Mommy Day!

I have a long day tomorrow doing various things that require me to look and act like an adult, so I'm going to go slaughter some digital zombies with my husband to prepare for that.  No really, it helps! *sigh* When you're finished laughing I'll continue... You're done?  Good.

I was once again voluntarily torturing myself on Mother's Day as I worked at the florist shop.  After having covered a wedding the day prior, that meant I had almost no time with my "Tiny Monster".  So, to make up for that weekend being lost to income, we spent last weekend doing family things. My camera never leaves my side, so I had time to take a ton of great photos of my husband and son playing all weekend long.  Today I finally went through a few and found out how awesome they are after all.

Anyway, I give you a ton of fun clips from this weekend. Enjoy the crazy birds and smiling toddler monster:

Toes In The Sand

Saturday was my first beach wedding of the 2013 season.  The bride and groom picked a great spot and made the best of a rainy day to celebrate the start to a whole new life.  I wanted a share a little summary of the day and some of my favorite moments with you all.

Congratulations again on your marriage!

 

 

Farmer's Markets Are Wonderful

This week is crowded with work.  Tuesday - Sunday I will be assisting my favorite florist with their busy Mother's Day ordering season, Saturday is my first beach wedding of 2013, and next week I will be meeting with fellow small business owners to discuss having some Weddings By Armando original designs on display at their boutique!

To get ready for all of that I spent Saturday back at the Farmer's Market in Portland.  My son and I enjoyed sampling and selecting our delicious local goodies and eating a healthy lunch in the park at the duck pond.  I apologize in advance that I will disappear for most of the week, but to get you all in the mood for some lovely summer weather I'll give you these beautiful images of fresh food and local goods.  Support your local farmers and visit the market yourself (or check out one near you).

Earth Day & Spring Blooms

The flowers starting to bloom in front of my door.

My "day job" has eaten up a ton of time this month.  I agreed to take on extra hours when a co-worker left unexpectedly and we needed to fill the gaps in the week.  The income certainly has not hurt, but it makes time to shoot harder to find.  With the grass growing and the snow all gone, flowers have started to appear on the little patch of green between my front door and parking space and this makes me want to shoot even more.  Spring has such wonderful light for catching the natural world. 

Taken to show the new dye and make-up purchased 
from my "other job" at LUSH: Handmade Cosmetics.

To go with the change of seasons, I changed my hair color again.  This time going darker and working with the shorter trim I have now.  My skin has the wonderful pink glow that means my fragile balance between too much sun (I'm a lovely Victorian alabaster most of the time) and not being able to resist going out into the garden has shifted to the sunny side.  I think over the next few days while I am home it will get worse.  I plan on spending much of my time outside starting the long task of preparing my garden and playing with the tiny monster boy.

All this and planning out a photo shoot for the little man's birthday.  I avoided Easter photos with him but I cannot escape that his second birthday is coming and as a photographer mommy I will have to think about what to do for this year.  Two years is a hard age to shoot as he wants to run, giggle, fidget, and generally be a crazy little boy.  His favorite object at the moment is his blue kickball, and I suspect that will appear in this year's photos as well as the "guitar" he so enjoys (my husband's old PS2 controller) and his favorite shoes ever (my gardening boots).

Check back soon for wedding shots and some great wildlife items from a trip to the rescue and rehab center for injured animals!  Tonight I leave you with a look at one o my favorite parts of spring... baby things!  These kittens are from our neighbor's most recent litter of fluffy toe nibblers.

Spring Portfolio Cleaning

OneWed.com : Spring Green Wedding Shoes

It's spring, time to make my new list of photos I want to get for my portfolio while covering weddings this season.  I always consider the gaps and try to find ways to fill them without missing a moment of a bride's big day and making sure to work with her ideas.  I encourage every bride to build a profile on Pinterest and send a link while we are planning her details so that I can see the thoughts in her planning process and important moments she wants captured. 

This year I am all about the colorful brides.  The weddings I have booked are nontraditional in their color choices and I love that about these brides.  I look forward to picking up an image or two like this with color and class mixed into a different way to salute the wedding rings.  I'm a fan of shoes anyway, so it also feeding into my obsession with those things that cover a girl's toes.  

My other recent obsession is looking up wedding gowns through wholesale brokers online.  I spend a huge amount of time looking at dress designs on wholesale ordering sites to keep an eye on trends in bridal fashion.  I get to figure out if I am looking at a year full of lace or one with beading and bling.  I adore the fun of looking at lace and long flowing lines but short and flirty can be a welcome change as I book with modern brides.

I love the color and spark in this dress from MLtailor.com.  The flower detail on the waist is not my personal style, but is one of the better executions on a fabric flower that I have seen in the last few weeks.  Normally, I am also not a huge fan of peachy-pinks, but the blush tone on this is really pretty over the tulle layers in that mermaid gown, a works so well with the backdrop they selected for this shoot.  It all reminds me of spring!

Finally, I really want to play with perspective again this year.  I have a few ideas of what will work for poses, and now I just need to book enough weddings to keep up with them.  As of now, July is almost all open for bookings and one June weekend is un-filled.  I am looking to take elopements as well as large events to keep giving my all to couples on a budget for their day.  Remember to check out the new portfolio at www.AkelisStudios.com as well!

Beautiful Bride

Five years ago I was a bridesmaid at my best friend's wedding.  I remember helping her into her dress and braiding everybody's hair when the stylist canceled at the last minute and only called about two hours before the ceremony was supposed to start.  It no longer fits, but the dress I wore is still in my closet and reminds me of that day.

After five years of marriage, my college roommate finally made the choice to do some lovely boudoir as a gift for her hubby.  Taking advantage of the fact that five years and two children later she still fits her gown, she brought it along and we told a wonderful story.

Thank you so much for being an amazing friend!

Bridal Boudoir 2013

I so enjoy my work.  I get to spend time with wonderful people, see the beauty in every one of them, and show them a little of that beauty as well.

I am in the process of making a new gallery display for the Akelis Studios website and today made a nice start for the boudoir collection.  This is a recolor of one of my favorites.  The look was so strong even with her eyes closed that I could hardly resist the chance to play with this shot.

Production Begins

Today is about the creative process of gowns.  This process all starts with an idea, usually one that pops into my head without warning just as I am trying to close my eyes for bed. Once they are in there I write them down and go back to it later for sketching.  I often peruse wedding gown catalogs and websites to make sure I am not copying something already on the market then go with modifications to really make it a custom design and be sure I am not copying a designer unfairly.

May favorite inspiration comes from classical art and walking around fabric mills when I get the chance.  Letting the lace or chiffon run through my hands allows me to think about how I want to sculpt with it.  

In general my work seems to have a tendency toward dropped waist and mermaid or trumpet gowns at the moment because that is the style I prefer for myself.  There is a theme of heavy lace detail and minimal beading but a little touch of feminine charm in each with a simple floral cap or lace edged veil and gloves.  

In the next few days I will make final choices on the fabrics to begin testing my concepts in the real world.  I have the ever wonderful Fox Affect working on a design for a headband.  She has an amazing eye for crystals and lace, far more skillful than I could ever hope to be with my clumsy photographer fingers. We have known each other since 2003 when we attended college together, and share a good deal of mutual weirdness.  This makes communication of otherwise very strange ideas about design much more simple.

I expect that production will start fairly soon on the first elements, and we can begin to the fruits of all this effort.  Until that point, I will share a few more rough sketches with my chicken scratch notes along the edges.