At this point, I have photographed a lot of newborns. However, I rarely photograph in-home, as most of my newborn clients want to photograph at the studio. Guys, I have to tell you. This is the wave of the future for me. I loved photographing Kaedyn in her own environment. It was great to meet their dog, see details I wouldn’t have seen otherwise, and photograph in such a relaxed atmosphere. It didn’t hurt that they had a great house, and impeccable taste!

I LOVE those little newborn faces!

The details in the nursery were amazing.  The little fabric balls below?  It’s Kaedyn’s mobile.  Stacy made it.  Along with the awesome ‘anthropologie-type’ letters spelling her name, the you-are-loved canvas, Kaedyn’s small table (not pictured), the chalk board…need I go on?  We can all be shamed by her creative genius.  It was genius, seriously.
See what I mean about the dog?  Maybe this is just because I’m a dog lover, but I was in my element catching the reaction of Berkley, to his new friend Kaedyn.

Stacy and Ben were kind enough to have their floor re-done, just a few weeks before Kaedyn was born.  Obviously, just for the shoot.

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I photograph High School seniors a lot. In fact, I mostly photograph High School seniors. When people ask what I like to photograph best, I tell them that because people are so different, I really enjoy many different shoots—weddings and newborns are all so special. However, with that said…I really love High School seniors.

Every senior shoot is an adventure. When I originally talk with the mom’s on the phone, they always ask, “Can we go on location?”
“Of course…”
“Are we able to go anywhere?”
“I tramp through swamps, walk up mountains, almost get hit by cars, get chased by crazy roosters, am a pro in field environments, walk into cow pens, and I expect to be eaten alive by mosquitos.” In other words, yes.

Am I exaggerating? Actually, no–I really have experienced all of the above.

And why do I LOVE it so much? Well, I really love adventures in general. I also love that look on a girl’s face, when she feels beautiful. I tell her the issue is actually because her friends take crappy i-phone pictures, so she doesn’t know how photogenic she is. But that’s not really the case. Our culture is bombarded with “how women are supposed to look.” We are told there is only one type of beauty, and we are given strict guidelines on what that is supposed to look like. I love to get to know someone, and photograph the personality that comes out when she feels comfortable. When that confidence comes out, and that beauty of heart pops out of her eyes? I realize all those mosquito bites are entirely worth it.

Most of the shoots are 2-3 hours. I photographed a lot of girls last year. They would come in with their laundry basket FULL of clothes, and ask, “What do you think I should wear?” We design their shoot together. We pick a place that fits personality. We laugh a lot, talk a lot, and live.

With that said, I don’t only photograph girls. I photograph a lot of guys too. But that’s different. I don’t look for beauty to pop out of their eyes. We just have a grand adventure and I make fun of them a lot. They like it. Really. I guess my goal with guys is to “call out their inner stud.” I’m not going to explain that. Let’s just think GQ.

To prove my point that I really don’t exaggerate, I am posting a few photos…

Sometimes I photograph with scenic lakes as a beautiful background

But other times, we photograph in lakes…

Ballerina’s are welcome.

And fields can be happy

They can also be dreamy. By the way, don’t let the dreaminess fool you. This is where I was chased by a rooster.

We also like to make things cooler. Like fields. Sometimes we bring things into them.

I really did climb mountains

I climb mountains in the summer too

I photograph big animals a lot


And I wasn’t kidding about the cows.

In general, I just got my farm girl on this summer. During this shoot, I was climbing barn rafters.

I’ve learned a lot about golf.

But when I photograph golfers, I always have an inner fear that somehow, that club will hit me. So I backup sometimes.

And sometimes? We don’t really need a background at all. Just a lot of joy.

The life of adventures. Gotta’ love it! I am super blessed.

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I didn’t get to meet Kristi and Kyle until a few weeks before their wedding, since they both live out-of-state right now.  However, I did get to see their engagement photos, and that gave me a glimpse into Kristi and Kyle’s personality.  As soon as I saw their pictures, I knew that I would have a fun time photographing their wedding.  I could see they had tons of personality, love, and a good sense of humor.  I adored them–and I wasn’t disappointed on their wedding day.  What I saw through their engagement photos came out throughout the day.  Their family and friends had the same warmth, and being able to capture some of that emotion from their wedding day was a privilege.

They had a “first look,” when the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony.  I’m a huge fan of it, because I think it gives you a moment where you can really take in what’s happening.  Kristi described it as “magical.”  I thought so too–I can honestly say that I tear up at every single first look that I’ve ever been part of.  The one photo I regret not getting?  The fan base (parents and bridal party) that were peeking thru one of the church windows, trying to follow along on Kristi and Kyle’s “private” moment.

And then the ceremony.  They were married at St. Josephs, in Lake Orion.  The music was unearthly beautiful.

The reception was at The Myth Golf course, in Lake Orion.  The lights were beautiful, the table settings lovely, and the food yummy!

The First Dance was beautiful, and the daddy-daughter dance had Randy and I choking up.   Especially since Butterfly Kisses was sentimental to me.  At my wedding, it was my daddy-daughter dance song.

Kristi and Kyle met at Ohio State.  Their wedding had one of the biggest mixes of Ohio State and Michigan fan bases I’veever seen at a wedding.  Their sports biases might be completely divided, but they certainly knew how to unite over a party.  It was one of the best I’ve been to so far, complete with glow sticks at the reception–and four grandmother’s that danced the entire night, irregardless on the type of music that was played.

For those of you who support flash (Apple products do not), feel free to see more pictures from Kyle and Kristi’s wedding day in the slideshow below. You can also view it in its own link, http://folphotography.com/kyleandkristi/

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So I was thinking on what to share next on the blog.  I also thought I should share actual photos, since this is a photography blog.  As I thought of what to share, I came up with one of my favorite weddings of the year.  Not only because the bride and groom were GORGEOUS, but because the groom happened to be my brother.  My best friend through childhood, one of my favorite persons in the world,  my “man of honor” at my wedding.

Josh is a mechanic, and he met Sunny…in a diesel class.  Yes, a diesel class.  When we heard of this girl, and how he met her, we all assumed, you know…Sunny was someone who would be interested in diesel engines.  Yes, I admit, we stereotyped.  All 16 of us in the family assumed Sunny was a beast.  When we met her, all our pre-made assumptions were blown out of the water. She is not the beastly mechanic type, although she does look good in coveralls.  Which leads me to think that their meeting was just destiny.

They also had a “first look,” which means they saw each other before the ceremony.  Whenever I talk with someone who is getting married, I go on and on about this.  I met with Randy before our wedding, and I never regretted it.  Instead of taking away something “special” from the walk down the aisle, it only adds to your day.  It’s a super emotionally stoked moment.  Photographing Josh and Sunny’s first look was a real tear jerker.  It was way worse than a Hallmark movie, and somewhat challenging trying to photograph through a film of tears.

The first look and bridal party photos were taken over at Heritage Gardens, in Shelby Township.  It was amazing–totally set up for photography, and we had shade on a hot summer day.

Josh sang a song to Sunny during their vows.  It was a surprise for Sunny, and my parents and grandma’s faces were priceless.

I wouldn’t normally update blog post’s with family pictures.  However, those little guys are my nephews.  I HAVE THE CUTEST NEPHEWS IN THE WORLD!

And then the reception.  Aiden led the way bravely.  The best man speech was delightful, and honestly, all I really remember was how Sunny’s maid-of-honor told her “Kayaking, even though you hate bugs, shows real love.”  Josh loves to kayak.  Also, Sunny is Korean.  All those little paper birds on the table were made by Sunny, and are following a Korean tradition.  There were HUNDREDS of little birds, all over the hall.  Her family in Korea also sent over a Korean wedding dress, so she changed into that soon after arriving at the reception hall.  By the way, this was the Macedonian Cultural Center Banquet Hall on Ryan Rd, in Sterling Heights Michigan, and they did a GREAT job.

My cousin caught the bouquet.  You could say she was a little excited…

And why I am ending this blogpost with the best man dancing?  I swear, I have that exact same dance move documented five years ago in MY wedding photos…

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It’s February 5th, and I sheepishly crawl back to my blog and admit that I’ve failed.  Happily, though, admitting that I’ve failed has been somewhat frequent throughout my life, so I’ve found that it’s not so bad and it’s definitely made me more resilient.  I’ve even been able to disconnect failure, with the true identity of me.  Like, I’m not a failure because I haven’t written in my blog.  I’ve just failed.  It’s different.

I’ve realized that despite my best intentions, writing in my blog has fallen to the wayside.  I get so crazy busy between September-December that I just wear myself out.  There isn’t enough hours in a day to run my business, to email back clients, to take pictures, to edit, to fill orders, and everything else that’s involved.  The thought of thinking up a blog topic is daunting.  I only feel creative writing when I feel calm.

So I’m going to try again.  I’ve already thought up some blog topics for the future.  Here are a few:

My dog is a genius.  Whenever I feel lonely, she knows it, and snuggles up like there is no tomorrow.  Yet, she never approaches me in the morning.  You can ask my husband why.  It’s genius, really.

IPhone: The reason I think a new phone will help me take more pictures in my personal life, ie, I have BECOME THAT PERSON, who thinks camera equipment will help solve all their photography issues.  Including issues like uh, not actually taking the picture in the first place.

I gave up my sewing room for treasures in heaven.  Did you know I even sew?

I ski too.  I want to be a Jedi skier.

I’ve been learning to how drum on a djembe.  In the inner part of my heart, I think hippies are cool.

And coming up…BEST OF 2012! Seniors and Weddings.  I realized my own friends rarely see my work in a full way (like a full shoot).  That’s a fail.  Back to the beginning.  I am not a failure…time for New Years Resolution’s.  Started in February.  That’s how artists do it, baby.

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I recently photographed an awesome wedding, with an awesome bride and groom.  From the very beginning, I knew I was going to have some great detail shots.

“Leah, these bracelets are beautiful”

“I got them off Etsy.”

“Leah, I love your necklace–it’s gorgeous.”

“It was from Etsy!”

I didn’t even have to ask about the paper flowers.  I knew they were from Etsy.  Leah bought almost all of her details from Etsy, and it was a great choice.  Everything was customized with her colors, and fit her personality.  And the paper flowers?  I was in-love with them.  After the wedding, I sent over a few photos to the fabulous creator, Chantal, and she sent them over to Emmaline Bride.  Chantal’s work is now featured over on the Emmaline Bride blog featuring my photos!  Super excited to see them on a wedding blog post!

To see more of Chantal’s work, you can go to her Etsy site,  Dragonfly Expression

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After the wedding, as I was editing, I turned to Randy and said, “These paper flowers are awesome.”

“What?  They’re paper?  I didn’t know that?!”

“….”  Yeah, he’s a guy.

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Randy and I just spent a much-needed vacation backpacking in the Allegheny Mountains, in Pennsylvania.  I enjoyed our un-distracted time alone, very much.

We didn’t get into the mountains until 7.30 Sunday night.  We decided to hike in right away, and try to find some flat ground to set up our tent.  We also decided to try to camp by the water reservoir, so we knew we were in for a hike.  What we didn’t know was that the hike was going to end up being 5 miles long.  Now 5 miles doesn’t seem like a long way, but 5 miles, in the mountains, with heavy backpacks, ends up being very very long.  Two hours of our hike ended up being in the dark.  We saw hundreds of “diamonds,” AKA spiders.  If you’re wearing a headlamp in the dark, spider eyes reflect back at you.  Yeah, it kind of grossed me out.

We finally arrived at a place we thought would work for our tent, set up our tent, ate a snack, and went for a swim.  The lake was beautiful—all shiny and quiet, and surrounded by mountains.  It was a full moon, and the moon lit everything beautifully.

When we wanted to go back to the tent, we put our headlamps on and started climbing a dry riverbed uphill.  Randy stopped to hang out our bear bags (with our food in them), and I was about 10 feet ahead of him.  All of a sudden, we heard a noise in the woods.  It was loud, but we had been hearing noises all night, and seeing a lot of deer.  The deer were everywhere.  Randy knew it was louder than deer, so he immediately grabbed our bear spray, just in case.  I thought it was deer, so I just stood there stupidly, 10 feet ahead of him.

The crashing became louder, and I turned to my left to see two very big retinas reflecting back into my headlamp.  No, actually, they were CHARGING ME!  Oh my god.  Those eyes were running at me, from what looked to be a distance of about 20-30 feet.  In bear distance, that’s about 3 seconds away…because it was RUNNING.  I did something immediately, without thinking.  I yelled.  Now, to clarify, it wasn’t the kind of scared yelling, or screaming, that you would think would come out of my mouth at a time like that.  It was a yell that came from deep within.  I yelled, “HEY! GO AWAY!”  In hindsight, I wish I had used a phrase more powerful, or more clever, to add to my story.  Instead, what came out of my mouth was if I was yelling at a big mean dog.  A dog that needed to know I was in control.  A very BIG dog.

But it worked.  The bear stopped and looked at me.  It didn’t immediately run away.  It thought for a moment, probably only a few seconds.  In those few seconds, I thought, “It probably will not eat me, but it’s deciding if it’s going to maim me for life.  I wonder if it will take out my eye?”  That’s the funny thing, in the moment when something was thinking of attacking me, I was thinking about my eyes.  But only one eye–I thought it would only take out one eye.  I’m not sure why I thought the other one would be okay.

Then it decided to run around me, and not eat me.    In thinking about it later, I realized I hadn’t been scared.  It happened so fast, but there wasn’t any panicking, or fear.  I just took AUTHORITY over that bear.  I think my tone of command scared Randy—you know, for the future of our marriage relationship.  Although he did say that he was impressed that I had acted so quickly.  He had grabbed the bear spray (a from of very strong pepper spray) when he heard the noise, and was just about between the bear and myself when the bear stopped and made its decision not to eat me.  He thinks he could have sprayed it before it attacked.  I’m not so sure.  I’m thinking one of us would have been hurt if I hadn’t yelled.

The whole experience was, well, special.  I’ve never been on a food chain before.  It was also very unusual for a black bear to charge a human.  It was obvious that it was attacking me as prey.  In the morning, we found out by looking around that we were on a game trail when it attacked.  It was probably his bear trail.  We thought it was our hiking trail, and had walked on it for some time in the dark.  Along with just eating some delicious beef jerky, and being on my menstrual cycle (which attracts bears, btw), the bear probably thought that I was the most delicious piece of wounded-venison-from-heaven that he had ever smelled.  So it wasn’t really his fault.  Overall, I felt that the entire experience was confidence building.  I scared away a bear.  How many people can say that?  I decided that having the ability to scare away charging bears is probably the best skill I can ever put on a resume. I might contact the girl scouts, and see if I can get some kind of patch for this.

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When Beth was a young teenager, she wrote a public blog post with the title, “Why I love Beth.”  It listed the top ten reasons people love her.  I don’t remember all the details, but at the time, it made me laugh.  That’s the thing about Beth.  She makes you laugh.  Sometimes, it’s because she’s genuinely funny, other times…well, at other times, it’s more of a laugh that says, “wow, you’re so delightfully weird.”

Beth recently turned 19.  For her birthday, she decided that she really really wanted something special.  The week of her birthday, she drove two hours and came home with this.

Did I tell you that she didn’t tell anyone else she was buying a lamb, other than her brother?  That’s right…my parents didn’t know.  She tried a kitten a few weeks before, but it was a little young to be separated from its family– it was too loud.  She returned it to its family, until it grew a little older.  Soo…after the kitten, she decided to try a lamb.  It was too loud as well.  But instead of returning it, she bought another one.

She heard that having two sheep was better than having one, because they are in the herd category and like company.  My parents did know about the second.  I was surprised they let her keep the first, let alone the second…but it WAS her birthday.

She also had a birthday party.   I think most 19 year-old birthday parties are pretty low-key.  You know, maybe a party that resembles a grad party, or on a lake, or at a bowling alley…or maybe they even drink illegally.  Beth’s party had about 40-60 people attending.  The party was in full swing for about four hours, during which the human mass was playing volleyball, swimming, lighting off fireworks, starting massive bonfires, eating lots of food, playing instruments, and uh, did I mention there was a mechanical bull?  And the massive bonfire almost burned the forest down.

I gotta admit.  I tried the mechanical bull.  I also joined the fire brigade with the hose.

Yup, Beth is a pretty special person.  There is a pretty big age gap between the two of us.  When I married, she was still only fourteen.  Around sixteen, I started hearing a difference in the way we communicated.  She went from being my little sister, to a real friend, who loved and ached and saw things in a very personal way.  Living life with her has been a privilege—and I look forward to seeing the crazy adventures she has coming her way!

Oh yeah–and proof that we are sisters.  This pictures somewhat embarrasses me, but it makes me laugh uncontrollably every time I see it.

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Hey Guys!

It’s our 12 hour sale!  From 9am-9pm today, Flashes of Life is offering 75% off your High School Senior Sitting fee.  So that saves you…about $150.  To take advantage of the sale, you pre-schedule your shoot–and you can actually schedule for any time this summer/ fall.  This is never before offered–and it’s the only time of the year it will be offered!

Our senior experience is completely customized to you.  From start to finish.  Your sitting fee includes your yearbook picture, and then a 2-3 hour shoot ON-LOCATION! Usually, we talk and find out what your personality fits best (urban, nature, whatever) and go from there.

You can change clothes as many times as you want, too.

And when it comes to ordering?  We do have a $275 minimum order, which is due at the time of booking (with your sitting).  The $275 is totally a print credit, though, and can be used towards anything you want.  We don’t stick you into packages, but you can get exactly what you want.  No rules on posing, clothing, and all that stuff.

If you are interested in saving BIG, give me a call today between 9-9pm.

Rachel @  248.535.6156

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It really started Saturday, although I was attempting to start it earlier—like I did when I was a kid.

“It’s my birthday week!  Can we do this…and can you make dinner, and can we go out to eat, and can I get a smoothie RIGHT NOW?”

“Your birthday is 5 days away.”

“But it’s my birthday WEEK!”

When I was a kid, a birthday week was a big deal growing up in a family of seven.  It was the only time of the year I was autonomous.

We did end up starting a little early.  My birthday was Monday, so we started celebrations Saturday.  Randy and I don’t give each other gifts, but we do usually pick an adventure.  Someday, our adventures will be out-of-state or out-of-country, or hang gliding, or base-jumping.  For now, it usually means we will pick something normal we haven’t done in a while.  Thanks to Bank of America, we got in free to The Henry Ford museum and paid $20 to see the special Titanic Exhibit.  It was amazing.  At the start of the exhibit, you receive a ticket.  At the end, you find out if the passenger, whose ticket you held, lived or died (Randy’s passenger died, mine lived).  The ending was sobering, with all the artifacts and passenger stories.  That is—until you were dumped out in the typical souvenir gift shop, where you could buy Titanic captain hats, and Roses’ necklace.

We arrived home, and realized that our youth group kids didn’t forget that it was my birthday either.  They gifted us with this in our front lawn.

 Special, really.  I guess they thought it might be helpful in lawn décor, or if someone had an emergency.

Then my birthday adventure continued…

At midnight, a knock came at the front door.  I opened it to see a car driving away, and a gift-wrapped box on my porch.  It had pink and green metallic wrapping, and a big pink bow.  I had a premonition while looking at it, and opened it to find this:

Yes, it’s a baby rabbit.  My sister and her friend decided that I needed a very  special birthday present.  I named it sneaky, after the girls.

Randy thinks it imprinted on me.  Rabbits don’t imprint.

I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it.

My neighbor thinks rabbits are “as smart as pigs or something.”  Actually, they are one of the stupidest animals ever (although also one of the cutest).
It’s also terrified of this:

Traido is completely fascinated with it, and hasn’t stopped drooling since it’s arrival.  I’m pretty sure that if I don’t find another home for Sneaky, Traido is going to do something horrible.

The rest of the weekend had more of the typical celebrations.  Sunday, our youth group gifted me with flowers and a smoothie (YUM!)

And Monday? My real birthday?  My mom and I got a pedicure.  And then the next day, my brother and his lovely soon-to-be-wife, took me out to dinner, and gifted me with an awesome flowering tea-thing.  I’m super excited about that.  I mean, I can drink tea AND see a flower bloom in the teapot.  If you have no idea what I’m talking about, that’s okay.  I’ll post the teapot later.

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