So, I am now 4.5 months into my pregnancy–half way through!!! The belly finally decided to show up and show off. It seems that it happened overnight.  With my waistline expanding, my hormones are changing too, and I now find myself comfortably resting at 70 F, while my  poor hubby is sentenced to a life in sweatpants, and a hoodie or a sweater:

Thankfully he has given up on the thermostat wars and finally gave in, for the good of his wife and child… and for his life’s safety .

Meanwhile, I have already hit my nesting season–I cannot get enough of baby clothes.  Although we won’t know our baby’s gender until the day of, and I try to get as many gender neutral clothes as possible, I find myself gravitating toward the blues… ’cause I just have a hunch .

Sheesh, I have been gone for a LONG, LONG time.  Time really got away from me.  But I have a few good reasons that kept me away.

Early September, just 2.5 weeks into it, my husband and I discovered that we were going to become parents!

I can tell you that you could not find two happier people if you wanted to.  We have been wanting a baby for the last few years, and finally, after working hard on getting my health in order, the miracle happened.

So, I had decided to take some time off to make sure that our little Sprout (that’s what we call my little bump for now ) will have the opportunity to grow strong and healthy inside of me.

This month, my bump finally became noticeable, and I no longer feel like I am fooling anyone when I tell them that I pregnant:

New Direction

Time away from photography allowed me to think about the direction I want to take with my business this coming year, especially when our little bundle of joy arrives into this world.  I have come to the decision that as much as I love weddings, with a little one I would not want to take that much time away from him/her doing all day shoots and that the passion of my heart has really changed in a new, yet the same direction.  One day it just became clear and evident to me!

With each new stage of my life I am amazed by the grace given to women to be who they are.  Who have to become fluid adjusting to every curve and bump on the road of our lives, and no matter what we go through, we always manage to find beauty in what we face… at least the women that I know.  As such, I cannot see anything more fulfilling and fascinating then to do what I love doing–capture female beauty at every stage of a woman’s life.

In the coming months, unless something changes my mind, I will be taking on assignments (and revamping my website), which will reflect this new found direction–capturing different stages of a woman’s life:

• young women (high school seniors and beyond)
• career women who want to celebrate their beauty and strength
• women in love (married couples, dating and engagements)
• women with beautiful bellies (like mine and bigger:))
• women who treasure their lives and want to capture their beauty at any stage of their lives–women who find something special to celebrate and want to feel beautiful in front of a camera… my camera

(just one of many beautiful women I am blessed to know)

At this point I will not be taking on any wedding, baby, or senior boys (young men) assignments, with, perhaps, a rare exception.

I am looking forward to meeting a lot of strong, confident, beautiful women from the local, Columbus OH metro area, and from around the country. If you happen to be such a woman, take a second, drop me a note, and let’s get your beautiful self in front of my camera.

I have been impatient, with glee, to share the latest session with all of you, waiting on my web-site carrier to resolve issues they have been having with their servers.  The session was perfect in every way, and the outcome is beautiful–I can hardly contain myself.

Courtnee, a beautiful young lady, and an acquaintance from my past, responded to the model search auditions.  We set a time and a date and went to planning.  A few days before the session one of my locations fell through–I was bummed, but I think it was providence.  The day before our set session, hubby and I went for a walk, to explore a nearby nature preserve that I have not visited before.  In a matter of seconds I was smitten and inspired.  I contacted Courtnee and told her to bring an extra outfit with her–what I had in mind was majestic.

The day of the shoot was absolutely beautiful.  Courtnee and I agreed to meet by a local library, in downtown Dublin, OH, where I found a couple of perfect spots.  However, while waiting for Courtnee, I wandered off to a nearby park, where I discovered another beautiful setting.  There was no end to my inspiration at that point.  So, the shoot went off seamlessly, and we both loved every single moment of it.

Did I say that Courntee is absolutely breathtaking?  Well, now I don’t have to–you can see it yourself.

There are way too many images that I am in love with to fit them into one post, so I did the next best thing and created a lookbook with ALL of them in it, so you all can experience the perfect boutique photoshoot, as done by yours truly.

To navigate the embedded lookbook, click on CLICK TO VIEW, when you hover over the image, and make sure to have your speakers are on–the book is accompanied by a very lovely song, which will add to your experience.  You will also have options to zoom in and out, so you can see Courtnee’s gorgeous face close up and the smallest details of her makeup art, wonderfully done by Apryl Cook Richmond, as well as the stylish look of her clothes.  Courtnee and I put out collective heads together in styling clothes and accessories for the shoot.  Oh, and yes, you can share a link to this post with your friends via Twitter or Facebook .

Once you enjoyed the lookbook, drop a note under this post to compliment this true beauty, who has overcome enormous obstacles in her life in the last couple of years, yet maintained the sweetest disposition.

Courtnee, it was a blast!

[if for any reason you can't view the lookbook in this post, click through to see it in a new window, then come back and talk to us here ]

Having lived in Ohio for nearly 9 months, I finally ventured out to look for a hairstylist. I searched high and low to find someone I might like. I stumbled upon a salon that is “eco” friendly, and decided to give it a chance.  Last week I went there for a much needed trim yesterday.

The salon shall remain nameless. I am sure you are curious to know why… Well, I have not only long but very THICK hair, and there are very few hair stylists who know what to do with it. A good hair stylist for me is harder to find than a good OBGYN. No kidding! Once I find one that I like, I hold on to her for my dear life. Up to now I had only two such jewels. But, back to my story.

Upon arriving to the hair salon I made sure to clarify my needs [i.e. thick, long hair, and don't you dare giving me to someone who would mess it up]. I will make this story short… Rather than getting the requested 1-2 inch trim I ended up losing about 4 inches off my length, and spent about 40 minutes at home fixing stylist’s boo-boos. The layers were out of whack–lengthwise, bulky, and in every other way possible.

Upon completing my “do-it-yourself-from-now-on-fool” session, I was a much happier camper. Split ends are gone, and my hair, once again, is a picture of near perfection. I know that it won’t take me too long to regrow my 4-inch locks.

So, check out my freshened up do.

and from different angles… less rebellious ;)

What do ya think?

Hello, loves!

I am looking for models with different looks/ethnicity to do a model photoshoot.

Since it is a model shoot, I am looking for people who are naturally attractive.  This one was hard to say, since I believe that all people are beautiful, but I am looking spefically for those who are:

1. in shape
2. have good or flawless skin
3. feminine [for ladies]; masculine [for men]
4. have a great style

I am looking for:

• 1-2 females, ages 17-35
• 1 couple, engaged or married, ages 20-35
• 1 expecting couple, ages 20-35
• 1 male, age 20-35

I would love to get an ethnically diverse group, as much as possible.

Models will be compensated for their time with 5 digital images and a print release. I will also provide the same 5 images sized for the web and watermarked, so those who are chosen to model, can easily share it on Facebook, etc.

All further details will be discussed with models.

The shoot will be in about 2 weeks, either on Friday morning, or Saturday evening; in/around Dublin/Westerville, OH area.

Please e-mail me a snapshot of yourself to: info[at]elenaphotographers.com [substitute [at] with @].

Please share this with friends or family if you think they may be interested.

Deadline: audition is open through this week only [June 20-26th].

Here are some of my images you can feast your eyes on.

Women

Couples

Expecting Couples

Men

Hubby and I had a fantastic time today meeting with a couple of ladies from Ohio Blogging Association the Wild Goose Creative.  I was the lucky winner–I got to talk to them about the importance of photography in blogging [they were already doing it, but we all can stand to learn more, right? ].  After talking theory we got to the fun part–hands on learning.  After all, what fun would it be to take a photography class and not practice?  And what is there better to practice on than each other?

First in the hot seat was Rachel of Hounds in the Kitchen [blog about food, gardening, and cooking], while we explored using natural light, setting right depth of field, ISO and shutter speed. I LOVED taking a few practice shots, while explaining the technicalities, and leading ladies out of shooting into Auto mode into the queen of it all–the Manual Mode!

I caught THE perfect moment of Rachel.

Don’t you love it? So much color and personality.  And I love the intensity in her eyes!

Then we played some more.  And a fun game it was–shooting images of each other, while the other person is shooting . It’s like a quick draw with a gun–seeing who can do it faster and steal the perfect shot.

Next in the hot seat was gorgeous Tiffany of Doing Life Being Tiff–a travel blog.

Then the ladies practiced some more taking images on inanimate objects, and I just happened to catch them in action.  [Rachel is using my dirty trick--using a piece of white paper to diffuse light from built-in flash.]

Here is an example of setting shallow DOF [depth of field].

We wrapped up by me taking a couple of shots of each of the ladies.

Tiffany

Rachel

And then my lovely hubby wrapped it up by snapping one of all three of us:

It was a great, great day!  I loved seeing how quickly Tiffany and Rachel picked up on what I taught them, and quickly applied it.  I think that they are off to a great start and out of Auto Mode for good!

[PS: if you live in/around Dublin/Columbus, OH area and are interested in one-on-one or small group photography lessons, shoot me an e-mail for details.]

I recently got an issue of Express catalog in the mail.  The moment I glanced at the cover I was nearly scared.  The model’s make up was horrifying.  There was so much pink on her eyelids and cheeks that it made her look like a vampire.  All she needed is a couple of fangs on the sides and she would be set.

As I flipped through the catalog it looks like bad make up was the theme of it, rather than cute clothes.  I scanned the the two images you see here, and it seems that scanning softened the look a bit, but in print the pink is overwhelming!

I know that modeling world is VERY far from the reality, but do the make up artists, or whoever directs the looks of the shoot, really think that someone is wearing that kind of make up out in public? I guess there might be a lost soul or two out there that would actually do it, but my advice to women and girls out there–DON’T!  It looks scary.  It looks unnatural.  I wish that marketing agencies understood that they are trying to reach REAL people, so their models should look REAL too.  Don’t you agree?

Here is another advice: If you are planning to have a professional shoot done, especially with me ,  wear make up that accentuates your beauty rather than takes away from it.  You want images to be ageless and classic.  Think Grace Kelly, think Audrey Hempburn.  Their images are still an inspiration.

I personally LOVE photographing REAL women.  They are BEAUTIFUL!

Not everyone believes in it, but I think that it is totally possible [and plausible] to be in love only once in your life.  And who needs more than that after all, if we could manage it, right?!

I come from a family who is just that way–we chose one person and spend our entire lives loving him/her.  My parents were married for over 50 years before my Dad passed on.

My hubby is certainly that once in a lifetime love for me.  I had never loved anyone before him, and surely don’t plan to after [I pray to God there is no 'after'].  See, even though “soul mates” idea is quite ambiguous, I do believe that once we are with the person we love we can develop such a deep connection that it can be classified as such.  It is certainly true for me.

Hubby and I have been married for over 8 years now.  We had heard our share of: “Wait until [fill in the blank], and then you won’t feel so much in love anymore.”  Well, I am happy to report that I am actually more in love now than when I first “fell” in love.  Certainly the romantic notion of being in love for the first time has changed, but the love we share now is deep, vast, tried and true.  We love each other for who we truly are–no hiding places, no secrets.  We have become so intertwined that neither one of us can imagine our life without the other.

Have you ever seen the movie “The Notebook”.  The sweetest moment for me is at the very end, when both of the characters fall asleep and drift off from this world together.  You might find it weird, but both, my love and I, can only dream of the same thing.  See, I simply cannot imagine one day without him.  The longest we have been apart was 3-4 days when he took the cycling trek to California, when we lived in Washington.  Imagine how hard it was for me to even pretend to be normal.  Yes, I was functional, but to be normal I have to have him around me.

He is my inspiration–for life and artistically; he is my muse; he is the wind in my sails.  There are times when he can’t figure out how or why he inspires me, but it is quiet simple for me–it is just because HE IS.  I don’t want to change him–I love him for everything he already has become.  All I want to do is love him and be loved by him.  That’s it.  No music, no fanfares.  Him being in my life, loving me, being caring and gentle giant that he is, is really more than enough to stay, live and be inspired.

He is my ONCE IN A LIFETIME LOVE.

A few weeks ago I received an unexpected Facebook contact.  It was Francesa–a bride to be.  Imagine my surprise when I found out she lives in Canada.  A few e-mails and a phone call later I was thrilled to have become Francesa’s and her fiance’s, Josh, engagement photographer.  I simply love people in love, and it did not hurt that the pair was totally gorgeous (you will see that in a moment ).

They met in college in Ohio.  Introduced by their friends, they shared same passion–love for sports.  You see, Francesca is a hokey player and Josh is a pro basketball player.  Can you believe the heat?  Neither one is someone you would want to mess it.  :) At least that is my take on it.

Last week Francesca traveled all the way from Canada to Columbus OH and we got to meet face to face.  Having to postpone our original shoot date due to the unceasing rain, heaven finally smiled on us yesterday and we hit High St. to do the engagement shoot.  The two of them were a blast!  By the end of the shoot my memory cards were bursting with images that were begging to be unloaded.  The issue I am facing now is to pick the best from the great.  Urgh!  The pain of photographing amazing people.

Here is a quick sneak peek from yesterday’s session.

Didn’t I say they are HOT?!  Wait, it gets hotter.

During the photo shoot Josh discovered that he might have yet another calling in his life–to be a model .

Beautiful Francesa…

Aren’t they fabulous?  And did I mention that they were a balst too?

I don’t know what inappropriate things I might have said to evoke following responses, especially from Josh.  But, if I could narrate these images it would go something like this:

Image 1: Dang, girl, you’re hot!

Image 2: What do you say, you and me?

Image 3: Girl, I can’t take this anymore!

Image 4 needs no narration .

Francesca and Josh, you are amazing.  The love between the two of you is evident.  I wish you all the best and can’t wait to show you the rest of the images.  I promise, though, that you will fall in love with seeing yourself in love all over again.

Seems like it has been an eternity since my last post, and it has been.  I just can’t believe that the time got away from me.  I am still adjusting to life in Ohio a bit, but mostly I feel sane again.

My creative juices have not died, in fact, I will be recharging them tomorrow.  I am shooting an engagement session of an amazingly handsome couple in Columbus, OH tomorrow.  I can’t wait to share some sneak peaks with you next week.

I am also planning to do a very special shoot that I will blog about soon.  It will be a model shoot, but my models will be every day beautiful people, like you.  There will be an audition, so everyone local, who wants to have a few gorgeous shots done by me, can take part in this wonderful visual feast.

There will also be an amazing mini-session deal coming up very soon.

As for now, here is an image from a wedding I shot with an amazing photographer friend of mine, Jenica.