valen

If you scroll down to the post before this, you can see that we did a boudoir shoot with Valen. We also decided to take her out and do some portrait work with her before she had to go to work. I'm sure we would have all liked to keep her around for the rest of the day. She really was a pleasure to work with.

Can you believe that this was right down the road from the house we were renting?!

I could not have manufactured a more perfect desert-with-snowy-mountains-in-the-background scene if I tried.

Valen, you're gorgeous. I'm trying not to be jealous.

Intensity much?

I got a few e-mails asking about my post-processing the other day. I use the Totally Rad Actions exclusively. They just nail the kinds of looks that I'm going for every single time, and I couldn't be happier. If you're a photographer, I would seriously recommend checking them out. (My most favorite action this week is Lux Hard.. I can't get enough.)

In other news.. Does anyone have a really nice-looking Twitter badge that they'd like to share the code for? Some of you may know that web coding is definitely not my area of expertise... (Ok, let's be honest, I'm horrible at it.) So, if any of you have suggestions for a Twitter badge that would look good with my blog layout, I would really appreciate it!

nelson, nv -- the ghost town

This is going to be another post that features Jessie, the gorgeous girl from the last entry. I'm pretty sure you won't mind.

On Thursday, we took a little drive out to Nelson, NV to see the ghost town there. It was definitely a photographer's playground. Lots of interesting backdrops, including a plane crash! And a canyon in the background... Ridiculous. Here are a few shots from around the area.

    

Check out the canyon behind Jessie. Also.. She is making the middle of nowhere look fabulous. I'm trying not to be jealous.

Remember the plane crash I was telling you about?

After poking around the property for a while, Jessie had a wardrobe change, and the sun was just starting to head behind the mountains around us. Beautiful backlighting? Check.

I think this last one is a favorite of mine with Jessie by that beat-up truck.

One more wardrobe change.

Hey, nice necklace!

Warm it up a little.

Finally, I'd like to show you exactly how much fun we had in Nelson, NV. I don't have a recording of Chris Bartelski's awesome Aaron Neville impression, but I think that you can almost hear it when you look at these pictures of Jessie cracking up.

If you ever run into Chris, from The Reason, the first thing you should ask him to do is sing like Aaron Neville. I would have to say that after his ridiculous photography skills, he could probably list that talent on a resume.

neon graveyard, jessie

You might want to reacquaint yourself with Jessie from our shoot at (almost) Red Rocks. She was in front of our cameras again at the Neon Graveyard.

I love the tattoos she has on her wrists.

Could she be working this backlighting more than she already is?

I couldn't decide which of these next ones to post. Don't be mad that I didn't narrow it down for you.

Jessie was an absolute champion all day while we moved her from sign to sign. It was cold, but she wasn't even phased. Thanks for being such an awesome model, Jessie!

This concludes the Neon Graveyard series.. Can you believe it?! I still have two, maybe three, more posts to make from my time in Las Vegas. Check back soon!

neon graveyard, shannon

Two posts in one day?! I'm workin' it. Don't be jealous of my productivity.

Next up in the Neon Graveyard series is Shannon. She had her hair and make-up done before the shoot, and I think you'll agree that it looked amazing.

She was really making our jobs easy, too. She was a joy to photograph.

Can't pass up a neon sign that spells "sin", right?

You can really see how HUGE these signs are in these pictures.

These last two are my favorites. Shannon was seriously working it.

I don't think I'm allowed to call this "work"... It's too much fun. I hope you're not too jealous. ;)

neon graveyard, tabatha & ben

Meet Tabatha & Ben.

Tabatha & Ben were amazing. Tabatha had on the most rockin' short wedding dress I have ever seen, and Ben was just the perfect compliment.

Her tattoo says "Love".. Cute? Yes.

The light came out just enough to do some beautiful backlighting with them. I love this one of Tabatha with Ben in the background.

I couldn't decide between these last two, but I think you'll forgive me.

Brian and I had a great time in Michigan this weekend visiting our friend Molly. She is such a wonderful musician, and I'm so proud of her for getting to the tail end of her Master's work. Unfortunately, we were too busy for me to pick up my camera, so I won't even have any pictures to show you!

Luckily, the weather in Lexington is looking more Spring-like everyday. Have you been waiting to schedule your photo session because of the crazy weather? Now is the time to do it!