I've been loving holiday pictures where it looks like someone is standing out in the cold peeking through a window to take a picture of someone all nestled warmly inside.   I purchased a window frame at Michaels and thought I would try taking pictures through it to get the look I was going for but that was a fail LOL....  Then by chance I came across a window overlay on Etsy and thought I would give it a try.  Overlays are amazing - they are just what their name implies.  You place them over your picture in Photoshop and voila (after some fine tuning) your picture is transformed!!  Love how this overlay with it's icey edges can transform a picture and give it a beautiful, timeless winterly, holiday, cozy feel.  It doesn't work with just any picture because the face of your subject(s) have to line up with the window panes for the overlay to work.  Below are a couple examples of the fun I had using my new frosty window overlay.  

(Before)

(After)

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This one was a little tricky because I had to zoom in on the subjects just right so their heads would line up in the window panes.  

I had the pleasure of photographing the sweetest little 5 month old baby girl and her parents in my studio this past weekend.  I find little ones of this age so fun to work with because they look at you with such big, wide eyes and have yet to become fast moving targets! I just love watching young parents interact with their little ones and feel honored to freeze these special little moments in time that pass way too quickly.  

We began the session with some family holiday portraits and then sweet, little Doris became the primary focus of my lens for the rest of the session.   She sat in my new little cream colored bed in her pretty pink knit dress, got changed into her sweet plaid Christmas outfit while I set up my white backdrop with a mini Christmas tree, had a chance to relax on her cozy sheepskin in her beautiful diaper cover with matching hair band and was happy and content the whole time.  We then transitioned to my white bed setup where she had fun playing with her toes, playing patty cake with Mom and flying high with Dad.  We finished the session with some more family portraits and ended with one of my favorites from the session - Mom and Dad kissing the sweet cheeks of their baby girl - you can just feel the love!!

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So proud of the renovations my husband made to my photography studio this summer.  I've been so busy with working full-time and managing my part-time photography business that I'm late in sharing my studio unveiling. When I was in Indiana this summer visiting my sister and brother and their families - my loving husband was secretly working on my studio.  I had planned to get started with the painting when I got home so he could then lay the flooring - but much to my wonderful surprise the painting and flooring were finished when I got home - I couldn't believe it - such a great surprise!!!  He did such a beautiful job and I'm so grateful that he is so supportive in so many ways for my love of photography and my new business venture.  

As you come up the stairs to my studio one of the first things you see is a beautiful canvas that was a special gift from my daughter.  One end of my studio has my hanging seamless paper backdrop system that makes it so easy for me to have access to my different backgrounds as needed.  On the opposite end is my white bed set-up that is great for photographing children and families and was so fun to decorate for Christmas.   There's a little sitting area for clients which can double as a third shooting area if necessary.  To the left of my backdrops is my prop and gear storage area.  My husband and I had fun designing this area to hold all my photography stuff in a neat and easily accessible way - I just love it!! 

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