Casey and I made the 4 hour drive up to Schaumburg Friday to buy some decor for the new studio. I had found some really neat lamps on IKEA.com that I had to have but they didn't sell them on their site. I found them on ebay but there was a $15 shipping charge for each one so it was actually cheaper to just drive there. When we finally got there it looked like a theme park. The place was three stories high with about a million cars in the parking lot. People were actually sitting at their cars with their families eating the lunches they had packed, haha. When we got inside I was definitely glad we made the drive. It was awesome! Everything in there is cleverly designed and surprisingly affordable. I think I spent like $300 on lamps and lighting (we had to have 2 carts.) I had been going back and forth between two ideas of how I wanted the studio to look. I went to IKEA planning on having a bright studio with light floors and walls and a modern gallery feel (for the meeting/sales room.) After sitting in one of the sample rooms at the store I've decided to make it darker and more "cozy" feeling. I just want people to be able to come in, relax, and forget everything going on outside and just enjoy the experience. I also found a really neat leather sofa that I like a lot. I'm going to go back with a truck in a couple weeks and buy a couple of the sofas. For the actual studio (where the shooting takes place) I'm going to go with the bright and light colors. I want to have as much light in there as possible for pictures and I want that to be a more fun atmosphere. I'm pretty excited to get everything done with the studio (even though I haven't even started yet.) It's going to take a lot of time and work but I think once it is done it will be really neat. I'll be sure and post pictures as we improve things! Anyway, I've got to stop blogging when I'm tired... I apologize if this post and previous one's are incoherent, haha. Now I'm going to bed!

Well I'm all out of clever at the moment! haha I haven't had much time to blog lately so I thought I would take a few minutes to tell you why! Lately I've been putting putting together some new coffee table books (which you will see soon), working on my new proofs site (which I will be unveiling soon), and taking pictures, of course! I've been working 80+ hours every week for the past couple of months trying to get everything ready for the new studio. Luckily I have a career that I am truly passionate about and so it doesn't really seem like work. We're only given one life to live. If you are wasting your time in a job you hate, it's never to late to start over. If you are driven enough you can do anything. Anyway, before I start getting deep, here are a few pictures from yesterday's session! Right before he tried eating the dirt, haha.

For those of you who stalk my proofs page you'll need to get used to a new site coming soon. I've been polishing up the professionalism of my business presentation and now that my new website is done I'm going to start on the proofs page. The new site will be great because clients can build packages, watch slideshows, compare images side by side, and order online with credit card (if they choose to do so) I'll also be able to sell fine art prints!!! It will also be great for weddings for TONS of reasons! Wedding couples can register with me and their family members can buy gift cards for them so they have extra print credit for prints, wall mounts, books, etc. All family and friends who attend the wedding will be given cards with the website where they can view the event and also order pictures online from the wedding. This will cut back on brides having to handle all their family's orders (and I won't have 50 emails to sort through, haha) Everyone will also be able to send emails to their friends directly from the site so they can check out the wedding pictures. Parents will be able to select images for several products including parent albums, wall folios, coffee mugs (haha), and various other products. It's just another step in the right direction for Jarnagin Photography. Unfortunately all my proofs stalkers will have to get used to a new web address. That wouldn't be a big deal but I have tons of people who check my proofs page daily. One of the weddings I did last month had 18,000+ hits in 2 days. (Not 18,000 people but 18,000 clicks on photos) More changes soon to come! The next big step is the studio! Hopefully I'll close on the building the first week in July!

I don't like to complain. I try to be in a good mood and have a positive outlook on things but today... well today flat out sucked. My day started by getting a letter from my college (which I thought I had graduated from) telling me that I was 2 credits short of graduating. I had spoken with my advisor and he said I just needed to pass my current classes to graduate, which I did. So why am I not graduating? Well apparently this same advisor overlooked a detail and one of my classes didn't fit into my major's requirements. Needless to say, I wasn't happy. So now I have to take one class next semester to graduate. It's just a pain in the butt. Later on, I was playing with my little cousin Parker. He just got a new dirtbike with training wheels on it. He was riding on it and he told me it "scoots" up to 45 mph. He is only supposed to ride it in 1st gear. So he got in trouble for doing burnouts and I thought I would take a quick ride on it. Well I weigh about 195 lbs. and I don't think this thing was meant for full grown men. I started out doing a burnout on accident. That little bike has some kick! Well, I was trying to shift into second at about 20 mph and it kicked back again. This is probably because my size and where I had to sit on the seat. There was too much weight in the back. So I fell off the back and landed on my leg. I was still trying to hold onto the bike so it didn't flip and in doing so, I revved the engine up more. So I was being pulled behind this thing on my leg for about 10 feet. I used to skateboard so it didn't really bother me at all (it actually made me miss it... as weird as that sounds.) Anyway, so my whole family runs over and my little cousins are staring at my leg with their jaws dropped. Blood literally squirted out of my knee a couple times. It was pretty sweet. So I told my cousin, "that's why you don't shift into second gear!!!" The only thing that really hurt was spraying hot water into it. I forgot to turn the cold water on too. Anyway, here are some pictures of it. Safety first! "The thinker"

Well, I should be closing on my new studio early in July. I'm getting pretty excited. July is going to be one hectic month for me. Aside from moving into that building and starting the "restoration" process, I have weddings 5 out of 6 Saturdays in a row and each couple wants a coffee table book. That's going to be pretty exhausting! Not to mention the sessions I'll have in between weddings. July is really going to put my endurance to the test. It should all be fun though. I'd much rather be busy than bored! I've been going crazy the past few days trying to decide what I want to do with the interior of the new studio. I'm going to go all out to make it one of the coolest buildings in town but there are so many possibilities! I can't decide if I want to feel warm and cozy, bright and clean, colorful and fun, modern and artsy, contemporary vintage, etc. etc. etc. I still have time to think about it! Leave some comments and tell me your opinion!

As some of you have already figured out, my new website officially launched today! Apparently when you switch over websites on the same domain (www.jarnaginphotography.com) it can take up to 48 hours to process. So I spent all day trying to figure out why some people were seeing my new website and some were still seeing my old one! It still has some things acting funny on it but I think they will work themselves out in the next few days. If you haven't seen the site yet click here! Click the full screen button for the best view of the site! It's in the bottom right hand corner. Over the past 6 months I've been working on really giving my business a facelift and building a brand name with my work. The new presentation boxes have impressed everyone who has got one. Even my 5 year old cousin said they look like jewelry boxes, haha. I wanted my presentation to match work and I think I've come up with the right formula. The next step... and this is a big one... I'M BUYING A STUDIO!!! I've been talking about this for months now and I have finally found the right building and location! The building is located on Main Street directly West of the courthouse parking lot. It is currently Barts and Fishbaugh insurance. If it still isn't ringing a bell it has a giant windmill painted on the side of it. I'm planning on painting over the windmill and getting my logo put up there. The space inside is great. The lower level has 2,200 square feet and most of the ceiling is 12 feet high. I'm really looking forward to working on it and making my studio match the style of my work. Anyone close to me knows that I don't get excited easily. It's kind of strange but I'm just as laid back as any other time. BUT tonight I actually got excited knowing that I'm going to own property and get to turn it into something unique. I'm not very excited about how much it is going to cost me but I know in the long run it will be well worth it. I want to put up new walls, new hardwood floors, new lights, paint it something different, and hang a ton of pictures up. If I can afford to do everything I want then I will probably have a grand opening event and maybe even do some free sessions. That is down the road though. Hopefully all the paperwork for the building will be finished by the end of this month! Check back for details! Here are a few pictures of the Meadows family. Landen wasn't feeling well so we are going to have to do another session next week! Hopefully he'll be feeling better! "Show him your muscles!" This was pretty cute. He'd had enough, haha.

I've heard a few people say recently that I take too many pictures of couples kissing in engagement pictures. So if I have heard a few people say it then a lot of people are probably thinking it. I can't say that I entirely disagree with those comments but like everything I do, there is a reason for it. If you look through my engagement albums at www.jarnaginphotography.fotki.com you will see that I take couples to many different places. The base "formula" is that I have them look at the camera, look at each other, and then kiss at each place we go. The reason is that the couples may want something different at each place. It might be too much for the casual viewer when looking through the proofs BUT I don't shoot sessions with the casual viewer in mind. When I shoot I'm thinking about my clients and ensuring that they are going to be able to order what they want. Proofs aren't the final product for the client but for various viewers that is the last they see. So keep in mind when looking through engagement pictures that my couples aren't ordering all pictures of them kissing, haha, but they have a wide variety of types of shots to choose from. On the subject of kissing shots, to me they are the most engaging (and these are ENGAGEment pictures, right?) Engagement pictures are all about fun, love, and PASSION! What is more passionate than a kiss? Well, let me rephrase that... what is more passionate than a kiss that is still legal for me to photograph? haha. Plus, when couples are kissing I don't have to worry about them blinking! Here are some of my favorite engagement pictures from last month... both kissing and not!