Teaser Slideshow: Chase and Kaylee wedding

Full blog post coming soon with photos and a full slideshow from their beautiful wedding, but here is a little slideshow teaser I created with a few of my fav images. I hope you enjoy it :)

Newest addition to my bag

I thought long and hard before purchasing this lens. I've heard and read all the raves about the 70-200mm f2.8L with IS, but to be honest, I just couldn't justify the price at this moment. I've tried that lens before and it is a really heavy lens but it takes amazing photos. I knew that I really wanted an L lens, but not so much to break the bank. And I knew I wanted something that I could use indoors as well and that had zoom. I searched and came across this lens. The 70-200 lens F/4 lens.

The different with the lens mentioned in the beginning is that the aperture only opens at f4 at it's widest and it has no IS. I thought to myself, well, I can deal the f/4 being it's widest aperture and if I needed to let in more light, I can bump up my iso and lower my shutter. BUT, since this lens has no IS, I knew I needed to be careful in how low I put my shutter speed. I know I can go as low as 1/80-1/60th of a second but anything under that, I need a tripod. I aint that good yet in keeping a steady hand, even if I hold my breath. Thankfully though, I also read that this lens is very light, WAAAYYY lighter than the 2.8 with IS. It's also smaller and a little narrower, so it's perfect in every way for me :)

I was able to try my new lens a couple of weeks ago during a shoot. It came in so handy because I wanted a specific shot, and I knew I wasn't gonna get it with my primes. I needed to be at a distance because I wanted a certain element in the foreground to show. I absolutely love this lens and I would highly recommend it if you are on a budget and want a good sharp L-series lens.

In other photography news, here's a great great article from DPS regarding engagement sessions! CLICK HERE to read a few tips from another professional.

 I LOVE engagement sessions because it gives me the ability to get to work with and get to know the couple before the wedding and put them at ease in front of my camera :) I also love that they get nice pictures during this special time that they will treasure forever.

Sweet tooth

I'm the type of person who likes to eat dessert before dinner.....and then some more dessert after dinner. Especially when I go to olive garden, I love their tiramisu!

Here are some of my favorite sweet images I took to work up your sweet tooth :)

There's nothing more I love than my mom's homemade pancakes

And my husband's homemade oatmeal cookies...mmmmmmm!

Easy listenings

I love alot of types of music. I like listening to rock, ska, and love dancing to some good spanish music that really moves you. I've really been thinking about taking up on belly dancing classes. A couple of my friends and I took a few classes about 3 years ago but we just kinda stopped because life got in the way. But seriously, if you ever have the chance to learn, it will really benefit you and I think it also boosts up your self esteem and confidence ;)

Here are a few easy listenings that I absolutely love from Joshua Radin. His music really inspires me in a way that I can't really explain. I just know that when I hear them, I get in an artsy mood. This is the cd I brought when I went to see him live in Orlando.

And here are a few magnificant songs by Joshua Radin. Just sit back and enjoy them :)

Jamal Johnson {Senior grad 2010}

It was a fun filled weekend for Jamal Johnson, packed with two graduation parties, lots of good food, and close friends and family. I had the pleasure of attending his graduation ceremony as well as both parties and we had such a good time! He deserves all this happiness and more. Here are a few photos I snapped of the fun party:

Forbeyon albums swatch samples

Ever since I came across Forbeyon wedding albums, I fell in love. They have so many beautiful cover options and you can even mix the leathers and colors to make the album completely your own. But there was one thing I wondered. I wondered if they had some sort of swatch samples for all their covers because I couldn't possibly order a ton of studio samples in every cover and combination. It would be such an overload for a client to view. Thankfully and brilliantly, they came up with these cute 3x3 square cutout samples. It showcases all their cover options and there are many but I think it will definilty give clients a feel for what their albums will look like.

They came in this cute little box:

and here are two of their albums that caught my eye. I love that you are able to personalize your album by including a cameo cut for your cover photo. The albums can also come with matching slipcases! So cool.

W3D1

So I made it to week 3 of my 5k challenge!!

Wow I'm SOO excited that I'm actually doing this. I never thought I would be able to push my body to run for a long period of time. During yesterday's work out, I literally felt like my head was gonna explode. Weired right? I don't know, I guess that's how my body responds to too much exercise that it's not normaly use to. But after cooling down and stretching, the burn felt sooo good! I can see now why some people get a high on running. It's the effect you feel afterwards. I've never felt so decluttered, even when I was at my thinnest 4 years ago. My chest felt clearer and you feel so light and crisp! This is what my routine will consist of for this week:

Brisk five-minute warmup walk, then do two repetitions of the following:

Jog 200 yards (or 90 seconds)
Walk 200 yards (or 90 seconds)

Jog 400 yards (or 3 minutes)
Walk 400 yards (or three minutes)

I know it may seem like nothing, but to ME, it was huge. Coming from not being able to jog for 30 seconds and feeling totally out of breath, to jogging for a full 3 minutes??? That is a HUGE HUGE step for me and accomplishment. I have two more of these 2 go for this week and then it's on with week 4, which looks really scary! But I know I gotta prepare myself mentaly for the challenge. I think that really helps.