Billie Mitchell Photography

3 years old! | Hendersonville, NC Photographer

2011-12-02T19:09:00.003-05:00

So today I thought I would share with you some pictures that I took of my daughter, Peyton, for her third birthday. These actually ended up being one of two sets of 3 year old pictures I shot of her. We did more on the beach while we were on vacation.

I really like that her sassy little personality shines through in these images.

As you can see, she isn't very camera shy. :o)

The lighting changed so many times in the short amount of time that we shot these.

I was trying to capture the warm glow of the sun behind her.

Sometimes the sun would hide behind the clouds and cause a totally different look.

No matter what kind of light I shoot her in, she always looks pretty darn sweet.

Happy Birthday sweetie girl!

Easy Peasy... | Hendersonville, NC Photographer

2011-12-01T13:18:00.001-05:00

This crew were my first subjects of the day for our Fall Mini Sessions. As a matter of fact, I think they were there and ready to go before I was even ready. These three are always easy to photograph. They are rare in that they don't mind having their pictures taken. Most kids you have to beg and bribe to get decent pictures. But these guys always show up happy and ready to go.

I like them all standing in this next picture so you can see the size difference between all of them.

Your disc should be arriving soon Kathy! I hope you love all of them.

See more of Billie's work at http://www.billiemitchellphotography.com/.

Become a fan of Billie's work on Facebook.
Email Billie at billie@billiemitchellphotography.com.

It's been a while... | Hendersonville, NC Photographer

2011-11-30T13:53:00.000-05:00

Wow! It's been quite a while since I blogged. We have had so much going on lately that the blog got put on the back burner for a while. We sold our house and moved 4 states away to North Carolina. Then a week after moving, we went on a beach vacation. We are back now and starting to get settled in to our new house and city so I thought I would blog all of the Fall Mini Sessions that I did way back in October. Better late then never right?

I thought I would start with one of the last people to get to see their pictures. She waited so patiently for me while I was in transition. Check out her three handsome boys!

I sure do miss seeing them daily.

Hope this helps at least a little Tiff!

See more of Billie's work at http://www.billiemitchellphotography.com/.

Become a fan of Billie's work on Facebook.
Email Billie at billie@billiemitchellphotography.com.

More Senior Portraits! | Lewis Center Senior Photographer

2011-09-22T09:37:00.003-04:00

Lately it seems like all I'm shooting are seniors and newborns.

Which is lucky for me.

I love both of those types of sessions!

I am getting more and more calls from people that have been referred to me by previous clients. Thank you so much for sending people my way! Melanie comes to me through a client and dear friend that I've known since my oldest boys were in preschool.

Melanie was a ton of fun to shoot!

She, like many of my clients, was game for anything I asked her to do.

And my camera absolutely loved her!

She is super photogenic and looks gorgeous in her pictures.

Thanks Melanie for the fun afternoon!

I hope you love your pictures!

Fall Mini Sessions | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-09-06T19:20:00.000-04:00

Please allow me to be short & sweet!

Kind of like the Fall Mini Sessions will be.

Short & Sweet.

That’s right. Our Easter Mini Sessions were so fun last spring,

that we decided to do Fall Mini Sessions in October.

The details:

    When: Sunday, October 23 from 1 – 5pm

    Where: A Sunbury location – details will be given when session is booked.

    What you get:

          - 20 minute outdoor session

          - Private online portrait gallery containing 8 to 10 fully edited images

          - Choose your favorite image and receive

                 ~ 1 8 x 10
                 ~ 2 5 x 7’s
                 ~ 8 wallets

    Price: $39.95 + tax (Due at the time of booking via Paypal)

Additional packages of 1 8x10, 2 5x7’s, and 8 wallets will be available for $19.95 + tax.

A DVD of all full resolution edited images with printing rights will be available for $49.95 + tax.

Call, email or text me today to hold your spot for our Fall Mini Sessions.

The spring sessions booked pretty quick, so please be in touch soon if you know you want a spot.

billie@billiemitchellphotography.com or 614.395.4152.

The short and sweet part is over!

If you are still with me and interested in more details, below is a list of FAQ's.

And a few card samples.

FAQ’s

What is a mini session?

A mini session is simply a shortened session. A normal session with me usually lasts about 60 minutes and produces approximately 20 – 25 images. These mini sessions will last 20 minutes and produce 8 -1 0 images.

Where will the pictures be taken?

We will take pictures on a private property in Sunbury. The address and details will be given when you book your session.

How many people can be in the pictures?

These mini sessions are for immediate family members only. There will not be time for extended family pictures. If you would like to book two sessions in a row, we can shoot extended family shots. For example, a shot of cousins to give to Grandma for Christmas.

Can we order holiday cards?

Holiday cards will be available at a discounted rate for mini session clients. You may purchase 24 custom designed one-sided photo cards for $25 (regularly $30). Each additional set of 10 cards are $12.

If I purchase the disc can I make Christmas cards with the pictures?

Yes you may print all of the pictures and cards that you would like. You will receive printing rights with the disc.

Will the disc contain all of the pictures that you take of my family?

No. The disc will contain the 8 – 10 fully edited images that are in your portrait gallery.

How do I schedule a session?

Call, text or email me today to schedule your spot. billie@billiemitchellphotography.com or 614.395.4152.

Here are examples of the card designs that will be available to you.

Baby Riddock | Hilliard Newborn Photographer

2011-08-31T23:01:00.001-04:00

What a sweet baby boy that I got to spend the afternoon with on Monday.

He was a joy to work with. He even gave me a little smile.

I think these pictures make him look like he is floating on a cloud.

Don't you wish you could take a little nap on a cloud? I sure do.

You have heard of the Cowardly Lion right?

Well how about the Grumpy Lion?

Little Riddock was not a fan of my lion hat.

Doesn't he look like he is pouting?

If I could read his mind I would imagine that he is saying to himself

"I look ridiculous in this thing."

I promise I won't make you wear a silly hat next time Riddock!

Franklin Park Conservatory | Columbus Senior Photographer

2011-08-22T22:08:00.001-04:00

I had the pleasure of meeting and hanging out with Brittany this weekend at the Franklin Park Conservatory. As you can see, she looks as gorgeous as the conservatory does!

It's a fantastic place for photos. Especially during these hot summer months. OR during the cold snowy months when we can't get outside.

This is the third time I have shot senior pictures here. I don't usually like to shoot in the same location over and over, but the conservatory has so much to offer that I can get some different things each time I go.

Brittany was a natural in front of the camera.

Her eyes are amazingly beautiful!

Thanks Brittany for the fun afternoon!

If you still haven't scheduled your Senior Portrait Session, there is still time to get in a summer OR fall session this year. I still have a few openings. You will be glad you took care of it this year instead of waiting until the spring. Things get so hectic and you can end up rushed and not getting to enjoy the fun of having your senior pictures taken.

Many Faces! | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-08-19T23:03:00.001-04:00

The many faces of Peyton...

When I was taking pictures of Cooper for his first day of Kindergarten, Peyton insisted on me taking some pictures of her too.

She had to sit on the porch just like Cooper did.

She was pretending it was her first day too.

She showed me many cute little faces.

In her funny little hat.

And her favorite purple nail polish.

But most importantly, I think these pictures let you see in a little window to her personality.

Sweet ~ Fun ~ Quirky

And then Coop snapped this picture of the two of us together.

PS Peyton cried this morning when Cooper got on the school bus without her. She has been with him pretty much everyday since she was born. She is a little lost without him.

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

2011-08-19T00:04:00.003-04:00

Wow! I can’t believe we are on our 6th entry in this series. I really hope that you are finding these little tips helpful when taking pictures.

1. GET YOUR CAMERA OUT OF THE CLOSET!

2. Fill your frame.

3. Capture the scenery.

4. Remembering the details.

5. Composition

Today I want to talk about looking weird when taking pictures!
Yes I want you, the photographer, to look weird when you are taking a picture.

What does this mean? I’m talking about taking pictures at different, unusual, and what I would call fun angles. You will often find me laying on the ground or standing on a chair taking pictures. I have even been known to stand on my bar to take a cool shot of a big family dinner. You will also always see my camera tilted at strange angles when I’m shooting. I don’t always shoot exactly straight up and down. In fact, I rarely shoot that way.

See how there is a slight tilt in this shot. You do have to be careful with this though. You can tilt too far and it can sometimes look strange and somewhat confusing. So again, this is something to practice to see what you like.

Shooting in this way is especially successful when shooting your “Fill the Frame” shots and your “Detail” shots. Not always helpful when shooting the scenery though. But again, play with it and see how you like it.

When taking a picture, squat down and shoot at their level.

If this image would have been shot from a standing position, you wouldn't even see much of her face. Just the top of her head. It's important to get down on your subjects level when shooting kids.

Lay on the ground and shoot from there. Sometimes on your stomach, sometimes on your back.

Stand on a chair and shoot from above.

(Shooting from above is also a great way to alleviate double chins and will give a slimming affect.)

In this picture I was actually standing on the table where they were playing.

Just to get a little different picture. Just for fun!

Sometimes being weird means laying on the ground and taking pictures of someones feet. I got very strange looks when I took this picture. In fact, my sister even gave a disclaimer before we took these pictures. "She may ask you to do some weird things, and she may look strange when she is shooting, but I bet you will like what she comes up with in the end." LOL And they did give me some strange looks! =)

BUT, if I remember correctly, this picture was one of her favs in the end.

So go ahead. Be brave and be weird. Practice being weird at home first with your own family! Then when you see what type of imagines you come up with shooting in this way, I bet you will be brave enough to be weird in other places too. =)

Next time we are going to talk about catch lights. Any idea what that is?

Trying Not To Think About It | Sunbury Photographer

2011-08-18T22:37:00.004-04:00

What am I trying not to think about you wonder. I’m trying to forget about the fact that my sweet baby boy started Kindergarten today. I know every mom says this, but “How did that happen???”

On the left is the first day of preschool last year and on the right is his first day of Kindergarten.

And yes, he picked out the same outfit to wear on the first day of school both times.

Cooper is a whole lot of personality all wrapped up in one cute little package!

He is rotten to the core.

He is as sweet as he can be

He loves to hang out with his big brothers. (when they will let him)

He adores his baby sister. And she returns the adoration 100%.

He loved preschool last year and is excited about starting Kindergarten. When he told me this summer that he missed preschool, I asked him what he missed about it. His response, “Playing in the gym and on the playground! I don’t miss that lame stuff like writing letters.”

I think it's fair to say that he was excited about his first day of school!

PS I didn't shed a tear today. Tears did start to well up after I put him on the bus. But I did surprisingly well for sending my baby boy to kindergarten.

PSS Peyton dressed herself this morning. Not sure what is up with that hat! :)

PSSS Speaking of Peyton's dress. The dress she has on was made my her grandma for her cousin when she was 2 or 3. Now that same cousin is starting her sophomore year of high school.

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

2011-08-17T22:01:00.003-04:00

Installment number 5 of our little series is all about composition.

You can check out our first 4 installments here:

1. GET YOUR CAMERA OUT OF THE CLOSET!

2. Fill your frame.

3. Capture the scenery.

4. Remembering the details.

This little tidbit will help make a big difference in your photos instantly. When you pair this with all of the other tips I have given you, you will create some great stuff!

When I talk about composition, I’m talking about where you place your subject in the frame of your camera. So many of us have always been told to make sure we center our subject right in the middle of the photograph. How many pictures have we had hanging around our house of people dead center in the picture? I for one have had lots over the years.

That is until I learned about the Rule of Thirds. The Rule of Thirds is simply dividing your frame in thirds horizontally and vertically. So imagine a grid over the picture. Kind of like a Tic Tac Toe board. Then put something of interest at the intersection of two of those lines. For example, see how her eye is right near the intersection at the top left corner. Her other eye also ended up being near the other intersection as well.

There is something about using this Rule of Thirds principle that just

makes the picture a little more pleasing to the eye.

And here is an example of the same picture cropped to put the subject dead center in the frame.

Just not as pleasing for some reason.

The other thing that I do sometimes is line my subject up along one of the lines.

See how his body is along what would be the left vertical line of the Rule of Thirds grid? His eyes are also aligned with the upper horizontal line of the grid.

Makes the picture tell a little story.

Gives him somewhere to look through those binoculars.

Might make you wonder what he is looking at?

If shooting a landscape picture, put the horizon either on the upper 1/3 line or along the lower 1/3 line. So you will need to decide if you want more of the foreground in the picture, or more of the sky in the picture. It will depend on what you want the focus to be. You could even take a picture both ways and then decide which one you like better. But do not divide the picture in half with the horizon line. Your landscapes will be much more interesting when using the Rule of Thirds.

NOW, after saying all that, there is a time and place for the perfectly centered picture. It just depends on what your subject is doing. Sometimes the centered approach really works.

So my suggestion would be to shoot the picture in a number of ways compositionally(is that even a word???) speaking. Take the picture off centered, then in the upper or lower part of frame, and then centered. See which one you like better. With digital photography you can really take endless pictures while practicing. You will eventually figure out what your favorite way is without having to try all of the ways. (Does that make since?)

Are you familiar with this way of shooting? Give it a try and let me know what you think.

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

2011-08-14T22:52:00.001-04:00

I’m back with another tip on helping to make your pictures tell a complete story. I hope you are finding this information useful. I have a few more posts in this series to round everything out.

For now, let's get on with tip #4!

Let’s review. Shall we?

1. GET YOUR CAMERA OUT OF THE CLOSET!

2. Fill your frame.

3. Capture the scenery.

Now I want to talk about the third type of shot I always try to remember to take. These are probably my fav shots. These are the detail shots.

In this picture I am trying to show how she wears a cute little dress and likes to be girly. But then puts on a ball hat and her brother's flip flops and goes out and plays in the mud.

As for the details of this little get up she is wearing, I also got up close and personal and shot this image. I love the mud on her leg and dress and the way she is wearing the flip flops. And don't forget the toe nail polish!

Detail shots are the ones that melt your heart sometimes.
Pictures of babies little toes. Long beautiful eyelashes.

Or pictures of a preschooler practicing writing his numbers.

Or a little toddler feeding herself spaghetti-o's.

The other type of detail shots are the actual details of your event. For example, taking pictures at Christmas time. We always take pictures of the tree, but next time think about taking pictures of the other details.

Like the stockings looking golden from the glow of the Christmas tree.

Or some details about Christmas breakfast.

When I say event, it doesn’t always have to be an “event” like a party or something. It can also be the details of the activity that you are capturing. If you are photographing a sporting event, take a picture of the dugout with bats hanging from the fence and Gatorade bottles all over. If you child is playing with matchbox cars, take a shot of his little hand pushing the car around.

Some of my most favorite detail shots of my own children were taken when they were asleep. That’s a great time to capture those beautiful pouty lips and those long eyelashes. (Can you tell I have a thing for eyelashes? How many times have I mentioned them? Sorry!) They aren’t wiggling around and driving you mad. I even do this with my older boys. If they happen to fall asleep on the couch, I will sometimes grab my camera and snap a couple of pictures.

Do you love the detail shots as much as I do? Which details are your favs?

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge| Beautiful Eyes

2011-08-14T17:15:00.006-04:00

This is my first time entering a photo into one of the I Heart Faces photo challenges.

I usually don't plan well enough in advance and can't get it together in time.

I know.

Lame excuse.

But today, while sitting here on a lazy Sunday afternoon,

I saw the new theme and knew exactly the picture I wanted to enter.

Peyton has very "interesting" eyes. Some days they are brown, some days grey, some days green, some days all three. This photo was taken while playing on the porch one evening while the sun was going down. The light was hitting her eyes perfectly and she gave me this innocent little look. I was lucky to have my camera in my hands at that moment and was able to snap a quick picture.

I need to quit being a loser and actually print this image!

You can check out some of the other beautiful eye contest entries

by clicking on the I Heart Faces logo below.

They also have some great photography tutorials on their site.

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

2011-08-13T21:50:00.000-04:00

So we have talked about having your camera out and ready to shoot at all times. You can see that post here. And then we talked about filling the frame. Check that post out here. Now I’m going to kind of contradict myself at first thought. But stay with me and I’ll explain what I mean.

My tip for today is to set the scene. What do I mean by that? Remember when I talked about using photographs to tell a story. Well, taking only one type of picture is not going to tell the complete story. So part of the story is taking those nice tight shots of your subject. Now we have to show our subjects surroundings. Whether it be a baseball field, playing with play doh, or the guests at a birthday party.

So the second type of photo I take to tell my story is the photo that you have to step back and take in the whole scene. I told you before to get up in people’s personal space, now I’m telling you to give them their space.

The next time you are taking pictures of something, remember to shoot both kinds of shots. Some of the photos where you fill your frame with your subject. And some photos where you take a step back and shoot the scenery.

Next time I will tell you about the third type of shot that I always try to remember to take. Any guesses on what that might be?

Allie | Westerville Senior Photographer

2011-08-10T22:03:00.000-04:00

A little birdie told me that their is a certain young lady anxious to see these pictures.

Since I don't have her gallery completely finished yet, I thought I would give her a little sneak peak to try and hold her over until I can finish everything up.

Allie I thoroughly enjoyed working with you AND your mom to create these photos.

You truly are beautiful on the inside and out.

Allie's grandfather use to ride her around in the little basket on this bicycle when she was a baby. Her mom thought it would be neat to have a picture of her all grown up on the bike to put with the baby pictures. How sweet will that be?

Hope you love your sneak peak Allie!

I'll be in touch soon.

So Much Fun!!! | Galena Portrait Photographer

2011-08-08T13:49:00.001-04:00

Does this not look like the most fun?

It's 1st birthday time for sweet little baby Landen!

So we decided a cake smash session was in order.

At first he was more interested in the balloons than the cake.

But then I distracted him long enough for his mom to slowly remove the balloons,
and then he decided the cake my be fun

And then we distracted him again so she could slyly put that back in behind him for some more pictures.

You know me, I always love a good baby foot picture.

And this time I got the hands too!

Happy 1st Birthday Landen!

(Can't believe you are one already.)

And just for fun, here is one of his newborn shots.

I forgot about his hair always sticking up until I looked at this picture. =) So cute.

PS I'm glad it's not my baby having a 1st birthday. I don't deal well with 1st birthdays.

Paint Chip Artwork | Sunbury Photographer

2011-08-08T06:00:00.003-04:00

So I'm finally getting the house finished up and have it on the market now.

I had this blank wall at the end of my hallway that was screaming for some decoration though.

I saw this paint chip art work online a while ago and have been itching to make one myself.

This is the inspiration that got me started.

Source

So each of the 5 million times I have went to the hardware store in the last few months

I grabbed a few paint chips. This is the pile that I have accumulated.

So Friday night I decided that the paint chip art was going to decorate my bare hall wall.

I grabbed some cutting tools from my scrapbook days.

My handy dandy bottle of Mod Podge.

A $5 picture that I bought at a yard sale a few months ago.

And got ready to put together my new paint chip art work!

I started by flipping the frame over and removing the backing. It was pretty simple.

Just a paper backing that needed torn off.

Then I had to pry about 25 little clips up that were holding in the cardboard backing, the picture and the mat.

After removing the cardboard, I had to peel the picture off of it. You can kind of see in the picture below that it was glued to the cardboard. Again, no big deal. Just tore it off.

Then I took the mat and traced an outline onto the cardboard of the space that I would need to cover with paint chips.

I decided to use my square punch to cut all of my paint chips the same exact size.

But you could also do it with a paper cutter, or even scissors if you had to.

I've seen it done with overlapping circles too if you have a circle punch.

Based on the dimensions that I drew on the cardboard, and the dimensions of the squares, I figured out that I needed 60 squares cut. Only took me about 15 minutes to cut them all out.

I forgot to take a picture of it, but then I took all the squares and spread some Mod Podge on the back of each square and then stuck them to the cardboard. I didn't lay out any pattern or anything. Just randomly grabbed squares and glued them on.

(Which if you know be very well, you know that is a huge step out of my matching/pattern addiction.)

After getting them all Mod Podged down, I let it set overnight to dry. Then I grabbed some wood stain that I had purchased for $.50 on the oops rack at Home Depot for another project, and painted over top of the squares. I painted it on and then wiped a lot of it back off. Doing this just kind of gives it a little more character. Although I did learn that it dries very quickly and that I need to paint on a couple of rows and then wipe right back off immediately. Instead of painting a whole bunch and then trying to go back and wipe off. Most of it was too dry to wipe off. I found if I used a wet paper towel, that a little more of the stain wood wipe off than with a dry towel.

After the stain dried completely, I Mod Podged over top of everything.

So I didn't take pictures of the painting of the frame, but you have seen me spray paint stuff before. Didn't want to bore you with that. But I spray painted the frame white and the I decided to paint the mat a lite purple that I had on hand.

And this is how it turned out!

I wasn't sure if I would like the purple, but I'm am pleased with the results.

In this picture you can see the texture in the mat. Just a lil bit more character!

And now my blank wall isn't blank anymore.

I would like to make a larger one someday not in a frame. Similar to my inspiration piece up above. But this is good little project for the little amount of time that I had to spend on it and the little space that I needed to decorate.

So what have you been working on this summer? Any little house projects? Please share!

Ryder & Abbey

2011-07-28T22:14:00.002-04:00

Please help me welcome baby Ryder.

We got off to a bit of a slow start during our session.

He was awake and not really into this whole picture thing.

But then mom fed the little sweetie and he was off to dreamland during the rest of our time together.

We also snapped a few pictures of Ryder with his very sweet big sister Abbey.

Such a peaceful image.

What a wonderful way to spend an afternoon.

Hanging with this beautiful little girl and her adorable baby brother.

Family Room Makeover Part II | Sunbury Photographer

2011-07-25T21:01:00.005-04:00

Part II of the family room makeover.

Click here to see the installation of the board and batten.

As you can see, I had a little trouble deciding on a color. If I knew for sure we were going to be staying here, I would have painted an aqua-ish color. But since we are going to be putting it on the market to sell, I felt like an aqua family room might not be the best move. I see lots of yellow family rooms in friends and family’s homes. So I figured it would be a better color choice to appeal to the majority of people. But then, I had a horrible time deciding what shade of yellow to use. Something cheery, but not blinding. Something airy and light, but not to close to just being an off white or cream color. So I had many yellow swatches hanging trying to decide. Then one day I came across some little berry type things on a flower arrangement that were the perfect color. So I took that and matched to it the color swatches at Home Depot. The color I ended up choosing was Provence Cream by Behr. It turned out exactly as I wanted.
Light and airy, cheerful, colorful, but not too obnoxious.

A few weeks ago I was cruising around Craigslist and came across this sofa. I thought it was super fun and the price was right. Only $150. We went to check it out. I feared it would be bad quality. But it’s not. Very sturdy and in great shape.

Next up we have several spray painted items. I have an entire array of spray paint colors in my garage. It’s amazing what spray paint can do to an old ugly lamp, or how fun it can make a big framed mirror. The mirror and blue lamp are painted with a color called Ocean Breeze. I love the color, but the Krylon paint didn’t work out so great for me. It cracked and bubbled on both the mirror and the lamp. But you can’t tell from a distance, so I went with it. If someone notices, oh well! Now that I think about it, someone did notice. She thought I crackled it on purpose. Lets go with that theory!

The green lamp is painted with Rustoleum Green Apple.

The TV tray is painted with Rustoleums Warm Yellow.
Not my fav shade of yellow, but I haven't taken the time to repaint it yet.

The floor lamp is Rustoleum Apple Red.
Love it!

I’m still thinking about painting these two little metal tables on the ends of the couch.
I’m thinking red. What do you think?

This wall has Goodwill and clearance finds. The family sign is from Goodwill. The star & compass were clearance from Hobby Lobby. The M is a Hobby Lobby 50% off deal.

This is Dennis’ Father’s Day gift. I took CD covers to artists that we both love, concerts that we went to, or any other music that is meaningful to us in someway. I painted this 20” x 20” piece of MDF with an army green paint sample that I found on the oops rack at Home Depot for $.50. Then I copied the CD covers and mod podged them to the board. Rubbed some stain, that I also found on the oops rack, into the cracks between the paper to give it kind of an aged/grunge look. Then I sanded the edges a bit to give it more of that aged/weathered look. Dennis loved it. And the other print is an Etsy find. Love Etsy!

I bought this canvas a while ago to use for another purpose. But for some reason that I can’t remember, I never used it. Then I tried wrapping fabric around it for my bedroom, but couldn’t find the right fabric. So I was left with thie 20” x 30” blank canvas. I decided I was going to try to paint something fun on it. I haven’t painted anything since High School. But I loved doing it. It was fun to create like that again. It’s just simple. But it has that whimsical feel that I love. (This canvas was in another location in one of the pictures above. I have moved things around alot to figure out where I best like things.) (Oh, and those picture frames, I don't know the people in the pictures. Those are the cool people that came with the frame. I haven't taken the time to add my own pictures yet. You know I have so few pictures to choose from!)

This is another fabric wrapped board. I actually bought that fabric for a dress for Peyton. But she informed me that “My not like that fabic Mommy.” Since she didn’t want a dress made with it, I came up with another use for it. Simple but fun. At least I think so anyway!

I have been looking for new rugs for this room and hadn’t been able to find a runner that I liked. I needed something colorful. So I decided to just sew a couple of rag rugs together to make one long one for the space that I needed a runner. Easy and cheap rug. I have no idea how long it will last, but for $15 for the 3 rag rugs, it was worth giving it a try.

This is more fabric. Apparently I have a thing for fabric. This time I spray adhesived it to poster board and then framed it. This was an ugly yard sale frame that I, you guessed it, spray painted. Again, simple and cheap.

Pillows were placemats that I opened up the seam in one end, filled with pillow stuffing, and sewed back up. I think the place mats were about $2 a piece. All on clearance of course.

The curtains are Ikea Vivan curtains. Super cheap too. $15 for the pair.
Roman shade was a clearance item from Lowes.

Chair was on clearance at Old Time Pottery.

So I think that is everything in this room. I'm pleased with how it turned out.

So what are you working on these days? Any re-decorating going on in your home?

Stop by and see some more fun projects at:

and Also, I was lucky enough to be featured over at
Stop by and check out some other projects posted there!

Ava | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-07-24T22:31:00.000-04:00

Meet sweet 4 year old Ava!

She and I had a lot of fun playing on her Grandma & Grandpa's farm on a warm Saturday morning!

She was full of smiles....

and lots of giggles too!

I was trying to capture her personality, along with things from around the farm

to make the pictures just a little more personal to her.

More personal then if we would have shot these pictures at a park somewhere.

My hope is that someday, many years down the road, these pictures will spark

some wonderful memories of playing at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

Family Room Board & Batten | Sunbury Photographer

2011-07-21T22:12:00.005-04:00

So the family room is finally finished. Well finished for today. I think it will be one of those rooms that changes a little here and there. As I find new things that I love and try to incorporate them in some way. But the major stuff, like painting and the board & batten installation, are finished.

So let’s start with that. The board & batten. It’s not hard at all to install this stuff. It’s just a few, time consuming, little steps. But it makes a BIG impact on the look of a room. We love how it turned out.

So lets get started. First we painted the upper section of the walls the yellow color that we FINALLY decided on, and the lower half white in preparation for the board and batten treatment.

Then we had to cut several 3 ½” wide pieces of 8’ MDF for the top rail and the shelf. Then we also cut several 1 1/2” wide, 46” tall, strips of MDF for the vertical pieces. We only needed 2 – 4’x8’ sheets of MDF to do the entire space. And we still have some left over for other projects. I believe they were around $20 per sheet. So not very much money for all this awesomeness!

OK. So my first piece of advice if you decide to do this in your home, DEFINITELY take your saw OUTSIDE to cut the pieces. MDF causes A LOT, like TONS, of saw dust. And not just a little pile on the floor under your saw. I mean saw dust on everything within a 20’ radius of the saw. How do I know? Because we did not cut ours outside, we cut ours in our garage, and now I have ½” of dust on EVERYTHING in my entire garage. A HUGE mess!

After we cut all of our pieces, we installed everything with a nail gun. You don’t have to have a nail gun. You could also install it with a hammer and nails. It will just take a little more time for the installation.

We spaced our boards 14” apart. Except for places that we had to work around an outlet, window, or door. We hung them in whatever manner looked best for the area.

After installing the vertical and horizontal boards, we also installed a ledge and a piece of molding to sort of finish out the look.

This little ledge makes it so easy to prop things for decoration in an area to see if you like it there without having to actually put holes in your walls. And it’s nice because you can move things around or add new things whenever you like without having to repair and paint nail holes all the time. (I have already taken advantage of this little perk multiple times!)

After installing all the boards, I filled the nail holes with spackle and caulked all the seams (actually my girlfriend, Susan, caulked all the seams. I have a picture of her helping me, but she would probably kill me for posting it!). Then I painted two coats of white semi gloss paint to finish it up.

I’ll be back soon with the rest of the room re-do’s.

So what do you think? Think you might like to try this somewhere in your house? I guarantee you will love it!

Bedroom Makeover FINALLY Complete | Sunbury Photographer

2011-07-05T20:10:00.000-04:00

I’m back with my latest makeover. I shared the master bathroom with you here. Now I’m here to show you what we did with the master bedroom. I’m very pleased with both rooms. Very peaceful & calm spaces. At least when there aren’t any fighting kids running around in there. =)

The room has several little projects that make up the total makeover.

Lets start with this little chair that I found at Goodwill. It’s a nice sturdy wooden chair that was $3.99, but marked 50% off. So for 2 bucks I got this cute little chair that I wanted to paint for this room.

When I got it home and began sanding it and cleaning it up, I turned it over and discovered it was an Ethan Allen chair. No wonder it’s so sturdy. I’m warning you now, all of you natural wood loving people (Kathy M.), you may want to scroll on past this section of this post. I know how upsetting it can be for people like me to ruin a perfectly good piece of wood furniture with paint!

I don't worry about primer on some things that I spray paint. But since this is a chair that could be handled a lot, I thought a sanding and some primer might be a good idea.

I also wanted to try something a little different. I saw something out in blogland somewhere, where a girl painted the bottoms of the legs a different color. I'm sure there is a name for it, but I have no idea what it is.

After giving the legs a couple of coats of blue paint, I taped off the legs and spray painted the rest of the chair white. Gives it kind of a fun look I think. Of course I somehow managed to get one little dab of white paint on the blue part of the leg. And of course it had to be a front leg. But guess what? I don't really care. I didn't want to dirty a brush again to fix that little spot. How lazy is that???

I also took my little sanding block and distressed some of the edges a little.

You can't really see it in these pictures, but I like it.

Then my cute little painted chair needed a friend. I had this fabric laying around that I hadn't figured out what to do with yet. It was the perfect size for a little pillow of this chair. My mama will be so proud, I even figured out how to add a little ruffle. (She has been trying to teach me how to sew for years. I'm horrible at it!)

This painting came from Etsy. I purchased it from this artist. She has a very whimsical style that I really like. And the colors in this painting were perfect for this room.

Clearance bamboo roman shade from Lowes. I think I only paid around $8 for it. Curtains are from Ikea. They are the Vivan style and are only $14.99 for both panels. They also come with some hemming tape if you don't want to take the time to sew them.

I don't know if you can tell or not from the picture, but the color on the walls actually pulls a little bit of a greenish color from the shade. That was a happy surprise!

I had another space that I needed something for. Some type of art work. I have a big chunky frame that I wanted to put fabric in for that space. I had a canvas that I thought about painting. I couldn't find fabric I liked and couldn't get the motivation to paint the canvas. So I was walking through the dollar store the other day and saw these. I thought the bamboo looking texture would look good in here.

Any guess on what they are?

They are placemats.

$1 placemats hanging on my bedroom wall!

What do you think?

I'm not totally in love, but they are working until I find something better.

They are better than a blank wall.

Just some pretty seashells that my step dad bought my boys a couple of years ago while we were on vacation.

My next little project involved this!

Yep. A canvas painters drop cloth!

plus

An old rug that I had rolled up in the garage to take to Goodwill.

Spray adhesive.

Painters tape.

Paint.

First I layed the old rug out on top of the drop cloth and cut around the rug, leaving a couple of inches on each side.

Then I ironed the drop cloth to remove all the wrinkles and fold marks.

Next I took my rug, my drop cloth and my spray adhesive outside.

I layed the rug on the cement right side up. Then layed the drop cloth on top of the rug and squared it up with the rug. Next I pulled back the drop cloth half way on one end, sprayed the adhesive onto the rug, layed the cloth back down and smoothed out all wrinkles and creases. After that was set, I repeated the same steps for the other end of the rug.

After the adhesive was set, I took the rug back inside and grabbed my handy dandy green Frog Tape. LOVE THAT STUFF! I taped off random sized spaces. No meassuring or planning of colors. For those of you that know me well, that is a big step in my matchy matchy, symmetrical addiction recovery! Ordinarily I would have meassured everything precisely and would have had to have a color theme picked out before I could start.

NOT THIS TIME!

I did use a yardstick to try to get my tape lines somewhat straight.

Next I grabbed some of my MANY paint samples, as well as the left over paint from the bathroom and bedroom, to paint my lines. My very random, non-planned out lines.

Would you look at how perfect those lines are. No bleeding. The green tape is so much better than the blue tape. And notice how I didn't make sure that every single little thread of the canvas was perfectly and evenly covered with paint. I've discovered if you go with the "weathered" look, when you make mistakes you can act as if they were on purpose. Just trying to make it look weathered!

And here's the finished product! A nice sized, coordinating, inexpensive rug for my bedroom. The only thing I purchased was the drop cloth which was $9.99 at Home Depot and I still have at least half of it to use for something else.

(I still need to hot glue the edges under to the back side of the rug. I'll get to it eventually.)

This was another good deal that I bought at Home Depot.

A 40" x 32" mirror for $19!

That's a big mirror for that price.

The problem was that I didn't care for the finish that was on the frame. It was kind of goldish, antiquey looking. Not really working with this room.

Nothing a brown paper bag, painters tape and a little spray paint can't fix.

I taped it all up to protect the mirror from the paint and gave it a couple of coats of spray paint.

Looks much better!

I did get a little paint on the mirror and it scraped right off with a razor blade.

I love the details in the frame.

The mirror allows the room to look brighter because of the light reflecting off of it.

So many projects in this room. Next is this cute little lamp. I've had this lamp forever. It was a weird greenish color with lovely little pencil marks on it from one of my lovely little children.

Enter white spray paint again. Sprayed the base of it white, wrapped some burlap around the shade, and then finished the edges with some pretty aqua ribbon to coordinate with the room.

Notice I said "coordinate" not "match" the room! =)

I used the spray adhesive again to adhere the burlap to the shade. Then some hot glue to glue the edges to the under side of the shade.

And last but not least, some throw pillows for the bead. I found this upholstry fabric in the remnant bin at JoAnn's. A yard of $29.99 fabric marked down to $6.80. So together with a $4.00 bag of pillow stuffing (I'm sure there is a different name for it), I made these two throw pillows. I have some fabric left over that I want to use for something else. I love it so much.

The whole room started with this quilt that I bought a few months ago on clearnace at JCPenneys. I believe it was about a $200 quilt marked down to $60 or $70. I loved the colors. So it has been my inspiration for everything in the room..

I'm totally in love with the paint color. It's called Rainwashed from Sherwin Williams. It's another one of those colors that sort of changes throughout the day. Sometimes green, sometimes aqua, sometimes greyish. I love all the colors!

Total cost for the entire re-do is right around $225. Not too bad for an entire room makeover.

I hope you enjoyed this little makeover. We have moved on to the boys bedroom, which is finished, and the family room, which is still in progress. It's turning out very well. I will share with you as soon as I can. I'm hoping to have the entire house ready to put on the market by the end of July. Wish me luck!

So have any of you been doing any redecorating? What are you favorite go to colors?

Bathroom Re-do #2 | Sunbury Photographer

2011-06-15T22:01:00.004-04:00

We finished up our 3rd room re-do this week.

I showed you the other bathroom here.

I haven't posted pictures yet of our kitchen changes. I will someday.

This week we completed the master bathroom and I LOVE it!

It is beachy and airy. If you know me, you know I LOVE the beach.

And I also love turquoise. All different shades of it.

As you may or may not know, we are re-doing our entire house in order to put it on the market. Since I have the whole house to spruce up and decorate, I'm trying not to spend too much money in each space.

Every thing on this shelf I bought on clearance. I already had the shelf, shell and plate holder. The plate was a gift from my mom and the other two items were about $5 for both of them.

I already had most of the items in this picture too. The shell and starfish are from a trip to the Bahamas when I was pregnant with our oldest son. The mason jar, the beautiful blue/green mason jar, I found in someones trash. A story for another day! :) I found two boxes of these old mason jars and have been using them all over to decorate with. This one was perfect for this room.

The latch is very rusty.

It adds character!

RIGHT?

I found this sailboat at Hobby Lobby on clearance for around $3 I think.

Another clearance find. Found the shower curtain at Meijer for $7 or $8.

Then I found some pillow shams at Target on clearance for $2.48. I picked up some, thinking they would go with the quilt on my bed. But they don't look good in there at all.

I've had this picture board hanging in my hall for years,

and for about half of those years I hated it. It's so boring.

So I took one of the shams, cut the back panels off, wrapped it around this picture board, and stapled it to the back of the board.

Flip it over and it's a cute piece of art to hang on the wall.

Pretty colors! :)

We also decided to hang a chair rail in here. We did board and batten in the other bathroom, but I didn't want to do it again in here. I wanted something a little more simple.

After hanging the chair rail, with a 2 and 5 year old as assistants,

(Yes I said 2 & 5. I had them help me hold the moulding while I nailed it. They were the only ones home. Yes it took me 10 minutes to hang 1 piece of moulding, because apparently they kept forgetting they were helping me and would just walk away at random times. Then I would have to start all over with the leveling, nailing, etc...)

After finally getting the moulding nailed to the wall, I used some Frog tape, caulk and this nifty little tool thing (I have not idea what it's called, but I LOVE it.) to finish it all off.

If you haven't tried green Frog tape, you need too. It's awesome! It works so much better than the blue painters tape. Doesn't allow for the paint to bleed underneath.

I put the tape above the moulding, ran a bead of caulk down the entire thing to fill any gaps between the wall and the moulding, and then ran the yellow tool thing down the edge of the moulding. It smushes the chaulk into the gaps and leaves a nice smooth clean line.

(I know there is no green tape in this picture. I forgot to take a picture before I pulled the tape.)

Then I painted all along the edge, and pulled the tape up as soon as I was finished before the caulk and paint dried completely. When I wait and pull it after the paint dries, the tape will usually pull some of the paint with it.

Look at this nice clean line!

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE, Frog tape.

And this is the finished room!

Very simple and fresh.

The paint color is Window Pane by Sherwin Williams, color matched to Behr at Home Depot.

It's blue - green - grey - turquoise. Depends on the time of day and the light.

I love Behr paint. I only had to paint one coat to cover the old color.

We still have half a gallon of paint left to paint something else.

I'm very happy to say that the whole re-do cost us less than $70!

(Forgot to hang the towels up before I took the picture.)

So there you have it.

Three down, three more, a hallway and foyer to go.

We are hoping to tackle the master bedroom this weekend.

I'm putting off the family room until last because I CANNOT decide on a paint color.

Anyone have a FAVORITE paint color that I should know about?

Summer | Sunbury Senior Photographer

2011-06-14T23:10:00.001-04:00

My last 2011 senior.

Summer.

We also did a session last winter in the snow. I shared a couple of those images here.

Gorgeous!

We shot all these images in her back yard. (I hope you didn't end up with poison ivy Summer!)

We thought this old wooden fence was perfect for her outfit in these shots.

Outfit change.

Some more gorgeous!

She is as sweet as she is beautiful.

Her Mama should be very proud!

Couldn't decide on color or black & white for this image.

I kind of like the moodiness of the black & white treatment.

What do you think?

I'm booking 2012 Seniors now. I'm shooting my first two 2012 Seniors in July.

Very smart girls planning so far in advance!

Be in touch soon if you want to go ahead and get your pictures taken care of so you aren't rushing around next spring trying to get yearbook pictures and graduation invitations.

Email me for the details!

what I've been up to | Sunbury Photographer

2011-06-01T22:00:00.004-04:00

As some of you may know, we are working on getting our house ready to sell. So as any good home owner would do, we are finally getting around to decorating our house the way we would like for it to be. You know, fixing things up so it will be more marketable. Why we lived in it for 11 years without doing these things is beyond me. But we are doing it now. I have been working on it almost everyday for a while now. A couple of hours here and couple of hours there. I'm really bad about jumping from project to project. But this past week I felt the sudden urge to have something FINISHED!

The first room that I am completely finished with is the kids bathroom.

This is a little glimpse of what it looked like when we started. Bright yellow walls that I thought might scare potential home buyers off. After all, not everyone loves color as much as I do. So I wanted to tone it down a little without making it completely boring and drab.

So after surfing around blog land for a while, I decided to jump on the Board and Batten bandwagon.

I love the crisp clean lines of Board and Batten!

I asked for a nail gun for Mother's Day so I could tackle this project (and many more) in a more efficient manner. As you can imagine, I didn't have to do too much talking to convince Dennis to buy me a cool power tool. I guess that's what you would call a nail gun. I don't know.

I started by painting the bottom 1/2 to 2/3's of the wall with semi gloss white paint.

Then I went to Home Depot and bought chair rail molding and these tiny strips of mdf called batten. Both were very inexpensive. Can't remember the exact cost though. :(

Then I dug through my husbands stuff in the garage until I found this.

I believe it's called a Miter Box. I used it to make all of the cuts in all of the trim/molding that I bought. The Miter Box even guides you in the corner cuts. My corners didn't turn out precisely right, but a little caulk did the trick to make them livable.

I decided to paint all the chair rail & batten pieces with the semi gloss paint before I hung them. That way I didn't have to do so many coats after they were hung.

This past weekend we broke out the shiny new nail guns and ~~had some fun~~ got to work hanging all the pieces. We hung all the vertical batten pieces first. I measured 18 inch increments around the room, adjusting where need be to make it look better. Then we simply lined the batten up on the mark, put a nail right in the middle, then used a level to make sure we were straight up & down before nailing the top and bottom.

After all the vertical strips were hung, we placed the chair rail across the top and nailed it into place. Very simple. Once everything was hung, I filled in the nail holes and touched up with paint to finish it all off.

I found the four hook towel bar at Target and the bright colored towels at Meijer. The shower curtain was purchased at Target a couple of years ago. And the frames are from JoAnn's.

As you can see, there are still bright colors, but I think the white part of the walls sort of toned it down a bit. What do you think? Are you color phobic? Would you be scared off by this bathroom? :)

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

2011-05-19T11:00:00.009-04:00

My second tip for you in our More Than A Snapshot series is very simple, but can make a big impact on your photos. All you have to do is fill your frame.
And when I say fill the frame,
I mean FILL THE FRAME.

Really zoom in and focus on the subject.

When I say focus, I don’t mean “not blurry”. I mean focus, as in give complete attention to.

Leave all the clutter behind them out of the picture. Sometimes you can do that with the zoom on your camera. But sometimes you will have to actually walk up very close to your subject and take the picture. . Get all up in their personal space and take a nice tight shot.

When shooting this week, pay attention to the surroundings. If the surroundings don’t help tell the story, eliminate them.

Try it. You might like it!

Casting Call | Sunbury Photographer

2011-05-19T00:03:00.001-04:00

I'm looking for a newborn baby boy to model some new props that I will be receiving soon!

The photos will be used as advertising for a new Etsy artist that I am teaming up with.

Requirements: Baby Boy age birth - 10 days

Must be willing to sign a model release

Must live within 45 miles of Sunbury

Model will be compensated with approximately 10 - 15 full resolution

images on a disc with full printing rights.

Email me if you are interested!

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-05-18T00:40:00.003-04:00

(If you like this printable, email me and I will forward you the full sized file.)

More Than A Snapshot: Photography Tips | Sunbury Photographer

2011-05-16T00:03:00.003-04:00

I have people ask me all the time to teach them how to use their cameras. Or how to make their pictures more interesting. I am always an open book when it comes to teaching people how to do these two things. My desire in having a photography business is not to just take beautiful pictures of other people. My desire is to help others realize how important it is to document their lives with photographs. After they realize how important it is, I want them to know how to create great photos that truly tell their story. After all, isn’t that what photography is all about? It’s about capturing all of our memories as a family.

(Picture taken this weekend. No one is looking at the camera which is part of what tells the story. Every one is looking at Dad while he gives strict instructions about riding in the wagon and driving the tractor. Dad giving strict instructions is a daily thing in our lives! LOL )

For me, my photography business is about capturing images of your families as well. Photos that will help tell your story. But there is more to your life then the photos that I take of you and your kids on a Saturday afternoon in the park. So many things that happen every single day in your homes that are photo worthy. Things, that I for one, want to be able to remember. And since I have a horrible memory, I have to capture that memory with my camera!

(Playing in the pool on a hot Saturday afternoon. I want to remember those pretty long eyelashes, cute little nose, and perfectly pink squishy lips. Not to mention the wispy, perfectly highlighted by God, hair falling around her face.)

All that being said, I thought it might be nice to do a few posts to give you a few tips on how to take pictures that will really tell a story. Pictures that will someday bring you right back to their newborn days. Or their first day of school. Or when they were obsessed with Thomas the Train. Or when they went to Senior Prom. AND, my second goal is to take pictures that will help my kids better know themselves when they look back at all the photos that we have taken over the years.

(I also want them to remember their relationships with their siblings.)

So my first tip for you is very simple! And you have probably heard me say it before.

Get your camera out of the closet
and get in the habit of using it daily!

So go on….

Go get your camera out of your closet, out of the camera bag, and charge the batteries.

I’ll wait for you to get back…

OK good. That is a huge first step!

My camera sits on my kitchen counter, charged and ready to go, every single day. That way when something cute is going on, the camera is at my finger tips.

My future tips aren’t going to do you any good if your camera is packed away in the closet!

Taking interesting pictures is not all about knowing all the technical aspects of our camera. There are lots of things that you can do with your camera in auto mode that will still make your photos more interesting. Maybe someday we will get in to the technical stuff. But for now, let’s focus on simpler things. Things I can tell you in a brief blog post.

So that’s it. That’s my first tip. Get your camera out and use it every day. Try to take at least one picture every single day. There is almost always something going on each day that is picture worthy. If there is not, create something to take a picture of!

Pretty in Pink | Delaware Newborn Photographer

2011-05-12T10:57:00.000-04:00

Allow me to introduce baby Kenzie to you.

She was less than a week old when we took these pictures.

It really is ideal to shoot newborn pictures as close to their birthday as possible.

Would you look at these squishy little lips?

Love...

Never too early to wear a tu-tu!

And look at that cute little nose!

Have I told you lately how much I love newborn sessions? :)

I do!

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-05-11T06:40:00.000-04:00

Talking to God.

spray paint

2011-05-10T22:42:00.001-04:00

Isn't this lamp beautiful?

Just kidding! :)

I bought it at Goodwill this week for $5.99.

I'm sure you are wondering what possessed me to buy this lamp.

It's not exactly the most beautiful lamp you ever did see.

After I found this at Goodwill, I went to Home Depot and bought some spray paint.

Apple Green spray paint!

So pretty.

I came home, removed the lamp shade, sanded the wood and the brass on the lamp, and wiped it down with a wet towell. Covered the top of the lamp and the cord with plastic and painters tape.

Then the fun started. I took it out in the yard and broke out that can of purty green spray paint.

This is what I ended up with!

Isn't that a lot better than the dark wood and gold brass.

Such a fun color. I love color!

I also have plans for the lamp shade. I'll share that with you when I get time to do it.

When I was at Home Depot, I also picked up some Red Apple spray paint.

Apparently I like the colors of apples!

Did I mention that I like color?

I LOVE color!

I've had these stools forever. I thought they might be fun to paint as well.

Red was my choice of color for these.

They went from this...

To this!

How pretty is that? I love them!

Now I need to head to the fabric store and find some fun fabric to cover the seat of the stools with.

I'll let you know what I come up with for the seats!

I'm sure it will be colorful! :)

So what projects have you been working on around the house? I have a million different projects started. I just have to work on which ever one fits into my day the best. Somedays it's indoor projects, somedays it's outside. Somedays my kids will let me work on projects, somedays we snuggle and read books! I just try to go with the flow.

just being honest | Sunbury Photographer

2011-05-04T22:38:00.001-04:00

Last night I came home at 10:30pm, after being away from my children for two solid days, and couldn’t wait to put them all to bed. I was exhausted and just wanted everyone to go to bed. The entire time I was trying to get them all to bed, I was feeling guilty about the fact that I hadn’t spent any time with them in two days. On Monday I spent the day doing something very important for my mom, and am so grateful that I am in a situation to be able to help her during this time of need in her life. And then on Tuesday I worked my day job all day, picked up my kids, ran them through Burger King for dinner, and dropped them off somewhere else. I had a client meeting and had to leave them with a friend for the evening. So two solid days with sitters and no mommy time. Thanks goodness for an awesome sitter/friend and other great friends that are there for my children when I can’t be.

So here’s the thing. When I started my business I was in a different place in my life. I had a husband that was unemployed, and I was doing everything I could to build the business. Taking on every job I could possibly handle. I was trying to build a portfolio to be able to further grow my business. AND, my husband was home with our kids the entire time I was running all over taking pictures, and sitting at my computer till the wee hours of the morning editing, ordering, and corresponding. They were not with sitters all the time. I still felt mommy guilt, but not to the extent that I feel now.

Things are different now in our home. My husband is no longer unemployed, and his new job takes him out of town a lot. So I’m basically a single mom 5 days a week with 4 children, a full time job, and a part time job. Most days I can handle it all without too much trouble. But sometimes I have moments of realization like I did last night. Moments where I realize that my children are growing up without their mommy most days. I am missing out on their little lives. Missing out on all those memories that I can never get back.

I feel this strong urge to step back from things and regroup. I am feeling out of control and like my own family is no where near the top of my priority list right now. It’s my own fault. I am no good at work/life balance. I have no problem leaving my day job in the evening and completely forgetting about it after I walk out the door. Because my day job is not my dream job. It’s a job that is necessary for our family right now. But this photography gig is a different story. I LOVE it so much, I love creating, and I love being able to provide beautiful images to my clients, of their children & families. Because of this love, I am no good at finding a balance. A balance of getting to do what I love so much, and getting to create memories with and enjoy my own family. I think I need a life coach! :)

I share all these very personal thoughts to say I have no idea what all this means. Makes perfect since right? No seriously, I think it just means that I need to slow down and re-evaluate things. AND, that there may be a few changes in how we run our business during this crazy time of our lives.

I guess that’s the great thing about having your own business.

You can make changes when you need to.

I hope to make changes that will be a win win for both you and I.

These are the moments that I need more of!

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-04-27T08:19:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-04-20T21:06:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday

2011-04-06T22:58:00.003-04:00

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-03-30T09:25:00.001-04:00

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-03-23T09:56:00.002-04:00

Welcome to my life these days!

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-03-09T09:47:00.000-05:00

Just because it's pretty!

$3 and 30 minutes | Sunbury Photographer

2011-03-08T21:44:00.000-05:00

Look what happens when you go to the dollar store and spend $3.00 on small containers, and then come home and spend 30 minutes cleaning out two drawers!

No your eyes are not playing tricks on you. I have two messy junk drawers in my kitchen!

Now I have two un-messy junk drawers!

Why do we put off doing things, like cleaning out a drawer, when it really takes very little time to do it?

4 boys & a baby | Galena Maternity Photographer

2011-03-06T20:08:00.002-05:00

What an exciting time for this beautiful family. They are expecting baby number five in the next week or so! They already have four rowdy boys running around their house. Baby number 5 is still a mystery!

Kelley contacted me about maternity pictures a couple of months ago. She saw some other maternity photos that I had shot and decided that she wanted to capture these last few days of her final pregnancy too. I'm so glad she did!

She looks absolutely gorgeous! Especially for being just a couple of weeks from delivering.

These are another type of photo that I am jealous of. I so wish I would have had maternity photos taken. But of course I never did. So many things that I capture for other people that I wish I had for myself.

And who wouldn't love to have these beautiful moments as husband and wife captured?

Thank you Kelley for asking me to shoot these images for you. I really enjoyed our time together!

Congratulations on your new son or daughter!

Can't wait to hear whether it's a little boy or little girl. :o)

See more of Billie's work at http://www.billiemitchellphotography.com/.

Become a fan of Billie's work on Facebook. Email Billie at billie@billiemitchellphotography.com.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-03-02T23:05:00.002-05:00

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-02-23T21:48:00.002-05:00

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-02-16T10:03:00.000-05:00

A little sign that spring will return someday...

5 on Friday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-02-11T21:27:00.003-05:00

1. blinking cursor, blinking cursor, blinking cursor…. crickets……

2. I got nothin this week. This is a slow time of year for photographers. So really, I have been just working on my house. Not a lot of photography work.

3. Well I take that back. I have been taking lots of pictures. Pictures of my own family for my 365 blog. I get excited thinking about what the end of year blog book will look like with all these pictures that I’m taking for this project.

4. I recently posted on that 365 blog about Peyton and I loving the You Are My Sunshine song. So this week I made this little sign to print and hang in her room. I also posted here and here about her love of the Itsy Bitsy Spider. So I’m going to try to create another sign to go along with this. If you would like a copy of this Sunshine sign, email me and I will email you the file for you to print for yourself. I'm planning on just printing it with my photo lab and putting it in a frame.

5. This is the little Valentine that I made for Cooper’s Valentine’s Day party at preschool. I haven’t shown them to him yet. He might hate them and want the regular character Valentines. Either way, I love this little card of him and will keep it for myself!

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-02-09T00:01:00.001-05:00

This is an art project that Drew made for me a couple of years ago when he was homeschooling.

I thought it was an appropriate thing to share with you since Valentine's Day is coming up next week.

bowls, bowls, and more bowls | Sunbury Photographer

2011-02-07T23:26:00.001-05:00

A few more things decluttered in the kitchen!

I have been replacing, or receiving as gifts, new Tupperware containers lately.

Lots of pretty new colors!

Bowls that aren't partially melted on the inside or stained from red sauce.

So instead of doing like I usually do, and keep all the old stuff along with the new stuff, I decided to get rid of some of the old stuff that I really no longer need. I actually already decluttered this cabinet once a few weeks ago. But it still had too much stuff in it.

Here is a before picture... (this was after the initial declutter)

I had three sets of the same bowls. One really old set, one old set, and one new set.

As you can see, I of course decided to get rid of the old ugly stuff and keep the pretty new set.

I also got rid of anything that did not stack easily. I had a couple sets of bowls that did not stack inside of each other well. So they took up more space and were always falling over. Those are gone!

I did have some square items that I kept to use as organizers in drawers.

I really love the new colors that Tupperware has right now.

They make my cupboards and fridge look so cheery when I open them!

Gotta love cheery!

Here is the after picture.

Next up, this mess of stuff sitting in the corner of my counter.

A big ugly eye sore.

Really???

I don't even cook!

Maybe subconsiously I thought if I had this mess of recipes and cookbooks, it would make it seem like I was a cook. I don't know. Regardless, this mess is GONE!

I took all those papers with recipes written on them and copied them on to recipe cards that would fit inside the recipe basket. I know. What a novel idea right??? Got rid of a bunch of cookbooks and cooking magazines in that green basket, and removed it from the countertop.

This is what the space looks like now!

And since I cleaned out this cabinet a few weeks ago and had empty space in it, I decided to put the recipe basket and the one cookbook that I did keep, up in the cabinet. So it's not a clutter eye sore that I have to look at everyday in the corner of my countertop.

While I was packing up a box of kitchen stuff for Goodwill, I decided to clean some more stuff out of a couple of other cabinets as well.

Do you know that I had 42 plates in my cabinet for our family of 6?

REALLY???

That's ridiculous.

So I cut that back to 16.

Probably really still too many.

But we'll see how this works out before I go further.

Also got rid of a few more cups and some other kids dishes.

I'm finding that it's best to make 2 or 3 sweeps of the same area to really get it completely decluttered. It's hard to get rid of every single thing that you should the first time through. But after you purge the initial stuff, then later after you have forgotten about and haven't even missed what you got rid of, you can make another pass and purge a few more things.

Happy Decluttering everyone!

PS Let me know what you have been decluttering in your home. If you haven't started yet, I hope that these posts will inspire you to purge that first drawer. Then when you see how good it feels, you will tackle a book shelve, and then a coat closet. And before you know it, it's like a snowball that just keeps going and going. I actually sat at work today thinking about getting home to work on these cabinets. It's sort of addicting! : )

I know, I'm wierd.

5 on Friday | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-02-04T01:47:00.005-05:00

1. Some how I came across a beautiful blog a couple of weeks ago that I think you might like. I love this photographer’s work. She is doing a 30 day photo project with her baby boy. She documented his life everyday for the month of January. She posted gorgeous black and white images of her adorable little boy. I mean he is too pretty to be a boy. So anyway, I thought I would share the blog with you too since I know you love beautiful photographs! You can visit Kerianne Browns blog here. http://keriannebrown.com/blog/

2. So last week I told you I had to work on my sales taxes over the weekend. Well, I didn’t do it over the weekend. Too busy having family time and taking naps.  So Monday night I stayed up late, after helping Brodey finish a project that was due on Tuesday, finished up & paid my sales tax online on January 31st. So I wouldn’t be late filing this time. Well guess what, they were actually due on January 24th, not the 31st. So they ended up being late anyway. I thought they were due by the end of the month. Lesson learned.

3. So we have had an incredibly yucky week! Cold + ice + snow + wind + no power = unhappiness

4. A little photo tip this week, use the snow outside to your advantage when you are taking indoor photos. Get your subject, whether it is a child, pet, or just a random object, and put it near a window. Use natural light instead of the flash. The snow is like a huge reflector bouncing lots of natural light in through your windows. Give it a try this weekend and see what you come up with. Post them on my Facebook wall so I can see if you try it. You might even go as far as taking the picture with the flash and then take it again using the natural light and see which way you like it better. I would be interested in hearing what you think.

5. Tip number 2 this week, get closer! When taking pictures, crop in closer on your subject. Fill the frame with your subject. This will eliminate distracting backgrounds and bring more attention to your subject. Again, please share what you come up with. I would love to see it.

5 on Friday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-01-28T09:51:00.000-05:00

1. We have made it through our first month of our 365 project. A group of friends and myself have been taking and posting a picture a day for the month of January. 1 down, 11 more to go! You can check out my Pic of the Day blog here. If you scroll to the bottom of my blog, you can see all of my friends that are 365'ing it with me as well. If you care to join us, jump in now. Doesn’t matter what time of year you start. If you do start a 365 project, please let me know so I can follow along too.

Here is my pic of the day for today!

2. I have the fun task of getting my sales tax info together this weekend and getting that paid by Monday. I am looking so forward to it too. I just love doing tax stuff! NOT! I hate doing this kind of stuff. But it’s something that has to be done if I want to continue following this dream of mine!

3. So I found a new fav blog this week. I have been giving a lot of thought lately to my house. As many of you could probably guess. With all the mass decluttering going on around here. I don’t know what happened. But something inside of me clicked recently and I realized that my house is not a haven. It doesn’t bring me peace and happiness when I walk into it. I realized that it really says nothing about who we are as a family. Other than the photography in my family room, the rest of the house is just a hodge podge of stuff. I just finally realized that my home is decorated like it is supposed to be if you live in central Ohio. Well quite frankly, we do not really have central Ohio kind of personalities. Other than Ohio State Football that is! So anyway, I could go on and on about this, but this is not the post for that. I just wanted to share this blog that I found about home decorating. I’m not really into her style necessarily, but I do like her ideas and how to’s. You can check it out here if this is something you are interested in also.

4. I’ve spent several hours of the last couple of weeks working on website updates. I’ve added all new photos to the galleries. I’m not finished with all the updates yet, but it’s closer then it was a week ago. I’m happy to have more recent work there to represent where I currently am in my photography journey. Hop on over and have a looksie if you have time! Who knows, you might even find a photo of yourself or your children over there!

5. I fell off my declutter wagon this week. Didn’t get anything done really. Not even just regular house work. Our whole family has been passing around illness after illness for almost 2 months now. This week I was lucky enough to catch the stomach bug that the kids had last week, and my hubby had over the weekend. It’s funny how being sick and not doing anything for just a day or two can really make things just completely fall apart. And the truth of the matter is, it will probably only take an hour or two to get things under control again. It’s just the getting started part that I struggle with sometimes!

Wordless Wednesday | Lancaster Newborn Photographer

2011-01-26T20:48:00.000-05:00

the wedding dress | Sunbury Photographer

2011-01-24T12:52:00.002-05:00

In my quest to clean up my house, there are a few things that are kind of hard to declutter. One of the items that I have been thinking about lately is my wedding dress. Like many of you probably did, I had it cleaned after our wedding and stored neatly in a box to preserve it. Preserve it for what, I have no idea? But that is what I did.

So now, after all these years, I'm wondering why am I keeping this dress. It's not like anyone is ever going to want to wear it. It's just taking up space.

Right?

I'm not sure.

I'm sort of torn on this one.

All of this leads me to my blog post today. I thought for fun I would create a little poll to see what all of you have done with your dress. Maybe it will help me decide what I should do with mine.

So please take a second and vote below. I would really appreciate your input.

What have you done with your wedding dress?

keepin it real... don't judge!

2011-01-21T11:03:00.002-05:00

WARNING: If you only come here for pretty pictures, you might want to skip today's post. The pictures you will find here today are a bit disturbing. BUT, there is a happy ending!

I've talked several times around here and on Facebook about my whole house declutter project. It has turned into quite the project. Little by little. One space at a time. Sometimes just one drawer at a time. Or one kitchen cabinet at a time. Whenever the mood strkes, I try to stop what I am doing and clear out a space and clean it.
Fast forward to yesterday afternoon. Cooper asked me if he could play with play dough. I went into the laundry room to get the play dough off the shelf , and when I pulled it down, a basket of plastic Easter eggs dumped on my head.

"THAT'S IT!"

That was the my queue that it was time to tackle the laundry room.
Remember when I said I try to declutter when the mood hits me?
Well this time the clutter actually hit me!

I sat him up at the kitchen table with all the play dough and immediately began dragging stuff out of the room. But first, you know me, I took a picture!

So at the risk of a lot of judgement, here is what the room looked like before I started!

Before I begin, let me apologize now if you purchased any of the items that I am pulling out of this room for my children or I. Please forgive.

Seriously. How many pull ups and swim diapers does a kid need?

And then after I took this picture, I discovered another bag with more pull ups in it.

Are you kidding me???

Don't even get me started on the number of Halloween buckets and Easter baskets that were stored in here. And after I took this picture, I found two more buckets that had fallen behind a rack.

Do you know when the last time any of my children did a craft project?

Me neither!

AND, my initial thought about these crafts was that I should save them because Peyton might enjoy them someday.

NO NO NO!

By the time she is old enough to use them, they will probably be dried up and ruined from sitting for so long. Heck, they probably are already dried up and ruined. Instead I decided when she gets old enough, I will buy her a craft kit or two to play with. NOT 10 or 12 projects!

OK, moving on....

Can anyone tell me why the laundry room is the most logical place to store football equipment?

Then I came across these cute drinking glasses that a sweet friend of mine gave to me a LLOOONNNGGG time ago. I immediately loaded them into the dishwasher. I am going to donate my old ones and start using these ones. I like change.

Some more stuff that was taken out of this little room: coloring books, 2 inhaler tubes, kids artwork, booster seat tray(don't know where the booster seat is), Bearcats poster (??? Bearcats???), potty chair, flower vases, electric broom, posterboard, bath rugs, old curtains, fabric, soccer shin guards, Gatorade, sling for a broken arm, and a baby harness.

Can you believe there was that much stuff in this little room?

So now that all of this junk is removed and either thrown away or donated, this is the final outcome!

Ta Da....

Yes Jenny, that is your sweater and scarf!

P.S. In case you are wondering what the kids were doing while I was cleaning all this out, this is how they kept themselves entertained! The play dough is the one thing, out of all that craft type stuff, that they do play with.

P.S.S. And then the play dough box got consolidated too!

Wordless Wednesday | Westerville Photographer

2011-01-19T00:01:00.000-05:00

Jersey Girl | Lancaster Portrait Photographer

2011-01-17T12:05:00.005-05:00

My first newborn session of 2011 was a sweet little baby girl named Jersey. She was only 5 days old when we shot these images. She is so precious and beauitful! I actually felt a teeny bit guilty by the end of the session when we had aggravated her so much taking pictures, that she was crying. She just wanted to be left alone so she could sleep. Oh, and put some clothes on so she could be warm.

Oh my gosh! Would you check out this girls eyelashes!

Her mommy says she gets them from her daddy.

As you can see, she was pretty content when we put her in the big sock to keep her warm.

I couldn't stop with the lashes.
I think those are th longest lashes I have ever seen on a newborn.
Lucky girl!

And underneath the lashes are gorgeous baby blues.

I was also lucky enough to get to snap just a few photos of her awesome big sis Jaycee.

Equally as gorgeous!

More beautiful eyes!

And then just a couple of Jaycee & Jersey together.

I love the way Jaycee is looking down at her new baby sister.

Her sweet little smile and cheeks are adorable.

See more of Billie's work at http://www.billiemitchellphotography.com/.

Become a fan of Billie's work on Facebook.
Email Billie at billie@billiemitchellphotography.com.

PS: Jess, I will have your gallery to you later today!
I hope this will hold you over for just a little bit longer.

5 on Friday | Lancaster Photographer

2011-01-14T00:01:00.001-05:00

1. Last weekend I had the chance to shoot two of my favorite kind of sessions. Saturday was a High School Senior and Sunday was a newborn baby girl. Both sessions were a lot of fun. Last week I mentioned doing something different with your photo session. Bundle up and go outside! And that is exactly what we did on Saturday. I mean tell me, how many times do you see childrens, senior or family portraits with people all bundled up in cute hats, gloves, scarves and boots? Not very often really. Most people plan their session during the summer or fall time. I’m telling you, winter sessions can really be fun. And oh so cute and unique! Here are a couple of images from last weekend to prove out awesome they are. :o)

2. I really do waiver between senior and newborn sessions being my favs. I can’t really decide which I like more. I love them both for different reasons. I love seniors because they are fun and energetic! They are up for fun new ideas and they do exactly what I ask the first time I ask! As opposed to other children, (I won’t mention any names, but you can see them somewhere pretty big on top of this blog) who I have to beg & bribe to get a few shots! Then I love newborns because they are so sweet and well, new! I love shooting newborn sessions because I just never know what I’m going to get. They can definitely be a challenge. But when you get that one special image, it is oh so worth all the pee, sweat, and tears that usually acompany a newborn session. Here are a couple of images from my newborn session last weekend to hold you over until I get the whole session blogged.

3. So we finally took the Christmas tree down this week. No the tree wasn’t still up because of laziness. The tree was still up because we were really, really enjoying it this year. Especially Cooper & Peyton! They would stand near it and gaze at all the bulbs & lights. Occassionally, scratch that, many times, they would break an ornament. But I tried not to get too bent out of shape about it. I was enjoying observing them all wrapped up in the magic of Christmas. Needless to say, I had a couple of unhappy kiddies after I took it down.

4. I kept telling myself that when January rolled around, things would slow down. I’d have a little breathing room. So why do I have a to-do list a mile long of things that need to be done? Website updates, marketing materials that need designed and ordered, taxes, a fun little surprise project that I am working on that really needs to get completed soon, business forms to create, etc… And I have a million blog post ideas swimming around in my head too! I have to say, I love the photography part of having a photography business. The business part of a photography business, not so much!

5. I have a new product offering this year. I finally got around to ordering these really cool little albums to see if it was something that I thought all of you might like. I have to say, I LOVE THEM! And, I think you will too. They are mini accordian albums that are perfect for throwing in your purse and showing off your beautiful family all the time. You know how much moms and grandmas love to do that. I will post some images of my sample album sometime soon so you can see what I'm talking about.

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-01-12T00:01:00.004-05:00

my heart | Sunbury Children's Photographer

2011-01-10T00:01:00.002-05:00

This little boy......

melts my heart....

and drives me mad

every single day!

He is busy, rambunctious, loud, sweet, happy, jumping, running, loving, hugging, climbing, adorable, annoying, kissing, and beautiful all wrapped up in one little 5 year old boy.

He crawls up in my lap and tells me he needs mommy time in the evening after everyone else goes to bed. (He's a night owl.)

And my favorite part about him....

he calls me his snuggle bunny.

His name is Cooper James and he is all mine!

P.S. I'm not sure what is in that sucker, but I think I need to get some more of them!

Lonely In Families | Sunbury Photographer

2011-01-09T00:01:00.013-05:00

Wednesday night I sat in my rocking chair with kids crawling all over me wanting my attention. The whole time this was happening, all I could think about was all the things that I needed to get done. The alone time that I crave. If they would all just give me 10 minutes of alone time. And the entire time I was thinking this, I was also feeling very guilty for feeling this way. Why was I not enjoying these sweet babies that wanted nothing more then to sit on my lap, curled up under a blanket, to watch Strawberry Shortcake with me. GUILT!

Fast forward to Thursday. I was at work looking for a devotion to subscribe to that I could read on my lunch hour each day. The first place I landed was on Proverbs 31 Ministries. The devotion for the day was entitled "Lonely In Families". With permission from the author, Marybeth Whalen, I am including the devotion here. I thought that it might speak to some of you too.

Lonely In Families

Marybeth Whalen

“God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.”
Psalm 68:6 (NIV)

I used to think today’s key verse was a sweet promise to the lonely, assuring them that God would remember them and surround them with the love of a family. And, while I still think this is true, I recently had a revelation while reading this verse that there might be another way to look at it.

I noticed in my Bible’s notes that the word “lonely” means “solitary.” The person the verse is referring to may not be the person feeling sad because she’s alone. This could be the person who needs some alone-time to recharge – she thrives in silence. When life gets too chaotic or crazy or noisy, all she really wants is to be solitary.

That person, in other words, is me.

So what does this verse tell us God does with a person like me? He plops her smack in the middle of a family. He says, “I know you prefer being alone. I know that you can control your world much better when there’s a population of one. But, my child, that is not what makes you a better person. You will never be all that I long for you to be if I leave you in your solitary-ness.”

God saw fit to put me in the midst of six noisy, arguing, busy children and one husband with his own set of expectations, needs and preferences. Then He took a ringside seat and watched the drama ensue. He watched as I battled my own selfishness, learned to put other’s needs ahead of my own, and lapsed into longing for loneliness.

Being a solitary person is not all bad. Jesus understood this propensity to need time alone. While He surrounded Himself with crowds of people, there are times in the gospels where He tells His disciples He’s had enough and withdraws from the crowds to recharge. Luke 5:16 says, “But Jesus often withdrew to lonely places and prayed.” Two words jump out at me in that verse: often and lonely. God doesn’t try to take away our bent towards being solitary, but He doesn’t want us to stay in that place all the time. We should take the time to go to our lonely places and pray. But we also need to come back and re-engage.

Maybe you’re a solitary person too. Maybe you’ve found yourself rebelling against the needs of your family, lamenting that you just want to be alone. God created us for community. He knows that in isolation we do no one any good. He puts the lonely in families—and it’s not always a pretty process. But the result He is going for is beautiful.

Dear Lord, I confess that I don’t always see my family as a blessing and a tool to grow Your desires for me. Help me to balance my desire for lonely places with Your call in my life to be part of this family You’ve placed me in. And help me to praise You in both situations. In Jesus’ Name, Amen.

This is me on so many levels. I am very much a solitary person. I long for alone time. I like quiet, silence, no conversation. I sometimes wonder why God put me in a house full of NOISE! A house with a super talkative husband and two (out of four) children that are also very talkative. I have NEVER thought about it in the way that Marybeth speaks of. He is yet again working on me.

Below is a video that Marybeth had posted on her website. It's another song along the same lines that I posted here. I hope you enjoy both videos. I hope they speak to you too.

I'm glad to say that this evening I happily sat with my baby girl curled on my lap drawing on her Magna Doodle. Me tracing her hand for her and her tracing my hand, without any thought of all the things around me that I needed to be doing.

5 on Friday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-01-07T00:01:00.002-05:00

1. A song I love. Sometimes I wish I took more time to look at things through His eyes and be more compassionate.

2. Wow! What a week! I've been sick all week. Nothing major. Just a cold. But there is never any time for downtime around our house. I posted on Facebook this week that I wish this Motherhood career came with sick days. I sure could have used a couple of them this week.

3. I have been receiving a lot of inquiries about sessions and weddings for 2011 in the last week. I took most of the month of December off from shooting. Except for personal images of course. It's been a great way to rejuvenate my creative mind! But I am excited to get back to it soon. 2011 is going to be amazing! I can feel it.

4. I'm also starting to get calls about Senior Pictures. For those that didn't have time to get them done last summer or during the fall, think about a little different look for your Senior pictures. Maybe go for some fun winter images. Layers of hats, scarves, gloves, and boots look awesome in pictures! And if we're super lucky, maybe we could even shoot in the snow. I already have one senior on standby waiting for a beautiful snowfall for her winter session. Email if you are interested in this and I will contact you to plan a snowy session. Here is an image shot last winter on a snowy Sunday afternoon.

5. Been cruising Etsy again this week. On one hand I want to tell you to check it out. There is some fun stuff over there. But then on the other hand, I don't want you to become addicted to the site as I have. But if you must check it out, here are a couple of my fav things from Etsy this week.

Click here for this Etsy artist.

Click here for this Etsy shop.

Wordless Wednesday | Sunbury Photographer

2011-01-05T21:39:00.001-05:00

Did you think I forgot about Wordless Wednesday???

I didn't...

A picture of our little New Year's Eve party.

Happy New Year!

I'M SO EXCITED!!! | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-01-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

I posted last week that I was starting a new 365 project. You can check that post out here if you like. Basically a 365 project is a commitment to taking your camera out each day for a year and taking a picture. The idea is to capture your daily life AND to hopefully learn how to take better pictures along the way.

So after posting this last week on my blog, I invited anyone who was interested, to join me in this challenge. I’m so pleased with how many of you joined me. Many of you even setting up your own blogs. Some of you adding a folder to your Facebook photos to add your daily pictures to. And maybe more of you out there that I don’t know about, doing it privately.

The reason that I refer to it as a challenge is because it gets challenging to keep up with after a while. I tried to do this last year and only made it about 2 months. But I think a lot of the problem was that I put too many rules in place for my 365 project. Like making myself not post pictures of my kids every day. Trying to come up with new and creative things to photograph every day. Thinking that I HAD to post every single day and that if I fell behind I might as well just quit.

WHY in the world would I not post pictures of my kids? They are my most favorite thing to photograph. That was a stupid rule!

Coming up with new and creative things to photograph is great. But not when it stresses you out and makes you want to give up. Another dumb rule!

OK, yes the idea is to take 365 pictures so really you should take a picture every single day. But let’s get real. Somedays it’s just not in the cards. Somedays you just don’t feel like it. Or you are sick. Or someone else in the house is sick. Or you just need to unplug. There are lots of reasons why it just doesn’t work everyday. BUT, if I miss a day or even a week, I won’t give up. Even if I only end up with 300 pics for the year, that will still be awesome.

The other rule that I’m not going to place on myself is posting a picture that was taken on the exact date that I am posting it on. Sometimes when I am going back through pictures I have taken in the past, I find a gem that I didn’t notice before. Something that I love and will help tell our families story in 2011. Sometimes I just might post an older picture. The idea is to document a year in your life. To captures memories. Not to adhere to a bunch of self made rules.

So this year I am thinking about it this way. I am documenting a year in our life. Yes I am calling it a 365 project and will follow the basic premise of a 365. But the final outcome is a year in our life!

So I’m writing all this to say to those of you starting this journey with me, don’t give up. It is fun and exciting right now. But there may come a time when you think, “I can’t keep up with this.” Or “I missed a whole week so I’ve failed and need to quit.” Figure out why you are doing it and keep that in mind when those thoughts creep into your mind. Like I said above, for me it’s about documenting a year in our life and at the end I will create a blog book for our family. That is the only hard rule that I care about.

So those of you that are worried about posting more than one picture per day because you can’t pick just one, don’t worry about it. That’s like saying I have too many good memories and I have to delete some of them. Post as many pictures as you like. It will make your year end book that much better!

Those of you that are nervous about putting yourself out there for the world to see, don’t worry. We love seeing what you are doing. Don’t you love peeking into the rest of our blogs? I bet you do or you wouldn’t want to do it for yourself. We love seeing yours too! I for one am loving seeing what is going on in all of your every day lives!

Those of you that are worried that your pictures aren’t good enough to share, DON’T. How are your pictures ever going to get any better if you don’t practice? You would probably be shocked by how many thousands of pictures I have taken to try to figure out how to use my camera. I didn’t learn how to take better pictures with my camera sitting in it’s bag in the closet.

Those of you that don’t know how to work your blog just yet, don’t worry. You will figure it out. It just takes time. Play around with it until you get it the way you like it. If you are using Blogger, I might be able to help you with some things if you need help.

So here is a list of all the 365 blogs that I am aware of so far. Please, if you have started a 365 project and have set up a blog for it, let me know. I would love to add it to my blog list.

http://mommag80.blogspot.com/

http://alicia-onedayatatime.blogspot.com/

http://marladees365.blogspot.com/

http://cindysdailydoodles.blogspot.com/

http://scu114-365daysofliving.blogspot.com/

http://jennys365.blogspot.com/

http://jennysphotos11.blogspot.com/

http://teresagrace.blogspot.com/

http://randomnessbyshelly.blogspot.com/

http://insidethekage.blogspot.com/

Karla just set up her blog and doesn't have any pictures posted yet.

http://billiespicoftheday.blogspot.com/

I'm posting all these in hopes that we can all follow each others journey and support each other. Leave comments on blogs. Get to know each other a little.

Happy picture taking and blogging!

Brooke & Trey | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-01-04T22:54:00.000-05:00

Now that Christmas is over I can share these pictures with you. A couple of months ago these two awesome kids contacted me about taking pictures of them for Christmas gifts to their parents and grandparents. I know, I know. Pretty cool huh! How many of you are wishing your kids would do something like that for you? Insert me raising my hand and waving it wildly right now!

I've known these kids since they were very young. They are both pretty amazing people. And so much fun to work with. Truth is, they are tons of fun all the time!

I mean come on. What teenage brother and sister do this?

And smile at the same time!

Then we came across this cool VW bus. I knew I needed some pics with it as soon as I saw it.

Then we ventured down this alley and captured my fav shot of the evening.

We got the mom and grandma shots above. Then we decided to have some more fun.

These shots were completely spontaneous.

They would pose, hear the click of the camera, pose again, click, pose again, click, and finally pose one last time for the picture in the bottom right of the collage. I thought it was funny that they did the same exact thing without even talking about it!

Thanks so much Brooke and Trey for doing this for your parents. I hope they loved their pictures!

Any other really cool kids out there want to win some brownie points with Mom and Dad, give me a call. We'll figure it out together.

Funny Side Note: I asked Brooke & Trey how they got away from home together. What did they tell their parents? They said "We told them that you were talking more senior pictures of Brooke and Trey had to come along to watch Cooper for me." Which is totally believable since Cooper (5 year old) thinks that Trey (15 year old) is his best friend! AND, just so happened, I took Cooper with me that day for their session. So naturally we had to take a couple of pics with Coop and his buddies!

See more of Billie's work at http://www.billiemitchellphotography.com/.

Become a fan of Billie's work on Facebook. Email Billie at billie@billiemitchellphotography.com.

pic of the day project | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-01-02T09:01:00.002-05:00

Do any of you remember last year when I started a 365 Project? Probably not. If you aren't familiar with what a 365 Project is, it's a commitment to take one picture a day for an entire year. Sadly, I didn't last very long on that project. I was in the process of building my website and getting this blog up and running at the same time that I was starting the project. Something had to give. So two months in to my 12 month project, the 365 Project gave.

Well, I've decided to give this project another try in 2011. I'm not sure how long I'll make it.  Definitely longer than 2 months and hopefully close to 12 months. There may be days that I miss. NO, there WILL be days that I miss. I'm planning on that right now. That way I won't feel like I need to make this happen perfectly or it's not a success. So what if I ONLY document 300 days of our year. Right? Right! As long as I capture some of the year, I will be happy.

I spend so much time capturing and creating beautiful images for my clients, that sometimes my own memories are forgotten. 2011 will be different! This time I'm doing a 365 Project of my family. My plan is to document the little moments of our everyday lives with this project and then put together a book of the entire year of photos. A book to document a year in our lives. I post lots of pics of my family that are more posed or technically correct.  This project will not be about the photography. This project will show the good and not so good. Whatever pics are going to show our lives and the moments that I want to remember.

And lucky for you, I have created another blog to post all the images on! Just kidding! Not lucky for you. Lucky for me. Three reasons for posting the pictures on a blog. One, it's a place for me to keep the pictures and then create a blog book with at the end of 2011 to celebrate completing the project. Two, I also thought that if I was posting them on a blog, I might feel more accountable to keep up with the project. And third,  I hope that this will encourage you to start capturing more of your everyday moments. Not just the pictures of Christmas morning, or everyone dressed up in the their Easter best. But kids eating dinner with more dinner on their face than in their bellies. Pictures of kids playing board games, or even playing video games. Afterall, whether we like it or not, those video games tell part of the story of their lives right now. Grandkids when they come to visit. Your gardening or craft projects. Whatever pictures tell your story.

I've have so many people tell me that their cameras are packed away in their closet nicely in their camera bags. WHAT???? What good does that do you? Get your camera out. Take pictures everyday. Not only will you capture your life more fully, but you will get better and better at taking pictures. My camera is laying on my kitchen counter at all times. Always charged and memory cards ready for taking pictures.

So here's the blog. Billie's Pic of the Day Check it out if you're interested in following along. Start your own 365 Project too. Post your daily pictures on a blog or on your Facebook. And please, if you do decide to start your own picture of the day, please share with me where you are posting them so I can follow along with you.

Happy New Year | Sunbury Portrait Photographer

2011-01-01T23:06:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year from Billie Mitchell Photography!

I want to thank all of my friends, family, clients, and readers for suppporting and encouraging me in my first full year in business. It was an awesome year of learning and growing. I look forward to an even better year in 2011! Lots of new and exciting things happening.