James + Kayleigh

Recently I asked bride and groom, Kayleigh and James, if I could do a fun shoot with them. I wanted to test out using a strobe outdoors, and they were both nervous about posing together on their wedding day. They were excited to get some practice posing and OF COURSE they were total naturals. They had nothing to be nervous about, and now I'm even more pumped to shoot their wedding in a couple of weeks! I didn't use the strobe in all of the photos, and oddly enough my favorites were most of the ones where I didn't use it. I think I'm just not comfortable with it yet, but I guess that is what practice is for! I do better using natural light for sure, but the extra light did help a lot in some of the photos.

I am almost certain the strobe was used in the above photo (you can tell there's a little light leaking in on the left). I do like that it added some fill to their faces without it being SUPER obvious that I used a light. The one below on the left is way more obvious, but I still actually like that one. The darker it got, the more contrast there was with the background, and it looked more unnatural.

I just love that beautiful backlighting! I wish I could do all of my photo shoots on days like this.

This one was unguarded and probably one of my favorites. I was trying to get myself in a good spot to shoot through the vines, and they were just standing there waiting for me. I love shots like that!

Overall I absolutely LOVE how these photos came out. I am really feeling like I'm developing my own shooting style. Now I just have to find clients so I can use that style! I'm hoping 2014 is going to be my year. I'm planning to rebrand and do some advertising to get my name out there. Here's hoping! If I can get more clients like James and Kayleigh, I will be a VERY happy photographer. These guys were so much fun to shoot and as nice as they come. I know their wedding is going to be absolutely amazing, and I can't wait to share it with you!

Sol Heritage Product Photos

One thing I really wish I could do more of is product photography! I have these lofty goals of shooting still lifes for magazines and products for look books. It's ok to dream big, right? What I love is trying to showcase the products in the best way. Of course I have much to learn in the way of planning shoots and prop styling, so most of what I do now is pretty basic. Luckily that works well for Etsy sellers like Sol Heritage.

The photos above were taken more recently than the ones below, and I think I like that location a little better for the outdoor shots. I loved working with Juliana on these too! She's a doll, right?! Luckily she lives right downtown so we just walked to the location and shot away. We also used the seemless in the ad agency she works for, so the shots on the white background were super easy!

One of my 2014 goals is to send a portfolio to Garden & Gun (so far out of my league, it's not even funny) and Tennesse Home & Farm (slightly more in my league, but still a stretch). Before I can do that, I have to actually build a portfolio of studio shots! My food photos for Green Frog are definitely a good start, but I'm looking forward to working on much much more. I might even approach some Etsy sellers about doing styled shoots of their work. If you know of anyone who might be interested in something like that, have them email me! kristimcmurry@gmail.com

I hope you all are having a super week! It's been crazy busy lately, but in a good way. I am brainstorming some really exciting creative things with some of my Jackson friends, so I look forward to sharing more about that. I'm also considering re-branding in 2014 (eep!), so lots of research and brainstorming happening about that. Whew!

East Nashville Adventures in Cactus

For Labor Day weekend, I decided to venture up to Nashville to hang out with a couple of my gal pals. Friday night I stayed with Libby, and we watched The Great Gatsby. I know it had its fair share of bad reviews, but I LOVED it. I wish I had seen it in the theater, because I know I would have enjoyed it even more on the big screen. Saturday morning I got up early to hit up some yard sales with Alanna, but we didn't end up finding any. Instead we just drove around this East Nashville neighborhood gawking at the gorgeous houses. Rhett doesn't care for the bright, crazy one, but I adore it.

They aren't massive houses, but just look at those gorgeous details! The windows are what really kill me. I would just stand in that bay window with coffee in my hand, creeping on the people walking by. That's how I roll.

After we stalked the beautiful houses, we did a little shopping at some places that I can't remember the names of. It was this cute little cluster of local places all together. There was a book store featuring all local writers and artists, a gallery with a tomato festival exhibit (literally every piece of art was tomato themed, and it was amazing), and a swanky antique store. It was a swell little place to look around! We also hit up some other antique stores and Trader Joe's while we were out. It was an awesome day! As you can see from the pictures, I was dressed WAY down. I'm a pretty big fan of those shorts, even though they are really nothing special. Since I lost weight a while back, they might as well have an elastic waist band because I can pull them on and off without unbuttoning them, and it rocks. The cactus shirt was from Forever 21, I just couldn't resist that print! The earrings were made by my super talented friend, Lauren of Jerseymaids. Everything I've ever gotten from her has been amazing, so I highly recommend her!

details:

tank- Target

cactus top- Forever 21

shorts/necklace- Express

shoes- Kohl's (forever ago)

earrings- Jerseymaids

Wedding Photography - Improvements

For the longest time, I've had a very simple package (if you can even call it that) for weddings. I shoot as a supplement to my full-time job, so I try to keep things pretty simple. Lately I've been wanting to branch out and make my wedding package more appealing, so I looked into some extras I could add on. One of those is a USB drive with a gorgeous custom case. This will come with the base wedding price at no extra charge, which means EVERY BRIDE from here on out will get one.

As much as I would love to push more prints, I know how important it is to be able to flip through all of the images from your wedding day. The little forgotten images that I stumble upon are the ones that make me smile (like me and Rhett booking it through the rain), not necessarily the posed ones that I have printed.  I wanted a way to give these images to the couple in an attractive way that they could display instead of a cd to be lost in the desk drawer for 2 years. When I came across these cases, I knew this was what I would want for my own wedding photos!

The case is about the size of a double disc cd case with a magnetic closure and foam inside to hold the USB drive securely in place. The drive has the couple's name engraved on one side and my logo on the other. It's simple, but it's exactly what I was looking for as far as image delivery. I'm so excited about offering these that I'm running a special on my wedding package! For the next five weddings that I book, I'm offering a FREE engagement session, or if engagement photos aren't needed, $100 off of another product.

I'm also doing gifts for referrals now, so if you refer me for a wedding or portrait session you'll get a gift card to your choice of local restaurant or store!

I know that's a lot of business info, but I just had to share! I'm so excited about the changes I'm making, and I just feel so energized and refreshed when I work on this stuff. My friend Lauren got me started when she encouraged me to work on a business plan. Just writing everything down and doing the math really got me going, and I've been on a roll! If you have a second, please go like my Facebook page for updates on ALL my photography, including my Etsy shop.