Fayetteville Engagement: Sneak Peek

Sorry I've been a terrible blogger this past week. Things have been super busy as the weather has gotten nicer and I have lots of shoots to blog. I am sooo thankful for the sunny weather here in Fayetteville and am hoping for a chance to get outside soon and get a little sun on my white legs! I'll be posting more this week, but for now, here's a little sneak peek of an engagement session I'm working on.

A little bling to end the day. I can't tell you how much I adore this ring!!!

Fayetteville Portrait Photographer: Meredith

Meredith and I have been friends for a few years now. We are both confident that the Lord put us in each other's lives because the timing couldn't have been better. We each really needed a friend. Mere and I have lots in common and still are each quite a bit different. She's quick to laugh and I know I can always count on her to tell me the truth - even when it hurts.

Here are a few more pics from last week's shoot. You can tell that we laughed a lot! Mere, great job! Tyra would be proud!

Leave Meredith some love by commenting below!

Fayetteville Portraits: Sneak Peek

Tis the season for engagement pictures! Now that the weather is getting better, engagement sessions are in full swing. I'm so excited. These sessions are some of my favorite. I love having an opportunity to get to spend some time with my couples getting to know them a little better. Hopefully it gives them a chance to get to know me as well, so that everyone will feel comfortable on the wedding day. And, of course, I love getting pretty pictures and documenting this chapter of the story. I will have lots to share in the coming weeks, but for today, here's a little peek from Kim and Dave's session. More to come!

Fayetteville Portraits: Meredith

Do you remember the weekend, the one with all the snow? Well, do you remember the day before that, the day with all the sunshine and temps in the 70's? It was a good one. It was the kind of day that makes me want to find a long winding road, roll down the windows, blast some music, let the wind blow, and drive some winding hills out in the middle of nowhere. Well, I didn't go quite that far, but I did get to do a little bit of exploring. Friday, my friend Meredith and I had a fun little Anytime sesh. We had a great time out in the sunshine wandering around and finding a few new shooting locations. The light was gorgeous and I had a great model! What a fun afternoon! Here is a little preview, more to come later this week!

I have beautiful friends!

Craft Day!

Can you believe the weather this weekend? 75 degrees on Friday and then 12-13 inches of snow Saturday and Sunday here in Fayetteville. I tried to get out and about a little bit on Sunday morning and managed to get my car stuck in the snow at my friend's house. So... after I got a ride home from a kind friend (my poor car wasn't going anywhere :( ), I had some time on my hands since I had nowhere to go and no way to get there.

I've been in a little bit of a crafty mood this week. I have searched tons of craft blogs looking for some little projects to work on. Since I was home yesterday, it ended up being the perfect craft day! I had decided to try my hand at these cute headbands that I found here. They're made out of ribbon and chiffon and are super-easy and quick to make! I love anything and everything with ruffles and nothing is more girly than this delicate headband!

I definitely am inspired to try out some craft projects this spring, both to be creative and to save some money on things I would maybe buy otherwise. I'll try to post pics of my new creations as I make them! Have you made anything fun recently? I'm always looking for new ideas!

OKC Memorial 1/2 Marathon

I always thought I might do it again someday. Ever since I crossed the finish line and thought, That wasn't too bad. I could TOTALLY do that again. Shoot, I could even run a whole one if I wanted to. Once I crossed that line, all the hours of training and pained seemed worth it. In fact, they were a distant memory. I got caught up in all of the festivities at the finish line. I grabbed a drink, my free dri-wick running shirt, and medal (yaaay! yeah, everyone got them), and waited for my friend to run in. We had sooo much fun that day. So much fun, in fact, that I thought that another half-marathon could be in my future. My very far-off future.

Well, after that I quickly lost motivation. After all, I needed a few weeks off of running to rest. So... a few weeks turned into a few months and, eventually, into a year-and-a-half. I ran from time-to-time, but just recreationally, nothing serious.

A few months ago, my sister and I started talking about running and decided that it might be fun to run a half-marathon together. Once we decided to commit, my brother Matt got in on the action. We decided that the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon in late April would be the perfect choice for us!

We are now in the thick of training. After two weeks of really difficult runs, I ended up having a great 8 mile run this morning! It was exactly what I needed and I'm starting to get really excited about running the race now. It should be a really fun weekend! If you're planning to be there, be sure and say hi if you see me!

Photoshop Fun

Hi guys! Hope you're having an awesome week so far! Today I have kind of a different post that I think will be fun and hopefully helpful. I frequently get asked questions about Photoshop and the post-processing of my images. Photoshop is such an awesome tool to help a photographer communicate their artistic style and perspective. I am a firm believe that Photoshop exists to enhance (not overhaul) the pictures I take. Through the years, I've become a big stickler for working hard to perfect the image in-camera before bringing it back to the computer for adjustments.

At Kristin J. Portraiture, each photo goes through a specific process of image enhancement. Below, you will see a couple of before and after pictures which will give you and idea of what a photo goes through from the time that it is taken to the image that is ultimately viewed by and delivered to my clients. One of my favorite post-processing tools is Boutwell's Totally Rad Actions. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!

Before: Raw image SOOC (Straight Out Of Camera)

After: Image processed with TRA, Boutwell Magic Glasses & Yin/Yang

Before: Raw image SOOC

After: Image processed with TRA Boutwell Magic Glasses & Yin/Yang

ESCALATE 2010

I'm so thrilled to be attending the Escalate Conference in Newport Beach, CA this year! I confirmed my registration this morning, so it's official. As it turned out, I wasn't able to attend WPPI this year (sad sigh...) So... when this opportunity arose to sit and learn under a few of the world's leading photographers , I jumped on it!

As photographers, many of us work from home and it can be very isolating. We all need the encouragement of people who have shared many of the same experiences and done well. I'm so excited not only to hear some of these photogs speak, but to get to meet them and many other photographers from around the world (and spend some time in sunny SoCal!)! Among the photographers who will be there:

Jasmine Star

Jessica Claire

[B]ecker

David Jay

Dane Sanders

Jerry Ghionis

Jeremy Cowart

Check out www.escalatelive.com for details and to register!

The Day's Portion in its Day

I followed my usual routine this morning. I grabbed a cup of coffee (now made only with a french press, delish!) and my Bible and sat down to read for a bit. A repeating theme in my reading the last few months had been abiding in Christ. I feel like I've always struggled to understand exactly what this means to abide and remain in the Lord, so at the beginning of the year, I made up my mind to really spend some time searching it out. The Lord, as always, has been so faithful to show up during this exploration. He's revealed Himself to me and given me many opportunities to practice turning to Him first.

So... back to this morning. My reading took me to a kind of random verse in Exodus: "Then the Lord said to Moses, ' I will rain down bread from heaven for you. The people are to go out each day and gather enough for that day...' " Exodus 16:4 At first, I couldn't imagine how that really went with the concept of abiding, but after thinking about it, I began to see how the Lord provides for us each day, exactly what we need. Read this rich excerpt from Abide in Christ, by Andrew Murray:

"The day's portion in its day.... It is still the law in all the dealings of god's grace with His children. It was, without doubt, with a view to this and to meet man's weakness, that God graciously appointed the change of day and night. If time had been given to man in the form of one long unbroken day, it would have exhausted and overwhelmed him... The rest of night fits him for making a fresh start with each new morning; the mistakes of the past can be avoided, it's lessons improved. And he has only each day to be faithful for the one short day... How great the value which this truth teaches us to attach to each single day! We are so easily led to look at live as a great whole, and to neglect the little to-day, to forget that the single days do indeed make up the whole, and that the value of each single day depends on its influence on the whole. One day lost is a link broken in the chain, which often takes more than another day to mend.

Manna, as your food and strength, is given only by the day; faithfully to fill the present is your only security for the future. Accept, and enjoy, and fulfill with your whole heart the part you have this day to perform. His presence and grace enjoyed to-day will removed all doubt whether you can trust tomorrow to Him too.

Whether it be a day of health or sickness, joy or sorrow, rest or work, of struggle or victory, let the chief thought with which you receive it in the morning thanksgiving be this: ' A day that the Father gave; in it I may, I must become more closely united to Jesus' .

Wow! I'm so encouraged to be reminded that I can just think about today and leave the stresses of work, friends moving, friends moving-on, relationships, finances and the future to His loving care. He will give me absolutely everything I need to get through this day and then all that I need for tomorrow and the next day and the next...

Sorry for the long post. I hope that all of the thoughts in my head have made sense as I've tried to process through the typing. Hopefully it will give you a little bit of encouragement to live out to-day!

One thing I am trying desperately not to worry about today: this weekend's long run! I think my running shoes look pretty good just sitting there, don't you? :)

Fayetteville Portrait Photographer: Kristyn: Anytime

As promised, here are a few more portraits from my Anytime Shoot with Kristyn last week. Kristyn and I have been friends for a few years now. Not only are we friends, but we're now running buddies and we train for respective marathon/ half-marathons. Last week it was fun just to get out and have a good time with the camera and NOT RUN! Keke, great job, you rocked it! Leave a comment below to show Kristyn some blog love!

A Few Faves From the Red Carpet

The 2010 Acadmy Awards were last night. Honestly, I've never cared too much about the award shows, but I always enjoy watching a few minutes of the red carpet to catch a few of the best and worst looks of the evening. If nothing else, it helps me feel a tiny bit more in the loop when People Magazine hits the stand.

So... last night, my friend Ruffin and I made it a total girls night. We ate some pizza, painted our nails, and watched the Oscars, all while looking at magazines and talking about decorating. We are sooo multi-talented. We watched the red carpet fashions carefully and had a few different opinions about what we liked (was Sarah Jessica Parker's dress really that cute? Me thinks not. Actually, she didn't care for that one either.). All things considered, everyone looked beautiful. Here are just a few of my favorite dresses from last night!

The always lovely J. Lo in Armani Prive

Miley Cyrus in Jenny Packham

I kind of have a thing for watercolor prints and Maggie Gyllenhaal rocks it in Dries Van Norten

Kate Winslet in YSL

Love these blush palettes. Demi Moore in Versace. This dress took some flack as many people said it's been done before, but I love it. Blushy pink and ruffles... what's not to love?

Anna Kendrick in Elie Saab

And... my very favorite of the night. Rachel McAdam's was amazing in this silvery-blue Elie Saab Couture gown. The sweetheart neckline and criss-cross bodice is so flattering. I couldn't really see the floral print last night, but it's gorgeous.