The wedding day was just beautiful, at such a beautiful winery!! We started with a first look, then some family pictures before the ceremony. The ceremony was very special to me, with the officiant being another friend and also the groom of another wedding I was blessed to shoot. I can't explain how special weddings are to me, especially when I have friends that are a part of the wedding. I feel like I can't ever use enough exclamation points!!!! :) I had lots of fun catching up with friends a little, and meeting the fun guests during the reception! It was just an amazing day!!
Through all of the days, it was so awesome to see the love between these two. They are a couple that just obviously has fun together, and I hope you can feel that through the pictures. There was so much beauty through all of this, I could go one for a long time, but I will just stop and just say Happy Anniversary Danica and Matt!! I hope this day finds you extremely happy (and drinking great wine)!!
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To those who gave birth this year to their first child—we celebrate with you
To those who lost a child this year – we mourn with you
To those who are in the trenches with little ones every day and wear the badge of food stains – we appreciate you
To those who experienced loss through miscarriage, failed adoptions, or running away—we mourn with you
To those who walk the hard path of infertility, fraught with pokes, prods, tears, and disappointment – we walk with you. Forgive us when we say foolish things. We don’t mean to make this harder than it is.
To those who are foster moms, mentor moms, and spiritual moms – we need you
To those who have warm and close relationships with your children – we celebrate with you
To those who have disappointment, heart ache, and distance with your children – we sit with you
To those who lost their mothers this year – we grieve with you
To those who experienced abuse at the hands of your own mother – we acknowledge your experience
To those who lived through driving tests, medical tests, and the overall testing of motherhood – we are better for having you in our midst
To those who are single and long to be married and mothering your own children – we mourn that life has not turned out the way you longed for it to be
To those who step-parent – we walk with you on these complex paths
To those who envisioned lavishing love on grandchildren -yet that dream is not to be, we grieve with you
To those who will have emptier nests in the upcoming year – we grieve and rejoice with you
To those who placed children up for adoption — we commend you for your selflessness and remember how you hold that child in your heart
And to those who are pregnant with new life, both expected and surprising –we anticipate with you
This Mother’s Day, we walk with you. Mothering is not for the faint of heart and we have real warriors in our midst. We remember you.
- See more at: http://timewarpwife.com/?p=3120#sthash.pRZMXIr9.dpuf
I have been going back and forth with myself for a while about writing this blog. I am going to raise my prices this year, and that is not a decision that is easy for me to make. I am increasing my session fee by only $25, to $150 for a session. I will continue to require a $25 print purchase before I give the DVD of images. I have been debating because, as many of you know, I love photography and I love being able to provide great pictures to my clients for a reasonable price. But, I do know that I am way undercharging for the type of photography I do. I know you can go get pictures at a studio in the mall for a lower price, but I believe that I provide a much better experience for you and your family when I bring my studio to you and really take the time to capture the personality of whomever I'm taking pictures! I treasure the relationships I have built with my clients, love seeing the babies I photograph growing up, and enjoy getting to know couples as they get engaged, married, and have a baby. It is such a huge blessing to be a part of so many lives! So, I truly hope that my price increase will not deter any of my current clients or new clients from using me as their photographer. When you look at other professional photographers, you will realize that this is a very low price, but I realize that for some it will seem expensive. I am increasing my price to cover some more of the costs of my education, my cute props, and the new camera I so desperately want!! :) All of these will help me to improve my photography, which I am always striving to do so that I can provide better service to my clients!! I love my "job" of photography, and I thank you so much for checking out my page and hope you enjoy what you see here!
The slideshow is a collection of some of my faves from 2013! I look forward to seeing how my photography improves in 2014, and I thank you for being a part of that!
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For all mothers I pray for rest and peace and that everyday you would have renewed strength to love and care for your children.
For mothers who have lost a child, I pray that God will wrap you in His arms and hold you close and that you will know He is holding your child close too.
For those who have lost their mother, I pray for peace and that God will heal your heart a little bit each day.
For those who are longing to be mothers, I pray for peace and trust in God's will for your life. I've seen in my own family how good His will can be!
For those who have adopted a child, I pray a special blessing for embracing a child who may not have been in the best of situations without you.
I hope that you will see these pictures and feel the same joy and love that I do when I look at them. It is an honor and a blessing to have been a part of these families lives, even if just for a day. Thank you to all my clients for allowing me to share in your family's love, and Happy Mother's Day!
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This was the Bible verse for my weekend last weekend, and I would like to share it with you. "God told them "I've never quit loving you and never will. Expect Love, Love, and More Love." Jeremiah 31:3
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And now I want to talk about how fantastic the world of Macro Photography has been to me! I feel like it has reignited my desire to "play" with photography. Everywhere I look, I see ordinary things that will look really cool up close and personal. It has been a blast playing again, but I can't wait to use my wonderful new macro lens to get some great images for clients. Enjoy my "fun"!
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Despite a lower turnout than I had hoped (darn illness!), I count the day a great success! I had four sessions, with 6 kids and boy was it fun! Check out the pictures for yourself and you will see!
]]>I want to talk about not only how blessed I am! I am blessed that God gave me a talent and passion for photography. And I am blessed to be able to share that with others, which is why I believe He gave me such a gift. I have been so blessed to share in so many lives through weddings, family portraits, and numerous baby sessions. The best compliment anyone can pay me and my business is by hiring me to do multiple sessions for them! The pictures in this gallery are of my little friend Alyssa. She turned 3 back in November, and I am honored to have been taking pictures of her since she was 9 days old!! It is amazing to be able to share glimpses into who this spunky little girl is growing up to be!! She has always been a hat girl courtesy of her mom and grandma (sadly I am not locating her 9 month session, the parade of hats, right now), So, I was delighted to see her put on a purple leopard print cowboy hat and the second shot I took was a perfect image of sassy! I hope you enjoy looking at some of the pictures of Miss Alyssa growing up!!
]]>After the last session in Odessa, I headed back toward St. Louis and stopped in Columbia to see a friend from college and meet her adorable baby boy. It was so awesome to be able to meet her little boy and get to take some pictures of him for her, and get to hang out for a bit and catch up!
As soon as I got home I started loading pictures, and was thrilled to see so many great shots!! I hope that all of the families, and all of you, love the pictures as much as I do!!
]]>Yesterday I had a long day of shooting, with lots of driving and craziness in between. The morning got off to a rough start with my GPS leading me down the wrong road because of construction (and yet I still haven't updated my maps!) and consequently showing up to meet the sweet Bollinger family late and flustered. Then my second stop wasn't found by GPS, but Tara walked me through getting there over the phone, thankfully! Baby girl didn't want to sleep during my 3rd session, but Amber and Thomas are wonderful parents already and we were able to get some great shots! And then the crazy scary rain came on my way to my 4th and final session of the day with 2 sisters, Natalie and Laura. They were troopers and we took pictures under an umbrella for them, and one for me to shoot under. And we got some great shots for their mom for her birthday!
All through the craziness of the whole day, and as it always does when I am taking pictures, the craziness took a back seat to the fun of capturing memories. No matter what happened surrounding the pictures, I was blessed to be trusted with capturing those moments for 4 different families yesterday.
Some people tell me I need to slow down and I need to take time for myself, and sometimes I agree because I get overwhelmed with pictures to edit and I get stressed. But then I remember that the pictures that I take are going to be treasured by others, and hopefully my pictures will be a blessing back to them. God has given me a gift for photography, and I love to share it with others!
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I also wanted to announce that I am going to raise my prices beginning August 1st. I am going to charge $125 for a portrait session, and require the minimum $25 print purchase before providing the DVD of images. I have been spending a lot of time in the car, and a lot of money on gas. I also feel like the quality of my work has gotten significantly better since I started and I have never changed my price. I am going to begin offering First Year Packages for babies (Newborn, 3 month, 6 month, 9 month, and 1 year. For $500 you will get 5 sessions. You can pay the $500 up front or pay $125 for the first four and the fifth will be free, like a birthday present for you too! If I have already taken pictures for you in the past, I will do one more session for $100 and then I will change my pricing for the next session. I hope that this sounds fair to everyone, and that you will continue to choose me as your photographer!
]]>I met this couple, Laura & Dan at a wedding show last year, and took their engagement pictures last fall. They are such a sweet couple, I feel very lucky to have been given the opportunity to shoot their wedding.
The ceremony was short and sweet and afterward we took pictures in the chapel and then loaded a bus to head out for some wedding party photos. It was a hot day, but we stayed in the shade for some outdoor shots at Faust Park and the whole wedding party were great sports! I had a blast with the whole day, especially when we got to the reception and everyone was having fun on the dance floor!
The pictures by the old barn are some of favorites that I have taken. I hope you like them too! Enjoy some of my favorite images from this beautiful wedding day!!
]]>My fiance (oh how I love saying that!) Tim proposed to me in the most perfect way I can imagine for me. We were taking a private tour of our favorite winery in Healdsburg, CA in the Sonoma Valley. We were just walking around and I, of course, was taking pictures of their beautiful vineyard. Then, Tim suggested that we stop by the vines and take some pictures. We had two friends with us, Will and Carrie. So I handed my camera to Will thinking that we would take Tim and me first, then take some of Will and Carrie next. So we took some regular pics, then some silly, then Tim said "What if I pretend to propose?" and got down on one knee and held out a ring! I stared...seriously for at least a minute!! I was shocked!! Finally, I said "Seriously?!" then started crying and hugged him. Tim and Carrie both had to comment on how I hadn't actually answered before I finally yelled "Yes! Yes! Yes!!" And probably the best thing about all of his proposal, besides the fact that I am now engaged to the man I love and that I have a GORGEOUS ring, is that I have pictures of the whole thing courtesy of Will. And I have video courtesy of Carrie. So there is my perfect proposal story in a nutshell!
My plan is to tell you about some of my awesome sessions that I have had lately, like the wedding I will be shooting tomorrow, and the wedding I shot two weeks ago!
]]>This is my first blog ever and I have to say that it is a little strange! I have been wanting to start a blog forever and here I am! My photography has really taken off in the past year, and I couldn't be more excited. I feel that my photography is a wonderful gift from God, and I am thrilled to be able to share that gift with others. There is nothing that makes me feel happier than getting messages like these:
"They're adorable!!!!! wow! Tears tears tears!!!
"You must have really made an impression on my son. He's been talking about you all week and keeps telling me he wants to see Kim."
"How am I going to choose and this is not even all of them....sooo good!!"
"Thanks for everything.....can't wait for you to capture our daughter as she grows and her future siblings!"
I love being able to capture memories for my clients, and I look forward to watching babies and families grow!!
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