it was a harley davidson wedding...

my cousin, troy & his fiance, jackie got hitched today! it was definitely not your average wedding. they are avid harley riders who are members of a riding club. that put an extra special twist on the celebration. which was so neat! i love it when someone does something out of the ordinary at a wedding. they actually rode their bike out of the ceremony! (it was in the back of the auditorium) and as they did, more harleys than i could count followed them, as troy & jackie rode a 'victory lap' down main street lebanon in full on bridal/groom gear. it was a really cool site to see. the pics don't do it justice. i think because you miss that beautiful purr of all those engines revving up at once!

dana & troy


the lineup. this doesn't really begin to do it justice...



CONGRATULATIONS MR & MRS TROY RUCKER!

upcoming shoots-yay!

i have a few shoot scheduled coming up in the next week...i'm excited! i'm ready to have some new subjects :-) i will post a sneak peek here & there as always. i'm also really happy about the trip to vegas, that seems like it will never get here. i haven't looked so forward to something in a long time. i. am. so. ready.

i mentioned not taking my camera when i go, tonight, to my friend joey & i think she thought i was nuts. let's face it, she probably thinks that all the time, lol. i know. she's right. i'd get out there & think, "what was i thinking not bringing it!" but it's alot to lug all the way across the country. i'm protective of that camera. plus i've never been a places shooter, i'm a people shooter. ok, wait. that makes me sound like a sniper. i kind of am a sniper...snapping moments where ever i can steal them... i'm sure there are moments i can steal all over sin city.

maybe the las vegas skyline & neon light filled city will inspire me. we will see...i can't take a chance of having a moment, and not having my camera.

i'm also planning a session with tess, who was one of joey's model for her 'unattainable' shoot. it's my next creative venture/fashion-esq shoot. although i am so in love with the shoot she did with joey, i'm almost afraid i won't do the girl justice. and the hair...the hair was so phenomenal! all praise david drye. let it be known, the hair will not be that insane for my session with her, but i have something fun in mind :-) this one is going to be all about the FUN! when we met, i really got a great vibe from her. i think we will jive quite nicely when we finally shoot.


tess.

VIVA LAS VEGAS

i am super-pumped! in just a couple of weeks my good friend paul & i are headed to sin city & it's just the vacation i need right now!
btw-this site is really fun to play with www.faceinhole.com

beautiful baby girls

i photographed these shots for one of my oldest friends. we were first acquainted in the hospital where our mothers roomed together as she & i were born 3 days apart. so essentially, i have known her my whole life. or wait, she has known me her whole life. i was born first. i love seeing her children & what a wonderful little family she has. always when i really know the person i am shooting, it takes on a different tone, because everyone is instantly comfortable. rather than me being a stranger in their house with a BIG camera pointed at them. there have been times when that sort of can freak little ones out & then they have to warm up to me some. (usally, this involves candy) i have waited & waited to post these, but i am giving up on waiting because i can't stand it any longer. i have to share them. i love them. they are some of my favorite baby pics i have taken, everything went right that day. the light, her oldest was in a great mood, she's so smart, so inquisitive & funny. & the newbie, she even opened her eyes for me. so here they are...hadley & harper.

more implications...

i love kylie's (aka my little moster)
sweet face in this photo.


i am feeling better & better about how my first attempt at an artistic shoot went. at first i was really unsettled because it was so chaotic & so much seemed to work against me on getting to the shoot! but as i go back & edit the photos more & more, i am finding more love for them. i loved my model, she was exactly who i wanted for this session. jessi has such a fabulous face! i am crazy about the unique look she has. that was another reason i had a hard time pinpointing exactly why i didn't get what was in my mind, executed perfectly. something just seemed amiss. and finally, after studying the pics for several days, i realized it was part of her wardrobe i didn't like. and i had i not been extremely pressed for time, i probably would have realized it that day & changed it. i wish she had on a full flowing skirt, but because of time constraints that day, i couldn't deviate from what i had for her. now i realize that i need to allow more time for these kinds of last minute decisions. hopefully it will make me more prepared for the next session...which i'm already planning :-)

implicated idea

implicate

im·pli·cate
Pronunciation:
\ˈim-plə-ˌkāt\
Function:
transitive verb
Inflected Form(s):
im·pli·cat·ed; im·pli·cat·ing
Etymology:
Middle English, to convey by implication, from Medieval Latin implicatus, past participle of implicare, from Latin, to entwine, involve.
1: to involve as a consequence, corollary, or natural inference : 2archaic : to fold or twist together.

magic in midgetville

more to come...

sugar, spice & everything nice.

it is so wonderful when you find people in your life, where it's safe to be you. in all your effed up little ways of thinking. even when the person who accepts this from you thinks totally different. i strive to be this way with others, although i don't always succeed. i want to be as open as i can. because i know it's the open people, who allow me to be free. i appreciate having those few people in my world...so much. think about how different it would be if everyone was like that. just accepts you for who you are & where you are in your life. this is just my little thank you to those few people who get it. or at least try :-) especially to one particular person, who knows who they are: i am glad you came to me when you did, otherwise, this whole new world would've never opened it's door for me. fail or succeed, it's a door, otherwise, i'd have never even walked through. i keep hearing the old saying, "you gotta crawl before you walk" over & over in my head. and this i know is true. it's just hard to stomach when you're ready to fly :-)

thank you for being my challenger, my teacher, my supporter & most of all for the surprising friendship we found, through the kinship of the love of photography...aka ART.

in mourning

collaboration with puddinghead

sneak peek

i can't help myself...i keep looking at the pics from today & so many of the 'behind the scene' shots i've got are so awesome. and they don't really even need any sort of photoshopping...
we had 3 models today. tess, kaitlyn & jessi. david drye, of the hair company in lebanon, did all their hair & jessica hill from MAC did all of their make-up & everyone looked AMAZING.


tess in her big bad roll 'do


kaitlyn


jessi gettin crimped

kaitlyn killin time

tuckered out

oh my. i'm tired. tired as in, i mean WHOOPED. emotionally & physically drained. i had a great day, everyone who was involved with this little adventure worked out fantastic! a big thanks to everybody for investing their time, i know it was a long day. i promise to blog & post more later, but for now, i'm just going to post a couple of stunna shots i worked in to the shoot today. just because the stunna shades have taken on a life of their own these days.


jessi ROCKED. and rocked the stunnas.


david even rocked the stunnas while
bangin some major hair.

it's a birthday stunna

happy belated birthday to my dear friend carrie! it was yesterday & i was too busy to post with everything going on in preparation for today, but i wasn't too busy for birthday dinner & a chance to put her & her friend, lil kim in the stunna shades!

thumpety thump goes my heart

i am so fortunate to be in a place right now where i can really expand myself creatively. i feel like i am learning SO much. every day. and it makes me have a hunger for new information, new mediums, new...things. hunger like i haven't eaten in a week. my head is so full of ideas...almost to the point that it's getting a little heavy to carry it around. and these ideas bounce around constantly in my mind, like bingo balls.

but i have finally been able to force an image in my head forward. one image that i HAVE to execute. it's the image that has haunted me for months. first i found the location & fell in love. such a neat visual place. then i found a model who just had the exact look i wanted for this piece...and amazingly, she agreed to drive an hour & a half in to shoot it with me. this girl is trusting my vision (wow). it is all coming together, piece by piece. and if all the pieces fit together like i think they will...i will have created magic. and soon, i will give it a shot. ha. i'm punning accidentally. it's scary to try something new, but exhilarating to thing of successfully executing it like i've been dreaming it in my head. i've always been a photo journalistic shooter & now...i'm taking the plunge into an artistic realm. i hope i can do my vision justice.

i'm in this strange emotional place where my heart just feels open. creatively, i need to purge. it couldn't happen at a better time in my life. i have high hopes that i will be able to create something different than i ever have...that is exciting!

MONDAY MONDAY MONDAY! it's p n me & friends...collaboration time :-)

paulrito shows his swagger with the stunnas

i had to pretty much beg him to wear them...

but look how much fun he's having :-)

there's no place like home

i spent the day in lebanon today...sort of accidentally. i went home, specifically, to go to the dentist. (yes, i travel an hour to go to the dentist-i can't help it! i've gone to him for years.) i ended up seeing all 6 of my nieces & nephews. i needed that. i definitely don't spend enough time with them. my oldest nephew, dylan, DROVE me today. it was just kind of a surreal day all around, they are all growing so fast. if you blink, you miss it.
here are some pics from the day....


greyson

carly got her braces :-)

vicky with lulu & dobby (2 of her SIX dogs)

sophie & carly

and finally...the stunna shades!
*this pose they came up with on their own btw

pretty kenzie

beautiful AND talented

http://www.kenziekapp.com/

another stunna

my friend jessica has walked through my door tonight...therefore...it's stunna shade time. she & i have been friends almost as long as i've lived in louisville. i don't see this girl enough. she is an amazing make-up artist & is going to collaborate with p & i on our upcoming adventure. i can't even tell you how excited i am to know i am on the verge of pushing myself creatively in a way i haven't before.

i feel the magic...

it's all happening :-) the vision that has been stuck in my head for months is going to come to fruition...can i just say, YAY.

boys rock

on sunday evening i did a session & i have literally had to cancel on this family 2 other times because of the weather. finally, we're suppose to have a nice day & of course it's beautiful up until about an hour before i'm scheduled to shoot them...that's when the clouds rolled in. i just kept thinking, "not rain, not today! these kids are going to be in high school before i get to photograph them!" the fam arrived with their 2 boys in tow, the oldest, george, not feeling too well :-( but they were troopers & we persevered, but just about the time we were finishing up...the rain started to fall.


sweet theo...and his mama, geody. check him out. you
can tell he's totally checkin ME out, love that expression!


and here is george with his car :-)
aren't george & theo the cutest names for these two?

~~my favorite quotes~~

so, i was inspired to search through an old journal for a specific quote i remembered writing down, once upon a time. i did not find that quote, but i found 3 others that i feel compelled to share. they all seem to, in one way or another, reflect on exactly where i am, right now, in my life.

~happiness sneaks in through a door you didn't even know you left open. -john barrymore

~there is always one moment in childhood when the door opens & let's the future in. -graham greene

~the real voyage of discovery consists in not seeking new landscapes, but in having new eyes. -marcel proust

a new rule at my house

everyone who enters, must be photographed in the stunna shades.

happy mother's day!

it's me & my mama, circa 1975
*today's music is in honor of her...barry manilow is her favorite. i think we can safely say i did NOT inherit her musical tastes.

don't burn bridges

this is one of the places i've found while scouting locations, close to my hometown, near lebanon, ky. it really is a neat place & this shot doesn't give it away entirely...so it's kind of like a sneak peek. i've lived in louisville over 10 years but, going back to where i grew up...it still always feels like coming home.

ps-thanks to my friend dan for being my subject ;-)

the future's so bright...

me n p. she is officially my new partner in crime.

scoutin locations

as i have mentioned previously in the year, i am aimin' to stretch my artistic legs by trying out some new ideas. things that go beyond traditional photography. mainly, because i think i need to do everything i can to push myself outside my comfort zone. even if i fail, i win, because i'll learn something. and anything right now that i'm learning, is only helping the success of my work. these are going to be more intricate, themed projects that are really more art, than photography.

here are a couple of shots of my friend, joey & i scouting out these locations for an upcoming shoot we're doing together...it was a fun little road trip to find them :-)

btw-all photos shot by joey todd-who i give thanks to, for the pics & for pushing me to go to the limits of what i can do.

here comes the...wedding photographer?

ok, ok...so i previously swore off weddings. secretly, i love shooting them. i love the honest emotion they bring. but the stress is overwhelming to me & alone, i just can't take it. now, a friend of mine who is also a photographer is trying to sweet talk me into shooting weddings with her. and honestly, i think we'd be an awesome team for weddings. she shoots very artistically & art is her background & of course i'm much more candid, with a photojournalism background. it's a nice yin & yang. and as i feel drawn toward shooting babies & families...weddings just keep coming at me. i try not to look too much at things as 'signs', but seriously, i feel like someone out there is nudging me & whispering in my ear...weddings.

this is catherine, my friend & co-worker, who got married a couple of weeks ago. she had a great photographer, but of course i couldn't help myself, i had to take a few shots on my own. it was a beautiful day, she was a beautiful bride...how could i resist?
congratulations to catherine & phil!