I don’t know if I have ever been this far behind on updating the blog! The weekend before thanksgiving was very busy, and I am still trying to get caught up. On that Saturday, I met up with Nubia and John at the Inn at the Mill in Johnson for engagement portraits. It is a wonderful place for portraits and looks nice pretty much year-round. Although it was November, there was still lots of green things growing and of course the architectural features always make nice backgrounds. Nubia and John will be getting married in June. They are a great couple and I am happy to be working with them on their wedding photography. Here are a few of my favorite images from the shoot:
Nubia & John’s Engagement Portraits
December 4, 2009 · Leave a Comment
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Happy Thanksgiving!
November 25, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Before I head off to my granny’s house to eat until I can’t move, I thought I would post a quick note on the blog. This past weekend was insanely busy: 2 portrait shoots, directory pictures at Trinity Fellowship, and the Voyage Gala Saturday night. I will be sure to post some images as soon as I can! I would just like to list a few things I am thankful for -
My husband who is very sweet and supportive,
my sister who just started her new job as a Federal Police officer,
awesome parents and grandparents who help me out in so many ways I can’t even start to list them all,
In-laws who love me like a daughter (or sister),
a great church – Trinity Fellowship,
a whole bunch of fantastic networking friends,
and all the little things that would make this list way too long!

Me and Ed outside after the Voyage gala at the Town Center on Saturday. The event happened to coincide with the start of "lights of th Ozarks".
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Come visit Santa this weekend!
November 13, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Believe it or not, it is already that time of year (kind of sneaks up on you)! Come meet Santa at Interiors Galleria on Saturday, November 14th from 1:00 to 4:00. I will be taking pictures and you will be able to order prints in a souvenir photo-folder, image CDs, cards and more! You can also schedule Christmas portraits taken in the store. It will be great to have such a pretty indoor location to shoot in this year! This is part of Interiors Holiday Open house festivities. If you have never been to this store, it is well worth a stop – t is looking especially pretty with many of the vendors decorating for the Christmas season. Come on by on Saturday – Santa and I would love to see you!

Santa and Mrs. Clause from an event last year.
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Senior portraits on pretty fall day
October 26, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Saturday was a beautiful fall day! The leaves were bright, it was warm and not raining (a nice change of pace for this fall). I was very happy to take advantage of that to do some senior portraits in Rogers. We started at Lake Atlanta, then moved to a small city park that had a spectacular tree shedding bright orange and yellow leaves. Here are a few images from the shoot:

It was just barely warm enough for this dress! This is not the obvious fall foliage shot, but the trees add a nice reflection to the water.


This is why I love shooting on-location! It would take a lot of effort to make a background this pretty in a studio.

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Amanda and Craig’s Wedding
October 12, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Amanda and Craig were married at Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista, AR on October 11th. It was pretty chilly for this time of year with temps hovering in the low 50s and a very overcast sky. But that didn’t dampen any spirits, and everything went very well. The reception was at Shrimpman’s Yacht Club in Bella Vista. It was my first time shooting there and it is very pretty. The view off the deck over Loch Lommond is very nice, and the food was good, too. As is tradition, here are a few images while I work through the rest:

A beautiful ceremony at Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista.

The bride's niece getting all gussied up.

The chilly weather was not going to stop us from getting the nice outdoor portrait shots.

This beautiful cake was a collaboration between Harps and Shirley's Flowers.

This shot was done on the deck overlooking the lake at Shrimpman's yacht club. I took a little fussing around in photoshop to pull out some color in the sky, but the results were worth it!
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Studio Renovation Update
October 7, 2009 · Leave a Comment
The never-ending home renovation project rolls on. It takes such a long time to do anything when you are doing it yourself! The new bathroom/changing room attached to the studio is almost done! It is looking really good. Paint is on the walls and the trim should be up in a few days. The actual studio space has a ways to go, but I am hoping to have it up and running by early November for doing Christmas portraits. I will post pictures when it is all done and pretty!
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Democrat Gazette Fall Bridal Fair
October 1, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Whew! What a weekend – bikes, blues and BBQ was in town, and West Fork had its annual festival, and the Fall Bridal Fair was at the Hammond Center. The bridal fair was very nice, lots of really neat booths and vendors. I picked a spot across from the Harps cake display area because I know people are drawn to the cool cakes. But I was also next to the table where they were giving out samples and I had more than a few of their fantastic “cake balls”. My booth was between my friends at Destinations Travel and a very nice woman with the Pratt Place Inn and Barn. I only had a chance to snap a few pictures before the fair, owing to the fact that I got distracted by a magician with Dancenhance Entertainment before I made it all the way around the hall. I will put more images up on my Steely Joe Facebook Page. A big “Thank You” to my mom who came up from Little Rock to help out and to Ladybug floral who provided the flowers for my booth. I think the event went well and excited about all the new contacts I made!

My photography booth. My mom took the picture - she comes and helps me out at Bridal Fairs but likes to mostly stay behind the scenes.

A very pretty table by Festivities Events.

These boquets from Shirley's Flowers were used in the fashion show and were even prettier in real life!

Mmmm...moss balls for supper! An odd trend I see cropping up in decorating - moss balls are everywhere. In vases, in stacks, on pillars and even on these place settings from Eventures!
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Newborn Portraits
September 18, 2009 · 1 Comment
Recently I watched a video about a photographer named John Ridgeway who specializes in newborn portraiture. He has an amazing gift for working with babies! After watching him work, I really wanted to try some newborn photography (I really have not done much). As luck would have it, one of my existing clients just had a baby, so borrowed him as a test subject. He was very cooperative and stayed sound asleep for most of the shoot. The was a great learning experience for me and I think the images came out pretty nice.

Madden is 12 days old in these pictures. I washed some of the color out of this shot in Photoshop to give it a kind of sleeping-on-a-cloud look.

Look as his cute little fingers!

I thought jeans would be a fun alternative to the traditional stack-of-towels baby portrait.

He woke up long enough to give a collossal yawn, and then he was out again!
A great big Thank You to the Fields family for letting me do this!
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Lisa and Eric’s Wedding
September 11, 2009 · Leave a Comment
Normally, I get a few images up within a few days of an event, but here it is Thursday, and I am just now getting something on the blog about Saturday’s wedding! Lisa and Eric were married at Cooper Chapel in Bella Vista on September 5th. I had not shot at Cooper Chapel in quite a while, and it is always nice to shoot in a place you are familiar with (and that looks so nice in pictures). There were lots of kids in the wedding and in the audience, which is always fine with me since I like taking kid pictures. Here are a few pics while I work on sorting through the rest:

We got a chance for a few quick bridal portraits before the ceremony by using the little porch beside the office/changing room. I like the lighting in the image with the bright areas of the background bringing the focus to Lisa's face.

A cute candid shot with one of the many kids in attendance.

The ring ceremony. At Cooper Chapel, I like to find a spot in the front row to shoot sitting down, that way I am not blocking everyone's view, and the picture will have more of the upper curved window showing.

Resessional shots are some of my favorites, because you get very genuine smiles from the bride and groom.

Another fun candid shot. I like this image both as a color study, and because everyone in the image is doing something different. The "camera face" from the only kid that spotted me is cute, too.
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Keisha and Justin’s Wedding
September 7, 2009 · 1 Comment
Keisha and Justin were married at Chapel on the Creeks in Rogers, AR on September 4th. The forecast did not look good, but the rain held off and we actually got to do some outdoor portraits after the ceremony. The grounds around the chapel are really nice so I was glad we could use them!
As a photographer, you can’t help when something catches your interest and you end up taking way too many pictures of one thing. In this case I am referring to the two year old flower girl who is probably one of the cutest flower girls I have seen. She was very good, especially considering her age. She was hard to catch smiling, I think there was too much going on, but that did not make her any less adorable! Here are a few images from the wedding while I work on sorting through the rest:

Super Cute flower girl

This was a funny picture that the bridesmaids came up with, they couldn't quite coordinate the jump, but it's a fun shot anyway.

Chapel on the Creeks is very popular with brides, as you can imagine with a foyer like this!

The nice thing about the cloudy weather is that it gave really nice filtered light through the big front windows during the ceremony.

Ok, one more flower girl pic - this one is from the reception where she was hiding under the brides table.
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