Ireland Photography for Sale

Finally... after 4 months of being back in the U.S., I have a gallery online for all those who asked if they could purchase prints of my Ireland Photography from our trip this past March. If you are interested, click here to view the gallery. You can also just go to www.raebarnes.com and click on proof galleries on the far right. A new directory will open, and Ireland Photography is near the bottom. There is not a password. We, of course, took more photos than this, but we felt that these were the most appropriate for resale. For the next 5 days only, there is a $15 discount for all orders placed for Ireland photography. Please, email me with any questions.

oh well...

No one could guess correctly this time, but keep your eyes peeled for more little iTunes gift certificate competitions ahead! For those of you who are dying to know... Chris captured image 3, 7, 8, & 9 of the 10 in the last post. He is so good!

I am excited about Julie & Jonathan's wedding tomorrow in Lake Placid. We are still not sure how much (if any) Chris will do tomorrow as he is still healing from having 3 of his wisdom teeth out. He is doing really well- mostly just loving the diet of ice cream, jello, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and pudding. Other than solid meat, we aren't missing much from his regular diet. ;-)

Oh the joys of flying!

Well, I am behind on my blogging... Julie and Jonathan had their engagement session on Tuesday, and I have a bridal portrait with Sarah tonight as well as Alyse & Simon's wedding tomorrow. But, all this will have to wait until Tuesday or Wednesday due to the most unfortunate thing: my laptop was crushed on my last flight from Newark to Asheville yesterday. The planes I fly on are so small that my equipment has to be checked at the gate. I have never had any problem before, but yesterday, I watched the guy throw my 60 pound bag on the side that my laptop was. Ugh! Anyway, nothing was lost (as far as important files, etc.)- just an expensive piece of a laptop. ;-)

My brother's wedding!!

My oldest (of my 3) brother got married this past weekend in Durham, North Carolina at the Windy Oaks Inn. Chris and I have not been guests at a wedding since before we were married, so it was a little bit surreal to be able to use my other senses at the wedding. Typically, I am so focused (no pun intended) on the sights at a wedding that I don't hear what is going on, I don't smell the flowers or taste the cake and I definitely never touch anything (on purpose anyway). So, it was an adjustment to just sit there and enjoy being with my family and my new family... I just adore Katy, my new sister-by-marriage, and I could not be happier that my brother married her! They are just made for each other... seriously, not another couple in the world makes us laugh so much.

But, of course, I had to take SOME pictures, even if I wasn't the hired professional (and thank God I wasn't). So, here are some of the newlyweds, my parents, the beautiful flowers, the adorable cake, their dog/ring-bearer and me doing my special not-so-pig-latin-after-all reading!! Enjoy!

New music for my site!

I am so excited to have the opportunity to use the music of the talented Dave Barnes (no relation)! The music I was using before was being used without proper permission, and it was driving me nuts to have that over my head since, as an artist, it makes my stomache churn to think of people copying the images I capture without the right or permission. SO... Dave Barnes has graciously allowed me to use his beautiful music! It is nice to have the connection... never met the guy, but he is a friend of a friend. And, I know he is up and coming and going places, just read his bio on his site.

Entertainment for the weekend!

I just HAVE to share what I have been laughing about ALL DAY! Click here to see Chris and me busting a move. Oh man! I have tried it on my parents, my brother and future sister-in-law, my friends... hours of entertainment... seriously!

What is one thing you would uninvent?

Just a question I heard yesterday... my first thought... leggings/stretch pants. But, then, I thought... it would've been nice if the whole concept of calories was different (like a plateful of salad would have the same amount of calories as a bowl full of ice cream). But, then again, I suppose man never invented calories or how they work, so maybe I should go back to the leggings. Leave a comment and tell me what you would uninvent.

How I met Mr. Right

I just ran accross this article about a man dreaming about a phone number that ended up leading him to his wife! Now, if that isn't a crazy story, I am not sure what is. But, it just got me thinking of the wild and funny ways people meet their spouse. I love hearing these stories, so do tell!

Me? I met Chris through his roommate... whom I was pseudo long-distance dating. Could've been real awkward, but it wasn't really... by the time Chris and I started dating, his roommate had moved back to the Carolinas, and I had moved out to Colorado (where Chris was living also). It was a bit of a whirlwind romance- we were only together for a total of a year when we got married (dated 7 months, engaged 5).

Fine Art Portraiture

Jesh de Rox inspired me for this post. Although he captures very sweet moments, what he does with those images afterwards is what makes his work fine art. I feel like I see so many wedding photographers just slap on the title "fine art" to their weddings, but there is so little merit behind it. Jesh really takes his images to the next level, and by being an exlusive wedding photographer (ie only taking in a small number of jobs each year), he is able to really spend the time to create these amazing pieces of art. So, I tried my hand in Photoshop to see what I could come up with. Tell me what you think.

The first image is untouched (embarassingly, what I showed my client on Pictage)... but, it really does not tell the moment as I saw it when the shutter closed. I saw Jane, my dear and absolutely beautiful friend, in a peaceful and pensive moment right before she walked down the aisle to a new life. She looked more beautiful than I had ever seen her; she just glowed! But, I didn't want to just put a glow effect on her... Anyways, the first image barely communicates what I saw. The second image is just tweeking that I would do on a current order through our new (but not yet released) online gallery system. And, the third... still a work in progress, but it is my attempt at making this moment into fine art... weddings are filled with fantasy-like moments where the world just seems to stop, so shouldn't the images from them communicate that?

Easter Resolutions

I know that many of you that keep up with my blog may not celebrate Easter and others of you may think it is just a day when bunnies lay colorful eggs full of chocolate. But, for Christians, it is a pretty big day- a day when we remember that Christ died for us. (I am not trying to convert anyone here or trying to preach it). In fact, it always feels a little funny to make such personal statements on my professional blog, but the two sides of my life run in the same stream. The decisions I make for my business are deeply affected by my faith. I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't believe that He is going to provide for me because we all know that a 25 year old woman couldn't be this successful all on her own.

Anyway, my dear friend Melanie mentioned to me yesterday that she thought she would start having Easter resolutions instead of New Years because, let's all face it, our new years resolutions rarely ever make it to Easter. I thought it was such a great thought, but I wasn't quite hit by it until my husband Chris sent me a link to David Jay's blog (another young Christian photographer- he is amazing, actually, and I can't really be in the same category). Click here to read this one photographer's post.

Maybe this year I will finally get it and truly live my life every day like I believe and know what it means that such a HUGE and Amazing God came to this teenie tiny place called Earth (that He created to show off His Glory) just to show us His love for us.. and that includes little ole me. It is pretty amazing if you think about it. Actually, it is a little bit more than "pretty amazing." I could be the queen of understatements here.

something in the air?

Must be allergies or the flu... I have been under-the-weather the past few days (took my first sick day in almost a year on Wednesday), and since I have TWO engagement sessions this weekend (this afternoon and tomorrow), I think it is best that I take the rest of today off. Besides, I believe Photoshop caught the flu because it is not working either! ;-) Keep your eyes peeled though; I should have some previews up on Sunday or Monday from these engagement shoots.

Snowy Saranac Lake

I guess winter is still here. We thought that we may have missed it while we were travelling. Nope. Between the past two days we've gotten about a foot of fresh snow. Since this is our second winter in Saranac Lake and Rae has never (yes you read that correctly) shoveled snow, I decided to let her have a turn.




EDIT: I did forget to mention that Rae did cook an amazing St. Patrick's day dinner last night complete with ham, mashed potatoes, vegetable soup, and irish soda bread. Plus we also had some real irish beer, Smithwicks and of course a little Bailey's for dessert.

Galway, Ireland

On one of our last days in Ireland, we travelled down to Galway. It was a rainy day (no big surprise there), but it was still fun. We did some shopping, and I felt like the biggest tourist ever by taking pictures in the stores... but I just couldn't help it! The pottery there is just beautiful. On our way back, I spotted this old cathedral- ends up it was a friary from the 13th century. So creepy, but so beautiful! The wide shot was taken by my brother in law- it was rainy, and there was a large stone wall to jump over... not to mention a hubcap they thought was there's. Anyway, ends up we could just walk in the gate around the corner... Thanks anyway, Tim! Nice shot!

Cliffs inthemiddleofnowhere Ireland- West Coast

Third installation of images from Ireland... Only one or two more... I feel like an idiot for forgetting the name of these cliffs or at least the town, but it really was the middle of nowhere. I believe the next town over only spoke Irish (aka Gaelic, ie. We didn't understand the signs or the people). These cliffs were just stunning, as was the long drive there. Check out the wild life! (no I do not mean my husband Chris) ;-)

Westport, Ireland

Not to be confused with Westport, NY (which is also pretty), Westport Ireland was so fun. There were bright colored buildings and doors everywhere! I just wish I could've done an engagement session while we were there. We went out with the whole clan, which meant that there were 13 of us... Chris's 2 aunts, 2 uncles, 3 cousins, Uncle Tony, dad, mom, and brother Tim... Another Lucky 13. So, I just decided to have another 13 favorite images today from Westport. Uncle Tony is walking into Paddy Powers to bet on his horses in one of these images, and the last image is of my sweet mother-in-law. Happy viewing!

P.S. The scene with the mountain is not actually in Westport, but we saw this scene that same day...