Friday Confessions...

I think that weekly confessions are sort of cathartic so I will try to keep them up. Here goes for today!

1. I have eaten a chick fila twice this week for lunch, love that place! And I just learned that kids meal toy can be traded for ice cream, fabulous!

2. I really want to run a marathon in my life but I am a scardy cat. I should really face the fact that I am getting older though and should do this sooner as opposed to later.

3. My to- do list has grown instead of shrinking this week with the prospect of going on vacation next Friday! I have never packed a family for a week long trip before, good times here we come :)

4. I secretly dream of being an interior designer and daily dream of ways to update my house. If time and money were no object, there would be lots of projects going on around here. Just read an awesome book on this front, check out Downtown Chic if you need some inspiration.

5. I am re- reading Sense and Sensibility, gotta love some nineteenth century love quests and excellently spoken English.

6. I am also reading Dave Ramsey and letting him kick my financial butt. Why is managing money so tough sometimes? I think Jesus said it well, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

7. My first real concert was New Kids on the Block, circa 1988. Yes friends, I am sure I was rocking neon, keds, and lace bottomed leggings to rock out to Jordan, John, Danny, Donnie and Joey :) Did I mention I was a second grader?? Bless my parents.

8. Love my hubby for bringing me home a costco frozen yogurt in the 104 degree heat - seriously can't be beat :)

9. Even photographers can have horrible photos...I took my kids to a park by myself last friday like an idiot to try to take some pictures. I keep saying I am pretty sure I have better pictures of my clients kids than my own! It was hot, they were distracted and it wasn't a success but here are two pics that made it worth it :)

Happy Friday!

Money I never regret spending...

Every bride has ideas about what she wants for her wedding day. Some girls have dreamed about it since childhood and others just start to dream about it when they fall in love. I fell into the latter category, once I knew I found the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life with, I started hiding bridal magazines under my bed. No joke! I didn't want to be all out in the open with it, it was my little way of dreaming about being married to Matt without wanting to jinx it. I know...who can jinx what God wants?! Anyhow, I digress. Once we were engaged (I can share that story another time) and the wedding planning got in full swing, tons of decisions were being made.

I remember very clearly researching photographers and feeling a little lost. I started narrowing it down to people who could give a personal reference for their work. My mom reminded me that her friend from work's son, John, graduated a few years ahead of me from UD with a similar degree to myself and that he was shooting commercial work as well as weddings. At the same time, the lady I was interning for had a part time assistant that also shot weddings. I started tracking down both leads. The one guy was just so sweet and was willing to do the day for an UNREAL price (I am ashamed now for even asking someone to do a wedding for that price :) I met with him and saw his body of work, which was solid but it just wasn't ME. I would not have gotten images that were my style or how I wanted to remember my wedding forever.

I just kept going back to John's work...it was ME! It was how I wanted to remember the day and his price was TRIPLE the other guy (but it still was EXTREMELY fairly priced for the going rates and the work entailed). I finally made the decision to move forward with John because I knew I wouldn't regret it. And I don't regret it one bit to this very day almost 4 years later! John was great to be around all day, did a fabulous job and is someone now we call a friend. We happily referred him all over the place and he happily got lots of work. I still happily refer a bride to him if I am unable to do their day.

So brides,what's the lesson here? Find a photographer that you love and as long as their price and products are within reasonable limits for yourself, make the sacrifice. Cut corners in other places, I mean lets be honest flowers are gorgeous but they die. Pictures are forever. What kind of images do you want your grandkids to flip through and say "this was you all young and pretty and skinny grandma?" :) Shoot I say that to myself already!! haha...Happy Thursday!

Sometimes bigger is better....

So I remember in the college days when I used to spend HOURS in the darkroom...yes friends, darkroom. I mastered using scissors, a can opener and film reel all in pitch dark..that was a big day when I could crack that film canister open, get it wound on the wheel and perfectly stash it in the black canister hoping to expose some hidden treasure on the role. Then I would spend hours with my film cut into little strips, slipping them into the enlarger and doing even more experiments printing my own film. So many great memories in that basement in Taylor Hall at UD.
I share all this because I got a little reminiscent working on this week's wedding. I blogged the small collages and I realized some things are just definitely better big! I remember the first time I went from printing 8 x 10 sheets in the darkroom to 11 x 14 .... oohhh things got prettier and made more of a visual impact. My instructor said "once you go bigger, you don't want to go back" but if you ever have purchased photographic paper - you know why us college kids went small! I used to have to work for the price of paper..I digress. Yesterday's blog collages were like "oh those are nice little snapshots" but when I look at them I don't feel the weight of the emotion and beauty that I see in the larger images. I wish every bride could come to my house after the images are done and watch them go by on my big purdy computer screen. Bigger is definitely better!!

So thanks for going through the growing pains with me as I work it out in life, photography and business! Here are some bigger versions of the beauty of Lauren & Adam's day!

(I just realized that I used the word "so" to start at least 3 sentences, bear with me while I work it out with my writing. I tend to write like I talk, so I guess I say "so" a a lot :)

Congrats Lauren & Adam!

Lauren has been a very lifetime friend of my husband, their families have literally been friends forever :) It's a real blessing in life to have those friends that you pretty much just count among the family. It was a great honor to shoot Lauren & Adam's wedding a couple weekends ago. It was a beautiful & toasty summer day in Bucks County, Pa.

Here are a handful of shots from the day! Let me know how you all like the collage viewing. I am trying it out as a way to get more imagery on the blog with a different visual twist. Happy viewing!

Don't take yourself too seriously :)

Just in case you ever wonder what a photographer does at a wedding besides photos...I have done it all from helping to get spots out of a brides dress, to helping to fix messed up bouquets or haridos that have come undone, to anything else a spare hand is needed in if I am not busy capturing a moment. When you are frequently around weddings, you get good at these little things and I especially don't mind helping in the small things that help ease a bride's mind.
My husband stole my camera at a wedding a couple weeks ago of a good friend to get a shot of me jumping on the dance floor to do the cha-cha slide. And yes, I look like the only one out there because I was starting the trend :)

Hey..if you know me, I definitely don't take myself too seriously! My advice to all the other photogs out there, yes you are a professional but please enjoy life...don't take yourself too seriously either or you just might miss out on the cha-cha slide ;) Happy monday everyone and I hope to post more later on this beautiful wedding!

Embracing New Style, Chapter 2

So today I thought I was going to go crazy with another day of 100+ degree heat outside and the prospect of not leaving the house. So where do I turn for fun and climate control?? You guessed it, the MALL :) The kiddos and I went to the mall mostly for me - to see humanity, drink a starbucks and take in a stroll. Of course these meanderings led me right to the sale rack in J. Crew, you know "just looking" and I scored big (or so i think). I took some jeans into the dressing room with trepidation, not having worn a tapered type leg jean since 9th grade (in the 90's :). Much to my elation, they not only fit (amen) but they actually looked good (hallelujah). And better yet - I scored this great pair of jeans in an acceptable size (I've been running a lot more lately, trying to lose the rest of the baby weight)....and the price tag... $15.99!!! They were original $98, then slashed down to $19.99 and then an additional 20% off clearance. SO ladies, keep on embracing new options for your wardrobe and keep an eye out for those bargains. I definitely walked a little taller out of the store with my great purchase in that pretty little gray J.Crew bag!

Sneak Peek...Lauren & Adam

SO as a photographer you are constantly watching for "moments" - moments that visually explain everything. I am getting started editing a wedding of a dear friend from this past weekend and I came to this image....stopped, smiled, and thought "this says it all." It's the first moment Adam took Lauren's hand in their ceremony and the smiles on both their faces just get me! So here's a sneak peek before the rest.....aaahhhhh love :)

Fun before the Fourth!

Last week as we were gearing up for the holiday weekend, I got to do a morning shoot with a friend and her sisters. Since everyone was in town, she thought it would be a great opportunity to get everyone together for a shoot for their mom. We had fun with all the grandkids and some of them liked my camera better than others :) Here are just a few of my favs from the day.... of course the one of all of them with the funny faces pretty much just makes me laugh! Notice the two crying to the right, this wasn't just for the "funny face" picture... Gotta love kiddos for keeping me on my toes!

Monday Confesssions

Whew, have I been living at a break neck speed! I knew that wedding season would keep me on my toes and it sure has, along with my babies first birthday and a national holiday to boot all in the last week :) I thought tonight I would sit down for a moment to just share a few more things about myself...like a little confessional booth! I am definitely a wear your heart on your sleeve type person and sometimes it's probably a bit too much. So here goes for today...

1. I love McDonalds, I don't care what people say - if it didn't taste so good those fools wouldn't be making billions!

2. Yes, I love the word "fools"

3. I love Jane Austen and just decided tonight to reread Sense and Sensibility, we shall see how it goes. Lizzy & Darcy were Jacob and Bella back in the day...minus the bloodsucking and werewolf issues! A girl can't get enough of a good love story and really...that has to be the best opening line to a novel ever, "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife."

4. I like free stuff, especially good trash. No, I am not joking. I am pretty sure that every room in our house (minus our kids room) has something I have "rescued" from doom. I love old things and also love re-purposing things so this is an old habit that dies hard. I seriously used to take bike rides early in the morning on trash day to see if anything good was out. And I am usually talking furniture or decorative items people...not gross stuff!

5. I am like a human GPS - great sense of direction and I remember almost everywhere I've ever been. I am good to travel with for this reason but I can be obnoxious about it so smack me if I am.

6. I still have 13 lbs of baby weight to lose.

7. I am itching to travel somewhere where I can't speak the language and the money looks like a toy. I haven't been out of the country since my honeymoon almost 4 years ago!!

8. I appreciate people's small gestures in life...like tonight when my neighbor rang the doorbell and handed me a tray of gorgeous & delicious baked treats "just because" or when my other neighbor came over last week to fix something in our house that had been undone for almost 2 years. (yes, you are wishing you had neighbors like that! I have FABULOUS neighbors :)

9. In 11th grade, we went on a field trip to NYC around Christmas time and I made it onto MTV's new year's countdown show requesting a song by 98 degrees (seriously...I ain't ashamed :)

10. I am BEYOND BLESSED to have two healthy children, I try never to take this for granted.

Ok that's enough for tonight, hope you at least got a chuckle out of me or maybe I made you think of a few funny things about yourself. Take a minute now & then to consider your life, both serious and trivial -I think it's good for the soul.

Blog posts from photo shoots coming up this week :) Goodnight internet!

Devon & TC!

I am so tired I can hardly see straight after the weeks I have had but I was dying to blog these tonight for those that have been waiting to see them! Devon and TC got married this past weekend in Middletown, DE on a hot, hot day! We got some great shots around town, including with a very nice man's classic car. Thanks mr. classic car man who was also a photographer, your car made for a few great shots. Here's to Devon & TC who are soaking up the sun in the Domincan right now...I am really jealous :)

And for the record I still remember when Devon told me one day a couple years ago, "I have a date tonight with a guy from my church..".....ahahahaha, LOVE how God works! Congrats you two!

Hydrangea Obession and a few other things

Happy Tuesday friends! I wanted to take a moment to post on one of my latest obsessions, the fabulous hydrangeas in our yard. When we moved into our house almost 4 years ago, there was a sad looking bush in the back yard. I had no idea what it even was and it never flowered or anything. Last year, upon closer inspection, I realized that it was a hydrangea that just wasn't flowering. I thought that this was sad, since hydrangeas are one of my absolute favorites! Especially for decorating, they are a great flower for around the house. Any-who, I had the stroke of genius to "feed" the plant this year in spring with some of that plant stuff you see at Home Depot... I am no gardener by any means, I kill lots of plants inside and out but that sad little bush has blossomed into a gorgeous, bloom-filled plant! Here are a few quick shots I took today, straight out of the camera in the afternoon sun. (And yes, it's like 100 degrees in the shade here today!)

I also have been doing lots of praying and thinking, I heard Francis Chan call this "prinking" - I like it :) LOTS going on in my life this week with teaching VBS, gearing up to shoot a wedding on Saturday, and celebrating the twins first birthday on Sunday! So much swirling in my head in regards to my business...many things have gone slower than I wanted in the launching process but these things take time. I keep telling myself Rome definitely wasn't built in a day! I want to wave a magic wand and have everything magically appear but I am having to take it one step at a time with hopefully some exciting things to come.

And those of you reading this blog - I would love for you to start giving some feedback (aka "comments")! Lets hear it!

Father's Day & Such

It's getting late and this is a SUPER busy week...VBS at Ogletown and then a wedding to shoot on Saturday and then the twins first birthday party on Sunday! My oh my I am in deep but will just keep swimming :) I just want to share some of the sweetness from Matt's first father's day and from some fun in the pool today with the kiddos! You definitely need to check out Macy's little snaggletooth - it's so darn cute I had to make sure to get some pictures of it before it's little friend comes in next to it.

Mia Rose

My good friend Chantel had a baby a couple weeks ago and her sweet baby girl is Mia Rose. (I like her middle name, it's my middle name too :) Mia is so little and cute, it's hard to think that she will ever tell a lie or hit her brother...but we know these things will come in time! But for today, I just ate up her cuteness and I want to share some of that cuteness with all of you! Of course we had to squeeze in some shot with big brother Josh too!!

Confessional

I always think crazy things so I decided that I can be fo' real and share those crazy things about myself. I mean all of you 3 readers out there might get a chuckle. So here's a few confessions from today.

1. I like watching muscles work, not in a creepy way like checking people out, but just watching how the body works always amazes me! Especially with my kids, I like seeing them learning how to make their little bodies do what they want it to do.

2. I have a thing for Jeeps and almost always have...it fits that I married a boy with a big jacked up one :) He's just glad that he has two babies and still gets to keep the Jeep!

3. I like shallow tv sometimes & my DVR would totally rat me out.... think the Hills & Bachelorette.... I rip the show apart the whole time I watch it, but yet I am watching it

4. I give myself pep talks when I go running....everything from statistics on heart disease to "just run to the next corner"....

That's enough soul bearing for today, more confessions to come another day! Here's to getting to know each other internet friends!

Evolving Personal Style

I am currently in a place in life that I think a lot of women find themselves in. I have been a mommy for almost a year and was prego for nine months before that. These last 20 months have been a major style challenge to say the least! It is hard to try to stay stylish while pregnant, especially when you are ginormous with twins like I was. By the end of pregnancy I could only wear two pairs of shoes, both stretchy top flip flops because my feet and ankles were so swollen. Even once my sweet babies were born, all that baby weight did not leave with them unfortunately! This past year had been a lot of hard work on trying to get back to a healthy weight to maintain an active lifestyle. During all of these body changes I have had to have a mish-mosh of a wardrobe and I have found it a challenge. I don't think I ever realized how much I cared about how much I presented myself through clothing until I didn't really have a lot to choose from. I know, I know, some of you that know me might be thinking "it's not like she had anything special going on to begin with in the style department" but I like to think that I at least looked put together in my past life :) And yes, my husband and I refer to it now as "LBK" - "life before kids" - it's a term frequently used in our house.
So where does all this leave me now? I mostly have a closet full of things I wish I could fit into. I am slowly getting back into my LBK clothes that were bigger on me then, but pretty much I still feel like a frump or like I am wearing someone else's clothes. What is my point to all this chatter? Well I have been giving it thought and decided that my personal style has some evolving to do. I need to embrace my new life, body shape, and other such things about life as a mommy.

Being short on cash and time, shopping can be tough but if you know me at all...you know I can do things well on a tight budget. Part of letting your style evolve is allowing yourself to do things differently, challenge yourself to go to a new place to shop. I did this very thing today. I went against my instincts and strolled through the door of forever 21. I know, I know..."that store is for 12 year olds with no hips" but something that I said a lot in ministry is that "you can't keep doing something the same way and expect a different result." Low and behold today in forever 21 I found 3 totally different, fabulous and flattering tops for each less than $23. God also sent a wardrobe fairy god-mother in the form of my friend Dorothy to just so happen to be in the dressing room with her daughter when I got there :)

I need to try new things and not be afraid! This is a motto in my life with a lot of things right now. I have to say I have a new style inspiration too, it's Cortney Novogratz of Sixx Design and Bravo's 9 By Design show. She is a mother of 7, including 2 sets of twins, amen! She has fabulous personal style and a great eye for design. I might talk more about her in another post..I have gone on long enough. SOOOO who are your style inspirations? What life changes have spurred you on to make style changes? What are your best tips for updating your style?

And because everything is better with a picture, here's a little piece of my heart...and Macy is not worried about her style yet because being nakie is the cutest!

New Pricing Structure

Dear friends & clients,
I want to let you know that Emily Troutman Photography will be going through a pricing structure change. As many of you know, it's hard when starting up a small business. Borrowing from another photographer's quote "You go from being a photographer to also being a photographer AND a business owner, secretary, book keeper, accountant, marketing executive, etc." This is a wonderful but huge transition in my life that I have been working on, all while surviving the first year as a mommy of twins! So what I am saying is that as of July 1, 2010 we will have a new pricing structure and my official website will be launched. There's lots going on here at the Troutman house as always and by God's grace he is allowing me to pursue my dreams. Thank you to all of you who hire me and believe in me to capture your families lives!

**And I am still booking for summer lifestyle sessions on weekdays, weddings have me booked on weekends. Shoot me an email if you want to book now, emilytroutmanphoto@gmail.com**

With Love,
Emily

Allison and Nicholas, welcome to the world!

SO as many of you know, I have a set of boy/girl twins. It is almost their first birthday and I thought for sure that once I had twins, surely none of my other friends would have the same experience. I just thought that I had taken up the odds :) Turns out I was very wrong because my good friend Julie just had Allison and Nicholas last month! We have bonded over many things during our more than a decade friendship, including each others weddings and sharing air mattresses on many a mission trip :) Both being mommies to twins was not something we ever foresaw in our futures but now it's such a huge part of our identities. Julie, unlike me, was already a mommy to her sweet 3 year old Ella, so Allison and Nicholas joined their big sister Ella in the Bacon house! Here are some pics I got to grab this last week while I stopped by for a visit. Ella of course didn't mind letting me snap a few of just her & they ended up being some of my favs!

And shout out to my GREAT friend Lisa who watched my babies and her baby while I went to see Julie! Thanks Lisa, couldn't have done it without your help this week!

Alexis graduates!

I have another beautiful cousin who graduated college this last week! We did a short photo session a couple weeks ago, it had to be short due to the crazy weather we were experiencing. You know the sun is out one second and then it's pouring the next?! We made the most of it and got a few great shots. Lex was hoping to surprise her mom with this session so I had to wait to post them :) Enjoy!

Wedding Season is here, Congrats Holly & Tom!

I got to be a part of a beautiful wedding this past weekend at the Brandywine Country Club. The beautiful bride was Holly, she is a cousin of my friend Rob, which is how we got connected. And she met the groom Tom while she was at school at Drexel. I love being at weddings and being reminded of how life-long commitment begins, hearing the vows and seeing two people so in love is contagious! Holly had so many great ideas for her wedding, all centered on the colors of a peacock feather and accented with orange. She had this great vintage vibe going, which I loved to photograph. It was all fabulous and here are some of the photos to prove it :)

Happy 1st Birthday Kyle!

Meet my new friend Kyle, he's a sweet boy that's turning one today! I got the chance to capture some of his fun personality this week. He is definitely curious and wants to be everywhere. His mom Sara is a friend of mine from way back and we actually reconnected last year when we were in the same parenting class at the hospital. It was fun to take pictures of Kyle while hearing all about Sara's life these days, which includes Kyle of course :) And the crazy part is that this sweet family now lives in Amsterdam, far far away - but we made time for a photo session while Kyle was in town to celebrate his birthday with his American side of family. Happy Birthday Kyle!