This internet, is how I know my husband loves me. Last week I had just gotten home from California and was getting ready to head out the door for Hannah & Alex's wedding and as I looked down to grab my purse, this is what I saw! I recently discovered these little pieces of heaven and have been slightly addicted to them. And at that moment when I was feeling a little bit stressed and hurried, I looked down and the world seemed right. Yes, I know that seems a little strange, but chocolate always seems to make things right with me!

Today is Scott's birthday and right now we are spending our last morning relaxing at the property before coming home from camping for the weekend. And I just want to say Happy Birthday honey! I love you and all of the ways you make things "right" in my world!

Hannah & Alex are Married!

We sure have been blessed with some nice weather here in Michigan these past couple of days, and Mother Nature has been awful kind to my May brides. She sure did come through for Hannah & Alex. The forecast called for rain and that morning Hannah had texted about a "backup" plan for portraits in case of the rain. I tried to convince her that it wouldn't rain, in the best way that I could. I may have even mentioned the superstition of it being good luck. Then I tried some "preventative" measures, you know, leaving my sunglasses at home, stopping to buy 5 black umbrellas, just in case I may have any control over it! I doubt that I had anything to do with it, but thankfully the day turned out to be beautiful and the rain held off until that night!

What started out as a neighbor helping out, turned into a lifetime of love ahead of them. Hannah just graduated from Detroit Mercy with a degree in biology and this summer her and Alex will be moving to Japan!

Hannah and Alex you are undoubtedly relaxing on some beautiful beach in Hawaii right now, which makes me very envious I must say. But I wanted to thank you for inviting me to capture your wedding day for you. You guys are an amazing couple and deserve nothing but the best! And to see more images from their beautiful day, there's a slideshow at the end of this post.

Hannah's dress was absolutely amazing!

A little practicing...

I love this moment between Hannah and her mom...

I rented a lens I've been thinking about getting for some time now, and this image I got makes me think it's not going to be too much longer before

We went to Heritage Park for portraits after the ceremony, but didn't realize that reservations were necessary. At least they were kind enough to let us shoot in this area. Brides make sure you call plenty of time in advance if you want your pictures here!

Can you believe Alex and Hannah made this themselves? WOW!

Escalate 2010

I can't believe it's been so long since my last post. Things have been quite busy over here for the last few weeks. I've been shooting like mad, with weddings, boudoir sessions, e-sessions and OP Love sessions. All the while to remind myself to take some time away to spend with my husband. He thinks I work to much! Which I probably do, but I can't help it. I love what I do and would rather be working at the computer than watching TV. With all of that, blogging sort of becomes the analogy of a "red headed step child". Blogging is one thing that I really want to work on in my business this year. I really want to start blogging not only my photography shoots, but I want to start getting a little more personal here, adding some little snippits of my personal life. It's something that I struggle with and I'm hoping to change all of that.
In the midst of all of my sessions, last week I had the opportunity to travel to California for a 2 day photography conference. I have always believed that education is of great importance. Maybe it's because of the way my mom would always do whatever she could to engrain it into my head growing up. As a kid and talking about what I wanted to do when I "grew"up, she'd just throw out one little word comments like "COLLEGE"! So it was inevitable that I would get my bachelor's degree, I even started working on my Master's degree at one point.
Now that my "previous" life has ended and I'm no longer a member of the Auto Industry and settling into my new career as a photographer, I'm still in awe of the amazing opportunity I have in front of me. And now that I'm part of an industry that is full of self taught individuals, including myself, I still feel that education is very important. Seminars, conferences and workshops, keep me fresh and constantly learning and trying new things. I attended Imaging USA in January, and learned so much and I was literally bummed out that I didn't make the trip to WPPI this year. So when I first heard the announcement of Escalate 2010, I just knew that I had to be there. All of my favorite photographers speaking in 2 days under one roof? Seriously? I wasn't about to miss it. In my head, I was already there. And lucky for me, I had a friend living in Laguna Beach, just a few minutes from the conference!
I really didn't take as many pictures as I thought I would, I pretty much just took it all in. And to be honest, it was a nice break being without my camera and really living in the moment. And it turns out that I can be a little "starstruck". Not in the Hollywood starstruck way, I honestly don't think I would have recognized any famous movie stars if they would have bumped right into me on the walk of fame! But put these photographers in front of me and all of a sudden, I was like a child meeting their favorite Disney characters at Disney World. Seriously folks, totally intimidated. I've been following Jasmine Star and Jessica Claire since before I even launched my business and had the opportunity to see Jerry Ghionis and Dane Sanders speak Nashville. Add Becker, David Jay, Jeremy Cowart and Julieanne Kost into the mix and wow! Talk about one heck of a conference! Not only are they are all amazing artists, but what I love the most about them is how real they are and willing to share to help other photographers grow. I've learned so much from all of them. I also had the opportunity to connect Denise Hummel, another Michigan photographer while I was out there!

The Lido Theatre where the conference was held was amazing!

My dear friends Rebecca & Sergio! Thank you so much Rebecca for letting me stay with you!

I had some free time before my flight left out of LAX so I decided to hit Hollywood and check it out. These two stopped me and asked if I would like my picture taken with them. At least I'm in one picture from my trip!

Addy & Mike are Expecting!

Last week I had to opportunity to capture an amazing moment in life for Addy & Mike. Their expecting twins in July, and when she asked me to document this special time for them, I was so very, very, happy! They wanted their session where they were married and as I've said before I L-O-V-E it when couples make their sessions personal and this was perfect!

We tried a couple of different times to schedule their session, but Mother Nature wasn't having it. We finally had some nice weather and we met up at the FOP in Chesterfield. The field was a little bit of a mess with all of the heavy winds and storms that had blown through recently. And I didn't exactly pick the right shoes for the occasion. I ended up being "mauled" by a fallen branch (okay maybe it was a twig), but regardless it had stabbed me right in the arch of my foot! Thankfully Mike had some extra tissue and I was able to stop the bleeding and continue on with our session. Next time I won't be wearing sandals!

Here's some of my favorite images from our session and don't forget to check out the slideshow at the end!

Addy and Mike are expecting twin girls and she is looking absolutely radiant!

I just love the expression on Mike's face in this image!

So dreamy...

The light was absolutely perfect giving this nice ethereal glow.

And this is the look of joy! Can you imagine being any happier for watching your dreams come true?

Addy & Mike, I'm so happy for you guys! Congratulations on your little girls! And thank you so much for the fabulous evening. It was so nice to see you guys again and catch up. I'm looking forward to meeting the twins in a couple of months!

And to see a slideshow of more of their images, click here!