Michele Whitacre Photography

Sunday, November 24, 2013

Kourtney + Eric's Sneak Peek {Engagement Session}

There is only one word to describe these photos from Kourtney and Eric's engagement session: PERFECTION. Complete, absolute, utter, total perfection. I am in love with every single one of these images and I am so excited to be sharing them with this amazing couple and all of my blog readers.

I work with Kourtney at my day job and she is an absolute doll. I knew that this session was going to be a ton of fun, but it turned out even better than I could have imagined. I'd been looking forward to shooting it from the time it was booked, especially when she and Eric settled on one of my favorite locations for their photos. What I hadn't counted on was how much fun Eric was going to be or how much these two love to laugh together. I adore how you can really see their joy at being together come through in their photos.

We started our session off at the insane hour of 6:00 AM, so we could get in position and get set up to catch the sunrise. Unfortunately, it didn't end up being as spectacular as we'd hoped, but these images are still awesome and totally worth the early hour and freezing cold we endured to create them!...

Is this photo not to die for? It is definitely one of my favorites...

Is this not just the sweetest?...

Kourtney, you. are. GORGEOUS!...

Adorable...

Love, love, love...

Having a little dance off. Did I mention how much fun these two were?...

Hands down…. Favorite! This belongs on a huge canvas, doesn't it?...

This one is another fav. I just love that water behind them!...

And now the fun really begins! Kourtney and Eric ended their session with a chalk war! These photos do a perfect job of telling the story, without any help:

Kourtney and Eric, You guys rock! I had an absolute blast spending my Sunday morning with you two. It was an honor and a pleasure capturing these images. I hope you love them as much as I do. May the love and laughter you share today continue to grow and expand with each year of your marriage, and may it continue to inspire those around you. I wish you both a lifetime of happiness! Thank you for trusting me to capture this once in a lifetime moment for you.

Michele Whitacre is a portrait photographer serving Phoenix, Arizona and the surrounding area.
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© 2013 Michele Whitacre Photography LLC

Friday, November 22, 2013

Self-Portrait | November 2013

My husband and I started dating a few days before he began his undergraduate degree back in 2008, and now here we a little more than 5 years later and he is 3 short weeks away from his law school graduation. We've had some fun and some good times along the way, but it has also been a very long journey with a lot of hard work and hard changes on both of our parts.

One of the hardest things for me was giving up my house in Indiana to move to Arizona. I had built the house back before Kevin and I met, and it was my perfect dream house. Leaving it behind has been very hard on me, especially on the days when I have to take everything out of a closet to reach something at the very back because we live in a tiny rental house with zero storage!

With Kevin's graduation on the horizon, we've decide that it is finally time to settle in and put down some roots here in Arizona. It's time to buy a new house! We are thrilled that we have finally reached this point, and couldn't be more excited at the idea of owning a house that we picked out together and will truly be ours.

However, can I just say that house hunting is exhausting!

I've been trying to do most of the research and only involve Kevin in the process when I find something that I think will be a good fit for us. So, I've been spending most of my time this month doing a whole lot of this...

We did find one house earlier in the month that we loved, but our offer wasn't accepted. Just yesterday we found another, and we have an outstanding offer on it. So, if you're reading this please keep your fingers crossed that our offer is accepted on this one, and hopefully next month I will be posting another moving photo for my monthly self-portrait!

Did you miss some of my past self-portraits? Clicking here will take you to all of my self-portrait blog posts. Clicking here will take you to my self-portrait Facebook album.

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

BBL 2013-2014 | Photograph a Maternity Session

#38 PHOTOGRAPH A MATERNITY SESSION

Why did I include this on my Bucket List?

I put this on my bucket list because I've never had the opportunity to photograph a maternity session, so it just made sense to add it to my list as something new to try. I really do enjoy experimenting with different types of photograph sessions. I feel like each new experience behind the camera stretches my abilities and my creativity to make me a better photographer.

I'm also a firm believer in the idea that you never know if you're going to like something until you try it. So I am slowly trying to explore all areas of photography to decide which ones I enjoy and which ones aren't for me. This way I will know which session types are a good fit for my business, and which ones I'd prefer to refer to one of my fellow photographer colleagues.

Was the experience what I had hoped it would be?

It was better! I really had a lot of fun photographing the session, and the photos turned out better than I expected for my first attempt at posing a couple for maternity photos.

The details...

I never want the first time I try something to be when someone hires me to do it. I'm just not a fly by the seat of my pants kind of girl. I need things to be plotted and planned out well in advance, and that's exactly what I did for this session.

Back in the spring one of my friends told me that her daughter was expecting her first child at the end of the year. When I heard the news, I asked if she would be willing to be my subject for my first venture into maternity photography. She agreed, and her boyfriend was up for joining in, too, so we set a date for the session. And the rest, as they say, is history. I've included a collage below of some of my favorites. You can also click here to visit the blog post of the session.

Do you want to see my entire 2013-2014 Birthday Bucket List? You can find it here. Did you miss my 2012-2013 List? You can find it here. Or my 2011-2012 List? You can find it here.

Sunday, November 17, 2013

Jamie + Jake's Sneak Peek {Maternity Session}

It makes my heart happy to be sharing photos from my FIRST EVER maternity session on the blog today! Every time I experience working with a new type of client, it amazes me how each area of photography can be so different. I adore photographing couples, and posing them comes second nature to me, but add in a cute little baby bump and it was like starting all over. Lucky for me, I couldn't have asked for a more perfect couple to photograph for my first venture into maternity photography. Jamie and Jake are so laid back and down to earth! It was great to work with people so willing to go with the flow of the session, not to mention so photogenic. Since they didn't require much prompting to look awesome, it let me spend my brain power on dreaming up pregnancy poses.

I suppose I shouldn't really be calling this a sneak peek for Jamie and Jake since they actually already saw these photos. Jamie wanted to display some of her maternity photos at her baby shower today, so I sent them to her early. So, for everyone else, here is a sneak peek of Jamie, Jake, and their soon to arrive baby girl.

This first one is definitely a favorite!...

I adore the history in this next one! The chair belonged to the baby's grandma (who I photographed back in the spring), and the stuffed animal was Jamie's. So sweet that the baby will have these things passed on to her…

If you've been around the blog for a while, you are probably well aware of my love affair with shoes! Are these baby converse not just the cutest things you've ever seen?...

Adorable!…

So sweet!…

Jamie, you are gorgeous!…

Another fav…

Jamie and Jake, I cannot thank you enough for allowing me to take these photographs for you during this precious time in your lives! Congratulations on the new addition to your family and I can't wait to hear what name you decide on for your baby girl.

Saturday, November 9, 2013

Heather + Blake + Madison's Sneak Peek

Last weekend I had the pleasure of photographing Heather, Blake, and Madison at one of my all time favorite locations. This session has been a long time in the planning, and we were just anxiously awaiting baby Madison's arrival to make it happen. She finally made her grand entrance a few weeks ago, and we were able to capture these sweet photos of the new family.

We started the session out with a few photos of Heather and Madison...

I already posted the color version of this photo on Facebook, but I love it in black and white, too, and decide to include it here. This is one of my favorites from their session! Madison's sweet face is just adorable here, and you can see the love on Heather's face for her daughter...

Madison decided she needed a snack so while Grandma fed her, we captured a few photos of the new mom and dad. They definitely don't look like the exhausted and sleep deprived parents of a newborn do they?

I am IN LOVE with this photo. Is she not the most gorgeous baby? Just look at all that dark hair!...

Love, love, love!….

Just look at that face!...

Yup, he's wrapped around her finger already...

I love this one with Madison looking so intently at Heather...

Those tiny fingers. Melt…

Heather + Blake, Thank you for allowing me to take these photographs of this precious time in your lives. It was an honor and a pleasure meeting you and capturing these photos for you.

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