Wow, what a crazy week we had last week! Sunday was a crazy whirlwind of spending time with the kids, washing clothes, and packing... then we woke first thing Monday morning, dropped the kids off at their respective locations, rented an adorable lemon yellow VW bug, and began the trek to New Orleans to spend the next few days teaching and learning and enjoying life with about 500 awesome photographers. Pictage does a convention every year, but this year the decided to move it from LA to New Orleans... and I can't think of a more amazing choice!�

I'm posting two galleries below... one full of images of people speaking and sharing, and one full of images that I photographed while wandering aimlessly around the city. I hope you enjoy!�

A huge shoutout to the people at Pictage for throwing this amazing event! Kudos to my boys at KISS wedding books for introducing an awesome new product, and for being awesome to hang out with. Hugs to Shyla and Rachel, who I didn't see nearly enough. Thanks to Will Jacks for inspiring us all.�

Til next November,�

-amber

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Fun to have Baby Alana's first year album at the KISS table :) Will presented about being an artist... and much more. He was very inspiring! My favorite thing that is said was "Art is not a noun, it is a verb. The product created is the thing... art is the process." Nathan grabbed these images while I shared about Lifestyle Baby Photography. Everyone was incredibly gracious in response to my presentation. I feel very humbled. Nathan, prepping his shooting group prior to hitting the NOLA streets. Misty and Nelio...  awesome photographers turned models. Nathan shared with the group simple tips on how to make your post processing easier, by shooting smarter. I learn so much, every time he speaks. My favorite:) Loved seeing groups of photographers like this, all over the New Orleans streets! Listening... Practicing. Uber hot Get Simple boys :) I told you Will was inspiring... Nathan used a quote from him in his presentation. Nathan shared about Lightroom processing. Kevin, sharing on branding. I learn something new from him every time, too! Shaun's customer service spiel... and his adorable new baby Gavin on the screen. :)

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Reflections... Completely fell in love with this dog... Love the voyeuristic feel in this. Not the best shot... but too NOLA-esque to pass up. Was screamed at for taking this image... The store owner below didn't appreciate me taking pictures of his "customers". I had to show him the image to get him to shutup! Kinda frightening, for a second. One of my favorites moments of the week... this group was absolutely amazing at making their own music. Beautiful.

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1. I love teaching.�

2. I am very excited to have FINALLY met Jeff.�

3. Katie, Gregsby and Baby Emeline are three of my very favorite people ever.�

4. I love affirmation.�

Saturday morning, at around 9:00 am, I drug myself downtown to meet with photographer Jeff Seely from Nashville. I feel bad for whining about having to leave my home at 7:30, when he had to leave at some ridiculous time of morning :) We spent a leisurely couple of hours discussing lifestyle philosophies and techniques over bagels and coffee at Panera, and then we headed over to hang out with Katie and Gregsby for a bit. Of course, Jeff fell in love with this family immediately... and lucky for us, Emeline became completely enamored with him!�

We had a blast, and managed to capture a few superfun images:)

Here are a few of Jeff's encouraging comments from an email I received today...� hence the "I love affirmation" comment from above :)

�"I had an absolute blast on Saturday! So much that you said and didn't say that I walked away with... What I got from you...having never followed another photographer before...was permission. Permission to engage a client on a different level than what a 'professional conversation' would lend itself to. Permission to buzz around the room confidently, knowing that there is a shot in there somewhere. Being somewhat shy at times, it pushed me past that....� I can't thank you enough for the day. It was awesome."

Jeff... your images are awesome! I'm so proud to have spent the day with you :) I can't wait to see where you end up in the photographic world!�

Katie and Gregsby... I love you guys. Thanks for being the very very best.�

�Enjoy the slideshow!�

�-amber

�Enjoy the galleries... The first is Jeff's and the second is mine. I'm so proud of Jeff's work!�

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Emeline was completely in love with Jeff. He got LOADS of amazing eye contact images. Love this shot. Jeff has an awesome eye. Pretty sad that I didn't take this shot :) What a pretty pretty princess. Check out that expression! I completely adore thumb-sucking babies :) Little Miss Artist This picture makes me laugh so hard... this is Emeline telling us that she wants to rub Jeff's face :) So cute! Pat pats :) Hehe... I'm trying to get Emeline to share a bite of her yogurt with me. She wasn't interested :) Voracious appetite. Mom and baby feet :) Emeline calls blueberries - "dew babies". Too cute!! She's just the cutest thing ever. Emeline LOVES bathtime :) Love this... Absolutely perfect! Again, Jeff rocked the eye contact :) Sooo cute! Serious concentration... Me at work... Snuggling (or "nucklin") in the tent. So cute. Love this book!

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Yep... adorable. Jeff at work... My favorite part of these sessions.. listening to Katie and Gregsby sing. Makes my heart happy. Emeline getting her dance on ;) Katie is beautiful. Family time :) Love this moment. Gregsby is amazing with his family. Emeline loves this book. So cute to hear her try to say turtle :) Enthusiastic cheering :) More of Jeff at work! :) This was Emeline's response when I asked if I could have a bite. I'm pretty sure this is a No. One of my favs. I love the concentration needed to take this bite. Mastering the spoon... and doing it well. Jeff :) Baby feet and amber feet :) Look how messy! Just love this one. And I believe yogurt on eyelashes is a first for me! Love how babies have to run with their arms out... Wash wash wash Intense fascination. One of my favorite faces. More lashes. Emeline loves her mirror... Snuggling. I seriously love this face. Love it. hehehe... funny self portrait. Emeline wasn't quite into it... but we did it anyway!

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Sometimes its fun to just shoot... I don't always share this stuff on the blog, but I thought this time I'd show you some of the fun and random stuff that I photographed while in Miami... be sure to let me know if you like any of this stuff... I'd love to start putting together art pieces for friends and clients!

One more HUGE thanks to Nicole and Ian for putting up with my insanity while in Miami...I love you guys.

xoxo!

-amber

(PS... I won't be captioning a lot of these images... I just took them for fun, and don't really want to do a lot of explaining.)

I love looking for lines everywhere.... Interesting juxtaposition in a stained glass window at hard rock cafe'. Don't you feel like you can touch this? There's so much texture. Love the color in these next few :) A fun little local joint. Fun shot of Ian... Glorious color at sunset :) self portraits are fun :) Nicole is stunning. This light was so fun. I adore these two. They have been so good to me... Playing with long exposures at night... Loved these clouds that I saw on my way home on the shuttle so much that I pulled my camera out of its bag, put it together, and shot a bit through the window. Gorgeous.

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