Don't forget- session for the rest of 2014 are 30% off! Book Today! I have very few spots left for this year!

These are a few from the session I did for my dear friend, Meghan, and her baby boy. This first picture is one of the pictures I love the most. I love all my images but there are a few from every session that I just want to hang on my own walls! Now that I have a studio I just might have to do that!

And then with a blink of an eye- here is the same little man! I can't believe how big he got! I think my client's kids growing hits me just as hard as my own kids!

Also if you haven't read up on my brand new Client Referral Plan- check out the post below! It is a great way to earn FREE sessions!

~ Contest Time! ~

I haven't thought of a name for my referral plan yet and I don't want to keep calling it "Referral Plan" SO I am taking suggestions! Leave a comment on this blog post (scroll to the bottom and you will see the comments field) with what you think I should call it! I will pick the one I feel best suits my business and that person will win a FREE mini session this fall! Contest will be open until Sunday at midnight and I will announce a winner Monday (Oct 27th).

And don't forget to share this post! Referrals start now so every person you send to me gets you a discount on your next session!

I realized I haven't shared many personal pictures at all on my page over the summer which is just unacceptable! So here are some of my personal favorites from this summer! (Edited to add: this is only part one! I have way too many that I want to share!)

As I mentioned in my last blog post (which I am totally churning out to try to catch up!) I am in the process of creating a referral plan for my customers. I want to keep it simple and fair and give you a way to earn free pictures! I will be updating my marketing materials soon to include this referral plan but I wanted to give you a few more details here first.

To qualify for the referral plan:

1- You must have already had a session with me- meaning you are a past client. This can be ANY type of session- Newborn, Lifestyle, Outdoor, even a Mini session makes you a past client.

2- You must refer someone to me for a full session (meaning referral can not be for a mini session of any kind- Examples would be any mini session specials I might be running or Maternity and Grow With Me Mini sessions)

3- Every referral who books a full session equals 25% off a regular session for you. So for example you refer Kim, Ted and Jimmy to me and they all book- that is 75% off your session! Just keep in mind, the referrals session must be completed and paid in full before you can use your discount to keep things fair.

4- Referral discounts can only be used on full priced regular sessions. The referral discount can't be used with any other discounts or for Mini sessions. It must be used for full priced regular sessions like outdoor family sessions or newborn sessions.

5- Referral discounts must be used within a 6 month period from the session date of the referral. So when you refer to Kim to me, you will have 6 months from Kim's session date to use your discount.

So there is the meat of it. I am still working on the potatoes (fine print) but what I have above is the majority of it! So start sending referrals my way and earn a free session!

Beautiful Morgan, who braved the snow and my artistic eye for some maternity pictures. I loved being able to experiment for her maternity pictures!

And then sweet Sophia was born and was absolutely perfect!

That being said, I am hoping to get caught up and share here some of my sessions over the course of 2014 and also share with you some ideas to make 2015 fantastic. Up first is working out the details for a referral plan! There is nothing I love more than when you all refer someone to me. It is probably one of the best compliments and I want to reward that! So I will be working on that and should have a blog out soon explaining what it will entail.

BUT don't wait to refer people! I will be keeping track of all referrals I get starting today (Oct 6th) and they will be applied to the referral program I am creating! So send those referrals my way!

Email me at erinelizabethphotog@gmail.com to book or if you have questions!

Probably one of my favorite sessions from this summer!

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

All regular outdoor sessions will be 30% off through the remainder of 2014! Book today and take advantage of this discount! Family pictures make GREAT Holiday gifts!

Email me at erinelizabethphotog@gmail.com to book or if you have questions!

So this year I am doing it right and not waiting until the last minute. Fall Mini's will be held on Sept 28th. There will be 10 spots available- 5 in the morning and 5 in the evening. The cost is $125 and is due to book. You will get 10 edited images via digital download from a private viewing gallery and a print release!

So don't hesitate! This is a great opportunity to update those family pictures for holiday cards which are right around the corner!

Email me at erinelizabethphotog@gmail.com to book or if you have questions!

See more BLUE images over at my friend Nina's blog!

See more GREEN images over at my friend Nina's blog!

I played with some long exposures recently. I love how they can break all the rule and still look awesome. Its incredible fun to use the light around you to "draw"!

My baby trying to figure out how to eat her popcorn while riding her trike!

Finally, my oldest during golden hour- my favorite time of day. The sun is so radiant at this time of day!

See more beautiful Yellow images at my friend Nina's blog!

Baby birds come first! I have been watching them since they were tiny blue eggs. Now they are big and hoping out of the nest when ever they can! Love these little orange beaks that pop up all the time begging for food!

My favorite place on my house. Close up of my deck chair! NOTHING beats watching the girls play in their little pool while sitting in my deck chair while reading a book!

Coffee. Nuf said!

Mmmm! Skinnytaste.com's Thai Coconut Curry Shrimp! This is quickly becoming one of my favorite go-to recipes. Its simple, easy and delicious!

Lastly.... CANDY! Ok truth be told I would rather have chocolate but we never have a shortage of sweet treats including starburst because my oldest doesn't like chocolate (I am still trying to figure out where that came from!)

To see more ORANGE images, visit my friend Nina's blog!

I love color. I love seeing it in everything I do. I love to dress in color (I have red/tomato pants right now!). I love color in my photographs. Whenever I am asked about "what to wear" I always such color and lots of it. The vibrant shades and hues just make my heart happy. So for me, this is the best theme to go forward with.

This months theme is RED so here are a few of my favorite red images from this last month!

To see more RED images, visit my friend Nina's blog!

Every week my husband picks our girls up from their school and they head to the library to pick out new books for the week. I was luckily enough to get to tag along on last weeks adventure to the library and capture a few moments my girls love so dearly.

My oldest absolutely loves going. Almost the entire time we are there, she is filling through new books. Although, she did take a quick break to "do her work" on the kids computer. My youngest-- well, she is more interested in playing with the puzzles and sitting in one chair to the next but she still loves going!

Follow our circle with Jill @ Three Winks Photography!

On a more serious note, I do hope all of you have a Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! I so love this time of year and the feelings surrounding. Spending time with my family, traditions like baking cookies, Christmas movies on TV and Christmas music on the radio. It all makes my heart extremely happy and I hope this season you all feel the same joy I do.

I also want to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. When I started this crazy little photography thing, I honestly had no idea what to expect or if I could even reach where I knew I wanted to be. But I am here and I have all of you to thank. So thanks for taking a chance on me, for trusting me and for accepting me to be a small part of your family- which is truly how I feel. I have gotten to meet so many wonderful people through out this last year. People who I now call friends. It makes me realize just how lucky I am.

Again- THANK YOU!

Merry Christmas!

Follow our circle with Julie Livermoore Photography!

We started a new tradition this year as well. We called it "Smashing Pumpkins" and we took our decaying pumpkins to a vacant lot near our house and went to town smashing, stomping and demolishing them! The girls LOVED it!

I would LOVE to hear about your holiday traditions!

Continue the circle over at Julie Livermoore Photography!

So here are my personal shares for this months blog circle. The funny thing is the post is about things I love but ironically my daughter hates soccer! Haha. So this will be the only year she plays but I am loving it while she does!

I wish I could say she was scoring on for the team but this was during practice! This is how she feels about soccer in general, not just sitting on the bench! No kids were hurt in the capturing of this picture!

Because I can't leave out my littlest love! Still a few strawberries left on our plant- well only until Sadie Belle finds them! My furbaby! After a newborn shoot, BOTH of my girls said they wanted their pictures taken. Totally imperfect because I didn't metering or set my white balance. Just started snapping, afraid they would change their mind! LOL!

Follow our circle! Next up Julie Livermoore Photography!

I would love to here about YOUR favorite fall traditions! Just leave them in the comments!

In the mean time, check out these images from my first ever Fresh 48 session. Apparently, I was going to get the quite the initiation too since this wonderful momma had twin girls! I will be offering Fresh 48 session as a type of session so if you are interested you can find out more by emailing me at erinelizabethphotog@gmail.com

Continue our circle at Julie Livermoore Photography

I am now offering Breastfeeding Mini Session year round. Please email me at erinelizabethphotog@gmail.com for more information!

Until then, I let her put on her dancing outfits and practice while I capture her beautiful love of dancing to that wonderful music in her head!

Find more "For the Love" over at Julie Livermoore Photography!

I feel so blessed I got to meet, snuggle and photograph Miles in a way that truly shows just how much his parents adore him!

I did get to spend this weekend poolside with my girls while visiting my parenting. I also might have taken a few pictures, cause who can resist cute baby bums in bathing suits?

This is still going to be that type of post, but I am going to be sharing with you some images from my most recent lifestyle session. What do the 2 have common? That it is a new found passion for me. ever since lifestyle photography has become more mainstream, I have been dying to try it. I have always wanted to incorporate more natural shots of families interacting in my normal session but I had yet to take the leap to doing a full lifestyle session. Well I got my chance and I have to say, it was my favorite session I have ever photographed.

There was something so genuine and sweet, natural and caring and best of all- relaxed about doing this session. Everyone was free to be themselves. And I think the results speak for themselves!

Continue our circle at Julie Livermore Photographer

Sooooo when my friend Ashley over at Sweetlilpics suggested we do a trade I could NOT pass it up! As it was, I already had a color scheme in mind for outfits after winning some adorable headbands from Vanilla Lullaby. Below are the product of our combined efforts, lol! She shot them but we had already decided it would be easiest to swap cards and edit our own so we didn't add to each others workload.

And I loved it. It definitely has given me a new appreciation for my clients as well. Its hard on the other end of the camera!!

I can't wait to do a canvas collage of all of these!!

And here is one of my and Ashley together!

Pop Quiz Time! I will be springing for a FREE 11x14 canvas for the first one of my clients who can point out which one of my "rules" was broken! Leave your answer in the comments!

Fine Print: 11x14 canvas is pick up only and must be chosen out of the gallery done by Erin Elizabeth Photography. Is non-transferable and can not be traded for cash value or other products. Thanks!

Since my last blog post was all Sophie, here is an all Sadie post!

But momma doesn't like sharing! So I want to know- whats YOUR favorite treat? You know, the one thing you hide in the back of the closet and wait til your kids are asleep, then you sneak into the bathroom and lock the door so you don't have to share?

She looks so happy here. I told her the only way she was getting one of my ice cream bars was to let me take a few pictures of her!

Continue the circle at Julie Livermoore Photography!

Hope you are finding ways of cooling down as well!

Yes I colored her hair with a marker. LOL

How many of you attend your local farmer's market?

What did you do for the holiday weekend?

My family- every one from my husband and girls, to parents and sisters, to my wonderful in law's. Knowing, with out a doubt, any one of them would be there for me or my kids at a moments notice leaves me with an incredible sense of security. I can't tell you how many times my mother and my mother-in-law have gotten calls from me last minute to see if they could watch my girls while they are sick. And they always say yes. And they give my girls the most wonderful care. Or how about the time my father-in-law and stepmother-in-law came over late to take care of my little Sophie while my brother-in-law took me to the ER when I was super sick and dehydrated while pregnant with Sadie. Every single one of them has touched my life in the most incredible way and I couldn't never truly express to them just how much they mean to me. I hope they know that I would do anything for them as well!

In the wake of this destruction always comes questions. Why did this have to happen? I wish I had an answer for all those parents who are trying to come to grips with this new reality they have found themselves thrust into. I can't begin to imagine their pain. I am not sure if I am the only one who does this but when I hear of tragedies like this I often try to put myself in their shoes. It isn't like I want to imagine what it would be like to loose my children- but more like an involuntary reaction that my mind automatically goes there. I honestly don't know how I would go on.  I sat on my couch last night, alone as my husband was on shift, and cried. Just cried. For all those lives lost. For all those people who survived but their lives will never be the same. And mostly, for those parents who lost their child because that is what hits home for me the most.

So I guess my rambling point is, never take for granted what you have in your life and remember to tell the people in your life how much they mean to you. You never know what may come. But also to remember the positive and reflect on the good and truly give thanks for the people in your life because they are the ones that make everything worth it.

A rare shot of both girls, together, looking AND smiling. I might have to canvas this!

Continue the circle at : Julie Livermoore Photography

Often times, when I look back on the pictures I have taken I don't even see the imperfections the photographer in me knows are there. I don't care about if the light was perfect, or is a spot on the image is too bright (all things I DO worry about when I first take the picture). I just see my beautiful kids and what ever it is they were doing at the time to make me want to stop and take the picture.

Here is one of those pictures. Me and Sophie playing airplane. She thinks it hilarious! I put her on my feet and raise her up. She spreads her arms and pretends she is flying. Then without warning I start shaking my feet and yelling "TURBULENCE!!" and she dies laughing. Usually so hard she looses her balance and topples over into the grass. And the moment is perfect.

We have been having quite a bit of rain the past week or so. Well, last weekend my husband and I were cleaning the house. We had kicked the girls outside to play so they couldn't destroy everything we cleaned. Sophie comes running into the house yelling "Mom! Mom! Come look!" so I head outside to see what the fuss was about it.

This is what the fuss was about!

Don't mind the peeling paint on our deck table, please

This fellow decided our deck would be a good place too dry out his wings! It was reat because we got to sit and watch him rather closely for quite a while. We even got to hold him! We put our hands out in front of him and he walked right on to our hands, up our arms, even in Sophie's hair! To her credit, she didn't freak out at all and just wanted to keep on holding him. She even got very concerned when we put him down and the wind would blow hard. She was worried it would blow him over and he could fly! Such a sweetie.

Sadie, on the other hand, wouldn't go near him and cried if she even though Jeff was going to put him near her.
 

I keep trying my hand at macro's. I think I either need to invest in a Macro lens or quit cause I can't seem to get them quite right!

I love when they "play" together. In this case watch videos of themselves on my phone.

She isn't my favorite model as of late, even if she is stinking cute. She isn't much for sitting still or looking at me and only wants to eat my gear!

I tried to get a picture of her newly emerging freckles but they didn't show up on camera. Hopefully this summer (if it ever gets here) will bring them out more!

I'll finish up with a creepy self portrait. Those are crazy eyes, people. Borderline zombie if you ask me.

And I want to help YOU celebrate too! From now until Mother's Day, any sessions that book with me will receive a $25 print credit to use towards their order.

** To qualify for Print Credit, Session date must be booked and deposit fee paid before May 12th. This offer can not be combined with any other offer. Sessions must be held during the 2013 calendar year.**

First up was the beach! No trip to Florida would be complete for my family with out at least one day at the beach so that is how we started out our vacation. The weather was perfect!

If you can't tell Sophie liked getting buried in the sand!

We followed our beach day up with 2 days at Disney. Let me tell you- Disney really is magically. I took Sophie to a sit down lunch where the princesses come to you and meet you. Completely worth it. Sophie could not stop talking about the Ariel Punch or that Snow White came to her table to talk to her. So much nicer than being shuffled through a line. She loved it!

I was bad and didn't take my camera out much at Disney but here is Soph with her current favorite princess

It was a short vacation, but I am so glad we were able to take some time to enjoy our lives together!
 

Question: What was YOUR favorite vacation you have ever taken? Or what is your dream vacation?

For more "For the Love" check out Julie Livermore Photography!

I really haven't been able to break out my newest roll of seemless paper "Thunder Gray" so I tried to remedy that with these shots of my kids. One was cooperative, one was not. I will let you decide which was which!

Then we headed outside to play. It was nice out but not as nice as it was in Florida or the weather we seemed to have brought back from Florida with us!

I think this last one is my favorite. It warms my heart to see them playing together. Every day I look at them together and I can see just how much they love each other. Is there anything more I could want in life than 2 sisters who show such great affection for each other? I don't think so!

We started off by me trying to get a profile picture of her from a group project I am in. This is what I ended up with.

That middle one is one of those pictures that just speaks to her heart. I can't explain it but that picture means the world to me. It has IT- even if I can't explain what IT is.

Then we went outside to dance! My kid loves to dance. I am torn about whether or not to put her in dance class. On one hand she would LOVE it. But I also worry it will take away her creativeness. Right now she dances with her heart. She does not or care if a move is right or wrong. Only that it is what her heart tells her to do. And I love that about her.

And I'll end this post with one of the baby. That sweet sweet baby of mine. I have been feeling a little under the weather so when my husband walked in on me posing and taking pictures of Sadie, who is by all accounts a fairly light sleeper, he asked if the NyQuil was still messing with my head.

I hope you all had a great weekend too!

So for my first post in this series, I want to show you where my heart truly lies. With my family. They are my every thing. My girls are my inspiration, my muses, my reason to pick up my camera when the world feels dark and bleak. My husband- he is my rock, my supporter, my soulmate. I would be nothing without these essential pieces of my life. They are what make up the fiber of my being and they are the reason I want to photograph every single minute of our lives. They make this life worth living and I don't want to miss a minute of it.

My Sophie, she just turned 4 and she is the sweetest little being I have ever met. She is sensitive but brave. She is kind and caring. She is a wonderful big sister and she awes me every day.

Sadie Belle (yes thats her real name, what do you expect? We are from Kentucky!)- we aptly nicknamed this firecracker "The Bulldozer". She is a girl on a mission and she knows what she wants and by god she is going to get it. And most of the time its food she wants. And she is just so darn cute, we usually hand over what it is she wants. LOL! She is sweetheart too. My little cuddle bug who I am fairly certain will be in bed with my husband and I every single night once she figures out how to escape from her crib.

My husband- 7 years married and still going strong. I think I love him more now that I did the day we got married. He is an incredible and caring husband and the best father a girl could ask for. I am so thankful my girls have him.

And finally, a rarely seen image of myself. I am a 30 year old, happily married, mother of 2 who loves cooking and photography. I am also a little addicted to buying baby carriers. Good thing Miss Sadie Belle likes being woren! My dear husband snapped this picture of me and Sadie this weekend on a hike on my mother in laws property.

Please go check out the very talented Julie Livermore for more "For the Love"

But finally last weekend I was able to carve out a little time after Sophie's birthday party to snap some quick ones of Sadie playing in the back yard while Sophie slept off her sugar rush! I'm hoping soon to take both my girls out for a real shoot with this bad boy!

And of course she wanted to play with mommy's super cool toy. She kept trying to put it on the front of my lens like she saw me do!

I did manage to get one of Miss Sophie with her pretty up-do!

My husband will hate this but I fully admit that I let little Sophie sleep with me on the weekend's when Daddy's at work. With out fail this is how I will find her. Half slung out of bed, it's a true wonder she doesn't completely fall out of bed multiple times each night. I usually just tuck her little legs and arms back into bed but I couldn't resist snapping this one really quick!

This is what I get to wake up too. A sweet little girl crawling in bed with me. Of course I only get a few cuddles before she wants Spongebob.

After breakfast, we usually lounge while the girls play. I love having my office double as their playroom so I can *try* to get work done while still playing with them.

Making harmonious music together

Well almost!

It's ok though, Sadie can find her own entertainment!

There really isn't nothing that compares to being a parent!

Anyone else is ready as me?

So here is this weeks pictures. Every day life. Not perfect but still wonderful.

I got up and close with my favorite vase.

Caught Sophie reading in bed after bedtime

Sadie helped herself to a cake I had cooling on my counter. Lucky for her I totally botched the icing and didn't have the time to re-make it. My apologies to my father-in-law, who's birthday that this was suppose to be.

And finally, I took my first trip to Ikea and this little guy decided he wanted join our little family.

BUT I will admit, its pretty. Especially when it is untouched, pristine and bright. So I decided to hike it into the snow down by the pond behind our house and play with some of the macro filters I bought a long time ago and haven't bother to learn yet. Macro photography is super close up's. These filters attach to my normal lens and let me get up close and personal with my subject.

I was excited to test them out more and see what I could do with this. Too bad that didn't happen! Almost as soon as we got out there, Sophie, my little assistant was ready to go in. I got about 5 minutes if that.

Oh well, maybe I will try again this week. Here are a few i did manage to snap.

This is my birthday present from my sweet husband. I'll spare you the details of what it does because when I tried to explain it to my husband his eyes glazed over. My birthday is this weekend. It's the big 3-0 for me. I can't believe that a decade ago I was in college. Hadn't even met my husband yet. And now I am married with 2 incredibly rewarding jobs, mother of 2 amazing little girls and a wife to the best husband a girl could ask for!

But this isn't the only present I got!

I got a nice gift card as a reward for buying my new camera and I used it to get a new roll of seemless paper I had really been wanting. I L-O-V-E this gray paper. It really makes your subject pop!

I thought about photoshopping out the food on Sadies face but left it, cause this is how she actually looks 90% of the time.

I'll be spending my birthday by hanging out with some awesome people at the Lexington Firefighters Award Banquet and celebrating some of America's truest heros!

How you all have a wonderful week!

The bribe? Lunch out at a new restaurant (she is obsessed with going to NEW places) and ice cream. She wanted a burger and fries so I took her to SmashBurger and of course the ice cream had to be Orangeleaf! She wasn't thrilled I kept taking her picture while she was eating but too bad baby!

All in all we had a good day. Reminded me I need to take her out on more solo outings. She is so so so good with her baby sister some times I forget she needs her own mommy/Sophie time!

QUESTION: Is there is anything in particular you would like to see on this blog. I want to make it helpful so if you have ideas or suggestions please please please feel free to leave them in the comments!

www.rocktheshotforum.com/2013/02/04/january-photo-challenge-winners-2/

If you found me though RTS, you can find me on Facebook!

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I decided to take a leap and submit this beauty for Rock the Shot's January contest: Favorite Shot of 2012

This is my beautiful daughter, taken when she was around 8 months. I saw the idea on a blog and just loved it. I set her up, dunked her hand in water and then in the sprinkles and let her go to town. I have taken a lot of images I loved in 2012 but this one just stands out to me.

www.rocktheshotforum.com

One of my other favorites is the sky. I don't know why, exactly. Maybe it is the vastness of it. Maybe its the way the colors of the sunrise and sunsets weave together and blend so perfectly, like a masterfully crafted piece of work. Maybe it is the incredible texture of those billowing clouds and the way you could just reach out and touch them. Whatever it is, it calls to me to try to capture the great beauty of the sky. I have been known to pull over on the side of the road or in parking lots, sometimes walking a distance back to get the image I see in my head. I hope I never stop really seeing and appreciating the greatness and unique loveliness of the sky around us.

Lastly, I love shooting my kids toys. I think it is because they are so colorful and that is so completely my taste. Plus they don't complain, I don't have to bribe them and they stay still for me! This is a favorite toy in our house right now!

I hope to do better here. I hope to try harder but I make no promises. After all I have 2 needy munchkins usually grabbing at my legs for attentions.... and cookies.

I thought I would start this blog with a personal show and tell. I absolutely love photography and I get a great sense of accomplishment when my final product is worthy of a canvased 16x20 hanging on your wall. I have learned A LOT over the course of the year. Some by research, others by trial and error.

Probably the biggest thing I have had to learn and one of the hardest to accept about photography is not every picture is going to a work of art. There are still going to be things like bad lighting, bad conditions and unappealing backgrounds. And you know what? That's ok! Learning to embrace those pictures for what they are(snapshots) and remembering they are just as important as the professional ones is a personal lesson for me and one I am glad I learned.

My personal goal for this year is to take more snapshot. And to be IN more snapshots. I don't just want my kids to have pictures of themselves. I want them to have pictures of me too.

So I have decided to do a personal 52 project. A picture or series of pictures each week. Completely personal, not always technically perfect but important none the less.

I encourage you to do the same!