St. Charles/St. Louis Photographer ~Happy New Year~

Wow, 2011 already. I can't believe it! A year & a half in this amazing photography business. I have been so blessed to meet some amazing photographers in the area this year that have taken the time out of their busy schedules to encourage me, let me shoot with them, and most importantly befriend me! Jenny Hodges from Moondance Photography, Stacy McPeek Smith from McPeek Smith Photography, and Laurie Nowling from Laurie Nowling Photography to name a few. Thank you ladies so much! Your kind words & friendship mean so much! I also want to thank all my friends back home for hiring me to take pictures of your families throughout the year and helping my portfolio grow tremendously! So many changes this year for me as a photographer. I saw my photography skills grow and when I look back at pictures from when I first started all I can think is wow. My art is so different now and a true reflection of me!

On a more personal note. We experience our first full year of peace without chaos...well somewhat, without living with a child with Reactive Attachment Disorder in our house. A very important change that has allowed our family to live a normal life. I have to tell you. Those 5 years were the most difficult years of my life and to still feel compassion & empathy after all that I must thank God! Really, unless you've experienced it, You have NO idea!!! I am thankful they are in places that can keep them & us safe & also get the help they need. I pray all the time for God to help heal their hearts from all the heartbreak & pain they have endured. Speaking of God, our family finally found a church family that we absolutely love. So excited to grow more as a Christian and get to know these amazing people more this year!

Positive changes, NO NOT RESOLUTIONS, to come this year. Weight loss, healthier relationships, more healing, and more growth as a photographer. This will be my first year as a primary for weddings and I am so excited! I plan on 2nd shooting alot again this year though and hoping to get to work with more fantastic photographers in the STL!!! Here's to a Happy New Year to all my friends, family, & clients. I love you all!

I thought I would end my last blog post of 2010 with some of my favorite images of the year. I think these images truly reflect me and my clients...

"I find joy in capturing you, the real you. True, raw emotions. The love between husband & wife. The laughter of a child. The spunky spirit of a teenager. The love of music through the eyes of a musican. The tears of a baby. This is what breathes life into my photography. Life itself." The new decription of my photography on my website:)

St. Charles/St. Louis Family Photographer-Cobblestone Road Photography~Love Without Restraint

I love her. Plain & simple. The End. :)

St. Charles/St. Louis Photographer ~RANDOM THOUGHTS~

An inside look of what is going on in my brain today. Be afraid. Be very afraid. I will warn you, my thoughts are all over the place today...I will number my thought is an attempt to be better organized (a goal for the new year!) 1) I have completely & totally failed at the blogger challenge. Life & sickness has gotten in the way:( I am going to try again after the holidays. 2) I have so much personal & profession stuff to blog about. One of my goals, no NOT New Years Resolution, actual real goals that I hope to reach, is to become a better, more interesting blogger. I want everyone to actually get to know me. The real me. The goofy, quirky, sometimes funny, sometimes sarcastic me. Yes, these walls I've build up around me are going to come down! Yes, the last 6 yrs have been a challenge for me. Yes, I need to forgive myself in order to move past some things. Yes, I need to open up myself to the possibility of getting hurt because it's a part of life. I need to learn to trust people again and by golly I am going to do this. I heard someone (okay so it was the dude who got a new house build by Extreme Home Makeover from my hometown of Pensacola, Fl....Holla!!!) He said no matter what happens in your life....KEEP LOVE IN YOUR HEART! This moved me more than I can say. Man, I am going to start keeping more love in my heart! I am going to keep love in my heart for the lady at the school pickup line who always glares at me when I park and walk up to pick up my daughter( um HELLO, it's allowed.) Oh wait, that was not keeping love in my heart. FAIL. Okay, so I am a work in progress;-) I'm going to keep love in my heart for people who cut in front of me in line (i might have to bite my tongue though, hey just keeping it real!) Anyway, you get the drift. 3)This year I am going to lose this extra weight. I have to! I booked a family photography session with Clary Pfeiffer from Clary Photo so dadgummit I AM going to look good for those photos! I've got 4 months so pray for me people. Pray hard!!! Those sweets do me in! 4) I want to learn film photography in 2011. So excited but I have no clue where to start! 5) My house needs to be decluttered something fierce. Come spring time I am throwing stuff out to the curb! Anyone want to buy a queen size futon? 6)I want very much to become more involved in the church I'm going to. I love this church!(Refuge Church St. Charles, Mo) 7)I want to make more friends. Real friends. Friends with common interests & goals. It's been a long time since I've let someone "in" and it's time! 8) I really wish my "sick" daughter would stop jumping on the couch. Oh crap, now I have turned into my mother! Um, not that this is a bad thing...Hi Mom, love you:) Okay so these are the thought going through my head right now & I have to come to realize after reading this post that therapy may be in order, lol! Have a great day friends! :) Remember to always KEEP LOVE IN YOUR HEART!!!

St. Charles/St. Louis & Pensacola, FL Wedding Photographer

Day #4 Blog Post
I've realized that I need a new website. Dedicated to one thing only. Weddings!!! To me it just doesn't make since for potential bridal clients to look through my portraits so I am creating a website filled with photos that pertain to weddings. It is a pain in the rear but in the end it will be well worth it. I like things to be organized and this way I can keep portraits and weddings separate! So be on the lookout for my new website coming soon! Peace out my friends!

St. Charles/St. Louis & Pensacola, FL Photographer

Day #3 Blog post
I am tired. I've been editing for days. I spend all my time in front of the computer editing. I love, absolutely love photography. I love looking at, taking, & editing pictures. But the majority of my photographer friends limit the amount of pictures they edit & offer for their sessions to 15 to 25 at the most. I typically edit 40 at least. My house is suffering. My family is suffering. I am suffering. So starting in January I am limiting the amount of images I offer to 15 to 25. I love my job and it is important to me, but my family is more important! This is a big change for me and it needs to be done. I hope everyone understands!
On another note here is a rare thing...A picture of me & my favorite girl taken by my husband. See you tomorrow when I share a favorite recipe! :)

St. Charles/St. Louis Child Photographer~ Life is precious

Blog #2 Okay so it's day 3 but I did this last night, just forgot to publish it! So I'll do 2 posts today!
My Aunt asked if I could take some family pictures at a friends farm. It was a great deal! Bring my daughter & she can ride on a horse. Yes please!!! The session went well and we had a ton of fun. However on a more personal note....on our way home we came upon a horrific accident that had just happened seconds before. It changed our lives. I won't go into details but I drive alot more carefully now. I cherish life a whole lot more. And I hold my loved ones much closer. It was a bittersweet day and we are still trying to recover from what we saw.(My husband stopped to help so we saw more than I care to remember:( Anyway, I am so happy with the images I captured that day of our loved ones and I am grateful they are in our lives! Hope they forgive me for posting the last picture!!! It makes me happy, had to include it!

Horse pictures in the next post:)

St. Charles/St. Louis & Pensacola, FL Photographer

Blog #1
I am taking part in a blog off set up by a fellow photographer friend. 25 days straight of blogging about nothing, something, anything, could be personal or professional whatever. I am a blog procrastinator so this should be fun. Hey Stacy, is there a prize for doing this, lol! Just kidding!!! So today I will blog about Fall and how quickly it was gone. I literally did one session and then the beautiful colors were gone. Well that's because I did most of my fall sessions in Florida this year:) So I can't complain! Fall this year lasted all of 5 minutes. Then the leaves & bright colors were gone. And now it's cold. And I need a cup of hot cocoa.

Here is proof that Fall was here if only just for a moment.
SOOC because I like them just the way they are:)