The End of 2011

Another year is coming to a close. This year has been an eye opener for me. On August 3rd I underwent a bypass surgery changing my entire life. I had to painfully shut down the business for 6 weeks to recover. It was hard to close up but I had no choice in the matter...but in return-I am a much happier, healthier person than I was in early 2011. My photography has taken a turn in another direction of which I am welcoming with open arms as of late this year. I've had the pleasure to photograph some amazing brides and grooms, as well as engaged couples and families in 2011 and cannot wait to see what 2012 brings my way and your way.

So here is to 2012! Make it a fabulous one.

Howdy everyone!

Hope everyone has been doing fantastic and that 2011 has been bringing you many blessings. I've had a great year thus far. My husband came home in late January after serving 6 months in Afghanistan and its been such a blessing to have him home. I thank God everyday for bringing him home safe and sound. I took a week off from work to focus on my children and my husband and to reconnect after his deployment. I am now back to work full force again! I have a wedding on the 26th that I am going to photograph and I am excited!! Its theme is romance, ah yes...LOVE. The colors? Red, Black, and White. I LOVE IT!

As for what I'll be doing this year when I am not out there photographing? Well, I have decided to start blogging about food. I seriously LOVE to cook! I will share with y'all what I made for dinner tonight and post the recipe and you can try it out at home and see if you like it. So here it goes!

Tonight's Dinner: Bruschetta


INGREDIENTS:

*French Bread
*Olive Oil
*Garlic
*Tomatoes
*Basil
*Green onion
*Yellow/Red Bell Peppers
*Salt & Pepper to taste

HOW TO:

First get your frying pan and get it nice and hot. Once its hot, take a cooking brush and brush olive oil on both sides of your bread- cook one side at a time till nice and golden! once both sides are a nice golden color place all of your ingredients on top of your warm bread and let it sit for about 45 seconds on the hot skillet, remove and serve immediately! Its simple, its delicious, its the perfect appetizer for anyone. ENJOY.

I'm alive, I'm alive

Bad blogger I know, I know. I already heard some of the ladies tell me this morning "Why have you not blogged" Well honestly I'm busy with sessions every weekend I have 2 or 3 and I am now getting ready for my parents to come up for Christmas and shortly after that my husband comes home *Woot woot* HOLLA! I am too excited! I have missed that amazing husband of mine! He can be a true pain in the buttay sometimes but he still brings a smile to my face and makes my heart melt with just a look or a few words. I am still SO in love with him. But back on track- I will be doing a "Best of 2010" blog this week, most likely Friday and share with y'all some of the best images of this year.

So y'all have a wonderful week and check back in this weekend!

I've been MIA

Hey all sorry I've been MIA but SO much has happened in the past few weeks. The worry and stress of my husband being in Afghanistan sent me into panic mode because of the constant attacks that he has been enduring. I have been so blessed to be busy for the past 5 weeks- this weekend was my first weekend off in 5 weeks. December is fast approaching and I have family coming to spend the holidays with me and the boys until late December- a HUGE blessing to be able to spend time with them.

Thanksgiving was great! Black Friday EVEN better. I almost have everything for Christmas- just have to get some minor things for the kiddos. I am just praying the holidays fly by so my husband can come home! Please keep our family in your prayers as we are almost done with this deployment and we are just seeking God to give us strength for the remaining weeks.

Hope everyone has a blessed holiday season and I will blog again soon.

Bridal/Trash the dress session

A colleague of mine asked me to tag along with her to a bridal/trash the dress session and since I love brides I told her absolutely! So now let me introduce you to this funny bride. Nichole is an absolute hoot! We laughed through the entire session. We started things off at the old Navy Base based off of Rivers Avenue then headed to the very gorgeous Downtown Charleston and finished up her session at Folly Bch for her to trash her dress. The water at Folly Beach must have been around 70* and Nichole just dove right in. All eyes at Folly Beach were on her! She laughed and giggled as the waves kept coming and she was slammed from one side to another- needless to say it was a fun fabulous session.

Enough of my rambling here are a few photographs from her session.

Bridal Session with Kimberly

Not a cloud in the sky and low humidity! That was the perfect Saturday afternoon. Kimberly has been married for now 3 years. She had told me that her bridal portraits weren't really something to wow over and that she'd love nothing more than to redo them. So Saturday we set out on our adventure. We headed to downtown Charleston and started photographing all around. Kimberly and her husband married at the beautiful Palmer Home in Charleston, SC. Let me tell you I had NEVER stepped foot inside that B&B but when I did go in on Saturday my jaw dropped. We knocked on the door not knowing whether or not they'd let us in to redo Kimberly's bridals. The lady was very nice and said we can absolutely go inside and take photos. The photographs are below and are just breathtaking!

If you ever want a gorgeous home to marry in full of not only history but absolutely timeless the Palmer Home is the place for you! I'd highly recommend this location to any bride. The staff was amazing while were there and the view to beautiful Charleston harbor was priceless. Below you'll find photographs of Kimberly around downtown Charleston as well as inside the Palmer Home.

For more photographs please feel free to checkout my Facebook by clicking on the box to your right hand side!

Thanks for looking y'all.







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A Beautiful Family

I had the privilege to photograph this weekend the Eubanks family. I met Jodi through a Facebook Air Force Wife group and she was following my work for a while. She contacted me late last year to photograph her family but because my husband fell ill with pneumonia and she had just given birth I declined and told her I'd gladly photograph her family after July 2010. Jodi contacted me a few weeks ago and asked me if we can set up a session for downtown/ Folly Bch.

Once we met I knew I'd get some great shots. Jodi and Jason are an absolutely fabulous couple! She is a wonderful mother and wife and he is a wonderful husband and father. Their children are gorgeous! Little Austin is just a little darlin' and Mr. Jr. is a funny little man. They're a great family. Without further ado here are a few shots from their session this past Saturday.

Your relationship with your clients

As a photographer I feel like you need to build a one on one relationship with your clients. They are trusting you to capture them as a couple or a family and for you to capture them as they really are in their true persona you have to bond with them. You can take amazing photographs but if you have no story to tell then what was the purpose of you taking that photograph? Was it for the money? Was it to build your portfolio? Those two things should be the last thing in your mind while photographing.

For many years I photographed as a hobby and nothing more. My husband who is my biggest fan purchased my very first camera and told me "I hope this brings you a little bit closer to your dream" I never thought that dream would come true because I didn't think at the time I was a fabulous photographer. I struggled along the way and I learned from mistakes I made but today I am successful and the reason why? Because my fabulous clients all of them have become some of the best friends I've made in my life. Just hearing their love stories makes me smile. I come home anxious from every photo shoot and as I download the photos I smile because I captured that couple just the way they are. I capture them and their love its priceless. I've heard you need to raise your prices- well no not really. I photograph because I LOVE to photograph not to make money. Yes, its nice to get paid to do something you love but when the focus becomes money you lose track of what was it that made you start to photograph in the first place. That's why I stay humble and count every session as a blessing rather than a paycheck. My mission and I've said this numerous times is to give you magazine worthy images for a fraction of the price. And since I have given my clients nothing but the BEST and have been HONEST with them they bless me in return by bringing business my way. An old employer of mine said it best before I went into this business she said to me "Lori, there will always be someone trying to outdo you and try to shatter your business down but you stay humble and you give them the real you the real Lori who cares and loves everyone and you will see the blessings that come out of being yourself" ...to this day I still remember that quote very clearly. I cherish it. I embrace it.

As your photographer I promise to always give you 350%! To always try to go above and beyond for you. I am not in this business for the money. I am in this business to capture your love and take you to that very moment in time 10, 20, 30, 40 years later and you can relive it by just looking at your photograph. That is my motto, my mission! This is who Lori Lee Photography is.

Chad & Sarah Are Married

It seems like its been forever since I've blogged but to be honest with y'all I've been very busy the past few weeks. I had the honor of photographing Chad & Sarah's wedding this past Labor Day weekend. What a fun wedding it was. If you don't remember Chad & Sarah just click on my Facebook link and you may view their engagement session there. They're an amazing couple. Chad & Sarah are high school sweethearts and Chad followed Sarah as she went off to college. These two are so in love you can just see it in the way they look at one another and in the way he kisses her and touches her. She loves him just as much. The day was absolutely beautiful for a September wedding not a cloud in the sky and the humidity was low.

Chad & Sarah wanted to see each other prior to going to the church and my what a moment it was. As a photographer I need to capture that moment that "AH HA" moment but honestly even tho I did capture it I was brought to tears the moment I heard Chad tell Sarah "My God you look so beautiful" and she just smiled from ear to ear. Their love is so unique so pure, so true. I wish them many more years of happiness and love and many blessings from our Lord above.

And finally here are some of the images I captured from their day. If you'd like to view more please go to my Facebook for more photographs and a slideshow.

Meet Andrew

So I've been MIA and honestly its because its been one busy Summer season. Andrew is my friend Cheryl's son and they live in Virginia. A few months ago Cheryl contacted me after having Andrews Senior photos taken by a local photographer she wasn't thrilled she called me up and wanted to know if I could redo his Senior pictures and of course I said absolutely. Cheryl and Andrew drove down 9 hours to our beautiful Charleston, SC. Andrew is joining the United States Navy as soon as he graduates High School this June and his parents couldn't be any prouder! I am proud of Andrew as well. I've watched him grow from this small innocent child to a very mature and resonsable young man. Andrew good luck in your future endeavours!

Andrew's photographs were done in downtown Charleston and others at Folly Beach during sunrise!

I hope y'all enjoy the photos!

Trash that dress!

That's what I told Kimberly once we got to the beach. Hey y'all! I had my very first trash the dress session and it was SO much fun! I really think every bride ought to do that!

Kimberly is an Air Force wife and served in the United States Navy and is now a veteran. She is an amazing person. She's super funny, smart and loves history! Her husband Allan and her share the same passions in life for history and traveling. Kimberly had contacted me to photograph her and her husband since they had not had any professional photographs taken since their engagement and so we scheduled her and Allan but right before our session I get a text saying Allan was not feeling well therefore we would have to re-schedule. Then Kimberly asked me- would I mind turning her couples session into a bridal/trash the dress session. I told her absolutely we could change the session for her. We started off her session in beautiful downtown Charleston where everyone who saw her just awed because she looked beautiful in her gown. We finished our session there- and may I add something? OMG was it HOT! I told her I had NO idea how she did not melt in her gown. It was extra hot outside- awful. We headed down to Folly Beach and to our surprise it was high tide! So yes, you guessed it the beach was gone. The waves were rolling in extremely hard and super fast I had never seen the ocean that angry before. We decided to go a bit further down and finish her session there so she could trash her dress. We got some amazing shots and we even had a lady come up and ask "Dear what are you doing to your gown" and I explained we were trashing the dress she replied "I'm making a bon fire outta mine since I just got divorced" I couldn't help but to laugh at her response! She was an older lady who still had lots of spunk to her. Kimberly did an awesome job posing! She is a trooper. She stood there and took a beat down from the waves as they threw her from side to side.

Enough chattin' for now huh? OK, I'll shut up and post the pics :) Thanks for lookin' y'all.

Keeping my promise

So you see the tomatoes right? Well, this may be a silly post but so what I want to share this anyway. :) A few months back before my husband was deployed to Afghanistan he decided to try to grow some tomatoes. Now we've tried to grow them before but no luck, as we both say we don't have a green thumb. He was so determined to grow his tomatoes he would go out everyday and water them with Miracle Grow and treat the plant with such love. I thought to myself "Wow he's taking this growing tomatoes thing way too far"- to our surprise the darn plant BLOOMED and I mean bloomed! We must have about 45 tomatoes on it. Before he deployed he was able to eat a few and OMG if you've never had home grown tomatoes you are so missing out! They taste NOTHING like the ones sold at your local grocery store. He asked me to please after he left keep watering the tomatoes go out there and treat the plant nice and it will reproduce the most fabulous tomatoes I've ever ate. I went outside yesterday because I had not watered the plant in 3 days (do to massive rain) and to my surprise 6 tomatoes were ready to be picked! They were nice and red and I felt SO proud that my husband had nursed this plant and now its giving us the most delicious tomatoes we've ever ate. I emailed him a picture of the tomatoes I picked to Afghanistan and all he said was "You kept your promise" I promised him I'd take care of his plant and make sure we kept growing some fabulous tomatoes.

It is really amazing what a military wife will promise to a husband and keep her promise while he's away. Its the little things. This isn't something major for a lot of you and some may be like why in the world would she post this- I am posting it because I am proud that I've kept my promise to my husband. So here it is folks the fruits of our labor.

"Mommy its Sandy"

Yes, that's what my two year old thought! That it was Sandy from SpongeBob. I am still laughing about it this morning. It was not only adorable but so innocent. I took him to the park yesterday and he found Sandy eating a piece of watermelon and I whipped out my camera and snapped this great image. I thought I'd share it with y'all- whoever is reading this.....maybe you can use the laugh as well?

As for what's going on well my husband is now gone. He is in Afghanistan for the next 6 months and how we miss him already! But hopefully time will move right along and we can get through this deployment rather quickly? That is my hope and that is my prayer.

I have a boudoir session tomorrow. Stay tunned to see those photos :) I'm sure they'll turn out amazing since the woman is absolutely drop dead gorgeous.

I am currently booking weddings so if y'all know anyone who is getting married and want amazing photographs but can't afford to pay a whole lot send them my way :) I have to say here on my blog how I have ran into some people who call themselves "Photographers" and their prices are super low but their quality of work is poor! They book weddings left and right but how can any bride be content with mediocracy? So here I am to put all those "Pro" photographers to shame!

Here we are again....

Another deployment is fast approaching. In less than 72 hours my husband will be leaving for 6 months once again. You may ask yourself why am I sharing this with the world? Why am I putting my personal life out there? Well, its all very simple. I want to share with my friends and my fellow readers what it is to be an Air Force wife left behind to play Mommy and Daddy, take care of everything, manage to keep her sanity while taking care of 3 kids and running a full time photography bussiness. Trust me folks its not as easy as it sounds.

So here's the deal. I will update this blog often to update y'all on how I am doing, our kids and my photography business. I am also embarking on a journey that I am looking forward to and I will share with y'all once the time is right! When you hear from me next time my husband will have already boarded his flight heading to his awful "home" for the next 6 months.

Check back often! I am sure it will be one bumpy ride alone the way.

Josh + Elizabeth

Josh and Elizabeth are from a small town in Tennessee. Around four years ago Elizabeth moved to GA leaving her small town behind her. A couple of months after being in GA, Elizabeth receives an awful text message saying that her best friend Holly home was placed in a hospice. Holly was batteling cancer in her mid teenage years. Elizabeth contacted her parents and her father drove from Tennessee to GA to pick Elizabeth up so that she can see Holly before it was too late.

Once Elizabeth got back into town she immediately went to see her friend Holly. While she was talking to Holly, Josh walks in the room to give his sister Holly her food. Elizabeth fell in love with Josh, from what she says "He was hot" :) Elizabeth caught up with Holly and went back to GA to finish her final Senior year. Meanwhile her and Josh kept in touch via text and the talks turned into marriage conversations.

A few months later Elizabeth moved back to Tennessee- soon it was Valentines Day. Josh had candles, a fire and a small picnic set up for Elizabeth and she sensed something was up! Sure enough, Josh proposed to Elizabeth that night. Only 3 months later Elizabeth and Josh walked down the aisle and became husband and wife. Holly Elizabeth's best friend and Josh's sister didn't make it to the wedding she passed away before she could see them marry. But what makes my heart rejoice is knowing that even tho Holly couldn't be there in the flesh they did get her blessing before her passing and she was there with them both in spirit.

Josh and Elizabeth you both have such an amazing love story! Thank you for allowing me to capture your love. May God continue to bless you both and your baby boy Branson :)

Chad & Sarah are engaged

As I made my way towards downtown Charleston I got so excited about capturing the love between Chad & Sarah. I met Sarah & Chad back in April of this year when they contacted me to photograph their wedding in September. I have kept in touch with Sarah via email for the past few months. Sarah is an amazing woman! She is the sweetest person you'll ever meet and I mean the sweetest! Chad LOVES to climb walls! I couldn't believe it until I saw it first hand and I just busted out laughing along with Sarah because here Chad was climbing a brick wall in old downtown Charleston.

In the middle of our session I took a minute and just put the camera down and looked at them both and I was so taken back when I saw how Chad looked at Sarah. It was as if nothing in the world mattered but her. She is his entire world and you can see it in almost every picture. And when you don't see it you see Sarah looking at him the same way he looks at her with pure, honest, love. They are simply an amazing couple. They have been together since high school, went to college together and now that Sarah has graduated college Chad is going to grad school. In less than 60 days they'll be husband and wife.

So without further delay, here is a sneak peak into Sarah's and Chad's session on June 27th. For more photos just click on my Facebook fan page and you can view more.

Where have I been lately?

Hey y'all sorry I have not been posting but wow has it been crazy busy in my life lately. I had my step kids come down for their Summer vacation and just left not too long ago. I was so blessed to have photographed my step-daughter (who I consider my own daughter) for her Senior pictures. Yes, she is graduating already! I cannot believe that I met her father when she was just 10 years old and here we are watching her graduate from High School. She's a beautiful young lady and below are some of her Senior photographs. She lives in IL so to have the beach as a backgroud for her its fabulous.

As for my 3 boys well my two oldest have gone for the Summer with their Daddy. They left today- I am left here with my two year old and my husband. My husband is deploying again for 6 months shortly (I can't give out dates) just keep us in prayers! He is going to a really bad location and I am worried sick.

As for business its been busy. I've booked a lot of sessions and you may view my work under my Facebook fan page or on my website. I will try to update the blog as much as possible. I twitter and Facebook so if you want to know what's going on in the world of Lori Lee just look me up :) Hope y'all have been having a fabulous Summer.

I am so excited to share with y'all.

Back in December I photographed Kenny & Sabrina. They were trying to start a family but were unsuccessful. I told Sabrina that I'd keep her and Kenny in my prayers and that God would bless them with a baby when it was the right time. I am so excited to share with y'all that Sabrina and Kenny are now expecting! Sabrina is due January 2011. Both Sabrina & Kenny are on cloud 9. I pray that God blesses them with a healthy child. I will keep y'all updated on Sabrina & Kenny. But for now let's keep Sabrina in prayers that she may have a healthy pregnancy.

Sabrina & Kenny CONGRATULATIONS!

My very first slide show!

So today I decided to try out something new. I wanted to take my favorite session from this year thus far the session between Matt & Megan- A super fun couple who I totally love. You can see the love in each and every picture. I will get better as I keep doing this I KNOW I WILL! I am looking for a better video quality so for the time being enjoy!

Weddings

To all that read my blog I say a big THANK YOU and hello. I am blogging very quickly to let y'all know that I am currently booking weddings! I have done some major changes with my pricing but I think everyone will be pleased. If you are active duty military you will recive a 25% discount :) So, if you know anyone who is getting married or you are getting married yourself contact me to find out about my prices. I am so excited that I am about to enter this journey! I have always loved weddings- even on my wedding day I shot some of my own photos, lol. Yes, I did. I can just see y'all shaking your head. But to document a couples love whether it be through an engagment session or through a wedding it makes my heart go pitty pat :)

I look forward to hearing from you and I look forward to documenting YOUR special day.