Fact: This is Sarah and Cory’s first baby, her name is Taylor

Fact: Taylor has some of the most beautiful eyelashes I’ve ever seen on a baby

Fact: Taylor’s nickname is “da tates”

Fact: She lives in the Lu (St. Louis) which makes me kinda sad I never get to see her

Fact: Sarah is probably one of the most beautiful after baby mom’s I’ve ever photographed. Talk about GLOW!!!

Cory – your hotness is overwhelming.

Sarah – AYKM?? YOU ARE SOOOO BEAUTIFUL!!! BLECHH!!!

FAV FAV FAV!! Please print and put GYNORMOUS in your house.K?K.

This picture brings so much happiness to me. After all these years…us holding our baby girls together…VERY AWESOME (VERY AWESOME)

*This picture was taken almost 7 weeks ago and I can’t believe how much Jillian has changed.

Sarah and Cory – Congrats on your beautiful baby girl. I just love Taylor so much and love that I was able to photograph her so small. Can’t wait to see you guys again and the next round of pictures.

LOVE YOU!

Heather

Fact: Jenna intimidates me with her beauty…this girl is seriously WOWZA

Fact: Their wedding party was in my top ten fun wedding parties…yeah – they all pretty much kicked ass!!!

Fact: Their reception was SOOO much fun and let me tell you – they had some people that could GET DOWN!! I was also super excited to see the parents of both Jami and Derek (both weddings were in 2006) It’s like getting reunited with FAMILY!!!

Okay – let’s just say it…DAMN JENNA!!!!

Are you kidding me with this hottness?? GEEZ!!!

Josh….if looks could kill…I’d be dead.

These girls…ROCKED MY WORLD!!

I wanna be in this WEDDING PARTY!!!

A friend of Jenna’s brought her oldest stuffed animal to the wedding. He even put a bow tie on for the occasion.

THEY ARE now  Mrs. & Mrs. (sign by Nana – aren’t they amazing)

I met a local celebrity!! It’s Rachelle from CARPET CORNER!!

I love the look in her eyes as she dances with her dad.

How adorable is Josh’s mom???

Jenna and Josh -

Thank you so much for asking me to be a part of your amazing day. I’m so lucky you walked into my studio that day.

Love you guys,

Heather

Fact: Scott is from New Zealand and has one of the coolest accents EVER!!!

Fact: I met Brie while she was doing her bridesmaids duties for another amazing bride of mine, Lindsay.

Fact: They met at a Happy Hour

Fact: BRIWI is the nickname given them from their friends (kinda like TomKat)

I just shot their wedding a week ago and I can’t wait to share those images. You think these are fun….WATCH OUT!!!

Brie and Scott – thanks for asking me to be a part of your special day.

I love you both very much.

xoxoxoxo

Heather

First – my husband who had been training for 9 months, climbed Mt. Rainer. Yeah…I said, MOUNT RAINER!!! My husband is beyond amazing. His dedication to the training and the CLIMB ITSELF- it’s remarkable. Here are a few pictures from his trip that I LOOOVE!!

Baby – you are as hot as they come!! WOW to that!!!

Hiking as the sun was coming up…isn’t it beautiful!!

LOOOVE this one.

The SUMMIT!!

As Jake was climbing his mountain, Olivia just finished her first ever trip (eight days) without mom or dad. I had a family reunion take place in Wyoming and since I had a wedding I couldn’t attend. My mom asked if she could take her by herself and after thinking about it for a while, I thought it would be a great experience for Olivia. She came home completely grown up. I think she grew 4 inches and aged a year.

Olivia and Nana (my mom)

Olivia and her cousin (and new BFF) Hayley Jo

Jillian is also changing in front of my eyes!! In a blink of an eye, my daughter has gone from a baby – to an EIGHT MONTH OLD. She has five teeth now, and is crawling!! Holy Cow – how is the possible?? Here are some updated pictures of her at 7 1/2 months.

Okay seriously?? How cute are they??

Last but not least…me. Well I’ve been shooting A LOT. Engagements, families, weddings, it’s awesome!! I’ve also been working hard at my goal to lose some weight. I’ve lost a total of 17.6 so far. My good friend, Kassia, came over to visit and took some pictures of me and my girls for the first time since Jillian was 9 days old. Needless to say – it was the FIRST time I’ve felt good enough to be in front of a camera. The hard work is PAYING OFF.

Keep checking back for updates. I promise – it won’t be as long next time.

Hugs,

Heather

Meet Kristin (AKA HOLY HOTNESS BATMAN)

Meet Anthony (AKA my brother from another mother who happens to be VERY easy on the eyes. EEEW..can I even say that about my brother?)

Meet Christian (AKA a man ONLY in my dreams)

I love this next series….

RIDIC. One of my favs (warning there are a lot)

SEXAY SEXAY!!! OW OW!

I mean really??? Sorry ladies…as much as you want to hate her cause she’s so RIDICULOUS beautiful, her heart is just as beautiful. There is no getting around it, you have to love her.

Another fav.

LOVE LOVE LOVE!!

I was having a “vertical” day and LOVING it.

Kristin and Anthony,

Thank you for having me be a part of your lives and your upcoming wedding. To say I’m excited is the understatement of the year.

Love you both very much,

Heather

You have two days to choose from: (limit 20 people per date)

Monday, June 28th  9 am-7 pm

Monday, July 12th 9 am – 7 pm

Where – Kansas City (specific location determined based on number of attendees)

Cost – $500 (includes breakfast and lunch)

What are we going to cover – How to shoot in all types of light. We have three different models for the day – a child, a couple (engagement session) and a gorgeous bride and groom. After a full day of shooting we will be heading back to the studio where we will do more in depth editing together. We will also cover my image workflow from shooting, editing, filing, backing up, and client viewing sessions.

Just to show you how fun the last PLAYshops have been – check these out!!

Our most recent PLAYshop April 2010 – Jackie and Dillon – WOWZA!!

Our First PLAYshop June 2009

Learn how to take your pictures from this:

Our second PLAYshop August 2009

The third and COLDEST PLAYshop Feb 2010 (17 degrees and sleeting – yeah we still rocked that shit out)

What people are saying about the workshop:

“Heather, I can’t say it enough for everything that you taught me at your Playshop. I really am eternally grateful for you sharing all your wisdom and experience with us. Thank you so much!” – Ashley Cohn

“You are a natural when it comes to teaching Heather.  I love your style and energy and helped me realize I can do this!  You gave me that creative “push” to help me realize…Duh, Des!  You are worried over nothing!” – Desiree Dean

“I think it was a great Playshop and I learned a ton.  I have a wish list of photo stuff that I need and want to purchase…there are so many great products and services that I can’t wait to make it part of my business.  I really appreciate your honest opinions about my website and blog.  Thanks so much for the playshop.  I had a great time and walked away with new knowledge!” - Shauna Newton

“You probably already know I’m a HUGE advocate of your workshop. I’ve recommended it to every photographer I know. Yes, I’m that ridiculous. I can’t begin to thank you enough for everything you taught me. I walked out of your workshop with a new inspiration for where I was going as a photographer and how to get there. Since your workshop my work has grown and grown. The insight you gave me when you critiqued my photos allowed me to see how I could make my work better. I admit I’m so close to my work that it was hard to see where it was not as strong. It was wonderful to learn from someone with amazing talent who has such a passion for what they do. You are yourself and that is one thing I’ve had to learn in my business. Also, the portion on post processing changed my life (Yes, you read that right. It was Life Changing!!).I know for a fact I’ve become more efficient. You taught me techniques that I could refine to make my own post processing work flow. Thank you Heather for being so awesome. I’m so happy I had the chance to meet and learn from you early in my career.” - Julie Branyan

“I loved it all!!!! (I know its not specific!) Well…I loved the mock consultation, working with the models, all of the samples you showed us, the lesson on the computer…etc. I really loved every minute of it!” - Kerry Cornelius

For those of you who are interested in the ORIGINAL PLAYshop I will be holding another one on Monday August 30th (limited enrollment – only 10 spots!!)

What we cover at the ORIGINAL PLAYshop:

Branding
Marketing
Daily Workflow
How to enhance profit with print sales
Overview of all vendors I currently use
Photograph a couple together  (cover posing/lighting etc)
Take images and edit them together learn my “editing secrets”
Learn editing workflow
Find out how I was able to take my “hobby” and make it into my full time job WHILE juggling being a mom.

Price $400 (includes breakfast and lunch)

Located at my studio – Kansas City, MO

If you are interested in any of my PLAYshops please contact me at heather@heathercolephotography or call me at 816-318-9198.

Looking forward to seeing you soon!!!

The day to day life of having two kids and owning my own business has been challenging to say the least. Trying to juggle the shoots, the consultations, the editing and then being a mom has been harder than expected. If you want the honest truth – I don’t mind the chaos. I’ve learned how to be better organized and to make the time I DO have to work in my studio count, which sometimes means just unplugging. No facebook, no twitter…just work.

In addition to my crazy schedule life happened to throw us a curve ball when one of our best friends, Seth, went into the ICU. For those of you who are OLD blog readers you might remember this post I did about him in 2007. Seth went into KU Med Center’s ICU on Sunday May 16th having found out that he had not only pneumonia but that it was sepsis which was in his bloodstream. In human terms – HE WAS SUPER SICK. In addition to the tumors in his brain he’s been fighting since 2001, he had a stroke at the beginning of May and then the pneumonia was just too much and sent him back into the hospital. The whole week my husband and I were up there visiting as much as we could sometimes twice a day. Thank the LORD I have amazing clients who were flexible and allowed me to move their appointments around. I literally was a wreck and I couldn’t photograph ANYONE (thank you guys – I love you all so much). Seth had good days, and he had bad days but the one true constant was his wife, Jennifer. Not sure if you can even describe this woman. She loved taking care of Seth, loved being his wife and loved him like no other could. TRUE soulmates through and through.  She never left his side day and night praying each day the medicines they were pumping him with would turn him around. Unfortunately, he was too sick and after a week of fighting they had to remove his ventilator and he passed away on Friday the 21st. Talk about a life changing moment. I hurt for Jennifer as she sat next to Seth no longer breathing thinking about my life. Why am I so lucky? Why can’t her husband be alive like mine? Why can’t they have kids and raise them like Jake and I? I was hurting because I didn’t get to say goodbye. I didn’t get to tell him how much I loved him and that he will always have a special place in my heart. I was hurting for my husband and all of my friends who loved him as much as I did. But in all the hurt, I somehow felt peace. Peace that Jennifer doesn’t have to watch her husband fight for life anymore and that he’s walking again in heaven. Peace knowing that even though I didn’t verbally get to tell him goodbye, he knows how I feel about him. Finally, after a few days I started feeling joy. Joy knowing that he’s in heaven, that he has no cancer, that he can walk again, that he’s seeing everyone he loved up there and knowing I’m sure my dad has already had him over for Sunday spaghetti (hee hee).

Watching someone you love die so young can really put things into perspective. Now I look at life like this… is this something that can be fixed? Will this situation (perhaps with time) get better? Is it really as bad as I think? I think more times than most – it IS fixable, it WILL get better and no – it’s NOT as bad as I think. Because truth be told it can easily (as I have witnessed) go the other way when it can’t be fixed, no matter how much time passes the situation won’t get better and yes – it is as bad as I think. Hopefully for everyone those “other times” will be far and few in between. I hope hearing about Seth helps open your eyes to understand life is too short. Each day – tell your loved ones how much you love them. If you are in a fight with a friend or a family member step back and think, is it worth it? Don’t think for one second anyone of us can’t easily be taken like Seth was and wouldn’t be awful if you had missed time with him/her because of something so trivial. Don’t sweat the small stuff people. It’s not worth it. Love every day. Love until you can’t love anymore.

Here’s a little something I made for Seth’s services. I hope you enjoy.

Even Jillian was excited about the project….

We have a DOLPHIN!!!

I think it turned out pretty good…how about you?

*I can only imagine the projects second grade will bring*

Special thanks to my husband, Jake. You seriously are THE BEST Dad in the whole world. I love your enthusiasm for all that life has to offer. Olivia, Jillian and I are lucky girls to have such an amazing man in our life. Thank you. I love you.

Heather

As my friend BBMK says….WACKI Heather strikes again!!

Check out his shoulder in this picture…this butterfly was literally OBSESSED with Josh’s shirt. YEAH…PERFECT DAY!! You feelin me now??!!

I’m sorry Jenna you are so freakin beautiful! I think she looks like Kelly McGillis from Top Gun. Do you?

FAV!!!!

I love this next series….

AYKM????

Jenna and Josh – if I had this much fun at your engagement session, I can’t even IMAGINE how much fun your wedding is going to be. Thank you for asking me to be a part of your big day. I can’t wait for it to be here!!!

Love ya,

Heather

Amanda and Davie -

I love you both very much and couldn’t be happier that Julia is about to come into your lives. I can’t wait to meet her and photograph her!!!!!!

Love ya,

Heather