I've Moved!

I am very excited to announce that I have a new blog! While it is bittersweet to let this one go, I know that you will all enjoy it! Please go visit, change your bookmarks, rss feeds, and google readers...and whatever else I am missing.

My new blog's address is: www.lreneestudioblog.com

The Advance Reporter

The past couple weeks have been a complete whirlwind! That is what happens when traveling is involved. You always work so hard getting prepared to go, and then when you come home you are so behind again with work, housework, and laundry that you need another vacation!

The day before we left for Florida in the late afternoon, I got a call from The Advance Reporter. They were putting together a bridal section for the paper the next week, and they wanted me to write an article for it about wedding photography! I was so excited, but as soon as I hung up the phone I realized I was going to have to get it done that day along with all the other work I was planning to finish and also find time to pack. But it all got finished, and the edition of The Advance Reporter came out last Wednesday.

If you are a bride you should definitely go get a copy of it. It has articles from local wedding vendors including: Party Expressions, The Scrapbook Korner, Chubbies, Eagle Printing, The Bake Shop, Lucetta's Legacy, and Kinsmans Bridal Ltd. I am so honored to be included. I will post my article that I wrote in the near future, but for now you will have to go pick up a copy of your own.

Kissling Family

When Miranda, owner and photographer of Gloria Photography, called me to photograph her family I was honored. Not just because she was a photographer herself, but because she is familiar with many photographers in the area, and she chose me. Thank you Miranda!

When we spoke about location, she knew she wanted the session held in their home. I was so excited! I love when a family chooses to do their session in their home, especially when they have little ones. I feel the session and the images become more personal. It is completely true to life and true to what they are experiencing right now as a young family. Children are most comfortable in their own home, and this way they can play with their toys while they become more comfortable with me and my camera. But the biggest bonus of all...when one of the many possible mishaps happens with children, you are right there in your home to grab a change of clothes or perform a diaper change!

I had so much fun with the Kissling family! I hope you enjoy the images!

Loving on his baby sister as she got her diaper changed.

Even the Grandparents joined in! Isn't it sweet? I would love to have pictures like this of me with my Grandparents.

Grandma getting her calmed down.

Q&A with Trevor

There is an instrumental part of my business that needs to be properly introduced to all of you. He is not only the love of my life, but also my best friend, my support, my sounding board, my encouragement, and my second shooter. My husband, Trevor, has been a part of my business before it was a business. He was the first person there when it was still just a "someday when I'm all grown up crazy dream" of mine. He was there through every step, and he was the one to believe in me when I didn't even believe in myself.

I always had the dream of him becoming a bigger part of my business, wanting him to become my second shooter as I started doing weddings on my own, yet I kept this little secret to myself. He loves photography because he is surrounded by it because of me, but it is not his passion the same as it is mine. I knew I had some convincing to do, and when the time came to finally persuade him it wasn't as hard as I had imagined.

I love working with my husband! He makes everything more fun! It is so great to have the love of your life by your side as you are doing a job that you absolutely love. What could be better? The best part though...having him there to look at in those moments of true love at a wedding. There is always a moment, when the love of the bride and groom just makes my heart flutter, and I get to glance at my husband knowing we have that love too. I love it!

So, I wanted you to get to know him a little better. We did a short interview last night, and he even surprised me with some of the answers. I hope you will enjoy!

If you could change one thing about me, what would it be?

Your lists! You have lists about lists that you need to do each day. Just get it done!!! I LOVE how organized you are, but come on... you don't need ALL of those lists!

What are you passionate about?

I am so passionate about the Buckeyes! They are on my mind in some form every day. I also am a huge fan of Country music, especially Kenny Chesney. He is the man! I love my puppy Willie and my family is my world. But most of all my wife. I never knew you could possibly love someone so much! I only thought love this passionate was in the movies.

Where do you see our lives in five years?

Well, number one is children. (Yes future Grandparents, I am hoping for children (plural) in the next five years!) I also see Leah growing her dream into a successful business that provides lasting moments that families can cherish for many years to come.

Have you ever thought my dreams were or are crazy?

Every day! You have some of the most off the wall ideas that one could even think of, but I know how determined you are. There is no dream that I do not think you can accomplish. I only wish I had 1/2 the determination you show every day.

How do you feel when you are working for "your wife"?

I think it is great! It is really pretty easy...she is the boss. That applies to every day life as well. The faster I learned that, the better off my life has become!

Was it hard for you to learn the camera?

It was totally different than I have ever done before. I was always told to fit the people in the screen, hold the button half way down, wait for the beep, and then push the button to capture the image. Now I live in a world of ISO and shutter speeds. Shooting manual was something that was not easy to pick up at first, but I had a fantastic teacher with a lot of patience to help me through the entire process. Thanks babe!

On the day of the wedding, it seems you always know what I need or want you to do before I ask, how?

It is called marriage. We have been together for over nine years now. I better know what you want before you ask by now, or we have bigger issues.

Did you ever dream that you would be doing this with me?

Not in a million years! I always pictured you doing a wedding on Saturday afternoon in the July while I was playing a round of golf and enjoying the summer sunshine. Look at me now...I can't hit the ball straight, but I can capture some pretty darn good images on the wedding day!

What do you like most about working with me?

I just love being with you. I am so proud of you. I love to watch the way you interact with the Bride and Groom, and how you include the families in the special day. You are so professional, yet somehow get so comfortable with the couple that your images capture moments words can't explain.

What is your favorite part of the wedding day?

Hands down my favorite part of the wedding day is the couple's first dance. Not only do I love to capture the special moment, but I love to catch my wife's eye and fall in love all over again.

Also, there is ALWAYS a moment where my wife cries while shooting a wedding. At that moment, I know my wife is living out her dreams and I am so proud of what she has accomplished. I love you so much babe!

Here is Trevor in action at our last wedding:

And here are a few of the images that he captured throughout the day:

Kissling Family | Sneak Peek

I have been editing away this afternoon, swaying and singing to some Norah Jones when I came across this little gem. I just had to share! Much more to come next week. Have a very happy Friday!

Showit Best of 2009

Yesterday was one of those days...where I questioned everything that I have been striving for, wondering if it ever was going to be worth it...just plain struggling. There was no particular reason for the bad day, it just was. Life sneaks up on us sometimes.

But for whatever reason, it seems that when you just don't know how you are going to pick yourself back up, someone does it for you. Last night, they announced the Showit Best of 2009 nominations. I did not expect my name to be there, but it was. I have been nominated for "Brand Boost" which is described as the "coolest brand integration using Showit's share feature". After taking a minute to do a little happy dance around my office, I sat back down in shock. There are photographers that have been nominated that I admire and am just amazed how my name could even be listed next to their's. So, I am thankful for where I am at in life, and it has inspired me to do even more. I am thrilled to see what the future holds for my business!

If you are so inclined, please go vote for me! I'd appreciate it so much!

And you definitely need to go check out Showit Sites! It's awesome! You can even build a free site with their program! Check it out.

Blog List

I am a complete list person, so there is no surprise that I would have a list of ideas for blog entries. Many times though, they never develop because there is simply not enough to write about the subject. I would compare it to the way I think of the iPad right now. It is not completely a laptop, but it is more than an iphone. Just like these notes are not quite an entire blog entry, but yet they deserve much more than the 140 characters that Twitter can give to them. So, here are some random things that are on my blog list this week.

1. My husband got me this awesome necklace for Christmas! I love it so much! On the little circle it says, "Vous etes mon destin" which means " You are my destiny."



2. I am so excited about my new Diana Lens. It's a plastic lens that goes right on my digital camera - so I get the ease of use that my digital camera provides, but I get the look of the old plastic cameras. I have not got to test it out a whole lot yet, but I can't wait to get outside with it. Here is a picture of Willie in the snow I took the first day I got it.



3. Ok, this is very hard to actually say out loud, especially to a large audience. I think I have to bite the bullet though. I am training for a half-marathon. There, I said it. I have been terrified to actually admit this to anyone because honestly, I don't know if I can do it. I have never ran a race in my life, but I have always wanted to do a half-marathon. Want may be the wrong word. I just thought it would be an awesome accomplishment. I am sure I will have many struggles along the way, and I will definitely keep you updated on my training. What's the worst that could happen? I guess quitting the entire training early, or not being able to finish the race. I sure hope neither of those things happen.

4. Because I am training for a half-marathon, my entire body hurts. (I thought exercise was suppose to make you feel good) The best thing that I have found to help with my aches is yoga. And I love the Namaste Yoga on FitTv! I had a bunch of episodes DVRed until my husband decided to switch cable companies. I just thought that I would have to rerecord them all. No big deal, right? Then I realized that our new cable company does not offer FitTv at all. I was very angry about this! So I have been searching everywhere to see if they were offered on DVD, and after searching for four months I found them today! I am pumped! You can get them here. So on those days when I know I will not be able to run without a great stretch, I will be popping in this DVD.

5. I am reminded over and over again that to be successful in my photography business (or most businesses for that matter) I have got to be myself. But there are so many times that I am looking at other photographers' blogs that I wish I could be like them, or take pictures like them, or be as successful as them. We all do it in every area of life. We can remind ourselves that life works best when you are you, but sometimes it takes something special for the advice to set in. Last night, watching the Grammy Awards it sunk in for me. The Michael Jackson tribute was unbelievable, and I kept thinking about how big Jennifer Hudson's voice is. Just absolutely gorgeous! And then when Jennifer Nettles performed with Bon Jovi I was reminded how distinct her voice is and beautiful. But Jennifer Nettles could never sing like Jennifer Hudson. The same as Jennifer Hudson could never sing like Jennifer Nettles. I will never be anybody but me. Being completely myself is what can make me distinct and help me stand out from the crowd because I know there is no one out there exactly like me.

6. And if you read my last blog post, here is a picture of the meal that I made about a week ago. It looks pretty, and it was good but not great.

Dinner for Two

"The discovery of a new dish does more for the happiness of mankind than the discovery of a star." -Anthelme Brillat-Savarin

Food brings so much happiness to my life in so many different ways. Almost every event I can think of in my life has been surrounded by food in some way, or even the food is sometimes the entire reason for the event.

I create events completely surrounded by food all the time. When Trevor and I want to do something but just don't know what to do (one of the problems of living in a small town), I'll think up this great evening filled with cooking, eating a wonderful meal, and enjoying each other's company with laughter and conversation. How can food create an entire evening? I don't know, but it does.

I really do enjoy cooking. At the beginning of our marriage I was always trying new recipes, but they were all new because I had never really cooked before that. I always said that I didn't cook because I didn't have to - my mom was and is a great cook. I was anxious and a little nervous about cooking when we got married. I was so afraid that I would be horrible at it and that we would never have a home cooked meal again. I'll never forget (maybe I shouldn't admit to this) but we were on our honeymoon, sitting on the beach, and of course I had my notebook along to make lists - I am such a list maker. I was asking Trevor to name every meal he could think of, and I would write it down because I thought that for sure, once we got home, I would not be able to think of even one thing to make.

I've come a long way from that, but lately I have not taken the time to try very many new recipes. Whether it has been because I've been busy or because I just haven't put the effort into it, I don't know. But one of my goals this year is to try one new recipe a week. I am sure we will find both good and bad recipes along the way (some probably ending with us ordering pizza), but it will also give Trevor and I one night a week where we can turn off the tv and computers, and just cook, talk, and enjoy one another.

Food is so much more than just food. And a new dish will definitely make me happier than a new star.

This is what I am going to be making tonight. (Now I feel like I am in the movie Julia & Julia) Maybe it should be Rachel & Leah because this recipe is from Rachel Ray. I love a lot of her recipes. This one is called " Teriyaki Chicken Legs" CLICK HERE to get the recipe. I will let you all know how it is, and if it is worth making either on my blog or twitter (follow me HERE). And if you have any good recipes that I should try, let me know in the comments. I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!

Maggie + Brandon | Montpelier, Ohio Wedding Photographer

My heart has always had a special place for winter weddings. The chill, all the sparkle, the glow of the lights, the snow, and the holiday love all make it so special. Maggie and Brandon were lucky enough to get a beautiful snow on the day of the wedding, and it made everything even more perfect. Their love for each other is so comfortable, and it has really stood the test of time already. They have both become very special to me, and I thank them for treating Trevor and I like an extension of their family.

Trevor caught this special moment. I just love the way he looks at her.

This image has become my favorite of the day. It feels like such a classic black and white.

These girls had so much fun! Their laughter was infectious!

I love this moment!

If you want to see more, CLICK HERE for Maggie and Brandon's slideshow!