Every few months my friends and I get together to go downtown Cincinnati, and the surrounding areas, to scope new areas, practice different shooting techniques and have fun. Last weekend was one of them, although for crazy reasons we only ended up shooting for about 20 minutes.

Goal 1: Shoot under a  bridge/overpass or in a garage.  We accomplished both at once. Check & Check!

(My sister Jodie)

Goal # 2

Walk 100 feet (or in our case paces, since I have no idea how far away 100 feet is) stop, and shoot something.

.done.

I spent more time in front of the camera than actually shooting…

(Taken by my sister Jodie)

And while I’m posting photos of myself here’s another. I felt like playing with one of my lenses on a day off a week or two ago.

Also this week, I got to see my friend James’ band State Your Cause. They put on an awesome show. This was my first time shooting concert shots, so they are just for your viewing pleasure. Nothing technical.

This weekend I shot my friends Maternity session. She’s 36 weeks and gorgeous here. I can’t wait to shoot the newborn session!

I hope everyone had a fun Christmas! I’m finishing up my year in review with portraits. This includes: Newborns, Seniors, Anytime & Families. These are in random order because I do not have a favorite. I love them all! December has been a nice break from photos (aside from my quick stint as the photographer for a Santa at T&C Sports). I’m excited to start on new projects next month!

Starting off with portraits of a different type:

This is an adorable shot our cat, Gary. Gary is huge now, he weighs 12lbs and thinks he’s human.

And a shot of a cute little pony at the Pumpkin Farm we took Tanner too.

Top Photos of 2009 Engagement|Weddings |Details

When I look back over the past year, some of my favorite images are engagement shoots. I love engagement shoots, because we have a good amount of time to get to know each other, we can get creative and find awesome locations. I started early this year with Jen and Chris’s shoot. We got special approval to enter Coney Island during the off season. The only downside was that it was 30 degrees outside!! Some of those shots are included in this year’s top Engagement Photos.

**Engagement**

**My Favorite Engagement Shot of 2009**

**Detail Shots**

I HEART DETAILS! But these are just a small few of my favorites for the year.

My macro lense is amazing. This shot is straight out of the camera, with a little sharpening. WEEEEE!!!

LOVE <3

**Weddings**

These are just random shots from weddings I shot this year. They can be ceremony, reception… whatever I feel like (well except Bridal Portraits, since we’ve already covered that!) Some of these… (or most of these) are photos that you’ve never seen. I’ll try to point them out or explain.

This is the view from the Mt. Adams Church where my latest wedding was held.

A shot of a groomsman shooting the first dance with his iphone.

Inside of Holy Cross-Imaculata

Shot with no flash… Just so you know… Love the ISO capabilities on my new camera.

I love this photo. This is the type of photo I LOVE to capture. My favorite wedding photo.

I’ve been procrastinating getting my favorite photos from the past year on my blog. I love them all and can never narrow them down. This year I am including some “never before seen” photos that are some of my favorites. Without further ado here are the top photos of 2009 starting with the Brides and Boudoir Categories.  Check back tomorrow for Couples, Weddings and Details.

Boudoir

You haven’t seen any of these shots yet, and I am very excited to show these! I haven’t been able to advertise Boudoir really yet, so I have only one session to show you. But these are favorites from that session.

These last two are tied for first place:

Brides

*New*

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**My Favorite Bride Shot of 2009**

So you’ve scheduled your engagement or anytime photo session, what’s next?  What do you and your fiancé wear? I put a few affordable outfits together. These are just inspiration, feel free to put your own twist on things. I want to see color, and personality!

Forever21:

Dress  $20

Cardigan  $20

Tights  $7

Modcloth.com:

Shoes

My Favorite outfit:

Dress

Tights

and Shoes available at Modcloth.com 

I didn’t forget about the guys! I made these outfits on HM.com All items are available at H&M. (Now that we have one close to us)

I love the idea of the bowtie, but I do realize this is Cincinnati and its not the norm.

The Military Jacket is my favorite. And how can you go wrong with Chucks?

I couldn’t resist getting the girls all dolled up too.

When I was a senior in High School, we sang a song for all the elementary schools that was called “Christmas Cookies”. I LOVED IT. Now every time my family makes Christmas cookies, the song stays in my head. I’ve been searching but I can’t find it!

…Cut the cookies and put ‘em in a pan….

…Make a pie or a wreath or a gingerbread man…

I am adding a second post with a few more favorites.

I’ll start with my brand new favorite photo:

So Adorable! Her big Brother loves her so much!

Isn’t her expression so precious?!

Today I got to photograph another adorable baby. This is again, one of my favorite families. I laughed and giggled all they way through my editing on this set, because she’s just so darn cute!