Sneak Preview: Thyria & Ming

Wonderful Wonderful time I had with this amazing couple! We talked about all sorts of things during our shoot and they really made me feel like part of their family. Here is a little sneak preview for now. There were two parts to our session. More details to come later! :)

Daytona Beach Family Lifestyle Photographer - The Whites

I had the absolute pleasure of photographing this lovely family over the weekend. It's been two years since their last family shoot, and I was so thrilled to be able to document this part of their lives. We decided to do the session at a beautiful gardens in Ormond Beach. Since it was a little on the cooler side, I bought along a few stylish scarves in case they wanted to use them as an extra accessory to their outfits. Since the sun sets earlier this time of the year, we started our session at 3pm and had plenty of time to roam around and snap some great photos!. Here are a few of my favorites:

Hair Do or Don't

My hair. I don't know whats up with it lately but it is getting on my nerves. I seriously need a new look but I'm such a chicken when it comes to a new hair style. I've had many trial and errors with that. I like to dye it black, and yes my natural hair is black, but there is something about dying it the same color that makes it so much more refreshed, vibrant, and new. It always starts out great but now, it can't seem to stay untangled for one day and I'm having to put it up in a pony tail. I've got to quit being lazy and start dedicating more time into making my appearance a little less...umm.... frightning.

Since dying my hair in different colors is out of the question ($200 each time at the salon!), I'd like to keep it black but maybe have really cool layers that look good both straight and curled. Any suggestions or ideas out there??? I don't do short hair so keeping the length is importoant to my face.

Maybe something like this when curled:

And like this when worn straight:

hmmm I'm really liking #2, but with more layers at the bottom rather than straight like that. I may add those highlights too when I go for the cut, ....maybe. I'll be sure to post a picture of my new hair do as soon as I get that done! :) I could really use some updated photos.

In other news, I had the priviledge of shooting two session this past weekend!. I can't wait to share those this week. One was of a lovely family I know and the other was updated photos for a beautiful couple who just had their 6th year anniversary! Stay tuned and happy Monday :)

So Fresh, So Clean - Engagement Albums

Ahhh I love the feeling after a long day of cleaning my home. It gives me a sense of great acomplishment and it literally makes my soul happy. Coming in to a clean home is the greatest feeling in the world. I love living in a clutter free environment. When life gets busy though, there are times that I kinda let everything go and slowly things start to pile up. I feel stressed and down, and that's when I realize that it's time to do a good cleaning and free up my mind.

Much like a good clean uncluttered home, I feel the same about Albums. It's all about bringing out the best in every photo and there's no way you can do that if you cram in a million photos into several pages. They will start looking more like thumbnails and the beauty of the entire album will be lost.

I'd like to share a sample engagement album I recently ordered. An engagement album is basicly used to display at the reception and can serve as a guest sign in book. No more traditional white books with lines and empty pages. An engagement book is full of life, color, personality and it serves as a personal keepsake that will be treasured for years to come. You can even personalize it to have wording of your choice!

This sample is a 10x10 hinged paper, 10 spreads, 20 sides album. This particular design holds 22 images including the cover photo. There is plenty of negative space for guests to sign and write notes to the couple.

You can include your own personalized words!

Hinged Paper allows the pages to lay flat for easy writing and panoramic view of the images!!

If you'd like more detailed information on how to get your own engagement album, please feel free to shoot me an email! I include an engagement album in my complete wedding package, but you may also purchase it A la Carte.

Happy Friday!

Free Templates from WHCC

If you are a WHCC customer, you may have read their tweet about two free card templates. If you are not one of their customers, I suggest you sign up with them to get these gorgeous templates! They have many more to choose from on their site, but they are offering these two for free and you have until December 1st to download them! Follow this link to the download page: Two free card templates

These templates may be used for anything: High school senior cards to pass around at school, thank you's, holiday cards, engagement announcements, invitations, and the list is endless. They can be ordered in various sizes and styles. If you'd like more information on how to order these, please feel free to shoot me an email and I will send you a pricing list and detailed information!

Here's a little example of one of the templates I used. This one is a 5x5 tri-fold card and can be customized with alternate wording depending on the occassion.

Side A: Outside

Size B: Inside of the Card

New Sight, and Site

Ok, I will admit it that I was a little hesitant creating a website with Showit. It completely intimidated me. I felt like it was waaayyyy too complicated and smart for me. I mean, this program lets you built your own custom website from scratch!! I haven't the slightest idea about building websites. But I did however, know what I wanted. I wanted BIG PHOTOS all over my sight, not just teeny ones that only fill up half the screen. The more I started looking into showit, the more I realized that this website builder allowed me to do this. So I downloaded the program from their website, and started playing around with it. I totally admit it that I felt stupid. I didn't get it at first. I couldn't figure out where the little buttons were to add or delete stuff. I tore my head up figuring out all the little gadgets, but once you DO figure them out, it is an easy journey from there and you get create a stunning new website in a matter of hours. Trust me, if I can do it, ANYONE can!

So I'd like to present you my NEW WEDDING WEBSITE <----- click on that link

Here is a screen preview of the Home Page. You'll noticed that I have my networking links on the very front page. Feel free to click on any of them and add me as a friend!

Wedding Albums Vendor Review: Albumesque

I'm the kind of person that likes to take as little steps possible to get somewhere or to reach my goal.

When I cook, I like to cook things all at once and avoiding having to do things seperately, waiting for one thing to finish to start the next. I may look like a mad woman in the kitchen, but it eliminates alot of steps.

When I take a shower, I'll apply the conditioner on my hair while I soap up. That way, the conditioner will stay a little longer making my hair silky smooth while I finish the rest. Once I'm done, I just wash everything away all together.

After I shoot a wedding, I love editing the photos but I don't want to deal when it comes to designing the album. Here is my thinking: I'm a photographer, not a designer, so I leave that to the pros :) It's an extra step that I've decided to outsource, and I am 110% convinced that my clients will benefit from that as much as I do. It free's my time to dedicate it more to my clients and other aspects of my life.

Recently, I've had the pleasure to work with an AMAZING album design company, Albumesque. Amy and her staff are incredible and words cannot describe how I feel about them right now. I'm grateful for their hard work and there is a reason why alot of the top wedding photographers in the industry use them for their album designs. Please, if there is a photographer out there reading this and questioning whether they should outsource their designs or are looking for a designer, get in touch with Amy right now! I will be using them for all my wedding albums.

CLICK HERE to view the album design for Alana and Chance wedding I shot in September. It is for a 10x10 10spreads/20sides flush mount album. To view samples of the albums I offer, please click here.