PetValu Lewis Center Pet Halloween contest
PetValu has been a very generous donor to PetPromise, the rescue that I am pretty active in. They held a fundraiser for PetPromise where owners could bring in thier pets for photos!
Check out some of these awesome pets that came in.
Scott and Danielle were married at Irongate Equestrian Center, in Hartford. Thier wedding was held inside the converted horse barns on a magnificently hot July day, one of the hottest days we had all summer! The weather however didn’t keep us from enjoying the beautiful barn that has been renovated into a fantastic event center.
Wedding|Reception Irongate Equestrian Center
Flowers Orchids and Ivy
Dress Wendy’s Bridal
DJ Mega Beat
Catering|Cake Catering By Scott
When I found out my friends Chris and Erin had got engaged, i knew i had to have them in front of the camera. With the Ohio State Fair happening, I knew it was the perfect venue for us to do the their engagement photos. We spent the evening at the Ohio State Fair, riding rides, eating cotton candy, and laughing. These two are so at ease with each other and know how to make each other smile so easily! Chris and Erin are starting thier new married life in just three short weeks. Chris proposed to Erin with a beautiful Sapphire ring with band that was custom molded from a twig. The ring was something Erin had always dreamed of having.
Chris and Amanda were married on a perfect June day at the scenic Lakes Golf and Country Club in Westerville.
I don’t talk much about my personal life here, but i feel like I should probably talk about this. I made it an “official” business around 2006 and struggled for a long time to come up with a clever quirky name. I didn’t want to use my own name as it was too long, and settled on a name that was even longer. The irony is not lost on me. I wanted to somehow incorporate my heritage, and my name, but Lucky Photography was taken, and nothing i came up with the Gaelic Translations sounded good to me. I also knew somehow my pets would be part of the business as well, and couldn’t decide how to incorporate them either.
At the time when i was creating this, my best furry pal, my faithful follower and protecter, was and is Lola. Lola is my beautiful redheaded (now white) shepherd mutt. Ive had her since 2000, when she was a wee pup. Today, however I look upon her old white face and thank the heavens for each day she is with me.
I did not initially adopt her, a friend did from Greene County Animal Shelter, and turned out she couldn’t keep this adorable fat puppy. I was a total sucker for her from the moment I met her. Lola has been my partner in crime and constant companion. She traveled with me everywhere, she loved to climb out on the roof with me and watch the world from up high. She protected my property, and myself.
She was my husbands first dog love. She was his his constant running parter while they both could still get up at 5am and run 4 miles. She taught him how great life is with a dog. They played fetch for hours, and she greeted him happily at the door every evening with her big dopey grin, even when she had just emptied the entire contents of the kitchen trash can all over the floor.
She was my Muse, OUR Muse and still is. She would sit pretty for me and let me practice my photography on her for hours, giving me soulful eyes and sideways glances. It clicked finally that to me that she, while having an expiration, had to be part of my studio name.
Its 10 years later and we grow nearer that date by the day instead of the years, as I had once thought would take forever to happen. I have worried about how I will handle having my business named after my long lost pal, and now have come to realize it wont matter. It was my way of honoring her then, and will always be a way to honor her.
Lucky Lola will remain who I am, even when she is no longer with me.
RIP my sweet girl. You are so sorely missed. (Dec 20 2016)
As mentioned in earlier blog posts, Ohio’s weather hasn’t cooperated lately and finally we had chilly but sunny spring weekend to meet up at the beautiful Schiller Park in the Historic German Village for Scott and Danielle’s engagement session. We took a stroll through the park as they told me about their first date, the renovations of Danielle’s old house as they plan to sell it and prepare for the merging of households. These two love birds laughed so easily together and smiled so much it was infectious.
We are going to have so much fun at their wedding!
Scott and Danielle’s summer wedding will be held at the gorgeous Irongate Equestrian Center.
Mrs. Stevens wanted to get her Mother in Law a wonderful birthday gift that she knew she would truly appreciate and called me up for a big family session. We spent MONTHS planning it, a beautiful spring saturday in April when a family wedding would bring everyone in town. We picked a lovely park in Kettering that has rolling hills, trails and beautiful woods. We hoped the tulips would be in bloom but knew we might miss them. We envisioned green trees, brightly colored clothes and the newness of the air that only spring can have.
Ohio, however, has a funny sense of humor. The date came closer and closer and Ohio teased us all winter with a an almost temper tantrum of weather ups and downs. Sixty one week and twenty the next. Rain, Snow, tornados, etc. April came closer and closer and the weather seemed to be leveling out in March.
One week before our session, we got what we didn’t even know we feared; Snow.. SNOW in the second week of April, not only snow, but COLD COLD blustery snow and twenty degree weather. We just couldn’t catch a weather break. While scrambling to find a new spot indoors, I opted to network with other photographers in the dayton area for ideas. Since I’m from the Dayton area, but don’t shoot down there much, i was alittle out of my element in thinking of alternative locations. Finally an idea spawned; We opted to go the Carillon Park and check out the Center for Transportation and the Carousel.
The kids has a lot of fun checking out all the trains and riding the carousel. Thier Parents loved reminiscing about times they had been there before with all the kids. All in all despite the weather, we all had a great time.
Elijah walked into my studio and his face lit up instantly. He RAN to the stage where i take photos and yelled “PRETTY” at the top of his adorable little lungs. He saw the bright pink, lime and blue polka dots and balloons and couldn’t wait to get up there and take his photos. His Mom, Victoria, clapped her hands in delight and said “Love it!”
She messaged me on Facebook – describing me the colors and wants for Elijah’s second birthday photos. She wanted bright vivid colors, and kittens. Well those two requests are basically my specialty.
Victoria and her family and friends have had a very interesting and stressful last six months. Victoria is the founder of “Speak for the Unspoken” – a rescue for special needs dogs in Columbus Ohio. I met Victoria when photographing dogs for the rescue last summer. I also met her life changing dog Leya when helping to fulfill one of her Live Like Leya bucket list items by having Studio Portraits done.
Elijah loves kittens, much to his dog loving Moms chagrin. She knew she wanted kittens in his photos and when you are a rockstar in the rescue community- you have many connections. When Victoria calls for kittens, she gets kittens. Shortly after Victoria and Elijah arrived, Katy, a volunteer from Colony Cats (a cat rescue in columbus) joined us with a handful of fluffy kittens for Elijah to have as part of his photos.
With the release of Batman Vs Superman, i thought it would be fun to have some Superhero Minis.
Carter, Avery and best pal Beckett joined me in the studio for a SUPER HERO MINI SESSION (Imagine that in a deep dramatic movie overture)
Carter in his batman costumed was a force to be reckoned with, as he and Beckett donned his Superman cape to roam around my studio looking for Villains! (No Joker or Lex Luthor here boys!) Avery kept herself in the busy turning her Golden Lasso into a pile of .. well.. messy lasso.
Backdrop-LemonDrop Backdrops
