kimbrali photography blog

its 1:31 am.........

and i just put my son back in his bed.
tonight was his first big boy night to go to bed without his "nunu".
we were completely shocked when he actually went to sleep without it. this boy is IN LOVE with his pacifier.
he must have been totally exhausted from all of the playing and sand he ate at the baseball game tonight though because i didnt hear a peep from him until just now, three hours after we put him down to sleep.
he stumbled out of his room like a drunken old man confused out of his mind.
i gave him his nunu:) and now he is happily dreaming all cozy in his crib again.
so sweet.

so on to the good stuff.
this couple was so easy to work with. i dont remember ever having to tell them to smile or get close because they were always laughing and cuddling. so sweet together and fun to be around. i tried a few different things at their session and i am super happy with what we ended up with.
here are a few....

he looks so proud of her.

one of my faves.

just playing around with shadows.

hotness.

go fish.

these two went to preschool together, which i think is so cute, but did not start dating until a few years ago.
actually, on their very first date they were involved in a head on collision and totaled the car.
that is a hell of a first date!

anywho.
they were so laid back and easy to photograph.
it was beyond hot the day of their session but they managed to suck it up and enjoy the afternoon with each other. i enjoyed it too:)

love this one.

love love love this one too.

he kind of has a leonardo dicaprio thing going on here. (with whom by the way i had the most obsessive out of control crush on in high school. seriously. it was kind of creepy.)

fishing is a big part of their life together and they really wanted to incorporate it into their engagement photos which i think is awesome.

and they even caught a fish....but dont worry it was thrown right back into the pond two seconds after this.

piggyback rides are the coolest.

so i went fishing the day after their session last week because i realized how much i missed it.
i loved to go fishing with my aunts when i was a wee little tot and have not gone in years.
i spent two hours at the crap city lake near my parents house and not one single bite!
all i left the lake with was a bad attitude and a severe sun burn!

next time i will dominate!:)

lucky in love.

last week at an engagement session, the future groom found a four leaf clover in the field we were shooting in!
how great is that!?!

i have spent years searching for one of these with no luck. ugh.
i did once rig one up with some tape though and put it in a scrapbook and pretended i had found one:)
so sad.

here is one of the beautiful couple.

it was so sweet how they stared at eachother. only unmarried couples do that:)

not much on words tonight.
i am tired and im going to bed before midnight! woohoo!

i heart austin.

im thinking really hard about packing up everything and moving back to texas.
i miss that place and austin is just perfection in my mind.
i could list one million things about austin that i absolutely love but i will spare you all and just post a few pics from this weekend.
i honestly just grabbed a few while i was downloading pics so there are so many more.
im sure ill post a link to a slideshow of the wedding when i am done editing the whole thing.
the wedding was beautiful and so much fun.
not a bad day when you get paid to photograph a wedding with friends and family and drink champagne and eat on the job:)

only the sweetest bride ever.

beautiful.

a perfect day.

this couple laughed together the whole night. isnt there some saying that a couple who laughs together stays together?
i might have just made that up but i think its true and i think this awesome couple have a bright and happy future ahead of them.

and then i was able to meet up with little miss olivia yesterday afternoon to get some one year old photos.
i photographed her at three months and she pretty much looks and acts exactly the same.
nothing but smiles and cuteness.

we shopped. wow. they have great shopping in austin.
we ate brunch at the south congress cafe.
absolutely delicious! they have really great bloody marys too:)
then i had the most amazing burger of my entire life at this place.
i dont think it is the "cool place" to go to in austin but i dont care. it should be.

and while we are talking about austin. we stayed at the irons for my sis in laws bachelorette party last year.
it was by far the coolest place i have ever stayed at on vacation.
it is way expensive but totally worth it.
if you are going to austin for a fun weekend you should definitely give rusty, the owner, a call and tell her i sent you.
this place is super close to downtown and all the good stuff.

i am going back to austin next month for a photography workshop with my photo friend, melissa.
we will be staying a night at the hotel san jose.
im counting down the days!

can you tell i love austin?

and thanks ames for letting rael and i crash on your couch:)

twelve years.

that is how long i have been friends with katie.
she was the very first girl to befriend me when i moved to louisiana in 8th grade.
we were inseperable through out high school.
we were roomies at LSU.
she is my daughters god mother and she was a bridesmaid in my wedding.
and now she is getting married to a super awesome new orleans boy and i am so excited that my daughter and i are both going to be part of their big day.
we havent been able to hang out nearly enough over the last few years because i am too busy having babies and being a mom and she is too busy being a lawyer. i mean REALLY....like her job is difficult or something:)

so i was so happy to head over to new orleans last weekend and get to see what her and colin have been up to.
we drove around st. charles avenue to look at the amazing homes.
and then we walked around loyolas campus to photograph some engagement photos where katie and colin went to law school together.

i might be a tad biased but i do believe that katie marie is one of the most beautiful girls in louisiana.
see for yourself.
little reminder : you can click on the photos to view them larger.

this photo makes me feel all sorts of depression. i used to share clothes with those legs! i dont think i could fit my wrist into a pair of katies pants these days.

katie and colin were making fun of me when i was shooting at this particular location because i kept saying that the light was so beautiful. but it was. i cant help it. i like the word- beautiful.

we had to climb up some very steep stairs to get this shot and although i was being a major whiny baby at the time im glad that we did.

katie is going to hate me for this but oh well...its my blog! :)

love this of colin.

and i thought it would be funny to share this.

katie gave me this ring in 8th grade for valentines day.
it is one of those holographic rings where it shows different pics depending on the direction you are looking at it from.
one side says - boyfriends come and go - with a picture of a broken heart
the other says - friends are forever - and has a picture of hands holding the heart together.

how cute were we?
i can not believe i still have it!

leah&david in love.

i am about to toot my own horn big time.
please dont take this the wrong way.
i am a very down to earth type of girl.
i think i am an average photographer at best.
i am not super diva photo girl and i surely dont think that my photos are anything compared to my idols in the photo world.
but.....
leah and davids engagement photos kick a**.
yes. i said it.
its true.
i can only say this knowing that most of the awesomeness of their photos has absolutely nothing to do with my ability as a photographer and everything to do with leah working the camera like a pro.

david was not into being photographed at all (and i dont blame him) but he sucked it up and did what we asked him to do. such a trooper.

here are just a few.
i will definitely be sharing many many more though.
i have got to get some sleep though. these late nights are wearing me down.

you MUST click on this one to view it in a larger size. leahs eyes are beautiful.

way overdue.

i photographed a proposal in progress a few months ago for my very good friends, blain and amanda, and i am just now actually getting around to sharing them all. ive been a very busy girl this year but its better late than never! right!?!
i posted a few on here then but i think i deleted all of my old posts. anywho. i put together a little slideshow so that amanda and blaine could share it with their family and friends now.
i love love love love love love love love these two. seriously. LOVE them.
i was so pissed when i came home after this took place to find that half of the images were out of focus.
it may have had something to do with the rain and yuckiness of the day but it may also have been the fact that i was crying and hyperventilating like i do so very well when i get emotional.
i cant help it. im a cryer.

so here we go....just click play.

*EDITED to say* i have absolutely no idea why the slideshow is looking all crazy and off centered but it took me entirely too long to make that thing so its staying up like that for now:)

laurens bridals.

here are a few bridals from a super awesome girl that was married this past weekend. i am not a wedding photographer but i LOVE to photograph bridals. especially when they look like lauren:)
i was so excited when i showed up for her session and saw her standing in the parking lot. she is so laid back and so fun. she is not as girly as she looks either. i think it is so funny that she looks like cinderella but she definitely doesnt act like her....and i mean that in a good way. THE GIRL HUNTS! literally she told me she went hunting the morning before her bridal shower. so funny.
i tried to make her feel bad by telling her about the movie Bambi but i dont think it effected her much. I dont think moms in southern louisiana allowed their children to watch that movie because it seems no one here has a problem with leaving poor baby deer alone in this great big world without their mommy and daddy deer.
ok so that is my little anti hunting rant for the day!
here are some images of the BEAUTIFUL lauren....

my favorite.

kim+jan.

i started working on kim and jans wedding photos from last weekend.
this one just stood out from the others. they were such good dancers and i loved how they stared at eachother during their first dance. so cute.
ill post more soon. there are so many fun ones from their reception.

and one of the flower girl and ring bearer. i love how they are looking at eachother too. not quite the same look that kim and jan were giving eachother though.

heidi+trey.

i had the most amazing, wonderful, perfect saturday photographing heidi and treys wedding.
seriously. i love heidi and her family. truly. i do.
i dont really know how to explain how great they are. i am sure everyone at the reception got sick of me saying over and over and over again "i LOVE this family"

the day was absolutely gorgeous. bright sky, cool breeze, absolutely no humidity, which is almost unheard of in southern louisiana. the church was beautiful, the outdoor reception at the UL alumni house was incredible.
every little thing about the day was just perfect.
i am so so SO glad that i was able to be part of their wedding day. i wish there were more people in the world like heidi and her family and friends. the world would me a much better place.
here are just a couple from saturday.
i will post more from the actual wedding and reception next week.