Happy New Year!

Here we go the start of 2012, and im looking forward to what God has in store for this year! i'm not one to make resolutions for the new year, i usually make them a month or two before and start them so it seems like a life change rather than something that will stop after a month. Last year i started to eat a little better.. and i still snack of course! but it's a slow process to move away from unhealthy food. so far we've been slightly better eating organic food, snacks, and rice dream for milk. in november i started working out again. man my motivation just hasn't been there! but we bought Kinect and zumba and dance central 2 and sports... so i want YOUR opinion. have you played the kinect!? and what have you thought about it? ill let you know what i think in a few months! my first weight goal is 5 lbs lighter by january 15th. slow process, so encouragement is appreciated! 

anyway, last year at this time was our (late) honeymoon to San Diego! and since those photos seem like they were taken so long ago, i thought i'd share our most recent trip to santa barbara instead. we went in november when brandon had some time off, this was a more relaxed trip, and well.. we felt pretty old since santa barbara is a lot of older people, but it was perfect and exactly what we needed. The ocean was a block from our motel, and it was a perfect getaway for my family. 

We didn't have the puppies til last may, and since this is their birthday month, murphy turns 1! then i thought i'd show them off a bit more. There WILL be a Murphy and Conner birthday celebration photoshoot. later to come of course! 

(click on photos to see some detail!)

before we even left for Cali, i had an image in my head that i wanted. it came true! at the motel, they had these old bikes to ride around the town, and i wanted them in the basket. i can finally erase that image from my iphone things i need to try! it's going above the couch. HUGE of course.  

we were trying to find things to do, and we gound some gardens that the pups could go to! time for enjoying beautiful trees, and walks, and good conversation with brandon. it was a perfect time. 

HOLY COW. we found a sail boat ride at sunset. i took TONS of photos, but ended up just relaxing and enjoying the ride. though i've never gotten sea sick... i might have gotten a little bit this time.. oops! Terrible but we don't remember how much it was... $50 at most. and so worth it! there was only one other couple up front, and it was romantic. 
had to hit up the beach ONE more time before we left back to the desert. Can't complain though i guess, i'm one blessed girl! 

do you have any suggestions on vacations in Cali!? we're thinking San Francisco at some point, and all things Disney too. maybe sometime this year, but our next trip will be hiking somewhere again! 

my encouragement for the new year for you is to go on some adventures with your loved one or friends! it doesn't have to be terribly far, or even expensive! but spend some time with them, find new places, try new food! and have a wonderful start to your new year! 

Family farm engagement session

first wow! it's been a little while since i posted anything, work and Christmas kind of took over my life for a little while! and since work has been so busy, i really haven't done many shoots outside of it. so i figured i'd do a tiny throw back. 

this past september i went back home to Minnesota! awww i'm still in love. and got to do some amazing shoots! so i thought i'd share them here. 

This engagement shoot is for Paige and Aaron, a beautiful couple i met while in college. (Paige was on our intermural  volleyball team which we kicked butt. sometimes. or goofed off and then danced about it in the parking lot, same thing.) 

After spending some more time with the two of them, i realize i wish i would've spent even MORE time with them during school. as a couple you can just feel the love they have for eachother, friendship and respect. I actually brought a friend to the shoot, and he and i sometimes would just watch them after i set them up and talk about how wonderful they were. inbetween shooting of course!

if you've looked through the galleries, there are a few of these there too! but i wanted to share more!

click on the images to see more detail!

 

did i mention how absolutely in love i am with the fact they wanted some shots on her family farm? i recently submitted some of these images when asked where is a great place for engagement shoots. honestly, a place that has meaning to you is a place i say we take photos! i must admit though, not being around anything green here in las vegas made me love shooting here even more! 

we could not have asked for a better day for these photos! and what adventures we had. let's not forget i stepped on a wire fence and starting bleeding. hmm.. but it was worth it! thank you to jordan who helped me! and Paige and Aaron, amazing!! 

Trash the dress!

Marie Antoniette styled shoot

finally it's here! I'm so excited to share this post with you! and finally some more and NEW photos! what a fanastic shoot! a little chilly for the models, poor things, but they were troopers and looked stunning. So Chelsea Nicole put together a trash the dress shoot for las vegas area photographers, and lots of people showed up! lots of fun, and something different. we split up into groups to shoot different models and areas set up. a special shout out to all the team that help put this together with Chelsea. Floral: Layers of Lovely, Cake: Gimme Some Sugar, Hair and Makeup: Your Beauty Call, Table and Decor: The Pottery Shop. 

everything looked beautiful and it was such a fun time to shoot and looking at some of the photos under the facebook group it's great to see all the different styles, angles, and ways to edit those photos! lots of good inspiration. and so glad Danette and i could go! very thankful for extra shoots for fun! 

so with each of the three models, we had a little time to shoot, unfortunately the sun was going down so quick, but i think we all got some great shots, and in one of the "stations" Steve Fogarty local lighting expert brought along some of his lights to teach us too! so not only was this a fun way to get some shots in, and meet some great area photographers while shooting GORGEOUS models, we were there to learn as well!

it was my first shoot-out with this group since moving to las vegas, i found this group through Chelsea Nicole, and contacted her before i moved here (from mn) and she invited me to this group! i went a few times, and it's a great way to really grow, and have some fun, and most importantly be encouraged. so i'm hoping to attend more group meetings to hang out with everyone and make some amazing photographers. this shoot completely inspired me for more shoots! so if you're interested, don't hesitate to ask! 

Did i forget to mention... a surprise! at the end, the girls had a fight with this amazingly beautiful (and might i add delicious!!) cake! just a few of the MANY of this cake fight. so cute. and the COLOR of that cake. too much, i fell in love.

do you have a place you go for inspiration? 

these are just a few of my faves, do you wanna see more!? 

let me know what you think. personally i'm so excited about these photos! thank you everyone who helped make this shoot happen! beautiful.

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Marriage encouragement

today is about encouragement! i'm going to start out by talking about these DVD's called "Laugh your Way to a better Marriage." Before we got married, Brandon attended a class at his church called marriage 101 which in itself i was impressed with. on a visit from Minnesota i got to attend one of the classes and each week they'd watch little clips from those DVDs. It is biblically based Christian organization that believes in healthy marriages, but even if you don't call yourself a Christian, it still has so much for you! He couples humor and biblically based teachings and principles to help sustain a healthy relationship. 

The first time Brandon and i watched it together we were not having any issues.. so don't think just because you're doing great right now you don't need this! the videos are increments of about 40 minutes, so they're great to watch as a tv show with your spouse, enjoying a closeness that you two can talk about! and laugh about too. one great thing i love about these dvds is you learn so much, tons of helpful insight, but it's presented in a way that makes helping your marriage more fun, and leaves you wanting to hear more!

Mark Gungor conducts these seminars around the U.S. and i have to say i think he's amazing! He's a senior pastor at a church in wisconsin, has been on focus on the family, and wrote a book about this too! click on his name to find out more about who he is and what the organization does. 

sorry about the low resolution here! click on the image to find out more! (image found online)

so if you want to try something to help or just encourage your marriage, try these DVDS out, it's a little bit easier way to do a seminar without the extra cost of going out of town, it's easy to do, and there's no excuse not to! i really think all couples should watch these together. you'll learn so much and have fun doing it!  

i think the best part about these dvds is that after watching them, and then talking to other friends of ours, we have directly seen exactly what Mark Gungor talks about, it's a great tool not only for your marriage, but recognizing the deeper issue of each argument. 

if you are interested or have any questions about these DVDS, let me know, and i'll make sure you get one! to this day my husband and i still quote some of the stuff Gungor says, and we get such a good laugh out of it. so if you're interested i'd be willing to talk about each session with you afterward too! 

Marriage. just wanted to encourage you today that it can be amazing! and here's one tiny step in helping, healing, or growing in it. 

Laugh your way to a better marriage! (click link to see a clip on youtube from the dvds) 

want to know a secret?

if you use lightroom or photoshop this secret is going to save you HUGE amounts of time. RPG keys. here's a photo! This is an amazing tool that i found out about after working for the chapel. and when i first sat down to start post processing, i wasn't sure about this concept, i mean there are quick keys and a mouse to help speed up processing, but after a few weeks (shorter if you're constantly using them!) you'll fall in love. 

if you read some of the keys you'll see it's just a quick key among itself. your "home row" is your pointer finger sitting on the next key and your middle resting on the previous key. it helps you zoom through lightroom cutting your workflow time to at least half. after working with them for a year at the chapel, it was on my want list. they're a bit spendy, but if you're serious about photography they're definitely worth it. i truly believe every photographer should own them. after giving them a few tries it'll be as fast as typing, and it'll help you stay consistent since you can get through work much more quickly. if you're editing a session, you can get through the whole thing rather than taking breaks! (of course go back and add even more special effects. but still)

i'll explain the option 1 keys too.  it's the black key on the bottom right corner. example- you want less blacks in a photo, you hold down option 1 key with your thumb and hit blacks (right above next) it makes editing completely doable with the one hand so you can be watching the photos rather than hand position. seriously... come over and give it a try! :) it's also easy to paste from previous so if the lighting is almost the same you only have to tweak the next photo after perfecting the first! 

after much jealousy of these keys, a friend tried out something similar, you can find out that using old game pads you can connect to lightroom and it'll act as the same, except no matter how you program them, it won't be as quick. believe me, it's not just me, plenty of people have tried. but there is no match to the RPG keys. 

and now that i've actually purchased them for myself, i've learned even more! i also bought the plug in for photoshop, and i haven't messed with it enough but so far i'm super impressed that you hit "next" it'll save the image and open the next. wow the amount of time being saved with just that is worth it! 

this is a product that i absolutely adore and am so happy i got them! and to express how much the other photographers love them too.. they've told me they're a bit jealous and are going to be coming over just to edit. 

ANOTHER feature- i haven't set this up yet, it's slow workflow coming through right now, but you can set your own quick keys so if you use an action you've made in photoshop EASY to get to. 

if you want to learn more about them, visit rpgkeys.com, they'll also probably be at WPPI again this year! i had a chance to talk to the guys who made them, awesome! they'll help you out. and when you purchase them, you'll get emails so PEOPLE not just messages sent can help you set them up and figure them out. just love this product. 

i could go on and on but i'll spare you my huge obsession beyond what i already have shared. if you have any questions or comments about these, let me know! i'd be happy to answer anything regarding this product. LOVE! 

OH AND DID I MENTION!?! pin up shoot tomorrow! stay tuned!