KALEIGH & JASON - WEDDING IN SE INDIANA

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of second shooting for my wonderful friend Amanda. Amanda is a photographer in Northern Kentucky/Cincinnati that I met last November during our trash the dress extravaganza. Thanks so much for having me along for this wedding, Amanda. You rock!

Now onto Kaleigh & Jason. I had such a great time shooting this wedding. The ceremony was held at the absolutely fantastic Veraestau Historic Site. Amanda and I went out before we started shooting, and we couldn't believe how incredibly beautiful the house and property were. One of the employees at the Veraestau, Josh, was kind enough to fill us in on a little of the history along the way. (As well as some crazy ghost stories! Yikes!)

Here's Kaleigh sharing a wonderful moment with her mom at the hair salon.

Girls will be girls. I love seeing everyone's make-up spread out while they're getting ready.

Kaleigh, you are truly gorgeous.

The morning of the wedding, it was fairly rainy. We didn't know what we would be dealing with at the ceremony, and Kaleigh was on top of the weather. She had up-to-the-minute status reports on her phone!

I just want to point out that absolutely everyone should have a best man that is will to work it with the Blue Steel face. Way to go, Matt!

Here are a few details. The shoes + the bling.

Kaleigh's dress was g-o-r-g-e-o-u-s!

It looked even better when she put it on, though. Here she is with her mom.

After the ceremony, we headed out on the grounds to take some shots. Here's the new couple. They were workin' it!

Kaleigh should totally get a prize for workin' it out. Seriously, could her eyes BE more intense?

This last one might be my favorite.. You can just feel the love.

Kaleigh & Jason, I hope you have a wonderful honeymoon! Thank you so much for being such natural models, and totally workin' it all day.

MOM

This is more than a little late to be a Mother's Day post, but I know that my mom will understand. She's my mom, after all.. She knows how much I procrastinate.

This year, the card I gave my mother said something along the lines of, "911?! I'd like to report a theft... Yes.. Identity theft! I've become my mother!!"

I want all of you to know that if I could turn into my mother, it would be a wonderful thing. She is kind, passionate, intelligent, and funny. She always made sure I was doing my best, even if I didn't feel like it. She encouraged me to pursue all of my interests, no matter how far-fetched or impossible they seemed. (For a while, I really thought I was going to move to the jungle and work with orangutans. No... Really.) She is, hands down, the most resilient person I will ever know. She works harder for what she has than anyone, and she is always honest. She can still shoot me a look from across a room that says, "Watch it.. You're getting on my nerves." She welcomed Brian into her life as if he was her own son from the very beginning. She makes the best fruit pizza every summer, she uses too many exclamation points in her e-mails, and she has the most vibrant green eyes I've ever seen. (I'm insanely jealous of them.) She loves me even when I mess up, even when I get mad at her, even when I drag her to see awful movies, and even when I make poor fashion choices. She does so much for me on a daily basis that I can't possibly talk about it all right here.

She is beautiful.

Mom, I love you. I hope that you know that. I hope that everyone knows that. I hope that you know that you have made me into the person I am today. And I hope that someday, I get to say, "I have turned into my mother. Thank goodness." Mom, thank you for being a great role model, a great friend, and the best mother a kid could have asked for.

SOWERS FAMILY SNEAK PEEK

Last weekend, I had the pleasure of photographing the Sowers family in downtown Lexington. Not only was it a beautiful day in Kentucky, but everyone was amazing in front of the camera! Kevin and I really did have a blast hanging out with this family. I'm not sure we're allowed to call this work.

Here's a little sneak peek from the session. More coming soon!

KARMESHA - HEADSHOTS

If you don't know it by now, I absolutely adore musicians. (Actually, I adore all artists, but I have a special place in my heart for musicians.) I've done a ridiculous amount of headshots for a lot of the students in the opera program at the UK School of Music, and Karmesha is another one of those students. She's going to finish her Master's this Spring, she's in Sigma Alpha Iota, and she's gorgeous. See for yourself:

Karmesha was so wonderful to work with, and we even got a preview of one of her outfits for her Master's recital.

I love this job. Talented + photogenic? I'm majorly jealous.

This weekend, I have a family session scheduled. I'm so excited that the weather is going to rock. It's about time!

THE SHOT

Kevin and I are often caught goofing around on the job. I'm admitting this only because it is the best kind of goofing around I can imagine. Sometimes, when we're waiting around for someone to get to the location or change their outfit, Kevin will say, "Photo challenge!" and we compete to get the best shot of something mundane around us. This week, we had an early morning headshot session downtown. While we were waiting for a wardrobe change, Kevin announced that the photo challenge would be to photograph our own shoes. Between fits of giggles over Kevin's shoe-related comments (ex: "Your shoes look like lovers."), I got this shot:

I don't know if I won the photo challenge, but this one jumped out at me. Plus, it reminded me of my days at Starbucks as a barista... (I used to wear those beat-up Chucks.) I'm not really remembering those days fondly (nasty customers and all that), but I do kind of miss the regulars that came in every morning. I still hold firmly to my belief that every single person should be forced to work in food service for at least a year. (Most people need a taste of their own medicine!)