Hailey

This girl is full of life.

She's a senior this year and she will be working herself

hard with her tough schedule: AP Calculus, Anatomy and Physiology,

Physics, AP Physiology, etc. 

I couldn't do it but, you go girl!

She came and visited me at Monark one day, and it happened

to be the day that I was taking portraits of a family, so she tagged along

and I got a few of her after their session.

We went to a lot of band competitions together. And naturally

we were always together since we were both in the low brass

section. She plays the tuba, believe it or not, and is really good, too!

And she only slightly embarrassed me with all the guys

she would meet and become friends with, haha. ;)

This was always her outlook on life...

Laugh loud and dance often! :)

This was my first time to use Lightroom. At first I was like, "Nooo! I want Photoshop back."

But I began to find that Lightroom is quite a bit better for what I'm 

doing (for instance: resizing photos, so much easier).

There are a few more things that I feel like I'm missing, but I'm sure I'll soon

learn Lightroom's way of doing what I did in Photoshop.

-MarLeahJoy

First Morning Camping {Personal}

It rained really hard last night. (it sounded pretty cool inside the yurt - btw)

So this morning it was still drizzling and our hopes 

to make a nice big breakfast over a campfire were kind of canceled. 

But someone who woke up early left us a perfect fire going on in a pit inside the activities pavilion. 

So we got to make a nice breakfast after all, hitching off of someone else's fire, hehe. :)

yummy, yummy food :)

Sis. Rosie put the biscuits in with the coals... she said there are a certain amount of coals you are supposed to put on top so that it will cook right. Nifty, nifty... I never knew that!

Heather took this one :)

Slightly burnt, but they weren't shabby. :)

hehe ;)

Depending on the weather, we might go kayaking today. :DDD

-MarLeahJoy

Senior Trip {Personal}

I've had a blast today. It all started with withdrawing several hundred out of my bank account, haha. Heather and I headed out to Hot Springs together, and we were the first to get there of all the girls so we went shopping for all the food. 

Okay, now for a crazy obsession-confession: I love socks!

We stopped at Ross so Heather could get some socks, and I just couldn't resist.

I just bought socks YESTERDAY! So do I need more socks? NO!

But while she was looking for some I found the best socks ever, so I bought them. And that's almost all I've been thinking about this evening. Every-time I would go back inside I would change out of my flip-flops into my socks (just ask Heather, lol).

"Oh, DEAR!" I don't think anyone can understand my sock obsession... But it's very real! 

And why am I saying this? Hopefully, so someone will get a good laugh at my insanity.

Enough of that. Here's our Yurt!

It is so cool to stay here. I almost feel like I own it because it is secluded enough. 

We walked down to the dock on Lake Catherine at night,

 and it was so foggy you couldn't even see the water. 

Our yurt at night.

Us girls getting wifi at the conference room at 1am. :)

 The only normal picture we got. 

I'm already having such a great time... 

-MarLeahJoy

Prints

I am so happy with the way the prints of Abbey's senior pictures turned out.
I ordered them from Meridian Pro, and I can definitely recommend them!

I placed my order Wednesday evening, and they arrived at my house by
10:30am today (Friday).

Their pricing is great for such a high quality print, and shipping was only $5.95.

These are the wallets she ordered for announcements and a proof book for her friends and family to pick from.

It's a good thing there is a imaging service I am happy with that is so fast
because I'm taking my own senior pictures this weekend, and I'll need the
pictures really soon to send out in announcements. (Talk about last minute
for my own senior pictures -- ha!)

-MarLeahJoy

Senior Before and After

I just thought I was done editing Senior pictures :)

So, for a person who specifically commented and said they

didn't want the posts of this senior shoot to end, this post is for you! ;)

after

before

after (one of my new favorites)

before

So, do you see that grey film over all of the pictures? Yeah, I am never letting someone tell me they want their pictures in the afternoon again! Well, at least I've learned some things in Photoshop by having to make some heavy edits. :/

-MarLeahJoy

Tying It Up

These are the last of Abbey's Senior Pictures. Edited at 5am this morning, ha!

That's why I found a random brush stroke on one of the pictures later today.

(It was actually more than a random brush stroke -- it looked like a child was

decorating the picture in paint, haha :D)

See the rest in this post.

-MarLeahJoy

Abbey :: Senior 2013

I think I might have one last post of Abbey after this one, but here is the bulk of it.

Previous post of this session: Senior Session, Recap: 5865!, and Teaser #3
And the final post of this session: Tying it Up

I have to say those first three looked pretty blah! before the edits because we

were shooting in such harsh light.

I just shake my head in amazement that I was blessed

to have such a wonderful first experience. I owe it all to

this girl!

-MarLeahJoy

Teaser #3

If I keep posting photos of the senior session like this, I will have already shared every pose by the time I get them all edited :P I guess I don't have to do it the "normal" way.

Sisters on Easter Sunday :)

My apologies... posting will be a little sparse for a while so I can finish editing and ordering pictures.

-MarLeahJoy

Recap: 5865!

According to the file names on all of my pictures,  I have taken 5865 pictures

since I got my camera. Um, wow!

So, here is an overview of what I have taken.

This was the very first picture I took. I only had my lensbaby at the time (the kit

lens arrived a little later) so this was taken with the Double Glass optic that was

already installed into the Composer Pro lens.

We've had some snow....

...and yet flourishing green grass in the same month.

...a little group singing at young people's meeting at church.

I volunteered at the Neosho Sprint Triathlon for some experience in another area of

photography.

And one of the major highlights: first senior session. I don't have words to say how

much fun it was. She was so great to work with!

-MarLeahJoy

To be honest I wasn't going to post today... but then I couldn't bear the thought of

breaking the post-a-day "rule". I've been on a roll, and I'm afraid if I start becoming

lax, I'll start a down-hill trend. :P

Senior Session

I'm a happy girl! I feel like the sr. session I did today went exceptionally

well, even though the sun was shining and we had to maneuver around

all of the harsh shadows.

Keep a lookout for the rest of the pictures. :)

Hmmm... now I have to decide if I should do my homework tomorrow or sort/edit

pictures. ;) I know what I want to do. Hopefully, I can fit both in.

-MarLeahJoy