Done with Val!

This is Valerie and Kevin, right after they came out of the temple.
Then she threw her hair up in a messy pony tail for pictures.

Kristin and Blaine at White Sands

Okay, so check out their gorgeous white smiles!!! I have to say Kristin's smile is one of my favorite smiles. I would trade mine for hers anyday. We took a trip of to White Sands National Monument right before Kristin and Blaine moved so that they didn't miss out on that opportunity. Here are some cute shots from that night. I added some different textures to both these pictures as well. If i know Kristin like I think I do, I'm sure she would want me to point out that we weren't planning pictures, thus the reason she is in "disguise" and not dolled up. But when you're hot, you're hot, whether you're trying or not, right? I should be a poet. :)

I really love capturing pictures of couples. People always seem to remember to get family pictures and pictures of their kids, but I love love pictures of couples! I think if I ever have time to start a business, I'll really put that idea out to all the couples. It can be their date night -- leave the kids at home, and just worry about getting yourself beautiful and ready for pictures. I know Justin and I keep looking at all the pictures we have of other people and wish we had more of US together!

I am still working on editing Valerie's pictures and I think I will be done in another day or two. This picture is one that my mom picked out as one of her favorites. She said she likes Valerie's face expression and how Kevin is slightly in the background holding her like he is there supporting her. I have to say Valerie does look confident, happy, and peaceful. Because this was not her wedding day, but her temple endowment sealing, it wasn't about all the fluff. I think the simplicity of no jewelry or veil adds to that feeling of focusing on what is most important. This day she was only focused on preparing for the temple, and wasn't focused on all the little things in life that don't matter.

I know both these pictures look the exact same, and it's hard to tell the difference, but if you look closely you can see that I added a linen texture to the background in the top picture. It was my first time trying it out. I layered a picture of linen fabric on top of this picture, under lay options, I selected overlay, and then I erased out Kevin and Valerie, leaving it on just the background. I want to play around with this technique some more.

Christmas is coming . . .

My friend asked if I could help design a Christmas card for her. Here are the two that she chose. I really enjoyed making them. I have only focused on photography for the last year, and not card making, so I enjoyed getting back into it for a bit. Hmmmm, will my family have a Christmas card this year? There is that saying, "the shoe maker's son has no shoes."

My sister, Valerie: Happy . . . FOREVER!

Last August Valerie was sealed to her husband, Kevin, in the Billings, Montana Temple. It was a great day and I was so excited to get to take pictures of them together, that is until I realized that would also make me in charge of the big group picture of all attending -- that made my heart sink with fear! Kevin's aunt who was attending is also a photographer and stepped in to help me out. She knew of a great spot for large group pictures and it was a big help. I know Valerie has been waiting for over two months for me to edit her pictures. Val, I apologize I don't have them done yet -- you're next on my list! Here's one picture, with more to come sometime later this week.

My nephew is a SENIOR!

I still remember Cameron as a tiny baby laying on his tummy on the floor while I watched a movie with my sister. One of my favorite memories of him was when he was two or three years old. I took care of him and his sister while my sister went to girls camp. It was my first experience taking care of someone that age for more than just a few hours. I will never forget how cute he was as he ran back and forth in the room acting out little stories that he imagined up. His energy never ran out. Now that I have a few boys of my own, I fully understand that energy and imagination. So, now he's 17 and seems more like one of my friends than one of my nephews, because nephews are supposed to be little kids, right? Maybe the fact that he's so old now really just means that I'm getting old.

I tried to do a variety of editing. I wanted to keep some soft and have others really pop. I experimented with a couple of different techniques to help bring out the color in some of the pictures and came across a fun Photoshop action that sketches pictures. So, I included one of those just for fun.

blonde hair blue eyed family

Here are some pictures of a beautiful family that I go to church with. The little boy in the orange shirt used to be in my primary class. Their whole family is gorgeous!!!