Natalie & Kevin's album

Creating this album was easy....  some are harder than others, but I knew exactly what I wanted to do the moment I started going through the images Natalie chose.  She knew the look she wanted: antiqued and vintage, and that was the inspiration I needed to design this album.  Each page rolled out of my head one by one, and in no time I had the entire album completed!  It was a pure joy not only photographing this wedding, but designing the album too.  Here are a few of my favorite pages...

Libby's bridal session

It has taken me awhile to get these online....  Libby, her mother, and I all met at Cheekwood Botanical Gardens last Fall to do Libby's bridal portraits.  It was a last minute decision they both made because we did not have enough time on the wedding day to do many portraits of Libby in her dress.  Her mother really wanted something to frame on her wall, so we picked a day in October and met on a gorgeous sunny afternoon.  Libby has such an infectious personality - bubbly and fun!  We had a blast!  However, with the holidays coming up, I told them it may be awhile before I could work on the images.  I had three album deadlines and four other portrait sessions to edit for Christmas card images!  So, here I am, two and a half months later finally posting Libby's beautiful portraits.  They were a joy to work on...

Holidays

Yes... it has been a long time since my last post, and I am sincerely sorry for my absence.  I can only blame the craziness of the holidays... I really have no idea where all my time went!  You would think it is easy to write a few words each day, but gosh-darn-it, my brain went into a sugar and turkey induced coma and the body took over editing, creating, photographing, cooking, wrapping, visiting, entertaining, shopping, emailing, networking, and the occasional sleeping.  I promise not to be away so long now that the days are getting back to normal. 

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season, and will have a fantastic New Year!

Catelyn & Connor

So we have had some gorgeous weather in the past couple of weeks, and I was so happy some of my clients could benefit from it.  The Fall colors have finally hit their peak, and on one sunny afternoon I met Catelyn and Connor for the first time.  These 13 month old twins were so full of personality!  Catelyn definitely knew what she wanted to do and how she was going to do it, while Connor was more of the free spirit...  We met at Percy Warner Park in Nashville, TN where they have some fabulous stone steps and walls to photograph on.  This is where we spent a good hour moving these two troopers from one spot to another and distracting them with all kinds of toys and antics to get some smiles and laughs!  Children's photography is so much fun!

Great Idea!

I photograph alot of children and babies, and there is nothing more difficult than getting their attention by yourself behind the camera.  Many times, parents bring along an additional person the baby is familiar with, or an arsenal of toys and noise makers that not only get the babies attention, but everyone else within a twelve mile radius.  It's often times up to the parents to get the babies to "Look, over here!" by doing crazy antics behind me so their child will look in the right direction... goodness knows what is going on back there!  Today I came across a fabulous idea... and I slap myself for not thinking of it first!  http://www.etsy.com/shop/cameracreatures  If you ever photograph children, or just want something cute for your own camera.... check these out!

Sara & Andy's album

The creative process is a difficult one to explain to clients. When designing a coffee table style wedding album, I ask specific questions regarding how artistic a couple would like their pages to appear, but in the end, it always comes down to actually seeing them before clients really know what they want.  In the case of Sara & Andy, she specified that she wanted some artistic flair, but to keep it fairly traditional....  this didn't seem to fit the engagement, bridal, or wedding day photography, so I took a risk and designed their album a bit more on the artistic side while still staying within the realm of traditionality.  The result?  They are extremely pleased so far... we are still working on a few minor changes, but the overall design is fantastic.  There are so many ways this wedding album could have been designed, but as a wedding photographer and a graphic designer, it is my job to interpret the images a couple chooses and pair that with a design style that fits the photography.  Here are a few pages....

 

Katie Rush

Just finished editing a portrait session with 7 year old Katie Rush.  Had so much fun working with this spunky little lady... she has a bright and vivacious personality.  I first met her at a wedding Labor Day weekend - she was a flower girl and totally loved her important job that day.  However, my impression of this fabulous little girl was forever imprinted as I watched her at the reception do magic tricks for guests at their tables for money.  Her mother didn't know whether to be proud or mortified!  Ah well.... a future entrepeneur in the making - we need all the great minds we can get.  On our portrait session day, Katie Rush was comfortable in front of the camera and had no shyness whatsoever.  She was talkative and asked me questions, and even did sassy little poses for me.  What a fun session and what great images we ended up with!  To see more of them, go to my facebook page:  BBP Designs/Betsy Butler Photography.