Photography Class Progress

My latest set of assignments for the photography class I teach at MBU was pretty simple. There were two photos of the same group of guys. One guy had his eyes closed, so the class had to copy his head from the other photo and combine the two into one, so that everyone had their eyes open. One of my students who will remain nameless did this when I asked him to make sure everyone's eyes were open:



Yeah, I'm a pretty awesome teacher ;).

Engagement Guestbooks

I've been working hard this winter on lots of exciting new things for next year's brides :). One of products that I'm most excited about offering this year is the Guest Book Album. This piece is a press-printed book of engagement photos, surrounded by lots of white space so your guests can sign around the artwork. Basically, it looks like a book of photography that you could find in Barnes and Noble... only the photos are of you! The books come with a hard cover, dust jacket and an embossed luster sleeve. I've just ordered my first of quite a few books, and I can't wait to get them in. I'll be sure to post a few photos when they arrive :). I've worked in graphic design for almost four years, and it's always fun to infuse my wedding work with some fun designs.

If you'd like to see an example, click here or play the slideshow below for a recent design I completed. For this book, I used black space instead of white space, which created a bit trendier design. I include a smear-proof pen with all my guest books, so for books with more black space, I would include a silver pen, making it even cooler :). If you're interested having me make a guest book of your engagement photos, shoot me an email, and we can chat :).

Welcome Home, Colin

My cute, cute cousins added a little brother to their bunch on January 17. After being sick with jaundice for a little while, Colin made a full recovery and is now doing just great :). I had the chance to go visit Colin at home for a little photo shoot, which was, I'm sure, the first of many :). I just can't get enough of these kids!

I had some fun ideas for some shots of Colin while he was sleeping, but he was one alert baby!  I thought we were getting close to a nap here, but it was just a yawn.  A super cute yawn.

Sleeping (momentarily) with mom and dad.

When Kathy (mom) went to the hospital to have Colin, she left her oldest daughter, Maddie (5) cute little post-its all over the house to let her know that she was thinking about her.  So when Kathy came home with Colin, she found these on her mirror from Maddie.  Isn't that just the cutest?!

Sarah and Maddie with their new brother

New Website!!

I'm so excited to finally announce that my new website is LIVE!!!



I've updated all the galleries, added new categories, and even updated my bio info. Check it out and let me know what you think!

Website Issues

Apparently, there is some trouble a-brewing with my current website hosting company, and it looks like my site will be down for a day or so. Boo!! In the mean time, if you're searching for my wedding and portrait package information, shoot me an email and I'll be happy to send you a pdf. Hopefully by the beginning of next week, my brand-spankin new site will be LIVE and the fact that the old one is down won't matter! I'm so excited I can hardly stand it!

Have a great weekend!

Another session from warmer days

Last April, my husband had the opportunity to lead a youth weekend for a church in St. Louis, and I decided to tag along. I volunteered as a small group discussion leader for high school girls, and we started the weekend out at Donna's beautiful home. I don't really remember what we all we talked about that first night in our small group discussion, but my oh my, Miss Donna made some amazingly sinful desserts that still bring a smile to my face even today. I think I ate about 5 brownies just while we getting to know each other. Ah, I miss those brownies.

Well, a few months later, Donna's son Justin got engaged, and what an honor it is to have the privilege of photographing their wedding! We met up around Thanksgiving at one of my favorite coffee shops, Park Avenue Coffee in Lafayette Square, to shoot Justin and Erin's engagement photos. These two were great to work with and I'm really looking forward to their wedding in June!

Take a look at those eyelashes!


The sunlight looked magical that day as it set, so you know I had to get me some sunflare!


This type of light is my favorite... It's so flattering and warm. To get this kind of light, it's best to schedule your photo session about 1.5 hours before sunset. Photographers often refer to this timespan as the golden hour, and it's pretty easy to see why.

Japanese IQ test

If you need a little break from work today, check out this Japanese IQ test!  My brother sent it to me, and gosh, I felt so invigorated when I finally solved it! One little problem... the instructions page is written in Japanese. No worries, I've used my mad skills to translate it for you (a.k.a. - I found it on another blog ;) ). Check it out and let me know how fast you complete it!

Here are The Japanese IQ Test rules:

The object is to get all the people to the opposite side of the river. You will know you achieved this because they'll all jump up and down with glee. But you must follow these rules:

Only 2 people can be on the raft at a time
The Father cannot stay with any of the Daughters without the Mother being present
The Mother cannot stay with any of the Sons without the Father being present
The Thief (striped shirt) cannot stay with any family member if the Policeman is not there
Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman are able to operate the raft, so at least one of them have to be on board to drive it across to the other side
To move the people click on them. To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

Click here to go to the puzzle. Once there, click the big blue circle to begin and have fun!

winter weather woes

After Christmas is over, I really don't see the need for winter. I mean, it gets dark way too early, the weather is miserable, and there's always someone getting the flu. And, um, who likes to be pasty white for months at a time? Not me, that's for certain. So, next year, I vote that we cancel January through February and start the new year with spring. I think that should be the platform for one of our presidential candidates. Or maybe I should just don my new chunky scarf I got for Christmas and be thankful that puffy vests are still in style...

Anyway, to rescue me from my winter woes, here are some photos from warmer days that I've not yet posted:). I did this engagement session with Davey and Ashley before I became a regular blogger, so I've been meaning to post it for a while. Enjoy and be warm!

Could Davey and Ashley be any cuter?? They are one of those couples that makes me really enjoy my job. They've got that adorable, genuine giddiness with each other, so as a photographer, my job was easy:).


I'm really looking forward to their wedding in downtown St. Louis later this summer. They've got an awesome ceremony location right in the middle of all the the downtown action, and I can't wait! And God bless Davey's family... his brother Tyler is getting married just a month prior (I'll be shooting their wedding too:) ).

Shooting engagement photos in Queeney Park is always a blast. The park has tons of great architecture and beautiful landscaping.

So Davey and Ashley have lots of personality. And attitude. And really big sunglasses:).

Love this photo. I put this one on the front of my business card.

Oh! And for all of you wondering... I have beaten my caffeine addiction! I still love the stuff, but I'm no longer a slave to it. For now ;).