Baby, Oh Baby!

I was blessed recently to be able to photograph some maternity sessions for two very special couples. I know Garrett & Lauren and Ross & Lauren from church. It was so fun to find out that "the Laurens" were expecting little ones around the same time. I've always loved being in the presence of these two couples. They are so sweet to each other and so ridiculously in love that it makes me feel all mushy inside. *sigh*

For me, maternity sessions are like three sessions in one--a Love session, an individual Portrait session (of the beautiful mommy-to-be), and of course, the Baby Bump itself. I get so excited about these!

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Garrett & Lauren

I had to admit to Garrett and Lauren that I bawled like a baby on the way to their session. I've grown super-close to them this past year, and they just found out they will be moving back to Oklahoma shortly after their little girl makes her arrival in the next week or so. I guess I was feeling a little nostalgic on the way to meet them for their session. I think you'll agree with me, but Lauren was so gorgeous it took my breath away! Check out some of my favorites...

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Ross & Lauren

We had a beautiful day for Ross & Lauren's session. We got to start off at a new location downtown that I was excited about, and then we headed out to one of my favorite fields for some softer shots. I think my favorite part of the day was watching their reactions as I continually looked at my camera screen and squealed in excitement at what I saw! So many to choose from! Check out this adorable couple who have a handsome baby boy on the way...

Check out the rest of their albums on my Facebook Fan Page.

"Like" me to view new session pix on your Facebook feed!

Also, see more full-sized images on my new website!

www.imagesbyjenphotography.com

Jenn & Justen

Jenn is a friend of mine from college. She contacted me to do a quick one-hour session with her boyfriend, Justen, for some Christmas presents for family. Luckily, I had today available... and despite the 30-degree weather and a flurry of snowflakes, we managed to get the following pix at the MSU campus. Jenn & Justen were troopers!

The MSU campus is actually my favorite place in Springfield, believe it or not!... I graduated from MSU, so I had four years to admire the campus! My favorite place is by the fountain in front of the library on summer nites. So pretty!  I've been wanting to do some couple's pix on campus for awhile, and when Jenn contacted me about pictures, I knew exactly where I wanted to take them.

Enjoy!

P.S. I apologize to Jenn & Justen for having to be seen with me today... With shoots on cold days, I layer up... and I wear my non-matching scarf, headband, and my gloves with the end cut off. I pretty much look like a hobo. But at least I'm warm!!

See the rest of the album from today's session on my Facebook page!

Before & After Thursday

Charles and Alice were one of my first engagement sessions back in 2008. With my point-and-shoot Canon Powershot S5IS, I got the shot below. I didn't have editing software at the time, so I thought I would take another look at this picture today and see what I could come up with since I have the tools now.

BEFORE

AFTER


Using Totally Rad Actions
Punch-Out!!! @ 100%
Shadow Separator ~ lighten 100%
Troy @ 57%
Crystalniqua Delicious @ 57%
Then a crop at the end


P.S. If you've picked up a Springfield Business Journal this week, Charles may look familiar to you. More about that on Friday's post!

Clifton & Jen.. It's Christmas Time!

Today I grabbed some pictures of my best friend, Jennifer, and her husband, Clifton, for some quick Christmas card pics. We wanted to incorporate some pictures of the beautiful house they recently bought. I just adore these two.

Clifton's the king of funny faces...

Just because it was fun...

And a family pic...

Dad...

Mom... (so beautiful!)

and child, Bingo!

He wasn't really digging the HO HO HO shirt or the cute necktie. He was kinda pouty.

This reminds me... 11 Days til Christmas... and -1 presents bought (don't you hate it when you buy the perfect gift for someone, and then you decide you need it more for yourself? Sorry, Erin! My new scarf is lovely!) :)

Before & After Thursday

Since I've recently gotten some new editing software and some time-saving Photoshop actions for post-processing, I thought I would start showing some Before-and-Afters just for fun. And Thursday is the special day.

Here's one of my favorites from Curtis and Natalie's engagement session: (as I mentioned before in a previous post, I LOVE to cut people's heads off!) :)

BEFORE

AFTER

Processing:

Totally Rad Actions

Old Skool (Standard) @ 100%

and some tweaking with Yin/Yang for the lights and dark textures.

This small picture doesn't do it justice... to view the bigger picture and the beautiful textures, view it larger here on my flickr account. You won't regret it!

Come back on Thursdays to see more transformations... You know you want to.

Baby Bump Continued...

A few more from Tegan's session... The little guy will be here before we know it!

The blanket that matches Asher's nursery...

Newborn pix coming soon!

Graham Family Sneak Peeks

I know the Graham family from church. Janet contacted me to do family photos while the whole family was in town... all 5 kids and the grandkids! We had a perfect, overcast November day at the park for our shoot.

We did some group photos...

Some individual family shots...

A horse race in the park... (I surprised the kids with these stick horses. They loved them!)

And then some candid pix of the grandkids...

I grabbed some flower pix in the garden before I left the park...

Another great day at the park!