Randen Lee Roberts- 6 months!

It's still so hard to believe that me and all of my friends and not just grown up and married, but sportin' their beautiful little ones on their hips now too! Brent and Amy Roberts have been friends of my husbands and mine since we were wee teenagers =) We've gone to church together for about 7-8 years now and we've watched each other grow up, get married and now having babies! Randen was born April 14, 2011 and as you can see from the pictures is an absolute DOLL! Big thanks to Brent and Amy for honoring me with the opportunity to do Randen's 6 month pictures! Can't wait to see what amazing things God does with this contagiously happy little guy!

Do's and Don'ts for the Wedding Day!

So I've compiled some things over the past couple years of shooting weddings that I find to be very important but not always thought of or regretted the opportunity missed until after the big day has come and gone. You can take my advise or not it's not a mandatory demand, just what I have found to be little tips and tricks to help out your photo experience on your wedding day!

1. Do a first look/Reveal. To have that special quiet time with your fiancee prior to the ceremony is so magical everytime I experience it with a couple. Some have been so emotionally touching they have moved even me to tears. It gives the couple 30 minutes alone to say everything they want to say to one another before this big moment, pray together, and gives them a solid 30-45 minutes to go shoot with the photographer and acquire those amazing portrait on location shots that everyone wants!

2. IF you are super traditional and are dead set against a reveal then do a "Day After" session. These aren't obviously always a day after but they are super awesome. This is when after the couple returns from their honeymoon they have a shoot booked with me to put the wedding garb back on and go out for a 2 hour on location shoot with me. These always turn out super awesome because we always go to some really cool and beautiful locations and perfect times of day lighting wise and capture the bride and groom some solid portraits for them to have! You'll understand why this is necessary on your wedding day when things are running behind because trust me weddings are ALWAYS running behind and your photo time is cut short and rushed along to the reception and you look back and realize you don't have really half the shots you'd originally desired of you and your groom because the schedule got way off. Just something to consider!

3. Request that the guests not take photos during the ceremony. Sound Harsh? Well it certainly isn't supposed to and let me elaborate a little more on the problem with this:
First of all let's state the obvious that their photos are not going to be as good as your hired professional photographer! You want the first photos the world sees of your exciting big day to be those captured by the person your paying to do their best job, not those poorly exposed grainy weirdly composed images that start getting tagged to you on FB within minutes of going down the aisle. Also Its always a bummer when your trying toget shots of family members and guests and their face is hidden behind a camera, or iphone snapping away. Also if their flash starts going off when mine does it'll mess with exposure and could cause me to miss a really big moment. Its a simple request you can have your ushers relay to your guests as they're seating and I can promise you no one is going to get offended over this.

4. Consider the time of day you are getting married when your considering your photos. Evening light is the best lighting. If your doing an outdoor ceremony I don't reccomend anything earlier than 4:00 any time of year. Any light earlier than that causes really harsh shadows on your face under your eyes and nose (creating that infamous raccoon look) and the exposure isn't as even over the entire area.

5. Consider Limiting your Family shot list. Limit the Family shots to maybe one big group of your whole family and then keep it to immediate family only. To be honest those are the only people purchasing those prints in the first place. Most of the cousins and what not you've invited are there because they heard there is free food and cake. I know you love you family, but your wedding day is not a family reunion time for your photographer to document. Also the more time you spend taking those 400 formal shots the less time you have for shots with your new spouse!

So as I said these are only helpful requests that I have heard more than one or two brides complain about and thought there is no better way to help this situation than to share it with the world =) I hope someone gets something out of this and it made a bride think of something she may not have and would have later regretted after her wedding, which is something I like to help my brides avoid feeling altogether! Enjoy and leave comments!

Keely Miller =)

I got hooked up with this little cutie and her mommy because I did their cousin's photos (The Stewart's) last fall during a trip to St. Louis. It took her a little bit to warm up to me, which is pretty natural for a 21 month old baby girl, but once her personality came out she really shined! Really enjoyed our short but productive session and got some adorable shots =) 

The Edmonds, Calls, and Cordell's!

3 seperate families that blend into one big beautiful one! I love this family and all they stand for. When I see them I see hard working, loving, funny, real, and TIGHTLY BOUND all wrapped up into one. They are amazing people with amazing personalities that really showed at the shoot. We shot at not the greatest time of day lighting wise but thankfully had some great shaded spots thanks to lots of trees, old barns/buildings and such! So glad they called me to do their shoot and I have to say the lighting quality of the last photo isn't spectacular but its hilarious! It's what happens when you try to get 3 kids 6 yrs and under to smile and pose in the extreme bright sun...I love the images that a child's innocence always brings to the shoot!  

What to wear to your photshoot

This has always been a general question asked of me when a family, senior, or newly engaged couple are booking their session with me, but lately its been the hot topic question from my amazing clients so i figured Its time to address it out in the open for all to know!

Your photoshoot is a time to capture who you are in this moment of time in your life. So I always reccomend just that: show up as who you are! =) You definitely can not pull off any look any better! The days of Black and Khaki, or white and jeans, or as we all know so well the matching polos are OUT! Since photography these days is taking a more fun and candid approach so can you with your clothing choices for the shoot! The goal is to have everyone complement each other, but not be too "matchy-matchy." I do reccomend avoiding giant logos but do encourage bold, patterns, and color!

Here's 2 statements i want you to take dearly to heart when considering what to wear:

Be Bold, and Its all in the details! lets break it down:

When I say "Be bold" I mean don't be afraid of COLOR! color is such a beautiful thing...our amazing God created so many amazing ones, so why shy away from it when its going to be in the images that follow us for a lifetime and are displayed along our walls and coffee tables with the people we love most in them?? Pick deep or rich colors for your shoot. They make your photos pop and make your color in your face warmer and richer too! I reccomend Jewel tones for they add such depth and drama to your photos! (emerald greens, purples, turquoise and blues, deep garnet reds etc.)

And now for what I mean by "It's all in the details":

Pick an accent color and run with it! like I said we don't want you to pick lets say green and all show up in your green polos and khaki pants. But we do all want to be wearing that shade somewhere in our outfit or a great shade of another color to compliment it. So lets go back to the example of picking green.. (in case you can't tell its my favorite color =) ) then pull in that beautiful emerald green by incorporating it in your accessories! Whether it be your scarf, jewelry, shoes, undershirts, tights, or hairbow those small details are what keep you from being the cookie cutter polo family but tie you in and compliment one another beautifully!

AND LASTLY! Don't be afraid to ask me, the pro! lol! =) I want to be involved in all the fine details of our photo experience together so that we produce the best images we possibly can to reflect your family, life, or love as a couple!