Illegally Parked & Playing in Traffic

Did you ever hear the saying, "God knew our Mother's couldn't handle us as sisters, so he made us friends." That's how I feel about my dear friend, Sarah and her twin sister Lisa. (Aaron, we love you too.) I was thrilled when Sarah asked me to do her engagement photos and couldn't wait to see her! I met Sarah and her family through our amazing Momma's. We used to bake Christmas cookies in bulk every year and I remember a FANTASTIC trick or treat with the twins and my own wonderful sister, Allie. Not only do I have great memories with their family but Sarah's mother is the reason I finished school and a huge part of who I am today. She watched Joey while I was at class and was always available for an after school chat and oftentimes had bought Joey diapers, formula and new clothes while he was in her care. I knew that Joey was well cared for and that gave me the peace of mind to be able to concentrate on school. The selflessness of Sarah's momma is something that Sarah certainly inherited. She is already following in her Mom's footsteps with a nursing career and her wonderful fiancée, Andy is her perfect match. He's a teacher and the two of them are both such happy-go-lucky and amazing people. I'm blessed to call them friends. Not to mention, as the older sister...I'm glad that the little lady that I took trick or treating 10+ years ago has found someone that makes her heart so happy and treats her so nicely. :-) I had a blast today. We tracked around from Butler to the city to get some great shots. We even played in traffic to get the pictures with the bridge as our backdrop, while illegally parked. I know, We are so dangerous. So here is a sneak peak of today's engagement session with two beautiful people, inside and out. 

Behind the Scenes of lululemon athletica shoot

Now that the editing is complete for the shoot itself (fewh! I'm exhausted!) I decided it is time to post a few of the behind the scenes photos that my gorgeous little sister shot. :) Thanks Pals!

While I am going through all of the behind the scenes images, I'm reminded what an amazing day this was! Not only were the blue skies and sunshine perfect in every way but the ambassadors rocked it too! Thanks again to Meredith and Anna for putting in the extra work to get the entire shoot in action not only once but TWICE! I had so much fun and it was so great to meet everyone! I feel so blessed to get to do amazing things like this on a daily basis. I've never had more fun and fulfillment in my life! Sometimes, I have to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming. The next big Pittsburgh event I have the pleasure to shoot is the Animal Friends Black Tie and Tails Gala and Dinner. I can't wait! :)

Ashlee-Senior Session

Ashlee is this gorgeous all American girl with a smile that could probably stop traffic. She is so photogenic and I feel like I barely have to edit her images because she is so strikingly beautiful! I met Ashlee while doing a session for her and three girlfriends and I am so glad I had the opportunity to photograph her again. While walking with Ashlee from one shoot spot to another she mentioned that her Mom wanted her to get her senior pictures done. Ashlee said she would but "Only if Audra can do them." This was more of a compliment then she probably knew! She said that it "wasn't weird" when I did her pictures. I remember when I got my senior pictures done and I thought that the guy was such a wacko. I ended up hating my senior pictures and having my Momma re-do them the day or so before they were due into the yearbook staff. I'm glad that I can make my clients feel comfortable and that they trust me! Thanks Ashlee for coming to me for your senior portraits and for making my night with that compliment! :)

bLaSt from the PaSt!

Blast from the past. Or step stool from the past maybe. When I was just a little girl... my Momma hand painted this beautiful stool for me. It is white with flowers and green stripes and she even painted my name on it. I absolutely love it. See, my Momma made one of these for my each of her daughters but I'm not sure she ever knew that the one she made for me was completely cherished. Being an "Audra" I couldn't exactly find my name on a bike license plate or on a Mug at the mall. In fact, I couldn't find my name on anything. So, I hated my name. (Of course, now I love my name and would even consider it for my own daughter someday...) But, when my beautiful and talented Momma painted this treasure for me, I was so extremely happy. I actually remember looking at it in my bedroom thinking it was my most favorite possession and if there were a fire, I would run back for it. no joke. As I've gotten older, I've realized that this has obviously never changed. I took my step stool to West Virginia University when I went away to college. I took it when Jason and I got our own place back in Pittsburgh. Now, I take it on almost every shoot. Sometimes it gives me an extra half a foot and sometimes it gives me the extra four feet that I need. Regardless, it always gets the job done and it always reminds me of my Momma girl. I still cherish this gift that she gave me so many years ago and it reminds me of the creative energy that she has always had. Even though it may be a little tattered and worn now, it is still the ONLY thing that I own with my name personalized on it and it is still highly prized. I think you can probably tell why my creative juices are always flowing...
Here are a few pictures that I've snapped when I am checking lighting or camera settings where my gorgeous stool made the picture! Love you Momma!

Can you see it peaking out in this first shot?

Que Sera, Sera

" Que Sera, Sera. Whatever will be will be!" These are the lyrics to my most favorite song. My Momma used to sing it to me (and my Momma and I are EXCELLENT singers! ha!) when I was a little girl and I'm fairly certain that if I were sick or sad enough, she would bust it out again for me! At any rate, my point? Right? I do have a point. Sometimes I really think about the lyrics. "whatever will be will be." Sounds about right to me. Today was one of those, "Whatever will be will be" kind of days. Buddha was scheduled for his first haircut at 9am. Around here, we rise about 7:15 am giving me plenty of time to get the crew ready and head out to the haircut appointment. Therefore, I did not set an alarm. I was going to wing it! It was a great plan. Except, my Joey slept in. He slept in! Really Joe? You never sleep in!!!! Oh well. We missed our appointment. Great. I'm failing my 2nd born child. He'll never get a haircut.   
At any rate, that was the beginning of the day. Then we were supposed to be at the Pumpkin Patch by 11am so we would be home in time for Jason to catch the Steelers make dinner out of the Dolphins and we would have plenty of time for me to make it to my senior shoot with the gorgeous Ashlee! Instead, we got to the pumpkin patch at 1 and missing 80% of the game. However, we ran into the fantastic Linke-Kohan Family. Who Joey and I adore and Jason finally got to meet, which now he knows why Joey and I adore them so! Joey got to see his gorgeous girlfriend Sierra and I got to snap a few photos of them together. Which I truly couldn't have planned better! (No, guys. Shannon and I did not plan this!) While we were there, we grabbed lunch. Which really means, my growing child ate one of everything they sold. He had ribs, which were surprisingly fantastic and he got ALL over her shirt, for pictures-sake I was a bit distraught. He ate Pizza Bread, home made and SUPER delish. He had two bites of hot dog, two massive gulps of water and topped it off with a dessert on the way home, CANDY APPLE. (Sounds healthy, huh?)  Which left his loose tooth even more loose!  I felt this ticking time watch over my head the entire time we were at the farm trying to rush so that the Steelers wouldn't loose by some sort of conspiracy or because I broke the cycle of how Jason watches games...but I've learned! I made it home in time to re-group and make it to the senior shoot and to rock it out. I love the way the photos turned out! However, the other 2-4 photogs that crawl around my few spots are sporting cameras that come out next month and equipment that Jeremy Cowart is capable of obtaining...but I'm not. If I want to be a competitor in this market, I need to upgrade my gear which is something else I've learned today! (Can the new Canon 5D bodies come out already?)  Oh, today I have learned. I learned that "Whatever will be, will be." I have learned that you never go to a family outing and expect to get good Great family pictures while the boys in the family are trying to make it home for a football game. I have learned that my son is totally in love at the ripe old age of 6. I have learned that my family is everything and even when plans go crazy and life is completely out of our control, we can still manage to make the most of it and have a blissfully wonderful day! :) Here are some photos from today!

Belly Laughs

I had so much fun photographing this couple! They are expecting their 1st baby, a little boy (and we know I have a soft spot for the little men!) in December and they couldn't be more excited! I love maternity shoots because oftentimes I get a free pass into the relationship, love, nursery decor, baby names, birth plans.. you get the idea! Expecting parents {almost} always have the excitement of a school aged child the night before the 1st day of school or the night before a Disney World vacation. Especially the Mommas! Jennie and Todd were no different. In fact, they were giddy! Jennie had so many creative ideas and so much energy and excitement about doing the shoot, which I LOVE! I'm so excited for this couple to welcome their little man into the world! Jennie laughs at just about anything (which I should learn to do!) and I read once that if a pregnant Momma laughs a lot then she will have a happy baby! :-) Jennie had asked me to come to a specific park and after mapquest failed me a couple of times, I finally arrived ready to shoot! This park was special to them because it was where Todd took Jennie after their first date. As you all know, I'm a sucker for the sentimental! So, I loved this idea! Check out Jennie in her pregnancy glow! Thanks for letting me come hang out with you both J&T!

Baby JM's baptism

Over the weekend we went to Northern VA to visit Jason's family and to witness our sweet baby nephew's baptism. He is such a sweet little guy and is growing so quickly! Everytime we visit he has changed so much and we haven't been able to stay away from them for longer than a month at a time since John Michael's birth. This visit was great because we had a lot of time to visit with everyone, including Renee's in laws who have become a great part of our family as well. Joey truly believes that baby JM's cousins are his cousins too, which we let him believe because really, how else do you explain to a six year old that they are his cousin's cousins but they are not his cousins. Did that make sense? At any rate, it was great! I love this first picture because it captures the essence of the entire day. Godfather Renny is obviously staring at baby JM hoping he is going to pee(log it!) and smiling ear to ear! The most amazing Momma, Renee looking on smiling but I know she is holding back tears of joy because we are practically the same person and I know I was holding back tears. She is one proud Momma! Dad is staring at his son and I'm not sure I have ever seen a prouder face! With Godmother, Mary looking gorgeous as always! I love this family and can't wait to see the way they grow in the next few years, truly beautiful inside and out. I'm so happy I got to be a part of this amazing day. Thanks Renee and JM for blessing us with the world's most amazing nephew. Congratulations!!

Oh, and here are the kiddos who couldn't get enough of the holy water fountain. Guess this means they should be on their best behavior for the next few weeks? Yeah. Right! Can you tell who the Italian babies are and who belongs to our blonde haired family? I loved that they kept saying, "We can't wait to see that Father dump baby JM!" haha cutest crew ever!