Picture This - Lisa's Photography Blog

Open House with Savvy-Stitches

I am so thrilled to be hosting an open house on Saturday, February 25 from 2:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m. with my dear friend, Jenny Gilbert, owner of Savvy-Stitches. This will be a great opportunity for you to see some beautiful dresses for little girls and also see Jenny's new outfits for spring. She will also have onesies, pennant banners, hooded towels, and a few other items. Jenny is so talented, and I'm excited for everyone to see her work. I've included several pictures below of items she's made. Check out her website and be sure to like Savvy-Stitches (Frankfort, KY) on Facebook to stay up to date on new items.

This will also be the perfect time to see some of the new items I'm offering this year like the accordion mini albums, new collage designs, hardcover albums, ceramic tiles, and more. There will be doorprize drawings, and anyone attending will be eligible for discounts on packages for spring and summer sessions. Anyone purchasing an item from Jenny will get an extra discount on a portrait session. 

These necktie onesies are so adorable and make for great photos. The matching pennant banner would be a wonderful accessory for a first birthday party.

Long-sleeve t-shirts and onesies can be personalized with initials and other designs. Love these little boy colors.

And how adorable is this for a little girl?!

A little baby girl look will look so super cute in this onesie with a matching pennant banner at her first birthday party!

Do you have a little chef at home? I'm sure she'd love one of these personalized aprons.

Pink and green is one of my favorite color combinations for little girls. Love, love this pennant banner!

Here's the front and back of one of the dresses Jenny has made. I would be in so much trouble if I had a little girl!

She even makes accessories!

How perfect if you have a big girl and a little girl! I love these dresses because they match but aren't exactly alike. Can I say it again? Love, love!!

This outfit with the ruffled pants is just precious!

I hope you will join us for a fun open house. Feel free to contact me at lcollins1974@insightbb.com with any questions. Hope to see you on February 25th!

Love You More

As most of you know, my best friend, Kathy, passed away on January 29 from cancer. I wanted to write something on the blog when she passed away but found I just couldn't do it. Today would have been her 43rd birthday, and she was the first thing I thought about when I woke up this morning.

There's no denying that I miss her. I miss asking her if she’s heard George Strait’s new song on the radio. I miss telling her about the book The Glass Castle and how it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read. When the movie Something Borrowed came out I missed calling her to see when she could go see it with me and how we would surely discuss whether or not it was as good as the book. I miss e-mailing her to see what day is going to work for her so we can meet for lunch at Jalapeno’s. I miss telling her that I’ll save my People magazine for her because she has to see the photos from Kim Kardashian’s wedding. I miss recapping our weekends even when neither of us did anything exciting. Somehow telling each other that we went to church or to the grocery store made it seem like we really did do something.

While we were on our way to Montana, I was thumbing through the SkyMiles catalog on the plane and saw a bracelet engraved with the words "Love You More" on it. That made me think about the day I went to see her after she was sent home from Vanderbilt and told there was nothing else that could be done to help her. She was still really coherent at the time and sitting in her favorite red chair in the living room. I got ready to leave and told her that I loved her, and she looked up at me and said, "Love you more." The more I thought about it, "Love you more," was really the last thing I remember her saying to me. So last week I went to Things Remembered and got a bracelet and had "Love You More" engraved on it. I wear it on my left wrist because being left handed was just another thing we had in common. 

Kathy knew I’d always loved taking pictures but if it hadn’t been for her I’m not sure I would’ve ever been able to pursue photography full-time. She had a friend who was getting married at her church and needed a photographer, so she asked me if I’d be willing to take the pictures at the wedding. I said yes only because she said she would help me. I was a little braver with her by my side. Kathy helped me with several weddings over the next few years. In typical Kathy style, she helped keep me organized and calm, even if the bride was running an hour late. Even after her first bout with cancer she came back the following year to help me again, and I was thrilled. To this day, I never photograph a wedding without thinking about her.

This is my favorite pictures of her. She would always pose for test shots at weddings and would usually make silly faces. This time she didn't, and I always kept this photo of her because I loved it so much.

 

My "Love You More" bracelet.

 

Besides keeping me on track at weddings, she also took a few pictures herself. These are some of my favorites of hers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Scattered in the Wind

The day after the devastating tornadoes that tore through much of the South last month, I was watching the news and my heart broke for a lady who was being interviewed. She stood in what was once her home but was now just a pile of rubble. She said she had lost everything. Then she mentioned she didn't even have a picture left. How sad that all of her pictures and things she loved had simply been scattered in the wind.

In the May 23 issue of "People" magazine, I read the incredible story of Patty Bullion who has been reuniting families with photos that disappeared the night of the tornadoes. She started a Facebook page, "Pictures and documents found after the April 27, 2011 Tornadoes," where she and others have scanned in photos they found in hopes someone will see and claim them. At the time of the article, 3,700 photos had been posted and 700 had been reunited with their owners. You can read more about Patty and what she's doing here. Be sure to check out her blog for some amazing stories about pictures being reunited with their owners. Also, Patty is asking for donations of new photo albums and scrapbooks to distribute to families in the South. If you would like to donate, you can send them to her at: Patty Bullion, 12108 Little Coffman Road, Lester, Alabama 35647. 

I think one of the greatest things about digital photography is that unless you delete a picture, it can basically last forever. Whereas before, if you lost the negative there wasn't much you could do to recreate a photo. I can hardly stand the thought of losing everything as that lady had, but I do have a bit of comofort knowing that a huge portion of my photos are digital and saved in some capacity or another.

I'm not going into detail about my how I back up clients' photos (just rest assured they are backed up!), but I do reommend to anyone not to keep all of your files on your computer's hard drive. Every couple of months, I put my personal pictures on CDs and also either upload them to a gallery on my website or to Snapfish. That way I know I can always download the original file if I need to or have it printed again.

To everyone who has pictures printed and puts them in a photo album, I encourage you to please write on the back the names or places in the photo and date. With Facebook and other social networking sites, if someone did find a photo with a name on the back, it would be much easier to possibly trace to its rightful owner.

One thing I've started doing in the last few years is doing one photo book for the entire year for our family. That way all of my favorite photos from the year are in one book. Since I upload all of my personal photos to Snapfish anyway, it's super easy to make the book each year. If something ever did happen to it, I could easily reorder a copy. You can view more about photobooks here.

Earlier this year, my aunt asked if I would put together a photobook for her. Her husband had passed away in 2009 and she really wanted a book that had her favorite photos in it. None of her pictures were digital. I could've scanned them all myself, but there were a lot of pictures, and I knew it would take a long time. That's when I discovered the Scan Cafe. I just had to organize the photos, send them via UPS, and they did the rest. I seriously couldn't believe how easy it was. Then all of the photos were uploaded to my account at Snapfish and were also put on a CD, which was mailed back to me along with the orginal pictures. I have to say the quality of the new digital images was excellent. I highly recommend this service so you'll have digital images of photos you never want to lose.

I can't do a blog post without a picture. This is a picture of Eric's great uncle, Sam, who died in WWII. A couple years ago, Eric scanned several old family photos so we would always have copies of them. It seemed only fitting to post this since it's also Memorial Day weekend.

 

 

Joy

As Hayden was jumping around the living room this past Saturday, he said, "I don't know why, but I just have so much joy in me today."

I thought this was an incredibly sweet thing for him to say. It's one of those memories that I will keep tucked away and remember when he's a teenager.

I continued to watch him run and jump and play basketball on a little hoop that is hanging on the door in the hallway. I thought to myself that we should all experience such joy.

A couple of weeks ago, Hayden wanted to ride his new bicycle down the sidewalk. As we were halfway down the street, I knew I should've brought my camera. I started to go back to the house to get it but decided not to. I did have my phone with me, so I snapped a couple pictures with it. I didn't think it would be that good because it wasn't taken with one of my expensive cameras. But I was pleasantly surprised when I looked at it a little later. If I'd had the camera I use for sessions, I would've been worried about the settings, and I probably would've tried to pose him more. Instead, I just snapped the picture in the moment and was just enjoying watching him ride his new bike. I LOVE this little picture that I took with my phone. I have to say that when I look at it, the look of joy on his face fills me with such joy too. 

 

Blog Break

As you've probably noticed, I haven't blogged in quite a while. I have been so swamped that it's all I can do to edit weddings and portrait sessions. So for now I'm going to depend on my Facebook fan page to serve as a blog too. It's much easier and faster for me to post several pictures from weddings and sessions there. I hope to be back in the blogging world soon, but for now head on over to Facebook to see what all I've been up to.

Family Pictures and Clothing Choices

I mentioned on the blog earlier that we had our family pictures done by Blue Lily Photography while we were in Maui in June. I've been wanting to post some but have been so busy editing wedding pictures, that I haven't had time. Since today is Friday, I thought I'd take a little break from wedding pictures to show off my family.

It was great to be in front of the camera for a while instead of behind it. I really got a sense of what my clients go through, especially when it comes to picking out clothes. That is almost always the first question I get, "What do we wear?" I knew I didn't want to do all white. I really try to talk clients out of all white if possible. If they do want to wear white, I encourage them to mix it up a little by putting their children in different colors. I knew I wanted us to wear shades of brown and turquoise, so then it was just a matter of finding the right clothes. I found my blouse first. Then I found a plaid shirt with both turquoise and brown in it for Hayden, which was perfect. We found Eric's shirt last, and the color was exactly what I wanted. I told the rest of the family the colors, and just look at how great they did selecting their clothing.

This was definitely my favorite of the three of us.

Maybe I spoke too soon, because I love this one too!

Everyone says he looks just like me, but I don't see it. Ha!

Truly, one of my favorites. Hayden with his Nana.

They got some great shots of Hayden. I think he loved having someone else take his picture for a change!

Love, love this one!

I wanted some updated pictures from my website and blog, and I was super pleased with these.

 

 
 
 
  
 
 

 

Horsemania 2010

Hopefully most of you have seen several of the beautiful horses that are part of Horsemania 2010. I loved it when Lexington did it several years ago and was really sad when the horses were no longer gracing the city's sidewalks and parks. I really wish the horses would remain a permanent fixture, but I suppose it is not meant to be.

Hayden and I walked around downtown a couple weeks ago on a very hot morning. I'm not sure what we were thinking by taking pictures on a morning where it was already 90 degrees. Anyway, I let him use one of my backup cameras, a Canon 30D, and he had a blast taking his own pictures. I still have lots to go through, but here is one of my favorites that he took. Happy Monday!

I Love Mailboxes

I love mailboxes. I really do. Eric is quite accustomed to hearing me say while on trips, "Ooh, look at that mailbox. Did you see that?" I'm still a little disappointed that we went all the way to Maui and I didn't take a picture of any mailboxes. I saw one or two worthy of a photo, but those were on the Road to Hana, so stopping and taking a picture there may have caused a serious accident.

I believe my affection for mailboxes started when I was a growing up. I grew up in the country, about six miles from the nearest town, that did NOT have a Walmart and at the time, no McDonald's. We had three TV stations, and we were lucky if we were able to see two clearly. We were never without something to do or play though. And believe it or not, but going to the mailbox every morning was a big deal.

Our mailbox sat atop a wooden post all of which was painted black. I would run through the yard, take the few steps across the road and pull down the little door on it. For years, it didn't even have numbers on it. We'd had the same mailman, Gary, for years so he knew where everyone lived. When our county had the 911 emergency system installed, we were instructed to put our address on our mailbox. So after years of being just a plain, old, black mailbox, it now was dressed up with some fancy gold numbers.

Checking the mailbox was the equivalent of checking our e-mail inbox today. A couple weeks after school was out, our report cards were mailed. My friends and I would write letters to each other all summer. Going to the mailbox on my birthday was exciting because my family keeps Hallmark in business, so I knew there would be several envelopes addressed specifically to me. On Fridays, our town paper was delivered. Even though everyone always knew everything that was going on, it was fun to see it in print and see pictures of people we knew.

When my parents moved from the country to town six years ago, one of the first things my mom told me was that they would still have a mailbox. Most people who live in their town just have a box at the local post office. My parents have never owned a computer, so going to the mailbox every morning is still a little piece of excitement for them. Maybe I inherited my love of mailboxes from them.

Of course I have my own mailbox now. Eric gets several fishing magazines, which he's always happy about. I must say, I'm a little giddy on Fridays because I know my "People" magazine is safely tucked inside our mailbox just waiting for me to come and get it. Hayden likes to go to the mailbox too, and during school I always wait till he gets home so he can check it. My family still keeps Hallmark in business and send him cards for every holiday and sometimes for no reason at all. I'm really happy I've passed this love of mailboxes on to the next generation.

And because a blog post is always better with a picture, here's one of mailbox that I've passed a million times. I was coming home from a session back in May and decided to finally stop and photograph it. How fun it must be to check this mailbox surrounded by roses!

From the Backyard

Eric started a little native plant garden in our backyard a few years ago. Well, that little garden has turned into a bigger one, and it's absolutely beautiful. I look out our bedroom window and can't believe all the incredible colors of flowers growing there. I really, really need to post more pictures of it (the ones of Haley in the UK pedal car were taken in the backyard), but for now here's one I snapped last week. Happy Thursday!

Last T-Ball Game

Yesterday I asked where did summer go? Well, a good portion of it has been spent at the t-ball field. As many of you know, Hayden has been playing since he was four. His love of baseball started way before then. I really can't remember a time when he wasn't running around the house dressed in baseball gear wanting to go play catch.

After being the runner-up for the past two years in the Northern Cal Ripken league, Hayden's team, the Reds, won it all this year. Here is a video I put together to celebrate their awesome season.

Hayden also got the opportunity to play on the league's All-Star team. They had an amazing summer, and he had a blast playing with his friends.

They won a tournament in Muhlenburg County on July 3.

They came back the following weekend to host a tournament here in Lexington. Here's Hayden up to bat.

There was a collision at third, but other than getting a mouth full of dirt, he was fine.

They had a close championship game but won by two!

I love this one of Hayden with his friends, Cooper and Brice. He and Brice (#24) have played spring and fall together for the past three years. He's played with Cooper (#7) except for the very first spring season. They're such a trio.

He was so proud of his trophy.

 
 

Next came the Bluegrass State Games. I was so nervous for the team that I didn't take a lot of pictures. I know--nervous at a t-ball game. What will I be when he plays in high school?

I love this one of him getting ready to bat. So serious.

This was Hayden's last t-ball game, because he'll move up to coach's pitch this fall. How great that his last t-ball game was the championship game for the Bluegrass State Games!