by Kimberly | Jul 28, 2015 | Uncategorized
Isn’t newborn photography one of the sweetest sessions ever? Little toes. Little noses. Sweet new life. A picture full of expectation and excitement and journeying and love.
I’ve taken a few newborn photo shoots, but I am all about learning poses, what parents want, and lighting techniques.
Looking around Pinterest, talking with friends, and following photographers on Instagram have given me wonderful pages to look at and photos to be inspired by. Thought I would pass some along to you.
Kelli Nicole out of Houston offers great tips for lighting and posing.
I found Tiffany Farley on Instagram and absolutely love her photography. You do want to find out what your client wants and work to those needs. These are their pictures.
Little babies like to be all wrapped up because it makes them feel safe and warm. Here are some wrapping tips.
Photography is a lot about light and angles. Here are some helpful tips .
If you are in the Atlanta area and need a newborn photographer – I’d love to talk with you: kcreativesphotography@gmail.com
All photos in this blog copyright kcreativesphotography
by Kimberly | Jul 24, 2015 | photo shoot, Uncategorized
Happy Friday! So thankful the weekend is here. My husband has Sunday off and we are having some friends over so that will be fun cooking for them (especially a French Silk Pie for the first time)! Have you ever made French Silk Pie? What is your favorite type of pie?
I’ve been dabbling in photography for about 7 years now ever since I went on a hiking trip with two of my photographer friends. It was lifechanging – even though I’d been taking photos since high school. They were both more advanced in their photography knowledge and I wanted to learn all I could. Over the years different things have been more important than that, but I’m finally biting the bullet and starting my photography business. You can see some of the shoots I’ve done in the past by clicking here.
On Fridays, I want to make some great links available to you – ones that I am learning from. Some weeks I will do an interview with friends who are photographers. I hope these links and interviews challenge you to be better in your craft.
Always learning with you – kdc
A new to me friend Jenna from DiPrima Photography is starting a new series on basics of DSLR for those of you just beginning.
I love it when talented and busy photographers spend some of their time teaching people who read their blogs more about how to excel in photography. KJ of Virginia does this well.
Since I also love to take photos of food – here is one of my favorite food blogs and they share tips on food photography.
by Kimberly | Jul 24, 2015 | Uncategorized
24 hours seems like a lot sometimes to me, but other times I’m like – where did it go?
A sweet friend (and reader of this blog) asked me to share what my life is like on a daily basis – especially sharing tips for hanging out with toddlers. I will just say that I love nap time! Those precious moment are often my most productive of the day!
Every morning we head out (except when my mister is off). There is so much to do in the ATL metro area. We have doughnut day and do grocery shopping. Even though I could save money by going to some places, we choose to go to places that make it easy to shop with toddlers (like Publix and Trader Joes). We have park days, we have passes to the Zoo and the Children’s Museum, we play with other friends, go to our local library time for toddlers, or run errands.
We usually grab a quick lunch at home or out (very cheap and quick) and then prepare for nap time. My boys usually take fairly good naps – especially when we do something that expires a lot of energy and they aren’t teething (one of mine is teething right now so that makes for interested sleep schedules.
I’m very grateful for the pass we have to our local gym. We go every afternoon (except Sunday when they don’t have child care). My boys grow to love the workers there and enjoy time with friends and the Disney Channel. I get two hours of exercise, sauna, and quiet time which is great for my body and my sanity.
My husband usually works late hours, so we come home and play in the back yard and eat dinner. When Daddy is home they get baths and we read a story and put them to bed. Usually that is it. But, sometimes we struggle with one of ours with going to bed. He has so much energy!
During the times they are not awake is when I get other things done: quiet time, business, housecleaning. One thing with housecleaning is I usually do a load of laundry a day so it doesn’t pile up on me. I also wait until the end of the day to do the dishes. I just pile everything in the sink then it takes me less than 10 minutes to unload, load, and wash anything dishes that won’t go in the sink. Ten minutes.
When do I work on my business? Well, currently I work on it during nap time. I edit photos, write blogs, work on marketing and social media, and also cook during that time (when the lighting is the best).
Being a mom and doing anything else is really tough. Honestly there are some days, like today, that all I want to do is crawl back in bed (which sometimes is the best thing I can do). Sometimes I watch a few episodes of whatever television drama I’m sucked in to).
And God knows exactly what you need to get done today – and that’s what you’ll get done. You don’t have to be super-mom and you don’t have to be perfect at everything. One question I usually ask at the beginning of the day, or at least a few times a week is to my mister: “what is one thing I can do today that will bless you.” The answer may be different than you think.
So, here are some simple things to ponder when getting your schedule in order for the day:
1. What are my priorities today (these may or may not change from day to day)?
2. In order for my home and loved ones to be loved today – what do I need to do?
3. How can I take care of myself today?
4. What does God want to teach me today – to speak to me – to breathe life into me?
by Kimberly | Jul 21, 2015 | Uncategorized
Some people may think I’m a good Mommy, but my husband and few friends understand what a struggle it is for me every day of the week. I thrive on quiet and peace and I’ve been given two toddlers who love to scream and they giggle really loud and they say “hi mommy” 50 times in a row. I wouldn’t change them or trade them for anything.
So, here is what I say to myself often – and I need to say to myself more:
“Bless the Lord who daily bears us up.” Psalm 68.19
Bless – praise, thank, admire, worship
the Lord – Jesus, God – the one who created everything including you and your children
Who: he is the one who does it!
Bears – gives strength
Us – you, me, anyone who will call upon his name
Up – he keeps us from falling.
The rest of the verse goes on to say that God is our salvation. God is more than just your provision (Jesus) out of hell. But God is your salvation every single day!
So, if you are like me and struggle in your mommyhood role – know that crying out to the Lord is such a source of help. He will bear you up because He is faithful at his word!
by Kimberly | Jul 21, 2015 | Uncategorized
Most people who know anything about weight loss (and maintaining weight loss) will tell you that it can’t be just about what you put in your body, but also has to include what you do with your body.
Over the last 21 months I’ve been trying to lose the baby weight from back to back babies. During that time I also moved states and now am finally getting settled into life with two toddlers. We are an active family and I seldom keep the boys at home. It is a fun, busy life. One that I need energy for. So, I’m learning how to change my eating habits and also work hard at changing my body tone every day. (The photo above is from my lingerie shower about 6 weeks before I got married. I can wear that dress again!)
Where I’ve been: when I delivered both my boys I was at 257. Yikes. That is an awfully high number for my 5’7″ frame and I know some of it was water retention. But, I’ve now lost 86 lbs since my second was born in October of 2013. I still have 15 to go to the weight I want to maintain. I’m back below the weight I was when I wore my wedding dress back in October 2011.
As I’ve been doing this weight loss journey, I’ve had friends ask my how I do it. Here are a few things:
1. Eat less but also eat naturally healthy foods. This is 80% of what I eat: whole, natural, foods including animal products.
2. I have mainly cut out breads and potatoes and pastas.
3. MOVE! I will talk more about this further down in this post.
4. Drink plenty of water. I use the “half of your body weight in ounces” rule. But, I also drink diet cokes (please, no rant in the comment section about this).
5. Have people who are cheering you on. We all need cheerleaders and I think that losing weight it so hard to do on your own.
6. Self-discipline. This, for me as a Holy Spirit filled believer, is a gift given to me by the Spirit. I just need to put it into practice more often.
7. Enjoy life. You can do this by eating special meals every now and then or having dessert every now and then – but find other ways to enjoy life and celebrate.
Ok – since this post is mostly about working out and exercise, I want to just tell you what I’ve done. First let me say that with two toddlers I would not have been able to lose this weight this quick without my parents who pay for my gym membership each month and that comes with childcare. So I spend time at the gym 6-7 days a week. It helps my body and my sanity. And my boys love the kids klub!
I typically spend about 40 minutes doing cardio (either a spin bike or running – especially if I’m training for a race). Then I spend the rest of the time doing body weight strengthening. I’ve recently been enjoying the 30 Day Plank Challenge and the Little Black Dress Challenge. It helps to have accountability so I’m in groups on facebook with friends of mine who are scattered throughout the country. When I’m not in the gym sometimes my boys and I will walk a trail in Alpharetta in the shade for about an hour or we will play on playgrounds. One night a week typically we will bring Daddy along and hike along the Chattahoochee which is fun but not very fast when you have toddlers who want to stop and look at everything.
Whatever you need to do – please take care of yourself. Maybe you can take the money you spend on eating out or coffee trips and put some of that toward a gym membership. Maybe buy some videos (I like Jillian’s 30 Day Shred and Bob’s Weight Loss Yoga).
Take care of yourself – for yourself and for others.
by Kimberly | Jul 19, 2015 | Uncategorized
I know that my babies’ nap times will not last forever, and when they drop those afternoon hours of night night, then we will figure out another schedule. Right now, I’m sitting with my feet propped up, blogging away, sorting through my bloglovin feed, and watching a few episodes of White Collar.
Here are some links I’ve found this week that I thought you might enjoy.
I love coconut and this recipe comes from a mommy and a great food photographer and blogger and Little Rockian!
One of my favorite bloggers wrote about why she was going to stop blogging – and I still follow her on instagram and her continued journey with food and weight and motherhood.
Microblogging – a new world for social media
Just got a write a book review for this magazine. Go take a look.
When I was in Arkansas I got hooked up with this great group of women. I’m now in Georgia and heading it up. If you want to be a part of the Georgia Women bloggers – leave a comment or shoot me an email.
