Kristian owns Kreative Photography in Orlando, Florida. And last week she came up to Jacksonville for her mentoring session with me. She showed up at my door bearing Starbucks and won me over immediately! We talked a lot about shooting, branding and pricing, and I really enjoyed getting to know her. I always say it's a really small world out there, but was still surprised when we realized that we know someone in common! After our (rather long-thanks to me) chat we met up with a great couple for their engagement session.

We shot Jessi and Chris' engagement session at Adventure Landing in Jacksonville Beach. They were up for anything, so we even managed to get a few shots in the water park area!

The fist bump engagement ring shot...a new classic!

I couldn't help myself-had to take another mirrored glasses shot!

Chris entertained us the whole time!

Jessi and Chris,
Congratulations! Thank you for being kind, patient and easy to work with. I know your wedding will be beautiful!

Kristian,
You rock! Thank you for spending the afternoon with me. It was fun getting to know you. Your honesty and real-ness is refreshing, and I'm excited that I now have somewhere to stay during my IKEA trips. :) And thank you for your sweet words!

And they brought BIKES!!!

Kacy working her skills! I can't wait to see some of the shots she got from this session.

Clearly, it was a fun afternoon. :)

And we ended with a little dance-off. :)

"He doesn't want to nap. I should just pick him up."
"You're tired. I'll hold him for you."
"Awe-the sun's in his eyes. I think I better take him out of his stroller."

They finally called me out on my slick game. Ha! That's what "Aunts" are for though. Right?!

Ben and Aud,
We love you and are so thankful for your friendship. I think God made all of us a little crazy, so we would be "family" for life!

baby asher entertaining uncle anderson.

The other night after they left, Anderson and I were talking about how much fun we had with Asher and he said, "You better watch out, because when we have kids we're going to play pranks on you all the time!" Ha! Cant wait!

True story...
We were leaving our wedding when Anderson realized he couldn't find his keys...anywhere. It's all a blur now, so I can't remember how long we looked for them. Probably about 30 minutes, but it seemed like a really long time. Here I was waiting to be whisked off to our honeymoon, but first I had to run around a large church and help my new husband find his keys. We eventually found them. In the trunk. When I thought about the situation later I could almost picture God laughing and saying, "Welcome to your new life Mrs. Almeida!"

The expression: "He's like a chicken with its head cut off" was created to describe Anderson. He's always in a frenzy. It's a constant state for him. He seems like he's constantly running. Sometimes when he leaves the house I hear him saying to himself, "Cell phone, keys, wallet. Cell phone, keys, wallet." Then, "Have you seen my phone?" So when I saw this rug I HAD to buy it for him. It makes me laugh.

When we have a kid I'll probably have to add "BABY" in permanent marker.

Their birthday is on the 14th. :)

Want to know how I do what I do?
Here's your chance to ask me anything!

When I started in this industry several years ago I wish I would have known someone who was doing this type of mentoring program; someone I could ask all of my embarrassing photography business questions. I truly believe I could've saved myself a lot of frustration, headaches and moolah. (I won't bore you with all of my examples!) Now I get questions from other photographers all the time. Really good questions! And while I love hearing from you, I just don't always have the time to sit at my computer and respond to all of them. Regular FAQ posts on this blog seemed like a good solution, but I find myself overwhelmed with answering all the questions. I want to! It's just hard. So I've come up with a fun solution for me AND you!

Here's the deal: I'm a one-on-one type of person. I prefer to sit in a relaxed setting and chat openly and honestly with someone I feel comfortable with. And now I'm at a place where I can offer that to other photographers with my mentoring program: "How to Make Pink Coffee". I want this to be a unique experience for photographers at all levels. This isn't about me telling you how great I am. It's about me answering your questions and telling you where I screwed up and where I've done well. Then helping you think of ways to implement fresh, new ideas into your own business.

I'll tell you my secrets to:
-branding your business
-pricing your work
-finding your editing style
-blogging
-using social media
-scouting for locations
-choosing the right clients for you
-saying no to the wrong clients (tactfully, of course!)
...and SO MUCH MORE!

And this is my favorite part: "How to Make Pink Coffee" is also an opportunity for you to shoot a photo session with me. (You get to pick the type of session!) I want you to experience the fast-paced craziness of a real photo session, so we will be working with actual clients, not models.

BUT WAIT, there's more! (I've always wanted to say that!)

Because this is Love Month I want to GIVE AWAY a spot to one lucky photographer. Yay! If you're interested leave a comment on this post telling me why you'd like to have this opportunity. Make sure to include your email address. You have until Friday, February 12th. I'll choose a winner at random and announce it on Valentines Day.

And...anyone who signs up during the month of February* will get $75 off the regular price of $650.

Want more info? Contact me for a full package and all the fun details!

*Remember, February only has 28 days this year. :)

Yay! Congratulations, Kristian! I cannot wait to meet you. Contact me and we will set up all the fun details. Thank you again to everyone who entered. Remember you can still get $75 off a "How to Make Pink Coffee" mentoring session through the end of February. Hopefully I'll get to meet a lot of you this year!

They planned every little detail of the shoot and made my job an absolute breeze. It was SO MUCH FUN working with them. Thanks for an enjoyable afternoon, Candice and Dustin!

We were headed to One Ocean for a few inside shots when we ran into some of the Scarlett Lillian workshop attendees. I got to meet Jess, who follows my blog and has the most vibrant red hair I've ever seen. And saw cute Kayla and a few other familiar faces. I always enjoy running into other photographers during photoshoots. It's a fun little surprise. :)

And I'm not sure how I forgot to mention this, but Anderson took all the pictures for my "How to Make Pink Coffee" photoshoot. Yep, he's good! And to answer the emails about this: yes, the drink I'm holding is really pink. :)

I wish I had time to write about all my "fun with Becky" stories. But I have to tell this one: We were in the airport on our way to Vegas. We'd made unusually good time, so we stopped for essentials in the gift shop: fashion magazines. When Becky reached in her purse to pay for her mags she gasped and then quickly collected herself like nothing was wrong. I was clueless until she pulled me to the side and said, "I have a gun". Um, what?! "In my purse. I forgot to leave it in the car." (Yes, we both have guns. Just one of the many reasons we are friends!) We had been dropped off, so there was no where to take it. We quickly went through our options, and they were not good. Leave it in a planter, ask if they have lockers and stash it in one, put it in one of the suitcases for sale in the gift shop, and my favorite-just try to make it through security.

Things got really interesting when we went and told the security officers, "We have a gun."
We missed our flight.
Best trip ever. :)

Becky has a birthday this month, so we met up for a FUN birthday photoshoot!

Happy Friday, everyone!
Check back soon for all the details about my soon-to-launch Mentoring Program...and a giveaway-whoo hoo!

-We went to the circus. Anderson had never been. Poor guy-he's lived such a deprived life. He loved the crazy animal tricks but was disappointed that it wasn't actually under a big tent-ha! Instead it was kind of like a low-budget cirque du soleil show. But we sat on the front row and laughed a lot. And I was especially entertained by the three bendy girls who could wrap their legs around their heads and stuff. :) Weirdness!

-Important News Flash: If you ask nicely at Chick-fil-a they will still make a yummy peppermint chocolate chip shake for you! Anderson told the girl in the drive-thru that he'd pay her $1 million if she'd make me one. She laughed and said they can make them until they run out of peppermint. (He took back the $1 million dollar thing.) I'm thinking about stock piling and freezing them to hold me over until next Christmas.

-When my Mom leaves a message on my cell phone she always tells me what time it is. It's so funny! Saturday she even told me the date. "Hey! It's Mom! It's January 30th at um...2:30." She cracks me up. :)

-I have this quirk that really, really gets under Anderson's skin. I always stop the microwave with one second left on the timer, because I hate hearing the loud "beep-beep-beep!" So, the microwave always has one second on the screen. Anderson is strangely bothered by this and is always clearing the "1" off the screen. Now I think it's funny and might do it just to annoy him. Same thing with leaving on all the lights, turning the air waaaay down and putting the toilet paper on the roll the WRONG way. Okay, maybe I have more than one quirk that gets under his skin.

-I bought soy milk the other day, because Anderson swears he's lactose intolerant. Actually, he says he's "lacto"... Whatever! Anyway, I don't think we'll be making that purchase again. Have you ever tried soy milk? It's kind of thick and has a tan color. And I don't think Mr. Lacto has even tried it.

-There's this one shirt that I wear A LOT. I didn't realize how much until I was organizing and archiving old pictures the other day and this Bon Jovi t-shirt kept showing up! How embarrassing. I'll have to give it a rest for a while.

These pictures span over 3 years-ha!

-Anderson bought me the most amazing running shoes. Interesting, because I don't run. In fact, I hate running. I walk for exercise, but never feel the desire to break into a run. (Side note-I ran track in middle school and one day at practice got so tired of running that I ran around the track, through the school parking lot and into my Mom's waiting car...and never looked back.) Anyway, these shoes actually made me feel so light that I almost wanted to run. And I can't stop talking about them! And last week a miracle happened, Anderson got me to run with him three times. I totally credit the shoes! Don't think I'm all disciplined and healthy though. I'm just temporarily motivated by our trip to Brazil this spring. We're kicking it off with 5 days in Rio (the land of beautiful bods). So, vanity is my motivator. :)

-When I was young I loved singing at church. Then as I got older I developed an extreme case of stage fright and insecurity about singing in public. So last year I asked God to please give me the strength to serve Him through singing, and He totally did. I'm so thankful for a God who uses my weaknesses to show me that alone I can do nothing, but through Him I can do anything! Amen? Amen! Ha! I thought it would be fun to post a little playlist for you of some of my favorite songs we sing at church. I know you'll like them too! Plus it's Monday, and we all need a little something to brighten the day, right?!

Baby Clara is so sweet! She didn't feel very good on the day of her shoot, but she was still a little trooper. Her mom, Winnie, and I have been friends for a long time (since our JU college days), so it was fun catching up with her and kissing her pretty baby between shots-no biting though! Winnie is one of those friends who I want everyone to meet. If she comes up in conversation I always tell people, "Oh, you'd love her!" And everyone does. She's such a blast to be around. And Clara's wardrobe consultant, her Aunt Maddison, is too. These girls love to laugh, so I love being around them! The weather didn't really cooperate with us, and since Miss Priss was a little sniffle-y we did a big chunk of her session inside. She entertained us thoroughly. :)

We've even brought our friends in on the great food debate from time to time. Anderson has been telling me and our buds, Ben and Audrey, about a delicious Brazilian avocado shake for the longest time. He brings it up every time the three of us eat guacamole. (Naturally, he doesn't like guacamole.) So we finally challenged him to PROVE IT!

So here you have it friends...the great avocado shake tutorial.

the avocado shake.
...the great debate continues. :)

Ashley's style is classic and fun, so the black and white card with a punch of color fit her perfectly. :)

-This has been one of those weeks. You know, the kind that drives you to countdown to the weekend by marking off each day on the wall like a prisoner? Ugh. We drowned our sorrows in Mexican food last night and reminded each other that no matter what's going on in our lives we have SO MUCH to be thankful for. Thank you, God!

-It's a rainy mess here in J-ville this weekend, so my photoshoot was postponed. Poop.

-I'm pretty sure my husband has been playing video games for about 14 hours straight. I pretend to be annoyed, but it really just gives me time to make fun stuff! (And sneak away to Hobby Lobby without being noticed.)

-We're having our kitchen and living room painted this weekend (thanks Mom and Dad!), so we had to take everything off the walls and move all the furniture and decorations. Wow! Maybe Anderson was right afterall. I have a problem saying "no" to home decor.

-I did a guest post on my cute friend and client, Julieanne Turner's blog. Check it out if you haven't already!

-My big goal this weekend is to put the finishing touches on the photography mentoring program I've been working on for several months. Look for more information in February. So excited!!!

Ever wonder what the really cool people do on the weekends?
They hang out at Lowe's, of course. :)