Where does the time go?

I've done it once again; I've managed to go like three months without posting anything. Sadly, I should be posting something every time we do something. Unfortunately, I have not been able to keep up with that. Now, I am left to describe the past three months in a few words and pictures that definitely not do them justice.

Since my last post, we have shot baby portraits for several lovely families, a maternity shoot, done Christmas cards for a few families, had two engagement shoots, a bridal, shot a wedding, shot some senior portraits, and who knows what else. Oh yeah, I also shot a few maternity type shots for my pregnant wife. Yep, we're expecting a BABY! How crazy is that?

We've got a wedding coming up tomorrow, so I promise I will try to have a post just for that.

Rogers Bridal Show

Today was exhausting but awesome. Today, we had a booth at a bridal show in Rogers and got the chance to talk to tons of couples. It is always very exciting and fun to do this. The couples are so giddy and anxious for their big day it shows on their faces. I love that energy that they bring with them. I think that's why I enjoy weddings so much; it's unlike any other experience.

Besides meeting new people, I always end up seeing people I know. I saw several people I went to school with and family acquaintances. It gives me a chance to catch up and talk about weddings at the same time.

We did some different things with our booth this year. My father actually helped us make a fake wall to hang pictures, and we used a more open plan. It looked much better than last years setup.

Overall, I think it was a pretty successful time. I met photographers, brides, and saw old friends. I can't wait till the next one.

Babies, babies, and well...a two year old.

I'm getting to the age where everyone I know is having kids. I still find it really weird that so many people I went to high school with are now in charge of a child's life. They have a little version of themselves running around. Crazy.

I've been lucky enough to photograph two of these lovely children: Brooklynn and Zoey. They are both beautiful baby girls with parents who just love them to pieces.

We also got to shoot Gunner again for his 2nd birthday. Gunner is just a bundle of energy. He was constantly moving and going the entire time. If his mother hadn't been there to stop him, he probably would have disappeared off into the horizon.

Hanging out with these guys and gals makes me a little sad that I don't have a child yet. They are great children. All I know is that when I do have a child, there are going to be thousands of pictures taken!

New, new, new

It seems like I'm constantly trying to think of new ways to improve our services. It's always on my mind. Sometimes it even keeps me up at night. Well, recently we have changed quite a few things and I think it's a large improvement.

We have a new website. I got tired of the old one and really didn't have the energy or time to create a new one, so I went and got some help. Our new website is easily updated and changed, which will be very helpful for adding new pictures to the site. Before, it was a big ordeal to add any new images, so I usually did it once every 4 months. Not good.

We've also added a new product to our packages. We are now offering deluxe layflat leather albums. These babies are nice. They totally blow away our old album. Once you pick it up, you can tell it's quality. The album is solid, probably around 4 pounds. The neat thing about the albums is that there is no gap in the middle of the pages. On a normal magazine like page, the pages round out and you can't really see the middle part of the page. Not on these. The pages actually lay flat so you can see the whole page. This also allows us to have images that cover two pages. The covers have tons of options. You can have just one simple material, or you can mix two materials together, creating all types of possibilities.

The website is still being updated and changed. If you see any errors or have any ideas, please feel free to shoot me an email.

New DVD cases

Ashley and I have been really trying to improve our overall services this past year. One thing we have started doing is providing high quality, stylish cases for our customers. We've looked at a few different companies and options and found some we like. All the cases have two spots in them for DVD's because we usually provide at least two discs: bridal or engagement, wedding day, or a DVD slideshow. We will be including these cases with our packages now, and I think our customers will love them!

Finally an update...

Well, it has been quite awhile since I updated this thing, over a month actually. I think I have slacked on my duties mainly because I have been so busy with pictures. I finished editing the last of my sessions today, so now I feel a bit of freedom.

A lot of things have been going on in the past month. First, we shot several different weddings. That by itself has kept me extremely busy. We have also added a new area to our coverage: senior portraits. Through Ashley's connections, we got opportunity to work with Emily. Emily is going to be a senior at Har-ber High next year, and she was awesome. She put up with all the weird things we made her do (balancing on a train track, blowing bubbles...) and did it with a smile. I'm really hoping we expand in this area because it is very different than the other shoots we do. Senior portraits bring into account the personality and interests of our model, so this allows us to do all different types of things. In a few weeks, we will be shooting another senior that plays the drums. This just opens so many more possibilities. Next, I spent a good amount of time updating our website with new pictures from this year. I moved some things around and added lots of new pictures. I'm also in the middle of switching up our whole price/package system. I've been looking at upscale albums and it's very exciting that we will be soon offering such a great product to our customers.

Lots and lots of stuff, but now I am pretty much all caught up. Hopefully, in the next few days I will post items from each of the things I talked about so everyone can see the great people we've been dealing with.

Michelle and Josh's Wedding

Saturday Ashley and I had a blast shooting Michelle and Josh's wedding. Every wedding is fun and unique in it's own way, and this wedding was especially memorable.

The day started off with the girls and getting ready. The girls did their normal thing: hang out, talk, get excited. There were some great conversations and some drama; can one bad flower spoil the whole bouquet? I also learned that it's ok to have cookies for breakfast.

About noon I proceeded to meet the guys. One thing I always look forward to is finding out who the crazy people are at a wedding. Sometimes it's the girls who are outgoing and wild, other times it's the guys; at this wedding, I'm going to have to give the prize to the guys. Let's just say there was some alcohol, a groomsman practicing his wolfpack speech from "Hangover," and an Irish hat/wig.

The ceremony was Catholic, which for me is a new thing. I've only done one other Catholic wedding and this one was a little different. Growing up Baptist, I never really have experienced something like this. It was very emotional and the audience was involved throughout the whole process, repeating scripture, praying, and greeting each other with a hug.

After the ceremony is when the fun really began. We travelled to Dickson Street to the Garden Room. Everyone was excited and laughing and just hanging out. The music started and there was some crazy dancing going on. The night ended in climax with the classic pelting of the bride and groom with rice as they ran toward their getaway. The real excitement, though, was when Josh tried to back his truck out of a small space with a hundred of his closest friends and relatives all trying to give him directions at the same time. Luckily, he made it out safely and everyone cheered as he drove off.