I’m an optimist.  To a fault sometimes, or so I’ve been told, and that’s perfectly okay with me.  I’d rather go through life assuming that people are good, love wins, and that everything is going to be just fine.  If there’s a common thread that runs through my work, it’s that the folks I photograph seem to share a positive outlook on the world around them.  Maybe that’s how we end up together.

Stephanie and Ramin are examples of this. My kind of people.  Stephanie and I worked together at Chili’s back in the early 2000’s.  Seeing her at the engagement session recently, it was nice to see that Stephanie is still just as warm and funny as I remember her being.  She has a perfectly matched companion in Ramin, too.  When they’re together, it’s like they can’t help but smile and laugh.  I love it.

Click the play button below to see the highlights slideshow, then click HERE to register to see all of the pics from their engagement session.  Oh, and to all of Stephanie’s and Ramin’s family and friends, please add me on your Facebook and Twitter.  I’d love to stay in touch!

One of my favorite families of all time—The Romines Family.  I met Brandi several years ago when I was just starting out with my real estate business.  She was the full-time office manager for another agent and friend of mine, Maggie Taylor.  If you’re reading this, Maggie, give me a shout!  I miss chatting with you!

At the same time I was starting to build my real estate business, I was also just starting to ramp up my photography.  Brandi spread the word about my photography and landed me several big jobs right when I needed them most.  Brandi, I’ll forever remember your support.  Pimpin’ photography ain’t easy!

Brandi’s the type of person that is successful at whatever she does, but who will probably kill me for bragging so much on her.  She works from home now, where she creates some pretty amazing cakes.  You can see the cake she made for Carson’s 3rd birthday HERE, and you can check out her website HERE for her larger portfolio of work.  Her business is growing at break-neck speeds, and I couldn’t be happier for her.

Her finest accomplishment to date?  Being an incredible wife to Shawn and mom to Titus and Larkin.  Thank you, Romines family, for being a dear part of our lives.

Here are a few of my faves from their family session at Evan’s Orchard & Cider Mill.

And here’s the slideshow.  When you’re finished, please feel free to leave a comment below and add me on your Facebook and Twitter accounts.  Peace out y’all! 

BIG thanks to Jackie Lee, owner of Every Last Detail for hooking me up with Jon and Cannon-Marie.  I love that Jackie knows her clients and vendors so well that she can partner us not just by product and service needs, but by personality, too.  From the second Cannon-Marie and I met, we totally hit it off.  They’re both bright, warm, and hilarious.  Jon works as an attorney at the Justice & Public Safety Cabinet, and Cannon-Marie recently helped start the Kentucky Poverty Law Center, a non-profit organization that is “taking on poverty through advocacy, education, and research.”  Great people!

Cannon-Marie and Jon chose all of the locations for our evening out together.  They wanted their engagement session to best reflect their relationship and personalities, so here’s what they did…Coffee at Chevy Chase Starbucks, walking their dog at Ashland (the Henry Clay estate), food and games at Chuck E Cheese (yep, you’re reading that correctly), and martinis at Bonefish Grill.

Below, you’ll find a few of my faves, as well as a slideshow with the highlights.  All of the images will be HERE in a few days.  You can go ahead and click the link now and pre-register to be notified once the images are uploaded to the proofing site.

To Cannon-Marie and Jon…You did great!  I’m already looking forward to your wedding next May.  I can’t wait to see what amazing things you two and Jackie come up with!

Love this image.  It was the first time I got to use my new ringflash.  Very cool look indeed.

To all of Cannon-Marie’s and Jon’s friends and family—Please feel free to connect with me through Facebook and Twitter.  I enjoy staying in touch!  Bye, y’all!  -shaun

While planning their Lexington wedding, Angie and John found me solely through searching online.  They were living in Chicago at the time and were able to get a really good feel for my work through the blog.  I love that!

They traveled to Lexington over the summer for their engagement session. I got a good chance to get to know them that day while shooting and later when we finally crashed at Atomic Cafe for some post-session refreshments.  We hit it off instantly, so I knew the wedding day was going to be alot of fun.

Here’s a list of the vendors who made Angie’s and John’s wedding day perfect:

Ceremony Venue: First United Methodist Church of Lexington, KY

Reception Venue and Catering: The Mansion at Griffin Gate and Susan Kelly, Marriott’s Event Manager. You rock, Susan!

Hair/Makeup: The Spa at Griffin Gate

Flowers: Flowers From Myers

Cake: Caramanda’s

Transportation: Thoroughbred Limousine

DJ: Jeff Gibson/Sound Travels Mobile Entertainment

Angie and John are now living outside of Nashville, and I’m hoping to hook up with them again for dinner while I’m down there in November for another wedding.  I love staying in touch.  It’s a funny thing.  From a photographer’s standpoint, I pour out so much of myself during the wedding day, and then tons of hours in front of a monitor editing their images, that by the time everything is wrapped up, I honestly feel bonded with my brides and grooms.  I’ve got a great job, and I love my clients. For real, yo!

Please check out some of my faves below, and you’ll definitely want to watch the highlights slideshow at the bottom, too.  Too see all of the images from the wedding, click HERE and preregister.  They’ll be up in a couple weeks.  In the meantime, preregistering entitles you to gift credit toward purchases.  Enjoy!

Thanks for Laurie Appleby-Williams for second shooting with me on this wedding.  You did great, Laurie!  Here’s one of my favorite images Laurie scored.  Cool, right?

And for the slideshow, you can click on the play button below.  To all of Angie’s and John’s friends and family—Would you do me a favor?  Stay in touch, too.  I had a blast.  Here’s my email, Facebook and Twitter.  Peace out, y’all!   -shaun

If you know me personally, or if you’ve been following my blog long, you already know that I’m both a photographer and real estate agent.  Two full time jobs.  Sure, it means zero sleep and lots of coffee, but I love getting to do both.  One reason?  Because I often get to help the same people with both their real estate and photography needs.  And because I have the best clients ever, I get to stay in touch with awesome people pretty regularly.  Love it.

Amber and Lee are two of these people.  I recently helped them find and purchase their first home in Nicholasville, and I’ll be shooting their wedding at Spring Valley Golf Club the first weekend of November.  Good stuff!  Bonus?  My brother Jay is going to be the dj at their reception, so all in all, this couldn’t be a more perfect arrangement.

Here are just a few of my faves!

And the slideshow…

You can hook up with me on Facebook and Twitter.  Stay in touch, everybody!  Peace out! -shaun

My little boy is growing up!  3 years.  Dang.  Breaks my heart to see him getting so big, but I’m excited about all that’s waiting for him in this great big world.  What an adventure.

It was Katie’s idea to have his party at the Explorium of Lexington, which, if you haven’t been there for a birthday party, is a VERY cool venue.  The staff handles all of the activities and clean-up in the party room, and then all of the kids can stay at the Explorium as long as they want (or as long as the parents want…LOL) that same day.  Heads up?  If you’re a member there, you get a discount on the party, too.  Well worth it.

Our friend Brandi Romines, owner of Happy As A Lark Cake Creations, put her mad skills to work in making a dinosaur-themed cake for Carson.  Each dinosaur was sculpted and hand-painted.  Unbelievable talent.  Please, please, please contact Brandi for your next cake.  Her cakes are better than crack. You’ll be hooked!

I love this shot of Carson and his good friend Ally.

Background story for this shot:  For the last couple months, Katie has been telling Carson about blowing out his candles, and how everyone was going to be singing Happy Birthday to him.  We’ve been practicing, so when he finally heard everyone singing that familiar song to him, check out his expression…priceless.

Taking a spin for the first time on his new tricycle (thanks Nana and Gigi). I love the mix of joy and uncertainty here.  He’s looking at me as if to say, “This is awesome, I think, right?”