80 degrees in FL!

Posted by Liana at 5:49 PM

Finally made it to West Palm! Now I remember why I liked living in
Fl....

Schedule for Next Few Weeks

Posted by Liana at 12:51 PM

My oh my the time flies by...

Coming up this week and next:

November
This Week: ATTN CLIENTS!!! Time to get your holiday orders in before it's too late!
Friday & Saturday: I'll be in beautiful West Palm, Florida photographing a gorgeous wedding at the Ritz Carlton


December
Sunday 12/3: Return home, repack
Monday - Thurs 12/4-6: Photo Biz Boot Camp in Boston!

Then it's time for the holiday party FUN to begin... oh, and the announcement of something we've been working on for quite some time!! Can u guess what it is??

If u ever get a boo boo..

Posted by Liana at 8:20 PM

Try these!

I feel like a kid...

Posted by Liana at 8:17 PM

...in a candy store!!

Thanksgiving Email from Gracie (Kitty) Lehman:

Posted by Liana at 10:55 AM

This just in from "Gracie" (I miss them SOOOO much already - after driving ALLLLL day yesterday - thanks to 5mph traffic outside of ATL for 3 hrs - I'm up in NC for the holiday). It smells like Pumpkin break and stuffing and cranberries right now because they're already starting to cook. Mmmmmm...




"Dear Mom -

Meow meow meow.....oops sorry, speaking kitty there.

Meowsers, we sure do miss you. Aunt Kim is so great though. She lets us run around and wrestle with each other. We wrestled for three straight hours last night while she and Mr. Jason watched TV. They sure do watch boring stuff like the history of Thanksgiving. We were only interested in the big birds that kept popping up on the screen. Do you think Charlie and I could catch a turkey? They sure do look yummy!

Mr. Jason and Aunt Kim went to the store last night and bought some new kitty litter. I blame the smell on Charlie. You know how boys are. Aunt Kim kept using the word "Stink Bomb." We girls are nice smelling all the time, right?

Charlie has found a new perch on top of the wine cabinet. I worry about his drinking. Aunt Kim was really worried about since she bought a "behavior modification device" that squirts him every time he gets up there. It seems to work. Stupid boys, he doesn't even realize it is her doing it. He just thinks water just all of a sudden comes out of the sky when he gets up there now. Aunt Kim and I have decided to allow him to think that.

Ok - well, we miss you. When are you coming home. Aunt Kim let us sleep with her last night. She said "just this once", but we think otherwise. I woke her up this morning by jumping from her chair to her lap. It was funny!!! She's nice and pretty too! She said she may bring us a little turkey back from her Grandma's house today. Gee whizz we love her!


Sincerely yours,


Gracie"

All about the BACK

Posted by Liana at 9:51 PM

And the socks!
We have the BEST socks in the Alley! Guess which are mine...

Best First Dance Ever

Posted by Liana at 10:13 AM

My little sister is getting married next August and my other sister sent her this video with instructions (and I quote) "Laurel, I expect nothing less than this for yours..." with this link. Hahahahahaaaa! Hilarious!

Irene

Posted by Liana at 11:52 PM

I've had the chance to shoot a BUNCH of portraits lately and love the change of pace!

With Christmas just around the corner, a number of individuals and families have contacted me about helping them with the perfect present: the gift of portraits!

Here's a SUPER quick shoot I did on Saturday late afternoon with Irene. She'll be headed back to Germany for the holidays to visit family there so it was awesome that we got to shoot outside to show a little bit of her new home-town area :)

Here's a quick Portrait Book design:

Lazy

Posted by Liana at 4:13 PM

I think he's dreaming of Sarah....or the Salmon we had this week.... LOL

Sarah Barlow has a Boyfriend

Posted by Liana at 2:05 PM

I can't believe our darling precious Sarah Barlow will forgo her no-dating rules for the man of her dreams.... his name is Charlie.

I personally think they are SOOOOO adorable together!!

Sarah's been here since Monday and Charlie has not been able to keep his paws off of her... he just keeps wanting to sit next to her and enjoy time together with her.

Today they had their first date. She brought me along to capture all of the sweet moments.

Ingredients for perfect first date:
1. Sharing moments by the roaring Fire in Fireplace
2. Tea and/or Hot Chocolate and Peanut M&Ms
3. Back-rubs
4. Laughing
5. Kisses
6. Cuddling by the Fire

Enjoy!



Look - they have the same hair color:


They had some good laughs... they even make the same face!




Sarah gave Charlie a massage


And he returned the favor with a back rub:




There was some cuddling




... and kisses...




The end!

I *heart* Keytar Players and The Robot Dance

Posted by Liana at 1:19 PM

Hahaha...

Last night, we went to a super fun concert and I think I have a secret crush on the Keytar player. Oppss... guess it's not a secret anymore! J/K. It's just such a cool instrument. I think if I was in a band I'd play the Keytar or Drums. Or I'd just be the backup dancer. What would you be??



Oh... and HOW AWESOME IS THIS??? They brought out the one and only Bryan Gaynor from "So You Think You Can Dance" and he was doing his robot-break dance with them on stage. Check him out:

Here's an inspiring video from Ellen:

Stop in the Name of Attitude

Posted by Liana at 4:13 PM

On Monday, we adventured up to Cumming, GA for a photo shoot with two adorable mini-models (yep, a Kids shoot!)

Towards the end of the photo shoot, we were outside and the kids went for an old STOP sign they found under their deck. Little Camryn gave us her best hands-on-hip attitude look. LOVE it!




More pictures coming soon...

Sarah & Ingrid

Posted by Liana at 5:41 PM

We're doing a Photo Biz Boot Camp today and at the end of each BBC we do a fun photo shoot to get new pics for the photographers who attend.

Today, we did some SUPER quick sample shots of Sarah & Ingrid so we can do a quick workflow demo.

Here's a few shots :)

The adorable, way-too-smart-for-her-age Ms.Barlow


The beautiful, authentic Ingrid


Thanks ladies for being my "victims" :) :)

A Tour with Ashley & Brant in Athens :)

Posted by Liana at 11:36 PM

It was a perfect fall day for an engagement session - and what better place than in Athens, GA the day before one of the biggest games of the season!?

Ashley and Brant met me in the early afternoon, Starbucks in hand, on the edge of campus then shared their story as we strolled through campus taking pics along the way.

They'd met in a place very near and dear to me - Valencia, Spain - on a study-abroad program similar to the one I'd been there for. We reminisced about the amazing city I called home for a summer and I took in the beauty of UGA campus - I'd never been this far on campus before. Luckily, Brant is an official UGA tour guide!

One of my favorites - under the bell-tower. The bell used to catapult whoever pulled it way into the air... it was working for Ashley!





They showed me the Chapel where they'll be getting married - it's right on campus!







A few portraits..





The wind started picking up which looked great on Ashley's hair... but we had a good laugh when it did the same to Brant's...we didn't think he was going for the windblown-hair look!






They had a special garden in mind that we went to for some pictures...


This spot was especially important to them... love the privacy it had with the cove of landscaping surrounding the area...


Last, but not least, one of their favorite restaurants...

What is LOVE? (“Love” part III of V)

Posted by Liana at 5:59 PM

Butterflies. Sweet nothings. Amazing Beauty. Adventure. Friendship. Passion. Romance. Kindness. Hope. Faith. Weddings. Children. Sacrifice. Choice. Truth. Endurance.

“What is LOVE?” I asked for the twentieth time this year. We’d studied it in small group, I’d asked three or four audiences what they believe love is, and witnessed handfuls and handfuls of weddings where that elusive yet wonderfully great L.O.V.E. had been the celebration at hand between two people.




Could it be all of these things and more? How can we say “I love you” to some and it’s so difficult to say to others? Is it the same across friends, family, strangers, and lovers? Is it a noun or verb? Something we control or cannot? Is it a feeling or an action?

If love is “the greatest” then why is there so much divorce, heartache, and relationships gone bad? Why do the romances on TV never seem to work out, except in the cheesy chick-flicks where we know the ending before it’s even close?

Is it perhaps that we’ve forgotten to ask what love really is?

My answers came slowly... it took years I see now... but it’s become so blatantly clear these past few months... what we’ve been missing out on.... not realizing.

You see, we only have one word for love in english and many other languages. So I took it back to the root.... finding that there are in fact many different definitions of love.

There is the kind of love that we see on prime-time TV, that lasts only long enough before the butterflies die down, beauty fades, interests change, and people become bored or have tired out the relationship. It hides in the disguise of passion, “love at first sight,” heated romances... the greeks have a specific word for it: EROS. Eros is the selfish love of longing and desire. It’s not the longing and desire that is bad about it (after all God did create that ... but he created it for good, not evil).... but it’s the controlling nature of Eros love that is bad. Feelings of this type of love can create intimacy that overpowers reason...

Then there is PHILOS. Another word for love, the Greeks used to describe Friend Love. Brotherly love. To have mutual interests, be there for each other, celebrate each other, and put one above another. We’re called to this kind of love, but is it enough? Will there still be betrayals from friends? Yes. Sadly, yes. Philos, like Eros, is not “the greatest” in my humble opinion.

The GREATEST of these is AGAPE love. Agape can be all those things plus so much more. I don’t think our human brains can even dream up how amazing it is. Agape love is the divine, caring, sacrificial love. The kind of love that would never be fully explained on mere pages and surely deserves a post all it’s own.....

Sarah's first time

Posted by Liana at 2:09 PM

At waffle house... Can u believe it!?

We are up north of Atlanta for a photoshoot this afternoon kinda out
in the country and had to pick between this, china buffet and pizza
hut with no where to sit :)

Soooo cute!!!

Posted by Liana at 12:06 PM

Look what I caught them doing this morning? They're finally trying
out their bed... Awwwwww.....

Look what we get to go to this week!!

Posted by Liana at 2:20 PM

I'm really excited because Sarah is coming to town this week - I'll be teaching a Boot Camp Tuesday - Thursday then we get to go see these guys:

Sweet Caroline...

Posted by Liana at 9:37 AM

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of doing something I hadn't in a while.... a portrait shoot!

My friend Beth has wanted to do a portrait session for a while - as a gift for her mother for Christmas - so we met at one of her favorite spots... the mall!!

After that, we headed to a park area for a few more shots.

Here are a few of my favorite portraits...





LOVE this one (I think it's the hat - it's a little joke of ours to always send her John Deer stuff!!)


SHOES!!!


We had some fun checking out all the holiday party dresses...


Back at the park area, we took a few shots out by an empty pool area.


Thanks Beth for being a great model!!

Love Letters From India & The Notebook ("Love" part II of V)

Posted by Liana at 12:41 AM

It's been a long while but I shall continue with what I started with Part I of V.


Love Letters From India & The Notebook ("Love" part II of V)


Pictures. Dance Cards. Newspaper Announcements. Pictures. Pictures. More Pictures. Birth Announcements. Death Announcements. Social Announcements. Pictures. Cards. Love Letters from India. Notebooks. Pictures.

The story of my grandparents courtship in High School in Iowa to the years my grandfather was away serving in World War II, to the birth of my uncle, aunt, and father, and the years that followed.... it was all found in tattered cardboard boxes...the evidence was mostly in the form of yellowed pictures, torn pictures, some with quirky cute notes on the back, some left blank so I’d have to ask questions from those who knew.



I adored the dance cards. They were little paper hearts with miniature pencils attached by a string. My grandfathers name filled the little spaces on my grandmothers mini-paper-hearts.



Then there were the lovely pictures of their female classmates... some sort of very old-fashioned version of senior portraits. My grandfather was a pretty handsome guy and there were lots of pictures of their very beautiful classmates. But he didn’t pick them, he picked grandma. It was her dance card he choose to fill.

Their life and that visit to their nursing home earlier this year brought back images of one of my favorite ‘need-a-good-cry-movies’ “The Notebook” and the similar parallels in their relationships. They had their differences. Plenty of them. And hard times.... my grandmothers stroke was not easy on anybody. But he stayed, and took care of her, and cared for her day in and day out... styled her hair even. My grandmother has not been the same without him. A mess quite honestly. I can’t imagine being in her shoes. Loosing her memory ... bit by bit.... clearly not sure how to operate without her love of 60+ years.

The family leaves the retirement home after the much-needed time together...back to the day-in-and-day out. But some things will never be the same...

Ladies Who Launch

Posted by Liana at 2:38 PM

I'm at a fun conference today here in Atlanta and its pretty cool
because it's ALL women entrepreneurs attending!

Grace & Charlie like Mac too

Posted by Liana at 9:53 PM

See... Charlie helped me in Photoshop all morning... um yeah, laid sprawled out across my chest so if I looked down too much at the new MacBook Pro I breathed in kitty-fur. Then he and Gracie had a blast playing in Photobooth tonight after small group.

They like the "Pop Art" effect the best they told me:







Okay, so maybe they didn't tell me anything, but they purred the whole time so I figured it out on my own. Next, I need to work on their best zoolander smile and posing in photobooth.... can't say these are the most flattering of self-portraits...