Behind the logo

My greatest source of inspiration and motivation comes from my children. There’s no denying that I wouldn’t be where I am today without their presence in my life. They are the foundation and driving force behind everything I do.

I’m excited to introduce my new logo, which holds deep personal significance. The design incorporates special features that represent my boys, making it a heartfelt reflection of my journey as a parent and a photographer. At the bottom of the logo, you’ll notice a dot that symbolizes Axl’s unique dimple. This dot is not just a design element; it plays a critical role in the overall composition, filling the negative space where the left side of the letter 'H' would typically be. It serves as a reminder that my kids—represented by the dot—complete me in both life and work. The grey color of the dot mirrors the beautiful hue of Jaxon’s eyes, adding an emotional touch to the design.

Additionally, the lowercase 'b' in the logo is a tribute to Dax’s adorable little curls, cleverly represented by the half-circle shape. This connection to my boys is intentional, as I specialize in capturing the essence of families, and I want that to shine through in my branding.

The logo embodies a simple, minimalist, and clean aesthetic—qualities that I hold dear in my photography as well. It’s not just about visual appeal; I want it to encapsulate my artistic vision and who I am as a photographer.

I truly hope you enjoy my new logo as much as I do. It represents not only my professional journey but also the love and inspiration that my children bring into my life every day.

Lets Create A Book.

I am going to give a step by step on how you can create a photo album from either your mobile device or laptop.

For a mobile device, I recommend an app called CHATBOOOK. However, uploading images from your phone you have to be mindful. YOU CANNOT SCREENSHOT YOUR PHOTOS THEN UPLOAD TO THE APP. Your photos will be blurry and have a lower resolution.

Here is what we do. Once you have downloaded your session onto your desktop, I recommend emailing the images you want in your photo album, to yourself. Uploading each image individually. OR. I do it the “lazy” way and upload them to myself from my desktop to facebook messenger.

Once this step is complete, I then save each image to my phone and upload to the app (CHATBOOK).

When it comes to you laptop, I recommend Blurb.com. It is $$$ then chatbook, but well worth it.

*Chatbook are smaller books where as Blub has larger albums available.

From one mom to another

You ever feel like your life is on auto pilot. Like nothing you say or do is seen or heard. When your husband is sitting there talking to you and for some reason you cant focus because your mind is filled to its capacity with worries and household things that need to be done.

you ever feel like you’re completely empty running on fumes. Like youre a robot that is programmed to clean, cook, work, attend to, listen, be a dr, know everything, be a teacher, maid, caregiver, employee, assistant, planner, accountant, taxi driver, etc.?

you ever lose yourself. Your self worth. Who you are.

ever finally get the baby to sleep, have the other child start crying only to wake the baby up again? And then you cant stop crying. But youre an adult.. why am I crying?

ever feel like youre being judged. Told what you are doing is wrong. Critisized. Told how to do it. What you should be doing. How you should be doing it. Only to end up feeling like youre failing your kids.

*you may think youre giving advice to another mother. Dont give your opinion unless youre asked.

again

DONT GIVE YOUR OPINION UNLESS YOURE ASKED. Youre hurting that moms selfworth believe it or not. Let HER mother HER way. You dont know her situation or her kids. Or whats right…

youre doing great mama.

ever feel like no matter how much your husband helps you dont think he gets it. Is that selfish?

every felt and have been stripped of your selfworth.

I feel like I complain so much ive skipped the first 5 years of my sons life.

never felt like such a burden. Never felt so guilty. Never apologized to my children so much. My husband. Myself.

what does this have to do with photography?

it doesnt. This is my space to be open. This is me listening to you, moms. Im here. I understand. I know. Doesnt feel like anyone could understand.

I do.


DIY modern | contemporary frame

The no. 1 question I get asked after a session is

”where should I go to get my photos printed on a canvas”

and my response is

“why a canvas?”

I DO not mean this in a negative way or to come off rude. I honestly want to know what draws someone to just canvas. I personally feel that we as artist need to educate our clients and give them the best guidance when it comes to showing off YOUR work in their home.

But boy do I have answers for you. The questions you need to ask yourself are

  1. what kind of style am I trying to achieve.

  2. what is my home aesthetic.

Once you have those answers I can suggest the right option for YOU.

That’ll come with our session. But today’s blog is strictly about those beautiful acrylic, modern | contemporary frames you see that cost hundreds of dollars for one.

If I can make this, so can you.

Here are the supplies you’ll need:

  • 4 acrylic sheets ( I am doing a set of 4) $105

  • Stainless steel screws. You need 4 for each frame. 2 on top two on bottom $18.99

  • adhesive dots $11

  • your prints. I choose a matte finish. $53.39

now you’re going to see I have no idea how to use the correct terms because I am not an everyday pro. So here we go.

The first thing I did was make sure I taped off four corners of my acrylic piece. This way when I drilled my holes I did not crack it. I marked 1 inch for both sides and made my mark where I was going to drill. Do NOT take off the film on either sides. Thanks.

The first set of 4 I ordered cracked, these pieces are very fragile.

I had to find which drill bit fit perfectly with my stainless steel screws. I literally took a scrap piece of acrylic and drilled holes till it matches my stainless steel ones. I was lucky I got it on the second try haha. Husband was sleeping so it was all me.

Um so I didnt take much pics after that because I got into it so now this blog is going to go down hill but ill try my best.

so then I made sure the top of my piece was level with the wall. I did this by taking a piece of painters tap and laying it across the whole wall.

I did get a pic of this

I then marked the 4 holes that I cut by holding the piece up to the wall once aligned with the green tape. I did the first two and screwed the screws half way in and repeat that step on the bottom once the top two were in.

and thats kinda it.

4 pieces for less than $200. In a perfect world I would have gotta another 24x36 piece to sandwhich the image. Instead I used the adhesive circles till I can come up with the additonal $100 for 4 more pieces.

Valentines MINI mini.

I Have NEVER done anything like this. However, I think it would be SUPER cool. What if I held a Valentines MINI mini.. Yes.

5-10 Min shoot.

$50 for one child | $75 for two | Three? Buy two get one free -$75. Group $60. One of each and a group? $100 *up to three kids. Anymore we can discuss payment.

On your time, at my home. Stop by, let me grab a photo and I’ll have it back to you within a day.

It All Started With Photoshop

When I was 16, I wanted to learn the details and tools when it came to Photoshop. It wasn’t till college when I was gifted a computer that I would start learning the basics.

I had a professor once say

“You will never learn Photoshop in this room. You will learn at home, self taught.”
— Professor idk his name

I thought, why am I even paying 3000 for this class? I was extremely mad and disappointed. Now, I understand completely. Every YouTube video I’ve watched, every class I took never taught me the ways that worked for me. Pieces maybe, but I have found my own efficient ways.

From face swaps to filling in backgrounds to adding unrealistic nature.

“But why would you want to alter real time?”

Sometimes getting that perfect shot is not as easy as you would think. Why do we use filters?

I have always thought about making a YouTube channel showing friends and clients how I go about creating a piece, but then I think to myself

“People will think I am NUTS”

The extent I go to create a smooth background, or swapping a face..kinda creepy haha. I surprise myself a lot of the times. Sometimes I just wing it till it feels right. Photoshop is my baby. It is where I started to grow. It is why I’ve grown.

Photoshop update

Hey! I wanted to address another question I normally get with some of my clients.
While shooting, sometimes I get the “well you can just Photoshop the hand out while I’ll hold this up.”

Technically, Yes. But please, don’t underestimate the time that goes into photoshop.

I am starting to charge fees for “levels” of Photoshop elements that are beoynd my control.

  1. Removing LARGE objects. Ex. Holding up a balloon so it look like its floating $15 per image.

  2. Removing, but not limited to, blemishes, scares, etc. on one or more image. $3 per image (depending on size/amount)

  3. Replacing/swapping faces. YES this happens especially with kids. Like Mine. (See img attached) $50

  4. Taking an image off a shirt. Starting at $5 per image.

  5. Taking “in”. I always tell clients I prefer natural look. However, sometimes the client wants what the client wants. $5 per image.

    *Prices are subject to change due to level of difficulty.

Thank you for understanding!

Keep pushing

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This moment in time has been stuck in the back of my head for some time now. I have a feeling It may be worth sharing, because it doesn’t pertain to just photography.

My dad surprised and took me to get my first “big girl lens”. My dad had every faith in me when I started my photography business. Crying moment.

*were not naming said shop due to privacy, but know it was a good camera store.

So we get to this ”shop” and my dad was back and fourth with this guy all day on the phone making sure we get the best of the best. So I meet this dude and he asks what I’m looking for. I reply “I’m shooting my first wedding, I need something that can help”. That man looked at me and said “never say shoot, it’s photographing.” Really made me feel dumb. He handed me the lens that was good for everything (ok but really it is bc it’s like the only one I ever use).
He then gives me an assignments and tells me to call him in a week to start taking classes with him ($60 a class). Screw you Jr.

I went home and looked this guys work up. I was dumbfounded. Remember my work is nothing at this point. His work was HORRIBLE. When I say horrible I mean composition, lighting, contrast, colors you name it! I was in art school so I knew my stuff but I knew nothing then about photography so imagine how surprised I was.

So from that moment I told myself there is no better teacher than myself. I’m not being forced by someone else’s skills and style. So I did. I read read read!

You can know your stuff but to use it in life is another thing.

So I shoot, I mean photograph, my first wedding. Disaster. l mean absolutely horrible. My partner and I still laugh about it till this day. Guess I should have learned how to use a flash. This was years ago. Anyways..

What did I do that night? (I had another wedding planned)… I went home bought a flash that you had to manual use. This allowed and taught me from scratch how to move and use lighting. Guess what years later…

I still say shoot and think the word photograph is bull shit.

If you’re passionate enough about something, you’ll do it.

Through the Lens of a mother

This entry is not going to be like most. It’s about me personally. It’s going to be raw, it’s going to be real, it’s going to be relatable. Hi. I am a mother of two handsome boys. I can’t stand to look at myself in the mirror, for several reasons. My body. Boy do I hate my body. If I step on the scale one more time and see those numbers I might just throw up. But when it’s the middle of the night and I finally get two seconds I grab a piece of cake because I am hungry. As I grab the cake do you know what I hear? Cries. So I run to the room to check on the infant. Crying every other hour. But I can’t complain. I’m a mom.
Finally the only way to get him to sleep is co sleeping. Shame on me. That’s not right. I’m such a bad parent. Wait now it’s 2 am and the toddler is crying because he wants snuggles with his mom because he sees that brother gets them. So now it’s a big ordeal. Now husbands up, he’s mad, he has to get up in an hour for work.

Back to me looking in the mirror, I’m such a horrible mom. I can’t make both boys happy. I miss my oldest and have no time with him because the infant requires all my attention. He doesn’t sleep like other infants and he’s constantly needing moms attention. I feel guilty. For both kids. Back to the mirror. I’m a bad wife. I don’t give my husband the attention he deserves, the house is not always clean.. and what’s laundry?

Back to the mirror.. there is absolutely zero self love. I hate my body (and no I don’t want to hear “love your body you gave birth” shit. Doesn’t give me an excuse to gain weight..) I wear sweats. What’s a shower? What’s me time? I don’t get me time. I don’t get to sit outside with a coffee. What’s me time? No kids no husband. ME TIME. We as mothers are literally stripped down to our core. No one gets us. Not other mothers, not our moms and definitely not our spouse. I don’t care, I said it. We all have different battles, different stories. Different fights. We all cry for different reasons. We’re all up at 2 am for different reasons. To cry. To get some Me time. To try and work out because you know, other moms can do it… we’re tired of hearing “you’re a mom” at least I am. I am tired of hearing this is my job. No being a mom is my duty. It’s my life. Yes it’s what I chose but do NOT push that on us. A lot of moms are in a dark place. Do not push us to show you attention. Do not push us to smile when we want to cry. Do not push us to work out and be “healthier”. Don’t push me to set goals.

This is real. This is being a mother and this is what no one talks about. Remember pictures don’t always explain what happens behind the lens. Someone saw this picture of my family and told me how we were family goals.. if you only knew how broken we can be..

I may complain more than other mothers, but guess what? I don’t give a shit.

oh ya I swear.

No family is perfect. Mothering is hard. Being a wife is hard. Being a daughter is hard. Being you is hard.

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Printing

The no. 1 question I get from clients is “where should I print”. This is actually one of my favorite questions because then I get to use part of my other love, interior designing. There is several questions that actually go along with “where is the best place to print”. Are you looking for canvas? Wood mount? Acrylic? Or just a print to put in a frame. It is crazy to me how many ways you can print! The possibilities are endless.

For prints I use a simple site, for example, office max *they also do engineer printing! Definitely look into that on Pinterest! It’s awesome and affordable! Anything more unique I go through art.com. HANDS DOWN BEST SITE and I’ve been using it for 11 years.

But did you know there is more than just canvas prints!? Can•vas noun a strong, coarse unbleached cloth made from hemp, flax, cotton, or a similar yarn, used to make items such as sails and tents and as a surface for oil painting. If you’re going for that artsy look that’s your go to! Contemporary or modern? I personally always use wood mounts OR acrylic 😍 acrylic can be prissy so you can always diy and make your own! Get creative!

My last tip. SIZE ALWAYS MATTERS. (like you never heard that before, haha). I’ll tell you now, SKIP THE 8x10! It is more eye catching and pleasing to the brain if you go bigger! (Unless you’re framing a 5x7)

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