Kristin

My very first photo shoot.

It was a hot sunny summer day, I was still unfamilar with much of my 7D, but my model was a beautiful young lady... it would take allot to mess this one up. And there were some very pleasing results.

She was in need of her Senior photos, and I was in need of some photos. You have to have that before you can sell yourself as a photographer, right?

For almost 3 hours, I compelled her to stay in front of my camera, and after 800+ shots, I realized I wore her out. Lesson learned– don't.wear.out.the.model. But she was a trooper, and the day was fun, she got some photos, and so did I.

Olivia+Zach

Last warm Saturday in 2010, literally... In hindsight, It was the last time we could have done it, and even though there was rain and wind in the forecast that day, we persevered... fortunately, the weather men missed the mark again.

I had a couple of locations in mind when we met that afternoon, and we chose the beautiful campus of Southern Illinois University for starters. From the gitgo, I was really impressed with this couple. Their plans all laid out in front of them–really had their stuff together, and I could really feel the love between them, thats what makes it great. I could tell from the first few images this was going to be a fun shoot!

There were a couple of shots I had in mind that I wanted to try, and one of them was the one by the campus lake at sunset. This was my favorite shot of the day. The night before, I watched an intensive 3 hour DVD tutorial from Michael Andrew on how to use my flash unit, the Canon 580EX, and it paid off... I felt like a pro after watching it. I also bought a Gary Fong light diffuser and used it the entire shoot with much satisfaction.

I really, really love photography, I have since I was a kid, and when you add the mix of true love, good light, great equipment, and a blessing from above with a good day... it makes it all worth while.

Launch Day

3:30 a.m.

Sleep is not an option right now. I guess this is the official launch of my photography business. I got back into photography in July 2010 after reading a review of the Canon 7D on VideoCoPilot.net, so I purchased it and a 50mm f1.4 lens. .....$11,000 of lenses and gear later, and while waiting for my Canon 5D MKII which is being shipped from Amazon as I write this, here goes something.

I shot my first wedding in October 2010 and really really enjoyed the pressure, the emotion, the have-to-nail-this excitement, so this is my main push for now. I am spending hours of my free time adding to my knowledge of photography from some incredible pros on the net, Michael Andrew, Jasmine Star, Jeremy Cowart, Chase Jarvis, just to name a few...

I have a bridal show to prepare for this week, so I must get to it.