Archive for June, 2010

Hey everyone its Tanja.

This might be my last post seeing as I will be moving :( sad times.

So if you have been keeping up I went to Jamaica to shoot Claire and Aarons wedding and I must say it was gorgeous! It couldnt have went better. Claire’s family and friends made David ( my fiance)  and I feel as if we were part of the family. We had such a good time getting to know everyone playing ping pong and pool at nights.

If you remember Claire’s bridals her dress is absolutely amazing and Claire looked stunning!!

Lets have a look :

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Claire getting her hair and make up done.

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Claire and her dad are very close and its so heart warming to watch the way the interact with each other. This was a big moment for the both of them.

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Now pronounce you husband and wife :)

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I feel like the gentleness of this picture just shows how much she means to him. This was the father daughter dance to “I loved her first”

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Told you she looked magnificent.

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just precious :)

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what girl DOESNT love forehead kisses?

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watching the sunset in jamaica was something else.
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bling bling

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Claire and Aaron good luck to your future and thank you again so much for letting me share these moments with you.

Enjoy!

-Tanja

I just came across this website and couldn’t resist posting about it!!!  Check this out you can rent umbrellas for your wedding!!!!  I always recommend my clients to go buy some color coordinating umbrellas if they are planning an outside wedding and there is a chance of rain.  This website is perfect!  You can just rent those umbrellas instead and they will be much prettier, which means prettier pictures!!  :)

Think about it there are TONS of reasons to check this out!

Instead of renting a tent keep your guests covered from rain or the hot sun with umbrellas!

Color coordinating umbrellas for your wedding party!

Engagement pictures!

Hang umbrellas from the ceiling as decor!

Whether you are a wedding planner, a bride, or a wedding coordinator you’ve gotta check these out!  They have all different kinds too!  Ruffles, solids, prints, bridal, jeweled, and double layered!!!

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(Image found from Azzura Photography)

Now how cute would all these be for you and your bridal party?!?!?!?!  LOVE!

Enjoy!

-erika

Hey everyone as promised I am posting more images from Cristy and John’s sealing in the Draper Utah Temple!  I got to tag along with Doug Larson their Utah Wedding Videographer and he showed me all the hot spots at the temple grounds.  Cristy and John had so much family and friends there to support them and witness their beautiful sealing!  The weather was perfect, other than being a tad on the cold side (but no one can tell that from pictures!  :)  Cristy and John are such a beautiful couple inside and out and I’m pretty sure someone has got big plans for them while they are here!!!  After their sealing they attended their reception held at John’s parents house in Heber City.  Their family did lots of work preparing for the reception and it looked great! Congratulations Cristy and John! Utah weddings Utah Weddings I just love how happy they are in this shot!!!  Exactly how they should be after leaving the temple! Utah Wedding Photography I love how John steals one from Cristy to show off for the camera!  :)  Shots like this make me smile! Utah Weddings Beautiful couple at a beautiful temple! Utah Weddings This is definitely my favorite shot of the day! Utah Weddings I just love the lighting in this little nook!  The warm glow from those doors is amazing! Utah Wedding Photographer Utah Wedding Photographer Here’s the famous cupcakes!  All of John’s sister in laws spent the entire day creating these beautiful little cupcakes so I had to give them justice and feature them on the blog! Utah Wedding Photographer So who would have thought this old rusty chair that I spotted outside would make the perfect backdrop for Cristy’s bouquet? Utah Wedding Photographer Or how about a tree stump to provide such a detailed ring shot? Utah Wedding Photographer I love how happy everyone is in this photo as the couple enjoys their first dance together. Utah Wedding Photographer This image is priceless to me…..it’s as if John has had a moment to really stop and think as he holds his new wife close.  I can see so much love and care for her here. Utah Wedding Photographer Let’s end with this playful shot of dad and son making sure they “get” the new couple as they make their get a way! Enjoy! -erika

Tummy Tuesday!

June 22, 2010

Hey there I know the much anticipated post for the day!  Today’s picture isn’t going to be good quality at all!  My gear was sent with Tanja to shoot our Jamaica wedding with Claire and Aaron and I rented gear for our wedding we had on Sunday with Alyssa and Seth at Pratt Place Inn and Barn.  My point and shoot camera that my mom got me for Christmas (it’s funny to me that I wanted a “normal” person’s camera) is with my hubby out in the woods on a horse somewhere for the week.  Leaving me with nothing but an iPhone camera for the night…….do you have any idea how hard it is to take a picture of yourself with one of those things?!?!?!?  Mission accomplished though!

Week 29:

How big is Baby Dotson this week? He weighs nearly three pounds now and measures about 17 inches. Though he’s getting pretty close to his birth length, he still has to chub out a bit. In fact, over the next 11 weeks, he’ll more than double — or even come close to tripling — his weight (oh wonderful……..). And as he grows and the room in this womb gets tighter, I will be less likely to feel those big kicks and more likely to get poked by an elbow or jabbed by a knee, which I’m not quite sure which I would prefer.  They say I’m supposed to be counting his kicks now and that there should be at least 10 movements within an hour……….I don’t think they realize we must have a soccer player on our hands because he kicks like 59.2 times an hour!!!!  Baby Dotson’s energy is surging, thanks to the formation of white fat deposits beneath the skin.  Baby Dotson is also settling into sleep and waking cycles, though — I don’t think they necessarily coincide with my own. Also this month, all five senses are finally functional, and the brain and nervous system are going through major developments.

We’d like to know what your thoughts for names are……..

We are looking for originality, nothing like Matthew, Tyler, or Andrew.

Also we aren’t interested in popular names like Hayden, Parker, or Peyton.

His middle name will be Jay (in honor of TW’s late brother who passed at 6 months old) and obviously his last name will be Dotson!  :)

And now for a pretty picture….

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*please ignore the awkwardly HUGE looking arm.

Baby Dotson is the size of a squash!

Enjoy!

-erika

Cristy and John were sealed in the Draper Utah Temple a few weeks ago where I was able to capture their special wedding day memories with them!  Cristy and John are so perfect for each other!  I’ve known Cristy since I moved here to Northwest Arkansas.  We met through church and have been pretty good friends since.  We roomed in college together and she was also one of my bridesmaids when TW and I got married!  Cristy is such a delightful person to be around and she’s always lifting you up emotionally and spiritually!  I remember one time I was venting about how frustrated I was that I was working so hard but still didn’t have any money……..she’s so sweet……..a few days later I went out to my car and she had left me a lovely little note with some money to buy gas!  I told you she was a doll!  Now as for John I don’t know him very well but through the weekend I was able to gather that he is almost identical to how adorable Cristy is….well of course in a more manly way!  His family was everything beyond amazing!  I know Cristy got lucky marrying into such a beautiful loving family!  They all made me feel like I was part of the family too!  :)  After such a wonderful weekend I have some amazing shots to show you guys!!!  Aren’t you super excited!?!?!?!?

We started with a day of portraits the day before their sealing since we were worried about weather and if we would have enough time!  I’m so so so glad that Cristy asked me if we could do this!

For now I’m just going to share those portraits…….another day shortly we’ll share their wedding day portraits and all the details!

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Isn’t she just gorgeous!?!?!?  When I took this shot John whispered to me….”I am a lucky guy to get to marry her”!  —now doesn’t that make your heart melt?

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They found this beautiful barn that had the perfect backdrop for some amazing images like this one.

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LOVE.

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The wind is so graciously blowing her hair here and it is so dreamy!

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I think this might be my favorite image of the day!  I loved these white trees that were everywhere out there!  I also love the look of excitement on John’s face!

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John worked at this golf course that served as our gorgeous backdrop for these pretty pictures!  I love this one too!

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John wasn’t too happy about this picture because Cristy’s high heels were ruining the green…..I’m not a golfer but who cares about a few little bumps?

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This picture cracks me up and it was totally their idea!  It’s so funny how she’s attempting to pull him away from the game!

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Another gorgeous kissing shot, I’m loving that tree!

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:)

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This is a favorite too!  For anyone thinking about seeing their groom before the ceremony I totally recommend it!  You can get more creative fun shots like these that you would otherwise miss!  We could also do a day after session too!

Enjoy!

-erika

Claire and Aaron are getting married in Jamaica today!  I hope the weather there is beautiful!  Tanja our associate photographer is capturing their special day over there!  What fun!  Claire, Tanja, and I went out with Claire’s mom about a month ago to get these beautiful images that I’ve been dying to show you!    Congratulations you two!!!

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I just love the light in this image!

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Isn’t she gorgeous?  She got these parasails for Jamaica, I can’t wait to see what Tanja does with them!

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Once again I’m in love with that lighting!  She looks so beautiful here!  I think this is one of her favorites.

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Ummmm blue shoes……YES PLEASE!   This is too stinkin cute!

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I love how playful this image is!

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Awwww this reminds me of an old time picture.

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Just loving that parasail again!

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As if you couldn’t tell by now this image should tell you how laid back and easy going this little lady is.  I was freaking out when someone mentioned taking the dress in the creek (since she isn’t married just yet) but Claire just hiked up her dress and walked around.  This image is lit so beautifully and shows off Claire’s gorgeousness!!!

Enjoy!

-erika

Tummy Tuesday

June 16, 2010

Ok so obviously I’ve been a horrible little blogger recently!  My sincere apologies!  This seems like the only post where it is appropriate to vent and tell you what all has been going on in my life recently!  So as many of you know this has been a whirlwind of emotions and new things.  I’ve been starting a new job at the hospital where I will be working as a Diet Tech in order to get my foot in the door and start working on an internship of which I still have 3 years before I am no longer eligible to take the RD exam (for those of you who don’t know the lingo that’s quite alright…..RD is Registered Dietitian and I graduated with a degree that would allow me to be one after I complete an internship and pass the exam).  Anyways so that’s all been new for me and there have been days that I have had to be there at 5:30am which also you should know that involves just leaving my house at 4:30am!!!!  (Not to mention having to still get ready before that!)  So obviously with that I have been extremely tired.  Moving on…….my mother went on a school trip (yep she’s going back to college and did a study abroad program in Belize!) so it was my job to kinda look after things while she was gone.  Well Papa (my stepdad) was supposed to be going on this trip to visit her and vacation when the program was over, he was supposed to leave June 13th.  Obviously that didn’t happen since he is still in the hospital after what has been nearly two weeks recovering from pneumonia.  I called my mom when they moved Papa from regular care to ICU, I’ll admit I got a bit nervous being the only family that he has up here.  This was pretty stressful for me, maybe with a mix of pregnant hormones, I just felt like I couldn’t function.  So with that feeling I just sort of put my life on hold for about a week and stayed with him at the hospital.  All I could think was how horrible it would be to be stuck there and not be able to do anything or even see a familiar face, that was my motivation to spend hours upon hours sitting in an uncomfortable chair and walking through stinky hallways full of old men (the VA).   But now everything seems to be getting much better!  First of all my mom is back, that sped up his recovery I’m sure of it!  The whole day before I was supposed to pick her up from the airport, every time he would wake up he would ask if I went to get her yet or how much longer?  It was so cute!  Secondly I no longer have to be the one who sits at the hospital for hours!  Don’t get me wrong I’ve still been up there to visit here and there but I don’t feel guilty for leaving anymore!  My mom lives a block away so I’m certain she visits alot!  ;)  And finally I’ve had time to catch up with my life this week.  I’ve gotten lots of much needed editing done and now I’m posting my Tummy Tuesday shots!  Which is what this whole blog is supposed to be about anyways so let’s get rolling!!!

Ok so I think the last post I made was for week 24 which means I have weeks 25-28 for you!

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Ok so we’ll start with week 28 on updates and if you are really interested in finding out what happened between week 24 to now you can go do the research yourself, sorry I’ve got bigger fish to fry right now (I hate fish?)

WEEK 28:

I’m pretty sure this starts a new trimester!  I can’t believe we’re already this far!  It seriously seems like yesterday we found out and then weeks later told our parents!!!!  We’ve been starting to get enrolled in some parenting classes and birthing classes.  That makes me quite nervous!  Oh that’s another thing I’ve been stressed about is thinking about how he gets out!  YIKES!

Baby Dotson is settling into the proper position for birth, with his head facing downward (toward my body’s nearest exit!). Our little work in progress is now about 2.5 pounds and almost 16 inches long (that’s huge!!!!). He’s busy adding new skills such as blinking to an already impressive repertoire of tricks like coughing, sucking, hiccuping (which I’m pretty sure I can tell when he has those!), and taking practice breaths. Baby Dotson’s sleep now includes the REM (rapid eye movement) phase — and that means he could be dreaming already (what do you suppose he’s dreaming about?). Though his lungs are nearly fully mature (which means we can breathe a little easier if he were born now), our baby still has plenty of growing to do.

And how could I leave you hanging without some sort of visual measurement?!?!?! …………Baby Dotson is equivalent to a Head of Cauliflower!

Also for anyone out there that had a natural birth I would like to hear your story.  Feel free to post it in a comment or email them to me if you’d like.  erikadotson@gmail.com

Enjoy!

-erika

That’s a relief!  I feel one less step behind now!  :)  Oh and tonight we’ve got our first baby shower!  Goodie!

Sally and Cole were married recently in Mountain Home and I had the honor of capturing their special day!  Sally was absolutely gorgeous and of course Cole was looking pretty handsome himself!

First we’ll start with all the pretty details!

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Sally had a cute little cabin for her and all her girls to get ready in just beside the ceremony location.

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By the looks of it they loved the guestbook!  :)

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They were married at Gaston’s White River Resort and had a BEAUTIFUL location for their ceremony just off the river bank!

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Tanja captured this great shot of Sally and her Father waiting to walk her down the aisle.

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And shortly after I was able to capture this one.

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This little guy was so worried about walking down the aisle, good thing he had his big sister to hang on to!!!  He did a great job!!!

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Cole called me earlier that day and let me in on his secret!  I was so excited to know he had something so special up his sleeve!  It was a big surprise to everyone (well except us photographers!) and there was so much emotion in the air!  It was major bonus points in Cole’s favor!!!

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I think this is my favorite image from the whole day!  I told you there was a lot of emotions!  This picture captures all of them!  Way to go Tanja!

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Now for some pretty couple pictures!

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Images like this are a result of choosing to do a “First Look”!!!!  So personal and intimate!!!  Once again, I just love the emotion in this image!!!!  :)  If I’m not mistaken this is a Tanja shot too!

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Meet Mr. and Mrs. Ezell!!!

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A nice kissing shot after the cake cutting!  I love when my couples do this and I get to catch it on film (well digital film that is!)

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I love how Sally is looking back to see who’s going to catch it!  And you can bet that little girl did everything she could to be the winner!

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What a great way to end the evening!

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Enjoy!

-erika

(PS for those of you wondering I will have Sally and Cole’s wedding galleries up on the website tomorrow well technically later today since it is 2am!)

Sally and Cole were married on May 22nd so I feel like it’s a good time to get some bridals up of the beautiful Sally!  We took these bridals a few weeks before her wedding day and I just couldn’t wait to share them with all of you, but obviously I had too since no one had seen her in her dress yet and we definitely wouldn’t want to risk the chance of the groom to see them either!!!  We started shooting in a field of yellow flowers then headed down to Lake Fayetteville to capture some stunning shots there as well!  Sally is such a beautiful lady!  She recently graduated from grad school(GO SALLY!) and planned a wedding the following weekend…..brave girl!  Oh and I’m pretty sure she’s already secured a job as well and started today!  CONGRATS!

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Keep posted for their wedding images soon!

Enjoy!

-erika

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