"blog-iatus"

Hola all. I am taking a brief hiatus from my blog for the next week or so. I'm smack dab in the middle of wedding season craziness and have a million and one things to do. On top of it, I am traveling to southern Ohio this weekend to spend the 4th of July with my mom and do some wedding dress shopping!

I'll be sure to post photos when I get back.

But for now, I hope that you all have a safe and happy 4th of July! Take lots of pictures :)

Kayla

P.S. because I am cuhhh-razy busy, I missed out on doing this week's mobile monday...so here is a little collage of my mobile photos from this past week:

P.S.S. Stay tuned for a contest next week for Jake & Christina's wedding! Also, here are two photos that Christina's awesome bridesmaid, Megan, took while I was photographing the newlyweds on the beach at sunset :)

reception album: pure print genius

I received my first sample "Reception Book" today and am beyond thrilled with how it turned out! If you only purchase one product after your engagement session, this should be the one. It serves as an album for your favorite photos from the engagement session and as a sign-in/fun guest book at your reception. Filled with tons of fun and meaningful questions, it would make the perfect coffee table book in you and your new hubby/wife's home! 

These books are fully customizable and designed by me! Choose your wedding colors, your pick of photos, your font, whether or not you want a custom cover (other options are leather, linen, etc.) and they are available in three sizes: 8x8, 10x10 & 12x12. The book photographed below is a 10x10 and I think it is the perfect size. This would also be great to put your maternity photos in and use as a sign in book at the baby shower...or if you have your child's birthday photos taken a little before the big day, you could use it as a fun birthday album/guest book! Ohhh the possibilities with this pretty little piece :)

Three of my favorite physical things about this book:
*Quality, incredibly well made - super thick pages that are UV coated to last you a lifetime.
*The "lay flat hinged pages"! These things are awesome. Your pages lay perfectly flat and dont bend up like most albums that you can create and order yourself online.
*The print quality is outstanding, tac sharp images and vibrant colors.

Check it out below & let me know what you think!

See...these are the "lay flat, hinged pages" - a thing of beauty :)

"Please take a minute to answer a few questions."

"Anthony & Anna are perfect together because..."

"Give us some ideas for a date night!"

"Anthony is perfect for Anna because..." & "Anna is perfect for Anthony because..."

"Tell us how to keep the fire burnin'..."

Blank page for guest signature and notes :)

      And then, as usual, Bella got jealous and had to interfere...Seriously, how cute is my pup?!

"Love is never having to..." & "The secret to marriage is..."

"What do you see for us in the next 20 years?"

"Got any good stories about us?"

"Say Goodbye!"

teeny, tiny, cute little albums!

These little guys are quite the show stoppers that go by the product name "Mini-Accordion Albums." Despite their miniature size (3"x3") they are the perfect add on to any session so that you can share your photos with everyone! These albums come with a translucent cover that holds and protects the album should you decide to carry it around in your purse, bag, etc. I am a huge proponent for buying product after your session because photos are meant to be seen, not kept on a CD and this is a wonderful way to show off your family, your love and your life.  Use it as a brag book, as a way to show off your photos to family that live out of state, or ... get ready for it ... the coolest part of this book:

It is also a flippin' magnet. Yes, a magnet. Both the front & back cover have magnets in them! Go ahead and stretch out the album for a few photos to display on your refrigerator, cubicle, locker & enjoy catching glimpses of your photos throughout the day (photos of it on my own refrigerator below).

I love the paper it's printed on also, which is called "Pearl" and it has a very slight shimmer to it and is lovely for photographs. So, I will leave you with a few words to describe this gem of a product:

*Super Cute

*Awesome Quality & Durability

*Great gift for Moms, Dads, Grandparents, Bridal Party - Overall amazing way to give a gift of photographs to remember a special time in your life

*And again, Super Cute :)

Check it out for yourself!

mobile monday: week 2, coffee!

"I simply take these photos to help me remember the ordinary. The day to day happenings that pass by so quickly. As important as it is to capture the life changing moments - it is just as important to remember and capture the ordinary. So here it is, my week of ordinary :)"

(6/14) Monday: Coffee Please?

Mondays are the worst. Today was especially rough. Heavy eyes, comfy office clothes, cushy office chair...the recipe for sleepy time. I decided to go for it and be like the cool kids. I have never ever ever had a cup of coffee before today. Now don't get me wrong, I am up for a Mocha Frapp any day at Starbucks, but a steamy hot cup of coffee to get me going in the morning had never been my thing. Now though, it will never not be my thing. Not only is it delicious (especially when you add some hot cocoa!), but it kept me going all day. Motivated, energized - who is this new person? I love it!

(6/15) Tuesday: Not feelin' very fine, douse yourself in Calamine.

Today I woke up itchy and scratchy. There were these little red dots on my legs, fingers, arms - all over. At first I thought mosquito bites? Spider bites? Chicken pox?! But as the morning went on, each dot got larger, multiplied and then I realized what was really going on...Poison Ivy!! This past Saturday I rolled around in the grass in a MetroPark while taking some photos and must have rolled in some poison ivy. It's so gross. So, I'm at work wearing a nice business-ey dress, and my neck, face, legs, hands and arms are covered in pink calamine lotion. It was surely a sight to see.

Here are some silly Wikipedia rhymes to help you remember what poison ivy looks like so that you can avoid it like the plague :)

"Leaves of three, let it be."

"Hairy vine, no friend of mine."

"Longer middle stem, stay away from them."

My favorite: "Side leaflets like mittens, will itch like the dickens." ;)


(6/16) Wednesday: Sick as a dog.

This was my dog Wednesday night around 2AM. You may be asking yourself "Kayla, why were you up at 2AM laying in bed taking a photo of your dog sleeping in your fiance's arm?" Well. By Wednesday, my feet, legs, stomach, arms, hands, neck & face had all been exposed to the poison ivy and I could not for the life of me fall asleep. It hurt & itched and was plain miserable. The only bonus? I was able to see how freakin' cute my dog is when she sleeps. Seriously. I love her :) I ended up having to take Wednesday off of work which left me some free time to take way too much Benadryl and sleep during the day. Whoever created cold medicines that knock you out of your misery, I thank you very, very much.

(6/17) Thursday: Just 5 Minutes.

When I get a free night during the week and get to stop over to my sister-in-law's, it is SO relaxing and wonderful to get a chance to catch up with her. Every single time I always say that I'm only going to stay for 15 minutes and every single time 10PM rolls around and it's 3 hours later. That's just how it goes and I love it :). I grew up with two brothers and I'm thrilled to finally have a "sister". This is her preggo belly and my sweet niece is cuddled inside! I can't wait to meet her. They aren't sharing her name with anyone so that it is a fun surprise for everyone and although it's killing me, I can't wait to hold her for the first time and learn her name at that same moment. I got to feel her moving around and hiccuping which has me a million times more excited and anticipating the end of July like you can't believe. Anna's such an awesome mommy and am pretty excited to see how Cora will take on the roll of being "big sister"...Ahhhh, look at that belly!! I love it.

(6/18) Friday: Toddlers In Tiaras.

Although I find this show completely disturbing, it always seems to be that when I can't fall asleep, this is the only thing on TV, so I fall asleep watching it. Today, I lived through and photographed a real life Toddlers in Tiaras styled Dance Recital and I must say that it was quite the experience. Anyway, after the 4 hour shooting spree, I stopped at Denny's because I hadn't eaten all day, chowed on a Turkey Club Sandwhich and went over my printing packages/pricing/workflow spreadsheets & was pleasantly surprised at what I accomplished in my hour at a booth in Denny's at 11PM :)
(6/19) Saturday: I forgot to grab a photo, but not too much happened. I had a lazy Saturday morning/afternoon and second shot a wedding that evening with Jay Kossman and had a ton of fun!

(6/20) Sunday: Father's Day in PA.

Today I got to drive out to Pennsylvania and spend some QT with my Grandparents & Aunts for Father's day. It was absolutely gorgeous weather for a drive, got a little sun on the way out there and jammed to the Kate Nash station on Pandora in my car. Lovely. We had a delish lunch, chatted, laughed, enjoyed their amazing back yard that leads down to lake erie and was happy to get to spend the afternoon with family. When I got home Rick and I overindulged in some America's Funniest Home Videos and relaxed. It was the first day in over a week we had the chance to spend any time together & I missed him dearly :)










On the agenda for this coming week: client meetings, wedding dress shopping, shooting two weddings & three other shoots - all good stuff :)
mobile monday disclaimer: photos were taken on my motorola droid - don't be hatin' on the quality :)

mobile monday: first post!

This is my first "mobile monday" post! I thought of starting this post because I have this thing called a Blackberry, more infamously known as a "crackberry". My little crackberry obsession has transferred over to my love of photos and capturing everyday memories with a camera. I don't tend to lug around my gigantic DSLR everywhere with me, so the camera on my crackberry gets some pretty solid use yet I never use the photos ... and for this reason, I am starting mobile mondays! Not sure of the specs on the camera in my phone but definitely nothing higher than 3MP. I don't get iPhone quality phone pics but to me, quality in my crackberry photos isn't the purpose. I simply take these photos to help me remember the ordinary. The day to day happenings that pass by so quickly. As important as it is to capture the life changing moments - it is just as important to remember and capture the ordinary. So here it is, my week of ordinary :)

(6/7) Monday - Spoiled Beagle Pup:
This past weekend was cuh-raaaaazy busy. I had a wedding reception Friday evening, 5 hours of driving the next day and a 10 hour wedding + 2 client meetings on Sunday. This left me with a solid workload of editing images and my very spoiled beagle, Bella, was not too happy. I had edited the majority of the day Sunday, all night Monday and all night Tuesday. By about 8:00 Bella had enough of it and decided to hop up onto me, climb onto the computer desk and stand directly in front of my monitor...She is so rotten but so so cute. Needless to say, we played & editing of two weddings was finished in less than 4 days...go me!

(6/8) Tuesday - Paperwork Central:
On top of working full time on my photography business, I also hold a full time position at a Commerical Real Estate Development & Management Office and I handle accounts receivable for our 70+ properties. Well Wednesday I had to do what I have been dreading for over a year. We have a storage site with our site plans with at least 100 plans unlabeled and unorganized. This was the task at hand and all I have to say is that I am so so thankful for having Pandora on my phone to help pass the time :)

(6/9) Wednesday - Mmmmm:
I am a pretty lucky girl. My fiance cooks, he cleans, he spoils. I am lucky. And on this particular night I was super lucky because he spoiled me with delicious burgers for dinner! We both work opposite hours so our "usual" days together are Wednesday evening and all day Sunday. I also vowed to take this weekend off of technology and not get on the computer, use my phone as little as possible and swear off facebook. I didn't get on the computer at all this night and it was amaaaaaazing. We watched the second season of grey's anatomy and crashed out early with our pup. Burgers, Grey's, the love of my life and my dog = perfection.

(6/10) Friday - A Droid Will Fill the Void:
So, notice that there is no Thursday photo...very first week into "mobile monday"and my mobile device died. I killed it actually. Thursday was not a good day. I went to the post office, locked my keys in the car...Waited there for nearly two hours. Thankfully, Sarah (my best girlfraaaand) was in the area and she stopped by with her cutie patootie daughter and had a picnic with me...Yes, right in front of the post office. It was classic. Well once they finally got there to get out my keys, I left, got back to work, and realized I didn't have my phone. I drove back to the post office to find that I must have left it on the roof of my car in the middle of talking, drove off and someone ran it over. Totally sad. Luckily though I was able to get a new phone and decided to update to the Droid after all of the rave reviews that I've heard. It's only day one of being mine but I love it already. So, needless to say, Friday was better than Thursday. Now that all of that commotion is over, I am home with a bottle of Riesling, some delish pasta that the man is cookin' and it's a warm summer night :) - "Thursday who?"

(6/11) Saturday: Relaxation & Nasty Midges

Saturday was one of the first "free" Saturdays I've had in months and the last that I will have again for the following months of wedding season. I spent the morning doing a small, casual shoot for a friend followed up by the most delicious drink everrr on earth - banana margarita, I love you. I got to spend time with my best friend and drive around for a few hours through the middle of nowhere taking photos, laughing & talking. I got to see Cortney & Mike and they're little ones. And I was able to visit the beach by myself. Although the whole day was amazing and relaxing, this was the best. In High School, my mom and I lived right on the beach and I went there every single day that I could. I'd sit and listen to music, take photos or just be. And that's what I did today. The sun, the water, the sand...all perfection...except for the Midges that you see in the photo. If you have not visited Lake Erie or experienced the midges that come to be around this time once year...you are not missing out. Thousands of them swarm the beaches and try to land on you. They don't bite, but they are nasty fo sho. I also scouted out some locations for a wedding I'm doing out there in two weeks and am SO excited. I was sad to say goodbye to my Saturday.

(6/13) Sunday: Burgers again?!
Let me start by pointing out that the little girl you see in that photo...yeah, the one over to the left, she is my niece. I love her with all my being and you can't help but laugh and be happy when around her. She is 18 months now which is my favorite age and she wants to know about and be into everything. She gives about a million kisses each time she sees you...best. thing. ever. They're all slobbery and wonderful. Anyway, today we went over and had a cook out with my brother and sister in law and got to spend some quality time with them. Rick and I can count on one hand the number of times we've eaten burgers in the last year and strangely enough this last week has been twice! We grilled out, talked, laughed, enjoyed the awesome weather outside and watched an insane episode of man vs. food. My family is small, but they're wonderful. I need to make myself take an evening out of the week, not matter how busy it gets, and go over there to visit. Cora's growing up too quickly and I don't want to miss anything. Anywho. Lovely Sunday. Lovely week.

mobile monday disclaimer: photos were taken on my blackberry/droid - don't be hatin' on the quality :)

saturday bliss

Yesterday was relaxing, fun, spontaneous and lovely. A small part of my day was having the chance to stop by and visit my good friend Cortney. Tell me her kids are not in at least the top 10 cutest kids you've ever seen...check out her eyes!

Lily was all about some photographs...Cohen on the other hand, not so much. He loved playing with me but the second I picked up my camera, this is the face I got:

I mean, come on...the look of disgust:

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!