Unforgettable Events

One of my brides from this last year, Kristen Douglas, has started her own event planning company called Unforgettable Events and I'm so excited for her! This has always been a dream of hers to do, and when she told me that she was going to pursue it I couldn't have been more thrilled. Kristen planned out everything for her own wedding and did such an incredible job putting together all of those little details that made her day so specific to her and Shane... and even kept everything right on schedule. That is quite an extraordinary task for a bride on her own wedding day! Dang! Since she had done such a great job planning things out it really gave me the opportunity to give them the best pictures I could and not be pressed for time. It really makes a huge difference when you have a planner help coordinate all of your vendors and get things to run smoothly the day of your wedding, so I can't recommend her enough. Her website features her own wedding with the photography by yours truly ;)

Go take a look!

Home again...

I made it back home tonight and it feels so nice to be here! I loved my time in the Phoenix area and it was especially hard to leave my cousins since I won't see them again until Easter but Emily and I had one last hoorah with the trampoline... I practiced a little of what I learned yesterday from the workshop with my settings and we had some fun! Yes, the light is on-camera but the gear I need to take it off-camera was in California so I'll be practicing more this weekend, don't you worry. Emily is quite the jumper don't you think?







And then when I got home I found this...


I love getting packages in the mail!



This was from Jerry over at Lovey's Cookies, and you might remember seeing these in that slideshow from the dinner party in a couple posts below. I sent him some of those pictures and he graciously mailed over some of his famous creations!



He even made one with my logo on it, so great!



I have such a sweet tooth that these will be gone in no time :) The big box came with chocolate chip cookies... and no they aren't just ANY chocolate chip cookie! And the one with my logo (I'm still so stoked on that!) came with a chocolate M&M candy cookie that was SO GOOD. I haven't had a cookie that good in a loooong time.




What a treat!





Just for the record I don't take kick-backs for recommending anything on here, it's only if I really like something and feel it's for the benefit of others that I share it. And this, my friends, is for your sweet tooth benefit :) And it looks pretty classy on a dinner table with your own personal logo or picture on there!

Have a great day!

One Light Workshop

Today was such an incredible day! I can't believe how much I learned at the workshop with Zach, it was exactly what I was hoping to walk away with. The difference that you can get from a photo using the available light that exists in contrast with using an off camera flash is amazing. I've always been a natural light shooter, or have figured out ways of using whatever light I'm given to create my portraits but it is so nice to know about other options.


This is the first setup we did with the off camera flash...



and then same spot without any flash. I think i like this one better but it's nice to be able to choose!



and here is another with the natural light that I love..



and again with the flash... such a great difference!
































The first model you see is Liene, and she is actually a wedding planner here in Phoenix! Her company is Blue Orchid Designs and she has a promo going on right now so you might want to make sure you check her BLOG for the info. Liene did an incredible job... being a model is not as easy as it looks and she was awesome to work with as she braved the cold weather and paparazzi we had going on. You'll also see another model by the name of Jennifer who is the publisher for Destination I DO Wedding Magazine! She was also great to work with and was totally used to being around photographers so she seemed to feel right at home... another natural in front of the camera. Her magazine is a great resource so check that one out too.

Everyone who was there today was so fun to get to know and work alongside, I can't even express how much the day impacted me. I think one of the coolest things that happened apart from the technical learning was when Melissa Jill and I put together the fact that we both have mutual friends! Yup, it's another Hume Lake connection :) Melissa was the gracious host for the event which means she was the reason for getting the One Light to come to Phoenix. I don't think anyone could have been more thankful! There was so much interest that Zach isn't even done yet... he still has another workshop tomorrow with a new crew of photographers coming. After a very long day I think I'm signing off, but I think I'll sleep with my notebook nearby so all of the info I absorbed today won't be lost!

Ciao!

I love a good dinner party...

...and this one takes the cake so far! Bonnie was someone I had met at Evan and Heather's wedding back in November, and although she wasn't able to be there for the ceremony she was able to catch the slideshow I had playing during the reception. She asked if I would be interested in photographing a dinner party she was throwing for her husband's birthday, and so right before Christmas I found myself at their beautiful residence in Beverly Hills capturing a wonderful evening. I realized that I forgot to post this here on my blog during the Christmas rush so since I didn't really get out and photograph much today around Phoenix (there will be plenty of that tomorrow!) I figure this is the perfect time to catch up!




Tonight I met up with the rest of the One Light Workshop folks, and I'm so excited for what I'm going to learn and the friendships that will be made! I can't wait to add more tools to my toolbox and continue to step it up in my work. Zach shared a bit of his story and I can tell tomorrow is going to be AMAZING. If you have a chance to take a workshop from him, sign UP. Even if that means going to Alaska :)

Kimberly and John

Meeting Kimberly and John this weekend was so much fun! We met at a park that they used to walk around together early in their relationship, so it had a lot of sentimental meaning for them. We wanted to get them some great images that they would be proud to show to their friends and family so I really pray that I met their high hopes! I was a little nervous about the shoot since I had no idea what type of an area we would be shooting in but there turned out to be some great light and fun nooks and crannies to work in.

Thank you both for being so wonderful to work with and for putting your trust in me. I hope that you enjoy what you see so far, and hope to see you both when I'm in Phoenix again :)

























Now I'm off to go explore the Phoenix area a bit more and hopefully will have some fun images to post later from what I find. Hope you are having a wonderful day!

Welcome to Arizona!

I have been having such a great time here in Arizona so far, and it's only just begun! Staying with Amy and Jason was so much fun, we went out to Scottsdale for lunch yesterday and wandered around a little bit. I loved the area and the architecture... we were in the Old Town area so it was fun to see the unique character in the buildings. Today I had an awesome opportunity to do a shoot with some of Amy's friends so I'll have a couple images posted soon! After the shoot my cousin Chris came to pick me up and now I'm enjoying my time with them so much! I'm also really looking forward to the One Light Workshop starting on Tuesday, it's almost here :) Here are some images from our time out in Scottsdale, hope you enjoy them...

Jet Set

I'm hopping on a plane to Phoenix, AZ today to visit my friends Amy, Jason and their baby Ryan who you might remember from this post here, AND I'm also getting a great opportunity to learn from the famed Zack Arias in his One Light Workshop next week. I'm so stoked! This guy is a master of using off camera light and his work just impressed me so much that I had to get a spot in one of his classes no matter where it was. Phoenix turned out to be perfect since Amy and Jason are there, as well as my cousins Chris, Carrie and their twins William and Emily so I'll get to hang out with them while I'm out there. So looking forward to it! I'll be returning next Thursday so the best way to get in touch with me will be through email at kareymichelle@gmail.com. An update on my website is that we'll probably be up in about a week! Yay!

Have a fabulous weekend and I'll be updating pictures from AZ as well as what I learn from the One Light Workshop so stay tuned :)

Under Construction??

I hope everyone is enjoying this beautiful day! Just wanted to put a note up that you might notice my website down, but it's really an exciting thing! It means we are in the middle of uploading the brand spankin' new version of www.kareymichelle.com and it's a completely custom site designed by Robert of Nienstudios. It's going to rock!! I can't wait to share it with you guys. This was a project that I had started with Robert about a year ago but I got so busy with the amazing weddings I was invited to that I didn't have time to put together my online portfolio. So, when things simmered down at the end of the year I finally got everything together and put the portfolio in Roberts talented hands. This transition also means that the slideshow links will be switched over, so if for some reason they don't work today just know that it is only temporary and they'll be back ASAP. Thanks for your understanding and have an amazing day!!

Ciao!

Haley and Andy

Yesterday I had the huge privilege of shooting Andy and Haley's wedding here in Danville, CA and their reception was at this amazing old car museum called the Blackhawk Auto Museum. I had help from my friend Rachel Williams and we had a blast! Here are some of the faves, more will be coming soon. Have a great day!





(this baby is worth 7 million bucks!)