hcolephotos

Out with old...in with the new.....

2008-05-06T08:16:00.000-07:00

So....in addition to our new studio, shooting some crazy kick ass High School Graduates, and some AWESOME Weddings and Engagements, we thought we'd step it up a notch and make a BRAND NEW Website/Blog. After today, this blog will no longer be updated and the new place to find us will be HERE.

So enough blabbing on this old thing...go check out our new site and make sure to update your RSS FEED with our new information so you can keep coming back!!

Whoo hoo...fun.

Allison + Outside the box

2008-04-29T16:44:00.000-07:00

Oh my GOD..how lucky am I? I had SOOO much fun with Allison yesterday taking her Senior pictures. Not only does this girl know how to rock it in front of the camera, but she has a personality to boot!

Allison - YOU seriously ROCKED!! MEOW!

Find the light...D-O-N-E!

Don't be mad that she looks SOO CUTE....

Somebody put me out...cause I'm on FIRE!! One of my favs...

Umm....MEOW is all I have to say...

SHUT UP!!!

Super HOT!

I said SHUT YO MOUTH!! OW OW

This is how much I love Allison..I saw this Sign and she happily played along..LOVE YOU GIRL...

MAYJA NEWS...our new studio IS OPEN FOR BUSINESS!!

2008-04-24T15:07:00.000-07:00

So today Heather Cole Photography took a HUGE step, we have OFFICIALLY opened our new studio today and we couldn't be more excited!!

WOWZERS...what a serious roller coaster the last few weeks have been for us. If we've been delayed in emails, calls back, it's because for over the last four weeks we have done nothing but LIVE at this place. Since the space was new we had to make every single decision down to the FACUETS! NONE of this would be possible without the help of our wonderful supportive friends: Tielor, Jen, Aaron, Bill, Gary, Kevin, Tim, my mom, Jake's mom, Bobbi, Josh, Roger, Judy, Bob and last but CERTAINLY not LEAST my SUPER SUPPORTIVE husband and daughter..thank you, thank you, thank you. This place and everything in it, is what it is today because of you. Thank you SOOO MUCH!!

So without any further talkie talkie....Introducing our BRAND NEW Baby (I was able to get SOME of the pictures, but Josh was a ROCK star and made it out for my ribbon cutting ceremony and took some too....thanks Josh)!

The first day I even saw the space.....

Sheet Rock was up, ceiling and trim painted....

The living room....

Ready for Tile....

Our LONG day Faux Painting....

Our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony....so excited to see so many faces!!

The Front Entrance...

Our cozy living room....Ummm..who doesn't LOVE THOSE CURTAINS!! OWW OWW...

WALL-O-IMAGES...MEOW!!

Our cute little kitchen...

I love this little cork board in our kitchen. It holds all of our thank you cards from our WONDERFUL clients, some pictures from our WONDERFUL clients and some personal pictures to boot.

A view from the back....

Another great view of the whole studio from the back....

Our back door area

This image couldn't work out any better for this area of our studio....

me and my baby girl...WHO by the way turns FIVE tomorrow. Leave her a comment and wish her a HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Last but not least...a beautiful flower arrangement..from my daddy which made my day (thank you mom). I love you daddy and miss you everyday. I wish you could be here to share in this experience with me but the truth is...I wouldn't be here today or in this place of my life..without knowing you were with me, every step of the way. I love you and miss you. XOXOXO

Something MAJA is about to go down....

2008-04-16T18:27:00.000-07:00

Not just major, like MAJA (says Posh).

You SOOO want to know..don't you. Oh yeah..well you will soon enough and let me tell you, this is no SMALL POTATOES. Na ah! Nope. No maamm. This is big time. I'm big time. Not really, just sounded good. MEOW.

So here's the skinny, the studio is ALMOST done. If I've been delayed on emails or responses you know why. I have been LIVING at the new studio, painting, laying tile and everything else that comes with building this awesome space. Aaron has too. This man has NOT stopped with the track lighting switches. It's CRAZY! So, I have so much to show you just give me a few more days.

ROCK on my friends. It's go time. The count down is on. April 24th. Be on this blog, or be square.

PEACE!

Andrea - Outside the box

2008-04-10T22:41:00.000-07:00

This last week I've blessed to shoot two amazing Seniors!!!

I shot these downtown with Andrea yesterday and let me tell ya, it was windy and chilly! Like what happened?? Oh yeah, we live in Kansas City so it's a crap shoot and you never know what you're gonna get. But Andrea WORKED IT OUT!! Check out a few of my favs!!

Thanks Andrea for letting me take your pictures. I had such a good time!!

Umm...yeah...my fav of the day. P.S. THOSE ARE HER REAL EYELASHES! I have never seen eyelashes like that ever!! BEUTIMOUS!!!

Shut up...I know. I already told her.

Meow!!

Get it!!

Ohhh la la!!

Thanks Andrea for the good times! ROCK ON SISTA!!

Meghan & David - The Main Event

2008-04-10T21:07:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot Meghan and David's wedding. For those of you who follow my blog, they were the ones I shot at a carnival. What a great time that was!!

There wedding was nothing short of amazing from start to finish. The day started off just wonderful with the weather in the high 60s. No rain, no snow. Sunny and 60. I also had my wonderful assistant, Aaron, and my good buddy Josh to help with the day. Between the three of us it was NON Stop fun. Narrowing down the pictures was almost IMPOSSIBLE. I'm a little late posting this (my two over achievers that shot with me already posted) so I wanted to try to find stuff completely different than them. I think I did alright.

So without blabbing on any further...here are just a FEW of my favorites from the day. Thanks Aaron and Josh for doing such an awesome job! Your blogs are amazing.

Meghan and David, I love you both very much. This last year getting to know you has been a blessing and I'm so glad you've been added to our "family".

Waiting....

How intense is this... ha ha....

What a great moment...

Meghan's dad had NEVER seen her dress so the first time they saw each other was VERY emotional...FOR EVERYONE!! (YES I CRIED).

Don't like to post a lot of ceremony shots but this one I loved. For all you photogs out there this was shot at ISO 4000 1/200 f2

Love this shot I snagged while they were bustling her dress....

We had two hours in between the ceremony and the reception and were able to have some fun..

Dude...how hot is SHE????

L-O-V-E this shot.... MEOW! Yep I said it...

If only you heard what I said to get these guys to laugh....

Tee hee...

Everyone's gotta stop and grab a bite to eat!! Right!

Josh showed me this cool spot to climb in so I squeezed my "tiny hiney" in this old ran down building and grabbed this shot through the glass...

Probably one of my MOST FAVORITISTISTISTISIT pictures from the whole day.. MEOW to the MEOW!!

The toasts...

Nice little joke the best man played on the groom...ha ha

Thanks to Josh for the following shots of us "in action"

Ahhh what's that I see...Aaron...chimping??

Good times..Josh driving my car...

Ceremony - St. Peters Catholic Church
Reception - Club House on Baltimore
Hair and Makeup - Zuri Color Studio

Olivia and her feathers...

2008-04-08T14:44:00.000-07:00

Last night my good buddy Josh asked if he could take Olivia out to get a few shots of her for an upcoming fair he's doing. Of course I said YES!!

The clouds were rolling in quick so honestly we were outside for about 20 minutes before the sky unleashed on us. Had we been out there any longer, I don't think we would have been able to pick there were so many good ones!

Olivia had a blast. She was able to dress up (how she wanted to) and go play in a field while Josh and I took pictures. Actually I was trying to make her laugh most of the time so I only grabbed a few shots. But I think the ones I got...are BEAUTIFUL!! I'll let you be the judge of that.

Josh - thanks for the quick photo shoot. We had a blast!

To see Josh's album of Olivia - go here.

Here are a few of mine....

I think Josh and I got this SAME shot. I love it SOO much. Ahh to be free like that again!!

How can you get mad at that face???

I love this shot...

I love you Livy. You are such a blessing to me each and every day. I'm so glad I'm your mom.

Love you.

It feels so real now...

2008-04-07T17:04:00.000-07:00

I don't know why...but once you get your name in print...it just feels surreal. The sign went up today which was W-A-Y exciting.
Despite me and my husband running ourselves into the ground, we are SOOO excited for this thing to go "LIVE". More pictures later. Have to run!!

Amber - Outside of the box

2008-04-03T00:04:00.000-07:00

Here's the scenario...sunny skies, new D3, my first Senior of the year and my friend, Josh Solar. Umm...deadly combination.

My mind was FLOWIN today and guess what, my new LOVE (MY D3) was keeping up every step of the way. I can't say enough good things about this camera. My favorite part of it is the full frame and boy did I ever use it.

Amber showed up and was as cute as can be. I surprised her with a second photographer my good buddy Josh Solar. He wanted to tag along and why not...the more the merrier. So we drove downtown and WORKED IT OUT!! OWW OWW. After a few "meows" and holy shizmolys...I came home a happy girl.

Here are a few (ha ha few) favs.... WARNING...I WAS FEELIN IT TODAY..LOTS OF PICTURES TO FOLLOW!!!!

Oww oww...

AND WORK IT OUT...

I just love the lines in this photo.......

Yep...those are real...I know...SHUT UP!

Had to give it a little "heather luvin"

Then we changed clothes and brought sexy back...again...

There was seriously a dead bird about a foot from her head...god I love people who trust me...she rocks!

My second fav of the day...so real...

this was IN CAMERA...me lovey..for those technos out there I shot this at ISO 200 1/400 F9 MEOW!

How cute is she...for real...

Then we changed clothes again...BAUUMMM CHICA BAUUMM... HOLY HOTNESS ALERT!!

Me likey the green....

Elevator Shaft.... ha ha

Had to save my favorite one for last. We climbed in a cement "sewer" thing (not used people..come on) and dude..WE BOTH ROCKED IT. WOWZA...

Thanks for the fun day!!

Hugs,

Me

This fascinates me...

2008-03-27T12:33:00.000-07:00

I look on my stat counter every once in a while to see where people are located that look at my site. The other day I had a few in England (thanks honey) but today I had one from freakin Singapore. That is very exciting considering I'm just a small town girl from Missouri. Take a look see!!

If you don't have a stat counter already for your website, I highly recommend one!

I get mine HERE.

Leavin Las Vegas - Video

2008-03-27T09:00:00.000-07:00

So as I said before....I extended my stay to shoot at Red Rock Canyon with "leavin las vegas". So many wonderful photographers were there and probably some of the coolest cinematographers from Still Motion I have ever seen. Here is there video of our shoot.

If you look closely one of my pictures make it in the video as well as a little snipit of me and Bobbi. :)

Leavin' Las Vegas Shootout from Patrick Moreau on Vimeo.

I made it out...ALIVE!!!

2008-03-24T15:36:00.000-07:00

Okay so this is going to be a long read...but I assure you, it's worth EVERY SECOND of reading. :)

Wow, what a trip. When I decided to go to Vegas to attend the WPPI convention I never knew in my wildest dreams what Vegas had in store for me.

The convention itself was a thing of wonder. It seriously took me 3 days just to get through it all. For those of you who have never been, I highly recommend going. I love meeting the faces behind all those people you talk to every day. Not only that but you get to touch and feel all of the products. It’s one thing to see them in a catalog, but another to actually touch and feel. Here are some of the fun booths I hit…..

First up, Big Folio. These boys are amazing. I love their websites along with their customer service. For me, that’s number one. My website is A BIG deal. It’s the first point of contact my clients see, so for me, it’s my number one priority. The team at Big folio have always quickly resolved any issues I’ve had and for me, that has made me a long time customer. For more information on Big Folio, visit their website HERE

Albums, albums and more albums. Upon opening our new studio I really wanted to get see what new product there was out there. I’m happy to report that I have found a album company and I’m over the MOON excited about their products. Look for them in our studio as samples. Not only is the product amazing but their team at the WPPI convention was AMAZING!! Patiently answering every single question I had. Clients, watch out…you are going to see some amazing stuff. Sorry guys, not revealing this product. Keeping this one to myself.

GETTING ORGANIZED!! I’m so excited to start implementing this new software program within our studio. Because I’m a one woman show, this is going to allow me to keep things organized from every single detail to your wedding, to keeping contracts, invoices, emails and everything in between. It’s called Shoot Q and I’m stoked to start using it. I will keep you posted on my thoughts but after the demo I received…this is going to change my life!!! To get more information about this awesome product visit there website HERE.

Presentations. I didn’t go to a ton of presentations this year but the ones I did go to I absolutely loved. My all time favorite one had to be hands down Jesh deRox. For those of you who haven’t met him or heard him speak, I absolutely urge you to. Jesh is such an amazing soul. I attended his life as an artform workshop last fall in San Diego and it has been LIFE CHANGING for me. I think the reason I liked his workshop so much is because it focuses on YOU. It has made me more connected to my clients and a better person all around. Not only in my professional life, but also as a wife and mother. I can’t say enough about this man and his work and him as person, I’m blessed to know him as my friend.

Me and Jesh (sorry it's a point and shoot people and I'm almost positive that the person directly related to taking the picture had some "beverages")

Leavin Las Vegas – a shoot in Red Rock Canyon, Vegas. I extended my stay for one more day in order to attend this field trip. Me and about 75 other photographers got together to shoot at Red Rock Canyon. We were given several models to take and just do whatever we wanted to do. I liked it because it was like the HARSHEST light to shoot in and I WORKED IT OUT. It challenged me to think outside the box and play with shadows, light and angels. It was FUN!!! The best part about it is that I was able to witness John Michael Cooper of altF in his next concept shoot. Just to be around this man is inspiring. He pushes my brain to think harder, further and better. John and his wife Dalisa are AMAZING people. I attend the anti-workshop last year in Seattle and that was a pivotal moment in my career. This workshop taught me how to better tap into my creative channel and not be afraid. They taught me how to see light in ways I never knew how. This workshop also gives you the best of both worlds. altF teams up with the Boutwells and you get to see how these two extraordinary studios have become the successful businesses they are. Doug and Chenin are SOOOO amazing. Doug is a photoshop genius. He created the Totally Rad Actions and I use them quite often in my pictures. He also has great tutorials that will teach you how to do it all. Go HERE to see them. I highly recommend signing up for one of these workshops if you can. For more information for the anti-workshop go HERE.

John Michael Cooper doing his thang.....

his beautiful wife Dalisa...

Watching him work his magic on his concept shoot...

at times shooting the models were a little crowded.

despite the crowd, I was still able to grab some BAD ASS SHOTS!!

Here are some other shots I got from models at our Red Rock shoot.... MEOW!!

My favorite of the day....

Some awesome shots of my friends old and new...

First up...my partners in crime, Bobbi and my associate photographer,Aaron. I couldn't have roomed with better people. I had the TIME OF MY LIFE!!

Um....I even got Bobbi to try Coffee. Well not really coffee, it's creamer with sugar and a splash of coffee..but she liked it!!

Me and Bobbi..lookin cute...WORK IT OUT!!

Oh yeah..and check out this awesome picture Shawna Schaub took of Bobbi and I. We are WORKING IT...

My favorite photographer of all time, Nate from the Image is Found. He is as amazing of a person as he is a photographer. I had the pleasure of staying at this studio for 4 days last fall at Jesh's workshop. Good times.

The ever so beautiful Jasmine Star. She is such a sweet girl. I love her dearly! And she introduced to me to David Jay which...let me tell you, seriously LOVE HIM and his ultra cute girlfriend Allie. :)

My girl Shyla and me with Kevin Kubota's ACTION MAN!! Oww...ow.. P.S. Congrats to Shyla for making the cover of RANGEFINDER! Uhh...that's a BIG DEAL WOMAN!

Becker. He's so funny!! I loved seeing him again. I met him at Jesh's workshop in San Diego. Good GUY! Very smart and very successful. :)

Justin Lyon goofing around...

Paul and Sofia from Amorphia Photography.

Yep me...LOVIN my new Shootsac cover...DOUBLE MEOW!!

We had a fun night at a bar called Double Down where all the Anti-workhop alumni hung out. I brought my D3 and ROCKED IT!!

First a picture with no White balance.... (go Jason Clark)

Then with one snap with my new Expo Disc.... beautiful....

John Michael Cooper documenting the night..with what else...poloroids...

Then I grabbed Doug and Chenin Boutwell for a quick pix.. and they offered to go into the mens bathroom...I LOVE THEM SOO MUCH!!!!

Networking, networking, NETWORKING!!! Last but not least, the most important part of this trip is to reconnect with old friends and meet new ones. I’ve listed all the people I’ve met at each workshop/convention just to prove my point…..

Antiworkshop/ Seattle

John Michael Cooper
Doug and Chenin Boutwell
Jesh deRox
Jasmine Star
Jessica Claire
Marisa Holmes
Fred Egan
Dustin Stellar
Shyla
Jan Garcia
Ed Atero

Life as an Artform/ San Deigo

Nate and Jaclyn Kaiser (the Image is Found)
Becker
Kathy Carlisle (Heavens Eye Photography)
Shannon Sewell
Susan Yee (En Pointe Photography)
Lisa Roah
Amy Seeley
Sarah Maren
Justin Demers
Sarah France

WPPI Convention

Mike Colon
David Jay
Michael Norwood
Justin Lyons
Angelica Glass
Nate and Amanda (Turtle Pond Photography)
Joe Photo
John Mireles
Jason Cohen
John Edgar
Kyle Barnes
Scarlett Lillian
David Beckstead
Lauren Chapman
Jessica Strickland
Anne Ruthmann
Marc Eric
Paul and Sofie of Amorphia photography
Chris Stewart
Shawna Schaub
Vu (vu goes vegan)

Just to name a few……

If you don’t understand the power of networking then you will not be a successful person in this business. Not only have these workshops allowed me to invest more into myself (which is the CORE of this business) but it has also allowed me to meet some amazing people with inspiration out the ASS!!

Last but MOSTLY important, my favorite person….Bobbi. I met her last December at a luncheon and we have been connected ever since. I have become seriously one of the luckiest people in the world. This woman has brought me so many riches in my life. I have a friend when I need one, I have a sound board about my business when I need one, she has helped me identify my personality with a logo that rocks and she is seriously one of my best friends. How our paths have never crossed before this (she grew up in Kansas City) is beyond me. But I truly believe that people come in your life at right times, not when you want them to. For me, December was the right time for me and I’ve been thankful ever since. Jesh deRox in his speech put it perfectly. You become so “rich” in life when you have REAL relationships. Have you ever really benefited from a fake relationship???? When you surround yourself with real people, real experiences, and real connections you life will become richer than you know. You can have all the money in the world but if you have no real people to share it with…how rich are you? In my eyes I’m one of the richest people in the world.

I’m sorry this week I haven’t posted a whole lot on my trip to Veags. It’s been a very consuming experience. I have laughed, laughed so hard I cried, cried because I’ve been touched, inspired, and proud. This week was such a growing experience for not only me but for my associate photographer, Aaron. I’m so happy he was able to experience what it’s like to see this inspiration all around you. He was able to shoot with some of the best photographers of the WORLD and let me tell you. The images coming out of his camera….are REMARKABLE. How RICH has he become investing in himself and making so many new friends. I expect big things from Aaron. His journey is just starting and I’m honored to watch his transformation happen. Aaron, thank you for being a big part of this dream of mine. I can’t wait for you to fulfill your own dreams. I know it will happen for you.

All in all, Vegas was an amazing experience. A little long (5 full days) but nevertheless, worth every day. Thank you Bobbi and Aaron for a wonderful experience. I wouldn’t have wanted to room with anyone else but the two of you. Here are just a few “words describe our week

*I don’t think we’ve met….” * this eleveator is going down…just in case you wanted to know* Your welcome for that…I’m here all week, tip your waitress* Maam, this dish is awful….how do you want pepper on it?*Crazy old man in the terminal shuttle getting his happy ending* Bodacious Lips* I forgot my lanyard* Bring it in tight* And five, six, seven, eight* On a scale of one to ten…how hungry are you?* Did you just get back from skiing?* I got a little south tower on me* $3.00 photo sessions…right now..come and get em* And work it out…..* Can we get more creamer?*Mmmmm (upper lip)* I don’t even know why I’m crying…* Getting hit by the laughing bullets* Heather+Bobbi+Aaron deFirm* You two should come to my workshop…seriously you two are crazy together.* We got some ACTION from Kevin Kubotas action man* It’s okay to stare, I won’t be mad*Do you need a model. I’m here all week* Why are we always walking the WRONG WAY, there is something wrong with this picture* If you were to tell me I was going to hug that man after this, I would have called you crazy* It could have been worse, there could be no wall. * STOP THAT TAXI* Do you have your ID?* So do you just love your D3?* You are much prettier than that picture* Enough about her…let’s talk about me* Don’t even think about touching my Biscoff*You won..that was a better shot* Did you take that? Of course I did..what did you think I handed my camera to someone else?* No…(pouting while stomping your foot).

Whew…I’m spent. Aren't you???

I had to end this post with some of my favorite shots that I took of my now GOOD friends Nate and Amanda from Turtle Pond Photography. I just wanted to snap off a few cool shots of the two of them on the strip.. and wow. I think I'm going to blow the first one up in my studio!! Thanks Nate and Amanda for letting me shoot your MUGS.

Peace. I'm out. Stay tuned for the slideshow...yeah, there's more. LOTS MORE!!

off to Vegas baby!!!

2008-03-16T11:22:00.000-07:00

There is nothing better than post from the airport terminal, don't you think? So, today I'm leaving for Las Vegas on my way to attend my first WPPI. I'm soooo excited! Meeting all the photographers I love and admire and watching them do their thang! I'm rooming with Bobbi too...so that's going to be SUPER exciting!!! If you need anything I will TRY to get to emails as fast as I can. This is a convention so I'm here to LEARN and I'm not sure how much working I'm going to be able to get done.

I'll be posting more from Vegas! Miss you Livy, miss you honey!!

Love,

Me

Me and Aaron...waiting for our plane....

Hard work...pays off...

2008-03-10T16:39:00.000-07:00

So as most of you know, Bobbi and I have been HARD at it getting on the healthy train. It's been so awesome to have such a wonderful conductor on this train because let me tell you, when things get hard...you need SOMEONE to help you.

Anyway, the best reward of doing this weight loss challenge is that I have found something...myself. As you can see from Bobbi's photos of me below, I have become a bit more confident in my own skin since loosing some poundage and some major inches. It's very uplifting.

The other day I received a phone call EARLY, EARLY, EARLY (okay 8:00 am) from my good friend, Jason Domingues. He started screaming, "you won, you won, you won". Still half asleep I mumbled, "I won what"? "You won Kelly Moore's weight loss contest"!!!! That was followed by screaming, more screaming, then...screaming, crying and I think a few laughs on Jason's part. WOW! I actually won. So let me recap. Back in December, this AMAZING photographer, Kelly Moore, created a weight loss challenge. We had to set goals and if we met them, after 11 weeks she would determine a winner. The reward??? First I get to meet her and hang with her. Two, on the first night I get, manicure, pedicure, facial, massage, dinner and a movie - WITH HER! The second day, I get a make over and a professional photo shoot done by her. SOME ONE FREAKIN FRACKIN PINCH ME!! So really friends, just goes to show you that blood, sweat and tears pay off (okay that was oh so dramatic). But hard work comes with MANY rewards. For me, I found myself and got some "icing" on the cake. I think this has to be the COOLEST month for me yet.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU KELLY!!!!!!

Now go check out her blog. She's freakin OFF THE CHAIN!!!

AND since there can't be a post without a picture...here is a picture of my smilin FACE cause I'm SO STINKIN HAPPY!!!

Our Big News......

2008-03-10T15:20:00.000-07:00

What is that I'm holding? A Key????? To what?????

Our future.

Key...meet world...world...meet the key to our new studio. As in OFFICIAL photography studio. Keep checkin back for news about our Grand Opening coming soon. It's going to be KICK ASS!!!

Whoo hoo!!

Heather

My first real professional photo shoot....of ME!!

2008-03-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

A normal photo shoot with me would consist of a few things...

1. Asking clients to walk long distances in uncomfortable shoes
2. Stand or climb in places that are either dirty, smelly or uncomfortable
3. Stare into hard golden light because the light is OHH soo YUMMY

For the first time ever, I was on the receiving end of these things. Man it was an EYE opener!!! Not as easy as I thought. Saturday I was blessed to have THREE very talented people involved on my first professional photo shoot, OF ME!! So much is happening at Heather Cole Photography. Some I can tell you now, some your going to have to wait. Ohh....I love surprises...don't you. First, we have a new website coming out. It's so fun and so me. I can't wait for you to see it. It should be up and running in about a week. I'm excited...are you?

Second, I have never had a professional headshot done. Seriously, pretty bad considering I have like a million friends who are photographers. I just have never done it. A lot is because of the weight. Since I've lost some weight, I guess you could say I have a lot more confidence and was ready to be in front of the camera for once.

My very talented friend, Sharla, flew in from Nashville and hooked me up with some AWESOME makeup and hair and wardrobe. This woman is nothing short of amazing. If you have an upcoming wedding, Prom or event and need some styling...this is your girl. Check out her mad skillz on her Myspace page .

Then of course we have bobbi+mike. Where do I start with these two. First of all, they are awesome to watch. Mike is so sniperish with getting those amazing candid shots and bobbi...yeah, she's just as funny as everyone says. I'm so happy that I finally got to see it in action. The truth is, I was very nervous being on the other end of that camera and they both made me feel very comfortable, which was hard to do. We literally walked down the street into a ditch in my backyard and shot. Just goes to show you that anything is possible if you open your mind and let the creative juices flow...or allow the hamster to run on his wheel...Mike, I'm not sure I did that saying justice. Ha ha

Anyway, the shoot was a success. I was given some AMAZZZZZZZZINGG headshots for the new website, got to hang with both her and her husband and see Sharla. WHAT A FREAKIN awesome weekend. To add the icing on the cake, since we were in my backyard (literally) I asked my husband to come outside for a few shots. I have always longed for a shot of me and Jake that was a piece of art, something that spoke volumes of how much we loved each other. The last couple picture we have professionally done was our wedding pictures, 7 years ago, which is TOTALLY NOT ME. I wanted something YUMMY, something that would create a conversation. I got it.

Thank you Sharla, bobbi+mike for all your hard work. I appreciate you taking the time out of your busy schedules and making some like this happen for me. I love you guys.

Here are the results of our fun day..... :)

I was serious when I meant...we were in our backyard...

My associate photographer, Aaron.

So serious.....

This is soooo our personalities.....

My husband coming to join me....HOW HOT is HE???

I love how he's looking at me in this photo...

Soo sweet....

My absolute favorite of Jake and me. This is going BIG in my casa....

bobbi was just as excited as I was after that last shot...she showed me and I was OVER THE TOP excited.

Thank you bobbi+mike. Love you guys.

Thank you Sharla. Thank you everyone. LOVE YA!

Fun Filled Weekend

2008-02-25T18:19:00.000-08:00

So this weekend was fun, fun, fun!! Friday night, our good friends, Tielor, Jen and Owen came over for some Yummy Heather Cole Spaghetti. It was so nice to have them over as we haven't seen them since NEW YEARS! Yeah, pretty bad. Olivia was slightly in love with Owen all night (if you can't tell by the pictures).

Olivia and Owen

Me and Jen

Awwwww....

Then Saturday night Kelley Walker Chance dragged me to Harrahs to watch the band County Road Five. They ROCKED! The only bad part was the ride home. The northland had NO rain, no snow, no NOTHING. I drove home to 4 inches of snow. NICE!

Amanda, me and Kelley

Ohh...pretty....
This was taken at ISO 2500 1/30th f1.8

Me lovey widey angley......
For all you photographers out there...this was taken at ISO 6400 1/80th f1.8

Weigh in...LATE!!

2008-02-24T14:50:00.000-08:00

Sorry I was out of the loop on Friday for my weigh in. I was stressing out HARD CORE because for like 4 days I couldn't send any emails out so I was trying to get all that stuff worked out. I'm finally back up and running so I'm trying to catch up on some posts too!

Obviously, first things first, WEIGH IN!! I lost another 1.8 lbs this week bringing my total to 12.9 which in my brain is 13 so there! 13 lbs. I also went shopping this weekend and as crazy as this sounds, I bought a pair of jeans TWO sizes smaller and a top that well...wouldn't normally have been bought. I might bring it out in Vegas, we'll see. :) So things are going good, and I'm feeling better and better about myself.

This week I decided to post this picture about my family for a BIG reason. One of my goals is to have a REAL family picture taken once I lose my weight. It's pretty pathetic that I have not ONE real family picture but for me, getting in front of the camera, especially as heavy as I was, was NOT HAPPENING. So as my pants get smaller, and I lose more weight I'm excited at the thought that one day, I'm going to be proud to be in front of a camera and have a REAL family picture taken one day.

As for the conductor on this healthy train, Miss Bobbi is rockin her socks off too and she's lost 13 lbs as well! We have definitely been really in sync with each other this whole weight loss which has made it SOO MUCH EASIER. It's nice to have someone that gets it. You know what I mean. I hope each of you have that somebody cause it makes all the difference in the world!!! So enough of my blabbin...go see Bobbi on her blog and tell her how freakin proud of her you are. I know I am. :)

My oh my.....Sweet Caroline.....

2008-02-21T15:42:00.000-08:00

Okay so I finally had my first portrait shoot with my new D3. Two words. FULL FRAME. For all you non-photographers, that will mean nothing to you. But for all of those Nikonians out there who have never been able to shoot yet with a full frame...man, save up, and get a D3.

Caroline is probably one of the sweetest little girls ever. I went over to her house to play and the rest was history. The second I start playing shopping, blocks, or stickers, I was in like FLIN!!! I love watching kids do just this, PLAY! I love their faces when they giggle, when they are hiding from you, when they are being sneaky. I just LOVE IT. What a great age.

Here are a few of my favorites from the day. Thanks Caroline!!!

ahh...oh my gosh...I want to squeeze her...she's so cute....

She sure loves her mamma....

Um...I love her eyes...SOOO PRETTY!!

Caroline giving me a hug. I wanted to show how I have to get used to the FULL FRAME! Notice me in the picture. Yeah....FREAKIN AWESOME....

I love this next series soo much. I'm funny if you didn't know. Seriously, I am. Ask Caroline.

P.S. Have I mentioned lately...how much I love my job?

On another note...still not out going mail...so I'm not ignoring you. I promise.

Email Issues

2008-02-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

ATTENTION everyone!! I can get your emails, I just can't send anything out right now. So if you were expecting an email from me, I RESPONDED, it's just not going through. I'm working hard to get this fixed and will keep you posted!!

Drew Davis Band...New website

2008-02-19T19:56:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited!! My boys from the Drew Davis Band just got their site updated...with ALL of their pictures taken by YOURS TRULY!

GO CHECK IT OUT! It's so awesome!!!

A fun cold day......

2008-02-18T08:53:00.000-08:00

Sunday we had a crazy cold snowy day here in Kansas City. After the snow stopped I called up my buddy Josh Solar and asked him if he wanted to come shoot with me. After all, I'm DYING to get my new baby, my Nikon D3, out and about to see what it can do. Without hesitation he said yes and we were on our way. Words can't express how cold and windy it was. Seriously my hands were numb within a few minutes of being outside. Did that stop us? HECK NO!! Here are a few of my fav shots from the day.

A shot of my buddy Josh.....

and the shot he got of me.....(the second he took this my hood flew over my head) it's a great shot I think. :)

I can't wait to go exploring again! Thanks Josh.

Finally, progress I can SEE!!!

2008-02-15T08:35:00.000-08:00

This week I decided to do something a little different. Instead of posting some random pictures, I thought it would be fun to take picture of myself last night and compare them to the ones I took in December. I have had several friends tell me they could see the difference but I couldn't until I looked at the photos. AWESOME motivation to keep going!! Also - happy news to report, I am down a size in jeans!! So that was awesome too!!!

As for weigh in today...I lost another 2 lbs this week which brings my total to 11.1 pounds! :)

Let me just tell you how hard these were to share.WOW!

Me a happy girl. :)

As for my partner in crime, Bobbi. She's been in Texas all week so I haven't had a chance to connect with her to see how she's doing. I'm sure she's doing great although traveling and dieting are VERY hard to do together. Go check out her blog to see how she's doing and leave her a little note!

Valentine's Day....

2008-02-13T22:45:00.000-08:00

Today is Valentine's Day. To be honest, I'm not a big V-Day girl anymore. I don't know, to me, it's a holiday that you go out and spend an abundant amount of money to show how much you love your significant other. In my opinion, it's highly over rated. Perhaps it's because I've been with my husband for 12 years now and the things that make my heart go flutter flutter are no longer a dozen roses or a $3.00 card. It's not dinner at a fancy restaurant or some expensive gift. My heart goes flutter flutter because of the things he does the other 364 days of the year.

My husband, Jake, is such an extraordinary person. He's a good friend, a good father, and a good husband. He's my biggest cheerleader and my biggest fan in all that I do whether I'm trying hard to lose weight or coming up with the next big thing for our company. He's always there. Always supporting me.

The flutter flutter of my heart comes when he comes home for a hard days work and calls an impromptu dinner outing so he can be with his "two favorite girls". It comes when he buys me things, just because. It comes when he sits patiently with Olivia and puts together a gingerbread house. It comes when he comes home with a sleeping bag and fishing pole for Olivia so he can have a father/daughter camping night. It comes when he makes me feel like the prettiest girl in the room while we are out with our friends.

In my opinion, life's too short to wait for Valentine's Day to show or tell someone you love them. Tell them each and every day, in all that you do. :)

I love you honey. Thank you for being such a wonderful partner in my life. Happy Day. :)

Drew Davis Band Night

2008-02-13T15:38:00.000-08:00

The other night my boys from the Drew Davis Band stopped in to Kansas City and swung by the Cole house for some good eatins, some Olivia lovin, and yes...some of my home made spaghetti. YUM!

Here are some of our fun pictures from the night. Yes... we had to whip out the Guitar Hero. I'm SOO HOOKED!

Get it Roger!

Um yeah...Olivia was a bit attached to Mo.

Ohh Loren...so intense!!

Dave the man...so serious!!

A perfect ending to a perfect day.

Let the new unhealthy relationship begin......

2008-02-11T17:34:00.000-08:00

Need I say more?

WHAT A WEEK!!!

2008-02-08T12:43:00.000-08:00

This is the only picture that I could find that pretty much sums up my week. Frustrating...but still a loss!

So this week has been DIFFICULT! For a few weeks there I have been in my own little diet world. Every day has been the same for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This week...ALL THAT CHANGED!!

Jake's sister, Jera, came in town and we have done nothing but make dinners, eat out and YES...DESSERT! So this week I had to practice some MAJOR, MAJOR portion control. Despite my eating out this week, I still lost .5 a pound. Not that much but in light of the road blocks this week, I'm happy with losing and not gaining!!

Of course my OVER DRAMATIC self had to call Bobbi up the moment I only saw .5 gone and she quickly calmed me down. I can't be so hard on myself really...I ate out A LOT...so HALF A POUND is HALF A POUND. Thanks Bobbi, I needed that.

So this week....I'm glad is over. Back on to my routine and pushing myself to lose ANOTHER 10 lbs before WPPI. Yep, I have five weeks to lose 10 more pounds which would bring my total weight loss to almost 20lbs. OHHH la la. The excitement is pouring out of me!

In addition to my weight loss, go check out Bobbi's Blog. She' lost over 2 lbs this week! WAY TO GO BOBBI! I'm so proud of you. You betta watch out, Heather Cole is going to kick ass next week!! :) I love healthy competition. :)

The other "Cole" in my life.....

2008-02-04T12:38:00.000-08:00

Jake's sister and husband are in town from Florida this week! This makes me WAAAAYYYY excited because I get to have the other "Cole" in my life and I get to SMOOOCH all over him. Major bonus, he gets all the pictures taken of him for life. Perk of having an Aunt Heather. So today unbeknowst to him he was immediately undressed (kissed on a few thousand times) and then Aunt Heather pulled out her camera and just started CLICKIN away. I think I got some pretty good ones. These are some of my favorites.

LOVE YOU COLE!!

I lost a FOOT!

2008-02-01T10:17:00.000-08:00

I woke up this morning, worked out on my elliptical machine (which I love), took a shower and did my Friday morning ritual of weighing in. Much to my disappointment I didn't lose an OUNCE! I'm the exact same as I was last week. At first I became frustrated, how did this happen? I'm working out, I'm eating right...WHAT ON EARTH! Then I calmed down and realized, I'm not going to lose weight EVERY single week. If it were that easy, I would have succeeded at this weight loss thing a LONG time ago. The fact of the matter is, losing weight isn't easy. Your body takes this journey on a crazy road and sometimes you have ups and sometimes you have downs. I guess today, my body pulled over at a rest stop! Ha ha.

So since I didn't lose this week, I thought to myself, I've been on this weight loss journey a month now...I wonder if I've lost any inches. Much to my surprise.... I HAVE 12.25 to be exact. I LOST A FOOT! HOLY SHITAAKE! That's a lot!!

So in the end, even though I did not see the scale go down this week, I'm seeing other things go down and that just reassures me that the destination on the end of this road is a rewarding one. A healthier life with me in the driver seat, happy about the way I look and feel.

As most of you know, my good friend Bobbi has also been weighing every Friday. She didn't lose either (weird we were on the same path this week) but she has lost inches too!! 7 to be exact! Seriously, between the two of us, we have lost almost 20 inches. If that's not success I don't know what is! So visit her at her blog and give her some love. This week was hard for the both of us and some comment love would be much appreciated!!! :)

A shot from the vault.....

2008-01-29T17:38:00.000-08:00

Things have been slow lately so I thought I'd post this awesome picture I took of Olivia this summer. She's so cute and I just love her spirit. She makes me want to be a better person EVERY DAY.

Love you Livy.

Mom

I'm SPICY!!!

2008-01-25T09:42:00.000-08:00

Man, I'm feel H-O-T...HOT today. Perhaps it's because I lost another 2.9 lbs this week. That brings my weight loss in just over two and a half weeks to 8.6 lbs!!! I love how I feel as the pounds shed off. It's very exciting!!

I can't thank everyone for their constant support. Seriously, I couldn't do any of this without you!!

I have had several people ask how I'm doing it and honestly, it's as simple as Weight Watchers and working out a few days a week on my elliptical machine. I love Weight Watchers because it allows me to be NORMAL. I mean, let's be serious, I can't possibly sit in my house every day and eat packaged meals. I personally can't do that. So I definitely plan out my days. Typically my morning consists of either oatmeal or yogurt, and lunch is a Weight Watchers Smart Ones meal. For dinner, anything goes. I could make grilled chicken with green beans, chili, chicken and cheese enchiladas, beef and cheese wontons...really the skies the limit. I have been lucky enough to come across several yummy weight watchers recipes (chicken and cheese enchiladas, beef and cheese wontons some of my favs) that allow us to eat as a family while still cooking healthy options. The key to any successful diet is PORTION control. WOW...seriously people. It's not like you can't have cookie. If you want it, eat it. Just don't eat two, three or ten. My problem is definitely PORTION control. Another key to being successful at this is to have a BUDDY!! If you are having "one of those days" it is nice to call up a friend and vent. My friend has been Bobbi. She is also on her amazing journey to lose weight! She lost like 3.2lbs this week!! I'm so proud of her, that is A LOT! Go check out her blog here and give her some love. Honestly, your comments and emails are HUGE!

Love you all! Thanks for checkin in!!

Heather

Allison & Reese - SWEET SLIDESHOW

2008-01-21T14:29:00.000-08:00

There were so many good shots from Allison and Reese's wedding, we had to make a slideshow.

So....here it is!

ROCK ON GOOD TIMES!!!

Second OFFICIAL WEIGH IN!!!

2008-01-18T09:02:00.000-08:00

Definitely one word I feel today....LIGHTER!!! :)

Okay so I've been on my weight loss journey for 2 weeks now!!!! Amazing how fast it goes.

I officially weighed in today and I lost another 2 lbs! So I'm at a total of 5.7 in TWO WEEKS! I feel like I'm on top of the world and can't wait until next Friday. :)

Thanks for following me along in this journey and cheering me on! Love you all.

A special thanks to Bobbi. She has been my rock through this. It's very helpful when you have someone doing it with you. SERIOUSLY! Check out her blog here and leave her a comment to cheer her on!!!

Surprise!!!!

2008-01-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

Heather Cole Photography is PROUD TO ANNOUNCE our new and improved look for 2008! Over the last year or so we felt our old logo didn't really express our personality/style very much so I asked my good friend (and ever so talented) Bobbi if she could make me a logo like none other. Seriously folks..... it's hard to pack all of the attributes of Aaron and I along with our style and personality into ONE THING. But, she proved to us that it CAN BE DONE! Isn't it FREAKIN ROCK ON AWESOME!!!!!

Bobbi, thank you SOOO much for bringing my vision alive and creating one KICK ASS logo!!! Love you girl!

See you at weigh in tomorrow. :) ha ha!

Allison and Reese + Wedding

2008-01-16T12:26:00.000-08:00

This last Saturday Aaron and I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot Allison and Reese's wedding. Despite the sub zero weather, everyone pulled through and we got some awesome shots. There were SOOOO many great shots I had to make a slideshow so watch for that tomorrow. For now, here are my favs from the day. :)

LOVE how the light hits her on this picture. :)

Aww...mom is so happy! :)

I love this shot when her sister saw her all put together. Priceless.

This picture is one of my favs.

Ahh.....LOVE IT! MEOW!

I love this one so much. :)

oohhh...the almost kiss. Baum chica baum baum......

SWEET!

so happy!

The bride and grooms first dance. Love me some off camera lighting. :)

This one is probably one of my favs because I'm a sucker for a father daughter dance. I even cried. Yep. I did.

her daddy giving her a big squeeze.

This guy was hilarious! He called this the "upside down roach"

The Devil wears FROSTING....

2008-01-16T10:11:00.000-08:00

Ever had one of these days that everything is looking at you screaming EAT ME! Today is one of those days. But you would be proud....I haven't succumb to the temptation. Instead I took a pretty picture of it a drew horns on it. Hey....we all deal in different ways! Ha ha

Enjoy.

Hugs,

Heather

Wii are addicted

2008-01-15T07:33:00.000-08:00

So last Friday night Jake, Olivia and I went over to our friends the Solars to have dinner and some fun times with the Wii. Let's just say, Wii are addicted. This thing is awesome!! Josh was kind enough to make a slideshow (how nice of him) of our crazy night. EVERYONE played even Olivia. She loves Dance Dance Vevoluion (as she calls it).

The main thing to see in this slideshow is me kickin Sam (Kelley's husband) ass in boxing. Yeah...don't mess with me Sam. Okay so I only knocked you down twice...but still I felt on top of the world!

Here's the slideshow....enjoy!

Thanks again Josh and Jenny!!

Charlie....

2008-01-11T08:22:00.000-08:00

Late last year I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot for my friend, Jillian. She has seriously one of the cutest kids EVER!!

This session is called a lifestyle portrait session. Basically what we do is hang out at your house for an hour and two and just watch your kid/kids play. The best pictures taken are when kids are in their purest form...themselves. I love how you can catch your child doing something as simple as finding a dandelion and blowing it. Before you know it dandelions will be a thing of the past and these precious moments will be sacred.

If you are interested in doing a lifestyle portrait with us, please contact us at heather@heathercolephotography.com or aaron@heathercolephotography.com.

We look forward to playing with you soon. :)

On to my favs of Charlie. By the way, if I ever had another kid and it was a girl, I would name her Charlie. I LOVE THAT NAME!

the many funny faces of Charlie....

last but not least that beautiful smile. :)

First Official Weigh in......

2008-01-11T07:40:00.000-08:00

First of all, let me thank ALL of you for your kind words of support. It's awesome having a team of people behind you pushing you and wanting to see you succeed. It makes each and every decision I make, a much easier one. Thank you, I love you all! :)

Seriously, this week went by in a FLASH! I started this journey on Tuesday of this week so my week is a little short on my first weigh in. But my body didn't seem to mind!

I lost a total of 3.7lbs this week which is awesome! I can't wait for next week now! Keep checking back and see how it goes!

In addition to my awesome weight loss go check out my friend Bobbi . She is a FREAKIN AMAZING photographer in Indiana (way to far away if you ask me) and she's keeping track of her weight loss every Friday just like me. Stop by her Blog HERE and give her some words of encouragement.

Yeah!!!

Hugs,

Heather

P.S. As my weight continues to drop I will also be posting "progress pictures" so you can see how I'm doing. :)YEAH!

Little treasures.....

2008-01-10T11:53:00.000-08:00

I was going through some of my archives and I found this awesome photo I took this summer with Misty and Austin on their engagement session.

I love finding these little treasures!

Enjoy!

Happy Thursday!

Hugs,

Heather

Keeping it real....

2008-01-08T13:09:00.000-08:00

I had a long talk today with a good friend of mine who helped me realize that this is the year TO KEEP IT REAL.

For years I've battled the bulge. After having Olivia and starting my business I went from busy to INSANELY busy and through it all, I lost myself. With constant photo shoots, traveling and late hours, my eating habits got insane. WELL NO MORE I SAY!!!

I hesitated blogging about this because really, it's a sensitive subject. No ones likes to admit that they are overweight or have a weight problem. I certainly don't. Hell, it's hard for me to own up to it myself let alone air it out to all of you. But after my talk to today I realized I'm not alone in this battle. There are hundreds of you out there that need that push, need that friend, need something to hold you accountable. I have all three. Hopefully you can too.

This is my reason to be accountable. All of you. So every Friday I will post my weight loss. You can watch me as I move down the scale and to a happier, healthier 2008.

This is the year to Keep it Real. If I can help anyone else out there do it, then damn it.......ROCK THE FREAK ON!!

Keep it real. :)

Heather

P.S. Comments would be much appreciated. I don't see a lot of comments here or there. I want to know who's stoppin by. :)

P.P.S. Thank you Bobbi. I love you.

The land of the living...

2007-12-30T18:45:00.000-08:00

With several sick days under my belt I'm feeling much better and decided to visit the land of the living! Friday my good friend Karie McClain and her husband Matt were in town for the holidays so I decided it was time to get of the couch and have some grub! So we all met up at Nick and Jake's which by the way has some AWESOME food, had a few drinks a few laughs and some awesome entertainment by my daughter, Olivia. What a great time!!!

Thanks Karie and Matt for visiting us! Next time we're coming to Colorado and visiting you!!!

Happy New Year!

Drew Davis Band Photo Shoot

2007-12-27T11:39:00.000-08:00

The cool thing about having some slow time is that I get to blog about the cool shoots I've done recently but just didn't have time to blog about. Case in point...The Drew Davis Band.

I have shot for the Drew Davis Band for about 2 1/2 years now and believe me when I say this, it just gets better and better every time. The boys called me down to Nashville this October as they were being featured in Country Music Weekly Magazine and needed a good picture to be featured. I was honored that they called me to come down. The shoot went AMAZING. Sharla did all the makeup/styling for this event which made it seamless. This woman is nothing short of amazing when it comes to putting outfits together and doing hair and makeup. Nashville is one lucky place to have her.

Me and Sharla right before the shoot began..

Here are a few of my favorite shots from that day as well as the article that went into Country Music Weekly.

Rock on!!!

Drew

Roger

Mo

Loren

It's a WRAP!!

Check out the band at their two websites!

Main Website
Myspace Page

Sniffle...Sniffle...ACCHHEWW!

2007-12-27T10:49:00.000-08:00

It's been real quiet around here not only because we are taking off for the holiday season, but I'm also battling a wonderful cold. So, I'm sorry if it's taking me some time to get back with you, I'm poppin vitamin C, catching some zzzs and catching up on some much needed R&R time. :)

On a fun note... this is also the time of year when I get to take time out and meet some of my photographer friends. For instance, when Bobbi (from Bobbi and Mike) came into town for Christmas, she, Dustin Steller, Kelley Walker Chance and I all met up for lunch before she caught her plane home. This woman is nothing short of amazing when it comes to her photography and she's even better in person. She's spunky, beautiful and has a laugh that is probably one of the best laughs ever. I can't wait to see her again! Miss you Bobbi!!!

In addition to Bobbi, I finally got to meet the guys over at Lemon Lime Photography. These guys are HILARIOUS and have a heart of gold. I love their work and even love them more now that I have met them. Eric and Neal are two highly talented photographers and I'm excited to have met them and I can now call them my friends!! Here is a picture I took with them with my point and shoot, also pictured Jason Domingues who joined us for our meeting.

Last but not least I recently met Josh and Jenny Solar. Okay, seriously how blessed am I? These guys live not but a few blocks from my house and they are freakin amazing! They have a heart of gold and are VERY talented photographers.

I love the fact that in the past month, I have met so many new wonderful people. Seriously, could my life be any better right now?

I'm honored.....

2007-12-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

Wow...I'm speechless...my idol, Jesh de Rox, held a contest and I submitted some of my photos. Guess what.....one of them was picked for the "Connection" category, C-5 to be exact. This is such a huge honor to even be RECOGNIZED!!

I encourage all of you to go check all of the pictures out and vote for your favorite!

Check it out HERE

What a Happy Day!! :)

Heather

Thanks to Amanda and Jeff for being such wonderful subjects. :)

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

2007-12-13T09:25:00.000-08:00

It's amazing how big everyones' hearts are because when I put out the word that Seth was in trouble...wow! What an amazing response! With the auction and outside donations we have raised over $1000 dollars for Seth and his wife Jennifer! Thank you EVERYONE who bid and to all of you who donated outside of this auction. Each and every one of you has a heart of gold and you all made this holiday season a LOT less stressful for the two of them. God Bless each and every one of you!!

Congrats to Grider Girls Mama - you won the free sitting!
Congrats to Emily G. - you won the awesome prints from the Image is Found! Whoo hoo. :)

Again, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Hugs,

Heather

Some fun with Livy..

2007-12-10T16:16:00.000-08:00

Here are a few shots of Livy enjoying the "snow" (or ice).

Enjoy!

Seth

2007-12-06T11:12:00.000-08:00

Allow me to introduce you to one of my best friends, Seth. I've known Seth for 12 years and honestly, he's truly one of the most amazing people I know. He's giving, loving, a good Christian, a good husband and a good friend. The reason I'm writing about Seth today is because in the past two and a half months my dear friend has undergone brain surgery TWICE! The first time in October they found out he had three tumors and they needed to operate to make sure they weren't Cancerous. The good news was they weren't and they were able to remove a lot of them. The bad news is Seth a few weeks after his surgery hit his head on accident and developed blood on his brain. He was admitted for emergency surgery on Friday November 16th and hasn't been out of the hospital since. Seth came out of the surgery and started having seizures. For his own safety his brain was put into sedation for a few days. Upon getting out of sedation he has lost usage of his right hand and his speech. I am HAPPY to report as of yesterday he has started rehabilitation on his vocabulary and his hands and is on a LONG road to recovery.

So this is where you can come in. I'm going to be holding a silent auction to raise money for Seth and his wife Jennifer. My good friend, Nate, from The Image is Found has graciously donated four images from his Fine Art Gallery to be auctioned off. The highest bidder (for the print auction) will receive two 16x24 prints mounted on 2mm Styrene ($450 value) of their favorite print (out of the four). I will also be auctioning off a free sitting by yours truly (a $300 value). This can be used for either a Senior or a Family sitting. Here's out it works:

If you are interested in bidding you must leave a comment with your bid and which auction you are bidding for. Auction 1 (the print) or Auction 2(free sitting). Please make sure that all of your email information is included in the comment section because if you are anonymous I can't tell you if you won or not! I will be closing down the bids on Wednesday, December 12th and announce the winners for each category a week from today on December 13th!

These gifts would make an AWESOME Christmas gift for ANYONE (especially your photographer who is in love with every print listed from the Image is Found and would love one as a gift) - Sorry for the shameful plug for myself.

Here are the GORGEOUS PRINTS:

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

We are also accepting donations should you not want either item in our auction. If you'd like to make a personal donation please email me with your information and I will contact you directly.

Thank you all! God Bless.

Abby and Tommy + Wedding

2007-11-27T09:09:00.000-08:00

We have come to the last wedding of the year and boy was it fun! I headed to Baldwin City, Kansas to visit the beautiful Osbourne Memorial Chapel to photograph Abby and Tommy's wonderful wedding. I must say, despite the 40 degree weather everyone was a trooper for some outside pictures.

What an AMAZING year this has been for us. Thank you everyone for a spectacular wedding season and Abby and Tommy, thanks for allowing us to end it on such a PERFECT note. :)

Tommy keeping Abby warm. How awesome is this picture? God I love my job. :)

Love this shot too. :)

These girls were awesome. Seriously - you would have thought it was 90 degrees outside, NEGATIVE...it was 4o (at the most).

Freakin hot!

Happy Turkey Day!

2007-11-22T06:31:00.000-08:00

I saw this cute thing on Bobbi and Mike's Blog so I thought it would be fun to do one of myself ( hee hee)

Happy Turkey Day all!

Hugs!

Me

What I'm thankful for....

2007-11-20T23:45:00.000-08:00

Finally going to bed but before I do I just wanted to wish everyone out there a Happy Thanksgiving! I'm pretty caught up for a few days on blogging so I had to do one more (yep that's five in a row) to wish all of my friends, my clients, and the blog stalkers out there a SAFE and Happy Thanksgiving. This is the time of year that I love the most. It's the one time of the year that I get to slow down and really take time to enjoy my family. My wedding this Saturday will be our last for the year and I will be taking off the ENTIRE month of December from shooting. This is time for me to catch up with friends, and most importantly my family. I will still be available via email and such so DON'T PANIC. :)

Last but not least...what I'm thankful for. First and for most, God and the wonderful things that he has provided for me and my family. Without him in my life I wouldn't be where I am today or even the person I am. Second, my family. My husband Jake who endures my crazy schedule and is a big supporter of me and my passion. Last but CERTAINLY not least, Olivia. She is my pride and joy and life as her mother, completes me.

Hugs to all. Ta ta for a few days. Love ya!

Maria & Dean + Eng

2007-11-20T23:10:00.000-08:00

Okay so I lied! You don't have to wait until tomorrow because it's 1:45 am and I'm still WIDE AWAKE so why not keep working and get this STUFF UP! I must admit 4 posts in one night. I think I hit an all time record for myself. :)

For those of you who closely follow my blog, Maria and Dean won our first annual Free Wedding Contest. These two have become VERY close friends of mine and I'm so blessed to have them in my life. Here are a FEW of my favorites from the day. Enjoy!

Meow!

So cute!!

One of my favs (go figure)

How hot are they? Seriously?

Doesn't Maria look AMAZING! This girl needs NO help at all but Katie from Mink Artistry did her hair and makeup. Wowza!

Sexy hot!

How much fun are these! Thanks guys for a wonderful day. I can't wait for the wedding!! Love you!

Jillian & Anthony + Eng

2007-11-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

Jillian and Anthony rounded out my year with my last outdoor engagement session. We had such a great time together and I'm just SOOO pumped for their wedding next year. Narrowing this down was impossible..

P.S. keep checkin back tomorrow I have some more engagements from our FREE Wedding Contest winners, Maria and Dean. :) THEY ROCK!!

REMEMBER YOU CAN CLICK ON ANY IMAGE TO ENLARGE!!!

Okay, seriously..Anthony and Jillian are freakin MODELS!!

I love this shot. :)

Their true personalities!!!

Sexy smokin hot!

SHUT YOUR MOUTH!! That is HOT!!

I SAID SHUT IT!! This is going on my walls. YUM.

Meow.

Love it. :)

Love you both! Can't wait for the wedding day, it's going to be a blast. :)

The great haircut of 07

2007-11-20T22:33:00.000-08:00

After a lot of discussion I decided to breakdown this last week and cut Miss Olivia's hair. Here are some fun shots of me and Olivia's "girl time" at the Salon. :)

Olivia before the haircut

Getting her hair washed by Lisa. SO SPOILED!

Both of us under the dryer.

Four inches later...my cutie. :)

Karla & Joe + Wedding (AND MY B-DAY)

2007-11-20T22:19:00.000-08:00

This year my birthday rocked because I rocked it from sun up to sun down. I started my day off shooting a great couple, Karla and Joe. They are such sweet people! We had a blast on their wedding day and afterwards my husband and daughter took me out to eat. By the end of the day I was exhausted by really, it was one of the best birthdays I have ever had!

Here are just a FEW pictures from their wedding day that I liked (too many to choose from as always).

Are they not adorable?

MEOW!

HOTTIE!! Look at those dimples!

BAM! SIMPLY STUNNING!

I just had to include this one in my post. I love this shot I got of Joe's expression as Karla walked down the isle. :)

Last but not least my birthday dinner. :)

My two favorite people. LOVE YOU GUYS!!!

Amanda and Jeff + Eng

2007-11-14T13:05:00.000-08:00

Have I ever told you how much I love my job? I do! I don't even need to say more.... check out these fun images of my UBER cool photo shoot with Amanda and Jeff at Loose Park and the Plaza. :)

One of my favs of the day.

Had to grab one of Amanda, she's just so beautiful!!!

Way too cute!

I love her facial expression in this one. :)

WICKED Light. This was shot as the sun was almost down. Gotta love the plaza!

Abby and Tommy + Eng Pix

2007-11-13T22:35:00.000-08:00

Wow! What AWESOME fall we are having. We have been crazy busy (thus behind on blogging) but we are slowly but surely catching up. :)

Here are some pictures I took just a few days ago of Abby and Tommy. They are getting married November 24th and since Tommy is soldier he hasn't been able to get into town until now so we grabbed him (and the shots) as quick as we could. :)

Before the pix I do have to say one thing...

Tommy, it is an honor to finally meet you (as I've heard so many wonderful things about you from Abby). You are an honorable man and it's because of you and the things you do for this country that allow me to do what I love to do. God Bless.

Fav of the day...

Another fav.

Wicked cool light eh?

FREAKIN TOO CUTE!!

Sassy!

Lauren and JR

2007-11-08T20:55:00.000-08:00

I shot Lauren and JR a few weeks ago (see still behind on blogging) and what an GREAT time we had. The day was beautiful and the bride and groom, wonderful. I happened to snag a shot I love so much, guess what, I already ordered it for my gallery. Can you say yummy 30x40? WHOO HOO! :)

Here are just a FEW of my favs. I'm so behind on blogging so I'm trying to scale down my favs. I love so many that it takes me SO LONG to decide so I hope a few will tease you enough. :)

Beautiful!

I love this shot I grabbed while they were exiting the church. So much FUN!!

This was a great candid I caught while they were watching a slide show of them growing up. :)

These two have such great chemistry. I just love em!

Lauren & J.R. - thank you for asking me to be a part of your wonderful day. I'm very honored. :)

Heather

Andrea and Phillip + Wedding

2007-11-07T19:07:00.000-08:00

This is LONG overdue and I'm so sorry, it's just been SOO BUSY! I have so many things to blog about. Weddings, portraits, Halloween, my BIRTHDAY (gulp) but for now, let's do one thing at a time.

A few weeks ago I shot Andrea and Phillip. I had an ABSOLUTE BLAST with these two. They are so amazing together (as you can see) and it's was just so awesome to be a part of it all. Here are just a FEW of my favs.

Too funny. :)

This is totally Andrea and her laugh. I love it!!

She's so stinkin beautiful....wowza!

Thought this shot was cool. :)

Yeah, love the shoes.

This is the first time Phillip ever saw her, I love the expression on this face, fighting the tears were hard.

Great moment with just the two of them. :)

BLING!

Meow.

The rain cleared for the later part of the day and we were able to grab a few shots outside. I love this one of the two of them.

Thank you Andrea and Phillip for allowing me to be a part of your special day.

Hugs,

Heather

Life - as an artwork - Has changed my life

2007-10-24T22:45:00.000-07:00

As most of you know I'm in California attending Life (as an art form) workshop with Jesh de Rox and the Image is Found.

There are so many profound things that I've learned here and so many talented people I have gotten to know that this experience has changed me forever.

Along this experience I have gotten to meet one of my favorite music artists Amy Seeley. She has a voice of gold and a heart to match. I also got to photograph her (what an experience).

Miss you all...be back SOON!!

Jesh de Rox and the Image is Found....

2007-10-21T21:29:00.000-07:00

Need I say more? I'm headed out for the week on what will probably be one of the most life changing experience I hope to encounter. I'm going to be in California this week attending a VERY awesome workshop put on by none other than Jesh de Rox and Nate and Jaclyn from The Image is Found. I'm so excited and can't wait to share with all of you my experience!

Should you need anything this week you can reach me via phone. Jake will be home but again, unless you need some insurance advice it might have to wait until I return. :)

Before I go I wanted to leave with you a few images I shot tonight. I did two families that are near and dear to my heart. Not to mention, Kelly and Tim are celebrating their 15 year anniversary this week and I won't be here to cheer them on...so I thought it would be awesome to get some of these posted prior to my departure.

Enjoy!

I will be checking in upon my return! Hugs!

- Heather

The ultimate beauty...Brit.

The ever so handsome, Devin.

The whole Family. Love this shot!

Baby O. Lookin cute as ever.

HEART BREAKER!

Kelly and Tim. Happy Anniversary you two! I love you both.

Elisa and Micah + Wedding

2007-10-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

One word, Shenandoah. WOW, WOW, WOW! That's all Aaron and I could say as we pulled into Shenandoah, Iowa. Seriously folks, this town as so much character and beauty we could have stayed all day. Sorry this is a little late but heck...how could one choose???

Elisa and Micah, thank you for allowing Aaron and I to be a part of you VERY special
day. I hope that we will always be considered "tier one" in your book. :)

Here are some of my favorites from the day! :)

Doesn't Elisa look beautiful?!

We stopped by the "Soda Fountain" in town where they made Micah and Elisa a REAL cherry coke. Even Aaron and I got one...dude, I seriously would drive 3 hours again just for that!! If you get a chance to stop into Shenandoah, you HAVE to hit the Soda Fountain.

Allison and Reese + Eng

2007-10-17T18:10:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about my job is that as a photographer I get to capture the love two people share on film. This couple reminded me of that. I love when I get to take pictures of people so in love...it's amazing. Here are some of my favorites of Allison and Reese, enjoy. :)

Karla & Joe+ Eng

2007-10-17T14:20:00.000-07:00

I'm so very behind on blogging, I'm so sorry!! We have been SOO BUSY. A trip to Nashville, engagement pictures, family portraits and Weddings GALORE! If we have been out of the loop, now you know why! My sincere apologies, just busy, busy.

So down to the good stuff.....

Here are some of my favorites from Karla and Joe's Engagement pictures. Karla and Joe are such sweet people and they are getting married on one of my favorite days of the year, MY BIRTHDAY (November 3rd - ohh did I say that outloud).

Very excited for your wedding Karla and Joe! :)

Leaving on a jetplane!

2007-10-09T10:07:00.000-07:00

Hmm....I wonder what they are thinking of me as I'm taking my picture of myself sitting in line B at the Southwest gate of KCI. Oh well...let them ponder!! Hee hee.

I'm off to Nashville! Whoo hoo! My good friends, The Drew Davis Band, are being featured in Country Music Weekly Magazine and have asked yours truly to do their pictures. Umm...yeah! I'm on my way!! So if you are trying to get a hold of me within the next few days, I'm out. Jake is home but let's face it, unless you need some insurance advice, he can't help. Hee hee (God knows I love my insurance man).

So I will be back Thursday with pictures galore. Can't wait to show you all the fun stuff I'm working on. I have tons of stuff to blog about. The AWESOME wedding Aaron and I just shot in Shenandoah, Iowa, the awesome engagement pictures of Allison and Reece, the HAUTE Q104 Cowgirls. So I will be blogging soon. I promise. Until then, check out my rock star shooter, Aaron's Blog and check out his images of this weekend's wedding.

Hugs,

Heather

Lindsay and Phil + Wedding

2007-10-02T14:30:00.000-07:00

This weekend was OFF THE HOOK amazing!! I just absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my bride and grooms. This wedding was wonderful from start to finish. Here's the run down on all the awesome vendors she used.

Ceremony: Country Club Chrisitian Church (very pretty)
Reception: The President Hotel (BREATH TAKING)
Flowers: Final Touch
Wedding Planner: Simple Elegance, Kindra Browne (she rocks more than I can say)
DJ: DJs for Hire (these guys are awesome)
Band: Michael Beers Band (they rocked the house)
Cake: Phylis Hildabrant (my fav)
Photo Booth: Piper Reception Entertainment Services (pretty cool set up)
Photographer: Yours truly, Heather Cole, Heather Cole Photography

Okay, I could barely narrow them down so here they are: Some of my favs... :)

Loved her shoes...can you tell?

Each of her bridesmaids had their own "gold" shoes. Way cute.

The hot girls.

The ROCKIN HOT guys.

The huge wedding party...

Some portraits.....Love this one. The sun was setting and the light was beautiful!!

Meow.

Check out this ROOM!! BEAUTIFUL!!

Table decorations were beautiful. :)

Cake by Phylis...YUM!!!

Good times in the photo booth. :) (Yes that is my lightsphere...)

I think Phil lost the garter up there. :)

I love Lindsay's laugh....she's so adorable. :)

I love these two more than life itself. :)

The flower girl was so adorable. She loved to dance!!

The boys listening to the speeches. So serious!! :)

Their first dance. Awwww....

Lindsay and Phil, thank you for asking me to be a part of your special day. I had a blast and can't wait to show you the rest.

Hugs,

Heather

Kevin & Stacey - Wedding

2007-10-01T13:50:00.000-07:00

Okay...this is WAYY Over due. I'm so sorry Kevin and Stacey! This last week has been CRAZY!! I have so much to post about. It's INSANE! But seriously...how about Kevin and Stacey. Aaron and I had and ABSOLUTE blast with them that we even asked Peter to tag along. Peter has mad skillz on a video camera that I have asked him to do a promotional video for me so tagged along for the FUN, FUN RIDE. He even took some shots of us...I'm tellin ya...he's got mad skillz. :)

So enough blabbin...the wedding was amazing. She got ready at International Hair at 80th and Metcalf and her hair and makeup was AMAZING!!!

The day was perfect, start to finish. See for yourself. :)

Starting our day off at International Hair....talk about mad skillz!!!

One of my favs from the day. :)

WOW! Just WOW! What else can I say?

I just LOVE Kevin. He's such a wonderful guy and his smile??!! MELT YOUR HEART!

Another fav from the day. :)

Peter and Aaron workin it. I love this shot because it tells the true story of how crazy fun it was and all that was going on... :)

My view.

How hot do they all look! SWEETASTIC!!

Meow.

Hot!

Meow again.

Kevin and Stacey are known to throw in a little "Blue Steel" so Aaron and I wanted to join in. Thanks Peter for capturing the next images below. :)

LURRVV it.

Fun Shadows during their speech.

The cake was SOO PRETTY!

Nice little ring shot. :)

Thanks again Kevin and Stacey. I can't wait to show you the rest! Love you both.

- Heather

Aaron's Blog...check it out!

2007-09-23T18:17:00.000-07:00

As most of you know my other half Aaron has been hard at work with me this summer. He's also gotten his own blog put together so you can see all the work he's been doing. Check it out HERE

If you think this year was awesome, wait until next year! Aaron has started shooting his own weddings and if you are interested in his work email us at heather@heathercolephotography.com and we'll hook you up with a consultation. His prices start at $1200.

Enjoy!!

- Heather

Two words I dread...

2007-09-12T12:43:00.000-07:00

Yep. Garage Sale. If you don't hear from me immediately the next few days you know where I am. The Cole family is having their first and LAST garage sale ever. This is a lot more work than I anticipated and with my busy schedule I doubt that this will happen again. So if you are out there and need any little girl stuff...stop by. I have enough clothes, shoes and baby items to restock Babies R' Us. YIKES!
If you need me I can be reached via cell phone. 816-729-1287

Until Monday - HUGS!

Heather

I thought I was going to bed.....

2007-09-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

But I'm still up editing so I thought why not update my blog yet again today. That's three in one day...geez...talk about spoiling you.

This one however is more for the girls than the guys (hee hee). Enjoy!

Paul - thanks for asking me to come to Lawrence to photograph you. Congrats on your graduation!! You are a great guy and I wish you all the best!!

- Heather

First a shot in his uniform under Campanile.

And a few in some more comfy clothes. :)

LOVE, LOVE, This shot. The sun was going down and the light was SOOO WARM!!

So good I had to show you both color and sepia. Your welcome. :)

Sweet!

What a great smile. :)

Marianne and Brian + Eng

2007-09-09T21:03:00.000-07:00

This afternoon Marianne, Brian and I headed to the plaza for some fun engagement shots. I think at first I can be a little intimidating with my crazy orders for how I want you to stand, look, turn etc. But after Marianne and Brian warmed up to me we had a GREAT time. Before I headed to bed I wanted to share just a FEW from today.

Brian and Marianne are HUGE Apple fans. Okay so perhaps Brian a little more than Marianne. But both of them just bought an iphone (can you hear the jealousy) and wanted to incorporate their love for apple in some way. This is what I came up with...

I think it's one of my favorite of the day.

Meow..freakin...meow.

Doesn't she have beautiful eyes?

I love the light in this alley.

More to come Marianne and Brian. Thanks for having fun with me today.

Jon and Kadie + Wedding

2007-09-09T20:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Aaron and I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot at the Longview Mansion again. I absolutely LOVE that place. It's so beautiful at every time of year and it always runs so smoothly. To top it off they hired the best DJ ever, Jeff Vaughn from Q104. He rocked the house!

Overall the weather beautiful. No rain which is all that Kadie asked for. It was a
little muggy but Kadie, Jon and their wedding party were troopers and let Aaron and I go to town with them. Here are just a few favorites from the day.

Kadie and Jon - Thank you SOOO MUCH for asking us to be a part of your day. I hope it was everything you wanted and more. Enjoy your honeymoon in Mexico!

Love ya both.

Heather

Aaron and I in action.

Isn't she beautiful!! She's not even all done up yet!!

Worth every minute. She's got eyes that KILL! MEOW!

The hot guys... :)

The sexy girls...

I love this shot...

Yum..

Look how happy her and her dad look! :)

Grabbed some shots as the sun went down. Love this light!

This was fun because it was at the end of the night. I just used the light of the building. Sweet! :)

This is why I love Kadie so much. She has such a big heart and she's not afraid to show it. This is her and Jon during one of the toasts. If memory serves me correct...it was the speech from her dad.

Dad dancing with her dads....

Yeah...I was crying too. Makes me remember my dance with my dad. Miss you daddy. Love you.

Kurt and Lauren + Wedding

2007-09-06T16:19:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot Kurt and Lauren's wedding. What a GREAT time we had. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! Here are a few of my favorites.....

Lauren waiting to see Kurt for the first time.

The beautiful couple.

My favorite of the day. Gotta love his socks too!!

Isn't she BEAUTIFUL!!

The is my second favorite shot of the day.

A candid moment at the alter.

Isn't the flower girl adorable?

The girls were so much fun. I can't remember what they were laughing about...hmm..chocolate? :)

The guys hanging out....

The bride and groom on their first dance.

Nothin but good times.....

Lauren and her dad had an awesome dance together. This was my favorite shot of them two. :)

SMOOCHES!

Kurt and Lauren - Thanks for asking me to be a part of your special day. I can't wait to show you the rest!

Love ya,

Heather

Yallapalooza..

2007-09-03T13:24:00.000-07:00

Last weekend I had the opportunity to hang out with my hubby and friends and get up close and personal with some of my favorite music artists at Yallapalooza. It was a LONG day but we had an absolute blast. Here are some shots of my favorite artists of the day.....

Jake, Lisa and Grant hanging out with Kirstin (Whitey's girlfriend)

Lee Brice....he seriously has some awesome eyes!!

Sarah Johns

Brad from Emerson Drive (my secret man crush)

Keith Anderson...he's so nice..okay and not too bad on the eyes either!

A cool shot of the lawn stage at night.

Miranda Lambert

Saving the best for last...the headliner...Dierks Bentley

To see all of the shots from that day visit my website and go under "view your session".

Plaza Dean...

2007-08-30T22:02:00.000-07:00

What an AWESOME night it was tonight. Cool breeze, good food and AMAZING company.

Jake and I headed down to the Plaza tonight to meet Maria and Dean (our free wedding winners) for dinner. We had a wonderful time and it made me even more excited for their wedding to get here! Seriously blog readers, you couldn't have picked a more grateful genuine couple. :)

Maria and Dean....thanks for the good conversation tonight. I'm so blessed that our paths crossed and that I have the opportunity to be a part of the most special day of your lives.

Love you guys.

Heather

Meghan and David + Engagement

2007-08-28T10:02:00.000-07:00

The other day I had the opportunity to shoot Meghan and David for a very fun (but hot) engagement session. What a great time we had! Here are a few of my favorites of the day!

Back to School....

2007-08-24T11:29:00.000-07:00

Unbelievable how fast the summer goes! I still can't believe that it's the end of August and September will be here in a blink of an eye! With that being said, we have officially started school!

Today marked Olivia's first day of Pre-Kindergarten. I can't believe how fast time flies. I feel like just yesterday I was posting about her first days at preschool! Here are some fun shots of our fun morning!

Olivia getting all dressed up!

She was VERY excited about her new shoes!

Gotta brush our teeth!

Okay mom...seriously....

Our self portrait!

Olivia and daddy!

My how much you can change in a year. This was taken last year.

And now this year.... :)

Olivia's new friends, Lauren and Christian who started school last week! I think this made Olivia even more excited for today!

Must see...

2007-08-22T11:16:00.000-07:00

I ran across this website and I wanted to share. I think it's important that everyone see this because in society today we put too much pressure on ourselves to try and be perfect. With technology these days...anything is possible. Keep that in mind the next time you don't feel you are "up to par". I assure you...you are just as beautiful, if not more.

Click on the link below and go to portfolio to see the before and afters.

http://www.iwanexstudio.com/

Free Wedding - AND THE WINNER IS....

2007-08-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

Mike "Dean" and Maria!

Woohhoo! Congrats Dean and Maria! I'm so excited to be a part of your special wedding day!

A BIG thank you to everyone who wrote in an voted. It wouldn't have been possible without you!

Thank you Nora for sending in the story. I can't wait to meet you!

Hugs,

Heather

Free Wedding - THE VOTES ARE IN!

2007-08-17T08:39:00.000-07:00

Thank you EVERYONE who voted for the contestants on the free wedding contest. The votes are in and I will update everyone this afternoon on the winner! 365 votes WOW!!!! :)

Tag is FUN!

2007-08-15T20:16:00.000-07:00

Bobbbi, a fellow photographer tagged me in a blog game that started somewhere up the line of photographer blogs.

The rules are for me to share eight interesting facts about me, and pass this along to eight other photographers to do the same. So here we go:

1. My maiden name is Giambalvo, yes, I'm Italian.
2. I'm the youngest of 7 and I have a pair of twin sisters!
3. I hate seafood, I'm a steak and potatoes kind of girl.
4. I was in drill team in high school (go bulldogs) danced for 11 years and competed in gymnastics.
5. I can't say the word baboon or M&Ms.
6. I'm addicted to products. Hair products, makeup, lotions, perfumes. It's sick.
7. Christmas is my favorite holiday because I get to be around my friends and family so much.
8. My first job was at Dairy Queen...I SOOO CAN DO THE SWIRL!

So now I'm supposed to post eight photographers that I'm tagging. To be honest, a lot of my friends have already been tagged so I'm going to try and throw some new ones out there in the hopes that they will play along. If not, no biggie. If they do, SCORE! Check their blogs to see!

* Jason Domingues
* Karie McLain
* Fred Egan
* Paul Versluis
* Nate and Jaclyn Kaiser
* Jesh de Rox
* Jamie Huffman
* Margaret Singer

Oh, and hey blog readers/commenters… tell US one interesting fact about YOU!

Fun at the Lake!!

2007-08-13T07:34:00.000-07:00

I was off Saturday (CAN YOU BELIEVE IT) and we got invited to go to the lake for the day. What a treat this was! Fun in the sun all day long....count me in! So we hopped in the car with the our friends, Lisa, Grant and their children Christian and Lauren and headed to Truman Lake. Let me tell you what a great time we had. Olivia even went tubing! Yep...all by herself! Just jumped right in! Here are some fun shots of the day (sorry about the quality of some of the pictures. I wasn't prepared with my big camera for the action shots-heee hee).

Olivia and Lauren tubing. Note that Lauren is giving the thumbs up for a "go faster" sign.
Olivia even got to drive the boat!

Christian after a long day.. isn't he the cutest ?
Lauren, Olivia and Christian having a blast!
Jake and Grant gettin the day started off right!

Kenny Chesney Concert

2007-08-12T13:05:00.000-07:00

This last Thursday I had the opportunity to go see one of my favorite country music artists Kenny Chesney! The night was unbelievable hot but it was a great show. My hubby was supposed to hang with me that night but plans changed and I brought my friend, Lisa. She didn't mind the last minute call a bit! Ha ha.

Here is a shot of me and Lisa before we left...I cut bangs...you like?

Here is a shot of me and the man himself...YUMMY!! (Notice hair went immediately up...105 degrees will do that to ya)

The votes are FLOODING IN!

2007-08-08T14:12:00.000-07:00

Thank you to everyone who has already voted! Please keep them coming in. Any one can vote but remember you can only vote once! Thank you all for being a part of this.

Hugs!

Heather

Lauren and J.R. + Engagement

2007-08-08T13:57:00.000-07:00

Last Friday I had the opportunity to shoot Lauren and J.R. at Loose Park. The sky became cloudy and thunder was all around us but we were lucky and had NO SHOWERS!

Their wedding is October 27 and with as much fun as we had at the park, the wedding is going to be a blast!!

Jon & Kadie + Engagement

2007-08-08T10:54:00.000-07:00

Right before I left for my vacation I took Jon and Kadie out for their engagement pictures! We had an absolute blast together and it makes me that much more excited for their wedding which was a month from YESTERDAY! Whoo hoo! Here are a few of my favorites!

Love this shot!

Kendra + Senior Pictures

2007-08-08T10:11:00.000-07:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot Kendra on the Plaza this last Sunday. Despite the 104 degree weather and wicked high winds, she looked amazing! Here are a few of my favorites from the day!

Probably one of my favorites from the day.

Look how pretty her brown eyes are !! Wowza!

Thanks Kendra for allowing me to be a part of your Senior Year! Congrats!

Free Wedding - Results

2007-08-06T16:36:00.000-07:00

Wow, Wow, WOW!!

Thank you everyone who submitted their entries into the first annual Heather Cole Photography free wedding contest. We received SO many entries and so many great stories it was almost IMPOSSIBLE to pick. Let's just say I had to get A LOT more judges involved. I just couldn't pick on my own. After FIVE judges read through everyone's stories we narrowed it down to three finalist. I know I said we were going to have two, but there were so many wonderful stories we had to pick three.

To those of you who were not chosen, thank you so much for taking the time out to write me and tell me your wonderful stories. They were all so amazing it really was very hard for me to choose. I seriously wish I could shoot all of your weddings!

To those of you who wrote in for your sister, your brother, you daughter your son I say God Bless you. What wonderful hearts you have to do something so special as try to enter a contest like this. You are wonderful people and you are a blessing in their lives.

I've done my job, now it's up to my AWESOME BLOGGERS to do theirs. Me along with a panel of judges have picked the finalists but I need you to vote. PLEASE DO NOT USE THE COMMENT button to vote. Please email me at heather@heathercolephotography.com with "Wedding Contest vote" in the subject line. Please put in the body of your email who you want to vote for and why. The winner will be announced on August 20th so get those votes in ASAP!

Now for the top three finalist.

Couple Number One: Submitted by the Bride's Mother Nora.

Michael and Maria

Maria was a fifteen year old girl who fell in love for the first time. She was a pom-pom girl; he was the high school quarterback. It is a great love story.

A pep rally with the pom-pom girls dancing with the football players as entertainment was scheduled. Maria asked Michael if he would dance with her during the pep rally. He agreed! The dance was a big hit and they were the couple who stood out on the dance floor.

They began to date steadily after that first dance. They dated through high school and into college where she was a pom-pom girl and he was the quarterback.

The two went separate ways to pursue careers, all the while staying in touch with each other. She moved to California and became a Management Trainee. She then moved to Denver, Colorado to work.

Michael remained close to home, moving to Kansas City to work as an auditor. A position as an insurance underwriter brought him home.

Maria came home to attend her college Homecoming where they were reunited. He would work to buy a plane ticket to visit her when he could. Though terrified, Michael would board a plane to Colorado. She would fly home on holidays to visit him.

Maria went to Hawaii on a business trip and learned that a position near home was opening. She interviewed and was hired. She would be moving home, ending the flights between Denver and Kansas City!

For the past year, they have spent every free moment together. Their love is as true as ever. He realized that she was the one. He had long ago told his twin and his mom that she was the girl he would marry.

He saved all the money he could and bought her a beautiful diamond ring. His plan was to propose to her in the mountains of Aspen where they had spent time.

They got to Aspen on a Saturday morning. A mountain hike was in the plans for that day, the day he was to propose. A rain storm put the hike on hold. Rain continued through the day putting the hike off until the next day, weather permitting. The next day they were able to take that hike. Michael got down on one knee and asked her to marry him. She accepted! They excitedly shared the news with family and friends.

That fifteen year old girl has grown to be a twenty-eight year old woman who is going to marry her first love.

Maria and Michael are two beautiful people that God brought together twelve years ago. Their love has endured time and distance. God’s hand has been moving them throughout the years; as if they were pieces on a game board. Ironically, his final move brought them back to where it all began!

Maria is the type of person who has always done all she could to help financially. She worked through high school and college to help pay for her education. She worked and paid off the loans that were left after graduation. When times were tough, she made ends meet.

Maria has worked and saved all she could for her wedding. She started out in California and could barely make the bills on her salary; the cost of living is very high. She moved to Denver and was able to begin saving for her wedding. I became disabled and would not be able to help with the wedding because I’m on a limited income.

Maria attended a wedding that you were the photographer for and was extremely impressed with your work. She would like to have the memories of her wedding turn out as perfectly as theirs. They want to look back 50 years from now and see photos that are as crisp and clear as the day they were taken.

Couple Number Two: Submitted by Bride's sister, Erin

Carolyn and Jim

When I read Heather's blog about the possibility of winning not only a FREE photographer, but an AMAZING FREE photographer for my little sister's wedding, I couldn't resist but to just go for it! About a million reasons popped in my head as to why my sister Carolyn and her fiancé Jim deserve to win a lifetime of beautiful memories. As our VERY large family (there are a total of 10 siblings including us in our family) likes to say, "The most important detail to pay attention to for your wedding is your pictures~ because memories in our minds may fade away, but photos can keep those memories alive forever." Now...where do I even begin?!
Carolyn and Jim are two of the most honest and generous people I've ever met. They have family values, and are always willing to help out someone if they need it. Whenever Carolyn has a spare moment, she's always popping in at mom's and dad's just to touch base back at home. Even though Carolyn works 50 plus hours a week and barely gets any sleep with her demanding job as an assistant manager for Bridgeman Foods, she and Jim always make time for their family and friends together. Since Jim recently decided to leave his job due to an unhealthy work environment, Carolyn has fully accepted the task to keep up with their financial needs until he finds a more comfortable job environment. She feels that Jim has taken care of her for so many years in her times of need, so she would be more than happy to take care of him. I don't think I could think of a more deserving couple than them. Even though our family is crazy and loud and boisterous and completely opposite to Jim's family, he's always full of a positive energy that makes every family event calmer. They are two hopeful, hardworking and madly-in-love young adults. I know that a lot of people fall in love these days, but it's not always easy to STAY in love unless your whole heart is in it. With them, I know they always will be~ and they give hope to the rest of us single siblings that are still waiting for the right one to come along.
Carolyn and Jim got engaged to be married December 23rd, 2006. Jim originally had planned on taking Carolyn out to dinner that night of the 23rd to a popular restaurant and popping the question there, intending on making Carolyn the center of attention, but as most men know, women aren't always the best at making things easy. Carolyn had a long day at work and was suffering from a migraine headache, so no matter what Jim said, he couldn't convince her to get off the couch and go out to eat. With every restaurant he suggested they could go to, she suggested another that delivered. Finally in defeat, Jim threw up his hands, knelt down beside her by the couch, pulled out that tiny velvet box every girl dreams of seeing, and said "since you won't cooperate, I'm just going to have to do it like this...Carolyn, will you marry me?" To this day, Carolyn can't remember a single word she said except, "yes." Our family couldn't have been happier to see Carolyn walk through the door on Christmas Eve wearing the beautiful diamond engagement ring that had as much sparkle as her eyes that night. Now that we've got the present day down, let's backtrack a little to the beginning.
Carolyn and Jim met in school. She was in 8th grade and he was a freshman. He first caught her eye when she was outside of gym class getting a drink at the bubbler, when he walked past her on his way to woods class with his latest creation in tow. She made the first move and yelled down the hall, “Hey, sexy!” When he turned around, she smiled her big grin and introduced herself ~even though he already knew who she was because he was in our sister’s class, a grade above Carolyn. After that day, Jim started taking the bus home from school just so that he could see her. The funny thing was, Carolyn’s bus didn’t head in Jim’s house’s direction…he purposely would ride home on his friends bus just to see and talk to Carolyn after school. She was loud, bubbly and full of energy, and Jim was shy, quiet, and down to earth. Even at a young age, Carolyn knew she had Jim wrapped around her finger. It seemed that Carolyn could do no wrong in Jim's eyes. Where ever Carolyn was, Jim followed. They were inseparable. As Carolyn's older sister, I remember being right out of high school and my friends and I would be green with envy of Carolyn. Here we were, 18 years old, still waiting for the perfect (or even NOT so perfect) guy to walk into our lives, and Carolyn was being sent a dozen roses weekly from the all American Ken doll~ blue eyes, blonde hair and all. It didn't help our jealousy that she was the all American Barbie doll herself. With Carolyn's fun personality and her generous heart, she only got even more beautiful inside and out as she got older through the years. Both Carolyn and Jim are amazing. Though neither one of them are perfect by far, God must have known what he was doing when he blessed them as a couple. The most solid thing about Jim and Carolyn's relationship is how their differences seem to bring out the best in each other. In Paula Abdul's words, "Opposites Attract". Carolyn's always been the "always ready to get up, dance, mingle and have fun" kind of girl while Jim's always been more of the "I'd rather sit back and relax and watch a movie" kind of guy. When ever we would see Jim, he'd be lingering right behind Carolyn as she zipped from one spot to the next, quietly sipping on his Biggie-Sized Dr. Pepper drink or having a brotherly conversation with one of our younger siblings and playfully teasing them. Jim is just a good person inside and out. As large as our family is, and as difficult it can be to take us all in, he accepted the challenge willingly and at ease. He accepted us all (imperfections included) into his heart, and we easily accepted him into ours. I think he's known all along that as much as we squabble in our family, family is very important to Carolyn and if you truly love someone, you learn to love their family too.
Since Carolyn and Jim were high school sweethearts and started dating at a very young age, they experienced being at a peak of their relationship many times, but that only means that they experienced the slope more than once also. No relationship can avoid the difficult times. But as we all know, what doesn't break a bond, only makes it stronger....and for them it super-glued them. Between Carolyn going off to college out of town, and then all the personal and family medical issues that they had to fight against together and overcome, it's amazing it didn't tear them apart. Carolyn was constantly in the hospital with kidney stones and cists~ and if she wasn't, our mother and father was with congestive heart failure and other heart problems. It seemed if she wasn’t stressed over her health, she was stressed about everyone else’s. With hospital visits, came bills, and with bills, came stress and worry. Soon Carolyn was in way over her head with medical bills. It was a very emotional and trying time that caused a lot of stress for Carolyn and Jim, and their families could see the effects it had on their relationship. We only hoped that they would pull through it. Luckily, Jim knew even then how much he loved Carolyn and Carolyn knew how much she needed and loved Jim also, and they decided to hold on to what they had and fight through the bad times together.
Over the years, they began to grow even closer. As they matured as a couple, they learned how to compromise. To satisfy Carolyn's social needs and Jim's need to be laid back and comfortable, they started to learn a new pass time together~ POKER. That way, they were able to be out amongst friends but still have a comfortable and enjoyable atmosphere for them both. Jim started teaching Carolyn tricks of the trade in their spare time, and soon when the time came to play with the boys, Carolyn was the most feared player at the table. In no time, they were enjoying poker tournaments together and traveling to Michigan (since Carolyn was under 21 at the time) to enjoy their new found passion together at the Casino. In my experience, one can only be so lucky to find a partner that you both enjoy doing the same things with. When they’re not playing poker, socializing with family and friends, or working, they enjoying just sitting in and spending time with their little Yorkie dog, Ernie.
In my eyes, Carolyn and Jim have a love to be sought over, envied, and wished for by anyone who has just started a relationship, or is a hopeful. They have proven that if you love someone free of judgment and open heartedly, you can overcome anything. In my mind, that is something to be acknowledged of. They have come from parents that have shown them that love can take you anywhere and that it can last forever. I know that in their hearts they will love each other forever...all you have to do is look into their eyes and you will feel the magic that one can only hope can be captured forever. That is why I think they deserve these photos of a lifetime... to capture the love, the magic, the hopes and the dreams they have today so that they can be reminded of them again in the future.

Couple Number Three: Submitted by Groom's sister, Erin

Aaron and Vivian

Dear Heather,

Hmmm…“why you think you deserve to win this contest and get your wedding pictures done for free”… hmmm. I’m nominating Aaron Valencia and Vivian Volante.

I’m not the bride, not the groom… just a sister (maid of honor). But these two people are so amazing together… so much BETTER together. There are very simple and sweet reasons that they should be chosen to win this contest:
-She’s the little Latina princess who goes CAMPING with him, and has actually grown to enjoy it, I should add.
-He’s the outdoorsy/sporty/gets dirty-all-day guy who needs to be reminded to just go get a haircut on occasion… and he SHOPS with her for days on end when she wants. ☺

Then there are the more complicated reasons.
-His big brother is gone, after a tragic accident last year- but they push forward in this whole wedding process with joy and anticipation nonetheless, simply because his family is amazing- huge and happy and full of life.
-There are the people in her life that will miss this wedding, certain special individuals spread out all over the world… her grandfather in Portugal, her mother’s family in Spain, Cuba and Miami. All of these family members deserve to see some really stunning and remarkable images of this wedding to show them how great this love is!
They need to share their story in some way, with those who can’t be there to celebrate with them.

And last but not least, Heather… this will be such a FUN PARTY… a really joyful and meaningful wedding for you to shoot. There will be salsa dancing, paella, mojitos, and more. It will be a fusion of all things bold and beautiful and Latin-American… we’re celebrating his Mexican heritage, her Cuban and Portuguese heritage... who doesn’t love a party like that?

-To top it all off… her new married name will be Vivian Volante Valencia. Seriously, come on now!?! REALLY!?! Does it get any better than this!?! ☺

Thanks for considering them. They really do deserve it.

Sincerely,
Erin Volante
(Sister-in-law to the bride, and no, she doesn’t know that I wrote you this letter.) ☺

Fun Changes at the Cole Casa!

2007-08-06T15:05:00.000-07:00

As most of you know, I just got back from a weeks vacation in Florida with my family. Not only did we have a BLAST in Florida but it was also a very exciting trip because the second we landed in Kansas City I knew I had some new stuff to come home and see. We kinda had a "while you were out" session being done at our house. Our living room was TRANSFORMED by a wonderful interior decorator, Amy Kort. She helped us plan every single stage of this room from the color on the walls, the fabric for the drapes and even found an old antique chair and finished it for an awesome little sitting corner I have. Seriously folks, I can't say enough about her and her awesome work. If you want some decorating in your life, you need to give her a call. Her number is 816-516-7648.

As if the Living room wasn't enough, our good friend, Johnny Blake, put some AWESOME tile in our master bathroom. Our house isn't very old and for some reason our builder put carpet in the bathroom!! HUGE PET PEEVE of mine. We finally got off our lazy butts and did it. Johnny is SOOO GOOD and so fast. If you are interested in getting some tile done he's the man. So fast and very affordable. Let's just say a few of our neighbors peeked in while we were gone and loved him so much he's already done their houses too! His contact information is: 816-813-5725. He ROCKS!

Okay so now for the good stuff!!!

I love, love, love my fireplace but before it never stood out. Amy did a great job in making it the beautiful piece it is!

Umm...yeah...boring!

Woowwzaa! Don't tell me you don't want to come over and sit in this room!! :)

YAWN!!!

HECK YEAH! Look at my cute little sitting corner too!

Antique chair before.....

After some Amy lovin!!

Bathroom before

Bathroom after....

Amazing what a little Johnny can do for you!

Thanks Amy and Johnny for all your hard work. You far exceeded my expectations and my house is now a home because of you. :)

We're BACK!!!!

2007-08-02T09:40:00.000-07:00

Vacation was AMAZING!! For those of you who don't know, we took our first family trip together and went to Naples Florida. Not only did we need some time to ourselves but we also wanted to be there when Jake's sister, Jera had her baby. The timing was just right! We arrived in Florida on Wednesday and she was induced on Friday so we were not only able to see the baby but also able to get there BEFORE she popped and got some AWESOME belly shots at the beach. She's the only pregnant girl I know who can still rock a bikini.

The trip was wonderful from start to finish. Olivia took her first plane ride which was so much fun! Every day we either went to the beach or we laid out at our own PERSONAL pool at our rental house. Which by the way was AMAZING!! If you are traveling to Florida and ever want to rent a house I highly recommend going through CNE Vacation Rental homes.

So I made it my mission not to work while on vacation and I was successful! It was amazing to have so much connecting time with my family. Sometimes my life is so crazy with weddings, photo shoots, editing and consultations that time with them can be limited during my wedding season. So I appreciate everyone's patience! I'm working hard to get back to everyones emails and messages!

Hugs!

Heather

Jake and Olivia on our early flight there! Look how excited she is!!!

Long layover in Orlando. That early flight caught up to both of us!!

Our pool at our house! What a treat!!

Our first day at the beach. Olivia LOVED IT!!

Lunch at the Riverwalk. We got to sit "outside" on the dock. It was so much fun!

Jera and Mike one day before baby Cole was born!

We took their wedding pictures near the water in Florida so I thought it was only fitting that we take them IN the water this time!

I love this one. I love the laughter between them!!

Our last day at the beach! Olivia and daddy playing!

Mommy and Olivia right before we went to dinner.

Right before we left the beach on our last day. A storm was coming (as you can see). I actually didn't take this picture, my husband did. Way to go Jake. I love this picture of her!!!!

Congrats Mike and Jera on your beautiful baby boy Cole! I can't wait to get my hands on him and take more pictures! Love you both!!

Some cool stuff....

2007-07-24T19:10:00.000-07:00

What an AWESOME but busy month this has been. Here is some cool stuff that is happening!

Today we were featured along side the wonderful Jason Domingues in the KC Star for our Trash the Dress session. Very cool article! Props for Mr. Domingues photographing this picture...with my crazy day I barely got to pick up a copy let alone take pictures of it! :)

I'm officially caught up on editing. Right now we are running about 4 weeks for processing after a wedding. I was running 6-8 weeks. But the wonderful Adobe Lightroom has changed my life forever!! Whoo hoo (Thanks Dustin).

I'm stoked about being involved in a workshop in October put on by the truly amazing Jesh de Rox and the Image is Found. Seriously, I'm already counting down the days!

Last but not least...I've been running FULL SPEED for the last few months and I'm taking a week off. Yep. Not going to work for an entire week. My daughter has been so good all summer occupying her time while I work endless hours in this office. So I'm giving my "one week notice". I will be out of the office not returning emails or calls until August 2nd. I need to sit back, relax and recharge my batteries! Thanks for understanding!

Talk to ya in a week!!

- Heather

Katie and Garrett + Wedding

2007-07-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

TOO MUCH FUN!! Three words to describe my wedding Saturday. WHOOO HOO!! Katie and Garrett are a photographers dream couple. It's such a compliment to me that they trust me and my vision and aren't worried about getting a little dirty on their wedding day because they know it will be worth it. When they told me they had two hours to shoot anywhere I wanted, I tried to use that to my advantage. We took them to Westport, the Plaza and the Nelson. I tried to steer away from the normal "hot spots" of each place and find the beauty in the "really cool places". What a great
time we had. Katie was an absolute trooper in her beautiful heels and Garrett..what more can you say about Garrett. He is the sweetest guy ever and was totally down with
our crazy ideas. The wedding party was so much fun and I walked away wishing it didn't have to end.

I was not only blessed to shoot this wedding but to do it along side two photographers I absolutely love to shoot with. One, my very own Aaron Harrison and the other, Dustin Steller. Here are SOME of my favorites from their day. Be sure to check back for Aaron's point of view and check out Dustin's link above for his amazing shots. :)

Enjoy Katie and Garrett. Have fun on your honeymoon!!

Our Plaza shots. Okay so it was a parking garage at the Plaza, which in my opinion was WAY COOL. Don't they look freakin amazing?

Again the Plaza. I love this shot so MUCH!!!!

Westport, in an alley. Don't they both look like models! MEOW!

The Plaza. :)

The Nelson Atkins Museum. The wind caught her veil just perfect. Woohoo!

Some fun on the Trolley!

What a fun wedding party!

Beautiful cake done by Hy-Vee.

Katie's mom was also her maid of honor, which I think is SOOO awesome. This is her giving her speech.

Her dance with her dad. One of my favorite parts of the day for obvious reasons. :)

Some email issues

2007-07-19T08:03:00.000-07:00

Just wanted to drop a quick line letting everyone know I'm having some email issues so if I'm a little delayed to responding that's why. I should have the problem fixed by tomorrow.

Thanks for your patience! I promise...more pictures to come! :)

- Heather

Amanda and Andrew + Wedding

2007-07-17T22:18:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday I had the pleasure of being a part of Amanda and Andrew's wedding! If you remember, you just saw their engagement pictures on my blog (yep we did them literally a week and a half ago). Well the big day finally arrived and I was SOO excited. I love the electricity between these two because it translates so beautifully on camera. The day was perfect from start to finish. Narrowing these pictures down were difficult so bare with me. Here are a "few" of my favorites from the day (sorry mom it's late, it took longer to do than I expected).

Amanda and Andrew - I hope you are having a blast on your cruise. I'm so happy for both of you and I'm so thankful that you welcomed me into your day and allowed me to be a part of it all. Blessings!

- Heather

Look how beautiful Amanda looked!! Wowza!!

Yeah Andrew...you ain't to bad either!! HOTTIE!!!

This is the first time they saw each other. Amanda was crying before she even walked over to him. Heck...I even got a little teary eyed. I love seeing so much love between two people!!

Some of my favorites of them!

Lilly, the ever so beautiful flower girl.

Amanda bought these AWESOME umbrellas in New York! I wasn't excited about playing with these at all. Ha ha.

These guys look awesome. Meow!

For real...is this even a cake? It was so beautiful!! I seriously didn't even want to eat it..but uh..I did. (Cake by The Bridal Kitchen).

What a great idea this was! The menu and napkin looked like a tux!

I love this shot of her and her dad. They are so happy and it reminded me of my dance with my dad (love you and miss you daddy).

This shot made me laugh. This guy is gettin DOWN! LOVE IT!

Fun with kids!

2007-07-17T20:57:00.000-07:00

I had the wonderful opportunity to shoot a family last week that STOLE MY HEART! For me, this is seriously one of the best places to shoot...YOUR HOME! Your back yard, a place where your kids can be comfortable and play naturally. If I had it my way, I'd do this on every shoot I had. If you're interested in finding out more about a shoot like this email me or call me and we'll talk! In the meantime..check out my favorites of the day!!

Let's start off with Delanie. As you can see it was her first birthday! We couldn't go without any birthday cake now could we? :)

Umm...yeah...way cute.

The ever so handsome Anthony. Geez...what a smile and those EYES!

And then there was Sydnie. This child was A DOLL and SWEET to boot! She had such extraordinary features...as you can see. :)

These are some of my favorites of the day of Sydnie and Anthony.

Just another hard day at work (ha ha). I love my job...oh wait have I said that before? :)

Katie and Scott + Wedding

2007-07-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

7-7-07 was the most demanded wedding date of this year. Early on I decided not to shoot any pictures on this date because it's also my husband's 30th birthday (yes he was born 7-7-77). Long story short...our friends got engaged and decided to get married on 7-7-07. Since we were going to the wedding anyway I thought..what the heck...I'll shoot it so they can get some KICK BUTT pictures. Drum roll please....now for the KICK BUTT pictures. :)

I love this picture of Katie.

Took advantage of some down town streets of Eureka Springs, Arkansas.

Look how happy everyone was. I love this shot!

This is the Thorn Crown Chapel. Its' so beautiful!

Probably one of my favorites of the day.

My and my honey out for his 30th birthday! Happy Birthday baby! I love you.

Amanda and Andrew + Eng

2007-07-11T08:31:00.000-07:00

I had an awesome shoot with Amanda and Andrew the other day downtown. It was SOO hot (but it wasn't rainy - right guys) and we had an absolute blast! Here are a few of my favorites! Can't wait for your wedding this Saturday!!

I'm so HONORED!!

2007-07-11T07:51:00.000-07:00

I was asked to be the photographer of the week for Trash the Dress. Words can't express what this means to me because the talent on this website is incredible. Do be featured amongst these people is a honor. Thank you guys!

Ya'll better watch out...

2007-07-10T23:24:00.000-07:00

I've got some serious blogging to do today. Or should I say, this morning! It's 1:24 am and yes, I'm still up editing. Not complaining though, I LOVE my job!

Okay so enough of that blah blah blah...get to the good stuff right?

Let's start with Katie. I've shot Katie since she was just a few months old and now, she's celebrating her FIRST birthday. I love being a part of capturing all their moments as they grow up. It's sooo much fun. This was my favorite shoot of Katie's because we went the the park and she got to romp around. She had a blast and so did I!

Here are a few of my favorites from that day. Enjoy!