5 years ago, I used to be a cheer coach for a team of 8-year-old girls through our church. We had a blast! The whole team was really good kids!! I had not only coached the squad but I was the photographer for their team pictures. It was a great way for me to get my name out there as a photographer!

It definitely worked!

 One of moms had loved my work and I started photographing her kids and her friends kids! Christmas pictures, senior pictures, prom pictures, it was awesome!! Recently, she had called me and said that her youngest daughter (my cheerleader) wanted to have a “photo shoot” party for her 13th birthday! I said that it was a great idea and would be honored! Besides, it would be a piece of cake because what 13-year-old girl does not want her picture taken??

The plan for the party was simple…

Each girl would bring 2 outfits and we would got to 2 locations to match those outfits.

All the girls would get ready together at the birthday girls house and then we were off to the first location!

We shot a bunch of group shots, did some buddy shots with the birthday girl and also did some individual shots of each girl who was there! For their “gift”, each girl received a group shot, a buddy shot and one individual shot of themselves. The whole photo shoot was for purchase on a CD if they were interested in having more photos! Which they ALL were!!

The party was a huge success!

The girls had so much fun and raved about it long after it was over!

Now, I have them all on my FB and Instagram and I just love seeing the pictures all over their pages!

As for me, I had a great time too! It was so awesome to pose them and make them feel like little models! Can I tell you too, there was 9 of them and they were so well manured! A great group of girls! God has blessed them all with friendship! Needless to say, please contact me via phone or email if you are interested in “photo shoot” parties! Please visit the gallery to see more photos from the party!

you can purchase this soap at http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrugallySustainable?ref=shop_sugg

As a photographer, there are endless possibilities with pictures. Everything we read on the web, in magazines, food menus,the list goes on and on, they are all lead or followed by pictures.Not only are pictures huge for advertising purposes, They are also the way to capture our greatest memories!

 On a business standpoint, a photographers job field is huge! I, for one, have tried many avenues of photography! I love that aspect because it always keeps things fresh! Although I love taking pictures of people and everything that has to offer, I ventured into photographing products.

Let me tell you, it is so easy!!

Obviously!

You don’t have to tell them to smile, or your hair is out-of-place, or don’t pose that way! You get to use the creative side of your mind to make a product really stand out!

I recently took a job with a dear friend who owns an herbal shop. It was giving me the opportunity to work from home. She makes over 100 different products by hand and sells all over the globe! My job had consisted of packaging all of the product due to the increase in business that she just couldn’t sustain all on her own.

My position grew to be so much more from there!

I started learning all about the herbal world and its benefits in a slowly increasing natural health conscious society. I have learned how to make a few products and learned a lot about taking care of yourself naturally.

 Not only have I got this great new job but, drum roll please….I am now the photographer for the business!!  It is my job to make all of her products stand out! I am beyond excited to work a different side of the photography spectrum to broaden my horizons!

My passion for photography has exploded all over again!

If you are interested in the products shown in this blog, please feel free to head over to her site!http://frugallysustainable.com/

She also sells her product on Etsy!http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrugallySustainable?ref=shop_sugg

The Holiday season is fast approaching! Can you believe it? I feel like I just put all the decorations away! This life speeds by so fast and sometimes I feel like I am on automatic pilot! I go through life day-to-day going to work, paying the same bills, getting the same groceries, taking the kids to practice, cleaning the house, and before I know it it’s time for the holidays. Sad to say, I finally stop, catch my breath and realize all these things have been such a great gift to me everyday of the year!

Giving thanks is something that we all forget throughout the busy schedules that we carry. Then once the holidays approach you feel the same way I do, taking a second to really think about all the great in your life!

Although my list of Thanks starts with God, my husband, my kids, my family, a roof over my head, etc, which are all so very important to me, I have to take the time in this blog to be Thankful for the confidence God has given me in my photography!

For so long, I struggled with the confidence in myself that I was really good at what I did! I never wanted to put myself out there and give it a try! I was too afraid of failure and clients not liking it!

I continued to pray about my confidence issues and He has changed me forever! No longer am I a nervous wreck going to a shoot! I don’t (completely) beat myself up anymore if the photos are not EXACTLY how I envisioned them! I know my clients will love them! That’s why they hired me!

So today and everyday, I give great thanks to God and to you, my readers, my clients,my family, who put their faith in me, their time, to see what I am all about and like my work! With God and all of you behind me, I know I can do it!

Make sure to take time this holiday season to think about what you are thankful for!

We all want to be creative, right? Art allows us to do that! But not just on paper!

The dictionary defines art as,”the quality, production, expression, or realm, according to aesthetic principles, of what is beautiful, appealing, or of more than ordinary significance.”

Which pretty much sums up Everything!

Art comes through the body, the voice,

the mind, the hands, the eyes, the soul.

We look at people’s creativity  every day! All of us at one point or another have said we are not creative, but we are! We might not be Picasso, but each of us show art in different ways.

It is amazing to me, to watch a dancer who moves their body with so much emotion like “a work of art”

To see a painting, on the side of a building, or in an art gallery, with so much detail and precision.

Or in photography, where a laugh, a cry, or an object on a table, can be art as well.

All of this “ART” is from someones passion!

Thanks to all the artists out there, this world is surrounded by  beauty!

Use your passion and creativity and make it ART!

The Hip Strip in Jamaica

Beauty is everywhere!   

It’s in a smile   

It’s in a work of art   

It’s in an undiscovered place   

It’s in a sunrise or a sunset…. 

From the second you open up your eyes in the morning until you close your eyes at night, you have encountered hundreds of things that bring beauty to this life!  
Looking at the beauty in life and for me, capturing it through photography, warms the heart!  

Embrace and give thanks to the beauty around you! 

What makes your world beautiful?

One thing I love to do is scout locations!

Now mind you, I have 3 daughters, all of which are in sports! My oldest and youngest are dancers and my middle one is a gymnast.

That being said, I have to pencil these scouting days into my girls schedules…not the other way around…so it becomes a whole day, thoroughly planned out:

• Snacks
• water
• Ipad
• MANY outfit changes
• the trusty navigator

And…

We drive!!

We look out the windows and pull over as we find something fun and interesting!

There are always great locations where you least expect them!

What was your favorite least expected location?