You’ve been asking me and I’ve gotten tons of requests for my likes/dislikes list. So here it is and don’t let me down, leave me some comments. I love to hear from you!

I promised and I do keep my word! I can’t promise I’ll be regular with this but I do promise to keep letting you know what’s on my Diamonds/Disses list.

It’s a way to get to know me more. Isn’t that what everyone wants? To know the person whose blog they read on a regular basis?

So, I started a list and if you follow me on twitter, you’ll know I lost that list, but alas, no worries Miss Organized has found it! So…here we go, let’s do this..

Some Diamonds: For me right now, I’m madly in love with Beyonce’s song “Halo” for a number of reasons, it’s got the WOW factor, it’s different and I am very drawn to “different”. It’s deep and it’s emotional. If you’ve not listened to it, go check it out now on YouTube, The video is also amazing, ummm…who is that man? the vocals are different and amazing..It moves me! Imagine an Ipod wearing, Camera in hand photographer dancing around singing this out loud, outside…. yes, I did.. and I love that I had the freedom to do so!

A few more Diamonds:
Purple Smarties, ohh come on, you know you have a favorite color/flavor. Do they have a different flavor? Well, I know for sure the purple ones are amazing.

My Iphone: My Iphone is very special to me, because I am mega connected. My Iphone also has a special name, you’ll know this if I connect to you on it My Iphones name is “Izzy”. My Iphone is even more special to me because last week, it dropped (notice I did not drop it, IT dropped) and it cracked the glass, BUT, it still worked which was amazing, but, I had to replace it and yes folks, it did cost me. Apple Care does not cover the glass (just an FYI). But my Iphone is my new best friend! I’m waiting on my new skin to arrive.

And of course we have to have a Diss in here. Now on my list my Diss list is 1/2 the size of my Diamonds list…So you know, I’m just saying! So I’ll go big on the Diss list right now:
Drywall Dust… seriously. It un-nerves me that we can put men on the moon, cars that run on electric, but we still have drywall dust. That stuff is seriously from a place I’d rather not talk about. It sneaks in under closed door, sealed off rooms and it just floats, for hours, days, WEEKS and then just lands all over EVERYthing, EVERYwhere. So I definitely have to diss Drywall dust!

Okay so here it is, the meaningless post you have all been begging me to write. And of course, no blog is good without an image posted, so, instead of an image of me dancing around with my camera, i’ll leave you with my beloved R.I.P. Iphone…

Okay maybe not today, but everyday…

Artists tend to be moody, and very deep emotionally. So, trust me, I’m an artist! I don’t just take pictures I create and I love LOVE what I do…

Then there is life and life gets in the way. Life can bog you down, drain your creativity and sometimes nearly stop you in your tracks.

I’m blessed enough to know how to bring my creativity back, I don’t have name for it, but if you do, let me know and I’ll adopt yours. I just GO, right now where I live I’m very VERY fortunate to have a state park, that I have named “The Forest” and this is where I go. It’s an amazing place and very full of life.

One thing I LOVE about The Forest is I can be myself there. and today was no exception. I walked a path along the lake, Iphone in Ipod mode, earphones in and camera in hand…and I walked and I sang…YES, folks, I sang, OUTLOUD…now the funny thing is, when you sing outloud and your deep into it…sometimes you turn around and a son and his dad are standing there looking at you like you’ve lost your cotton-pickin mind. None the less, I smiled and waved and kept moving….

Another favorite place of mine is a very small cemetery I’ve found, I think it’s a secret, so I act like it is. Once again…headphones on, camera in tote I put on my new best amazing song and sang it, and danced and shot and really released a lot of energy.

Now I know your wondering, “can she even sing”? Yes I can. I won’t go out for American Idol, but yes, yours truly can sing and loves to sing. Dancing is another story and we will just hope no one ever catches it with a video camera.

I’m back and I’m motivated and I’m focused once again… It does it for me..What does it for you when you need to unwind and just release that bad energy stuff happening all around you?

Oh yes and this week, I am so doing that 4 mile hike around the lake.. I can’t wait.

Here are a few pictures along the way. I had a blast! It’s so fun to be free!

Okay this guy liked me, he really did..I got SOOOO close and he just stayed there. I named him.. Ike!

This just happened along the way…the light the setting was so beautiful!

and now don’t get all creeped out and morbid on me, it’s just really a beautiful place set away from everything, up on a hill… very serene and secret!

so what do you do? How do you unwind. So many of you tell me you read my blog, now it’s time to post, I’d love to hear your responses…

I’ve got this friend Amanda, she’s an awesome photographer and friend! She’s also way smart! I think she gets it from her mom!

I LOVE her blog! I’ve noticed lately she’s started doing these little weekly posts (sweet stuff Saturday, Things I Thought on Thursday, Miscellaneous Monday) you get it right?

Hello? I missed the memo!

So, I’m stealing her idea, and it’s cool because, she’s a photographer and she’s a friend so, that makes it all good. Right, Amanda?

Unlike Amanda, I won’t have a regular day for our sharing of Diamond and Disses, but I will be posting every week. Something!

So, where did I get the name Diamond and Disses?

Come on girls, we know we love our rocks! Plus I’m a wedding photographer! Holllaaa!

The Disses, well… I guess we’ll need balance, and I’m sure I’ll find something to talk about. I love to be a positive person, but we do live in a very real world!

So stay tuned….for Diamonds and DIsses!

Oh and Amanda, here we are in NYC with a couple “other” friends I’m just going to see if they still follow my blog!

and Amanda and I with Jasmine Star

I got in trouble for this one…. Amanda her mom shopping in B and H. Did not know you were not allowed to photograph inside the store!

This past weekend I had the opportunity to photograph Tony and Annie’s E-Session.

We had a beautiful day and they picked an amazing location: New Town! I told them I’d have a hard time NOT talking about their shoot location so I’ll just say now, this place is amazing! It’s almost a gated community with just about everything they would need within it’s framework! It’s a beautiful place to walk around and enjoy, and we did!

We’ll be shooting Tony and Annie’s wedding in June, we can’t wait to capture the emotion of their day!

I think we covered almost every area of New Town, and walking and talking with Tony and Annie I could tell they have a very solid relationship. Both are very committed individuals who have come together to become an amazing couple!

No matter what was asked of them, they did it, easily. Tony even scouted and found us an amazing wall that they were photographed by.

There’s a special bond between couples and this is so evident with Tony and Annie, they were so complete together it was such an honor to experience and to capture.

It’s your wedding day and we know a lot of people are on budgets as most people should be, but as you plan your wedding, Creations Photography would like you to remember a few things…

There are only a few things that will last after your wedding:
1. Your Dress
2. Your marriage
3. Your pictures

Out of those:

The dress; you’re going to box up and place in the back of a closet or attic somewhere.

Your marriage; WILL be a lasting memory of the day he asked you to marry him!

But, out of that special day you became his wife and you both said “I DO”, the favors will be taken, the flowers will have died, the food and cake will be gone and the music will have faded away….

The only tangible memories you have of your wedding day are your wedding pictures. Wedding Photography is an investment, and we realize this.

That is why on your day, we book only one wedding YOURS! When you hire us you get US! We love what we do and it shows in our work and US! We are professionals, we don’t just click and print, there is professional processing that gives our images the quality you deserve and look for in wedding photography.

Don’t trust your wedding and your memories to anything but the best!

We’ve heard it time and time again…. I wish I would have….. But, by the time you get to “wish I would have” the first kiss is over, the first dances have been danced, the wedding cake has been eaten, and the only memory you have now, are your images…Don’t wish you would have!

Creations photography, we are worth the investment!

Lisa B. and Raquel C.

www.Creations-Photography.net

NO, I’m not pregnant!

So, if you’re a follower you’ll know I spent Easter (Resurrection) Sunday listening to Sinbad. For me, right now, right where I am THIS was for me!

Everyone knows I’ve relocated, kicking and screaming I’ve been dragged out of my comfy enviorment and made uncomfortable and a bit out of control!
Meaning…

I don’t know how to get out of a simple high school parking lot easy and FAST!

I can’t find the flippin’ Alexia products at the Grocery Store!

I didn’t know that at the end of the bridge is 35mph, not 55, yep I got a ticket! I was going 53!

I do now know cows do not go Mooo…REALLY!

the list goes on, but my comfort zone is nil. I feel comfortable in my home and at my church! I’ve even made friends (I said I was not going to do that) Lynn, Steve and Starr, Amanda, Maribel, Preston, Mel and Lynne Tony, Earl and the whole usher team! Thank you for being kind!

I’ve looked at this whole move as an adventure,(after I stopped crying and got a hold of myself) and I’m anxious to see what is in store for me here. I wonder what doors will open and what ones will shut.

I’m thrilled I have a new church family and another extension to my Ohio church. I’m so thankful for being involved.

What an honor and a privilege, thank you for asking me, to capture this event!

Sinbad was really good, he mixed humor with his message, of course he did, he’s Sinbad! It was real ministry and it was good! He wasn’t “performing” because he did 2 services and they were not the same! He was just real and he did what he knows how to do!

So, here are a few pics of the day! Sinbad did what he does best and so did I, enjoy!

I get asked all the time what music I play to get prepared for my sessions and since I had an awesome E-shoot today, yes the images will be up soon, I thought I’d share with you some of the music I listen to in order to get prepared for the Engagement Sessions!

Unlike a wedding where I need to be really pumped up, to me an E-shoot is much more about two people, one on one with me and my camera, it’s romantic, it’s sexy and it’s fun!

I download some special music to get in the “mood” to shoot! I am generally always in the mood to shoot (ask my family), but there are days you have to shake off some debris to get ready to Bring It!

Today on my to St. Peters Park, I listened to these songs…I suggest you look them up, Leonia Lewis is AMAZING!

So here you go:

Leona Lewis:
Forgive me
Better In Time
Whatever It Takes
Here I Am

One Republic:
Say

Natasha Bedingfield:
Pirate Bones (I know, but I love the beat of this song)
Put Your Arms Around Me
Pocket Of Sunshine

Colbie Callat:
Oxygen

Matthew West:
You Are Everything

Israel Kamakawiwo’ole:
Somewhere Over The Rainbow… I LOVE this song and the story behind Israel’s life!

Each of these songs have special meaning to me, even as mellow as they sound, they really work for me. Plus I’m pretty hyped up shooting couples!

Now weddings, that’s a totally different ball game, and I’ll share those songs with you in a few weeks, right now I have my hands full on a few projects.

So, for now, enjoy the music and I’ll put up a sneaky peaky of today’s shoot in a bit.

and because a blog is only good with pictures -

It’s that time of year again, time I get my gear and follow my sons team around to take some fun and action shots of him and his baseball team.

This is a new year for us, since our relocation, I’m with a totally new team, with players that are not used to a mom with such a big lens!

It’s different too, no one knows me, I can’t shoot inside the fence and that is really a challenge. No one has really asked me what I am doing, besides a young man at Saturdays tournament that wondered if I was with SI (Sports Illustrated) I laughed and said no, I’m just a mom, he then gave me his name and his position. How funny.

Luke’s team is now 7-1, with their first loss today. For a young team, they do very well together and I can see a major difference in this ball club.

Luke plays Pitcher, Short Stop and Catcher, He LOVES to play baseball. It’s all he talks about and thinks about.

For Christmas we bought Luke a fat head of himself… how fun is that. I have a company that makes them and his was the first I had made. It’s on his wall next to his bed.

I’ll be posting more pictures of Luke’s team in the coming days.

For now I’ll leave you with these!

This past weekend I was asked to photograph a single mothers luncheon. This was more then just a luncheon it was a full fledged catering to single moms.

I was a single mom for 4 years of my daughters life and however hard those times were, those years of bonding between my daughter and I can never be replaced. We are absolutely close and as strong as I was for her, she was that strong for me.

I remember the nights crying and her tiny little voice telling me not to cry, that I had her. Those four years were precious and really made a great difference in my life and hers!

I knew that ministering to single moms was a GREAT idea, moms have a way of giving, dying to themselves and not looking back, for single moms it a double duty as they play both mom and dad! I was so honored to be such a small part of this event.

What started small grew, as any great idea, it just kept growing, by Sunday there were over 200 woman signed up. TWO HUNDRED WOMAN! That is amazing.

Besides food and refreshments (candy on every table) there were hairstylist, manicurist, masseuse, tax help, fashion advice and giveaways.

This was no minor league effort, this was major, it was bigger then you or me. It was massive.

I was witness to tears and smiles! I talked to one woman who wore a wig because she never had time to get her hair done, she tossed her wig that day! I did not see one bad hair cut that whole day. I received a hug in the parking lot and thanks for everything!

I saw women relax and have a good time, I saw women enjoy watching other woman getting pampered. It was such an blast to talk to people and hear their stories, to share mine.

I just captured the event with my camera, but so many gave SO MUCH time, effort, money and talent.

It’s such an honor to belong to such a good work at Church On The Rock!

Yesterday was a beautiful day, it felt like spring was in the air!

We scheduled a Saint Louis Photographers meet at the Missouri Botanical Gardens, HELLO! What an awesome place!

It was the last day of the orchid show and I knew I had to get some shots of those orchids for my daughter. She LOVES them. It’s an inside joke, but you know, they don’t sell orchids in NE Ohio!

We gathered at 11 and shot the orchid show and the gardens, then we travelled down the road a few to “The Hill” famous for it’s homemade, family owned Italian Restaurants, we picked Guido’s and we spent the next couple hours just networking, chatting and sharing ideas.

That’s what it’s all about folks. It’s not about photographers competing for who has more, who is better, but gathering to share ideas and thoughts and creativity. I can say out of everyone there, we were all individuals, very creative individuals with a lot of important things to say.

We’re going to do it again! I promise!