HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Blog is currently undergoing a new design! Please check back soon for new updates!

Much love…. Ash

Looking to save a little $$$? Now is definitely time to take advantage of my totally rad wedding promo! For a limited time only , receive $300 off the wedding collection of your choice >> HERE <<. You could score engagement and wedding coverage just starting at $1700. Woo hoo! For more information, please e-mail me at ashley@livelaughphoto.com as I would love to chat about your special day.

*Promotion is subject to availability. Dates are based on a first come first serve basis. Offer expires on 09/30/2011. I’m going to stop right there before this really starts to sound like a radio commercial.

Happy Friday!

I honestly don’t think that my website will ever be completely finished. In between photo shoots, weddings, editing, attempting to cook without burning our house down, and changing diapers I’m constantly tweaking my website and it is slowly but surely evolving along with my photography. For the most part the shell of my site is still the same however I wanted to post about a few changes that I’m super excited about….

Ready. Set. Go.

Given the recent shift I’m making in my business, [click here to get caught up] I removed all newborns, children, families, and life style photos/galleries. I’m not going to lie…. clicking the delete button was very painful.

I added a new and improved “About” section. Here you will find four different vintage polaroid style clickable buttons to learn more about me!

“About Me”

I thought it would be fun to feature casual photos and snippets from my life on this page. I think people generally relate more when you let your true self shine through. That means sometimes posting non-posed, non-professional, snapshots of regular life.

Collections now officially only apply to High School Seniors and Weddings unless you are already a client.

I’m super stoked about my new letter style contact form! In my opinion, it’s waaaayyy more exciting than the old one. Totally worth the hours I put in going cross eyed in front of the computer screen setting it up. Go ahead, you know you want to try it out! It’s fun!

Lots of new Wedding and Senior Girl photos added to the galleries. Even more coming soon!

Go check out the new and improved changes at www.livelaughphotograph-llc.com and let me know what you think via the “facebook me” comment button at the bottom! A special THANK YOU to SHOWIT for making my website possible, to the Showiteers for inspiring me every single day, and last but not least to David Jay, Andrew Barlow, and Kevin Sturm for the countless Showit Live Videos and Hangouts I’ve watched in order to figure all this techy stuff out on my own. You guys are so awesome!

What I’m about to write has been on my heart and mind for a long while now. It has been an ultimate dream of mine to shift the focus of my business and become more of a niche photographer. Up until this point, I have accepted and photographed anyone and everyone that has requested a booking and followed the guidelines of paying their deposit/returning their contract. This includes shoots ranging from maternity to children to seniors to family to boudoir to engagements to weddings to parties and everything in between. Today, that is changing. I am taking another bold step in the direction of my living my dreams and becoming the photographer I really want to become. By doing this, I feel like I’m being true to myself. I want to leave every single shoot/wedding and have the feeling of … oh wow, I can’t wait to cull, edit, and process these! Not… ugh, I have a zillion and one photos to edit because I am photographing everything under the sun. My Dad recently said something to me during a casual conversation that really spoke to me. I was talking about being “busy” and he said, “Ashley, remember that your photography business is a get to, not a have to.” My Dad has given me lots and lots of advice over the years but for some reason this one had a profound impact on me. He is right.

My business was born from a combination of three difficult life changes I was faced with during 2009. Change 1. Being laid from off from my job in finance during maternity leave. Change 2. Having baby number two and suffering from mild postpartum depression completely off the radar and attempting to hide it from everyone except for my husband. Change 3. Having a husband deployed to Afghanistan for 10 months. This period in my life was a really difficult one to say the least. But when one door closes… or in this case a few doors, another one opens! Through finding comfort in blogging about complete randomness here at www.thenavywife.com and with a little added determination, I unlocked a passion I didn’t even know existed… photography! It brought my life so much happiness, meaning, and I finally knew what it felt like to have something I could call my own. It was a GET TO not a HAVE TO. (As a side note, I can’t even bring myself to go back and look at some of the photos I attempted to take under the photography section of my old blog. LOL!)

Through my continued growth in this industry these past two years, I have discovered both my strengths and weaknesses, the subjects I enjoy shooting the most and the ones I walk away from not feeling as much excitement over. What I have decided to do from here on out is play on what I feel are my strengths. With that being said, I will only be photographing/booking Seniors (High School and College) and Weddings from this day forward. Under the Wedding umbrella will also include engagements and bridals. The only exceptions to this will be if you are a current client or if you have already booked your session with me. Any other inquires I receive to photograph maternity, newborns, children, family, parties, etc. will receive a referral to two of my amazingly talented photographer friends in the DFW area. Let me add to that, it is not going to be easy to turn people away as I am a people pleaser. I am in the business of making people happy! Also, It’s not that I don’t enjoy photographing families, children, etc. I do actually enjoy it however I enjoy photographing seniors and weddings more. I want my business to be a “get to” not a “have to”. With the volume of sessions I’ve been booking I think now is a good time to take my foot off the gas and turn in a different direction. I want to photograph the subjects I feel the strongest at posing and getting creative with! This will be a bit of a growing pain for me but one in the end I believe will reflect even more happiness in my business. There will also be a phasing out process that has to take place from here. My website will undergo a few changes and I will be updating my blog with the last few families and kiddos I have in the works. If you have any questions about this new change in my business and how it might impact your session/existing inquiry directly please send me an e-mail ashley@livelaughphoto.com. Thank you so much to all of you who’ve been there for me every step of the way! Words can’t even express just how much your support means.

A quote that inspires me right now…. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” – Harriet Tubman

Lastly, I want to leave this post with a funny photographer spoof video by super talented photographers named Matt and Katie from down under. In the video they joke about photographers that specialize in “everything” among other cliches. The entire video gave me a good laugh. P.S. It might be more geared toward photographers.

I’m not going to lie… I’m pretty excited about it!!!!!!!

I recently attended my very first DFW Shootout and had a BLAST! For those of you who may not be aware of what a shootout is, I will fill you in.  In this case, it was a collaboration of extremely talented wedding vendors and photographers that came together to mix, mingle, and shoot! Sounds like fun, huh? It was! If you missed Part 1 of 3 you can get all caught up >> HERE <<. Now, onto Part 2.. I had the privilege of photographing Ebony of Ebony Peoples Events and Design and her husband Jovan. They were so natural and comfortable in front of the camera. Their session was full smiles, laughter and the color pink!

Be sure and check out the slideshow at the bottom to view more photos!

Vendor L*O*V*E

Couple // Ebony and Jovan Wordlaw

Cake // Sugar Bee Sweets
Flowers // Bows & Arrows
Hair // Ashley Bristo
Makeup // Something You… Makeup Artistry
Suit // D. Jones Tailored Collection
Stationary // The Left-Handed Calligrapher
Planning + Production // After Yes and Catie Ronquillo
Location // The Shoppes at Brownstone Village

Click play and turn up your music!

I recently attended my very first DFW Shootout and had a BLAST! For those of you who may not be aware of what a shootout is, I will fill you in. In this case, it was a collaboration of extremely talented wedding vendors and photographers that came together to mix, mingle, and shoot! Sounds like fun, huh? It was! I was delighted to meet new people and shoot 3 different subjects/themes. That brings me to my next point, I will be posting photos from the Winter Shoot Out in three parts. First up, is the lovely Corbin and David! Don’t be fooled by the beautiful Wedding gown and and fabulous wedding details. It might look like their real wedding day however, these two love birds have been married for 12 years! They were so kind, easy going, and were just so fun to work with. As you can see, Corbin is stunning and I think they are just the perfect addition to my portfolio.

Vendor L*O*V*E

Couple // Corbin and David Baxter of Soulbox Productions

Cake // Sugar Bee Sweets
Flowers // Bows & Arrows
Hair // Ashley Bristo
Makeup // Something You… Makeup Artistry
Suit // D. Jones Tailored Collection
Stationary // The Left-Handed Calligrapher
Planning + Production // After Yes and Catie Ronquillo
Venue // The Shoppes at Brownstone Village

If you’d like to see more photos from Corbin and David’s shoot click the play button [below] and turn up your music to enjoy a slideshow!

>> SLIDESHOW LINK <<

I added an all new featured photo shoot section to the website << HERE >> I plan to update it monthly just for fun! Be sure and check out!

The way my head is spinning right now, I can already tell that this is going to be a completely random post!

I’m currently listening to Avril Lavigne’s new CD, Goodbye Lullaby. Don’t laugh… I just couldn’t stop myself from clicking the buy button on itunes. Honestly, I’m not a fan of ALL of the songs but there are a few that I’m in LOVE with! Black Star (intro), I Love You, Real, Goodbye, and Alice are pure awesomeness! I’m all about Avril’s tough independent vibe. I actually did go see her in concert back in my high school days here in Dallas. Fun times!

I discovered a website designed by the fabulous Promise Tangeman [designer of my site template] called Pray for Kate. By the time I was halfway through the STORY section, I was in tears. As you all know, I also have a 5 year old little girl and just can’t imagine what this family is going through. I encourage you to take 5 minutes out of your day today and check out the site, read Kate’s story and say a prayer for her journey and family.

I have a new <another> headshot of myself! I normally DO not like photos of myself. Can you believe it? However, despite being ghostly white I actually have a real smile and really like the natural light here.

Photo courtesy of Natalie Pitts Photography! Thanks so much Natalie! You are SO sweet!

Last but not least…. I have a fun announcement! When I first started my business almost a year ago. I was lost on so many subjects. Gear, pricing, forums, etc. I searched and searched the internet to find these answers on my own. I found that I actually learned the most from other photographers offering up tips and advice. I learned from their business set ups and even mistakes. With that being said, on Friday I’m launching a new blog post series called Live OUT Loud. Every Friday I’m going to be featuring an inspirational photographer interview and some of their work. I thought why not bring q&a to my blog? Questions range from gear to inspiration to favorite movies. A lot of the interview questions are questions that I get all the time via facebook and e-mail from new photographers that are just starting out. I’m SO looking forward to learning from others and building new relationships as well as creating a learning platform right here on the Live. Laugh. PHOTOGRAPH. BLOG.

COMING SOON!

]]> http://livelaughphotograph-blog.com/2011/03/its-a-random-kind-of-day/feed/ 0 http://livelaughphotograph-blog.com/2011/01/star-struck-an-evening-with-jasmine-star/ http://livelaughphotograph-blog.com/2011/01/star-struck-an-evening-with-jasmine-star/#comments Tue, 25 Jan 2011 18:55:30 +0000 Live. Laugh. PHOTOGRAPH. http://livelaughphotograph-blog.com/?p=2213 Pin it

Yesterday, I filled my car up with gas, set my GPS to destination College Station and pushed play on my ipod. It was such a beautiful day to be on the open road with just me, myself, and my ipod. Road trips are great therapy for me! I love getting away and reflecting on my family, life, and business.

There are two photographers that I truly look up to and admire. For many reasons, my eyes gravitate toward their beautiful photographs and style. I have poured countless hours of my life into getting to know these two complete strangers through reading their blogs. Does that make me a stalker? I hope not! My top two favorite photographers are…

> Jasmine Star

> Jamie Delaine

If you are apart of my inner circle then you know that I talk about these two photographers as if I personally know them. As if they have been my friends since grade school. They are creative examples of the photographers that I one dream of becoming.

When I read on Jasmine’s blog that she would be coming to College Station, Texas to speak on behalf of the Brazos Valley Professional Photographers Association, I jumped at the opportunity to attend and signed up immediately! For me, this opportunity was just like meeting your idol or favorite celebrity.

As you can imagine, Jasmine’s presentation “Branding You”, exceeded my expectations. I filled empty pages in my notebook with new ideas and tips from one of the top 10 Wedding International Photographers. LUCKY LUCKY ME! I am still on a high from the entire experience and can’t wait to take on a new branding approach and start implementing new concepts.

“Keep an open mind and see if I’m talking trash!” – Jasmine Star

After the presentation, I stood in line for a chance to meet Jasmine and shake her hand. On the drive there I had thought of questions to ask her and clever things to say face to face. As soon as I walked up to her, that all went out the window! I forgot everything that I planned on saying and just started thanking her and rambling on about how I have only shot one wedding but I know deep down in my heart of hearts this is what I want to do. I told her that I believe I’m on her path and that I’m going to take action on her advice. Can you believe that stuff came out of my mouth? Word vomit! I have no idea where that all came from but I meant every word.

To top off my entire night, I went to take a quick photo of a new photog friend that I met, Helen Byrd with Jasmine and Jasmine said, “Hey, I like your stance!” I couldn’t believe my ears! Jasmine Star likes my stance. That means something!

JD setting up!

The best cowboy boots won a 1 year subscription to SHOWIT!

Helen Byrd + Jasmine Star

Jasmine Star + Ashley Swallow {ME}

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