My 365 Project - 1-7 January 2015

HAPPY NEW YEAR! To kick start 2015 I thought I would take up a 365 project. If you are not familiar with this project it is where you take one photo a day for an entire year. Some people follow a specific project that gives them word cues for every day,others a theme in mind for the entire year, and some just take a snapshot of their day. I am taking this month by month. January I am focusing on matte and black and white. After each week I will be posting my photos up on the blog. Enjoy!

1/365 - Happy New Year! I thought I would kickoff 2015 with a picture of our foster dog Eden and my youngest son.

2/365 A lazy day hanging out with the dog.

3/365 We have had a very grey and gloomy start to our New Year.

4/365 Out on location taking photos of a friend's dogs and her son.

5/365 It was actually bright and sunny out today so I went downtown to take some photos.

6/365 My oldest son and Eden out playing in the yard today. Hoping more photos of our sweet foster will get her adopted soon.

7/365 Today was so busy I didn't have time to take a photo. Or so I thought until my son offered to make dinner for me. What a nice surprise! Hope you had a great end to your day as well.

Documenting How You Live

Birth certificates show that you were born.

Death certificates show that you died.

Photographs showed that you really lived.

-Author Unknown

I saw this quote today on Instagram and it really spoke to me. The best way to capture memories and show that we really lived is through our photographs.  As a photographer, you would think I would be documenting every aspect of my family's life.  Unfortunately, this has not been the case. This year however I have worked to capture more of our every day life.

I took these of my son and parents while we were visiting them this summer.

This has encouraged me to think more about the way I capture your images.  Most people are use to seeing the portraits that are posed and predictable.  And while these are great and have their place, do they show how we have really lived?  These posed portraits are fine for showing family members at different stages of their lives, but recent trends are moving more towards candid shots that show your family as they really live.  These could be pictures of you reading bedtime stories to your children, family movie or game night, or even just playing with the kids in their rooms or at the park.  These to me are memories that are worth capturing.  

Recently I had the pleasure of going to a friend's home and capturing how her family lived.  I had a great time documenting her boy playing in his room and reading to his new sister, changing and feeding time with the baby, and the family just hanging out being themselves.  I was so happy to be able to provide these tangible memories of their lives. 

I have shared these experiences with family and friends, and would love the opportunity to give you and your family this experience as well.  See our Facebook later this week for more details.

  

Camera or Photographer?

Over this year I will be writing a few blogs on photography in general. Some blogs will contain tips and tricks while others will contain general information. I thought long and hard about what to choose as my first topic. I get asked on occasion what camera should I buy? Or every now and then hear the good old, "gee your camera takes great photos." And let's not forget the "I need a camera just like yours so I can take good photos too."

The first thing to remember in photography is that while your equipment is an important part of the process, it is the photographer who takes the photos. If you know the basics about photography and how your camera works, you can use any camera and get great photos. I have a photographer friend who started a blog using just her iPhone. It is called The World in My Pocket. Her photos are gorgeous! Be sure to look at the whole series and leave her some love. You can see the blog here:

http://www.chloelodge.com/2014/the-world-in-my-pocket-i-vietnam-january-14/

I took the following photos with with my Android phone and my Nikon D5100. Can you guess which photo was taken with which camera? Take a guess in the comments below. I will post the answers in a blog on Friday afternoon.

Photo 1

Photo 2

Photo 3

Photo 4

Photo 5

Photo 6

The S Family {Prattville AL}

The S family recently moved to the area and a friend referred them to me for a family photo session. Thanks Mrs. R! They were a great family and I really enjoyed working with them. As you can see they even had a request that I have not had before so how could I turn that down? 

Mom and son walking the horse down to where we were shooting. How cute is his little pouty bottom lip? He thought it was funny.

The S Family wanted to include their Bashkir Curly horse Sonny. What a cool idea! 

Sonny was so beautiful I thought I should devote a few photos just to him. I had never seen a horse quite like this before. He really was a sweet boy.

Add a five year old boy and a horse and you get some pretty hilarious out takes!

Rely Local Fest/Haunted Halloween Fashion Show {Prattville AL}

The day for the Haunted Halloween Fashion Show finally arrived. This past Saturday all of our hard work finally paid off. At the Rely Local Fest, a business expo in Prattville AL, we had our Haunted Halloween Fashion Show. Enjoy the photos from our event! I will have all the photos I took of each of the participants up on my website at the end of next week for purchase. Click here to head over to my website: Leigh's Lotus Photography

We had booths set up before the show. The Vault Variety Shop set up a booth showing what they offered at the shop. We displayed our family photography and talked to lots of nice families about our Christmas mini sessions.  

Definitely a great group of makeup artists hard at work. Thanks ladies!

Even with a few glitches in the sound system everyone enjoyed the show. We had vampires, steam punk, a gangster, witches, wolves, Red Riding Hood, a zombie, dolls, the Mad Hatter, Alice in Wonderland and all kinds of other creatures.

After the show the models danced to Micheal Jackson's Thriller. It was so much fun!

At the end of the Rely Local Fest each business participated in the prize drawings. We gave away two family photo sessions and Sharon pitched in two free costume fittings as well. I can't wait to meet this great families. 

Why Family Photographs are Important {Prattville AL}

Whether it is a casual photo taken at a backyard cookout or a formal portrait taken in a studio, your pictures are an important part of your family historical record. Even though you enjoy them today, it is critical to capture these moments for future generations. How many times have you wished you had photographs of relatives or loved one's who have passed on? Taking and preserving these family photographs for your children, grandchildren, and future generations will help preserve your memory and special times you have shared. So pick up that camera or call a photographer and start preserving those memories!

Halloween Fashion Show {Prattville AL}

The Rely Local Fest is on October 26th from 11 to 5 pm at the YMCA in Prattville. Local vendors from Wetumpka, Millbrook and Prattville will be showcasing their businesses for this event. There will be up to $25,000 in prizes, a costume show put on by The Vault Variety Shop, and a costume contest for adults and children. We have teamed up with The Vault Variety Shop to host a booth. At our booth you can bring your child or pet for a Halloween photo session between 11 am - 1 pm. Don't have a costume? The Vault Variety shop will have costumes for you there to use in your shoot. The costume show starts at 2 pm and the costume contest will follow. 

We are also teaming up with Sharon from The Vault Variety Shop, helping out and participating in the costume show. Our show will be so over the top that you won't want to miss it! We have recruited kids and adults to participate in our show. Every Wednesday we have been getting together to work on our costume selection and practicing our routines for the show.

Here is a little insight behind the scenes of the Halloween Fashion Show. We hope to see you at our big event!

Getting fitted in costumes for the show.

I am not sure if we did more practicing or laughing. Looks like the show is finally coming together though. Can't wait to get out there on October 26 and have some fun!

Don't forget to go to The Vault Variety Shop in Wetumpka for all your clothing needs. They not only have great clothes, but lots of accessories, shoes, gowns, and costumes. Don't have a Halloween costume yet? Let Sharon help you out.

2013 Montgomery Zombie Walk and Prom {Prattville AL}

I love Fall and all that it brings. A change in seasons and weather, Halloween, apple cider, football, and lots of family birthdays. Over the weekend my husband and I participated in the 2013 Montgomery Zombie Walk and Prom. Why haven't we done this before? We had so much fun! So, I thought I would share pictures from the event. If you are wanting to capture your little ones in their Halloween costumes just give me a call. I would love to set up a Fall family photography mini session for you. 

We got together at a friend's house to get zombified!

Our before and after photos

This guy was super creepy, and everywhere. I am not sure he was down with the rappers in this last photo.

The walk started at the Irish Bred Pub. There were lots of zombies in attendance.

The zombies started to get restless before the walk and were turning on each other.

The walk went through the streets of downtown Montgomery and ended at the Riverfront.

After the walk OTI performed for all the zombies. The best part of the show for me was when they played Billy Idol's White Wedding and the zombie brides were invited on stage to hang out. AWESOME!

Coosa River Dog Fest {Prattville AL}

On September 29, 2013 the Alabama Siberian Husky Rescue held their 2nd annual Coosa River Dog Fest in Wetumpka at the Coosa Outdoor Center. Mother Nature even allowed us to have a gorgeous day of sunshine and a nice breeze so it didn't get quite so hot. I met some great people out at the event and hope to meet up with them soon to help them with their family photography or pet photography needs. Check out the photos below to see photos from the event.

I went on the air with Ziggy at KOOL 95.5 FM twice to talk about huskies and the Coosa River Dog Fest. It was alot of fun. Hope I have the chance to go on again one day.

Ziggy even came out to the event and made friends with the dogs out there. As you can see Lilly just wanted to be petted.

The huskies had a great time hanging out in the sunshine and playing in the river.

We had some great vendors out at the event. 

Our dogs chewing on their healthy bully sticks from for healthy pets. They loved them!

Helping Shepherds of Every Color was out at the event as well as the Prattville/Autauga Humane Society and the Humane Society of Elmore County.

Everyone had a great time that day. If you missed it we hope to see you out there next year!