Friday, May 30, 2008

welcome to glacier. day 1.


We arrived in West Glacier late in the afternoon on Monday just in time for one quick walk down a nearby trail. It is incredibly beautiful. The lodge had opened for the season just days before and it turns out that in a lot of ways, this is a great time to visit the park. There are hardly any people and everything is fresh and green in the best of ways. There are some downsides to the early season but mostly, it was great. We had an incredible dinner in the lodge restaurant where we discovered the delight that is huckleberry ice cream. 

If you want to know what Corey looks like on vacation in the mountains, here it is. 

I love this shot of the fly fisherman. It makes me wish my dad was here. He loves Glacier and has always talked about how incredible it is. We came as a family when I was 11 but I don't remember much. 

idaho day 2.

We have officially been in the wilderness. We left Idaho for Montana on Monday and headed to Glacier National Park where there was no cell phone service, no internet,no televisions and nothing but mile after mile of the prettiest mountains I have ever seen. It was awesome. We are now in an amazing house outside of Bozeman and though you need 4-wheel drive to make it up the crazy winding dirt road, I strangely enough can post to the blog. Before we left Idaho, Corey asked if we could drive through the downtown area of the town where we were staying. We drove up to this amazing lake and within minutes, Keely had called and scheduled a ride for us on the sea plane sitting in front of us! We're still kind of in shock that we did it. If you know us, you're probably also in shock that we did it.  More to come...


Monday, May 26, 2008

Seniors 2009

Corey and I are SO excited to announce the launch of the Nolen Senior Sessions. We have been planning this for a long time and it has finally come together!

Back in January, when we met and started really discussing making a push into senior photography, we knew we wanted to do it our way. By our way, we mean that we wanted them to be fresh and fun and not your average, every day senior portraits. We wanted them to have style...atmosphere... and show a lot of personality. And so, without further ado, I present our first subjects of the 2009 year: Heather & Whitney.

If you know of upcoming seniors who are looking to do pictures in the next year, please let them know about us. We are offering discounted senior sessions for anyone who books before August 1.  These will be customized photo sessions created to show each individual senior. We guarantee this will NOT be your typical senior shoot!

For more information or to schedule a shoot email us: info@nolenphotography.com or call: 205.533.7664.  We are sticking to our commitment to stay affordable while offering a creative and fun photo shoot.








Sunday, May 25, 2008

day 1. idaho

We made it! Corey and I are not big fans of flying (okay, actually we hate it) but we had two fabulous flights today and actually enjoyed the whole traveling experience. Here are a couple of shots from the plane. 

We met up with Josh, Keely and Salem and our vacation adventure felt like it had officially begun. Through the referral of a good friend, we were able to find an incredible steakhouse for dinner tonight. The food was amazing and the company ideal. So far, Idaho has surpassed my expectations which is actually saying a lot because I have been ready to visit Idaho for a long time. Also, I should say that it does feel like the longest day EVER. It feels like it has been daytime forever with the time changes. Being in the mountains is just the best. 


Saturday, May 24, 2008

exploring...




This little guy is on the move! I have spent a lot of time in the last few days chasing these new little walkers around and it is so cool to see them exploring the world in such a new way. It makes sense when you think about it...it's a freedom that they've never known!

woo-hoo!

Like I said, I will be updating the blog when I can over the next few days. We are so thankful to have such good friends housesitting for us while we are away...makes me feel like maybe my tomato plants will survive after all!

Friday, May 23, 2008

hmmm....

I don't know what's up but I can't seem to post any pictures right now! Anyway, I will just hold off on the post that I was about to put up. We are gearing up for our big trip out west...I can't believe it's almost here! I am going to try to update the blog on our adventures but I have no idea if that will be possible. I am thinking that maybe I should start packing one of these days...

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

for this child...

I have just met one great family after another. I mean, seriously, how great is my job? I get to meet these awesome people and come into their lives, sometimes even their homes, and do what I love to do. I have met a lot of families lately who have waited a long time for the children who are now a part of their lives. Because of our own journey, this is especially encouraging to me. It helps me to believe that what now seems hypothetical will one day be reality. Enjoy these pictures of Pierce. He is a genuine delight. There's wisdom in these eyes. I love this expression.
Sweetest little baby toes.

sneak peek


I don't think Tom and Emily are back from their honeymoon so they haven't actually seen their wedding pictures. I am waiting to hear from them before I post their show but here is a sneak peek. This was such a fun wedding and I do have to say, Emily was our first bride with pink hair. She looked like she was famous...total supermodel. We loved getting to meet all of their friends and family...it was such a celebration.

Tuesday, May 20, 2008

country roads...

So, this was one of a few shoots we've done on a farm in the last few months. I like farms. It's official...I really do. I like the idea of growing what you need to live on and really appreciating the beauty of that cycle. I love the calmness, the peace and relaxed go-with-the-flow attitude that people seem to have when they're out in the country. I always kind of saw myself as a country girl but this future only included being barefoot, wearing pretty dresses and having a big white house with a porch. Also wildflowers. And mountains. I kind of left out the hard work part. I'm telling you...this seems to be a never-ending job. But hey, I have definitely found that farms are a great place to visit. I think I'd even enjoy an extended stay so I could really see what it was like. Also, I forgot to mention this: farms have animals. During this shoot with the awesome Lowery family, I was so excited to get to go and see all of the animals at the end. They have calves and mama cows, cats, puppies (I love puppies), more cows, chickens (not my fave), goats and probably a bunch of other stuff, too. It would have been perfect if they'd just had a donkey. In case you didn't know this about me, donkeys are my very favorite animal. Wow. This has turned into kind of self-revealing post, after all.

Anyway, the Lowerys were so much fun. I am so thankful they invited me out to capture their world! It was well-worth every minute!

knowing...

I love the expression on Elle's face in this picture. It's like she knows without a doubt how much her parents love her. She has amazing eyes, don't you think?

Monday, May 19, 2008

any takers?

Maybe it's the upcoming vacation but I'm feeling like this week's not QUITE crazy enough. It's also the last week of school which means summer is almost here!!! And even though I'm not IN school and that really doesn't affect me at all, I still love summer and can never shake that anticipation when it's right on the brink.

And so, in honor of these things, I thought I'd offer not one but TWO discounted photo sessions this week. If you want a $50 session, send me an email or post a comment on the blog. It will be first come, first served. Sessions have to be this week...I can fit people in at some point pretty much any day so let me know what day and time might work for you!
Also, we had thought we'd be out of town shooting on Friday but it looks like that will be in June instead. I was thinking of offering sessions at the gardens instead since I have that day open. It would be the regular sitting fee but I'm thinking of throwing in a free 5x7 since it's such late notice. I'm telling you, summer makes me do crazy things...

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Jessica and Matt

When I met with Jessica last year about the possibility of Corey and I photographing her wedding, she was glowing with excitement about her engagement and the anticipation of a spring wedding at the beach. From the outset, Jessica knew she wanted her wedding to be full of life and color and energy. Once you get to know her, you see that this makes sense because it mirrors her personality exactly. At our second meeting, Jessica and her wedding coordinator handed me pages and pages of images knowing exactly how they wanted this day to unfold. I have to be honest here and say that I was a little bit unsure that they were actually going to pull this off...I'm telling you, these were girls with BIG plans. The truth of it is that they totally and completely blew me away with this celebration. It was a beautiful day from start to finish, down to the very smallest detail. Matt and Jessica, we were so honored to photograph your wedding and inspired by the love you have for one another.

I had a blast capturing Jessica and her sweet friends as she got ready for the day. What hair and make-up session is complete without fun music and lots of laughter? Can you tell how happy she was? And this is even BEFORE she saw her groom...Like I said, the details for this event were so beautiful. If you are looking for a wedding coordinator who can pull of this sort of event, we know the one for you!
Jessica--looking beautiful as she waits for her groom. I love this series that Corey took of Jessica walking to see Matt for the first time. It is so sweet to me to see the anticipation on her face! We work hard to make the "first look" for couples a time that they really share together. As you can see, no one's on the beach except for Matt, Jessica and my cute husband!

Though we understand when couples choose not to, it makes our job SO much fun when the bride and groom see each other before the ceremony. It also means that the bride and groom get a lot of pictures that they wouldn't have without the extra time we have to shoot. Matt is a golfer and Jessica is learning to play so they thought it would be fun to take some shots on the nearby golf course. These shots were taken at Peninsula Golf Club and they were awesome about letting us on the course.
Then it was back to the beach for some fun shots with the wedding party!

Jessica and her dad have such a sweet relationship. He loves his little girl so much. This shot is actually taken post-ceremony when the light wasn't quite as crazy bright. Jessica and Matt were willing to leave their super fun reception for some sunset shots. And finally, what party is complete without sparklers? Thanks, guys for such a wonderful day! We enjoyed every minute.