Re-designing a website and finding myself

How many times have you thought your professional website does not reflect your personal style? If you say NEVER, then I am incredibly happy for you and slightly jealous. If you are like me, I have thought it, even before I publish one, because who really wants to start ALL over once they have come that far? In some ways, I have created websites because I was using what others "gave" me and "rolling with it". And the crazy thing, is that those sites took me SOOOOO long to build, because I was constantly trying to make something that wasn't mine look like it was. Also, I think I was scared to put myself out there. I had a fear that people wouldn't respond well to it. Or that my style wasn't "trendy" enough. Well, I have 4 words for you: B is for Branding! Four words that rocked my world, gave me confidence and reminded me that putting "my style" out there was the best thing for me and my business. The oh-so-fabulous Alejandra Vidal of Imaginale Design prepared and hosted B is for Branding and if you are a photographer, looking for some inspiration and direction in your style, this is the workshop for you!

photos provided by Imagineale Design

These are some of the words that people used to describe my photos:

poetic

emotional

romantic

in the moment

images from a novel

classic

I cannot even tell you how thrilled I was to read these words. This is EXACTLY what I was trying to portray. These words woke me up!! They made me realize that putting myself out there was SO worth it, so rewarding. 

Needless to say, THAT night, I started re-vamping my web design. This is where Alejandra came to my rescue. Even though we had known one another for less than a week, I trusted and valued her opinion. I knew she would give me an honest critique. To make a long story short, she reminded me that I needed to put myself out there. Here is the process that began this past Monday night...

~What 3 words would you use to describe your photographic style?

Mine: Classic, emotional, romantic. BTW, my favorite word that someone else used to describe my work was "poetic", which may take the place of one of my original words...:)

~What inspires YOU? 

For me, it's colors and images. I started an inspiration board on Pinterest and saw a definite pattern....Greens of every shade, slightly monochromatic and classic feels from picture and fonts. I got rid of the things that were inconsistent. Leaving me with a feeling that I was IN LOVE with!

photo credit here

photo credit here & here

I was literally able to re-design my website on Showit within 3 days and I am so excited to share it with you all NOW! The best part for me is that I truly feel proud of my design. It was a liberating experience to put something together that was ALL mine and I know that it is a TRUE expression of ME! Click below to check out the new Karie Denny Photography website.

CLICK HERE

I would LOVE to hear your thoughts on this! 

P.S. Alejandra-I am sure you thought you just met me for coffee and gave me constructive criticism, but it was SO much more than that to me.:) You helped me find a way to express my personal style in my business and I will always remember that.

xoxo-Karie Denny

Sharing The Love

Happy Monday my friends. I hope you all had a fabulous weekend. We had Grace's party and it was wonderful sharing the day with our friends and family that have been such huge part of Gracie's life.

It's time for another "Share The Love" post! There are some things I am definitely obsessing over lately, so let's dive into them...

~Without diving in to my intense addiction to Starbucks, particularly iced soy chai, I have found an inexpensive, low calorie solution for myself and wanted to sure it with y'all. I have been cold brewing my own coffee. I am not a huge fan of hot drinks in general, and brewing hot coffee and then pouring it over ice is GROSS! I have been spoiled by my years of Starbucks, so I need a really good iced coffee to keep me from jumping in the car and buying a $4 mistake, every day! On Pinterest, DUH, I found a recipe for cold brew coffee and it has been my saving grace in the mornings. To view the recipe click HERE. I used cheesecloth to filter my coffee and preferred it to the coffee filters option. I will warn you, it is kinda a long process, but well worth the weeks supply of coffee that you'll have.:)

~Simple Syrup-to sweeten anything naturally! 2 parts sugar, 1 part HOT water. stir, to dissolve and allow to cool. I am in LOVE with this stuff. It seriously makes my coffee.:) I made a large batch and store it in the fridge for use in iced drinks.

~Re-designing my website. This is round 5 for me, except this time, I am keeping it relatively similar to my last site. The new site will be launch later this week! I never thought I would create an entire website by myself, but Showit has given me to tools to make my vision successful and I am SO thankful for them. This will be my first website I am launching that was built from a blank canvas, so I am super proud of it. Can't wait to share it with you guys!

Have a beautiful day...

xoxo-Karie

It's my baby's birthday

Last night, the last time I looked at the clock, it was 11:24 pm. At 2:57 am I woke up to a coughing child. I sat up, climbed out of bed and went to check on Grace. In my haze of sleepiness, I gave her some medicine, adjusted her to sitting up on pillows and tucked her in so I wouldn't have to come back in 10 minutes to fix her again.(you know what I mean, I shoved blankets under her bottom so she couldn't slide back down...it works) I brushed her hair out of her face, kissed her forehead and said, "I love you Gracie, Happy Birthday, baby." She replied, "I love you too, mommy. Happy birthday." I couldn't help but laugh a little, kiss her again and head back to bed. I tried to go back to sleep, but just kept thinking about all of the things I wanted to write about my baby's birthday today. So, it is now 3:50 am and I am writing a blog post about our little Grace.

Words cannot even describe how wonderful this child is. I love all of my children with so much of my heart, and honestly, I love them all equally. They each evoke different emotions in me, to which I am so very thankful. The word that comes to mind when I think of my love for Grace, is PEACE. And not because she is quiet....seriously, this child doesn't stop talking unless she's asleep, and even then she responds in her sleep...but she brings a peace to my heart, unlike any person I know. She has done it to me since she was born. Not that I was a horrible mom to my boys, but I never once was upset when she woke me up at 1am for feedings, a diaper change, or just to rock her. And it hasn't changed to this day. I still get up in the middle of the night with her and hold her, hardly ever concerned about when I will get back to my bed. Feeling so at peace and in love with the moments I have with her.

I cannot believe my baby is 3 today. Tears are running down my face just typing that...it is unreal that 3 years have passed like one week. She is turning into this little girl, and I cannot express how sure I am that she will become one of the most amazing women in the world. My hope for Grace is that she will always have PEACE in her heart and the ability to give it to others. It is a powerful gift.

I love you baby girl. Happy Birthday!

her protectors

see. peace.

xoxo-karie denny

A Little Pinot-Tammy & Zach's Engagement

There are three things that go really well together; a guitar, Pinot Noir and two people in love. Luckily for me, I got to be the photographer and lets just say it was one awesome combo. We were super inspired by the fact that Tammy and Zach are getting married in Nashville this summer. Just the thought of a Nashville wedding makes my creative mind spin with images. For their session, we wanted to create engagement images that complimented their personal style and their upcoming wedding. It was an honor for Field and I to work with and really connect with Tammy and Zach. They are an amazing couple, with a beautiful connection and we cannot wait to see them on their wedding day. wink.wink.

one of the most gorgeous engagement rings I have ever seen!! Well done Zach!

words cannot describe how much I love Tammy's laughter. This pic makes me smile.:)

<3

gotta love Tammy's killer boots

so thrilled finding this tree! It was perfect for them.

absolute fave

love

such a wonderful little moment we all had listening to Zach play. Quite the talent!!

another fave

love, love, love.

fave

Tammy, you are beautiful!!

we risked our lives, but it was worth it.:)

xxxo
Karie Denny

Sharing the LOVE

~MBS Elite Fitness-Bootcamp- it is kicking my rear, and I love it!! Waking up at 5am, drinking more water than I thought was physically possible and kicking my Starbucks habit has been ROUGH! Almost as rough as the  workouts.;) Check out this amazing program for yourself HERE!!

~Pinterest-If you are not on Pinterest yet, you NEED to do this! It makes me happy every time I log on. It is crack for creative junkies like myself! Do it!! To request an invite click HERE!

~Greek Yogurt- I am in LOVE, officially. I just started adding it to my diet for the protein-(side note, did you know that if you are not consuming protein for your body to use for energy, it eats away at your MUSCLE!?!? Boy have I been going about healthy the wrong way-end side note.) Thanks to a good friend, I never would have thought to add honey to yogurt, but it is AMAZING. Try replacing those low calorie yogurts with greek yogurt!

~Blogging about my personal life-this has been a whole new world for me. I was so used to blogging images for my business, but I have realized that this is a platform for people to actually know ME, not just what I do. Thank you all for supporting me through this process of letting my guard down and allowing people into my life.:)

thanks for reading..xo

Karie

Over diets and ready to change.

On some level, we all want to connect. We all want to feel like someone else understands what we are going through. I think that sharing my issues I have had with my body may reach people on a level that they will also feel comfortable sharing and even dealing with their issues, head on. I have had weight issues since I was a young girl. I started noticing that I was heavier than my friends in 6th grade and I still struggle with it today. When I was in 9th grade, I began trying things to lose weight. None of which were healthy. I started taking over the counter pills to lose weight, doing cardio like crazy and eating less and less. And it worked....until I stopped acting like a psycho path, and gained most all of it back. And that cycle has been my LIFE for last 15 years. Yes, I am 29, we can all laugh it up........that's enough :) Okay, but seriously. What a destructive, dangerous cycle. At my heaviest, after I had Beau, I weighed 206lbs.:( ugh, that feels horrible to type and even worse to re-read...So I did what I know how to do. Temporarily fix the problem. Cardio, crash diet, fad diet, whatever will work the fastest and least painful, and the yo-yo weights continue. Let's skip to present day...I have had another child since then, so three total, and my body is becoming much more temperamental. Every calorie I don't watch becomes extra weight on me. I can't even look at a carb without my waist size increasing. Maybe, it is because I am turning 30 this year, but I have this overwhelming drive to change my body, not for the temporary, but permanently. There is nothing wrong with cutting calories and doing cardio, but it's not going to work for me anymore, and I am guessing that if you have tried it, you also know, the results are very hard to maintain. I am going to have to challenge myself to be stronger. Work harder. And finally reach my goals. I don't want to just lose weight. As a matter of fact, I could care less if I lost 1lb. I want to be physically fit. I want to see muscles in place of fat and I want to be proud of my body. I have begun a journey on a path of physical fitness and I am not looking back. I am so thankful to have you all to share this with. In a way, it's like have hundreds of people to hold me accountable! So thank you. Here are some of the things I am going to be doing to obtain my goals:

Logging ALL of my food in a journal-I am using Fitness Pal:)
Boot camp-Monday, Wednesday, Friday with Chris Warner at 545am. (seriously come join me. it will ROCK your world)
Hot Yoga-once a week
Prayer-every time I am tempted to eat something unhealthy, I am going to PRAY instead. God has the power to change our minds if we ask Him.

Let's do this!! Love y'all!!!

Karie

One beautiful rejection

One of my business goals for the year of 2012 was to have a wedding published in a bridal magazine and this morning I got my first rejection....OUCH! Can someone please untwist and remove the dull dagger in my heart. That made me feel way worse than I thought it would. I will be honest, I am by biggest critic when it comes to my images, but I really thought this one was a winner. I was a little sad that the editor said the shoot was "cute". hmmmm, "cute"...not sure how I feel about that...


Alrighty....so moving onward! I can never succeed unless I fail. And I have a feeling I am going to fail repeatedly. The hardest thing about putting yourself out there is knowing that you are going to get cut down, which is probably why I have avoided it until now. This is a new me though..I can take it..I think. Wait, I was an intensive care nurse for seven years! I should be able to take plenty of criticism!! I will let you know how I feel after another rejection. 


As disappointing as it was to get the "cute" news, I am actually kinda pumped up about the challenge. It is time for me to work harder, be myself and not hold back. I can't believe it took me three years in the business to say that!! I am excited for what is to come. I am even excited about my future failures, because I know that as long as I stay true to myself, a huge FAIL will only make me stronger!


"We miss 100% of the shots we do not take."-Wayne Gretzky 


failing to succeed, 
Karie

What I needed to hear from Jasmine Star

Somewhere between raising children and being a wife, I managed to start a business. And 2.5 years later, I still don't really know what I am doing!! All I can focus on, is what I don't have, what I don't know how to do, who is doing it better than me and it is overwhelming!! Listening to Jasmine Star tonight on the Showit Global Share, what I heard louder than everything else was, getting through my struggles will make me stronger, investing in people will make me more successful and stepping out of my comfort zone will pay off. Jasmine shared some amazing advice, but I think at this time in my career, very specific things she said spoke to me. Things that I needed to hear and I am so very thankful she shared.

I am going to make it a point to blog about my life. Blogging about my personal life sounds so easy, but I am very insecure about my writing, so this is honestly, so hard for me. Even now....sitting here, the fear of writing something that will be disappointing is more overwhelming than any excitement of writing. But I am going to do this. I am going to step out of my comfort zone. I am going to let my guard down and I am going to share my life on this tiny platform.

I have lots to share...so stay tuned.

goodnight for now.

Karie

DIY-Instgram Magnets & Giveaway

Happy Monday friends! Today, we are going to show you a DIY for customized Instagram magnets! AND we loved this product so much, we are going to send one lucky person a package of Avery Magnet Sheets to create this project.;) Just comment below to enter and a winner will be randomly chosen this Wednesday.

Everyone loves Instagram, especially if you are a photo nut like me. And typically when we take a fun shot, we want to share it, so voila...INSTAGRAM. If you don't have this app, its a must! Get it HERE. You have the option to share your Instagram photos on Facebook, Twitter, email and other social media. There are tons of fun DIY projects to do with your Instagram photos you love and today, we are going to walk you through how to create magnets featuring your favorite photos!

Things you will need:
*Avery Magnet Sheets-product 3270-I bought mine at Office Max, but I am sure any office supply or craft store would have them! They are about $15, but come with 5 sheets...that's a lot of magnets!
*Sharp scissors
*Inkjet Printer
*Our Template.:)

The first thing you will want to do is upload your favorite Instagram images from your iPhone, iPod or iPad to your computer. I create a special folder for mine, so I knew exactly where they were! Then download our template, HERE to use or you can create your own! It is a very easy program to use.
Once you have done that, you are ready to go to Avery's design page, HERE.

Next, you will want to upload your own images to replace ours.
1. Once at the link above, scroll down and click to "load project" and upload the downloaded template or begin creating your own.:)
2. Click on the template image to replace(our silly boy, Beau).
3. Use the toolbar on the left. Click on ->Image ->From My Computer

4. Select image. It will replace the template picture.

5. Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all of the template photos have been replaced by your images.

6. Load one Avery magnetic sheet.

7. Select ->Preview & Print-make any necessary adjustments and Print!

8. Cut out your images and your project is complete!

xoxo

karie denny

Christy & Bobby-Wedding Day

It was an amazing Fall for Field and I at Karie Denny Photography and to wrap it all up, we had the honor of photographing a dear friend from my previous life as a NICU nurse. Christy was actually one of my very first photography clients ever! So when Christy asked if I could do their wedding, I was so excited. It had been 3 years since our first photo session together. Field and I felt so blessed to be a part of their day and capture these moments for them. Bobby and Christy, you are an amazingly beautiful couple. We wish you guys so much love and happiness. love ya!

Christy's dancin shoes...loved them.

Christy's mom's hand and wedding ring make this shot.

you are gorgeous Christy...gorgeous.

<3

such a handsome guy.

First look, Bobby patiently waiting as Christy sneaks up behind him.

LOVE

<3

one good looking couple!!!!

one of my favorites 

why having 2 photogs ROCKS!

faves!!!

l.o.v.e.

could these kids be any cuter?!

awesome candy bar done by Christy's fabulous friends!

a little prayer before walking down the isle...

<3

a fave.

IN LOVE with this!!
p.s. My husband is a rockstar

LOVE

 xoxo

Field and Karie Denny