Leida

I met my friend Leida back in college and have seen her here and there over the years. I've always marveled at what an incredible person she is. Her smile is absolutely contagious. So when she contacted me a while back about a photography project she was dreaming about I jumped at the chance to be a part of it.

I'll be doing a series of shoots with Leida this summer documenting her life in different ways. The rest of the shoots will be of her with her closest friends and family, but our first shoot was just Leida...in the flesh.

This lady has been working really hard over the last year or so and has whipped her body in to amazing shape. She is BUFF people. So for her shoot we went to her trainer's gym to show where all of her hard work has gotten her.







See what I mean about her smile?

I took this one through the hole of a weight. I love how it turned out...



On the way home I made her take a little pit stop at a big field that we passed.



I love this girl because she totally went for whatever I told her to do. I'm so glad we stopped!





Can't wait for our next shoot Leida!

0.4 to 10

0.4 - Pounds lost at my WW weigh in today
1 - yummy cup of chai with my friend Beth this morning
2 - tiny newborns came over for photo shoots today
3 - times Marlie told me that she was 2 tonight
4 - photo shoots coming up this weekend
5 - times I went to Target this week
6 - o'clock is when Marlie will wake me up in the morning
7 - times we watched Dora this week
8 - weeks until Shane is done with night bar prep classes
9 - hours I would like to sleep curled up in bed
10 - toes painted red tonight

Have a good weekend!

christina + matt

Christina and Matt were married this Saturday here in St. Louis. Such a cute couple and a great day!

The girls started out the day at Fusajiro salon for some primping and mimosas.





Then they headed over to the church to get ready.





The ceremony was beautiful. The church was so historic and ornate.





Christina and Matt set aside several hours for photography after the ceremony so we went all over St. Louis to get some great shots.

To the AB Brewery..





Forest Park...




And downtown near Washington Street....





Then they were off to Top of the Met for some fun at the beautiful reception...




Congratulations you two!

the Stipanovich fam

Last week I had a photo shoot with one of the cutest families I know. I met Terri and Steve at church a few years ago. Over the years as they have hired me to do different projects for them we have become friends. Terri is such an amazing mom and is so talented. She dabbles in photography herself and can make amazing movies with your photos. Check her out here.

They were good sports and all loaded up in the car and came down to the old Lemp Brewery near my house.

They have 6 beautiful kiddos.



Five beautiful girls and one cute little boy.



Since I have trouble balancing life with my one kiddo, Terri and Steve amaze me.



And its obvious they are still in love :).





Thanks Terri! I always love photo shoots with you guys!

WW catch up

Alright, for those of you that care here is what has gone down with Weight Watchers lately. I haven't posted about it for a few weeks, but I'm still trucking along. Two weeks ago I lost 0.8 pound. Last Friday I didn't go because I was running around like a chicken with my head cut off getting ready for Shane's party. Today I went and I am up 1.4 pounds.

Why? I know exactly why. Because first of all I went out of town for the photography workshop. I did pretty well considering, but I gave myself some room for sure. Mango margarita? Sure why not! Then I came home to craziness and parties and do you think I was going to pass up cake at Shane's graduation party? Heck no! Then that dang cake followed me home and taunted me from the fridge. So, that is why I am up 1.4 pounds.

I am continually learning more about myself and how to live better. What I have learned lately is that when I am too busy, too stressed and don't take the time to think ahead, I gain weight. I don't take care of myself and I eat the wrong things and don't exercise. So, I am working on a plan to make my life less crazy, more organized, and less stressful. Small steps in the right direction. Because I only have one life and I want it to be more fun! I think I should add that to my goals for 2009. Have less stress and more fun!

My new goal is to reach my 20lb weight loss goal by my 30th birthday. I have 7.5 weeks to loose 4.6 pounds. That doesn't sound so bad right? I can do it.

little Sienna

Sienna was about two weeks old when she and her parents came over to the studio on Tuesday. I had a few new props that I couldn't wait to use with her. She is perfectly round and tiny and sweet.



And she was very sleepy for us which was great. Even if it was because she kept her mom and dad up all night the night before :).





Sienna's dad used to play basketball for the University of Illinois. So he brought his blanket for some photos. I love this one..



Something tells me that she might be a daddy's girl :).

a little more about the MJ2day

I didn't really get to blog too much about the amazing workshop I went to in Phoenix last week. When I got back home I hit the ground running with all kinds of things and I didn't get a chance to talk about it. So, lets back up a little bit.

Melissa Jill Hester is an amazing photographer based in Phoenix, AZ. She is just a few years older than me and already is a nationally recognized photogapher. So, when I heard she was having a workshop I jumped at the chance to go. My friend/second shooter at weddings, Jen, called me as soon as she heard about the workshop and we were the first to register.

There were 13 of us from all over. Such a fun group.


Melissa covered a ton of information in two days. Some of the things she covered...

shooting techniques
lighting
meeting with clients
posing
picking locations
post-processing
workflow
off-camera flash
albums
networking
blogging
pricing
branding

Oh my word. My brain is overflowing with all of this information! It was amazing/overwhelming. There are tons of changes I want to make to my business. I want them all to be done today but it is going to take a lot of time to get all this done. It is both daunting and exciting. I'm trying to realistic and just make small steps in the right direction.

On the last day Melissa treated us to a headshot session. Of course Jen and I snuck in a few of the two of us.



You know I usually hate photos of myself, but I love the ones Melissa took. Case in point: she is an amazing photographer.





One of my goals for the year was to attend a photography workshop. Check that one off the list!

Tracy + Jim

A few weekends ago I had the privilege of photographing Tracy and Jim's wedding.

We met Tracy over at her mother-in-law's home before the ceremony. She was such a beautiful bride.




Everything about this wedding was gorgeous. They got married at Annunziata in Ladue. It is a beautiful stone church and made the perfect setting for some photos after the ceremony.







Then we headed out to Defiance, Missouri to Chandler Hill Winery for the reception. The grape vines had just started to leaf out. Perfect timing.









Congratulations Tracy and Jim! Have so much fun on your honeymoon!

He did it!

About 5 years ago Shane and I were talking in bed before we fell asleep one night. We chatted about the future and he mentioned that he still thought about law school every once in a while. Before that night I never really knew he was serious about it. I told him that if he really wanted to go to law school then I wanted him to go as soon as he could. I told him that I didn't want him to look back 10 years down the road and regret that he never went and possibly resent me for it. Before we knew it he was applying for school, getting accepted and then starting class.

Back then when people would ask when he would finish and he would say "spring 2009" I wanted to puke. It seemed so incredibly far away. So unreachable. Last Thursday that day finally came!

He put on his robe and hat, we all got dressed up, and we watched him walk across the stage and get "hooded". It was pretty surreal.



I've never known anyone to work so hard. To go above and beyond not just at school, but at work as well and then still manage to make time to be a wonderful husband and father. He might kill me for saying this, but he was within the top 10% of his class all throughout school. May I just mention that he did it without ever having a laptop computer? I'm serious. Shane did it old school style with paper and a pen to take notes. Um, how did we end up together again? I am not a school person. Opposites do attract. Paula Abdul is so wise.

I'm not sure we have one recent picture of the three of us where we are all looking at the camera.



On Friday night I surprised Shane with a big party to celebrate. For about a year I had been tucking a little bit of money away here and there from my business account so that he wouldn't notice. It was so fun to see it finally all come together. I rented a room at Soulard Coffee Garden near our house and got all of Shane's favorite people and favorite food in one room. He was really surprised and excited and grateful.

Our best friends Sarah and Chad came in from Colorado to celebrate with us. Sarah pretty much saved the party by helping me with just about everything. As did Beth and my family and other friends. Trying to throw a big party after just getting back in town = lots of help.

I took approximately 3 pictures. I hate it when I do that. I was just busy hosting and having fun and I kind of forgot to document it. So, you'll just have to trust me. It was awesome.





This is the pretty pathetic poster I made. Proof that I am NOT CRAFTY. It is only a myth people. I promise.



So, there you have it. One huge stage of our life is over and done. Now... on to the bar. Studying starts next week. Uh...lets not talk about it.

Tomorrow... a wedding sneak peek.