I am overly excited for this week’s Wardrobe Wednesday not only because we are showcasing a fabulous clothing line, but because this week is the launch of Wardrobe Wednesday {Where fashion meets photography} new page. If you love this week’s addition as much as I do, make sure to head over to the new page and enter for your chance to win a $100 gift certificate. I won’t spoil the surprise because Morgan of Morgan Dawson Photography has put together a wonderful collection for this week’s Wardrobe Wednesday!

Here is what Morgan had to say…

“No matter where you live, the weather is changing every day. Here in upstate New York, the weather the past few days has ranged from the low 50s to the upper 80s with sun, rain and blowing wind.

With things so unpredictable, how do you figure out what to wear for your fall photos?

Flexibility. Layers. Coordinating looks.

You’re probably thinking, “That’s easier said than done!” Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out … with a little help from a new favorite store: Tea Collection.

Tea Collection, founded in San Francisco in 2002, offers children’s fashions with the tagline “For little citizens of the world.” They offer two labels: the signature, globally-inspired Collection, and their mix-and-match play clothes called Daily Tea. This season’s Collection is inspired by Old World Hungary, with Spain coming up next spring. Trust me, it’s really cute stuff.

I had a difficult time picking out the outfits below, but only because there were so many options! Most of the items pictured come in sizes for children 6 months to 11 years old, but babies and women (yes, us!) are also represented. As you can see, it’s easy to add a sweater or jacket on top, or leggings and tights on the bottom if the temperature drops. A few items – like the blue sweater, cuffed pants and shoes – are unisex. To make things even easier, Tea has created several “Daily Tea” mix-and-match sets (like a 6-piece coordinated set of three tops and three bottoms for $129) and their “Wear Now Layer Later” collections for girls. How brilliant is that!

Total flexibility mixed with one-stop shopping. What more can you ask for? I hope you have as much fun with it as we are.”

LOVE what you see? I know I do…

Head over to Wardrobe Wednesday {Where Fashion Meets Photography} and enter for your chance to win a $100 gift card to the fabulous Tea Collection!

A few weeks ago, I posted part one of the San Francisco promo shoot and now, I have finally caught up with myself to post part two of this fabulous shoot. I can’t really explain the day in words other then it went flawlessly. Stacey and Kenny arrived as the first couple to be photographed. The moment they walked in, I knew they were going to be amazing. Stacey’s personality was bubbly, outgoing, and down for anything (just like me). Kenny was a photographer himself which made it very easy to work with him. The best part though was that their connection together was infectious. In fact, they probably thought I was being totally wacky because I was seriously falling in love with the connection they had together…lol! Seriously, I could have worked all day shooting with this couple. Not did we all have such a great time working together, but the lighting was beautiful, the scenic surroundings were breathe taking and the overall experience was unforgettable. Really! I was able to spend the entire day doing what I love and working with some amazing people…What more could a girl ask for!!

Before sharing part two of this amazing day, I must first give out a HUGE and special thank you to all the amazing vendors who participated in this project. First and foremost to Anton with Lorimerworks for his amazing video talent, La Boutique De Bride in San Francisco for providing the beautiful wedding attire, the fabulous people at the Kunde Winery {If you ever visit the Sonoma wine country, you MUST stop by this gorgeous winery), and of course the amazing couple Stacey and Kenny for being such a great sport and knowing how to rock it out!

The greatest joy in life is family and I must say that this family shines with joy when they are together. For me capturing a family is all about having fun and capturing them as they truly are. It was so hard to narrow the selection down, so their is a lot to view and smile over. The McMahons are truly a special family and it shows through every image…Enjoy!

With fall season approaching, comes the rush of family photos for the yearly Christmas card greeting. So to get everyone ready and looking sharp, Lindsay of Lindsay Horn Photography is offering some great tips and advice for the large family portrait which can also be applied to the small as well. So let’s get started…

Lindsay shares, “So you’ve been reading our posts every week and have gotten really knowledgeable about dressing your family for your portrait session, right? And then it happens ….about every 5-10 years everyone gets together for an EXTENDED family portrait session. Don’t panic, I know what you are thinking: “How in the world will we coordinate (and not match) different groups of people who may not even live in the same place? It’s impossible. That’s it, white shirts and jeans it is.” NOOOOOO! It’s not impossible, I promise! I just went through this lovely process with my own extended family, and I’m going to help you do it too, step by step.

1) Get everyone on board. This will be a team effort, so you need to have a pep talk with everybody and make sure they are all on the same page. Make sure everyone understands what you are trying to do – show them examples from these posts to help give them an idea of the “coordinated” look we always try to achieve. Let them see that they won’t be disappointed in the results!

2) Do your research. Before picking a color scheme, I suggest actually going around to some stores and seeing what colors are “in” at the time. We did NOT do this, and it didn’t take walking out of too many stores empty-handed to realize that purple was the color of the season, and our chosen burgundy accent was hardly anywhere to be found. Doing a little research ahead of time will make it so much easier in the long run.

3) Pick a color scheme. In my opinion, it’s easiest with larger extended family groups to keep your color choices simple, leaving less room for error. We picked some basic neutral colors (cream, taupe, and denim) and then used burgundy for our accent color. Simple works well, but also be specific when needed. We chose taupe and not “brown” because I don’t think a dark brown would have looked nearly as good among the other colors. Once you’ve made a choice, communicate it clearly to the rest of the group. We actually pulled some of these colors out of my mom’s closet, took an iPhone picture, and sent it to everyone else along with some written notes. Visuals never hurt! J

4) Raid your closet, hit the stores, and keep your receipts! It’s important to have options, especially if everyone lives in different places and you can’t check things out in advance. We arranged to meet at my parent’s house an hour before leaving for the session so we could see what everyone came up with and make final wardrobe decisions. We each came with more than one option in case there was color-clashing, too much of one color, etc. Yes, that means I made a round of returns the following week, but it was worth the peace of mind knowing we had our bases covered. If you can’t meet in one place, just plan on getting to the session early – you can always change in your car if needed.

FINAL TIPS: First, our usual “rules of thumb” still apply – textures, layers, and accessories all make for a great outfit. Secondly, make sure your family unit looks well-coordinated alone as you’ll likely be taking some individual family pictures too. What looks good as a part of the large group may not necessarily look good in a smaller unit (for example, if you are all wearing a different color). That brings me to my final tip – use your accessories wisely. Particularly if you happen to be wearing mostly neutral colors, let your accessories add the accent color, which will help seamlessly tie your look into everyone else’s. Below, you can see we used red and cream jewelry, a red tank top, and a giant red flower bow to do this, and the pops of color here and there really make a difference. So, with all of that said, here’s the final product (thank you Erica May)! I couldn’t be more pleased with how it turned out, and what I love most about it is that it looks like US – as in we don’t typically hang out together in matching white shirts and jeans, and I bet you don’t either.

Shopping List – I’ll only list what my family unit wore to keep this from turning into a book, but the majority of everyone else’s outfits were from Target, Kohl’s, and Nordstrom Rack (my new FAVORITE store).

Lindsay (Second from the left)
Tank top – Nordstrom Rack
Jeans – Gap
Jewelry – Necklaces (Claire’s); Earrings & Bracelets (not shown, but cute! J Dillard’s on sale)

Lindsay’s Husband
Button-up shirt – J Crew (Clearance)
Khaki shorts – Old Navy

Lindsay’s Adorable Daughter
Top – Baby Gap (Clearance)
Jean Skirt – Old Navy
Sandals – Target
Red Bow – Claire’s

If there was anything that I put my heart and soul into, it would first be my family and then closely following my passion for capturing the special moments through photography. It feels like just yesterday that I picked up my camera and felt the connection between real life and the “click” of freezing that one moment in time. It’s really a love affair I have with capturing images. In fact sometime during a wedding, I find myself getting emotional and tearing up. It might sound very cliche, but I truly feel my images and try to bring a natural heartbeat to every image I capture.

Last week, I had the privilege of going to San Francisco to work with some of the top professionals in the industry for a promotional shoot (which you’ll see in full coming this November). It was amazing to work around people who had the same passion as I do for life, love, and all things beautiful. I really can’t explain the experience, but I truly felt alive and as always passionate for what I was doing. We started out shooting in the beautiful Sonoma wine country and when the sun set, let me just say it was Aaaamazing. The colors, mountains, vineyards, and surrounding were breathtaking. All in all at the end of the day, I didn’t want it to end…

This experience would not have been possible with out the amazing people and vendors that so graciously participated in this project. A HUGE thank you to Anton with Lorimerworks for his creativity and passion for the art of videography. Also another HUGE thank you to Hilda from La Boutique Des Brides in San Francisco for providing the beautiful bridal attire, the Kunde Winery in Kenwood, CA which was the fabulous backdrop to our amazing promo shoot AND lastly, but certainly not last the beautiful people who were captured in this set Erin and Justin for coming out and rocking this shoot!!

Make sure to stay tuned for Stacey and Kenny’s session coming next week in Part two of the San Francisco experience!

So finally, here’s to capturing the moments and falling in love with a passion…