Sara Parker Photography

NEW BLOG!

2009-02-12T07:40:00.006-05:00

After much research and thought, I have decided to get and design a new, more professional looking blog! I am so excited! I have been wanting a blog that allows (1) me to post BIGGER pictures, (2) people to leave comments without totally confusing them about whether or not they need to have some sort of an account, and (3) me to completely customize and make it my own! I have found the answer! My new blog is www.swparkerphotography.com/blog. Check it out! There you will find my newest post from an awesome shoot I did last week and all other posts from now on. I am still making some minor adjustments, but feel free to subscribe so you can be notified every time I post something new! Thanks for your interest!! :)

College DAZE!

2009-02-07T13:03:00.009-05:00

Two of my good friends turned 25 this week. They had an awesome party last night. The theme was College Daze- you had to wear something you wore in college. Happy Birthday to Katherine & Alison!! Love you guys!

There is actually a story behind this picture which came from a previous birthday celebration (Karin & Ryan's) in January...CLICK HERE to read it :)

The cake:
An AWESOME shirt Karin got Katherine for her bday (courtesy of shirt.woot.com):
A close-up. Yes, it is so good, it deserves 2 pics! Karin promises to get me one this cool for my birthday...
Sweet Couple:)
We played some pretty fun, yet intense games: 'V' for VICTORY
Both birthday girls won their respective matches
One of the winning teams:
The Scoreboard!
Wes and Dylan were a team and they won as well! Here are some fun shots of them:

I love the Dylan's intense look top right...

Kati came in town with her boyfriend to hang out this weekend! We were all so excited to see them!
Ha...I thought about showing up to the party in a leotard because I spent most of my time dancing in college, but I am so glad I didn't...I would have looked like Elle Woods from Legally Blonde when she showed up to the party in a skimpy bunny suit. YIKES. Glad I stuck with the Tridelt shirt.

Random Eye Candy :)

2009-02-05T17:07:00.007-05:00

It was a good day. For once, I had time to be BORED, so I started taking random pictures of things in my house. I LOVE taking pictures of anything and everything; especially random stuff...I think it tells a lot about the person behind the camera. For once, I came home from work and found that I had NOTHING to do. Ha...there must be SOMETHING to do. Nope. Nothing. This is very new for me. I don't know what to do with myself. All I know is it's awesome because I get to do nothing with my best friend...my husband:) and maybe I'll even get to spend some extra, unplanned time with Jesus!

Here are the goods:

Some old windows I painted:

Yes, I am organized and yes, I am O.C.D.
Shells we collected on our honeymoon in St. Lucia:
Giving presents is so much fun. One of my favorite parts is making them pretty :)
Work has been slow for Wes, but it has been good because, for once, he is able to work on the projects he has been wanting to finish for weeks or even months. I come home from work and find things like this around the house:
And this...and...drumroll please...
THIS.

Holy Cow! He built us a park bench!! So cool. Several weeks ago, he found the iron parts for the bench in a dumpster at work (he works in construction...not like he goes digging through the trash on a regular basis) and brought them home. He was finally able to finish it today. On top of being Mr. Fix it, he is also very creative. I love it. Tomorrow he might build me some adirondack chairs! Sweet.

Norbert & Sarah/Wedding Part II

2009-01-31T23:45:00.013-05:00

I would like to apologize for my lack of blogging skills. In addition to an assistant and accountant, I will need to add to my helper wish list ELIMINATOR.

That being said, I have blogged here an entire wedding. Yes, I know... but it was just so fun AND, in my defense, I had a request to do so!! A couple weeks ago, I posted a sneak peek of Sarah & Norbert's wedding on January 10th. They had a beautiful wedding. Congratulations Sarah & Norbert!!

Sarah's mom:
Sarah's Best Bud, Kayla (one of my good friends as well :) )...

Maid of honor (bride's sister) & bride's best friend:
Adorable flower girl:
I love how all the bridesmaids wore a different style dress:

The GROOM! Norbert...I am actually shocked that I got a shot of him so serious. He is usually so fun and goofy:) I love it!
The Groomsmen:
Yeah...before viewing the next two shots, I should mention that all the groomsmen except 1 are dancers...

This was Sarah's dad's first look. This just puts tears in my eyes and makes me laugh at the same time. (click to enlarge)

ha! I LOVE everything about this picture!

The NEWLYWED SESSION:

This might be my fav:

If you look hard, you may find a precious little newlywed couple ;)
First Dance:

I like this one because it looks like they are dancing on stage...
Father-daughter dance:
Sequence of events: retrieval of the garter...this actually looks very similar to the shots taken at my wedding...Sarah, I know how you feel ;) click to enlarge.

The send-off:

Take that, Economy

2009-01-26T16:51:00.009-05:00

As we all know, the economy has been pretty awful. However, sometimes it's okay to use it to your advantage and get great deals like this dining room table! (Thanks to my mother-in-law, up to this point, we have been borrowing her wonderful table that was her parent's.) We got this table for next to NOTHING and it is brand new! We are so excited! It extends out to fit as many as 16 people. Now, I don't know when we will have 16 people over for a sit-down dinner (any time soon), but if we do, some people will literally be sitting in the living room... our poor little dining room isn't quite big enough to accommodate such a dining room table- part of it extends into the living room. It's actually pretty funny.

When we went to Savannah to proudly pick up our table, we scored this great bonus piece! My parents were going to sell it in a garage sale until they mentioned it to us. We quickly took it off their hands. :) Thanks Parents!
My dream of having a photography business has come true and I am so excited about it!

My husband's dream is to flip houses...

And his dream has come true as well! This house was a foreclosure. Wes has kind of been looking at houses like this over the past several months, so we decided to go to the home auction JUST TO SEE HOW IT WORKS. Wes and I decided we would just throw in a bid on this house for the heck of it because, at that point, bids were super low and surely it wouldn't sell for that amount. Well..... we won the bid! We walked away with the house. Just like that. After hours of, "oh my gosh, we just bought a house...did we do the right thing?"... we felt pretty excited about it.

Now, there is a little change in plans...we will be fixing the house up because, as you can see, it does need A LOT of work, BUT we will not be selling it. We are going to keep it all to ourselves!! I know, selfish, right? The great thing is that it has a dining room big enough to accommodate our fully expanded dining room table AND it's big enough to have a photography studio!!! The Lord has blessed us not only by providing us an affordable, roomy home, but by giving us the courage to actually go through with it. ;) Our issue now is when we will find the TIME to fix this baby up?

I know there has been a lot of personal posts here, but lots of personal stuff going on! :) But, have no fear, I am finishing up some wedding pictures and I have several shoots coming up next week!

17

2009-01-24T23:07:00.009-05:00

Well, I have been blessed with MANY family and friends who's birthdays are in January (as you can see from the last couple of posts). My sister-in-law, Kait, had her birthday on Friday. Happy Birthday, Kait! This is going to be a big year for her as she is getting married on May 30 (and I am a proud bridesmaid!). Love you Kait!

This weekend we are in Savannah and today, it is my baby sister's 17th birthday (see, I told you...lots of bdays. I will have to make a separate savings account for all of these presents!). She wanted to have a party with her friends at my parent's beach house. Here are some fun Pictures from the night:

(click to enlarge)

Mom made a good move by getting relighting candles. Katie quickly realized and started putting them out with her fingers.

A bow from one of Katie's gifts... mom thought it was the best thing since sliced bread...

Mom's birthday (yep, another one!) is monday, so it was kind of a celebration for her as well.
Katie and her friends:
We played Apples to Apples after dinner...
Happy Birthday Katie & Mom! Love you!

Doped Up

2009-01-22T16:10:00.006-05:00

It's official. My dog is the coolest, funniest dog EVER! He creates hours of entertainment for us! I have to share this with you. I couldn't resist:

Oliver went to the vet on monday to get his leg checked out (he has been limping on it for a while). The doctor sent him home with doggie pain killers twice a day. He has been a little out of it lately. So...we give him his medicine by giving him a spoonful of peanut butter (not the recalled PB, in case you were concerned) with the pill surprise hidden in the middle. He LOVES peanut butter. He licks and licks and licks until it is all gone and after it's gone he licks and licks and licks, tilting his head up, down, side-to-side, etc...anything to help him get it off his tongue and roof of his mouth. It is truly the funniest sight ever! There is one requirement to reading this blog. There is a collage below of his peanut-butter-eating-behavior...you must CLICK TO ENLARGE!

Have you ever seen a cross-eyed-dog? You're in for a treat. This picture makes me cry from laughter ever time I look at it.
"thith ith the betht peanut budddder I ever had...tho nithe and thticky..."
"mmmmmmm...that wath delithiouth..."
We took Oliver for a walk the other day. In efforts to see if he would start going potty like a man dog is supposed to, we showed him the fire hydrant. He promptly sat down and cocked his head at us. Oh well, we tried. I am perfectly okay with him continuing his neat potty habits.
On the other hand, he doesn't seem to have much respect for the signs in the neighborhood... Wes was walking him the other day and he walked right up next to the sign and did his business as to say, "There, take that." You can't blame him...I mean when you gotta go, you gotta go.

Baby Feet...

2009-01-21T22:24:00.002-05:00

RIGHT NOW, one of my best friends, Courtney, is giving birth to precious baby girl Cayden. I am so excited that I had to post a shout-out. AND because I am her "Aunt Sara," I had to give her some baby ballerina socks and I have to say that they are the cutest things I have EVER seen. I am considering asking her to give them back to me if and when I have a baby girl...ha. I am also hoping it isn't too forward to just assume her baby will be a ballerina like I was. I just realized I am a creepy 'aunt'. oh well. Babies are so much fun! Hopefully in a few months you will see some actual pictures of the beautiful baby! Congratulations Kirk & Courtney!!

Twins, but not really

2009-01-18T19:08:00.008-05:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to two of my best friends, Karin & Ryan!! They share the same birthday, January 18th, but Ryan is a year younger than Karin. I must say, however; that Karin looks GREAT for 25! ;)

We celebrated by going out to dinner and then hanging out at Dylan and Karin's house. Here are some favorites from the night:

We were fully loaded with lots of yummy sweets! We know how to do birthdays. Be very jealous.
Now, I am not a wine drinker, but I do try... really hard. I guess for now I can just stick to wine photography.
This is my wine... it is also my water... therefore, it deserves a charm. I was worried that I would drink someone else's "wine." The charm was very effective. Also, I deserve a lot of money for this advertisement of Coke Zero.
All of us at dinner (minus me):
Candle-blow-out #2 (after dinner):
Candle-blow-out #1 (at the restaurant):

Dylan, it doesn't work without the camo...
We love Dylan!
The Couples + birthday kiss for Ryan!
Ok, so Ryan went bird hunting for his birthday. He sported the hat afterwards. While we were hanging out, I noticed that every time I looked at him, he was wearing it a different way. I think he was trying to keep us on our toes, if you will. That's what bird hunters do.
Alison: this picture is so perfect for her because she has the best laugh in the world!

Mary O, you are precious.
Hope you guys had an awesome birthday! Love you!

Mr. & Mrs. Nirewicz: Sneak Peek!

2009-01-15T16:50:00.007-05:00

Remember Sarah? I took her bridal portraits back in November. Norbert and Sarah Nirewicz were married on January 10 at Pine Island Clubhouse. Let me say that I NEVER do sneak peeks. I usually just post a MASSIVE amount of pictures in one post, so be very impressed..it's a big step for me;).

So here you have it: a sneak peek/ part I of the wedding photos... a few that caught my eye while browsing through all 1500 pictures today ;). I absolutely love these shots!!! What a BEAUTIFUL couple!! Stay tuned for more from the big day!!

I danced with Norbert and Sarah in college (ballet)...so of course, on their wedding day, they had to throw in a few moves...LOVE it. I present to you the wedding day performance:

BOTH of them have the most gorgeous eyes!
As you can see, it was a PERFECT day. Up until friday night, the weather said 60% chance rain!! Thank you, Lord!
Showing off the BLING!
Kiss-under-the-veil...always a must!
AND the sunset was amazing!
I can't wait to post the rest!

BIG Family

2009-01-13T17:32:00.010-05:00

The Ebo family was one of my first clients. They have 7 kids. This year, they had Melanie's mother and sister's family for the holidays. This makes for a LARGE family photo shoot. In order to prevent them from having to load 14 people in a small bus, I went to their home out in Lugoff after work. I have been around the Ebo kids several times and they are so much fun! Here are some of my favorites:

Melanie's sister and family:

Melanie with her mother and sister:

The kids:

So beautiful!
The baby:
LOVE her blue eyes...

Cousins
Melanie and Tim:
Melanie's sister and her husband:

LOVE this one:
This kind of just happened out of nowhere...
and then came daddy to the rescue.
All the grandkids with grandma:
Cole and Daddy:
Gabe and Melanie:
Gabe & Grandma:
Can you tell they are sisters?
I love these tree shots. Tim lifted Cole into the tree and the girls HAD to get their picture as well ;) (click to enlarge)
WOW...that is a whole lot of kids! Whew! ;)

Signature Collages: 2008 Portraits in Review

2009-01-08T14:18:00.007-05:00

I thought I would post some of my signature collages from some of my portrait sessions as my year in review (I wish I could post them all). A print (usually black & white) of one of these collages comes with every portrait session package. I started this business a little less than a year ago and I am loving every minute! The Lord has really blessed me this year. After all, I get to take pictures of all these wonderful people!

This next one is a collage I did for my sister of us and our family for Christmas:
(Wedding Images on this collage by Clark Berry Photography)

Thanks, everyone, for a great year!!

My Mom, The Oil Painter

2009-01-07T13:22:00.002-05:00

I wanted to post a shout-out for my mom. She is an amazing artist. She lives in Savannah and has a studio there. She also has a studio in Cashier, NC. She travels all over the place for art shows. The best part of it all...she picked up a paint brush just a couple years ago, started painting and was INCREDIBLE. She has not stopped painting ever since! Check out her website & bio at http://www.suegouseinspirations.com/. You can also get to her BLOG through her website. Here are a few pieces of her work:

"Miles of Poppies"
"Spring Tide"

This next one is one of her paintings that was published for the cover of this book.
If you ever want to revisit her website. The link to her website is on the right-hand side of my blog under "links" beneath my website!

New & Improved!

2009-01-06T09:16:00.001-05:00

Hi everybody! To bring in the New Year, I am excited to announce the lauch of my new website! The web address is the same, just a new look :). Check it out: http://www.swparkerphotography.com/.

Perfection.

2009-01-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

I have been DYING to take these Newborn pictures ever since Elizabeth got pregnant! I am so excited to introduce to you baby William. He is almost 1 month old. He is so perfect. Praise God for beautiful, HEALTHY babies!

I took these pictures yesterday morning. Now, normally it would take me 2 weeks to edit a session, but (1) I was too excited to wait, (2) I had nothing to do today, which is a FIRST, and (3) Elizabeth wants to send out William's birth announcements soon. Once again, I had way too many favorites...ENJOY!

(Click to Enlarge)

William's room is decorated in little green and blue whales. I was so in love with it that you will find it as a theme in many of these shots...

Look at that little DIMPLE!
I LOVE this one.
I wasn't supposed to get Elizabeth in these (her request), but I just think this is so sweet. I love the face he is making.

Caught him in a sneeze. Precious.

Quite possibly my favorite...

Can you tell I like baby feet? :)
That's the little giraffe I gave him when I saw him in the hospital :)

Thank you, Brent and Elizabeth, for letting me take pictures of your son! It was a PLEASURE.

One of my best friends and fellow photographers, Karin, also took some pictures of baby William. Check them out!

Please call or email me if you would like a newborn session! I also design birth announcements. I would love to document your most precious and special times in life!

Christmas 2008

2008-12-25T23:39:00.001-05:00

I hope all of you had a very MERRY CHRISTMAS!! This year we spent Christmas with my family in Savannah, GA. Our tradition consists of waking up early, opening stockings, eating breakfast while reading about the birth of Jesus, and opening presents. After that, we usually play with all our fun gifts and watch movies. My mom had the house beautifully decorated, as always, so I had fun with some detail shots :). Here are some fun snapshots of all of our traditions...Enjoy!

My mom makes awesome Christmas cookies!
These were my grandmother's Christmas angels:
Check out this wine thingy...we actually have a couple and, if I recall correctly, we tortured my parent's dog (Buster) with them last year by putting them on his feet and ears and such and taking pictures of him. He was not happy with us. We decided to leave him alone this year.
The cook.
My sister and my mom

Our Christmas Eve dinner!
SANTA GOT STUCK!
Stocking time!
Our loot. Wes got some games for his PS3, I got some photography stuff :), and Katie got a Wii fit
Meanwhile, Buster opens his own presents.
Wes and I made my parents a picture book of our wedding (mom's request)
Katie also got rock band for the Wii. We definitely had fun with that today!
Mom gave Katie the wrong sunglasses. I just cannot believe how HUGE these suckers are. What was mom thinking? Somehow she got Costa del Mar and cheap, HUGE sunglasses confused
Mom gave me and Wes a nice bag :)
Wow. Why didn't anyone tell me how rough I looked??
Go Gamecocks!
My mom is an oil painter---she painted this for my dad for Christmas.

Fun times with the Wii.
I would like to point out that Wes is playing Hannah Montana with Katie.

Our cousins and second cousins came over for a while. This is my second cousin Charlie.

Boys will be Boys

2008-12-22T16:08:00.000-05:00

My goal these past two weeks was to catch up and crank out all of these sessions before Christmas, so I can completely and totally RELAX over the holidays. I am proud to say that I have accomplished that goal. Hopefully I will be able to casually work on my new website over my short break :)

Another Horseshoe session! This is Shalena and Mason (mother & son). Let me just start out by saying that Mason gets my award for baby with the most personality. I cannot express to you how much I love all the little faces he makes, but I can show you in the 50 pictures I decided had to make the cut. Enjoy!

This first picture is Mason running to me, a complete stranger, as they arrived at the Horseshoe for their session. I love it.

This is his "I couldn't be happier" face. Definitely one of my top 3.

He actually looks like a little boy instead of a baby here!

Another in my top 3...

These just warm my heart...

Playing around the Christmas tree
Being a creeper...
He was so active, he wouldn't let Shalena pick him up for any length of time. I still think these are hilarious.
And this is my #1 fav from the session...

Little man...:)

Save-the-Date!

2008-12-20T17:53:00.000-05:00

Remember Cortne & Crystal? They asked me to design their save-the-date card for their wedding. I am super excited! This is the first save-the-date card I have designed and it was so fun! I cannot wait to photograph their wedding in September! Let me know if you would like a custom designed save-the-date too :)

THE FRONT:

THE BACK: (all the dots are the same green...they just look different)

Dylan & Karin Mini Session

2008-12-18T17:03:00.001-05:00

The next two posts are 4 of my best friends. I took these on the beach in Kiawah.

This is Dylan and Karin...they are approaching 2 years of marriage. They are amazing!

Karin used to be a gymnast...so she's really good at handstands!....so is Dylan ;).

Ryan & Mary Mini Session

2008-12-18T16:42:00.000-05:00

This is Ryan and Mary...They have been dating since July. They are precious.

SNIPER...

The Counts Family

2008-12-17T20:07:00.003-05:00

The USC Horseshoe has been very popular among my clients lately!

This is the Counts family. My good friend Michael wanted to have a session with his kids to give to his wife for Christmas (great idea if I do say so myself!). Now, due to Christmas quickly approaching and other scheduled photo shoots, we had one shot at this. Well...it happened to be on a not-so-pretty day, but we made it work and they actually turned out better than I thought. They were a blast to shoot (in photography terms, of course). Do me a favor and make sure you take notice of Eli (aka Mr. Cool Guy) in each picture. He has quite the inventive style when it comes to taking pictures ;). At the end of the session, I told them that they are a beautiful family and Eli's reply was "why, thank you" in his deepest manly voice. Just hilarious.

Check out the tongue on Michael Jordan over here on the right ;)

Talk about SPITTIN' IMAGE!

SOME INDIVIDUALS:
JESSICA
JENNA
JESSICA
ELI
MICHAEL

This is their wedding picture...so sweet...Michael wanted a shot with it.

Almost one week until CHRISTMAS!! YAY! Merry Christmas!

It doesn't get any better than this

2008-12-15T17:50:00.000-05:00

My sister and her friend came to visit this weekend!! They took a "college day" from school on friday and my good friend Katherine gave all of us a tour of USC. I had a photo session later that day on the Horseshoe, so before my client arrived, I did a mini shoot of the girls. It was so much fun and so easy since they are both so adorable! It was a weekend full of loud music, pizza & movies, guitar hero, and junk food. The best ever. It really doesn't get any better than this.

The am in love with this lighting!

Here are my favs from the MANY jumping shots I took (I know... apparently it's jumping season):

Let me just say that Heather's eyes are that blue! I promise I did no enhancements in photoshop whatsoever! She has the prettiest bluest eyes I have ever seen!

Haha...there is a story behind this...

I call this one "Off to College" :)

We've Got Springs

2008-12-12T23:54:00.001-05:00

While in Kiawah, we went to the beach, of course, and had a little fun (well...A LOT of fun). Prepare yourself...we got some serious air.

I am very excited because I just got Boutwell's photoshop actions, so I decided to play around with it in a couple of these shots.

Even the walk out to the beach was gorgeous!
(taken by Karin)

Here are some individuals to help prepare you for the awesomeness.
Karin
Katherine
Ryan- he's secretly a model

THE BOYS: Left to right...Wes, Ryan, Dylan

Dylan & Ryan switched spots in these.
THE GIRLS: left to right...Karin, Mary O, Me, Katherine, Mary R

(Thanks to Wes for snapping these)

Mary O & Karin somehow switched spots in this one
Katherine is my favorite in this one!

I love my friends. That is all.

Merry Christmas from...US!

2008-12-12T15:30:00.000-05:00

This year, we wanted to do something fun and different for our Christmas card, soooo we ventured out to various parks around Columbia for our self-Christmas-portraits. It was so much fun with possibly the exception of the full family portrait. You should have seen Wes trying to throw a stick and time it to hit the ground exactly when the shutter tripped so Oliver would actually be looking at the camera. I will say that the stick strategy/improv was genius on Wes's part...he made me forget all about the treats that we left on the counter at home :).

We have several pictures of close-up Oliver almost knocking over the tripod with the expensive camera attached in order to fetch the stick...because, after all, that is what dogs do. What were we humans thinking?

Cheers, big ears

My Love:)

Beware: Certain dogs tend to jump out of computer screens.

***CUSTOM DESIGN CHRISTMAS CARDS:

I designed our Christmas card with a collage of these shots. We were so excited to see the final product! I ordered them on pretty pearl paper-my favorite!

Remember me next Christmas to design your card!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! From The Parkers

CHECK OUT OUR CHRISTMAS VIDEO HERE

Kiawah Half Marathon

2008-12-11T17:06:00.001-05:00

Two of my favorite things to do in the whole world are photography and running. At first I was very bitter and disappointed that registration was full when I tried to sign up for the Kiawah Half Marathon, but then I realized that I get to be the photographer for some of my very best friends who did get to register! We spent the weekend in Kiawah and had a blast! More pictures from the rest of the weekend are coming soon!

K-rock, Mary O, and LMR (so we call them) ran the race and kicked butt! I was so proud of them. Here are some of my favs from the big day. You can click to enlarge the collages.

Karin and her husband (and my fellow photographer), Dylan.

My husband was there supporting as well, but for some reason, I didn't get a blog-worthy shot of him! Bad wife/photographer!
INTRODUCING your Runners:
K-Rock
LMR...ran the race in under 2 hrs
Mary O
The Jump shot (more jump shots to be posted soon :) )
LMR and her boyfriend, Ryan
This picture makes me so happy. I love how they are listening to the ipod together!
Katherine and Dylan mapping out where we need to be in order to catch the runners at 1 mile, 9 miles, and the end. We actually ended up running a good bit to catch up to the runners, so I got 2 of my favorite things after all:).
Photographer D. Curtis.
Katherine
Ryan & Mary (LMR)
These are the good lucks/goodbyes before the race started...precious.
Runners, get set!
This is a random...I was practicing panning...looks like he's running super fast! So fun.
I had to post this one...the man carrying the flag was a navy seal...here comes the best part...he carried that flag just like that for 26.2 miles!!! OH MY GOSH.
GOOOO TEAM! we liked this woman because every time we cheered for her, a huge smile came across her face. She was wearing a team in training shirt (leukemia and lymphoma society). Karin and Dylan ran a marathon in CA earlier this year with team in training. It is an incredible organization.

These people were out there for the runners, playing their hearts out. I felt like I was in Jamaica! It was so fun!
Karin and Mary O at mile 1, mile 9, and finish. I should explain why I didn't get LMR at 9 miles and finish. At 9 miles she happened to be running by at the same time I was messing with my camera and she finished before we could get back to the finish line from 9 miles. Sorry LMR!
The sassy (sorry Dylan)-we just ran 13.1 miles-after race picture

We always have to get this picture after a race...oranges are pretty much a guaranteed after-race food. Congratulations guys! We are proud of all of you!

PITTS Radiology Doctors

2008-12-10T17:59:00.001-05:00

The group of doctors I work with hired me to do their group and individual portraits. Now, I didn't agree right away because #1, I don't have a studio YET and #2, I don't own studio equipment YET. I mainly do lifestyle photography...you know...NATURAL, pretty lighting! With some persuasion, I agreed but was very apprehensive about the whole thing. So, here you have it...my first studio-type job. I took these at the hospital in the board room with the fluorescent lighting...nice...at least I got a big challenge out of it!

This was the first time since, I believe, 1990 that all of the doctors (except 1) were able to be in the same place at once with coats and ties and smiles on their faces...just imagine how hard that is for 27 DOCTORS! (click to enlarge)

Sarah's Bridal Session

2008-11-27T18:50:00.001-05:00

***If your name is NORBERT and you are Polish...you are forbidden to look at the following pictures...thank you for your cooperation ;)

Sarah and Norbert are getting married January 10, 2009 and I have the privilege of being the photographer for this beautiful couple! YAY! I actually used to dance with them in the USC Dance Company in college. Those were some of the best times of my life.

I shot Sarah's bridal portraits last Tuesday. She looked gorgeous... especially her electric BLUE eyes! Because she has been a dancer her whole life, I told her that we shouldn't have any issues with her posture; however, we did seem to have a little trouble getting rid of those "ballet arms" ;). She really made my job very easy AND she withstood harsh weather conditions (48 degrees and windy) and crazy ideas from her photographer :). Thanks, Sarah, for being a trooper--I think you will find the frozen, blue feet worth it! ENJOY!

Okay...now that Thanksgiving is officially over... time to decorate for CHRISTMAS!!! I can hardly wait!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

2008-11-26T08:04:00.000-05:00

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generation." Pslam 100:4-5

Thanksgiving is an important holiday, but it is also another day to thank and praise God for all His blessings. This holiday should remind us of how thankful we need to be each and every day; not JUST on Thanksgiving.

I am THANKFUL for:
-My faith...Jesus...God's mercy and grace...Salvation...my church
-My amazing husband
-Family
-My sweet puppy
-Friends
-Lots of food on Turkey Day:)
-A steady job & God's continued provisions
-My Bible study girls
-Photography!!!!!
-Vacation
-The privilege of living in the USA
-The little things in life that make us so excited
-God's beautiful creation

These are only a few things for which I am thankful. I hope you all have a blessed holiday and don't eat yourself sick ;). Happy Thanksgiving!!

Check back soon...I am working on a gorgeous bridal session to be posted in a few days!

Introducing Adeline Grace/ Cincinnati Trip

2008-11-21T14:42:00.000-05:00

Last weekend, Wes and I took a mini-vacation to Cincinnati for 4 days to visit my family and to see our baby niece for the first time!

Adeline Grace was born on September 10, so she is 2 months old! That being said, you must know that she is extremely smart and advanced for her age. Just take my word for it...I don't say that just because I am her aunt. I will say that she is the most beautiful baby girl! Now, since he weather wasn't great and we couldn't plan any shoots for outside, I had to snap shots whenever I got a chance in order to fit in as many pictures of this precious baby as I possibly could!

Her older brother (Paul) plays football and she has quickly become a very devoted cheerleader! She went to her first football game when she was 1 week old! PURE devotion.

BATH TIME!!
This is one of my favs!
Chunky monkey!

"You talkin' to me?"

These are her little Christmas shoes...cutest thing EVERRRR!

The last day we were there, Liz (my sister-in-law) had to take the boys to school and drop by work, so Wes and I woke up to Liz handing Addie to me with a bottle! It was the best way to wake up! Believe it or not, I am completely serious. After her bottle, she fell asleep on our bed (naturally, since she is 2 months old) and I couldn't resist grabbing the camera...

One of Liz's friends brought this authentic Chinese outfit back from the Beijing Olympics for Addie. Precious!!
This is not a great picture, but this is the hat I got for her to go with her Christmas outfit. It says "I've been good...mostly." She wasn't happy by the time we put on her complete outfit, so not many pictures came out of it. This is her "If you don't get the camera out of my face..." look.

Check out the hair! She LOVES her Uncle Wes!
Random, I know...BUT I really love orchids and they happened to have some in the house...
These next shots are of Charlie, one of Addie's 2 older brothers.
While waiting in the car for Paul (the oldest) to get out of school, Charlie had a little photo shoot:

The first day we were there, the weather was pretty decent, so after we picked Paul up from school we took the boys and Addie to the park so I could snap some siblings shots. Despite the fact that the boys were not thrilled about the idea of taking pictures, I managed to get a few shots.

Paul & Charlie

So precious! I love Addie's expression! I also love the fact that Paul is 5 shades darker than his brother and sister.

They grow up WAYYY too fast!
Sunday we went to Wes's first NFL game: Bengals vs Eagles. I grew up a Bengals fan and Wes grew up an Eagles fan, so I was a little torn. I wanted to be loyal to my husband, but DEEP down I felt like I should cheer for the Bengals.

Now, none of this really mattered in the end because the game finished with a TIE and it resembled a circus. That's right, it was just not even good football. We were positive the Eagles would kill the Bengals, judging from the fact that they are/were (how do they rank when a game is tied?) the second worst team in the NFL. However, this clearly was not the case. My theory is that the players were too cold in the 25 degree-windy-weather. I know I was!

Joe Montana right here. I have the utmost confidence that this kid will get a full ride football scholarship to a great school and go on to play pro football.

Me with my sister-in-law, brother, & nephew
I love this bridge. It is one of the most beautiful I have seen.

We sat so far up from the field that we had to take two of these escalators to get to our seats.
THE EAGLES!!
The Bengal's grand entrance into the stadium...I have to admit...pretty cool.

Here we have our Bengals fans...
And our Eagles fans...
KICKOFF!

Okay, I'm not hating on the Eagles, but here is an example of that bad football that I previously mentioned. Here is #28 running the ball all the way down the field and ALMOST making a touchdown...
And here he is tripping on his own feet and falling on his face. I think one of the Bengals is actually simultaneously doing the same thing...please explain to me how this happens!
It was an amazing and fun-filled trip. The next time we see Addie, she is going to be so big! Despite my seemingly bitter attitude about the game, we actually had a blast. It was a great atmosphere (at least until my toes and fingers went numb).

Thanks again, guys, for a great time! We love you :)

Chris + Annette= :)

2008-11-11T19:52:00.001-05:00

Chris and Annette make me happy. They make each other happy. They have been married for 22 years and are more in love than ever! They wanted some pictures together because they did not have any recent ones. I was more than happy to oblige! We started at the Horseshoe, then headed over to the State House. I can't get over how sweet they are. They made the session even more fun because they brought along some props. They brought their motorcycle and some USC hats because they are big Gamecock fans (which, by the way, makes them exponentially cooler). AND have I mentioned I LOVE FALL! God really put together some beautiful colors for us to enjoy! :)

Here are a couple shots I took of the motorcycle before the session began and below that, you will see why these two individuals make me so happy...

LOVE this one!
The Wink. I love Chris's expression in the mirror!

One of my favs...hot mama!
Leaf fight!
GO COCKS!

My 2 FAVs...

Cortne & Crystal/Engagement

2008-11-08T11:32:00.001-05:00

Cortne & Crystal are getting married September 12, 2009 and I get to be the photographer! I am so excited! You might also see some bridal portraits of Crystal...if you're lucky:)

I work with Crystal, aka Tic Tac ;), and sometimes we have a little TOO much fun. She is an awesome co-worker! Taking their engagement pictures was any absolute blast...we started out at the Governor's Mansion and after getting kicked out for being there after hours we headed over to the Riverwalk. It actually worked out perfectly...such a cute couple! ENJOY!

By the way...I took close to 500 pictures. I couldn't help myself. So...once again, I couldn't narrow it down a whole lot :)

Get you some, Crystal!

Love these COLORS! I am definitely a fall girl!
The rest of the pictures were taken at the Riverwalk...I LOVE this red door!

I know they're tiny...click to enlarge:)

Congratulations guys! Can't wait until the wedding!

Happy Halloween!

2008-10-31T19:59:00.003-04:00

Happy Halloween from your friendly ladybug!

Props to my sweet husband for the photo shoot ;)

Best Coach Ever + Crazy Oliver

2008-10-31T16:04:00.001-04:00

This post is in honor of my good friend, Dylan. He coaches a boys high school soccer team. Last Sunday, a couple of us went out to watch him coach. Of course, I brought my camera along to practice a little sports photography. It was a beautiful day and the boys played great-they won! Now, I don't know a ton about soccer, so forgive me if I use the wrong terminology :) Here are some of my favorite shots (Dylan's team is blue & white):

This is a shot of one of the boys kicking a goal from what it seemed like half-way up the field...it was AWESOME!

This picture is just funny to me...

I Had to squeeze one in of Dylan (the one in the gray shirt in the background). It looks like the players are looking back at him; although, I feel sure they are watching the ball ;)
Now, some of these shots made me laugh because I managed to catch some of the players that looked a bit like they were playing a different sport...for instance, this one closely resembles karate.

And this one...fencing...

Super good goalkeeper

Okay, I know he is from the OTHER team, but I just really love this shot.

Our other friends, Mary and Ryan, also came to support Dylan.
They are a really cute couple :)
Dylan's wife, Karin, is also a photographer. I will refer to her as the official team photographer :). Here are some shots I took of her at work. Check out her website: KSC Photography

It's pretty cool because she is one of my best friends and we started getting serious about photography around the same time, so we always have fun stuff to talk about!
We brought our dog Oliver to the game only to find out NO PETS ALLOWED. However, Wes decided he would bend the rules a little. After all, it is cruel to leave an animal in the hot car for an hour PLUS we live 30 minutes away from the field. It's not like we were going to let him loose and allow him to "do his business" in the middle of the soccer field. Wes played fetch with him and luckily, we did not get kicked out.

I would just like to point out how crazy this dog is. This first picture is just plain creepy. He looks like the Joker from Batman, but the rest are super cute :)
I LOVE these ears!

Words cannot describe how much I love this picture-he looks like a little rabbit!
This dog is CRAZY about Wes...and vice versa ;)

The PHILLIES Make Me Happy!!!

2008-10-29T22:13:00.003-04:00

The Phillies just WON THE WORLD SERIES!!! GOOOO PHILLIES!!

Last time the Phillies won the World Series was 1980 (when Tug McGraw (Tim McGraw's father) played)...Thanks to Google and ESPN for these shots...

Brent & Stephanie Engagement

2008-10-27T16:21:00.000-04:00

Such a cute couple!! I LOVED taking Brent and Stephanie's engagement pictures and I LOVE this lighting AND I am completely IN LOVE with my new camera!! This was my first shoot with my new Nikon D700 and it was amazing! We took most of the pictures at Fenley Park and then headed over to the Cayce Riverwalk for some shots with the bridge. They are getting married April 4, 2009. Congratulations guys!!

Enjoy!

Happy October!!

2008-10-21T16:39:00.001-04:00

This is what fall is all about...pumpkin carving, going to the fair, and football!! I LOVE October...mainly because it is the month I got married :)

My sweet little sister came to visit for the weekend...I have missed her so much! We had a blast on Saturday...many fun filled fall activities. We woke up and made some waffles and then headed out on this dreary day to pick out a pumpkin to carve...

Me and my sis
My husband in search for the perfect pumpkin...He decided to wear his PHILLIES hat all day in honor of the World Series :)
Katie picking out some baby pumpkins

Some not-so-great pumpkins
Mission accomplished: Perfect pumpkin FOUND
Our first real pumpkin hunt together...precious, I know. No, but seriously...last year we only had time to go to Publix ON HALLOWEEN and get a sorry little pumpkin that we barely had time to carve.
We made Wes do all the cutting and carving--that sucker was THICK!...as you can see, it gets a little messy ;) No, he didn't really eat it, BUT we found out that our dog likes pumpkin; however, he was scared TO DEATH of the pumpkin itself! It was pretty entertaining. He spent the whole time crawled up in the corner with his head buried under his paws.
Katie digging out the pumpkin guts
A little before and after of our beautiful pumpkin
After carving the pumpkin, we met Wes's sisters and our soon-to-be brother-in-law Kent at the SC State Fair.

This is Kent...he is saying "GO PHILLIES!!!!"...sort of
Wes, Anna, & Katie...
Wes, Anna, & Katie just Minutes later...I was so happy to get a clear shot of them...click on the picture to enlarge to see their screaming faces :)

Kent & Kait
Me and fuzzy wes...a little self portrait
ELEPHANT EARS!!!
Get it, Wes
Kent, Kait, Anna, & Katie took a ride on the swings

After the fair, we went to visit our friends, the Reedys and Mary (aka LMR) at their tailgate before the USC vs LSU game. Sadly, we lost. I think we put up a pretty good fight though.

We skipped the game to eat pizza and watch a movie at home. It was a good decision because it was VERY chilly and we would not have gotten home until very late. It's interesting; however, that I still fell asleep in church on Sunday morning...yikes
HUBBY!
Our good friend Ryan :)

Caleb & Kayla Wilkes

2008-10-13T14:04:00.000-04:00

Our friends, Caleb & Kayla wanted to take some pictures for their Christmas card before Caleb left for basic training for flight school (Oct. 7). They have been married a little over a year and they are an absolutely precious couple! Some of these pictures aren't necessarily Christmas card material, but I decided to treat this as a "couples session." I am so excited because I get to design their Christmas card:)...Enjoy!

I love this shot of Kayla!

Please contact me if you are interested in a Christmas card session!

Not as we Planned...

2008-10-13T13:48:00.001-04:00

My husband and I went to Charleston this weekend for our 1 year wedding anniversary, which is today. We made reservations at a nice restaurant and had several fun things planned. Wellllll... we had a great time despite the fact that I had the FLU, it RAINED cats and dogs the whole time, and we almost MISSED our dinner reservations because we both fell asleep at the hotel and woke up late.

We actually had an awesome time, believe it or not. On Saturday we did a little shopping at the outlets, ate at Wild Wing and watched the Gamecocks BEAT Kentucky, and then we went to the aquarium. On Sunday, we slept in and decided to check out and go home early because I started feeling worse and we spent the rest of the day relaxing at home and playing Yahtzee (courtesy of wes's sweet family). Wes and I always have fun together. He is my best friend and God has given me the greatest blessing by placing him in my life. I am so thankful for him and the love he shows me every minute of every day...no matter what. He amazes me every day...just by being HIM. I couldn't ask for a better man to be my husband! I love you, Wes! Happy Anniversary with many, many more to come!!!!