I met up with Amanda and Cade less than a week ago out on some property that Cade grew up on with his buddy. What a beautiful place up in Missouri! Amanda and Cade are so cute together too! If you are big into fishing at all you’ll know Cade’s name! Yea he’s that good! I hear he’s going to be on TV next year! That’s super awesome! When Amanda and I told him that he could go fishing during the engagement shoot we had to practically run to keep up with him! I imagine these two have had lots of fun and memories on many a camping trip! And that cutie Amanda she has her own camo outfit fully decked out for a girl…..PINK details! Awesome! Oh and the arrows on her bow are zebra and pink! Someone was thinkin! When Amanda mentioned the idea of wearing camo gear for some pictures I was totally excited! I just love that part of their session! They will be getting married at Cooper Chapel and their reception will follow at Simple Pleasures just down the road! I’m excited for them!
I posted a few of my favorites and a slideshow at the bottom with more!!!
I just love this image and the lighting is great!
Hi Amanda and Cade……CONGRATS!
I like this one a lot too…..look how happy Amanda is! :)
Ummm of course the super talented fisherman caught a fish during our session…..barely! ;)
One of the most popular questions I get is what to wear……hence I’ve created a whole link just for you guys up there! But that’s not enough, I’d like to take it a bit further and show you what some good examples are!
Fall is coming up and I know everyone wants to have their family portrait made this time of year, hurry and book quickly since those beautiful fall leaves come and go so quickly so does my availability between senior sessions and family sessions and everything in between!
Now booking for mid Sept and Oct. Please contact me at erikadotson@gmail.com to book your session! I’m trying to schedule sessions on Mon, Tues, Wed, Thur. let me know if you need a weekend date and we’ll try to work something out!
Below is an example for a family of five, but could be adapted for a couple session as well. You can see the color palette below. Using accessories is a great way to add individuality to each family member. Maybe a grey scarf for mom? What about some cute ruffly socks for little sister? Or could you see dad in a fedora?!?!? :)
Copyright Erika Dotson Photography
Please leave some feedback. Let me know if there’s something you’d like to see.
I couldn’t wait to post these, but now since Ashley and Jim are finally The Clarks I get to share!!! What a wedding last night! (You’ll hear all about it later I promise) For now I’m going to share how beautiful Mrs. Ashley is. Now these are just bridal portraits (taken at The Inn at Carnall Hall) long before the wedding day, and as gorgeous as she is in these photos she unbelievably was far more stunning last night……..must be all those giddy love emotions oh and Jim (that probably had a little bit to do with it!) ;) Enough blabbing let’s see those photos!
Is she not just gorgeous? I love the smile here!!!!
Can you believe her mother made this bouquet for her bridal portraits!?!?!? Well done Mrs. Avra!
I think this one is my favorite!
I love how the lighting captures her beautiful dress!
Hey everyone I was pretty stoked about shooting Kelly and Adam’s wedding at Devil’s Den last weekend. It was such a gloomy day to start out and I was nervous but just in time the sky cleared out for them! It’s funny that always seems to happen for us on wedding days! :) Kelly and Adam live out at Devil’s Den since Adam works there. It’s such a beautiful place to visit. Both of their families drove all the way from Jonesboro the day before and experienced the cabin life. It was an intimate but gorgeous wedding. Julie from Jules Design provided these really cool trees to put at the ceremony location, she also provided the awesome floral arrangements. She’s amazing with the flowers! They decided to take an hour before the ceremony to capture some couple portraits together, which if you’ve got the time I totally recommend! We got lots of yummy pictures of them together! Then it was time for the ceremony. Her daddy walked her down the aisle that was sprinkled with dirt, pine needles, and gumballs! :) Then they reached all the rocks that Kelly graciously crossed to her new groom. It was a very sweet and simple ceremony surrounded by the most important people in Kelly and Adam’s lives. We then caught some quick pictures of their cake from Rick’s Bakery and then they were off to go enjoy dinner with their family. I was so grateful to have the opportunity to help them remember their special day. Kelly and Adam truly are wonderful individuals and they compliment each other so well. I know they’ll be together for many many years. It was so cute to watch how concerned Adam was for his new bride as she made her way in a gorgeous wedding dress across all those rocks. What a cutie. And I can’t forget how many times Kelly told us she wasn’t photogenic……………what?!?!?!?!?!? KELLY you are totally HOTT!!! :)
Congratulations you two and we wish you the best!
Meet totally HOTT Kelly! :)
Meet the handsome groom Adam.
This beautiful shot was captured by Tanja.
Totally laid on the ground below them to get this shot! Awesome.
Aren’t they just adorable?
I’m pretty sure this is my favorite image from the entire day!
Told you Jules Design was amazing….. :)
This is another favorite! So hard to decide.
I’m not sure if there’s a more beautiful place in the world to get married……
Alright I love doing this and while I missed the actual Monday mark, I’m posting it anyways!
These ice lanterns are a total do it yourself project for anyone planning a winter wedding! How cute!!!
You need two buckets, one smaller then the other.
Some greens, I love to use olive branches.
Fill the biggest bucket half full with water.
Place the smaller bucket inside it and place some rocks or something heavy to keep in in place.
Add more water, the water level should be to the top.
Add your branches to the sides of the bucket.
Use some tape to keep the small bucket in the middle of the big one.
Now set the whole thing outside to freeze.
Once its frozen, remove the small bucket first and then the large one.
You now have a beautiful ice lantern.
Place a votive candle inside and voila, the party can start.
What a cute idea! And just for all you brides, details like this make your wedding rock that much harder!!! Photographers love little details!
I love how they pulled these centerpieces together! I usually get stuck in that rut that these centerpieces things have to be super fancy, but these are totally cute and another DIY!!!!
Steps for a Full Wrap Treatment Step 1:Measure paper around the vase. Leave about 1″ on the neck for a ribbon treatment. Step 2:Cut the paper. Adhere one edge of the paper to the glass with glue dots. Wrap the other side around and secure with more glue dots. Step 3:Cover the top rough edges with a grosgrain ribbon.
Steps for a Middle Band Treatment Step 1:Measure paper around the vase. Step 2:Cut first band to measure 5″, second to measure 3.5″. Step 3:Stick first wrap to the vessel with glue dots. Layer on the 3″ band,again using glue dots. Step 4:Top it off with ribbon treatment.
Anything personalized is super cute but these are adorable. If you planned on a wedding in the summer and thought of these fans think how much your guests would love to have this keepsake!!!
I saw these at Forever 21 and instantly thought they would be perfect for a stylish bride!!!
This idea struck me as an important one for all couples planning a wedding. I like to ask “what is your photography budget”, and I usually get this response “well we really haven’t thought about it” or “we don’t really have one”. My first piece of advice for you is make one!!! It will be the most important thing you do to keep your wedding costs down and be able to get what you actually want. Wedding expenditures add up and quickly but if you are prepared with a budget that will help. Also it’s a great idea to start budgeting together as a couple, since now you’ll probably have some sort of a joint account. This website isn’t just geared toward weddings either but it’s a great way to keep track of what you are saving! Be sure to check it out smartypig.com
Today I had an amazing day shooting Kelly and Adam’s wedding. I’m not going to spill the beans too too much about how much I loved them because there will be a later post for that. My self portrait today was down at Devil’s Den while I was shooting some couple portraits on the waterfall. What a beautiful place to get married and I’m so glad I got to spend most of the day outside today with such a great and loving family!
I was so excited for this wedding because I got to be there from start to finish. I remember the day Erika and I met with them and I looked at Erika and was like she’s going to look gorgeous. She just had this cute outfit on and a little feather head band and I’m a sucker for feathers.
You know those couples where you look at them and you can just tell how in love they are? That is how I would describe Emily and Tim. How Tim looks at Emily is the way every girl dreams to have their prince charming to look at her. You can just tell his heart belongs to Emily and it’s so cute to see how he makes Emily smile her adorable smile.
Their first look inside Chapel on the Creeks and the outside photo is below. First look sessions are heavily encouraged when planning a ceremony at sunset so you’ll have time to get some beautiful couples shots!
Her flowers were amazing! I think they may just have earned my favorite wedding day boquets!!!! They were created by ZuZu’s Petals (they never cease to amaze me by their creativity)! They had peacock feathers in them!
I will be posting more tomorrow so be watching out for those!!!! A little suspense never killed anyone!
Sally and Cole. Cole called me and booked an appointment with me where we met at Common Grounds and I got to meet Sally. Cole is an Ag student here at U of A and Sally is in grad school in Little Rock. They will be getting married in Mt. Home at an outside venue (I LOVE outdoor weddings!!!) We had a lot of fun during their shoot. We started in Fayetteville to get the urban feeling images then we headed out to Cole’s family’s farm, I loved shooting there! :)
This first shot is sentimental to them. The day he proposed they were out shooting clay pigeons and he asked her to go get more shells……I have yet to see it but apparently he even made a box out of the shells for the ring!!!! This spot is so I am told about where they were engaged!
Yay for some doggie kisses! I love how their dogs totally describe their personalities!
They even had the bronco pulled out of the garage for a photo shoot!
I love the sunflare in this one! They had a celebration dinner here!
Pretty sure this one is my favorite shot!
Tanja captured this one and I love it! It makes me feel European!?!?!
This image is to show how amazing Tanja is! She’s throwing leaves into the air for us! I love how she looks so happy about it!!! :)
Jamie and Miller will be getting married on December 31st! I had the pleasure of shooting their engagement session last week! They are so cute together and we had a blast noticing anything that had to do with a heart! They really were up for anything and it was so fun to watch them interact and embark on a new step in their relationship. Jamie definitely finds comfort in Miller’s arms….which makes for some great photos!!! We met up at a little gas station in Goshen and then sorta wandered around town and hopped in the car to stop off at an old tree farm to finish up the session with some awesome fall foliage!
I can’t take credit for this shot, but Jamie’s idea was awesome! Check her ring out….isn’t it gorgeous!
I love how Miller always makes her laugh! They seriously are so cute! Oh and the jackets! I had to post this one for you Miller! You look so awesome in your coat! ;)
Jamie said she’s always wanted a field picture! Well here ya go! This was behind a gas station believe it or not. I think she’s such a beautiful gal!
I am in love with this spot! It’s so mystical! I loved the lighting and the colors! It’s perfect.
