One of the most exciting things for me this year as a business owner was my exploration of new products for Studio Blu Images. I have added cards galore to my collections including custom designed cards from my weddings. I've had several clients ask for these services and I'm more than happy to oblige. Last fall I offered custom cards for my portrait clients in both Tampa Bay, Florida and Birmingham, Alabama, and these are just a few examples of the cards we came up with. I have since added several more designs for cards and can't wait to offer those next holiday season! Many friends of clients saw the cards and have emailed me asking for sessions this early in advance. So exciting!

This is my extended family, the Campbells! We used a special pearl coated paper.

I loove this paper we used for this card.

I'm finishing up a super cool wedding from last weekend and a engagement session that I shot in Alabama last weekend. Look out, these are gonna be great!

This is a sweet album I created for Stacey and Michael's wedding from last year. It was fun designing and working with Stacey to make sure it was everything they wanted. I can picture it now sitting on their coffee table, a centerpiece for all of their guests to see!

I am editing and toning a beautiful wedding that I can't wait to share. I am also in Alabama and just finished up a super cool engagement session. I can't wait to share. Check back!

I shot this little cutie, Hayden, for a modeling comp card. She's appeared in advertising before and hopefully will get getting some new clients soon! What an adorable little girl!

Hayden's mom, Dawn, is a fantastic baker and has started a new yummy business, D. G. Cookie Creations. Since her site is still under construction, you can see some of her fabulous work at her facebook page! I'll definitely share when her site is up. I am excited to think of some events I'd like to order cookies for!

Thanks!

This was one of the largest albums I made last year. It was truly a pleasure to work on this piece of art. This is a traditional matted album the clients asked for a modern look. I think it looks just great. I love the black leather and the double mats. I think it was also very fun because the entire day was such a pleasure to document.

I hope you enjoy looking at this album as much as I enjoyed creating it.

This was my absolute favorite spread of the entire album. I think it's beautiful.

Thanks and check back soon!

A good friend of mine just shared this with me and I thought it was too adorable not to pass along.

I jokingly am calling 2009 the year of the album because of the amount of wedding albums I designed and printed. It was super exciting for me to see my business grow and expand in this area. But most of all, the best feeling is knowing that all of my brides and grooms are receiving the best albums possible.

I know it sounds cliche but with albums I feel the sky is the limit. There's so many gorgeous materials to use such as silks, linens, and of course leather. I also started offering vegan friendly options for my clients after lots of requests. See, the sky is the limit!

This gorgeous album is from Jennifer and Andy's gorgeous album in Franklin, Tennessee. We had such a blast at the wedding and presenting this album to them was such an honor.

The red suede is gorgeous.

I love how they stamp my logo. It's very small on the inside of the front cover.

This was my favorite spread. Gorgeous!

All of the albums come with directions on how to care for them. I always recommend reading these directions when the album comes out of the box.

I loved this album so much that I had a sample album made of it. I'll share later because I had a special cover made and I want to shot that in it's own post :)

I suddenly realized that I have not shared this website that I helped create with my great friend Brandon Flayler. Brandon is an amazing web developer and teacher. I've learned so much of working with Drupal through him. I can't wait until our next project!

This site was created for my husband, Hank. I cannot believe that in such a short time Hank's grown his business so fast. He's such a great coach and husband. He made a real sacrifice to me when he went with me to Ohio for me to go to graduate school. It was a tough year for us because of the fact that we were living in the poorest county in Ohio and jobs were scarce for Hank. He did everything for me, including cleaning the house and bringing me dinner every night. I am so thankful and know that I couldn't have made it through school without his support. So, for me to be able to help return something to him like this website, it's definitely a very special thing. I am so excited for where he's taking it. He's got some cool things cooking right now that I can't wait to share!

This spring I'm having to take care of the amount of work I have committed to because of teaching and working on my thesis. I have some gorgeous weddings coming up of course and a few trips planned for shooting. I can't wait to share those.

I also have another web project that I'm working on with a super friend that has me so incredibly excited. I absolutely cannot wait to share that one!

One of the cool things about this site is the rotating picture. I have shot all of these images over the years from attending Hank's races. I have quite a stock portfolio of sporting events :)

I have realized that I haven't shared any of the great albums I made last year for wedding and portrait clients. So please check back because I'm going to be sharing those very very soon!

We received this refrigerator magnet in the mail the other day from my wonderful clients Kelly and Neil, or as we affectionately call them, Nelly. I photographed Neil's surprise engagement to Kelly back in June when visiting Nashville. I shot this image on the side of a hill at Arrington Vineyard's, which is truly a spectacular place. Hank and I are so excited to photograph the wedding this coming June in Alabama. Not only will it be special because of Kelly's great taste, but they're our family so it's going to have a special place in our heart.

Isn't this just adorable :)

*****UPDATE****
Ericka Walters of All About Me Spa Parties won the gift certificate I donated to the party. Congrats Ericka! I can't wait to photograph you and your son in a portrait session in April!

I was fortunate to attend the Wedding Professionals For A Cure fundraiser on Wednesday night at the Quorum Hotel in Tampa. The fabulous ladies from Elan Event Studio know how to throw a party!

There were so many fabulous vendors including Doug from Grant Hemond, Lifelong Studios, Andy from Just Let Go Photography, and of course the gorgeous flowers and pink decor were by MMD Events! There were a ton of other vendors but I couldn't begin to list them all here.

I enjoyed getting to know a ton of new people. I even got my picture taken with the ever cool Lauren Grove, who has such a great blog, Every Last Detail!

I made my good friend James from James Ostrand Photography pose for a picture with the go-go dancer. Do you think he was uncomfortable?

I am so humbled to announce that I won another award with the Wedding Photojournalist Association. The image came in sixth place in the dancing category in the Q3 competition of 2009. This image was shot at Laura and Bobby's wedding in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on a cold snowy day :) Their reception was held at the Soldiers and Sailors Hall & Museum .

I absolutely love this image. I've gotten a lot of compliments on it and just fyi, it's actually a color image that I converted to black and white.. I shot it with a borrowed lens and have promised myself to buy the lens this year :)

If you get a chance, go check out all the other images in the competition. There's some great moments!