I Heart Faces - Week 29!

It's week 2 for me. This weeks theme is At The Beach. I don't really have a ton of beach pictures. This was taken right around the time I was switching to manual settings on my SLR, and well that's probably obvious. The exposure is a little off. I played with the colors a little bit. Probably not a winner, but I really want to try to submit every week.

I think I'll call this picture Hobo Husband. :) This was taken when we were on vacation in Florida this winter. The days that we had to spend on the beach were rainy and overcast, so we only got one morning of a long walk along the beach before our flight left. We wrapped our shoes and stuff up in our beach towel so we could walk along the shore and take it with us. We happened to be in a very wealthy area with lots of huge and beautiful houses...so we really did feel like hobos! haha.




For my other photography friends, you really should check our I Heart Faces. There are tons of talented photographers, and I really like the challenge of either fixing old photos or motivating me to try to capture something new or different. Go here for more information! All levels of talents and skills are welcome.

Megan + Andy

Soooo, I wasn't their actual photographer (hence the tops of heads in a couple pictures), but I wanted to have some fun and keep on practicing for my future brides & grooms.

Megan was my suite-mate my sophomore year of college. She lived with 3 girls who were all in Computer Graphics Technology while she was an English Education major. (You can imagine some of the drama she dealt with living with 3 people who were in the same competitive major!). Anyway, Megan met Andy over Christmas break while she was on a mission trip. I remember coming back from break and her inviting him to come out to dinner with the group of people we were always hanging around sophomore year. Little did they know, they were in for the long haul. He proposed about a year and a half later at a Cubs game (and hid the ring in a cracker jack box)! And now, a little over a year after that, they are happily married and on their honeymoon! I really do wish them the best in married life and look forward to many Mario Kart Wii tournaments this winter! :)

Here's my version of their happily ever after: :)



I love their facial expressions in this picture. Megan is so happy and excited, and Andy looks like he's proudly and respectfully absorbing the moment.

Feet Love! ( I Heart Faces Contest)

Feet Love!




In an effort to become a better photographer, I've decided to start submitting photos to the I Heart Faces contest. Awesome right? Of course, the first week I decide to submit, it's feet week! Lucky me, I love feet! Isn't that silly? It's true though. I always seem to be taking pictures of feet. This is one of my FAVORITES from my engagement session with Kristy and CT. I actually did two feet photos in that session. (The other is here.) They were so cute and cuddly. So, here's my first try at I Heart Faces! :)

Meet Us

On our way to my friend Megan's wedding (photo's coming soon!) this weekend, we saw this bright and colorful deserted building. I wanted to stop and take pictures, but we weren't sure if we had enough time. So on we went...

However on the way home, it was still light enough and we got some sweet shots. I LOVE this building! The colors are fun and there are lots of options. I have no idea what it was whenever it was open. But, I'm thankful it wasn't gated off and we could get some fun pictures. So, here's what we took. I also thought it'd be fun to tell a little bit about ourselves, so meet Brandon:

Well, he's an engineer. Enough said right? Haha. Wrong! He's more than just a biomedical nerd. He also enjoys learning the technical side of photography. He'd spend every day on the golf course if it were possible, and he loves playing softball. He can play guitar hero on expert and is a Mario Kart pro. Brandon enjoys dessert, especially ice cream.

Meet Kim:

Kim's been in love with the camera ever since she learned how to say, "Cheese!". She has probably taken over a million pictures. If she's not behind the camera, you'll probably find her studying, doing crafty projects, or cooking. She plays volleyball, and you might see her out on a run. She's a graphic designer by trade (with a degree in Computer Graphics Technology), but loves teaching and creativity.



That's us! :) The photos that I took from Megan & Andy's wedding will be coming soon.

Chicago (July 6, 2009)

Brandon and I went to Chicago the Monday following the 5th. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining, but it wasn't too hot out. We went to the Sears Tower (I'd never been before.) We didn't really know this until we already had the trip planned, but they had recently opened their glass "rooms" that are kinda like decks off the top of the tower except completely encloced in glass (top, sides, and BOTTOM). I can't lie, it made me a little dizzy! It's all a mind game, but when you really look down and see the tops of "sky scrapers", it's just kinda crazy. Here are some of our shots from the day :)

Far from a nice "photo", but this is what it looked like.
If you can see past our shadows, that's a really tall building we're "standing on top of".

You can't go to Chicago without a picture at the Bean.

Updates!

So, I'm getting there with getting this thing updated. I added some old stuff, so you might have to dig a little deeper for the new. But, more to come soon! I've been doing quite a bit of Photoshop training at work lately, so I'm improving my photo editing abilities a TON. So so so excited about it too!! I'll leave you with a photo of the awesome wind farms? I think that's what they are called in eastern Illinois. We drive through about 20 miles of them or so on our way out to Nauvoo, IL. I think they are mesmerizing. The last time we made the trip, the weather was perfect and the sky was pretty. So, we stopped and took some shots. Here is my favorite (edited 2 different ways):

Brittney & Justin - Wedding (11-08-08)

Justin & Brittney - Invitation

Brittney & Justin - Engagement (7-20-2008)

Since these are old, I only uploaded 3. The first is my absolute favorite. I think Brittney looks so glamorous! :)

Peek Sisters - Christmas Photos (December 18, 2008)

The Peek sisters had me do their Christmas photos for their mom. They were super fun! This was my first session with a kid, and wow! It was cake at first, but they sure do tire quickly. Regardless, I was happy with the results!

Jaden

Jaden is our favorite (and only) nephew. He's the cutest kid! We spent the 4th of July weekend at Brandon's parents house, and took Jaden to the park one afternoon. Here are some pictures (taken by Brandon) from the day.

On another note, I still haven't updated the layout. That will come soon! I'm hoping to make it bigger and better than it was! Enjoy!

Shower Invitation

This is the invitation for my soon to be sister-in-laws bridal shower we're having. I designed it at work during my lunches and breaks.