There are lots of upcoming posts brewing on the blog! It was a busy weekend full of shoots. Here are a few teasers from my weekend, more coming soon!

Shame on me for taking so long to blog about this!  This will officially be my last attempt at blaming my lack of blog posts on school. Back in June, I was one of the lucky attendees able to get into a Jasmine Star workshop. I’ve admired her work and her blog from afar for so long. It was great to be able to meet her in person! She really is just as nice as she seems. Truly. For example, she started off by giving us personalized welcome notes:

And she totally admitted she didn’t know everything and has made many mistakes along the way. Despite being unbelieveably successful, she is the first to tell you that she’s not perfect. Here she is discussing her old blog and website:

Something I really admire about Jasmine is her ability to get people comfortable almost immediately.  While this workshop was mainly focused on branding and marketing, we of course went out to shoot for a bit. She has such a way with people and you can’t help but notice!

 Jasmine gave us some tips and ideas on lighting and posing:

 I came away with my brain stuffed full of new information, wishing I had more than one day to digest it all – she really did drop a TON of info at this workshop. J* - thanks for keepin’ it real

Here are some images from my latest wedding. We started off at the Hyatt in Deerfield where Suzie was getting ready. Check out some of the details:

It is so much fun photographing a bride getting ready for the big day. There is such an amazing energy in the room here!

We had plenty of time to get some gorgeous portraits.

So pretty!

Here she is, just hanging out looking fabulous. It’s a tough job…

We hopped in the limo and made our way over to St. Patrick’s Church in Wadsworth. Ren had a little help from his best man Al with some music to calm the nerves right before the ceremony:

I loved this sweet moment between Suzie and her mom:

There was a beautiful forest right behind the church so we  went outside for a few shots. I fed an entire mosquito population while taking this photo. I think it was worth it though!

I love how in love they are.

We had a few more minutes to enjoy the delicious lighting outside just before the reception.

They had such cute place settings, and beautiful flowers:

And desserts! Yes, please!

 Thank you SO much Suzie and Renmar for letting me document this day. I wish you so much love!

For more wedding photos, click here.

If you’d like to contact me to inquire about weddings click here.

This past weekend I had the pleasure of meeting the O’Donnells for a family portrait session. My last session with them was actually  a couple of years ago, and the kids have grown sooo much! Here are few of my favorites:

We met at Northerly Island which has SO many great spots for photos. I love the yummy light in this one:

It didn’t take much to get Taylor to ham up for the camera. She is such a pretty girl:

And Logan is getting cuter every day:

I loved this shot of Kevin and Tammy!

This one is so darn cute!

Thanks for such a fun session guys!!

I was reminded again last night how unbelievably lucky I am to be doing what I do. Renmar and Suzie’s wedding is in just a few days and they met me downtown for a quick e-session. We had such a great time!

 They were up for anything! Even at the very beginning of the shoot!

Suzie, you are beautiful. Did I mention that?

Such a gorgeous couple!

They have so much fun together!

Can’t wait for your wedding this weekend!! And thanks to my special assistant (and sister of the groom!) Renelle

Finally catching up on my blogging this weekend! Just sharing a few photos of our trip to Kauai a few weeks ago. Justin and I had been planning on going to Hawaii ever since I started my masters program four years ago and this was our trip to celebrate my graduation. Kauai was the perfect place to unplug, relax, sit on the beach and forget all about what homework was like.

We took a two-mile walk along the Napali coast and saw the most amazing views.

At the end of our hike we had lunch sitting on this gorgeous beach:

This one was on our hike to Queens Bath:

I have never seen a sea turtle before… this one was HUGE! I’m betting he was at least 40 pounds, and that is probably a conservative estimate.

There were so many pretty beaches in Kauai. This one was called Hideaways Beach in Princeville. It was walking distance from our hotel, and you had to climb down a steep path to get down there, but it was worth the trip. It was fantastic for snorkeling (for the record, it was the first and only time I didn’t get sick on a snorkeling attempt!)

Just a typical view when we pulled over at the side of the road. I’m not kidding, it was really that pretty everywhere.

On one of our last nights we took a sunset dinner cruise. The ship you see below had actually sailed to Kauai all the way from Maryland.  Any guesses on how long they must have been sailing?

Ahhh, this was simply paradise! Truth be told, I’m still a little freaked out by the free time I have now that school is done. But I guess it’s not a bad problem to have, is it?

A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of photographing little Leia at about 10 weeks old. This was perhaps the easiest photo shoot of all time, and she was more than ready for me, posing like a pro within the first 5 minutes! Here are a few of my favorites from our session.

But it didn’t end there. To top it off, she even snuggled with her dog Lucy for a few more:

And a fun family shot:

Thanks Monica & Chris thanks for having me! I can’t wait to come see you guys again soon!

I’ve had a couple weeks to soak it in… I was reeling after coming back from Santa Fe, after taking a workshop with Andrew Southam. If I could wake up every morning with a lesson in art history followed by a shoot with fabulous models in the afternoon, prepped by a world class makeup artist, I think that might be my version of heaven.  The Fashion Portrait at Santa Fe Photographic Workshops comes very close! 

Before I arrived in Santa Fe, I wasn’t sure what to expect from Andrew, being as accomplished as he is in his craft. In seeing his portfolio on his website, I could tell he’s worked alongside the best of the best in the industry and his work really resonated with me (ok, I’ll admit, it also intimidated me!).  I was happily suprised that when I met him in person he was just as lovely as he was on his blog, extremely humble and kind. He had a very organic approach to shooting, working with natural light and then using artificial light to enhance the image/concept. He kept reminding us to always look at what is motivating the light, and to always use that to decide how you will light your subject.  To me, he was the quintessential Hollywood photographer, the real deal. And the best part was he was really a great guy! (Side note: He shoots with his cowboy hat on. And has a killer Aussie accent. That must be the secret to his success.)

Being a natural light shooter, I’ll be the first to admit that using artificial lighting during the week made me feel a little bit like a deer in the headlights, especially at the beginning of the week. But I embraced the challenge. I did, after all, go out there to grow and I’ve learned the best way to do so is pushing beyond my comfort zone. On the first day the students photographed each other in the studio. I found myself in a stupor, staring at the grey backdrop, my classmate Ashley, and a pile of equipment and lighting and wondered how in the world I could find my style, myself, in all of this. It was overwhelming, and I thought I might fail. I did fail. Several times. But I kept trying!

Every morning we’d get together and for a lecture and review each other’s work from the previous day, then we’d go on location for a shoot. It truly was heaven for me (besides having to carry all that heavy gear around!). By the end of the week I was finally in my groove, feeling like my style was coming across (even in the studio, can you imagine?),  just in time to pack up and go home. I’m excited to keep at it!

Here are some of my favorite images from the week, in no particular order.