Katie's Bridal Session

Heather and I have started shooting sessions together when we can. It really helps to have someone there to hold a light or do whatever we need to do. We both enjoy our job and shooting anytime we have a chance!

We had a blast shooting Katie's bridal session. It is always nice to have somewhere new to do a session. The hardest part of this session was narrowing down the pictures I wanted to put on my blog! Seriously, this girl can't take a bad picture! I am going to go ahead and post a few from her session.

I Spent the Morning with George Clooney! (and Renee Zellweger)

When I got up this morning, I had a text message from Heather from the night before. She wanted to know if I would go to Salisbury with her to see George Clooney and Renee Zellweger. I am not a celebrity stalker, so I never attend events like this. But, I decided to go with her! I texted her back "OK" Then I decided to wake her up and make sure she got my text message! I mean we are talking George Clooney, according to people magazine, the sexiest man alive. I had to see if it was true. IT WAS! Here are a few of the pictures I took today! The one in the train window was taken by my daughter, Kate Ashbrook. (Also a wedding photographer!) Heather and I had taken LONG zoom lenses, not thinking we would be so close! I actually got his and Renee's autograph! Pretty exciting, huh! I will post more later, I have to do mundane things now like cook dinner! What a day!

I decided to retouch this one a bit.





These two are pictures Kate took today.

Jeff and Elizabeth's Engagement Session

This was an unusual engagement session! We started at Carrigan Farms, and moved on to the Lazy 5 Ranch. I was surprised to see so many animals! They have camels, zebras, and giraffees among other animals with names I can't remember. Imagine my surprise when they came up to my car and stuck their heads inside! I couldn't reach for my camera fast enough!

I met Jeff a couple of years ago, and was surprised he remembered I was a photographer. Liz had been in contact with me through email, I was excited when I found out it was Jeff's wedding I was going to be doing! Jeff doesn't meet a stranger, He is one of the nicest young men I have ever met. You can tell he adores Liz, the way he looks at her is priceless! Liz is VERY sweet. Even the giraffes loved her! One of the giraffes was reaching over the cage toward her. When I tried to move closer for a better picture, they took off!

Imagine my surprise when this little fellow stuck his head in my window! Everyone knows I have a bird and I love birds, but this little baby was BIG!!

A Few More Pictures

I have to admit, playing with these pictures is keeping me away from the refrigerator!
I am trying to follow Weight Watchers a little better this month. I was glad I hadn't gained weight since we stayed in the party house where all the candy was kept! Here are a couple of images taken at the workshop. It was actually pitch black outside when the first picture was taken. I love the way this couple were dressed! Who would have known that a coat and hat could look so cool! Of course, the couple weren't half bad either. They could certainly be models.

Here is another retouched image. They are actually dancers.

Another Couple of Pictures from the Workshop

I was so busy at the workshop, I really didn't have time to post images! Most people think that shooting digital is easier than shooting film. Wrong! In the film days I was finished when I took the film out of the camera. Now there are so many options available it takes forever to get pictures ready for our clients. Here is an example of what comes out of the camera and what can be done with it if you have a lot of patience!

Here is another retouched image.

Bald Head Island Workshop

This week I am at the Love Affair Workshop! We are having a blast and are learning so much! We have been staying up until 2 am, and are up by 7am for a full day of classes! The teachers are amazing. Millie Holloman is totally hysterical. Lauren Clark is so sweet! She has been teaching us to laugh! She is also absolutely amazing with photoshop! Davina Fear is so organized! She is teaching us to become more organized and to step away from work once in a while and enjoy life! And we have the amazing Kelly Moore, that is teaching us to step outside the box and be different!

This workshop is by women, for women. There are 40 of us staying in 5 houses. I am located in the party house! This workshop is so popular that it actually sold out within 3 minutes of going live! We were on our computers signing up when it went live but we weren't fast enough. The girls decided to have a second week since the response was so great! We were on the waiting list so we were fortunate enough to get into week 2!

I am actually going to add some pictures to this post in a bit, so check back. (I have been told to always post a picture with a blog entry, but we are off to another class!

After some tweaking and saturation.

Free 8x10's for Past Clients

As you know I have recently launched a new website. I'm in the process of compiling testimonials from past clients. I know it is hard to find the time to write a testimonial, so If you will take the time to write one you will receive 2 8x10"s of your choice. Please email me a 2 paragraph testimonial about your thoughts of everything... like your thoughts about the shoot, your pictures or whatever it is that you liked about working with me! Email the testimonials to me at;
elaine@elainemcdonaldphotography.com

I will be out of town next week, but I hope to start working on that part of my website when I return. Also be sure to let me know which images you want for your 8x10's!

America's Next Top Model

Tina needed some modeling pictures taken and I knew just where I wanted to go. She has the most amazing blue eyes! We found so many great places to shoot! I could shoot all day every day like that. It was so much fun! I have been playing around with some of the pictures, these are a few of my favorites. I just realized I didn't post any serious, not smiling pictures. She has such a pretty smile I am afraid I am partial to those. But I will go ahead and post a more serious version.

Liam is Two!

I photographed Liam this morning. He is a babydoll! Why is it that the boys always get the really long eyelashes? I am so jealous! He was so good, but when he was finished, he told me he wasn't taking anymore pictures. Typical male don't you think?

For the Blog Readers

Heather Johnson has claimed her free engagement session. Heather is currently in Nursing School and will be able to do the engagement session sometime in March. I talked to the other winner at the bridal show, but I have not been able to reach her since the show. Therefore, I have decided to give the other engagement session to someone that reads my blog or one of their friends. So, email me and you can have the session! Your choice of a engagement session or bridal session. If Lisa Morris does contact me I will honor that session as well.

I have had three brides contact me this week about making their albums! So, I will be MIA for awhile, but I will be checking my emails.

Thanks to everyone that has participated in the bridal show and this contest!

Engagement Session Winner

The Bridal Show that was held at The Salisbury Civic Center Saturday had a drawing for a free engagement session. The winner was Lisa Morris. I also pulled a winner that person is Heather Johnston. Congratulations! If a winner does not claim their prize, I will select a new winner. Thanks to everyone that attended, it was a great show. I enjoyed meeting all of you.

Win Free Pictures!

I have decided to have a contest. I am looking for some neat places to shoot pictures. My favorite graffiti wall was torn down! So, if you know of any cool spots shoot me an email at; elaine@elainemcdonaldphotography.com describing the location or even better include a picture showing the location! If your location is chosen, I will do a location session there for you, FREE. It can be an engagement session, bridal session, or even a family session. You decide. I will also include in that session a portrait package which will include an 8x10, 2 5x7's and 8 wallets.

Bridal Show in Salisbury

The bridal show in Salisbury is in the morning! It is in the Civic Center. If you can make it come and join me! I made a slide show of all of our weddings in the last year. Here is a picture I was playing with today. It is a part of the slide show, and I have to admit I really like this effect. What do you think? You do know that you can leave comments below this post, right? (like it or hate it?) I think it makes the plants look much more lush. Ashley was beautiful in the original picture, but I think she looks even more stunning in my secret formula. I will probably posting some pictures with some "magic" added in the next few weeks. I hope you have had a chance to visit the new website. I am sure there are many people you will recognize. I also love the new splash page with Kim and Courtney's pictures.

Website is Live!!!

I am so excited about my new website! The pictures are much larger, and the navigation is wonderful. I have finally posted new images to my website. I am still working on adding more images and tweaking some items. The galleries will eventually be more organized. I am working on the engagement section right now. As I was manipulating one of the pictures, I liked the after so much better, I decided I would post the before and after so that you could see the difference. Notice how I blurred John out a little more where the focus is on Crystal.

Bridal Show Special

For the January Bridal Show, I will be adding a $300 product credit to wedding packages booked in January. This product credit can be used toward any products we offer. I would like to give blog readers and their friends an opportunity to take advantage of this special before the bridal show on the 26th.

Lori's Wedding Album

I decided to post a couple of pages from Lori's Album. I thought I had forgotten my password to go on my website, so I saved a couple of pages to put on my blog. I guess I was having a blonde moment because I can't post pictures to my blog without it either. Anyway, I remembered I had to change it so the new website company could upload my website!

Wedding Albums

I think I was better at keeping the blog updated when we were doing weddings every weekend! After a wedding I can't wait to pick out my favorites for my blog. We have been designing wedding albums for all of the weddings we did the past 6 months!

Ok, I don't know why the link won't work but all you have to do is highlight the link, control c or if on an apple, apple c to copy the link and control v or apple v to post it in your browser window. It is really easy I promise! And I know most of you know how to do that!

We have started offering bridal albums as well. We usually spend 2 or more hours taking pictures for bridal portraits and it is so hard to choose between the portraits for the bride. The bridal album is like our guest signature albums but with the brides favorite pictures from her bridal session. Here is a link to Crystal's Bridal Album so you can see how neat they are! I will also try to post a couple of pages in a few days so you can see them on my blog.
Here is an image of Crystal's cover front and back and a page from her album.

http://www.elainemcdonaldphotography.com/crystalbridalalbum

Lori's album is one of the most georgeous, but I will have to find the link to that one! I will try to post it tomorrow.

New Website

I was going to start updating the old website, but after just a couple of pictures, I started shopping around for a new one. I am excited about the new website I found. It actually has a gallery and shopping cart incorporated in the website. What that means to me is less aggravation trying to load galleries for your viewing. The current one that I use had a couple of upgrades that really weren't good upgrades. I can't count the times I have had to rebuild galleries two and three times. What that means for you is an easier to navigate site. Larger pictures for you to view and a much better (I hope) way to order pictures! I hope to have the gallery built and up in the next 6-8 weeks. Earlier if I can.