lights from the shops.

This last shot was taken after 9pm. Outside. With a speed grid. I LOVE knowing I now have the option of shooting whenever and wherever! For those of you following me on Twitter, you probably saw that we were shooting outside as late as midnight!

I’ve already found my next willing model… so stay tuned to see what creative images we come up with!

Luckily for us, there were a couple of baby elephants out playing that day. One baby tried so hard to get its momma to play as you can see in these next few images. It was pretty cool to watch them interact… pretty close to how a human toddler acts when it wants attention!

The baby thought that by throwing himself under Mom’s foot, she just might notice him :)

“Come on Mom! Pleeeease play with me…”

But Mom just wasn’t having any of it! Poor baby :/

Mom was ready for a break…

Guess who’s going in for nap time :)

The binder below is titled “Principles of Elephant Management.”

I’m personally thinking that’s something you would want to read & memorize before you’re in the exhibit amongst the elephants.

These guys were naturals behind the camera and so much fun. I can’t wait to meet their little guy in August!!

Congrats you guys :)

And this is their cute pup, Kevin, who tried his best to steal the show!