So I want to you to imagine your a chemist. Yes, the white suit, the protective eye wear and a brain the size of Texas. Now, you’re in your lab… take a little sunshine [okay, a lot of sunshine], add a bunch of your favorite candy [my top choice now is the M&Ms with Almonds], add a little more just to sweeten it up… now think about the last time you laughed till your stomach hurt.. put that hilarious memory in the mix… stir, stir, stir.. throw in a J. Crew gift certificate and a class on personal style and you know what you get?! Friggin Anna Hedges is what you get! Oh yeah.. that’s right. I actually know this person and am so pumped I get to call her friend. This past week we journeyed to Vegas for the annual photography convention WPPI! From start to finish it was awesome, inspiring and so stinkin fun. I have a blog post working in my head about all I learned so photographers out there… keep checking back!

So, on the last day Anna and I drove out to Red Rock to play with our cameras and put to use things that we had learned. This was the part of the trip we had been looking forward to for weeeeeeks! It’s totally lived up to it’s hype! Here are some images of my sweet friend Anna that I shot in the desert!! So fun!….

… and yes, those are DVF shoes. ugh!

Take amazingly unique clothes, a legit DJ, add a little cheesecake and friends you’ve got one GREAT launch party! Rags to Riches is a new online clothing boutique with edge + a touch of pretty. For a girl who loves clothes and style… I’m beyond pumped about this launch. Go check it out for yourself HERE!

I’m just a blogging fool today. Meet Christine + Jim… my new friends from Ohio. When someone says “I think we want our engagements at the Biltmore… would you be interested?”… as a photographer.. you try not to drop the phone. Well.. if you’re a photographer/adventurer/simi-artist like me… you drop the phone and then you pick it back up and again shout “Heck yes!!” I’m literally up for anything and get super inspired by shoots out of the ordinary. Needless to say, I was giddy the moment I pulled into Asheville, NC. Anyway.. back to Christine and Jim. These two are so much fun.. kind.. genuine and a barrel of laughs. Honestly.. they are the type that when you leave hanging with them.. you feel like a better person. Truly. I think every bit of that comes out in the images you are about to see. I’m thrilled to be shooting their Ohio wedding in May and thankful to know them. [yay!]

Hey blog-readin’ folks! I’m super super excited to announce I’m headed to VEGAS in a week with my photography bud [and general all-around bud] Anna Hedges for the annual WWPI [just went to type what that stands for and i have no idea. Something about Wedding and Portrait Photographer association stuff] convention. Anyway, we’re going and we. are. pumped! I seriously could not think of a better person to be enjoying the City of Lights with. I’ve been twice and always get all wrapped up in the architecture and the grandeur of it all. I will no doubt be dragging Anna to every casino so I can show her how cool they are inside. I will be a total tour guide from start to finish… and it will be embarrassing. So, we’re going to WPPI and I had this idea.. actually it’s an idea I snagged from a photographer a few years ago in Seattle [Michelle Moore, look her up, she's amazing]…. the idea is to have little business cards made to hand out to photography folks you meet from around the country to keep in touch. I made some and I wanted to share so others could snag the idea too! I made these at moo.com and they are the “moo mini”s.

Oh.. and this is also a sneak peek of my new branding from the FREAKIN AMAZING Kate Moore Creative!! [Squeal!]

Dawn called me a few months ago for a phone consultation. It didn’t take long before I felt like I was talking to myself. Okay, that doesn’t sound quite right.. let me clarify… Dawn and I have so much in common I literally kept saying “wow, me too” or “no way, us too” to everything she said. It got weird.. so I stopped. It was so neat to see how two completely different lives can be so parallel. Super neat day. Needless to say, I was super excited to finally meet them in Johnson City.. our second home. Well, we actually shot in Jonesborough [oldest town in Tennessee]; which has such cute “old day” style. I love every inch of that place. AND I love this couple too. BIG thanks and hugs to my hubby who was a top-shelf assistant for this shoot. His job was to dog sit. Precious.

p.s. I just got an email from the groom who said the shots I call “mom shots” [posey, cheesy, big smiley] that I take for moms…. were IN FACT their mom’s favorites! Ha! Moms always pick the lamest pics as their favorites. Take note.