happiness

Happiness is cupcakes & sunshine...


That's all I have for today, really. :-)

I love...

sunshine & grass. I love all of the signs of Spring. Here's some other things I love right now:

*Watching Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland with my sisters.

*Fantastical colloquies with Sheena.

*Whimsical photo shoots with Chelsie.

*New Super Mario Bros for the Wii...which is on it's way to me right now!

*Shopping with friends I haven't seen in months, which leads to the next one...

*Dresses from Maurices and the heels that go perfect with them. [see photo below]

*Crayola window markers and using them to make a leprechaun & "pot 'o movies" on the Family Video windows.

*Successfully finishing the Fountainhead. Now I get to start on some Jane Austen!

*Girl Scout cookies!

*Stella. Or my Canon 5D Mark II if you don't remember her name is Stella.

*Baking and sharing treats. ...such as the strawberry cake that is currently in the oven!

Fun with Post-Processing

A lot of time, love, blood, sweat, tears...etc. goes into making photos beautiful. Sure, while you are shooting there are pressures to capture the right moments, make sure your focus is sharp, and be creative. As any photographer knows, things don't end when you upload them to your computer.

It's kind of a roller-coaster ride going through the RAW files for me...there's the excitement when I see lots of potential in photos & disappointment when some didn't turn out exactly as I had planned. I rarely let anyone see my RAW files, except Sheena.

Editing takes some time. Sometimes I just feel overwhelmed, that I'll never get through a batch of photos. Then I see the end result and it makes me happy. If you know me, you know I love to be happy. :-)

My weddings for this year begin in May. If you're my Facebook friend, my status everyday will probably be "Cassie is editing like a crazy mad woman" followed by an update on how you should look at my newest blog post. It's extremely exciting and I can't wait for the weddings to begin!

Now, enough rambling! I'm breaking my rule & showing you some of my straight out of the camera (SOCC) shots! Here are some before & after editing for your enjoyment:

Chelsie & Brian: Just because

Yesterday we decided to do a photo-shoot just for fun with my little sister and her boyfriend, Brian. Here's some photos:

Making a Wedding Dress

I'm basically in love with weddings. All of the emotions, the details, the happiness...etc. etc. I also love all of the couples I have worked with this far. They are creative, fun, interesting, and just all around amazing.

As you already know from two blogs ago, one of my lovely brides is making her own wedding dress! I got the opportunity to hang out with her at her place while she described the different processes that went into making her dress. I feel very lucky that I had the chance to document the making of this dress. ...Oh! And did I mention she makes delicious pasta?

Here are some photos of the cutting, sewing, measuring, ironing, and more sewing that took place:






She has the cutest pin cushions!


Here's a sneak peak of the (almost finished) dress! You'll get to see it finished in all of it's glory come May!!

Just sayin' "hi"

I said I'd be a better blogger...and I really did mean it! So this is me, stopping in to say hi. I have been busy working at the FV, editing (which is what I'm doing now...very very soon you will see more making of the dress photos), and reading (slowly making my way through The Fountainhead).

I've gotten to practice with my new camera a bit and I am definitely in LOVE. So I'm going to leave you with a photo from our Family Video party:



Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!

Sneak Peek: Making a Wedding Dress

My May Day Bride is making her own dress! I know, amazing, right? I definitely admire her for it. Today she gave me the opportunity to document the processes that go into making her dress. Here's a few detail shots from the day. There will be more detail shots of sewing, cutting, and dress making activities to come!



I thought her sewing room was adorable! Oh, and this is just one of her cute little pin cushions...


Below you can see the beautiful engagement ring that they had custom made:


To my lovely Bride: Thank you for letting me be a part of your dress making process. The dress is beautiful and I can't wait to see it completely finished!