For the Love ~ Under the Lights

Right, so that blogging I promised you? Here it is! At least the first bit of it. So awhile back the ladies of For the Love got together downtown for an "Under the Lights" photo shoot. Basically, just practicing shooting in low light with whatever ya got -- flash, no flash, whatever! We met at Maude's, wandered around the Sun Center and then made our way to Sakura, which is a fabulous little cupcake bakery! So feast your eyes on some prettiness from downtown Gainesville... Thanks so much to Debra and Kelly for coming out and for Wendy who made it even though she was a tad bit late! ;)  And look out for more For the Love get-togethers coming up.. .

Debra and Kelly! :)

This may be my new favorite place downtown.... seriously good cupcakes.

Look at all of those choices!! 

Seriously yummy stuff here... and such a cute place. Definitely need to go back... any takers? :)

Steph ~ Gainesville Portrait Photographer

Finally, Steph's photos from our For the Love meetup! I loved Steph's classic look (what girl doesn't love a good black outfit?) and check out those boots!

Steph in a pod!

Deb ~ Gainesville Portrait Photographer

Some photos of the lovely Deb from our For the Love get together!

Love using stairs!

A little architecture? I think so!

So fun!

So what you don't know is that Deb is leaning on an
air conditioner -- you never know where you're going
to find a good background!

Deb in a pod!

Wendy ~ Gainesville Portrait Photographer

Success!! Our first For the Love get together was, um, amazing! Wendy, Deb, Steph and I all met at the Starbucks in downtown Gainesville for some coffee, good friends, and good times! I have to admit, even though it was my first time meeting Deb and Steph, it felt like we were all good friends already. We all fell into chatting about photography, about life, and about fun and before long, we'd drunk our coffee and giggled our way through being on the other side of the camera. Roaming around downtown was great -- there are so many fun places to take photos in such a small area. I'll have posts with everyone's photos, but wanted to start with Wendy's. Wendy has become such a good friend this past year - I don't know what I'd do without her! She's always there to bounce ideas off of, has an infectious smile, and always sees the good (in things, in people, in life!). She's like a ray of sunshine (k... getting a bit sappy here, think I'll finish this off quick-like!). Anyways, here are some of my favorites of Wendy....

You see what I mean about that smile? You're smiling now, aren't you? You just can't help it! (Note: this yellow wall was ah-maz-ing! and matched oh, so perfectly with Wendy's outfit!)

Ooooh, show me some love!

RAWR! :)

Wendy in a pod! Love these pod chairs outside of 101 Downtown...

For the Love!

I was going to start this post with something like "Hey, we're having a get together!" 


And then, for some reason, I looked up "get together" on Urban Dictionary. 
Get Together: What a person with not enough friends to throw a party calls it when they throw a party. (www.urbandictionary.com)

So we're not having a get together! We're having a chat it up, drink some coffee, take some photos, rock it out, have some fun, shindig. You might remember me introducing the idea of For the Love awhile ago. Or you might have read about it on Wendy's blog.  Just to refresh you if you have heard us talk about it, or to introduce you to is if you haven't, For the Love is a group of photographers that love photography, love art, love good friends and fun times. It's a group to bounce ideas off of, to talk with, to find inspiration and motivation, and to chat with about all things photography and not (because seriously, I know Jared and my family get tired of me talking about this light and that aperture and this other lens, etc!).  So come join us! Where, you ask? Here are the details:


Where: Starbucks in downtown Gainesville (Corner of SE 1st St and SE 2nd Place, near The Hipp)
When: 9:30am Saturday, November 20th


Our plan is to grab some coffee, do some chatting, and wander around downtown G'ville with our cameras, playing with locations and head shots of each other (I know, none of us like to be on that side of the camera, but face it -- we all need head shots, right?).


We hope you'll join us!! Please drop us a line and let us know if you're coming in the comments section -- we don't want to wander off without you!

For the Love

"Wouldn't it be cool if we had a group of fellow photographers that we could get together with, just to talk about things?" I remember Wendy saying this to me, clear as day, about six months ago.


Fast forward to Aug 7th. We rode home from the Courtney Fries workshop, ideas bubbling over. We had talked about it before, but now... now everything felt different. It felt like we could actually do these things, like we could style a shoot, plan a get-together of local photographers. Meet up with others in the area and talk photography, talk business, talk about life.

And so the idea of "For the Love" was born.

And started to weasel in to my thoughts. And into Wendy's thoughts.

Over a burrito and taco salad Wednesday night, Wendy and I chatted about what we envisioned -- a group of local photographers, meeting every six or eight weeks. Informal. Not "led" by anyone in particular. Not a workshop, but a group to bounce ideas off of. So For the Love of photography, of art, of friends, of good wine and great food, and all that comes with a good life, we are hereby starting this group. And we want you to join us! Right now, we don't have a large agenda, but we do have a lot of inspiration and a ton of motivation.

So, as the first act of For the Love, Wendy and I would cordially like to invite you to "That 70's Shoot." What is it exactly? A vintage styled shoot complete with a vintage VW bug, fun picnic items, and a lovely styled couple. The shoot will be held on Sunday, Sept 19th at 5pm. The exact location will be announced, but we're planning on an open field near a barn. Right now, we're capping the attendance at 8 participants (at least this time) to maximize everyone's ability to shoot. Afterwards, we're planning to stop some place for dinner and chatting -- where will depend on the location of the shoot.

So why are we doing this? One, because we (Wendy and Sarah) think it's fabulous fun to style a shoot. Two, because who doesn't want to take more pictures and practice a few techniques with no pressure to perform? Photos can be for your portfolio, or just for fun. And three, because we would LOVE to get together with other like minded individuals and chat! So hurry! RSVP so we know you're coming! And feel free to let me know if you have any questions.

Photos courtesy of Marc Bordons, Lenaah, John French, & Elizabeth Anne Designs