Kimberly Reed Photography

time away a few weeks ago gave me time to reflect. on the state of my life and the state of my business. everything with my business is going so well for me; but i have the interesting problem of loving what i’m doing so much, that it doesn’t feel like work to me. so i find that i end up working 10, 12, 14 hours a day…7 days a week. my new initiative is to have more balance- in every area of my life. so i’m going to start with work.

from now on, my official office hours are tuesday through saturday, from 10 to 6. i’m going to try really hard (ie.- force myself) to take sunday and monday off, and use that time to relax, hang out with friends and family, read a book, go to church, go to yoga, walk the dogs, catch up on sleep…whatever. you may still get intermittant blog posts and emails during my ‘off’ days, but i’m really going to try hard to stay away from work-related things during those days.

we’ll see how it goes…i have an inkling that once i get the hang of this ‘free time’ thing, i’m really going to enjoy it- and be more refreshed, relaxed, and well-rounded as a result.

these two are just terrific, as you may remember from their engagement session. they got married yesterday, and the reception was held at the mansion (724-586-6171) in butler, which made for an elegant, intimate evening. andy hutelmyer was their dj, the camelot catered the evening (the food was incredible), and creations by carlini designed their cake. there were tons of fabulous details, but you’ve got to watch the slideshow (the link is after the photos) to see more of them. i’ve also got to give another shout out to abie, who was my rockstar second shooter for the day. (watch for more about abie over the next few months.)

here are some of the things i saw throughout the day:

this is one of my favorite images from the day

this is another fave. she was a breathtaking bride.

eileen’s expression here pretty much sums up the day.

high fives on the way back down the aisle

the bubble exit from the church. love the bubble-blower’s face on the right.

some portraits at the mansion

another fave. i have lots of faves from yesterday.

love the face eileen is making during the father daughter dance.

the mansion has an awesome spiral staircase.

and check out these shots that abie got:

a gorgeous portrait of the bride

and this shot of grandma blowing bubbles. what makes this extra great for me is that she was shooting from in the crowd, and she framed grandma with guests on either side. love it.

mike and eileen, your love is an inspiration. it was a pleasure to document your wedding day for you, and i hope you have an amazing honeymoon in jamaica!

ok, i’ve been blog tagged again (thanks jessica!). The rules of the game are simple - if you get tagged, you have to list 8 facts about yourself that people might otherwise not know. this is the second time for me…the first time was back in january (you only had to list 5 things then), and you can read those responses here. sooooo…it looks like the rules have changed and i have to share 8 things this time. yikes.

1. i sometimes snort when i laugh. i never know when it will happen so it always surprises me and makes me laugh even harder. which sometimes makes me cry.
2. i moved to a small town in montana after college because i read an article about it in a magazine, and it seemed like a cool place to live. (it was.)
3. i love road trips. when i was younger my desire to travel was larger than my pocketbook; i would go on extended road trips and not have enough money for food or hotels. So I would sleep in the car and not eat and just drink water or juice the entire trip. and it was totally worth it.
4. over the years, i’ve had piercings in my tongue, nose, eyebrow…and…well…you get the point.
5. i grew up on a farm, and as a wee lass, was a 4-h member (for horses).
6. as a teenager, i had a crush on speedracer. serious.
7. i’m allergic to jellyfish stings.
8. i hold my breath when i’m driving through tunnels on the turnpike.

i tag:

shannon kaple

erich camping

kim hawthorn

robin pesa

justin kownacki

ok, so i hate having my picture taken. seriously. hatey, hate, hate it. i very much prefer to be behind the camera.

however, it was time for me to update my website photo recently, so i went to my good friend emily’s house for a little photo session. i narrowed it down to three finalists (i actually already have one up on my site, but i keep going back and forth, so I need help deciding…). which one do you think should be my new photo on my ‘about me’ section of my website?

one…

two…

or three…

thanks for your help!

as promised, here are a few of the maternity sexy belly pics i shot for lyndsay while i was in philly. for some reason the word ‘maternity’ conjures up images of a woman in a muumuu and curlers for me…so i want to stay away from that. i think that pregnancy is sexy- there isn’t much more amazing than carrying and sustaining another life. plus pregnant women tend to have this fabulous peaceful glow about them. so i wanted lyndsay’s photos to capture this transitional time in her life, by celebrating the beauty that is a pregnant belly.

these next two make me giggle. i used a 10-22mm lens at 10mm to give some extra distortion to the tummy. i love the effect!

tough call, but i *think* this one is my fave.

most of the shots took place in her family’s vineyard.

there are some more in her slideshow. i double dog dare you not to laugh at the song…

if you are looking for an amazing children’s photographer in the pittsburgh area, check out my friend kelley calvert. she’s fabulous at capturing real moments in a candid, photojournalistic style that really reveals the personality of your child. she does lifestyle portrait sessions as well as coverage for birthday parties, baptisms, bar and bat mitzvahs…you name it. check her out!

i just came across this blog called digital photography school, and it’s chock full of great resources for digital photographers; from understanding your camera’s histogram to the top 20 dslr camera models to obtaining model releases. click here to check it out!

so lyndsay, my best friend from college, and her husband are expecting their first child. her baby shower was last weekend so i headed out to philly to celebrate with her and her family. her family owns and operates wycombe vineyards in Bucks County. If you live out that way or plan to be in the area, you absolutely must stop by for a tasting. (I recommend the 2006 Chambourcin and the Naked Chardonney). She and her husband are opening a cheese store in Doylestown over the next few weeks, which will sell gourmet cheeses, in addition to wine from the family winery and other local wineries. How cool is that? I’m so excited for all of the amazing things that are happening in their lives!

anyway, both of our busy schedules only seem to permit us to visit once or twice a year, so it’s always a treat to spend some quality time together. i took some pretty sweet maternity photos of her (look for those over the next few days), and then we went to the jersey shore and spent some time at the beach. i’m such a beach person- i love everything about it- the sun, the sand, the boardwalk, the saltwater. it’s just so relaxing and refreshing to me. i love to stick my toes in the sand and watch the waves roll in. (i will admit, i didn’t spend a whole lot of time in the ocean because shark week was recently on the discovery channel, and i couldn’t get that stupid theme song from jaws out of my head…i know, i know…i’m a dork ).

one of the only things i don’t love about pittsburgh is there is no close proximity to any ocean-y goodness. the first person to figure out a way to move an entire city about 400 miles east is my new hero…

i was interviewed recently for an article for the tribune review regarding the ‘trash the dress’ phenom. the article came out in tuesday’s edition (alas, i was out of town), but thanks to everyone who emailed to say they saw me! the print version featured a photo of me ‘in action’ from simone and don’s shoot last sunday (okay, really it was the back of my head, but i’ll take it! ), and one of my photos of emily from our junkyard shoot. if you missed it in print, you can read the article here.

sadly, the online version doesn’t show any of the pics, but trust me, it was great.

hey guys- just wanted to let you know the office will be closed august 10-16. I’ll be returning phone calls and emails when i return.

ray snapped this picture of me and our dogs on the porch the other day. aren’t they sweet? they hang out and keep me company while i’m editing photos.

simone wanted to do a trash the dress session to celebrate her two year wedding anniversary. not wanting her husband don to miss out on the fun, they decided to do a joint session to celebrate their marriage with some fun, sexy photos. simone swore to me all this week that she is shy and self-conscious in front of the camera, so i was prepared to have to do some coaxing to get her to open up. was i in for a surprise!

simone and don were both so natural! not only is she incredibly sexy, but she and don both have amazing chemistry together. they were a dream to work with. i would start to give them direction or have them change positions, and before i would even finish the sentence they were doing exactly what i had envisioned. we had a blast walking around station square (in the rain, no less) making some great images and sharing some laughs.

here are a few of my faves:

this is actually the dress simone wore for her wedding. there’s not much traditional about simone. that’s one of the things i like about her.

simone is originally from jamaica. she has the most beautiful skin.

the chemistry between these two is incredible.

i love this one.

we were pretty wet by this point

seriously. how sexy are they?

i love that you can see the rain falling in this one.

and some more in their slideshow

happy anniversary simone and donny! you guys were amazing to photograph and work with! thanks for making it a fun evening.