Our family’s move to Denver coincides perfectly with my two year anniversary in this business.  It was about 2 years ago that I realized photography is how I am meant to leave my mark on this world. I had struggled for as long as I could remember trying to figure out just what it was exactly that I wanted to spend my life doing. I had tried so many different things, but nothing seemed to fit. Until this. The only thing I didn’t realize 2 years ago was how difficult this journey would be. I thought simply having the drive and desire and love of photography would be enough.  In reality, I had no idea what it takes to run a business (I didn’t even know that I needed to know this!), nor how much I had yet to learn in my craft. I eagerly dove into anything photography related that I could find. I found some great places online where I knew surely they would instantly see my photography genius, and then when I posted my photos online and got a dose of reality I was crushed. Did they not see my amazing talent? After many hours of reading and watching, I finally realized I had to start from the beginning, and it would take much more dedication and lost sleep and perseverance than I had ever expected to make this into a real business.

It has been humbling, challenging, inspiring and exhausting all at the same time, but I wouldn’t give up the last two years of my life as a photographer for anything!  I’ve had some amazingly beautiful and funny and nice clients who have helped me create some wonderful images. They would not have been as wonderful without your gorgeous faces in them!  I’ve learned a ton about customer service, and that running a business isn’t always smooth. I’ve learned that most people are wonderful to work with, and witnessed amazing moments over and over; like the complete adoration a new mother has for her new baby, the proud look on a father’s face watching me take photos of his firstborn, the funny looks when a dad gets ‘initiated’ into baby photography for the first time (aka, gets poo’ed or pee’d on at our session), the silly love of parents together when I finally get them alone, or the sweet love a mother has for her last born son when the other kids have run off.  These are the moments I love to capture.

I’ve also been fortunate to meet some talented photographers who are on the same journey I am, and we’ve become great friends and even greater colleagues. I’m so thankful that I found them (you all know who you are), and am smart enough to know that I couldn’t have done this alone. I’ve been incredibly, insanely busy much of the time, but when you are truly doing something you love it is so worth it. I only hope that I will get more sleep in 2010 than I did in the first two years in this business.

So, with this new move I knew the time had come for me to get serious about a new brand for Laura Renee Photography.  I have felt for a while now that I wanted a brand that I could fully embrace, and that would stand the test of time and take me forward into my new market here in Denver.

So from now on, Laura Renee Photography will be

Please update your links to www.vibrantlifephotography.com/blog, as this will be my last post on this blog. (I’ve moved everything over, so no worries it’s all still there). I’m so excited about this new brand and I’m working with an incredible Graphic Designer and Photographer out of Boise, ID, Jayme, and she has some amazing things in store for my brand that I can’t wait to share with you all!  I will be unveiling all of that on my new blog in the next few weeks, so I will see you all over there!

Wow, I can’t believe January is already gone. Where did the time go?  I want to take a moment to thank each and every one of my clients who helped make 2009 a fabulous year for me professionally. I really appreciate you and the trust you put in me to capture your family’s memories. I think you will see from the images below that I had some gorgeous subjects to work with. Lucky me!

As you know, we’ve left Portland and made our way to Denver (I think that has a lot to do with the month of January being a complete wash around here!).  It was a long drive, but the kids were troopers and we are slowly getting settled into our new home.  The kids (big kid, anyway) is in school and we are finding our way around. My office is a total disaster, but we are slowly digging our way out and I’m ready to blog and have a few fun things and a big announcement coming up on the blog!

Portland clients, if you know anyone in the Denver area who might be interested in a photography session in 2010, send them my way. If you refer a new client, both you and the client will receive something special from me.

Thank you 2009, and welcome 2010! I’m looking forward to another great year!

I was lucky to get to meet this little darling last week and she was full of smiles for me.  At 2 months old, she wasn’t interested in sleeping but definitely interested in smiling for her mommy and me!  I haven’t gotten to the rest of her session yet, but here is one for now!

This cute family met me at the park this past weekend to get some family pictures before their little girl arrives in about two weeks.   We had to make the choice between going out in the super cold temperatures, or waiting for it to warm up and risk being rained out. Thank goodness we opted for doing it this past weekend as it’s been raining cats and dogs ever since.  But that meant that temps were in the 30s during our shoot!  Brrrrrrr.

I think the kids were basically frozen, but they were troopers!

Here are a few of my faves.  It was great to see you guys again, C & K.  Congrats again on the baby girl!

I got to see this little sweetheart a second time this week when she came over for round two of our newborn session. Can I just say that I love the fact that snuggling babies is part of my job? Am I lucky or what? She was just so sweet and perfect, and loved being snuggled.  I’m happy to report that I was able to get her to sleep for me on the beanbag, finally, if only for a little while!  I captured some really amazing images during her short nap, and here is one that I just love!

Mom and Dad, it was so nice meeting you all. You are such a cute and sweet family!  I will send you an email when your gallery is ready.

Sweet little A had her debut photography session at 7 days old this past weekend. She was such a sweetheart, and so tiny and perfect. But, she wasn’t wild about having her photos taken (aka: she didn’t like to be fussed with once she was asleep) so we had to stop short of getting all the shots we wanted, and are going to try again this week.

In the meantime, I know mom and dad are wondering what I did manage to capture while I was there. Here’s a few for now.  I look forward to seeing you all again soon!

Last weekend at the Outer Banks wasn’t all fun & games, we actually did some real photography too! Our host Amber of Little Moon Photography organized a newborn workshop for us, and I got to meet sweet little 8 day old Sophie & her stylin’ big sister. Such beautiful children!  Check out their cute pictures below!

This past weekend I flew to the Outer Banks of North Carolina to meet up with some amazingly talented photographers from around the country. To say it was a blast is an understatement!!! First off, the location on the OBX was just AMAZING. Wow! And secondly, it was so wonderful to finally meet these wickedly talented ladies! There could not have been a better spot or better weather to hang out, shoot, and just have a fantastic time. I’m so wishing I was back there!

Here are some pics from the weekend featuring the amazing women I met up with on the GTG!

First, a group pic taken by the talented Amy (I’m in the middle)

Our host, the beautiful and talented Amber of Little Moon Photography

Gorgeous Andrea who is also moving to the Denver area this next year! Can’t wait to see her more often!

Sweet & Sassy Shey

My rental car buddy Kerri

My roomie for the weekend, the fun and fabulous Kristina

Gorgeous Amy

Sweet Jami

Totally gorgeous Kim

Crazy beautiful Kelly

And Becky who is one of the most photogenic people ever…

Here is the pic of the house, amazing!

And the beach…

And some of us shooting..

I had such a great time, thanks everyone!  Can’t wait to see you all again soon!

Newborn workshop and family beach session coming up tomorrow!

First off, is it really September already? This summer really just flew by! I don’t know if it’s my age or whether it’s just my imagination, but it seems that every summer goes by faster than the last. Or maybe this summer was just filled with lots of fun and planning for the future.

Some of you might have noticed recently the words “Denver” popping up on my website and blog posts. I’m sure you wondered what was going on, and it’s finally time to explain!

Starting October 15, 2009, Laura Renee Photography will be based out of the Denver, CO area!! What does this mean for my Portland clients? Well, obviously I’ve loved getting to meet my amazing clients here in Portland and would hate to leave you all hanging when I go. So…I’ve decided to travel back to Portland every few months for some extra special sessions just for YOU! Make sure to check the blog regularly for updates on these sessions as I’ll have limited openings.

I’m planning to come back at some great times of the year: in the fall for those holiday portraits, in the spring, and in the summer. Wait, I missed winter. Oh yes, the rain. As the rain is one of the things that drove us from here, I have no plans to come back during rainy season. Contact me if you think that’s a problem. I’ll be keeping an interest list and contacting those people for date preferences, so if you are interested in being on that list please email me. laurareneephoto@gmail.com.

For this fall, I plan to hold some holiday mini-sessions in October for those Holiday Card shots! Stay tuned as I’ll be posting about that in the next day or so.

Until then, here are a few recents of my smiley and sweet two year old,

-Laura

A few weeks ago Andrea of Andrea Roberts Photography had the chance to Beta Test some really cool Textures from Totally Rad Actions and asked me to be a part of it! She showcased images from 21 photographers across the country, and I was really excited to be asked to submit a photo for a texture play. Check out her full blog post and review of the texture actions here.

They are pretty cool. I can’t wait to get my hands on this set of actions!! You can find them on the TRA Actions Website.

Here is my picture with the texture called Booty LaRue on it:

And here is the picture before: