vaaaaacay! & halle part ii: senior pictures

Hello all! I wanted to put up a quick post with a few more photos from my senior session last week with Halle, before Rick and I leave for our first full week of vacation in our nearly six years of being together!! I simply can't wait. We leave tomorrow for East Lansing, Michigan where I'm attending the Gray Photography In-Camera Workshop with Zach and Jody Gray on Sunday ... Again, I can't wait to learn from industry leading professionals and spend the day with fellow photographers.

On Monday we are traveling to Kalamazoo and letting our wild-side run free! We're going to rent jeeps/four wheelers and go riding over the sand dunes by Lake Michigan.  I haven't been riding in nearly 4 years...and it's been 4 years too long!

Tuesday we're back to East Lansing for a relaxing day and I am attending a business workshop with Gray Photography that evening...

Wednesday we're visiting the largest mall in Michigan where I plan to do some serious damage at Anthropologie and then some more wallet damage that evening at the Casino! We're meeting up with a couple that Rick knows from way back when and having dinner at Michael Symon's restaurant, Roast, and then hitting up the slot machines ;)

Thursday we're going to visit rick's family and then come home that evening to pick up our sweet puppy. That is the only part of the trip that I am dreading - I am surprisingly sad about leaving Bella. But, fortunately, we are lucky to have a really sweet girl who will take great care of our baby, *uh-hem* I mean puppy :)

So that's my week! Then when we get home I have three photo-shoots in three days, which to me, is the perfect end to an amazing week. This year has been absolutely amazing so far. My business is taking off - I get to marry the love of my life almost exactly one year from today - my second niece will be here this July and everything just keeps getting better and better.

I love my life, my passions, my family and friends; and I can't wait to share my adventures of the coming week. But for now, feast your eyes on Halle!

speaking of tying the knot...

I have knots in my belly! Well, more like butterflies, but never the less ... The excitement of my first wedding of the year, which is tomorrow, is setting in and I cannot wait. Just had to share :)

These photos are from my blackberry so don't get too excited - but I took Bella last night for a little trip to East Coast Custard (YUM!) after spending nearly 3 hours trying to figure out how to put together a soft box and stand (why don't these things come with instructions?!), here's the final product:

Here's the East Coast Custard!

Waiting patiently...

Waiting not so patiently...

Finally, a baby cup of vanilla custard - well worth the wait for a beagle pup.

halle: senior pictures

I had a great, late afternoon today with Halle! Here is a quick sneak peek from today's session before I head off to bed. Enjoy!

Her eyes really are this blue and this beautiful. I didn't even touch 'em in post processing :)

new website!!!

I am so excited for my new website to go live! I have made a few small changes to my Blog but have put the majority of my efforts into creating a flash website from scratch using Showit Sites and am in love with the result! Please check it out and let me know what you think of it :)

www.full-bloom-photography.com

For anyone looking to build a flash page and is seriously intimidated at the thought of it like I was, I highly recommend Showit Sites. If I was able to do it, pretty much any one can figure it out!

Hope you enjoy!

Kayla

P.S.
And because a post, isn't a post without a picture:

I hope that you are as excited to see my new website as sweet Mariah was to see her teddy bear :)

family time

Family time isn't something that my fiance, Rick, and I get to enjoy very often. I grew up in Madison, Ohio and when my parents split up and it was time for me to graduate and go to school, I moved to Cleveland and my mom moved to southern Ohio with her now husband, Eugene. I only have two brothers and the rest of my family is somewhat spread around Ohio and Pennsylvania - so needless to say, I don't see them nearly as much as I would like. Rick was born and raised in Michigan but moved to Cleveland in 2004 with a friend, which is the same year I met him (more on that story later :)). His family is a solid three hour drive from us, so we typically get to see them on holidays and random visits when we find the free time off together to take a trip.

My older brother Tim married Anna almost 2 years ago and have become the best family I could have hoped to have near me. Anna is awesome. Having a "sister" after growing up with two brothers is so wonderful. She is such a great wife, a great mom and a great friend to me. I love her, I love my brother, I love the beautiful niece they've given me and the second niece that is on the way. I am so thankful to have them near us.

Tonight was the rare occasion - the nights that I always wish I had more of, but because they come around so seldom, I cherish them. It is impossible not to breathe in every moment of being around my family when it all comes together. My mom and Eugene came into town to spend the weekend and we all got together at Tim and Anna's house to share laughter, drinks and food. I snapped a few photos that I just adore and wanted to share.

I love my teeny tiny family and the love and happiness they bring to my life :)

Caution: This post has crazy amounts of my niece's cuteness all over it!

jake & christina: engagement

Jake and Christina are "that" couple. The couple that you meet and you immediately feel like you could be best friends with them. Their love for each other is so obvious - the constant laughter, playful teasing and simply the way that Jake looks at Christina (see the first photo below) - the way he looks at her....ahhh, love, love, love. I had such a blast with these two during our mini-shoot this past Saturday. I am shooting their wedding this June and can't wait for it. I hope you enjoy your sneak peek Jake and Christina, I'll see you in a few months!

Seriously...the way he looks at her, so sweet.

This is why I can't wait to shoot with them again - they are just so fun to be around, you can't help but smile and laugh the entire time :)

ryan: actor, musician, hair stylist - fabulous

I couldn't help but post a quick sneak peek yesterday, but here is the final result...just a few of my favorites! Ryan is amazing. He will hate me for writing this about him, but it is a simple fact. He is so multi-talented and excels at every single thing that he does. He is a hair stylist at a prominent salon in Westlake, Ohio - the lead singer of an up and coming Cleveland band and has been cast in several musicals this spring/summer. And the cherry on top of it all is that he was chosen to be in the "top 10 people to watch out for in Cleveland in 2010". So, to say that I was excited about this shoot was a huge understatement. He had an amazing hair stylist and makeup artist come along which was so fun to play with. After working with them on the shoot, I really want to make it a goal of mine to offer that service to my clients next year. It really does make such a difference in the photos to have professional hair and makeup...anyway, sorry for the derail!

Ryan - you are so inspiring. I can't wait to see what you become, where you go and the wonderful life ahead of you. I hope you like these photos! It was an honor to take them for you.