Little Miss Brooklyn | the clan

I had the unbelievable pleasure of taking these oh-so-sweet pictures of Little Miss Brooklyn a couple of weeks ago. I received an email from Lindsey, a few months ago and she was just gushing with excitement to meet her little girl! Newborn sessions are always interesting (in a good way)! There's always the waiting game. Sure, the mom is due at this time, but the little one may surprise us with his/her appearance or she may decide to take her time coming into the world. In Brooklyn's case, she came a tiny bit early, and on my busiest weekend of the year! But that didn't stop us! It allowed a routine to be set (which I always prefer) and for Brooklyn to be nice and comfy at home! The other fun part about newborns is you never know if you're going to have an active one, or a quiet sleepy one. Brooklyn was the definition of quiet and sleepy...and I like it! :D She was precious! She didn't mind my clicking or my oohing and aaahing, she just slept away! Take a look at the sweetness I was able to catch! 

There is something about a dad holding his baby that just gets me. I love this picture... immensely. 

Love her little features. She was just too precious! 

Ahhh, both of these. I can't stand how much I love them! 

Terry gave Lindsey the sweetest bracelet while she was in the hospital with Brooklyn. Like all mommas, Lindsay wasn't able to wear her wedding ring for the pictures, so I was tickled that she wore her bracelet. 

Someone was being silly at one point and was FIGHTING going back to sleep! But she eventually couldn't take it anymore and zonked out. Love this little girl! 

I love this last picture! Not only is this the sweetest family picture, but the VERY last picture I took is little Miss Brooklyn all tuckered out in her daddy's arms. Just love this! 

 To Terry, Lindsey and Brooklyn, you three are such a picture perfect family and I am honored that you brought me into your house to share in your little bundle! I hope you treasure these pictures (and maybe pull them out when her first boyfriend comes knocking on your door). 

Smiles,

Kayla F

Rebekah & Logan | the couple

I am in LOVE with this session. 

This session holds a very special place in my heart. No one reached out to me for this. No one had this idea, but me. I was in a rut. I didn't want to take another session because I was becoming frustrated with myself. I felt like my images were starting to look like something that I just didn't want. Now don't get me wrong, I am unbelievably proud of every single session I do, and if I'm not, I make it up to my clients and ask them if they would like ANOTHER session. Luckily, that has only happened once, with a not so happy 2 yr old! :) But there is something about having a creative outlet that is incredibly personal. Even though clients contact me and ask me to photograph them, every single session is like a little mission for me. I want to better my craft, better my imagination and better how I see people...the real people. Not them standing in front of a camera. 

I did a small casting, haha, not really. I posted on FB if a young couple wanted to have their pictures taken. And guess what! Rebekah and Logan fell in my lap!!! :D 

Rebekah was actually in Keely and Scott's wedding last year so I was happy it was a familiar face! However, I was not ready for how awesome Logan and Rebekah were, not only with me, but together! They are stinking adorable. Not in a gushing, omgsh, I'm going to be sick to my stomach adorable, but in a quiet, sincere, and completely genuine way. 

I already knew the location. An abandoned house. Now which abandoned house was another story. I wasn't in the mood to break any laws, have a house fall down on our heads, or get eaten alive by guard dogs, so I was ecstatic to find this little gem off of a not so quiet street. 

Here is how my amazing self-reviving session took place. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! 

This left picture just gets me. I can't help it.

Cushions and chair are brought to you by people leaving awesome pieces behind. :) Thank you previous owners! 

Isn't Rebekah insanely gorgeous!? Ahhhh, her smile is contagious! 

This one might be my fav! 

After night started to fall, I knew I wanted to do some late fire pictures. I have been wanting to do a session like this for a while, but knew that after winter, it probably wouldn't happen for a while. I wanted to play with some off camera flash which turned out ok...practice makes perfect right? 

One thing I did take away from our little escapade, make sure your firewood is DRY. I was in a rush and grabbed from the wrong pile. Whoops. :)

Rebekah and Logan, thank you so much for being my guinea pigs! You two were perfect and I couldn't be happier you sought ME out! :D

Smiles,

Kayla F

the day after | lindsay & duane

Maybe its been the gloomy weather we've had this winter, maybe its because I haven't gotten out to shoot in a while, or maybe its just the simple fact that Lindsay & Duane were completely smitten, in love, and just flat out adorable with each other that makes me LOVE this session!!! I received an email from Lindsay that just absolutely BROKE my heart! She and Duane were married just this past December, but through some bad situations they have just a handful of wedding images! A HANDFUL! Can you believe that?!?! My heart broke. I was sick to my stomach! I knew in that instant that I would do anything I could to make this session awesome! Snow? Thats magical! Frigid temperature? Cause for more snuggling! Semi gloomy day? Well, thats called perfect light! ;) Lindsay and Duane were amazing! I seriously don't think I could have asked for a better couple to jump start my 2013 season!!! 

I loved that we started off the session where they first met...Oodles, downtown. :D

Are they not adorable???

Whooa! Love love this one! 

Lindsay & Duane! I know I've told you probably 100 times how much fun I had...but its so sincere! You two were just perfect!

Smiles,

Kayla F

planning the big day | the paper goods

Wow! I can’t believe that May 4^th is right around the corner!!! Planning a wedding, having a full time job and growing my photography business has just eaten up my time, but I wanted to continue with the planning the big day series! I’ve had many people ask me when my next post will be, so I’ll be making a solid effort to blog once a week on our big day!

In my last planning the big day post, we showcased our amazing venue! Rob and I just absolutely fell in love with Maple Grove Inn and knew that we had to have our wedding here. It had everything we wanted and SO much more!!!

Since we got engaged {almost} two years ago, we wanted to send out Save-the-Dates to our friends and family that we 100% knew we wanted to invite to the wedding so they could mark their calendars. Having a wedding in early May means little kiddos are still in school and families are starting to begin {or already have begun} planning their vacations. So we knew we wanted to get a jump on them!

In looking at Save-the-Dates, there is an abundant amount of inspiration and incredibly talented designers out and about!!! {See a list at the bottom of this post for some vendors}. Would we go with a photo for the save-the-date? A magnet? A viewfinder {trust me, they make them}? Or stay simple and showcase the amazing venue that we are getting married at?? Well, you guessed it! I actually had my mind set on a photo save-the-date. I mean, I am a photographer and all. But after meeting with one of my brides Katie, and seeing her save-the-date, I instantly knew that I wanted to have a drawn representation of our venue! 

The Save-the-Date that started it all. {the link to this vendor is at the bottom of this post}

Now, you all have probably seen me gush about Kate with Kate Moore Creative! She designed my photography logo and I've had a love fest with her work for a few years now {she's genius, let me just say}! So off I went to send an email to Kate. Here is a verbatum excerpt of what I sent her, "We absolutely LOVE our venue (Maple Grove Inn) and would love to have a sketch done of it for the save-the-dates."  When she replied back with "Ummmm YESSSS! yay! i would adore doing something for you guys. Your style is so awesome and I am in love with the idea of a sketch of the maple grove inn. so different and adorable." I knew we were a match made in Heaven {as if I didn't already know this...psh}.  So a few emails back and forth and I sent her this image! :D

Let me just say, when I got the proof back for our save-the-date, I literally sat there and stared at it for probably a good 5-7 minutes. I was in aww! It was EXACTLY what I wanted! She nailed it. Literally. I couldn't have even thought that it would be this awesome! She even did a handdrawn  picture of Maple Grove Inn! I loved every single little big of it! Now the only conundrum I had was what color did we want it in???

We chose lavender {did you expect me to choose something else} and then decided that we wanted to STAMP them! Oh yea! We bought this amazing super thick cotton paper from Holyoke Papers,  our envelopes from Paper Source, and our stamps from Clancy Stamping Co. {local}. And off we starting stamping!!! 

{so I'm a loser and only documented our envelope process, sad day}

You'll see the FINAL product in our wedding day pictures!! I hope you loved seeing the process that we went through and how you can make a save-the-date unique and tie in with your wedding theme!!! :D

Smiles,

Kayla F

 View Finder Save-the-Dates

Adorable Picture Save-the-Dates

Katie Save-the-Date

Calligraphy Postcard Save-the-Date

Custom Handkerchief Save-the-Date

the clan | Olivia

I was thrilled to meet up with Olivia and Jessica for their super cute and fun session!! Its February, cold, dreary and oh so windy, but hey, that doesn't mean that you can't have a crazy awesome session! Little Miss Olivia was what I needed in this down time! She was soooo insanely cute and fun and just so bubbly!! Her mom told me that the last time they had pictures taken, Olivia just sat their and gave a scoul the whole time! Well, that definitely didn't happen during out session! She was ready and WILLING to have her picture taken! We headed out to UT Arboretum for some fun! Luckily, this day was one of our few and far between sunny days! I think it actually got up to 57 degrees that day! :D Another photographer had shared with me a spot at the arboretum that I hadn't ever shot at before, so I knew that I would want to take Olivia there! Man! Am I so happy I did!!!! 

 We decided to pick wheat and help with germination...lol! All Olivia's words! She's such a smarty!

 I can't get over this picture! I just love it!!!!

 She had just so much spunk! The wheat in her hair was totally her idea!

  We decided to end this super awesome session in one of my favorite areas of the park! I just let Olivia do her thing! She was seriously the cutest!

 I had such a blast with Olivia, Jessica and Eva! You guys were SO much fun and just what I needed!!

Smiles,

Kayla F

the client gift | a little thank you

Today's post is a small one, but a BIG one in my heart!!! Clients give me SO much!!! They give me my  PASSION! They allow me to take something that brings me crazy amounts of joy, endless amounts of creativity and most of all, MOTIVATION that makes me work harder to make this thing I love a dream and my job!!! So what can I do for them?!? Other than deliver a service, which hopefully includes amazing email response, funny little antics at sessions, and giggles along the way, along with photos that are cherished for a lifetime, I hope to create amazing friendships with my clients! So my present to my 2013 clients is just this! 

Something that will represent their new life TOGETHER!!! I've worked closely with Kate Moore Creative to create this stamp in hopes that it not only captures a new life, but also captures true love, friendship and the undeniable feeling that I have for clients. (All of this in an address stamp?? Really?, Apease me, please!)  I want to evoke a feeling of completeness and finality with this pretty awesome address stamp. :D

I hope you love my 2013 client gifts as much as I do...heck, they may still be my 2020 client gifts!!!

 "Life without Love is no Life at all" My favorite quote from my favorite movie, Ever After.

 Love these amazing stamps!!! Designed by Kate Moore Creative and made by Clancy Service Stamp Co. *shop local

Smiles,

Kayla F