Petite peanut Etsy Shoot [ baby photographer, Mesa, Arizona] giveaway two posts below.

When I was a little girl I hated going to craft fairs with my grandma.It was a sure prescription for a day filled of never ending boredom. We would walk up and down every aisle looking at every picture of a hand-painted deer , or a wolf stitched on the back of a jacket. Nothing i ever saw ever made the inner artist in me think " hey , I wish i could make that" ( not that i don't have mad respect for all you deer painting wolf stitching peeps out there )it's just not my thing. hey, i'm just keepin it real here.

But in the past few years the term "hand-made" has taken on a whole new meaning thanks once again the wonderfulness of the internet. I am sure most of you out there are familiar with ETSY . It's like a big huge craft show, only its one filled with not only painted deers but cute hair bows and tutu's. Spending a afternoon clicking through peoples different ETSY shops definitely sparks the artist in me.

but...*sigh*

When God was handing out the crafty gene, I must have been watching you tube because I never made it to the line.

So I was so excited to help Joy promote her new ETSY shop Petite Peanut Boutique. And to make the day even better she brought her sweet daughter Miss T, who is getting ready to turn one.

Joy make darling hairbows , and tutu's. She also makes the cutest hats and her little boy's ties make me wish i had boy of my own to dress up for church.

It was a afternoon seriously filled with a over dose of cuteness.. .. Don't believe me.

look for yourself .












love,

i heart faces fix it friday ! Giveaway below.....

This was so fun ! I edited with cs4 and brought up the midtones. then I opened a new layer and brought the black curves way up. I masked the curve layer off of the little girl and ran mcp's color burst action on the whole pic. I flattened the layer and ran mcps burn it action and upped the opacity to 100 %. Then i ran Florabella's milk and honey action and lowered the opacity to 30%. So much fun !

Give away !

I am in love folks. Yup , its true. am in love with life these days and fell like spreading some sunshine. Some exciting things have been happening at laurenJean photography the past few weeks and to celebrate, I decided it was time for another giveaway ! But first check out these super cute leggings I got from knottybaby on ETSY .





ok , back to the giveaway !

What you get- a family photoshoot for up too 7 people at a outdoor location of your choice ( within 20 miles of Gilbert Arizona)

a blog posted within 3 days of your session giving you a sneak peek

a online gallery within 2-3 weeks of your images that you may share with family and friends.

a full resolution cd with 15-20 of your best images from your session.


How to enter- its easy as pumpkin pie folks. Just put a link on your facebook page, blog, twitter whatever form of social networking you use to my blog. Then leave me a comment in the comment section below giving me a link to whatever site you linked me on.

You can also earn extra entries by becoming a fan of laurenjean photography on facebook. Just leave me a comment under the just fans section on facebook letting me know you became a fan. You can also earn extra entries by referring friends to fan my page as well. Just have them become a fan and leave your name under the Just fan comment section on facebook.

so recap- post a link to my blog www.laurenjeanphotography.blogspot.com on your social networking sites. Then leave a comment on this blog with a link to where you posted so I can verify it.

then head on over to my facebook page And become a fan if you are not already. leave me a comment under the just fans section letting me know you became a fan.

Then tell your friends and share the love. Have your friends become fans of laurenjean photography . Each friend you refer who comments on the page with your name will get you another entry.

The contest will start oh lets say NOW !And go until next Wednesday. I will announce the winner and close the contest Wednesday night at Midnight.

Rules

basically be honest folks. I am sure someone , somewhere can find some loop hole I missed. Don't be that person.

The winner of the contest MUST BOOK the shoot within one week of winning for the month of April or May.
one more thing kids......


I would like to give a massive shout out to my hubby. I love you babe. Thank you so much for supporting me and my dreams.

You are awesome and I want to kiss you forever.

ok, i'm done.

On your mark

get set

GO !!!

The wonderfulness of the internet

If you know me then you know that one year ago I was not a professional photographer. I was a silly little girl who had just bought a expensive camera. I remember my first "shoot". I talked my best friend into meeting me at the park and letting me take some "myspace pictures" for her. I literally just took the camera out of the box and pushed the shutter button. Thats it. When i got home and looked at the pictures I remember the feeling of frustration that swept over me when I saw the pics on my computer.
My pictures looked nothing like the fabulous pictures I saw on the internet. Even though I had the fancy camera and used all the same poses as the other photographers my pictures still looked like ...

pictures.

I wanted more.I wanted to create works of art for my clients. Not just fancy photographs that uncle Joe could take if he had the same camera. I knew I had to be missing something, so I started Googling . I watched you tube videos and read different blogs. I e mailed photographers begging for advice( hey i was desperate). I learned a few things, but I REALLY started learning about my craft when I joined a online forum on cafemom called photomoms.

I know , it sounds cheesy but let me tell you it was/is a wealth of information for free. As I typed this blog I received a e mail advertising a online workshop taught by a professional photographer about using natural light. IT costs $300.00 !!! And that is with my discount folks. Learning about this art form is not cheap. Photomoms is a group of professional photographers who are willing to help eachother learn and grow for FREE !You might be asking yourself why would they help me?

Because these women love photography and they want to see passion alive and well in others.

It's that simple .

There are a ton of other free or almost free photography forums available in cyber land. With the internet so freely available these days anyone can learn about this art form without breaking the bank. Whether you have dreams of owning your own photography business, or you just want to learn to take better pictures. You can find the information you need.
Another online gem I have started using as of late is clickin moms.




This site has a small fee. But I mean small and right now they are offering a 10% discount if you use the code FRIEND totally easy and worth it. I am not joking when i say I learned almost everything I know about photography from a online forum. I am not alone, I have talked with many professional photographers who will tell you the same thing. So check it out, explore, take your camera and show people how you see the world through your lens !

Oh and just so you have something pretty to look at, here is another pic of miss D laughing at my geekiness.


love,

JoAnna and Sam [ Arizona engagement photographer ]

Have you ever heard the story about the girl the boy , and the tow truck driver ? Stop me if you've heard this one before. I was so excited to travel to Greer, Arizona for JoAnna and Sams engagement session. I even talked my Hubby into going with me as my assistant. We started on our way Saturday morning and got about half way there when my hubby asked " do you smell something?". It took about 30 seconds after that for the steam to start rising up from the engine. We were six miles away from the nearest town. We tried to get the good ol' minivan to make it up the mountain a few more miles.

But , no such luck. So, we called a tow truck driver and headed back down the mountain with the chain smoking driver named Earl. okay , so I don't remember what his name really was, but Earl seems fitting.

I had to cancel the shoot for that day . Thank goodness JoAnna and Sam were understanding and we rescheduled for the next day.

It was all worth it for as cute as these pictures turned out .Taking the pictures in the snow was such a cute idea .Thanks for a great day you two. I can't wait for the wedding :)

These ain't no Myspace pics.......

Meet D.

She was nice enough to model for me last week. My favorite part of the whole shoot was when she asked the biker dudes if she could model on one of their bikes.

They were all happy to oblige.

Enjoy your sneak peek.

baby Ryker]Queen Creek AZ ] Newborn photographer

I met my best friend Angela in the third grade. It was not "love at first sight. In fact, we hated eachother.

Good thing i am a witty as I am . I was always ready with a good comeback like

" I wish the world would open and swallow you "

I am glad that the world did not open up and swallow her.Because then I could not take pictures of her sweet new baby Ryker.

Olga and James

I know I say this a lot. But I love my job. I love caputuring moments and freezing them in time for my clients. I have always known that I wanted to venture into wedding photography and last December i got my wish. Olga and James were the sweetest couple. So in love and EXTREMELY photogenic.
I had so much fun photographing their wedding. Enjoy the pictures !!!