summer [senior portraits] *preview

start preparing yourself NOW for the rest of these images. she knows how to WORK IT.

;)

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kaeleigh & gates are ENGAGED!

i met kaeleigh during my brief, one year stint as a hooters girl in williamsburg (yes. you read that correctly.) and was ecstatic when she mentioned a while back that she would like for me to do engagement photos for her and gates. she's a darlin, in nursing school, and one of the warmest people you could ever meet. fun fact: i met gates at the bar one day - all i saw were these GORGEOUS blue eyes... which you will soon see too.

we had been trying to do this shoot for the last TWO weeks (gates leaves for his third deployment a week from tomorrow) and it was supposed to rain again today. thankfully it held off and the cloud-cover served as a huge diffuser and made for some seriously fabulous light.

these two love birds are adorable. enjoy :)

i like this one :)

gates was ALL ABOUT the ring shots. he kept re-positioning her hand so that it showed off her rock :)

ok i loveloveloveLOVE this one.

gates kept saying 'you keep getting pictures of me doing cute stuff' like it wasn't normal... but i got SO many shots of him just looking at kaeleigh adoringly. p.r.e.c.i.o.u.s.

bah!! love!

oohhhh heeeyyyyyyyy. work. it.

<3

EYES.

the end :)

mason jars and mud puddles

last week when i asked my boss if i could take off work early thursday/friday he said 'sure! why?' after i explained that i needed to set up and run my booth at the isle of wight county fair, he deemed me 'fair caitlin' for the rest of the week and sent me on my way with his blessings.

thank you mr. crook.

BRIEF RECAP OF THE WEEKEND:

thursday: mama and pap-pap helped me set up (i was a happy girl - i got to use power tools :); fair was rained out due to a MASSIVE thunderstorm

friday: mama sat at the booth for most of the day while i worked and then i took her place around 4:00 p.m. - it rained some more

saturday: when i arrived at the fair to set up i realized my booth was flooded, BUT not to worry - will and i covered the soggy-bottomed booth with hay and everything was just dandy; it rained lots more (and it was cold); thankfully it stopped drizzling by the time jake owen performed... he was all kinds of amazing. ohmygoodness his VOICE. i can hardly handle it. makes me weak in the knees. for serious.

sunday: there was even. more. rain. HOWEVER the sun did come out briefly and i was able to snap a few pictures without fear of ruining my camera - and a few more folks came by!

enough with the chit-chat. let's get down to business:

the booth:

obviously i had the most elaborate setup out of anyone in the craft tent. thank you daddy - i know you wouldn't have it any other way :)

i was actually really blessed with the placement of the booth... other than the fact that it flooded. to my right was this couple from williamsburg (ron and mary louise). ron was a veteran (vietnam and desert storm) and he painted turkey feathers - they were beautiful! they kindof kept will and me sane. then to my left were the bee people - they made beeswax candles and had the tastiest honey!! they were older, and the man kept joking on me about using the drill to put together my setup (i think he was just intimidated). and then the ladies who were in charge of the craft tent were one booth over and they kept feeding us :) such a win.

enough talking. more pictures!!!

what's a county fair without heinously large portions of sweet tea? no county fair at all!

will and i drank one of these EACH. and i would've drank more if i didn't have to walk in the pouring rain to get it or use a porta potty.

if you know me, you know how much i love mason jars. i use them for decorating, organizing, canning, you name it. so of course they were integrated into my setup!! this was what folks put their names in for my drawing (a free sitting fee)

sunday (the shortest day, but also my favorite day) was wonderful once the clouds decided to break up. everyone was in muck boots and jackets, but we still managed to have a good time... especially this little one:

his name is ryan - and i can't thank ryan's mama enough for letting me snap these photos of him frolicking in the mud puddles (i know it's probably super creepy that i take pictures of other people's children, BUT I SWEAR I ASKED HER PERMISSION)

^ i think that's my favorite :) ^

pure happiness :)

all in all it was a pretty phenomenal weekend. thanks to everyone who stopped by my booth, entered the drawing, took a card, or talked photography. can't wait to hear from ya'll!

the end :)

just kiddin. last one i swear:

[confession]

i have a confession to make.

so the fair is coming up, and i've been working SO much to get ready for this thing. i have (what i hope) is going to be the CUTEST sign and my daddy is helping me build a display thing and i've been picking out photos to show for my portrait photography and getting prints straight to sell and making appointment cards for anyone who wants to book a session while i'm there and constructing a book that lists pricing of sessions and prints and the list goes on and on and on.

i've been distracting myself with all of this. the preparation has kept me from thinking about what the fair itself is going to entail. and i actually stopped to think about it tonight. what all this is going to be like when i'm there. me, sitting with my photos as people come by to look at them, to assess them, to judge them, to decide whether or not my pictures are good enough to be displayed in their house or if i'm worthy to take pictures of their son or friend who is getting engaged or at their little girl's birthday party. it's going to be like running a gauntlet, only sitting down.

yes, i have an online portfolio. yes, i have this blog. but the internet makes things so distant - so impersonal sometimes. don't get me wrong, i ADORE getting comments and emails letting me know that there ARE people out there who look at my website (thanks abby!), but really - who is going to email me being like 'gurl, this picture just doesn't cut it. you need to quit before you fall even more behind - there is NO way you're going to make it in this business'

so my actual confession is: i'm kindof sorta terrified of sitting in a booth at the fair surrounded by my work. it's like i'm finally being held accountable for what i'm shooting. and i'm at that point where there are some images that i'm really, really proud of - but other times i still can't get exactly what i see in my head to project into the frames. photography has held me together over the past couple of years - and having this creative outlet is what keeps me from going insane at the mindless job i currently have. and if i don't have this and i'm not great at it, what do i really have? every time i do a shoot i'm terrified that the images won't be good enough and that i'm going to disappoint my client. and now, at the fair, i've picked out what i think are the best of the best of my images to display.

what if they still aren't good enough?

BUT. in all honesty. it's good that i'm scared. because if i'm scared, that means i'm alive. it means that i care. and it means that i will continue to work as hard as i can to get the images that i want - ALL of them.

so... BRING IT.

ready...

set...

[go.]

we in the ccaarrrrr, we ride slooowwww...

if you understand that lyric reference, i already love you.

random update on my life (if you care, at all):

since graduating in may i've done a lot of 'big kid' things:

1. get a real job

2. think to myself 'could i wear this to work?' every. single. time i pick up something in a store

3. obtain health insurance in my name (and i got dental!!)

4. purchase auto insurance

5. been called ma'am daily

6. become a member of AAA

many of these things deal with THE PURCHASE OF A VEHICLE!!! which i am proud to introduce to you.... here:

ok i know i know that isn't actually the vehicle, but tribe pride comes first - seriously.

HERE HE IS:

this pretty little thang was previously owned by my aunt, but i took out a loan and am proud to be in even more debt!! totally worth it, because I RUV IT.

i've named him "HOSS" - if you get THAT reference, we're probably soulmates.

i just realized that most of these just show the license plates... but i'm ok with it because i'm IN LOVE with them :)

another thing i like about this is that there is SO MUCH MORE ROOM than in the bug (i previously drove a lime green volkswagen beetle - and while i considered that the perfect extension of my personality in automobile form, this is more handy for lugging around photo equipment and stuff for the fair: http://caitlinelizabethphotography.blogspot.com/2011/09/see-yall-at-fair.html)

that's all for now folks!!

see ya'll at the fair!

i've been a busy little bee preparing for the isle of wight county fair :) i'm going to have a booth in the arts and crafts tent (selling some prints, but mostly advertising my photography) and it's going to be SUPPA KEWT. hopefully.

so you should probably stop by the fair grounds (i'll be in the arts and crafts tent) this thursday/friday/saturday/sunday and visit! not only is JAKE OWEN headlining one night, but there will also be the traditional tractor pulls, bull riding, pig chasing, lawn mower racing, fried-oreo and bbq eating and all-around-good-time-having... AND a chance to win a family portrait session!!!!

here's a little snippet of what i've been working on today:

i don't want to give it away, but this is going to be part of my display - i'm so stinkin' excited about it!!

see ya'll at the fair!