Prison Shoot Part 1

So, I spent Saturday at the Eastern State Penitentiary with some other photographers and a group of models for a photoshoot. I had so much fun and I can't wait to do something like this again. The old broken down retired prison was a great place to shoot.I have so many images from this shoot that I am going to have to break it up into two seperate blog posts.

New Purchases

So, I bought a website and a big-girl membership to DWF which means that as soon as that goes through I will be spending hours upon hours reading the forums.... and I can't wait. The website will probably take a while to get up and running for the main reason being that I don't have enough images for it yet. I am going to a shoot in Philly this weekend for some portfolio building, but of course its going to rain!

In my never-ending fitness endeavors, the latest had been P90x which I purchased on a whim after seeing on an info-mercial when I was not sleeping but should have been. Austin and I have been doing the bootcamp workouts for a few weeks now and I think we are ready to commit to the 90 day program. We now have an entire weight set, bands, and a pull-up bar in our downstairs...Today will be the official first day...

Dessert Convention

So, I made the decision for today to be a lazy Sunday including cleaning, organizing, dancing around to my latest ipod tunes, and hanging out in front of the t.v. Well, As I was channel surfing I came across a show about the Great American Dessert Convention, so I immediately jumped up and googled it..... in the hopes that I could go. Once again... my sweet tooth was driving my every thought.. which included flying to Vegas for desserts at this convention. Unfortunatly, this event is only open to professionals in the food and beverage industry...new mission... Find someone in the food/beverage industry that would allow me to tag along...

Sleeping Arrangements

It is apparent who is in charge in our house, and I'll give you a clue that it's not Austin or myself.

Dink is 23!

Any event for my sister Dink is always an interesting one and in case you weren't aware of the National Holiday on Feb 1st otherwise known as "Dink's Birthday".. then you do now. The party consisted of family, friends, food and wii tornaments...

Dana asked Dink to be her maid of honor with this 1980's bridesmaid dress

Austin and Uncle Dewey spent most of the night playing the Wii

Trash the Dress.... me again

Trash the dress has made me famous once again! Just kidding. One of the photographers (Chelsea Elizabeth) who shot my Trash the Dress photos has been featured on http://www.trashthedress.com/ and a couple pics of Austin and I are posted there. You can also check out Chelsea's awesome blog at http://blog.chelseaelizabeth.com/

...this image was by Mark Lutz

To see all the photos of Austin and I that made it on to other photographers blogs check out these links:
http://blog.chelseaelizabeth.com/2007_07_01_archive.html July 10th blog
http://dmdcphotography.com/wordpress/?m=200707 July 10th Post
http://www.thewiebners.com/blog.cfm?m=7&y=2007&StartRow=6 J uly 12th post
http://jkdphoto.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html July 18th post

Dog Park!

One of our favorite things to do on the weekend is to visit all of Lola's friends at the dogpark. Here are some that are a bit more photogenic than the others

Buddy the beagle:


Chubby the puggle:

Maggie the Beagle

Isabella is One!

Isabella turned one this weekend and she had a Strawberry Shortcake themed party complete with a Strawberry Shortcake big girl chair and her own individual cake.

super cute cousin Ava

The new logo

So, After spending a week in Tampa learning so much about photography at the DWF convention I came back with a long list of to-do's. I learned about the importance of branding yourself, and one of the first things on my list was to create a logo. So, I sought out the help of my best friend Amy who has a degree in Art to help design a logo. We went back and forth on using my real name (Melissa) or the name by which most of my friends and family call me (Issy) and decided that Issy is unique and depicts my personality more. We knew we needed to add some pink in there because part of branding yourself needs to include who you are, even in a little logo. After plenty of sketching, here it is. Thanks for your help Amy!

Meet Lola!

I figured that since I will probably be writing plenty of posts about my dog that I should formally introduce her. This is Lola, my 2 year old beagle. Lola is well beyond spoiled and totally runs the house. She is basically a nose with 4 legs and can smell food from amazing distance. So far she has ruined 2 coats because I left something in the pocket, and she has mastered the art of stealing food when we are not paying attention. This little dog always keeps me on my toes and I'm sure there will be plenty of Lola stories to come.

Baby Alexander

My bestfriend since preschool, Amy, and her husband Geoff (who I introduced to her) welcomed their little bundle of joy back in September. Baby Alexander arrived 2 months early at only 4 pounds, and Austin and I were fortunate enough to be there. I was on my way to work that day when I got a phone call that it was time for Alexander to arrive. I said to Austin "quick, pull off the highway! the baby is coming!" Amy and I have been through every major event in our lives together since we were 4 years old and I wasnt going to miss this for the world. Alexander is now almost 4 months old and he gets bigger everytime we see him.

Megans Last Competition

I had the opportunity to photograph an amazingly talented cheerleader named Megan during her last high school cheerleading competition as she will be graduating this year. I have watched Meg turn from tiny little middle school cheerleader into a soon to be college athlete. These pics were taken at the World Spirit Federation National Competition in Atlantic City... and yes... they came home with a first place trophy!

First Wedding Shots

These pictures were taken at a wedding where I was a guest. We were glad to see this couple so excited about this day and we were honored to be invited so I had to bring the camera along. The wedding was at the Riverview in Pennsville, NJ on the river.

First Post.... EVER!

So, I just got back form the Digital Wedding Forum Photography Convention and I'm feeling a bit inspired. Since everyone has been asking to see some photos I can post a few from a recent cheerleading competition. Taking the trip town to Tampa, FL for the DWF Convention was the best decision I have made in a long time. It was definitely worth it! I made some great friends and learned so much in a few short days.