Pam and Allen

"Laughing and a running hey, hey
Skipping and a jumping
In the misty morning fog with
Our hearts a thumpin' and you
My brown eyed girl"
-- van morrison

I really, really love Pam and Allen. I first met them on a cold, rainy January Sunday. We had been e-mailing back and forth and it was finally time to have my "bride meeting" to see if they actually wanted to book me for their wedding. I arrived and met Pam, Allen and Pam's sister and mother. Pressssure, right? Nope. Not at all. It was like chilling with family.

We laughed and chatted. I heard "their" story (highschool sweethearts -- we all know how I feel about that :D :D). And it was one of the most nice, pleasant enjoyable meetings I've ever had!

The exact same was true for their engagement shoot. IT specialist Pam and 4th grade teacher Allen are such buddies. They have a dry sense of humor, and Allen has a deep laugh that makes you smile. Pam is poised and so endearing.

It also was raining during their shoot. Not before, but during. Can we all give a round of applause to the couple who had their shoot in the RAIN?

We searched for cover as often as possible...

I adore little "love" details :D

I always tell my couples to bring some fun props to use during their shoot. "Be creative! Bring something thats very you!" Prop win: They brought champagne! Not only is that cute for pictures, it helps get everyone loosened up a bit ;D



Alright, thats enough. Stop being so cool and adorable and gorgeous.

I love this one :D So playful!

Allen and Pam told me that one of their favorite songs is "Brown Eyed Girl" - especially after Allen sang it to her. I think if my fiancee ever sang me a love song, it'd be my favorite too ;D
Enjoy!

You guys were so much fun and I can't wait for your lovely summer wedding!

Dan and Jen :D

"You’re all smiles and silly conversation
As if this sunny day came just for you"
-- chris rice

Oh goodness. Dan and Jen - what an adorable couple. What to say.
Let's just say that Jen had to take Nyquil the night before our shoot because she was so excited and couldn't sleep! Aka: I basically love them :D

Jen lives life out loud - she has a lot to say, a lot to laugh at, and a lot to smile about. She's a contagiously joyful person. She even brought me a little gift bag with a necklace, headband and other goodies - just to say thanks! She is full of energy and I love it!

Dan is the calm, steady, gentle rock. He's a sweeeeetheart and just adores Jen. I love when you can tell a guy loves a girl just by how he looks at her. Dan has "in-love-eyes."



I love how summer these pictures are :D It was the first actually hot day this year and I looove it. Summertime sweethearts :D

Since Dan & Jen are awesome in every way, we did the rest of the shoot at a No Trespassing construction site. (Of course Jen ran through the gate first, and Dan reminded us that "Violators will be prosecuted" - but I think that means they will be a good team :D)


Ok, that face is just too precious.

Awwhh. Big hugs from your girl :D

Besides web-sharpening, this is staight out of camera! Yay good light!

I love random. And I love love. So this picture equals love!

Gorgeous and simple :D

Exihibit A: Why construction sites are awesome for photoshoots:

Jen, you really are beautiful. Dan is a lucky man :D

"So happppy togetherrr...!"

Siiiiighh...

Three cheers for balloons! Hip hip hooray!
Hip hip HOORAY!
Hip hip HOORAY!

Prob my fave:

You guys were a blast! I can't wait for your wedding :D :D

Oh! And the slideshow is to the song "When Did You Fall" by Chris Rice. Apparently, being the romantic gentleman that he is, Dan grabbed Jen in the middle of the mall and started dancing with her to this song. So, it's def a special song for them. Enjoy!

Reminders.

Just in case they forgot:

... Or just in case I did.


I love reminders :D

FAQ: Golden Light!

Willy Wonka says it best:

"So much time and so little to do. Wait a minute. Strike that. Reverse it."

So many things to do. I really honestly think I could spend 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, just working on the business things I need/want to do. Don't mind friends, family and God! In order to not be a jerk and ignore e-mails, I'm going to do what many other photographers have realized is helpful.
FAQ blog posts.
If you have ever asked me a photography question, and it's disappeared into an abyss, I'm so sorry.


Recently I've had lots of similar questions in my inbox, so I'm going to answer the main ones!

If you have any questions for me, feel free to leave a comment! I'll answer them as often as I can :D

Today is "golden sunshine day!"
Today I'll use an e-mail I got from a sweetie named Ashley:
"This may seem like a silly question, but I've noticed in your latest photos, especially of Scott & Grace, a specific effect that I've been aching to achieve in my own photos. The photos have a beautiful hazy gold quality to many of them.

I'm not sure if it's a camera setting or a Photoshop setting, or if the days were just especially golden, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask your secret!"

First of all, not silly question.
Second, I think its a combination of all those things! Camera settings, editing and, most importantly, time of day!

I shot Grace and Scott's portraits at about 5:30 pm. The sun was harsher than I would have liked, but it was still pretty good. And I always shoot fully manual (Don't be afraid of it! You can do it!)

This is straight out of camera (sooc) with my 50 1.2 lens shot at 1/2000 sec at f/1.2 with the ISO at 100. I had my lens hood on, as well as my hand up "shielding" the sun from the lens so that it didn't end up super bright (I'll elaborate on that in the next set of pictures.)

I always "batch edit" in Lightroom to get the pictures just right. SooC this picture was a little dark and the colors weren't popping. With basic editing (exposure: + .17, contrast +20, clarity 25, warming +6) I get a lovely picture! Some may even prefer this to my "final cut" which is below. But thanks to Lightroom's Sync feature, I can make all the shots in the specific location look just like this with one click! Holler!

But I want to kick it up just one more notch for the blog. I love the film, antique-y, almost magical look I can get with fine-tuning things in Photoshop. Sooo, for this one I used some Totally Rad actions (Flare-up Golden at 70%, Fade Winter 40%, Yin-Yang at 80% on bottom of picture and dress, and Can-o-whoop at 60% in the trees) with some Magic Sharp, of course :D

Wa-la!

For Fay and Andy, we had the delicious actually golden light at 6:30 pm. As you can see in this sooc, it's extremely bright. I didn't put my hand up to shield from the sun and it was so bright that I had to only use my histogram to make sure I was metering at least decently :D
(specs: 50 mm 1.2 shot at 1/5000 sec at f/1.2 ISO 500 [shoulda been lower though. wups!])

The hardest part about shooting into the sun is getting the focus right (at least for me haha but maybe I'm just really bad at this.)
I have to take soooo many pictures, especially at f/1.2 to get it right. I just kept focusing on Fay's face and it turned quite good! The basic Lightroom edit for this is: Exposure -.75, Contrast +25, Blacks 40, Clarity 25, Vibrance 26.

Taken into Photoshop with some Antique Tone (75%), Oh Snap! (80%), Flare-up Golden (50%) and Can-o-whoop at 65%. Oh, and Magic Sharp, of course :D

So that's how I "get" that golden light. Shooting into God's sunshine and making it look like my style in post-processing :D

Since we began with Wonka, lets end with him too:

"No, no, don't speak. For some moments in life there are no words."

Andy and Fay

"Sunshine
I'd really like to tell you
Oh my sunshine"
matt costa: sunshine

Sometimes, as a photographer, I have dreams I am at a shoot. I have this gorgeous couple, a perfect location and by checking the back of the camera, I see some sizzlin' pictures. And I'm always so frustrated to wake up from those dreams.

The shoot wasn't real. The pictures are gone. I can't blog them. It's the worst!

Thank goodness for Fay and Andy. It wasn't a dream. The shoot was real. And o-lee guacomo-lee I love their pictures.

They really are a dream quality couple. They are ridiculously good-looking, with awesome style. They are way too precious together, so delicate and fun.

I love when men treat women like ladies. Like princesses. Like royalty :D

(ps. I couldn't pick between these two)


And I loved them because they trusted me. Sit on the ground in a dress? Done. Walk through the mud to get under the right tree? Deal. Squat in the middle of a "No Trespassing" garden. Score.


Why are girls in love in the spring the cutest thing ever? Riddle me that...

Aww.

I can't explain how much it means when a couple trusts you. We shot the rest of the pictures at a sketchy Shoppers Warehouse and a plain gross gas station. I even said "I know it doesn't look like much, but these will be great! I promise!" Fay flashed her celebrity smiled and said "Oh! I'm so excited! We totally trust you!" Gah.



This, besides a touch of sharpening, is straight out of the camera :D

Fay, you are stunning and adorable and I bet you give Andy major butterflies.

Oh awesome are the colors at this gas station? Holler!


Wowie, I love this one. Gosh, how sweet is that?

Here comes Loveliness with a capital "L"!


Aaaaand one last one :D

I am thrilled to be your photographer, thrilled to have finally shot these and thrilled for your wedding! Yayay!

ps. The guy wears striped blue socks! So totally COOL! How can you not love them?

Charles and Emily

"Where do you go when you're lonely
Where do you go when you're blue
I'll follow you
When the stars go blue"

One of my besties is getting married. She went and met a boy. And she fell madly in love. As it turns out, he's a pretty fantastic guy. But, wow, it's crazy awesome watching your friend with the man she loves.

I mean, we've talked about this for years. What it will be like when we finally meet "the one." Who will he be, how long will it take and most importantly, will he have a funny last name?

Well, Emily's questions are answered :D
I remember back last April we went out to lunch. She was glazed over and droopy. She told me how she could never be with anyone else. "Well, you could if God has someone else for you," I promptly reminded. "Oh no, Kristen..." Her eyes welled up and her watery little face told me that she would know true heart-break if her and Charles didn't work out.

She chatted me a few weeks later:

Emlee: ready for this?

me: am i ever

Emlee: charles texted me "ur the best girlfriend and my best friend:)"

me: aaaaaw!

Emlee: i am melted.

me: hahayou're his best friend!!!!
Emlee: I can't get tim mcgraw's song out

of my head now.

me: "i am melted" aw aw

which one?

Emlee: "mooooooooooooooore than a lover

there could never be another

to make me feel the way your do."

me: aww :D well,the day you started dating i told my mom that you would be engaged by Christmas... just sayin...

Emlee: well I'll put it like this:

I know what I want.

To marry Charles the Third.

Oh Em.
I don't have adjectives to tell you how happy I am for you. I love planning your wedding, looking at the bling on your finger and researching kitchen utensils with you. I love that you love Charles.

And that he loves you!
He really couldn't have fallen for a better girl!

Ps. Why are you guys so insanely cute?

Emily is a smiler :D I love all of the laughing pictures so much

Cute heads :D

Oh look at that happy girl, oooh my :D

Had such fun with you Em and Charles! Enjoy the slideshow :D
By the way, blog readers, the song for this show is "When the Stars Go Blue." Emily has insisted I save it for her. Once I even had a whole show done to that song and she begged me to change it. They love this song and it's "their" song, so finally, it graces this blog!

Scott and Grace!

I so have the best job on this earth. I don't know why God let me have it, but I won't argue! I don't even know where to start with Grace and Scott's wedding - I was going to do a sneak peek post, but it turned into a whole post haha

This dress picture was a photographer-fail on my part. I had hung the dress up on some cupboards in the room (even though Grace's mom suggested using the blue wall.) I didn't want to mess up the dress in case it fell from the ceiling. Well, it def fell off the cupboards and got some black marks on it :-/ Bad me. Thankfully everything came right off and we got a smokin' picture as a result :D

Um, yes, thank you very much. I will shoot you all day.

Special thanks to my assistant, Andree, for getting this one! I LOVE it!

Psh.

The wedding was at my church and I have shot there about 106 times. So it's always a good challenge for me to come up with new places to shoot! I loved the way this window one turned out.

I really like this one :D Grace, you are too gorgeous. Man oh man!

A bit different for me, but kind of fun :D

This moment with dad is still my favorite of the whole wedding. Without fail I think of me and my dad and yeeeah. It's an emotional moment :D

I love the faces brides and grooms makes during the vows :D

After the ceremony we had God's super-deluxe-light pour its glowy goodness over us:



Oh dum de dum just holdin hands with your wife doo ti doo

It's cherry blossom time in DC!

Spring is very wonderful and lovely...

... as are Grace and Scott.

"I'm lucky I'm iiiIiin love withmybest friend..." - this picture makes me think of that song :D

Color! I have missed you! Welcome back!

This is one of my favorites from the day:

Ok, story time! In this couple, Grace is the loud, excited, talkative one and Scott is much more chill, reserved and cool. She's spunky and he's suuuave. At this point I was testing my light, and Grace was smiling and talking. I noticed the adorable way Scott was just looking at her. Mid-sentence he put his finger over her mouth and whispered "Ssshh." And kept looking at her. I love it. I love it love it love it :D :D

Love is just happy, I think :)


We pulled up to the reception venue and it looked like this. We were def doing more pictures!

And since Grace and Scott are wonderful, they happily ran outside with me to shoot some more :D



I could do a record-breakingly-long post on these guys, but I'll just stop with these sweet little one:

Remembering

It's good to look back and remember.

I came across this picture a few weeks ago.
To you it may not be anything particularly special.  Sweet couple, moody light, awesome bokeh. Coolcool.
But for me, this pictures just brings wave upon wave of memory.  This picture was shot in the dead middle of August, in downtown Chicago over 2 years ago.  It was my first shoot with my hero and friend, Sarah Anne, and I was a nervous little cookie!
I was 17, fresh out of highschool, ambitious, excited, dumb and grateful.
At this engagement shoot Sarah let me use her Canon 5D and her 70-200mm lens.

This picture reminds me of God's kindness to me in my business.  It reminds me of how far He's brought me.  It reminds me of my parents excitement in helping me begin my business.  It reminds me of the generosity of Sarah.  It reminds me of why I love photography.  It reminds me of sweet summer nights in the drizzling rain doing what I love.
How grateful I am!
Luke 17 tells us a story of 10 lepers who had been healed by God.  They were all excited and grateful, but"only one of them, when he saw that he was healed, turned back, praising God with a loud voice... he fell on his face at Jesus' feet, giving him thanks."

I love to look back and remember what God has done.  Count this as me "praising God with a loud voice" and "falling at His feet in thanksgiving!"
He has been good to me!  I hope this encourages you to look back and praise God for what He has done in your life :D

Rob and Hannah

Oh, weddings. How do I love thee? Let me count the ways.

All I can say, folks, is that I am just thrilled that wedding season is here. THRILLed. This past Saturday, I shot Hannah and Rob's fantastic day (special thank to Peter Bang for shooting with me!)

Hannah has gorgeous taste, and her wedding was simple elegance.

Gorg.

I love how clean and simple this one is. And how sweet Hannah looks. I love Hannah :D

Pretty much beautiful!

Ok, I LOVE all these outside ones. Adore. Obsess over. Everything was perfect!

I can't figure out how to type that "you are pretty so I just whistled at you" sound, but that's the sound I'm trying to put here:

You could take this right out a little girl's dream for her wedding, I think. SO pretty!

And one more just for sport :D

Oops, and this is the really last one.

Hannah was such a happy bride! She just smiled and laughed and smiled all day long. Precious...

We musn't forget about ze boys:

They did a "first look" and you know how happy that makes me :D

Hannah was really adorable waiting for her man. Taking one last look to make sure all is perfect:

Three...

... two....

...one!
Blast off!

They both burst into tears. And I do mean burst. It was like the whole world paused and they were the only two that existed :D I was just praying my tears weren't effecting the pictures, goodness.

Look how precious they are :D

It was a rainy day, but rather pretty!

When the ceremony started, the waterworks only got worse. Shew!

Btw, I loved Hannah's dad! He was too fun!

A simple ceremony shot....

He had a niiiice voice!

Hello happy!

The post-ceremony cheers are some of the best moments of a wedding!

And we will conclude this post with a little prayer :D

Congratulations Rob and Hannah! It was wonderful being at your big day!

The Smiths!

There are some people in life who affect you in ways that they will just never know.
Chase Smith is one of those people :)

I've never actually met Chase, but someday I will. I do know his dad, Jon, and mom, Jenni.I also know his big brother, Carson, and perfect little sister, Jade.

Chase was born on November 6, 2006 and, as his father writes "then 'he was not, for God took him' (Genesis 5.24). He died in [my] arms.
Chase fought heroically for that four-hour period of time, but that battle was not for him to win or lose, for Christ alone holds the keys of life and death."

{photo from The Smiths Blog}
The day after he died, they wrote on their blog: "We count the four hours that God gave us with him as some of the most precious 4 hours that we have had while here on this earth. God was good in giving us every moment we had with Chase and He was and is good in taking him."

{photo from The Smiths Blog}
Thanks to Chase and his parents, I have fallen more in love with my God. While he was in the womb, doctors discovered he had a fatal brain condition that stunned his parents. For such a young couple, they have handled such severe suffering. But they are some of the happiest, kindest, most joyful people I have met. I realllly reallllly want to be like them!

It was honestly a PURE joy to watch Jon and Jenni with their two-month-old baby girl. They love her so much. I can hardly stand it :D

Isn't she wonderful? I could have held her all day....

:D Hi squishy!

I love that God is the healer of the broken-hearted and has poured out His kindness on Jon and Jenni! I love these smiles :D


Even though it was nippy outside, we had to get some shots. Nothing beats sunshine :D

Guh, I love it! So sweeet!

Mommy and her little ones :D


I loved the feel of these next two... I don't know why. I think they're just cuteness :D



OOooo watch out, world. It's a stud muffin!

Jon and his little lady -- he is one of the proudest fathers this world has ever seen




Oh cute!

This one was a special request by Jenni, and I love how it came out!

To the whole Smith Family -- thank you for how you have impacted me and thank you for letting me take pictures of your GORGEOUS family!

Scott and Grace

"Hallelujah, I just love her so!"
-- joe williams

Mmmmyea.
When you are just walking up the stairs to get to your shoot location, and the pictures are turning out like this:

And this:

... You know the shoot is going to be amamazing.
Grace and Scott's shoot was amamazing!

I've known Grace for a long time. I actually remember when she was in 5th grade and I was in 1st and during recess one time we were playing tag with no shoes on. My socks were getting all stretched out and baggy. She ran past me and accidentally stepped on my sock causing me to fall over her.

Apparently she's good at that. Scott is the latest to fall over Grace.

They just met this past summer, but sometimes when it's right, even a day seems too long to wait :D They are getting married about 7 months after meeting and goodnight I am excited about their wedding!

Because first of all. Aren't they just gorgeous? I'll answer that - YES! They are.

Also, they laugh and smile and cuddle a lot. I think it's just adorable!

Stunning.

Awwww!

Sometimes less is more :D

Look how happy that girl is? Too precious!




I love the feel of this one :D

Far away, with the lovely 6:00 sky...

Close up, with the lovely little smiles :D

I think this is my favorite of the day. I love every single thing about it!

Some paparazzi-ness!


Cuuuuute!



You guys were outstandingly fun to chill with today and I can't wait for your wedding!!! Seriously!

Bobby and Jenny

Yesterday was my first wedding of my wedding season. :D Yay!
To the rest of my 2009 brides, I have an announcement: Bobby and Jenny set the bar very high on the "Awesome Wedding Scale."
Jenny is an adorable, tiny, talk-y little thing who was jaw-dropping as a bride.

Bobby is Mr.Coolio and is the drummer for an awesome band called "My Favorite Highway."
(shameless plug: check out there stuff here!)

Bobby has pretty much been in love with Jenny for forever. Aaaand she hasn't.
I heard she cried and cried before their first date in highschool because she really didn't like him.
I can't imagine this contagious smiler being upset. But I guess he was that bad....? ;)

Happily, God has a way of changing girls hearts, giving boys courage and "fight" and bringing two people together exactly how He wants :D

And isn't Bobby so lucky! Sheeeesh! This one needs to be on Brides Magazine ASAP. You are way too pretty, Jenny.

Cute girls :D

I think it's a photographer sin to not take advantage of beautiful old church rooms like this one:

Jenny was so sweet. She would just all of a sudden start crying and be like "Oh no! I'm exploding! Ah! No crying! Ah!"
Her sisters would reassure her "No, nooo. You aren't exploding -- its just a gentle trickle! Your make-up is fine! You look perfect!"
"No," Jenny would say, "I'm exploding like a volcano!"
I like her :D

Right before she walked down the aisle she said a prayer with her best friend. Jenny was asking for prayer alllll day long and I think God answered every single one. The day was seriously perfect.

Whooooa! Hey now brown cow! Look whose being all artsy with her ceremony shots ;D

Isn't that so happy? Gosh, so stinkin' happy!

The sun had gone to bed long before the ceremony started, but never fear!
Kristen Leigh and her 50mm f/1.2 are here!

And there was also a gorgeous church...

And an awesome couple....
(ps. It really was SO dark when we took these but I love how they came out!)

Props to Bobby for spotting this way cool stair well! I lovelovelove it!

In the slideshow I have more from the reception, but I have to talk about this one for a sec.
Bobby wrote a song for his girl and had two guys from his band play it at the reception.
Um.
Hello.
That is SO sweet. And I think Jenny liked it :D

A fun "All the Single Ladies" shot.

I liked both of these and I couldn't pick. So you get to see both!


Now down here I have the slideshow. You really should watch it. Do you want to know some reasons why?
Alright, here's a few:
1) There are pictures of the real Aston-Martin black James-Bond-esque car they rode in.
2) The song I used is called "Until You" by David Barnes and I think I have a crush on this song... it's super cute ;D
3) You can see the details of the reception that was in the rocking American Visionary Art Museum -- including the "Ice Cream Parlor" and "Cupcake Bar"
4) And because.

Enjoy!


Congratulations Bobby and Jenny! I had a blaaast with you on your big day :D

Dream List update!

Last spring I posted "My Dream List" on here, and the little story behind why I even had one. Feel free to check it out by clicking here.

But, I thought I would do an update on what I've crossed off this year!

9. Dye my hair something besides blonde (December 2008 -- I dyed my hair a boring brown and I hated it haha But it's officially crossed off The Dream List, so yay! You can't even really tell its brown here, but I hated it so much that I didn't take many pics)

12. Meet a celebrity (August 2007 -- I actually did this two years ago, but I forgot to cross it off. I spent the night at The BarlowGirls house. And they are def def celebrities.)

15. Visit 5 churches beside my own (August 06, Feb 08, April 08, August 07, January 09)

18. Buy a car (June 2008 -- It's the cutest little black Honda Civic. And I bought it from bride and friend, Naomi!)

21. Win an award (January 2009 -- I won WeddingWire's Bride Choice :D So fun!)

25. Perform something on stage (Decemeber 2008 -- I performed in the Christmas Eve services as a member of the choir. Woot!)

29. Go on a roadtrip with no plans! (January 2009 -- I got in Brienne's car, and drove to San Diego, with little idea of what I would be doing! It was a short trip and will need to do a longer one, but it was quite fun!)

41. Run in a race (October 2008 -- Triathlon yo! That was like the most fun thing eeeever.)

49. Write a song (June 2008 -- I wrote a song. My sister sang it. And I tried to play guitar to it. We video-ed ourselves doing it, but there is no way I'm showing it. It's awfuuul.)

69. Learn to drive stick-shift (August 2008 -- Brienne told me that if I was coming to Cali, I needed to learn stick so I could drive their cars! So I did and it was definitely easier than I thought it would be. Even though it's kind of scary :-/)

92. Own a 5D (December 2008 - I did it! I switched over to Canon, bought new lenses and the lovely 5D. I'm so grateful!)

93. Buy an ipod (December 2008 - I didn't technically buy it, but it was a Christmas present. My very first one, and it's only a shuffle, but I finally have one!)

103. See Brian Regan Live! (August 2008 -- Since my mom is more awesome than yourmom, she got me tickets to see Brian Regan for my birthday. I honestly haven't laughed that hard in my whole existence. It was SO good.)

My dream list is just a fun way for me to remember to enjoy the little things in life, ya know, to treaure them!
My life is flyyying by and I don't want to miss a thing!

Happy weekend friends :D

Sweet Day!

When an album comes in, the day just gets sweeter.
I love album delivery days :D

I don't think I have ever posted an album -- but Colleen, yours is here and looks beautiful!

Today is also sweet because its my little sisters 16th birthday.

Gosh, I don't know where the time has gone. I love this girl so much and seriously have a lifetime full of memories with her.
When something good is going on in my life, I don't of anyone who gets more excited.
When something sad is happening, she's the first to tear up and hug me.
I love her stubborn tenacity, her boppy-friendliness, her sensitive affection, her laugh and her freckles. I love you Kates!

Sometimes when you are sixteen... your room looks like it haha

WPPI Highlights III

Alrighty. I am finally wrapping up my Vegas posts.
But first, a little video on some thoughts I have on drivers back here at home :D It's cute cause people in California are like the Cowardly Lion's of the driving world. They talk lots of smack about traffic, wreckless driving and how tough the roads are - especially in LA. Sure, yes, traffic is pretty bad during rush hour.
But as soon as rain touches the roads, the highway crawls. People are pushed up against the steering wheel. Blinkers are left on for 2 and a half miles because drivers can't focus on anything else but driving.
It's cute :D
You talk a big talk, California, but come over here to DC and we'll really play...
Anywho, here is my video

Vegas time, yo!

Vegas. Hmm. It is definitely "photographically" pretty.
However, I don't think I would ever go back, except for WPPI. Certainly not my favorite city in all the world :D

PS. This is SOOC (straight out of camera). Thank you brand new 5D.

As is this :D

On the last night in Vegas, all of us roomies (and the boys who were NOT roomies) went to dinner. I don't actually remember what hotel we ended up in -- I think The Venetian -- but we ate at Cheescake Factory. And we walked a long, long time. And Cheescake Factory has way too much on their menu.

Speaking of roomies, I need to give a little shout-out to Christi and Cait.
These two friends from North Carolina got us hooked up with a sweet deal (woot for friends with time shares!) and I was so blessed to be able to room with them :D
Christi Ann is still in highschool and has an amazing eye! She is going places, ladies and gentleman, she's doing so good!

Cait is FULL of personality and makes me laugh so hard. She is also quite talented with an awesome eye. And she's so young! You know I have a special place in my heart for the young photog's of the world :D

I love you two so much!

Alright, another highlight!
A 3-hour-one-on-one workshop with Mark Brooke!

I love how he uses tilt shift lenses, and I wanted to learn from him. I'm about to rent one and hopefully buy one soon. I just LOVE the look so very much :D

This little joke is how we photography nerds roll ;D
But it made me smile, and therefore, made the blog.

And one last "Hello!" to my dear friend Ally. I really like hanging out with you.



Ok. No more Vegas posts! Donezo!

Daylights Savings Time

Winter is cold and dark. And makes me love sunshine, warm weather and long days.

Last year I did a shoot of my sisters the first day after Daylight Savings. This year, I was sitting at my desk, and I looked out the window and saw delicious, warm light streaming past the side of my house. I grabbed my camera, started screaming for Shannon and Lauren to get a dress on and get outside with me!



We ended up just missing the "big" golden light, but I still loved the soft, gentle light we were getting at 7:15 pm.





It was perfectly breezy outside. MMmmm. Love it.

Poor little lady is getting over being sick, but she did such a good job for me!



Happy Daylight Savings to one and all!

WPPI Highlights III

Ok, so, you know when you see someone across the room that you kind of know, but you haven't seen in a while?
And then it's awkward when you make eye contact, and know you need to say hi but after it's been too long it almost makes it worse to say hi?

That's been me and my blog.

The end.

More of WPPI! So far I have gone through Jasmine and Jamie, and now I need to catch up on the rest.
Say hello to the Smith family, blog world!
Here is Abby:

She is basically like a porcelain doll come to life.
And America's Next Top Model.

We had some great conversations, lots of laughs and I just love her. And she is an AMAZing photographer. Seriously. Check out her blog.

She's too pretty, sheesh. And has such a sweet, gentle spirit :D I love her so.

Her brothers, Andrew and Adam, are men behind SmithPixels and did some fabulous videos of the trip! I love this one:

Andrew and Adam Smithhttp://www.smithpixels.com/
Desert.Vegas.Shoot from Andrew PC Smith on Vimeo.

WPPI Highlights II

"Hiiiiiiiii! I'm Jamie!"

More and more of the photography world is hearing about, loving and blog-stalking this ambitious, beautiful, talented, ShowIT-site-winning, 18-year-old lady :D

We've been friends via email, skype, facebook and blogs, of course, for almost 2 years now. I totally felt like I knew her and had met her before, but I hadn't. Stink :(

When WPPI was rolling (literally rolling ;D) around, it looked like we were going to be able to room together. Yay! Sound the alarm! Cheer the three cheers! Set off fireworks! I was really excited to finally meet this friend in person :D

Sooo, we clicked :D

And were goof balls.

Of course we took pictures of each other - I wasn't gonna pass up a free shoot with JAMIE DELAINE! Psh. I'm no dummy. In 5 years these will be worth an arm and a leg and a gallon of gas!




Besides becoming awesome friends in about 3 1/2 minutes, I learned a lot from her. I should call her "Teach." We talked camera settings, business, friends and God. This girl has her head screwed on right, on my goodness.


She has got it ALL together, and was so encouraging to me!
You're the best little lady :D The summer is too long to wait to see you :( Maybe David Jay will have invented a ShowItTimeTransporter (that we can control and customize!) before then. Cause I need to see you!

Here are a few snaps I grabbed of this girl....


Sizzle!



If you want to see what we are like together, check out this awesome video from Smith Pixels. If you want an awesome video, hire Smith Pixels!





Jamie Delaine & Kristen Leigh: WPPI from Andrew PC Smith on Vimeo.

Photo credit in this post belongs to Jamie Delaine and me, as well as Abby Smith, Cait Elizabeth and Christ Ann - you will hear more about them soon!

WPPI Highlights I

Raise your hand if you don't like Jasmine Star. I think for the first time in photography history, we all just agreed. Nikon vs. Canon - disagreement. Lightroom vs. other programs - disagreement.Prime vs. zoom. RAW vs. Jpeg. Actual pictures vs. slideshows. Leather albums vs. modern books. Wearing all black when shooting vs. Whatever colors you want.All of it - dissension, confusion, disagreement!
Liking Jasmine vs. Not liking Jasmine?Everyone likes Jasmine. For young photographers, I think we have fallen in love with her almost miraculous sprint to the top. It's inspiring! "If she can do it, I can too!"For "experienced" photographers, I think they have fallen in love with her almost miraculous skill. She is a stinking good wedding photographer, no question.For brides, I think they have fallen in love with her quality work & service, as well as her romantic writings and contagious energy.For the human part of us all of, we have fallen in love with her funny illustrations, her not-so-flattering pictures of herself she humbly loves to laugh at, her honesty and, well, her photography skeelz.I can't speak on behalf of her husband, but I bet he fell for that big smile, that awesome personality, that head-turning beauty and that sincere character his wife possesses.
I so don't want to be "that" blog-stalker-annoying-fan. The one everyone rolls their eyes at when she walks away. But I so am when it comes to Jasmine, not gonna lie.
I stumbled across her blog back in February 2006 - I think she had just done a little post about how afraid she was to ask people to let her shoot them. She was just beginning her amazing journey, and I liked reading along. You all know the story and have been just as inspired by her as I have, so let's fast forward to February 2009 :D Jasmine-the-mini-celebrity in photography was opening up a chance for 20 photographers to shoot with her. Bright and early in Las Vegas! All you had to do was a leave a comment on her blog and you would be entered into the grand raffle.I was like Charlie Bucket hoping for my golden ticket. "Pleeeeeease.Please.Pleeasssse. let my name be picked. Pleassssssse." I even made a funny joke - I think your odds are always better if you include Dwight ;D

Thursday morning, I slid out of bed onto the floor and laid on my stomach while I checked my e-mails. "Hi Kristen, I just popped over to check out your work after seeing that you were one of the lucky ones to grab a spot at Jasmine Star's Vegas Shoot - CONGRATS on that!"

What? Whatwhatwhatwhatwhaaaat. I scrambled to Jasmine's blog and there was my name.

I was so blessed and so excited - of about 370 people who wanted to be there, I was going to be. I totally didn't deserve it and I held my hand over my heart looking at the screen. "I am so blessed."

You may say "Ok, Kristen - yes, Jasmine's great, but you are kind of over-exaggerating a one hour shoot with 20 other people, aren't you?"

Probably! But I was thrilled nonetheless. Thrilled I tell you :D

All of us photographers gathered in the MGM lobby. We were groggy and blinky-eyed, hoping the mascara was helping hide that, but it totally wasn't. Jasmine and her prince charming husband, JD, showed up right on time. I instantly loved her.
She greeted us all individually with a big smile.
She told us the game-plan for the shoot.
She told us she was so nervous that she wanted to give us a refund, then remembered it was a free shoot.
She told us we had to tell her if she was sucking.

The entire shoot was filled with laughter, ooo's and aww's, friendly conversation and some hooot shots. Jasmine was so easy to learn from and made sure we were all understanding. She was able to treat us like adult proffessionals - not like dummy's or "inferiors," there was definitley a whole lot of that going on with other photographers I had met. I either felt like they were talking down to the people they were teaching, or just guuuushing about how AWEsome they were. Jasmine wasn't like that. I lost track of how many times she asked if this was "going terrible." She's quite humble and really has not gotten a big head. That was nice :D

She is absolutely a proffessional who knows what she wants and how to get it. She works hard to make clients feel comfortable and to truly look beautiful. I learned a LOT from this little workshop. I was encouraged when she did things that I have already been doing, and was soaking up all the other things I hadn't thought of before. Seriously, you did SO good. So so so so good.

But the most important thing I learned from her wasn't about poses or exposures or locations. It was about care. Genuine, interested care. Jasmine has this way of making you feel like the most important person in the world when she is talking to you. She is totally, 100% focused on you and doesn't seem rushed or bothered or distracted. I so want people to feel that way when they leave talking with me. I want people to feel like I am excited to talk with them, like I am interested in everything they are saying. That doesn't just happen though - being focused on other people takes character.

Dear blog-readers, Jasmine has character. She is a woman who loves God with her whole heart. She is a woman who respects, honors and loves her husband - that's character. She is a woman who works hard to do things with excellence - that's character. She laughs at herself - that's character. She is genuine and truly interested in helping other people - again, that's character.
While yes, I do want to be as good a photographer as this woman, I more want to be as good a woman. Jasmine, thank you for everything. I can't say it enough!

Aaaaand I guess I should post some pictures I shot! Jaclyn and her hubbsband Mark flew from Kansas to model for us! They are goooorgeous and had never had pictures together! Life fail! But, I guess having your first shoot with J* makes up for it haha

See, it's not really fair though, cause Jaclyn isn't just stunning, she's an amazing photographer AND writer! Next year I'll probably be standing in line, crossing my finger and praying I'll get to shoot with her! Make sure you check out her blog and leave some love!

Hey Guys....

.... I am coming home :D