Kimberly & Kyle : Engagement Session

I love a good love story. I could quote lines from chick flicks like The Holiday and Pretty Woman. And the Twilight series? Don't even get me started. I'm a sucker for romance, so I guess I'm in the right career field. :)

Kimberly and Kyle's love story is classic. They've been friends since grade school, high school sweethearts, and they - "finally," in Kimberly's words :) - got engaged after 6.5 years of dating. They have a history of loving each other, and you can tell. Their romance is comfortable and bona fide - devoid of any insecurity or uneasiness. They're friends who fell in love, and that, in my opinion, is the best kind of story (not that I'm biased ;)).

Kimberly and Kyle have decided to have a long engagement as Kimberly is in Graduate school finishing up her Master's in Architecture. She and Kyle will be married in May of 2010, and Ben and I cannot wait to be a part of their big day! 

We photographed Kimberly and Kyle's engagement session at the University of Florida, where Kimberly attends. The campus is massive and a photographer would be hard-pressed to find a lackluster location while shooting there. From gorgeous, historic brick buildings, to canopies of trees, to the Gator stadium itself - we gathered inspiration from all directions. It also didn't hurt that we had two good-looking subjects who were down for anything we asked them to do. Taking direction from us - "Lay on this table thing," "Dance in this field," "Now just have fun! Interact with each other..." - can be a little ridiculous sometimes, but Kimberly and Kyle were insanely easy to work with. And that just makes us super happy. :)

Kimberly and Kyle - thank you for allowing us to capture your beautiful relationship. We appreciate your laid back personalities and inspiring love story. We only have one issue - we wish you were getting married sooner because we are dying to hang out again! ;)

Check out a few highlights from the day:

That black and white shot is one of my absolute favorites.

Precious!

How awesome is that wall?

You guys can definitely "dip." :)

Quick outfit change!

I think this takes the cake as my favorite from the day.

Kimberly & Kyle : Sneak Peek!

Yesterday, Ben and I had the pleasure of photographing Kimberly and Kyle's engagement session on the beautiful University of Florida campus. I have a problem with patience - which is bad for slow people on I-4, but good for all of you blog readers - so I started uploading photos right when we got back home. Here's a little peek at the awesomeness that is Kimberly and Kyle:

Check back in the next day or two for more photos of this fabulous couple, and details of our day spent together! :)

Happy Birthday Putter!

Since I'm an honest person, I'm going to admit something that may make me susceptible to judgment. Today is not actually Putter's birthday. His birthday was on February 15. Well, sort of. Seven months ago we brought Putter home from the Orange County Animal Shelter, and they told us that he was about 5 months old. We chose a random date for his birthday based on that assumption. So basically, today could be Putter's birthday, but that just sounds like my lame attempt at justification for my neglecting to announce his big day a couple of weeks ago. I hope this isn't a glimpse into motherhood - I'll be blogging about my kid's 2nd birthday when he or she is like, 14.

Annnnyway, we did celebrate on Putter's actual birthday. He did get a monstrous bone (which he promptly destroyed), extra food in his bowl, and a whole lot of hugs and kisses. Putter makes our little family complete, and we couldn't imagine life without him in it. Check out his awesome b-day photo below:

(Any real birthday hat wouldn't have stood a chance on his head.)

Online Ordering

Today is a good day. I'm still unshowered in sweatpants and a t-shirt at 2:45 p.m. which would suggest that today is actually a gross day, but really - it's a good day. Clothes are being washed, floors are being vacuumed, bathrooms are being scrubbed. Don't get me wrong - I despise cleaning days more than most things in life (with the exception of hot dogs, heelies, and clowns) - but I know that after it's all done, life will feel more put together, and that makes me happy. So, again - it's a good day.

I'm breaking from tub-scouring for a few minutes to write this post. This particular blog entry was prompted by a conversation I had with my sister yesterday (the lovely brunette featured in the previous entry). She wants to order photos from her Spotlight session with her husband, Adam, so I started explaining the process to making an online order. There are a couple of things you should know about my sister before I proceed: One, if she isn't interested in understanding something (like math, directions, or how to make a print order), she goes into a momentary lapse of concentration. Two, while she loves many, many things in life, one of those things is not technology; she is the worst Facebooker I've ever met. So as soon as I started into this explanation, both of those facts collided and she stopped me from wasting my breath by interjecting, "I'm just going to call you when I want to order prints." 

Therefore, I am writing this post to counteract that need for a phone call (which would most likely end in me making the order for her), and for any other client who encounters similar issues. So, all thanks can go to Callie for the motivation to put this info out there. Gracias, sis. Your contempt for technology has been put to good use. :)

I've made screen grabs of our online gallery, and posted notes on each with step-by-step instructions on how to make an order. I love my sister, and I love our clients, so I hope this provides some useful info to anyone who needs it:

Step one:

Step two:

Step three:

Step four:

Step 5:

Step 6:

Step 7:

Step 8:

Step 9:

Step 10:

Step 11:

Step 12:

Step 13:

Step 14:

In all seriousness - though our ordering system is efficient, it can be a bit confusing at times, 

so if you have any questions (or a strong disdain for tech-y tasks), feel free to shoot us 

an e-mail. We'd be more than happy to help! :)

Callie & Adam : Spotlight Session

This is a very exciting post for me. You see, not only are we featuring two extremely special people in our lives, we're also introducing a brand new Starks Photography session option! It's like two fabulous worlds colliding. Like the day I found an unspent IKEA gift card and ate Chick-fil-A french fries that were the perfect amount of crispiness. It's pure bliss.

So what exactly is this Spotlight session, Amy? Well, my friends, I'm glad you asked. A Spotlight session is a Starks Photography original - straight from the combined brains of me and Ben. (Combined brains? That sounded better in my head. You know what I mean.) 

Here's the low down: A Spotlight session is quite simply described in it's title - it's meant to "spotlight" a couple, and the personalities that make up both halves. In these very personal sessions, the couple runs the show - what do you like to do together? Sing karaoke? Go cart race? Run marathons? (<--...we may have to figure out some kind of alternative transportation for me if this is the case). Whatever it is, we want to capture it in your photos. You (the client) choose the day, the place, and the concept. The only requirement - wear your wedding attire! That's what really makes this session super unique. Fun, personality-driven photos with a combined feeling of nostalgia from being able to rock your wedding day get-up. We just show up and take photos of the two of you doing what you love to do together!

Enough babble. If you're diggin' the Spotlight session and want some more info, shoot an e-mail our way! We'd love to set something up with you!

Highlighting this new session wouldn't be nearly as fun without some example photos (seriously, how boring would it be to just read my writing?), and we have Callie and Adam to thank for providing us with some.

I need a whole separate blog post to accurately depict the relationship we have with Adam and Callie. Ok, maybe more like 6. However, since I'd like to maintain some sort of following on this thing, I will make an attempt to be brief.

Callie is my sister, and more importantly, my best friend. You can't choose your family (though I would have handpicked mine anyway), but you can choose your best friends. So it just kind of worked out that Callie and I grew up in the same house. 

Ben and Adam are (now) brothers. They have known each other since elementary school, and have had a tight bond ever since. They like to tell people that it was their plan all along to marry sisters so that they could be family. There are definitely times that I wonder if this is, in fact, the case.

Adam and I met several years ago at Lake Aurora, and we've developed a friendship that has truly helped define our brother/sister-in-law relationship today.

This is the really weird thing - none of these relationships were formed because of another. In other words, I didn't meet Ben through Adam, and Callie didn't meet Adam through me. It all happened by chance, and ended up being the most perfect situation anyone could ask for. 

That story just ties itself up with a cute, red bow, right? :) We'll eventually live down the street from each other and our kids will be best friends. It'll be like Saved By The Bell - The Grown Up Years or something.

Anyway, Callie and Adam just so happen to be fabulous models on top of being fabulous friends, so they were totally up for spending a day in front of our cameras.

Callie and Adam met at Lake Aurora as well, so their session took place there. We "spotlighted" their love for fishing, riding bikes, and...oranges. Ok, the last part was our idea, but it's cohesive. :) 

I promised you the longest post to date, so whether or not you actually wanted that to happen, it is. Check out the ridiculous amount of photos below:

Precious!

A little Jessica Simpson shoe love. Another spotlight of Callie's personality. Not Adam's.

:).

I took one for the team and got in the water to snap this shot.

Fierrrrrrce.

Callie, don't ever tell me you can't do the "serious" face again. Liar.

Sunlight love. <3

Love these two.

Doesn't get much more romantic than dancing in the groves.

Such an appropriate ending! :)

Callie and Adam - you know we love you both tremendously. Thanks for being so

stinkin' fantastic!