In other news, I have lots of blog posts coming.  I have truly been blessed this year with more amazing clients and shoots then I can count on one hand.  My blog on the other hand, has not been exposed to the wedding season madness, so it is coming!  Until then, check out the summer edition of Rocky Mountain Bride Magazine.  It is a phenominal Mountain Wedding Magazine that focuses on mountain weddings.  We are thrilled to be published in an article by the fantastic Debbie Orwat of Save the Date Events and StudioWed Denver.  Carrie and Ben’s Beaver Creek wedding was amazing!

I’m super excited about Toy Story 3 – it will be our first movie as a family … wish me luck!  And – Eclipse is just around the corner – yes, I love Vampires.  I’m anxiously awaiting the new iPhone (seems like I was just waiting in line for last year’s release).  I am loving Summer and hope all of you are too!

In the mean time, you have heard me talk about the amazing Couture Colorado inspiration blog here in Colorado.  I am super honored to have had Holly and Rob’s Grand Junction Wedding featured this week.  You can view more on the Couture Colorado site by clicking HERE! And if you are planning a Colorado Wedding – be sure to check out our favorite wedding planning resources!  StudioWed Denver and Couture Colorado!  I promise – you will LOVE them

Happy Monday to you all!

It was 2006.  I was working my corporate job.  Daydreaming at my desk about what it would be like if I could do something I really really loved … challenged me … allowed me to be creative – everyday.  For like a real job.  Don’t get me wrong, I actually loved my corporate job in a lot of ways.  BUT – I had been doing photography and photography classes for 10 years.  I was a wee bit obsessed with everything photo.  I knew how to take pictures but I didn’t know how to run a business, or even to make a business out of it.  4 years later, I can say that I have grown, pushed myself farther than I ever thought possible, made a lot of mistakes, made some great business decisions, and am standing where I am today.  Most importantly – I don’t claim to know everything … and I push myself to learn more EVERY single day.  The truth is, I had a few key people in the beginning of my photography career that were actually willing to share {Love ya H}.  The rest were not so willing to share.  Workshops were few and far between, and I had to learn a lot of things on my own.   In short, my business was and still is a LOT of work.  I also know how hard it is to take your photography business to the next level.

In the past few weeks, I have gotten a TON of emails from awesome photographers who are looking for answers and eager to learn.  I am eager to help … but I can’t do it through just email  I created the Shoot It day with Yours Truly to help inspire you, teach you about everything from Shooting to Work flow, Business Inspiration to Photoshop.  I am planning a shoot with models too – so we can get our shoot on  Meals {breakfast and lunch} will be included.  In Conclusion – it’s 9 hours of photography talk, business, advertising/marketing, inspiration, a shoot, branding, and getting your business moving.  Again – I don’t claim to be the know it all expert, but I have been shooting professionally for 4 years and can certainly share some information that would have changed my life in 2006

HOW MUCH: $400  a $200 deposit is required to hold your spot

WHEN: Sunday July 11th, 2010 from 9AM to 6PM

CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP!

*insert fist pump here*  It’s going to be a blast!

I photographed the boys getting ready at the Omni Interlocken Hotel in Broomfield (which was gorgeous). The boys had to tie a Windsor Knot.  Love this image!

Cruz tying his tie as his brother watches

The First Look:

Amber looked STUNNING!

Amber’s father preparing to give her away during the ceremony

This dance had us all in tears …

P.S.  I’m a little bashful – and just knowing that you might look makes me blush.  Truly.  :)

Want to see more?  Check out our Wedding Galleries!

I’ll be out of the office today at a workshop – but will be back tomorrow!  Happy Thursday!

So – in true Karie Fashion – Here’s our LOVE story.

We met in high school.  We were seniors.  We were young, naieve, maybe never expected to be together forever. We were friends first, fell in love second. We were best friends. We knew something was special.  We went to college. We loved each other more.  We never went to the same school – and always shared a distance relationship of at least a few hours.  We broke up once in a stupid fight – I lost 10 lbs. We got back together a few days later. We agreed that life wasn’t good at all without each other. We did summer internships in different states – He in Denver, me in LA. We never wanted to be apart again. We got engaged that Summer – he proposed in San Francisco on our way back to Kansas (to finish our last year of college). We planned to move away after college.  We moved to Colorado and LOVED it. We started our corporate jobs – I was miserable. We decided it was okay for me to live my dream. We made sacrafices – good ones, the ones that made me get where I am today. We had a baby.  We are in love with her – she is pretty awesome. We are still in love.  A lot.

February 8th, we were officially “together” for 10 years.  I can’t wait to look back and say, we have been together longer than we had lived life apart.

This weekend we spent some time with great friends in Tabernash.  As I started an impromptu photo session with Natalie, I caught my two loves (the loves of my life in fact), peeking out the window at me.  I don’t know why I love this simple photo.  But I do.  Our love is simple, maybe as simple as a smile through a window, but to me – it is Oh So Special!

I hope all of you had a super Happy Valentines Day with your sweeties!

Sorry for the sappy love mush – I promise not to do it again … for at least a few months.  June maybe?  Our 6 year wedding anniversary! Deal.

It’s no surprise that I love my job.  I hate to stop working because I love it so much.  Remember my New Years Resolution’s and my 2010 goals? I swore I would give myself an intervention … from … that’s right, my iPhone!  Truth is – I haven’t.  I can’t.  I am addicted.

But that brings me to what I wanted to talk about most, and that is productivity.  I have been focusing on 2010 and what an amazing year it will be.  How I want to change my business, myself, and all of those goals.  But no matter what your role is, your job {a mom, an accountant}, you should never let that role describe yourself as a whole.  This seriously sung out to me  I try to be more productive, and read, or write, or get inspired.  Then, my phone dings.  It’s a new email.  Or it lights up, because I got a new Facebook message.  All of a sudden, I am distracted, and no longer focusing on the task at hand.  And, while I repeat to myself, that social networking {Twitter, Facebook} are essential parts of my business, they definitely don’t define me, my business, or my work ethic.

So I challenge all of you to make a list.  Make a list of the things that are distracting you.  My list from the other day went a little something like this:

• Ava
• My iPhone
• The barking dog that never stops outside of my office window
• Writer’s Block
• Nothing to talk about
• Emails that need to be responded to

Use those things to make you more productive.  In my case, I turned off some notifications on my phone.  I use that phone to be more productive when I am on the road – and it works, but I don’t need every tiny notification.  And while I love my daughter dearly, the days that she is home with me, I am not nearly as productive as the days that she is with a sitter, so I stopped working so much on those days.  Those, are family days {or Mom & Ava} days.  While I think all the time that I have a boring life, writer’s block, and nothing to blog – when have I ever been at a loss for words, and I hear from a lot of my blog readers  that you like it when I share my personal life.  No excuses – I can make that change too.

What are the things that are making you less productive and defining you?  Can you make changes to overcome those boundaries?

Happy Friday!