Draven's 1st Birthday

My amazing nephew turned 1 on May 23rd. I would have to say he had a great Birthday, with family from both sides there to see how much he has grown and enjoy this special day with the parents. Draven is defiantly a little kid that knows how to work the system already but has a BIG heart! He loves to wave goodbye to everyone and even give hugs.
He had an interesting time eating his very first cake, I don't think he really had a clue what was going on, "my parents never put stuff like this in front of me?" He also got A LOT of NEW toys to play with! I had to ask my sister where they were going to put them all, but she replied that they packed some of the old away. I don't think this one-year-old is going to get bored anymore!
I thought I would share some of the photos of the cake eating with you, hope you enjoy!

Sawyer Photoshoot

I had the honor of photographing my cousin's little boy Sawyer. He was 4 months and did such a great job putting up with people moving him, being naked, and with the strobes. It was my first time using my own strobe lighting so that was very exciting for me! I can't wait to use them more! I had several favorite photographs form this session but decided to only put 3 one. If you want to see more from the photoshoot check out my facebook page j.lea photography. Thanks Ashley, Kriff, & Sawyer for letting me photograph your new bundle of joy!

[kuh-nek-shuhn]

con•nec•tions:
I was going to post some photographs of my nephew from the past year as he will be turning 1 at the end of May & show how much he has changed! But I came across this photograph that I had taken of him and and my sister(his mom) and it really got me thinking about "Connections around us".
Did you know that if you look up the word connections in the dictionary or online like I did there are 18 different definitions? Such as, 1) A relative, esp by marriage or distant blood relationship. 2) The act or state of connecting. 3) Association, relationship. Connections are in everyone's life daily, whether you realize it or not. I have recently realized that the connections I have made with people in my life has created such a powerful influence on me and will continue to. I just want to thank the people who I have made connections with, my parents, sister & brother-in-law, family & friends for all of their support while perusing my photography major at Hawkeye and and as I continue on my own in the business and work as a freelance photographer.

Portfolio 2010

These were the 12 Images I included into my portfolio. It's not the exact same order as my portfolio that I did for college , because I couldn't remember the order, but order really matters in a photography portfolio. My portfolio day went very well and had a lot of good responses from the 5 interviewers I had. Hope you enjoy!

On Location Weddings

For our last wedding class of 2010 we went to Gallagher-Bluedorn Performing Arts Center on the UNI Campus. It was definatly different but it was nice to photograph other than at a church. Oppertunities like this will come up sometime in our career, and it was also nice that Heidi & Troy came to give us some pointers.
We had great models that worked well together since they had never met till the day of. Thanks Matt & Emily for helping out! I realized I really like photographing in different locations other than a church for weddings, but still like the traditional as well!

B&W Fashion Photoshoot

I got the chance to make up my own assignment in my Adv. Portrait Class and wanted to use a good friend of mine who is in the Photography Program with me. I wanted to do b&w for an assignment one more time and decided I wanted to photograph Fashion. I asked Elle to bring a couple different outfits; one being a dress, and two jeans with a top. I also brought my own top that I wanted to try in a couple shots. I am very pleased with how the images turned out!! Elle will now have some more images for her modeling portfolio. Thanks Elle for modeling for me, it was a lot of fun and I love the images I got!

In Home Family Photography (The DeWinter's)

I had an assignment to photograph a famiy of at least 4 in their home using a mixture of natural light & strobes. I asked my cousin if I could photograph their family and had a great final print! The one thing I learned in this session is that when I counted I had to take the photograph on 2 instead of 3 cuz Darby would blink as soon as I said 3.
This is something I want to offer in my photography business to clients because it makes it more personal and matches their house. Thank you DeWinter's for letting me come into your home and photograph your family!