Speaking of FOREVER, I have a bit of a backlog of lovely images to share with you from 2011. Let’s not go into all the details of when this wedding happened, (ok so it was August) but instead let us enjoy the emotions of a bride and groom seeing each other for the first time on their wedding day. I love love love love love shooting a First Look between the bride and groom. I highly recommend it. Forget that it makes the day go smoother, forget that it cuts down the photo time after the ceremony, and forget that it makes your photographer happy…

It’s just incredibly sweet and moving. Every. Time.

This is my darling sister-in-law Becky (Now Mrs. Wehry) and her husband PJ. I often have to do a little coaching to help along a nervous bride and groom, but I seriously can’t remember saying a word most of this time. This is all them! It was incredibly hot and humid outside, so we kicked everyone out of the sanctuary and PJ and Becky had their First Look with just me and Brian hanging back to capture the moment. PJ is so expressive, and Becky just glows! I laugh when I see her sneaking up behind him and biting her lip with excitement!

Enjoy! (Click on the photo for a larger view)

Look for more images from PJ and Becky’s wedding coming soon!

Bonnie B

Yes my friends, I have another blog!

You may or may not know that I recently went through the trauma of my best friend moving 7 hours away. We are always sharing style tips, new purchases, stuff we got on clearance at Target, photos of our respective adorable children or dog…etc…so we thought “why not make a blog where we can share these things with each other and the world?”

So we did. It’s nothing major, not professional or anything, just a blog where we can share silly, pretty, or adorable things.

It’s called “Calm Down Friends,” and if you want to know what that means you will have to go over there and check it out. Our first post is simply a short history of our friendship, and we even shared some slightly embarrassing vintage Elissa and Bonnie photos. (I did get that top on clearance at Target…and I should have left it on the rack!)

No worries, I  won’t abandon my photography blog! This is where I get to share my favorite images of my wonderful clients and tell their stories. Calm Down Friends is a place to share quick little posts that really didn’t fit here. Hopefully soon this blog will get renovated and there will be even more fun here! I have a backlog of images from last season that I was simply too swamped to share, and I’m excited to get going on those posts.

Click here to check out our fun little blog, and stay tuned for some gorgeous images from last season’s weddings.

Bonnie B

Essie! Don’t stick your tongue out at me!

Oh, I got a wink! This made me laugh so hard.

Uh oh..no..Esther..it’s ok..no one is laughing at you. Poor baby.

Presh.

I love the dogs in my life. Hope you have a great week!

Bonnie B

I don’t know, “beauty products” sounded really stuffy so let’s go with “chemistry” k?

Happy New Year! I have a TON to catch up on from last season and I am excited to share what Bonnie B has been up to. In the meantime, I thought I would ease back into 2012 with some Friday Favorites. Today I’m sharing some of my current faves in my makeup bag and bathroom shelf. Note: I’m certainly not into product photography, but this was way fun! I struggle to find good spots in my house for natural light…apparently no one in the 1960s was thinking about how many people would be blogging about their hairspray, so they did not provide me with amazing natural light in my little house. (I love you little house, but you need to step it up)

First is my assortment of lip balms. I have sensitive skin AND lips so when I find something that doesn’t make my lips swell up a la Angelina Jolie (but not in an attractive way) I get pretty excited. How convenient that my very own mother-in-law makes these from natural ingredients! Very Berry Menthol is my current favorite, it tastes awesome and soothes chapped lips. The Beemu lip balm contains propolis (awesome bee product) and is so very good for healing. I love anything Rosemary, so when I’m in the mood for something more herbal I grab the Rich Rosemary. Sometimes I just smell it. Also, forgive the black background-a very beat up black stool-and the fact that these lip balms have been bouncing around in my purse for a couple weeks. Want to buy some? Check out Mama Ros at her Etsy store!

elf makeup! If you haven’t discovered this line of affordable makeup at your local Target, well you should scurry down there fast with those Christmas gift cards. I got everything shown here for under $7.00! The eyeshadows and crease brush were in a Christmas pack that I got on clearance for $3.50, but the normal price was only 6 or 7 dollars. I went in looking to replace a missing eyeshadow brush after applying my eyeshadow with my finger for weeks (eeek) and came out with all this for the price of one brush from another makeup line! I love love love the nail polish remover pads, nowhere near as messy as cotton balls and polish remover and it travels well. It has soothing oils in it so it doesn’t tear up my skin, and it’s only $1.00! If you are nice to me, I might reveal my other fave line of discount makeup in a future post…dun dun dun!!!

Hair. If you know me at all, you know that my hair kind of has a life of its own. My first hair favorite (not pictured) is simply not washing it very often. Unless it’s dirty. Don’t look at me like that, I don’t walk around with nasty hair all that often  and I have come to realization that stripping my hair of its natural oils is kind of detrimental to its health. You are still looking at me like I’m a hippie.

I might be, but this is a conversation for another post.

Rusk W8less and Rusk Wired are two of my foundational products. I often try other products for body or shine, but these are always constant. I like the way they smell, and I like the weightless control. Rockaholic Dry Shampoo is a life saver for when my roots get a little more oily than I like, and though I’m not really brand loyal to this dry shampoo, I really like the fact that the packaging does, in fact, make me feel like a rockstar. My hair stylist used Morrocan Oil on me last time I got my hair done and it is MARVELOUS! You think “oil, not so good” but YES IT IS GOOD! When I wake up with a big pile of frizziness in the morning, I comb that craziness out….run some M. Oil through the ends and BAM I can actually wrestle my hair into an acceptable ‘do without spending hours on it.

My other favorite hair product?

Water.

Yes, water. I never travel without a small spray bottle to help freshen up my waves or dampen my-as I call it-”front hair” so I can blow dry my bangs back into submission in the mornings. The pink makes me happy too.

We’ve talked about my sensitive skin, so finding makeup that doesn’t break me out or irritate my food allergies is a challenge. My latest Ulta purchase is this Philosophy HOPE tinted moisturizer. I usually use a mineral powder foundation, but as my skin ages I find that I need a bit more coverage. I also like to be able to just rub it in and go! I am back and forth between Mary Kay’s tinted moisturizer and this one, but I prefer the coverage of the philosophy version. I also love the packaging, who doesn’t need to be reminded of Hope on those dreary mornings?

Well, now you all have a glimpse of how high-maintenance I am! What are some of your favorite products? Love/Hate any of these? Any suggestions for natural skincare?

Bonnie B

Click here to view your galleries.

You know you’ve been procrastinating on getting your portraits printed out, so here is your chance to get a discount on already low prices for professional prints that will last forever! (Ok, maybe not forever, but much longer than any prints from certain drugstore kiosks or places that rhyme with “Hal-nart”)

Or maybe you purchased your photos on a disc, but you don’t feel like uploading them to a different printer. Guess what? They are already uploaded on the SmugMug gallery and ready for printing in just a few clicks! And have you seen the Christmas card options? Click on “create a card” from the “buy” tab over any photo to browse the card options and see how any of your photos would look in that template.

Come on! Grandma has been asking for those prints for weeks! How long are you going to keep her waiting?

Preserve your memories, display those photos in that really cool arrangement you saw on Pinterest. You won’t regret it!

And totally unrelated to this post, here are some Instagram photos from the summer. 3 of my favorite things. Sangria soda at Chubby’s Tacos, My Lucy Lu begging me to play with her, and a tall glass of Sbucks iced coffee. I should really print these photos…..wouldn’t want to lose any memories! (hint, hint)

Happy Cyber Monday!

Bonnie B

My team is the BEST! Happy Tuesday!

Bonnie B

Jasmine Star

I read her blog every day almost without fail. She is one of the most successful wedding photographers in the US and has really been a champion for the self-taught photographer. She is one of the reasons the photography industry is changing and she is passionate about sharing her knowledge and experience. She is also hilarious, and even if you are not a photographer, you will definitely enjoy all her posts! I sympathize with her manner of driving her husband crazy with her antics and being slightly obsessed with her dog. =)

Elizabeth Halford

Ok so this isn’t a stellar photo or anything, but I didn’t want to use a random photo of one of her clients since (A) I don’t have the rights to use those and (B) that would be weird if it were me. =) Anyhoo, this lady is awesome at breaking down the more complicated aspects of photography into (in her own words) “real plain English.” She also gets triple bonus points for being an American living in the UK! She is also a good example of someone who has taken hold of how the industry is changing and has turned it to her advantage and to her clients’ advantage. Love her! 

A Beautiful Mess

I forget how I found this blog but Oh. My. Goodness.

These girls sometimes post 2 or 3 times a day and everything is so beautifully done! Just looking at the blog boosts my creativity by at least a thousand points! They have my dream job, which includes running a successful vintage store with a sewing/craft studio in the back, brilliant photography, vintage dresses, inspired living, and a community of spectacular artists and musicians. This blog made me turn to Brian and whimper….”I want a pretty blog tooo!!”

And I do, soooo if any of you want to get on that I would be grateful. I’m a photographer, not a web designer. But seriously, this is the greatest blog in the universe.

Click on the photos to check out the site! I hope you enjoyed this post, happy blogging!

Bonnie B

You don’t understand, no seriously, this photo session was a BIG deal to my friend Latonya Harris. We talked about this session, we planned their outfits, we rescheduled…..rescheduled  AGAIN…and finally the day arrived. There was a *slight* issue with finding the location (nobody’s fault of course) and the clouds threatened rain again.

We were determined, and the results were worth the wait! I’m excited to introduce you to one of my favorite families in the whole wide world! Brian and I serve with Rodney and Latonya at our church and we have even decided that we like them enough to take them to our favorite *secret* Chinese restaurant and introduce them to the wonder that is our local artisan chocolate shop. We don’t take just anyone to these places. Hortons don’t play when it comes to food. Ever. This is how special they are.

We even like them enough to let them keep Lucy at their house while we were in Alabama for my sister-in-laws’ wedding. They tried to keep her forever, but we won’t go into that. Areina is a beautiful young lady as you can see, and even though she has frequently attempted to steal my dog from me…..I still love her alot. =)

Enjoy!

Apparently Areina had been practicing her moves…

I have such beautiful friends! She was unsure about the flower…but as you can see she is rockin’ it!

There was alot of laughter during this session =)

There is absolutely nothing better than autumn afternoon sunshine!

I love the attitude in this one!

This is classic Areina-getting that “this is not our child” look from her parents.

So funny. This was all real.

The one on the left is one of my absolute favorites.

Rodney rocking his “head shots”

Stop it Tonya! Those eyes.

This next one makes me so happy.

Precious.

Love you guys, I had so much fun taking your family photos. Lucy says “text me.”

Bonnie B

“Brian….what was that?”

“Thump Thump BANG!!”

::::Brian goes outside to investigate::::

:::Bonnie returns to her very important work i.e. staring at the computer:::

“You aren’t going to believe this, there are vultures on the roof.”

Whaaa??

They left the roof by the time I got outside, according to Brian there were about 14 of them. They are HUGE…hence the loud thumping noises when they landed on the roof.

Lucy scared away a few. She’s fierce like that.

A pack of vultures is called a committee, thanks to Wikipedia for that tidbit!

Should I be worried that vultures are congregating near my house?

And here’s a photo of my adorable pumpkins:

Happy Wednesday! I hope your day is just as random and involves some sort of wildlife.

Bonnie B

Up to my ears in editing, and so excited to show off Kyle and Katie’s wonderful wedding day! Stay tuned…