Two things I love:

Taking pictures

Spending time with my BFF, Sara (well, my bff after Chris of course )

So getting to do both of those in one day? Awesome, of course! It was a rainy, yucky day, but we had a great time anyway! I couldn’t wait to share these two shots of Sara and her husband Paul–so, so sweet. I’m so thankful we were able to spend time with them today!

I hope everyone is having a great weekend!

What I didn’t expect was to go and have my whole world opened up. To find the inspiration to act on our dreams, and to even start having a dream. To get out of my own head and my own way. And maybe more than anything, to come in contact with 43 other like minded individuals who are amazing and beautiful dreamers who get where we are and where we’re going, and who I know will support us no matter what (just as we will support them!). I didn’t expect to go to this conference, and come home more in love with my husband. Seeing his confidence grow and his true personality come out, and hear him get excited about projects he wants to work on was so inspiring.

I didn’t expect any of it, but holy cow, I am so thankful for every single bit of it! I am so thankful to Jen & Steve Bebb for following their “What If…” to put on this conference, and for supporting artist-preneurs. And for the other innovators: Chris & Sarah Rhoads, Jesh de Rox, Dan O’Day, Whitney & Jesse Chamberlain, and Justin Lyon, for being an inspiration not just through words, but through their actions and the way they live their life. The honesty, humility, and authenticity of everyone there was so refreshing. And amazing…a word I keep using over and over, but hey, it’s true

And besides all that mushy stuff , we just had a dang good time! We talked and we hung out and we ate and we laughed and we talked some more. Chris and I are really kicking each other for not taking more pictures while we were there (realized as I was prepping these images that we don’t have any of us with other people! Boo!), but we just wanted to share a little bit of the crazy with you all!

Ok some of these are blurry. But that’s another thing I learned…it doesn’t always have to be perfect Sometimes, it’s just about the moment and the memory, even if the technical is not always there. And it was freaking dark, ok?

That’s all for today, folks Check out the What If Conference website, I’m pretty sure there will be info announced about future What If’s very soon! And I know we will be doing everything possible to be there

Off to chase some “What if’s”….

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”   –Seneca

Well, you might just do something to inspire yourself.

Just got back from an amazing week, and we will most definitely have more to share later.

What. if. ?

Too cute! I am due to post some new full sessions on the blog, so keep a look out for those coming soon I hope everyone had a great Christmas, and that 2012 is treating you wonderfully!

Happy New Year’s Eve, everyone! I probably say this just about every single post, but we really do have the greatest clients. I was so overwhelmed putting this together and reminiscing on all the amazing shoots we’ve had this year, and the new relationships that we’ve formed. I can not think of a single thing I would rather be doing with my life Thank you all so much for making 2011 an AMAZING year, and for all your friendship and support!

It’s late, but we just had to share a few images from Rebecca and Dave’s stunning Hermitage Hotel wedding in Nashville from today!

Such a fun wedding party! (Flowers by Fresh by CarryAnn)

So sweet

Congratulations, David and Rebecca! We had such a great time celebrating with you all today, and can’t wait to share more images! Huge thanks to Kristin and the team at Simply Stunning Events for coordinating.

Have a great week everyone! Also, if you missed it, don’t forget to scroll down to see Farrar and Mark’s reception blog post!

Merry Christmas!

I am so glad to have a few minutes to blog tonight, because I have been dying to share these images of Farrar and Mark for months! I absolutely adore their love story; they were friends in high school who hung out, dated each other’s friends, etc., then went their separate ways after graduation. The following years brought college, and each of them moving various places around the country. Then in fall of 2009, Mark happened to be thinking of Farrar, and emailed her to say that if she was ever back in Tennessee and wanted to go for a walk, or sit around a campfire and have a glass of wine, that she should give him a call. She was, and she did, and as Farrar says, that led them to where they are today!

Farrar’s account of their engagement story is so sweet:

We were going on a long walk around our farm and the farm bordering ours. It was Saturday, January 22nd. We had been doing house chores inside and it had taken us longer than we thought to get out the door to get started with our walk.We made our way towards the back of the property, walking through our orchard. I sensed that Mark wasn’t close by me, and I turned around to see what was holding him up!I turned to see him several yards away, down on one knee. I said, “Today? I look terrible!” For whatever reason I guess I thought I should have been all dolled up when he proposed. But I ran up to him and hugged and kissed him and forgot that I hadn’t given him an answer, so I immediately said “Yes!Yes!Yes!” He had a blue- green piece of river glass that had been tumbled into the shape of a ring. He wanted us to go together to pick out the setting for my engagement ring since we would be using a stone given to us by his mother. We continued on our walk. It was a brisk winter day, and while we were on our walk we were lucky enough to see 3 Bald Eagles!

Love it! And that brings us to the images. Farrar and Mark were planning a fabulous wedding to take place at her family home in Franklin, TN. But as the planning progressed, they decided that a small, intimate elopement was much more their style. They eloped in August, then we had the opportunity to do a portrait session for them on their farm in September, and photograph their garden party reception (at her family’s home in Franklin) in October! It was absolutely perfect, and so them, through and through.

So first, a few of our favorites from their portrait session!

Love her dress and cowboy boots!

Farrar and Mark love animals, so of course we had to include some pictures with their dogs, cat, chickens, and guinea hens (which were hilarious! I loved them!).

Now onto the reception!

The green and gold accents were perfect for the outdoor setting!

Beautiful cake by Dulce Desserts

Farrar’s dress was from BHLDN, adding the perfect touch of style!

Music and entertainment by Ron Shuff’s Music Revue (highly recommend-they were awesome!)

And to wind down the party, they brought in a bluegrass band. So fun!

Congratulations again, Farrar and Mark! You all are so sweet, and we are so thrilled to have gotten to know you!

Have a great rest of the weekend, friends! We are photographing a wedding at the Hermitage Hotel in Nashville tomorrow, which is sure to be fab, so check back soon for a sneak peek!

This is Chris and this will be my first (of hopefully many ) posts on the blog!

I wanted to say first how exciting this year has been for us and that I am so excited to see what next year brings. I would also like to share with you all something that has been on my mind for a long time. As many of you know, Jen and I have a music background and were both music majors in college. During that time, I thought a lot about how important it is to share your talent. It made me think about great musicians like Frank Sinatra, Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, John Lennon, and so many others that had such an impact on the face of music and our lives.

What if these people never shared their gift?

What if they had remained silent and passive?

WHAT IF they hadn’t shared their unique voice with the world?

A few weeks ago, Jen and I attended PartnerCon in San Diego. This was our second year in attendance and we got to meet a ton of new people and had so much fun hanging out with everyone… But when it came time to leave I was feeling pretty uninspired. I actually was about to say those words out loud when I thought to myself:

“Stop waiting to be inspired. Do something different. Be inspiring.”

This idea made me think about great innovators like Steve Jobs and the Wright Brothers… People that didn’t sit around waiting to be inspired, waiting for something amazing to happen. They went out, found their unique voice, and then shared it with the world.

Then, via the podcast Shoot to Kill (an awesome podcast hosted by our friends Mindy and Phil Thornton of Phindy Studios), we heard about a super awesome conference called the WHAT IF conference, the brain-child of the ever awesome Jen & Steve Bebb. The WHAT IF conference is all about collaboration, creativity, and innovation. It’s about getting your ideas out there for the world to see and getting help through collaboration to fully form your ideas or your WHAT IF. When I heard Jen & Steve talk about their ideas for the conference, I knew immediately that it was totally in line with what things I had been thinking about.

Shoot to Kill Podcast hosted a contest that challenged us to share our WHAT IF for a chance to win an admission pass to the conference. So I, with encouragement from Jen, put my thoughts down on paper and then said them out loud… on video… for the world to see/hear. Scary. Stuff. After a couple hours of editing and wondering whether it sucked or not, I finally hit the send button. There was no getting it back. It was thrilling and terrifying to say the least!

The next day I received an email from Jen Bebb that started off with one word… WOW! (followed by) Congratulations, you won! I am beyond excited to be going to the conference, but even more so to think that my WHAT IF, my crazy thoughts that I put out there (mostly talking to myself), might actually inspire someone to make a change in their lives. It’s crazy!

You can watch the video that I submitted here:

If you’re sitting around today thinking “I can’t,” then you’re right. If you’re sitting around waiting for something to happen, or to be inspired, stop! Make a change and do something different. WHAT IF?

If this sounds familiar to you, if you’re ready to make a change in your business, your art, and your life I highly recommend that you check out the WHAT IF conference. It promises to be a very good time! Use this link to sign up! Oh… and If you listen to Shoot to Kill Episode #3 you can hear Jen & Steve talk about how it came to be, along with lots of other words of wisdom. You won’t regret it! (Also, if you already know you want to go, you can use the promo code: SHOOTTOKILL to get $100 off registration! How awesome is that?)

Thanks for reading guys!

Be inspiring today!

Chris

I know sometimes it’s easy as a newly engaged couple to get caught up in the “wedding planning to do list.” Set a date. Check. Pick a venue. Check. Hire Jen & Chris Creed . Check. Take engagement photos. Check.

But then what do you do with your images? I am always a big fan of prints, and of course gallery wrapped canvasses are fab for engagement session images. But I really love this guestbook! With the guestbook, the right half of the open book is a photographic print with several images. The left side is a blank text page for guests to leave signatures and messages for the happy couple. You could even use it for other wedding events (showers, bachelorette parties) in addition to the wedding as well! And after the wedding, instead of a book with a list of signatures (I looked at ours maybe once…), you have a gorgeous book to display with fun images of the two of you. Our favorite size is the 8×12 horizontal guestbook, which opens up to 8×24!

As with our wedding albums, the guestbook pages lay flat, for easy viewing and signing

So fun! What’s your favorite way to display YOUR engagement images?

Thanks for taking the time to check these out, and I hope you’re all having a wonderful weekend!

So that is how we ended up back in Bowling Green, on the campus of Western Kentucky University, for Elizabeth and Ben’s engagement session in October It has been wonderful to reconnect with Elizabeth, and get to know Ben! They are absolutely perfect together. They are both teachers in Bowling Green, and Ben also coaches football for the Bowling Green High School Purples (who are playing for the 5A State Championship on Saturday! Go Purples!). They are so sweet together, with Ben’s quiet personality balancing out Liz’s on the go, flurry-of-activity self We are so excited for their Louisville, KY wedding in June!

Onto some favorites!

We started out on WKU’s campus, where Elizabeth and Ben met! Of course we had to make a stop at the famous “Kissing Bridge”!

Adorable

Love Liz’s Lilly Pulitzer dress and Ben’s polka dot tie!

Reasons I love my job: Elizabeth’s email after they saw their images, saying no image ever has come so close to capturing their souls and the root of their relationship as this one. I’m so glad they felt comfortable enough with us for us to be able to capture this image for them!

Next we headed to the BGHS football stadium! Grape soda, in honor of the Purples!

Their wedding date Ok, maybe a little cheesy, but still fun!

True story: Guys tend to be a little more tense during photo shoots than their ladies. But once we got a football in Ben’s hands, it’s like he was right at home! So fun (*Edited to add: Ok, so the football is in Liz’s hands here, but they threw back and forth for a bit haha)

So sweet

Congratulations again, Elizabeth & Ben! We are so happy for you both, and can’t wait for your wedding! And good luck at the big game, Coach!

Hope everyone has a wonderful (almost) Friday! This concludes our engagement series, for now! We have two fun posts waiting in the wings, so be on the lookout I haven’t decided which will post first, so you will just have to check back to see!