A few weeks ago, the website Seniorologie announced they would be celebrating their one year birthday!  In addition to celebrating all month with birthday related giveaways and posts, they wanted to see any other photographers’ birthday concept shoots.    Early this week, I was soooo incredibly excited to see a birthday shoot that I put together featured on their website!   Click here for the Seniorologie post and read all about my inspiration for the shoot.    Then come back here and scroll down for more from this fun shoot!

Some of the fun details….cake topper, mini cameras, “Dots” rings!

Ribbons, and scrap paper confetti made with my shredder!

I don’t know about you guys, but I have a list for everything!  Sometimes 2 lists!  ;)  My doggie helper of the day!

When I decided to order 30 balloons, I didn’t even think about transporting them (which became a tangled mess)

and then where to keep them until the shoot!

I absolutely adore these little vintage looking cameras!

After all the prop preparation – it’s Makeup time!

And then finally….it all comes together!

I was trying not to duplicate images that were in the Seniorologie post, but I have to share this one again, because I literally have had this idea in my head for years!  I have always wanted to recreate different memorable movie scenes and this shoot was perfect to recreate the final scene from the movie “Sixteen Candles!”  Make a Wish!

Thanks to Leslie from Seniorologie for creating such an awesome resource for senior portrait photographers.  If it weren’t for your “birthday,” I probably wouldn’t have had a reason to pull this all together!

By the way…if anyone can get me access to a school (legally, of course), I have lots of other memorable movie scenes that I would love to recreate!

*wink, wink, but seriously!*  

And lastly, you must go watch the video from this shoot!!  and don’t miss the Outtakes!  :)

Makeup  - Makeup by Laura Briscoe

Models – Maili Lutz & Blake Hamlin

Class of 2013, don’t forget to schedule your senior portraits soon.  There is only a select number of spots available.  Please contact me very soon if you would like to schedule yours!

If you want to stay up to date with all the most recent sessions, click HERE and “LIKE.”

Wow!  Where have I been?!?!  I took a little break to attend the Seniorologie tour at Serenbe Farms in Palmetto, Georgia and never posted the last part of the Styled Shoot!  Shame on me!  I’m back though, so here we go!!!

Part 3 is the dreamy, ethereal set for the “Dreams of Fame” Shoot.

Who doesn’t want to be girly and in a flowy dress sometimes?!?!  I know that I lean a little more towards the rocker chick of Part 2, but I can’t help but LOVE this too!  Again, Laura & Angela outdid themselves with makeup & wardrobe.   Throw in a little hair by Casey Arnold and we have the most beautiful girls that I could have ever imagined.

Check out the rings I previewed from Part 1!  Just can’t help but love them!  

Ohhhhh!!!  I’m sad now, because this is the last post from the shoot.  :(   I told you all before how much I loved this shoot and everyone that made it happen.   Thank you so, so much Laura, Angela, Casey, Savannah, Gretchen, & Candace.   I couldn’t have done this without you all!  Thanks for making my little vision come to life!

While I was editing the next day, I remembered some shots that I didn’t have time to capture.  I called Laura and asked her if she wanted to do another styled shoot using a theme solely based on those “missing” shots.   She reminded me that the night before, after being so pooped, I said that I wouldn’t do another styled shoot for a little while.  After laughing about how it took me less than a day to plan another one,  she happily agreed!  :)   That shoot will take place next month, but ya gotta wait for that one!

Makeup:  Laura Briscoe

Wardrobe / Accessories:  Angela Jackson

Hair:  Casey Arnold

Models:  Gretchen Fortin, Savannah Roach, Candace O’Neal

If you want to stay up to date with all the most recent sessions, click HERE and “LIKE.”

See you next time!

I can’t believe how many of you stopped by yesterday to see Part 1 of the Styled Shoot!   Yesterday, had the most visitors since I started this website last year!  Thank you everyone!

Let’s get on with Part 2, shall we?!

Just a little on the theme of the styled shoot – Dreams of Fame.   When I first met with Angela, I told her I wanted the shoot to have more of a storytelling element to it.  We talked about several different ideas, but then Angela thought of “Field of Dreams” since one scene was in a field.  Those “Dreams” could be of fame, love, freedom, etc.  I really liked the “Dreams of Fame” the best though.

Everyone has a different idea of fame or in our own minds, a completely different idea on how that looks.  Whether it be pretty, romantic…..or rockstar and dramatic!  We really didn’t end up doing the storytelling part of it so much, but the two looks are so unmistakably different.  I think they are each gorgeous in their own way and I LOVE them both.  I think my inner rock chick can relate to the first look a little more though, but like I said, we are all different!  ;)

When it came to makeup, I really wanted Laura to have the freedom to put together any look that she wanted to showcase.  Between the clothes and the makeup, I couldn’t have asked for a better end result than what Angela and Laura put together.

First up – Candace.  This shot was in the hallway just outside of the suite.  I loved everything about this place and I knew we had to snap a few shots here first before heading out.

I cannot get over how gorgeous Candace’s eyes are.  I think the makeup Laura did really make them jump out at you.

Not to mention, this ridiculous (in a good way) outfit Angela put together!

Love the Marilyn Monroe tee and fur vest and the jewelry by LG Marchezie.  (thank you Linda!)

I adore these next few of Savannah.  Catching her laughing was such a treat!  A little behind the scenes scoop.  I wanted a bit of a wind blown look, so I asked Angela to fan Savannah with my reflector.

hmmm…that was a good idea in theory, but really, all it did was make us laugh.

Note to self, invest in a portable, battery powered fan.  ;)

ahhh, Gretchen with those arms and legs.  I am so jealous!!  Can I please have them?

and I thought you were sending me your arm workout?  still waiting.  ;)

AND the infamous yellow chair.  It might as well be like a “Where’s Waldo” joke…”Where’s the yellow chair?”   LOL!

You just wait.  I’m going to throw all of you off and paint it one day!

will you check out those gloves?!?!  Is there anything hotter?  doubt it.

That’s a wrap on part 2, but we’re not done!  Be sure to come back for Part 3…

If you missed Part 1, or want to check it out again, Click HERE.

Makeup:  Laura Briscoe

Wardrobe / Accessories:  Angela Jackson

Jewelry:  LG Marchezie

Models:  Gretchen Fortin, Savannah Roach, Candace O’Neal

If you want to stay up to date with all the most recent sessions, click HERE and “LIKE.”

See you next time!

If you have ever been thinking of putting together a styled shoot, be prepared to work.  Not a little bit of work either – a lot, BUT if you have a wonderful group of talented people to work with, like I did, you won’t just be happy with the outcome.  You will be elated, like I was!

I love everything about this shoot.  The makeup, the clothes, the hair, the models, the locations…EVERYTHING.  I’m not kidding, I really do.  So much so, that I am going to try to top it in a few months, but you’ll just have to wait for more on that later.  ;)

Back in December, I emailed a friend of mine who happens to be a stylist / personal shopper and has the best wardrobe I have ever seen.  This girl’s shoes alone are to die for, no joke!!  I’m serious.  I wouldn’t kid about shoes.  ;)  I asked Angela if she would be interested in working with me on an idea that I had.  Yay!  She happily agreed!

Next stop, makeup.  At the end of last year, I had been looking for a makeup artist to work with on my senior shoots.  I found Laura on Facebook, emailed her and we met in January.  I knew it would be a stretch for her to do the styled shoot.  We just met and here I am asking her to do a bunch of work and not get paid.  I asked anyway and Yay!  She happily agreed!  Of course, how could she have turned me down?  I mean really, it’s like we were separated at birth.  We are so eerily similar, but in a good way though!  :)

Fast forward to March, location decided on, models chosen, props made, many emails / meetings later – shoot day finally arrives.  Seeing all of your hard work come together, for all us, was such a great feeling.   Part of me was nervous because I knew that at the end of the day, it was up to me to make everyone else’s hard work look good and come to life in these pictures, but at the same time, I was strangely calm and not at all worried.

We met at the Wayfarer Hotel for hair and makeup.  This little hotel was so incredibly cool!  If you ever find yourself in Monroe, Ga, you must stay in their suite!  Oh come on, you know you have been dying to check out Monroe!

So this is where I leave you today, with us all getting ready for the shoot and the behind the scenes.

Savannah & Candace getting their makeup done.

Gretchen’s turn in the makeup chair!

The suite at the Wayfarer.  “We have to go back!!”

On the right, the rings that I HAD to purchase.

I saw these on Etsy and immediately had to scoop them up for the shoot.  Love these little guys!

Shout out to Teri – Thanks for the mirror!  ;)

Lastly, my “dream” team.

L to R:  Angela Jackson (stylist), Gretchen Fortin (model), Laura Briscoe (makeup), Candace O’Neal (model), little ol’ me, Savannah Roach (model) and Casey Arnold (hair).

Ok, so there is your peek behind the curtains.  Now, you have to come back to see all the magic happen!

hmmm - suddenly this sounds like an MTV “Cribs” episode.  Odd.

As you already know, there have been lots of changes this year…new website, logo, blog.  Along with those changes, I had to make new business cards and decided to update my packaging.   I can’t show you the complete packaging yet until I put it all together to mail out.  That will happen though in the next few days.  Since some of you have been asking for pictures of these new items, I’ll give you a little preview in the meantime.

I really love the new business cards.  I designed and purchased these through Moo.com.  The reason I chose Moo.com is because you can upload your own pictures and have many different images on your cards instead of being restricted to one single style or type of card.   I have 25 different images on my cards, but you can see a few below.  I also purchased new cd mailers and some really cute packing tape.  I didn’t want some boring run of the mill packing tape, so I searched for some decorative tape.  I had no idea the varieties out there to choose from…so many decisions, but I went with Tapeswell.com.  Love, love, love all their cute styles!  Lastly, I ordered some thank you cards and a stamp, both with the new logo.  I really wanted the new packaging to reflect my style: fun, funky with a little bit of edge but some softness too.  :)

Let me know what you think so far, but definitely check back with me later when I put all the pieces together!!

It was such a busy Valentine’s Day this year.  I had been fighting a cold earlier in the week and couldn’t work ahead this year.  Sunday morning, I got up super early and got to work.  I had a card to make, bags, brownies, stickers and not a lot of time to accomplish it all.  I was able to get almost all of it done…the homemade brownies had to be sacrificed though.  That was definitely a bummer considering I made super cute bags that said “Homemade Chocolate Brownies.”  Oh well…they were homemade by someone…just not me!  :)
If you would like some Valentine inspiration….the brownie bag and fruit stickers are courtesy of Twig & Thistle.   The card is actually an idea for coffee cup wrappers that I found on eatdrinkchic.com.  There are sooo many fabulous ideas out there if you just look around a bit.