So one of my most favorite photographers is having a giveaway!! It is made for ME!! Most of you know that I am revamping the way I run my business... Well one of the prizes is a business marketing kit!! AND THATS NOT IT... You also know my camera just took a tumble... my camera is fine but my 50mm lens wasn't so lucky! It just so happens that the big prize is a 50mm lens!! See I told you this was a contest made just for me!! <3
http://cravemyphotography.com/blog/business-jump-start-giveaway/

New outlook and stained skin!

I was thinking... A blog is where I can post about anything that is on my mind... so why do I have to wait until I get an inspirational photoshoot to blog! I decided that I am going to blog when I want to talk about something in more words than facebook will allow. Just a heads up - most of the time it is going to be about my daughter - Hey! I spend all day everyday with her! She is my happiness and whole world so naturally I have so much to say about her! So, now that I have warned you...

This is my daughter, Joslyn. You met her in the first post I ever wrote. Aaaand this was our awesomely colorful day! I broke out the recipe for homemade edible finger paint (Thank you Pinterest) laid out some bulletin board paper on the driveway, got out a big piece of drawing paper and let her go to town! I tried this "paint" to see how it tastes (I try everything she eats... I just like to know.) Well... It was so gross! She couldn't get enough of it though! She ate more than she painted, I am sure of it! Honestly, I don't think she wasn't even aware that she was supposed to be putting the colorful stuff on the paper rather than in her mouth!

Really the only time she was aware of the paper was when it crumpled up underneath her as she was crawling to the next color. Also, when clean up began and I moved the paint bowls away from her - she decided she was still hungry and would eat the painting itself. :)

Let me tell you how fun the clean up process was... First of all the, "how do I get her to point A (the driveway) to point B (the tub) with out getting this paint all over me?" Answer - there is no way, just scoop them up and go. So, the lovely people that pinned the paint recipe on Pinterest failed to include that it will stain your skin! My daughter looked like Violet from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. You know, when she eats the gum and turns into a blueberry! Haha - The next day it faded a little and it was the funniest thing, when I would take her diaper off where her diaper was, was white as can be but she had a reddish tint to her skin on her tummy and legs - it looked like a sunburn!

 I have decided to try to do one fun thing a week with Joslyn. Last week was painting and this week... is painting too - but she can't eat this paint! We are making a family painting to hang in the living room! I will most definitely post photos of it when we are done! Next week... I am thinking Busch Gardens! She loves LOVES the bird sanctuary. If not for her I would have never stepped foot in it, ick! It does make for some great photos though. I am just glad I am the one with the camera cause the photos of me would not be very pretty - especially if a bird landed on me. So stay tuned for not just posts about my photo sessions but also my life! <3

My favorites of 2012... so far.

Hi everyone! I haven't written anything in a while but instead of throwing my excuses at you I want to share with you what I have deprived you of so far this year! This is going to be a "catch me up" of J. Bell's favorite shots of 2012... so far! I have done a little bit of everything - from babies to a wedding!

My 2012 kicked off with my awesome sister session in Ybor of my gorgeous life long friend and her beautiful sister. I love this shoe shot - It really defines these sisters. I love the quote, "sisters are different flowers, from the same garden." I won't get into this session too much because I did do a whole post about it. :)

And then the boudoirs started....

I decided I was going to offer boudoir sessions for Valentines Day this year. I wanted women not only to have something to give to their men but I also wanted to give some women an esteem booster! Ladies, won't you agree - There is nothing like seeing a photo we look good in to make us hold our chin up a little higher! So my boudoir clients that booked before Valentine's day got a 3x3 accordion mini album to give to their man for Valentine's day!

Let me just tell you... these are the coolest little albums! They are completely customizable from front cover to back cover to the type of paper its printed on! LOVE THEM!

Here are my favorite Boudoir shots of the girls I have permission to show...

And these are my favorites from my bridal boudoir session I did. I loved doing this type of boudoir! By the way the "YOU by Natalie" logo is my new boudoir only facebook page. I thought it would be better to seperate the kiddos from the booties! :)

Now with Valentine's day and my mini boudoir session over...
My first engagement session of the year was a fabulous one! This gorgeous couple got engaged on 11.21.11 and I was the lucky one that got to capture how cute they are!!

I couldn't pick ONE favorite! :)

My cousin called me up and asked if I was available to photograph her beautiful family... umm OF COURSE! Look at that gorgeous family...

 And this is my most favorite photo of them all - He calls his little sister "Sweet Pea" and I just happened to have a heart candy that said just that on it!

The beginning of the year would not be complete without a maternity session and there was no one I would have rather photographed than my amazing friend and her husband! They will be welcoming baby Beau into the world soon! Ok - It was hard for me to choose a couple to post as my favorites so you will have to go check out all of them on my facebook page! www.facebook.com/j.bellphoto

Wanna see the cutest little man to ever step foot in my studio?

seriously... CUTEST! This is PJ and when I heard his mommy was pregnant I knew that the cutest most beautiful little boy was going to be born to her! I was right!

These last favorites of mine are from The Reeves wedding on 2.25.12. I was an assistant photographer to one of my fellow photographer friends at Heaven Sent Portraits by Natalya (amazing photographer btw!). I loved everything about this wedding. It was vintage country complete with lace and mason jars - decorated beautifully! I am so grateful that Heaven Sent allowed me to capture this beautiful day with her.

 There is just something I love so much about the contrast between a beautiful bridal gown and a grungy dirty background! And who doesn't love Cowgirl boots with a wedding dress.. I mean besides David Tutera!

 This is the most AMAZING guestbook idea EVER!! A tree with no leaves was painted on a peice of canvas and the guests leave their fingerprints as the leaves! LOVE!! If I wasn't already married I would steal this idea!

That's it so far for 2012! It has been a busy year so far and I am so ready for what is yet to come! :)

Sisters are forever friends

This was probably one of my favorite sessions... Not just because it was my first time shooting in YBOR, which is a photographers paradise! No, this was one of my favorites because of who I was photographing! My forever friend Heather and her gorgeous sister Justine! They are so much alike but so different at the same time. I love these girls.

Heather and I met in 1983. ;) If I wasn't at my house when I was a child I was at hers, or down the road at "the sandlot." The movie "The Sandlot" was an obsession of ours. We named this over-grown drainage ditch thing, with a little path to a palm tree in the middle, "the sandlot." Thats where we would hangout. There wasn't even anything to do there but we would walk the 10 miles to get there. It was really like 1/2 a mile but it seemed much further away. Its funny how the world seems so big when your small.

So when Heather contacted me to do a sister session for her and Justine, I was sooo excited!! I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I enjoyed taking and editing them!

Help me with my mission!

The link above it to my March of Dimes page. You can help by joining me to walk or by making a donation! So many babies are born too early and I want to help do something about it, and you can too!