Soon they shall say " I do"....

A couple months ago one of my best friends from college called me and squealed into the phone that her boyfriend of 5 years finally popped the question. Obviously I was so excited for her and deep down I was hoping she would ask me the question that every best friend thinks about " Will you be my bridesmaid?". I nearly dropped my phone when she asked and then on top of that she choose me to do her engagement pictures. I was over the moon and also extremely nervous! I wanted them to be perfect because she totally deserves it. I have little to no experience in the engagement picture department so I was going in a little blind. I prepared for a month and made the short drive to Little Rock. 

These pictures do not do this couple justice. They are so completely and truly made for each other. They are exactly the picture of soul mates.  I'm so grateful they are letting me be a part of this special time in there lives in more than one way. Here is a sample of their engagement shoot :)

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Oh hey 2012...How you doin?

So I have been a busy busy girl as of lately. Unfortunately I have not been busy due to excessive use of my camera <insert sad face here> I did however go to Savannah to see my beautiful sister and her little family and I got to take some family pictures of them! Dont worry I will share some in a bit...

FIRST. I have decided that Im not cut out for the business side of photography. I dont like the way the pressure to perform cuts my creativity and I really dont want to to have to book shoots AND I want to be able to take pictures of whatever I want! I have noticed in the year that I have been doing this that it is relatively easy for me to get clients just from my examples on the book of faces and word of mouth ( Thanks family and friends :)) so this means I can keep doing it as a "hobby" as long as I keep my price low and then Ill be all legal and whatnot! Yay

SECOND. I do however love the way it feels when I win something due to my pictures. I also ( and this is the most important to me) LOVE the way people react when they see their pictures! I cant help but feel so awesome when Ive managed to get a shot that someone will cherish forever!

So get your game face on people. Here comes the cuteness......

 Oh how I adore those baby blues and those sweet little fat rolls....I cant wait to until May when I get to do a 1st birthday shoot with that little cookie monster :)

Being an Aunt rocks!!!

Im so not a resolutions girl but If I was making one it would be something to do with being better at this blog...I know that all three of you readers are dying to read my blah blah blah and for that I am eternally grateful! I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Im 29 days away from my 25th birthday but whose counting.......

Ready...Set...Go

So I lied. This post is not about pricing. Honestly I'm just not there yet. I'm not comfortable with how much is too much or too little and really I'm still trying to decide what my art is worth. Moving on....

Its 6am and I cant sleep (shocker) so I decide to let a little honesty out. So you all know I love photography, obviously because its what this blog is about BUT what you don't know is that the reason I love it is because of the pressure. You have this one second to get this one shot. You have to master the art of ISO, aperture size, shutter speed, white balance, color temperature, exposure...literally the list goes on! So once you have that down and you get in the grove of melting them together you can really get some great shots. I love to test my skills and I love it even more when I get home and I upload my pictures and they make me feel good about myself and what Ive done. 

About a month ago I went down to the Harrison Skate park to hang out with some friends and the guys at the park were NOT SHY about getting their picture taken. I had show offs zooming past me on all sides. It was a photographers dream situation. I wanted to share some of my favorites from the day :)

I have a million and one things I cannot wait to do with my camera, the trouble is that I have a lack of willing models and its kind of stumping my creativity...So for now I'm going to need to start recruiting models...

Happy Thursday everyone <3

Through the Chaos comes memory....

So I did my first family photo shoot and It was a blast. I was nervous for the first 5 minutes because there was a lot (4 kids, 2 adults) of them and I of course want to produce some quality pictures that they can keep and cherish forever. I'm not really a posy posy photographer..I mean sometimes its necessary to give direction and put your clients in poses but I really just enjoy the candid photo much more. This got me thinking...I'm such a awkward person and I sometimes don't even know what to do with my own body so how can I master the art of posing someone else? I'm going to start doing some major posing research. I mean I know the basic rules like triangles, no straight lines if they are all the same height, no squares, different levels, no straight arms blah blah blah but that's not the same as putting them into practice. I stand with straight arms allllllll the time. I guess I just look uncomfortable everywhere I go :) 

Yesterday before the shoot I drove to Branson to look at a new battery for my camera and I couldn't help but graze a little too long in the camera section holding on to the Canon 60D...Its beautiful and I want it so badly but its close to 2 thousand dollars....I just have not made anywhere close enough to justify that amount of money for a new camera but its my goal. Anyways....who wants to see the beautiful Henson family??? 

I'm nearly done building my portfolio and so that means I'm really going to have to start learning the business side of Photography. That kind of stresses me out. I'm going to have to learn about taxes, how much to charge, photo release forms, should I copyright? and all that jazz...I saw a add the other day on my favorite website www.Digital-photography-school.com for a business starter kit....I think I will look into that.  

Well its that time of day...time to start getting ready for my real job (for now). Next time I'm going to have a mock price list to put up just to test the waters... Adios!

Children really do make this world go round...'

So one of my first adventures into my photography business was building my portfolio. I decided the best way to do this was make a Facebook page and offer free pictures to anyone and everyone. Of course nobody turns down FREE pictures so I got a couple people...er victims..to sit for me and let me experiment. First was Makayla. She is 6 years old and the daughter of my mothers best friend. I have also known her since birth. She is crazy fun and way adventurous so I of course had a blast!

Second up was my adorable nephew who literally pulls all of my heart strings. I  just love him so very much. He is beautiful and like all babies has the ability to just make you feel amazing when he looks at you and smiles! He also has my families trademark blue eyes

Then of course we cannot forget my best friend Sam because by now she has given birth to her beautiful little boy Caleb. He is tiny and has the most expressive face ever...He is a little thinker!

As challenging as child photography is, I really love it. I feel like it is as honest as it gets. They don't know how to do or be anything but themselves. They are curious and emotional and you have to be quick because one minute they are their and then they are gone. I learned that tennis shoes are a must for a child's shoot...cause I'm about to get a workout. I hope you have enjoyed my pictures as much as I have enjoyed taking them. Its time for me to hit the hay because this girl has a family of 8 to photograph tomorrow.
Wish me luck :)

It all started with Sam...

So I have loved taking pictures for more than half of my years. I'm 24 years old and I got my first digital camera at 13. It was small and took two AA batteries and the card held about 25 pictures but I loved it. I carried it everywhere and I took pictures of everything. I was in camera euphoria. In high school I started a pretty legit little club I like to call "The photography club" (very original I know, but I was 16 give me a break). Then came college and classes, exams, sorority, and real boyfriends got in the way. My poor camera collected dust and was only used to take silly frat party pictures where the models don't even remember posing ( what a shame...). All that changed when my best friend Samantha found out she was creating life! I immediately decided she needed maternity pictures and who better to shoot them than THIS GIRL!!! So in all of her 6 month pregnant glory, she waddled and sweat her hormonal body around so I could take some shots. She had no idea that right there and then she was reintroducing me to my first true love...

I got such positive feedback from her pictures that I immediately started thinking about how I could take pictures all of the time. I had never realized how much I missed the feel of a camera in my hands. So the journey of Natasha Rae Photography has begun...I'm not sure where its going to take me and I'm nervous every time I book a client but this is the most exciting adventure I have ever been on and I cant wait to share it with you :)