Fantastical Lighting!

Wow, I feel like my head is still swimming form all the incredible information I got from attending the One Light Workshop with Zack Arias. I feel so lucky to have signed up early and get in because he probably could have filled three more days! Special thanks to Melissa Jill for hosting this fabulous workshop!!


Well, where to start?? I guess I'll coin a phrase from the workshop and say start somewhere! Meet Liene! She's a wedding coordinator here in Arizona, her company is called Blue Orchid Designs. Thank you Liene, you were awesome for putting up with all of us taking picture after picture of you! :0)

So here we start with a natural light image.


But here she is lit from the side with a lightbox. Notice how the background is darker. It gives me the option of really making her pop away from the wall.



And here I am experimenting with the way the light hits her face. I love how the shadows fall gently away from her eyes. As Zach was saying time and again- it's not that one is better than another (because I have to say I *LOVE* natural light) but it gives me options!



Ok, so lets' see some more dramatic changes! This is Jennifer from Destination I Do. Thank you Jennifer! You were so great with taking all the direction we were giving you and kept a smile on your face the whole time :0)

Here we are with more natural light. You can see how her face it lit well but we lose the sky.

So we lit her with a 60" umbrella and underexposed the sky to bring in those deep hues- gorgeous!


I have so much more but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed! Thankfully I recorded Zach with his permission and will be able to listen to the workshop again if I ever need a question answered!


I do have to introduce a few new friends I met. This is us acting silly and trying out some of the concepts on our own!

Meet Rob from Florida and Martha's Vineyard! Too bad he didn't have any business cards so I can't link you to his site! (awwww...) You were such fun- I'm so glad I got the chance to meet you! :0)

Here's Michelle Meyer from here in Arizona flinging her hair for us to capture a technique! You rock!!! :0)


And here's Kelvin from Arizona too! He looks a bit scary here (hehe!) but trust me- he's a very nice guy! Thanks for posing for us too! :0)


So Thank you Zack! I can't wait to get some pocket wizards and try the whole one light concept out!

Barrett Jackson!

I had so much fun last night at the Barrett Jackson's gala event!


Gotta show off a few car pictures...


But here's where the fun was! This is me & my friend Audra (I really have to master the whole holding up the camera and taking a picture thing!) hehe


We decided to get our caricatures done! Steve was so fun- you have to check out his website muggshotz and see if you recognize the celebs. You can even get one done online!



Me, Carol and Audra :0)



I always have a blast with my girlfriends! :0)

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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding and portrait photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

Audra and Eric's wedding at JW Marriot

Audra gets the bride trooper award of 2007!


With all the things that could possibly go wrong on a wedding day, Audra went to the hospital that morning!


You wouldn't even have known it- she was beautiful and so sweet the whole day through.


It really makes you think about all the little things...


and all those little moments...


and what matter most.


The details were stunning


and so was Audra :0)


The ceremony and reception were held at the JW Marriott at Desert Ridge Marketplace and I just have to say how awesome Emily at Your Heart's Desire was. She took care of every little detail and Audra had no stress all all. Which is exactly how it should be!


So congrats Audra and Eric!


You win in so many ways! :0)


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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding and portrait photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

Happy New Year!

As you might know my friends and I always throw a fun New Year's Party and I just had to show off the traditional 'girl' picture we always take :0)

After charging my batteries and getting all ready I decided to leave my camera at home once to take a little break. I knew I could count on my friends to get some great shots and we can make sure to share



So Happy New Year and here's to another exciting one to come!!

Merry Christmas Baby!

That's right! Oh baby :0)

Jack is sooo adorable and sweet! It's easy to forget how small these little ones start out but I was quickly reminded when I got to hold and cuddle this guy. Just look at these!



Annalisa is one excited girl and loves Jack to bits!




gotta get those little toes! :0)


I can't wait to design an announcement for this little guy- I know Kristine has something unique in mind and I have a few ideas myself. It'll be awesome I know! :0)

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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

Melody, Dan and Family :0)

One more post in the crazy days before Christmas! Tonight I wrap presents while the little ones are in bed- it's getting to the exciting parts! My favorite is sitting down with the kids on Christmas Eve sipping hot chocolate with candy cane stirrers!

So right now I have a free minute to introduce you to Melody and Dan!


Melody works with my bride Susan- and I have to say once more how much I love referrals!! It sounds so cliche' but I get a warm fuzzy feeling when I know I've made someone happy with their images and more people get excited about them too!


I love it when people bring their dogs to the shoot! It might be a little harder to shoot (although, not in this case- they were perfect angels) but they are so much a part of the family too!


So thanks guys! I can't wait to get the slideshow up for you to see! :0)

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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

Oriana Maternity Session!

I've been waiting and waiting to post these until I had time to write but with the crazy season I'm not sure it would ever get done if I waited any longer! I have no time left and presents left unbought! (I don't really think that's a word but you get the idea!) :0P

I had two great sessions on Sunday but first one's first. Oriana's due date is on New Year's Eve and she looks more awesome every time I see her! We waited until the last minute to do this but I'm glad we did! I love these images! I love so much how they tell a story about what an incredible family they are- the girls are so sweet and are looking forward to the new baby.




I can't wait to see the new little one either!!!

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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

Marissa and Nick!

I've been doing things so backwards for the holiday season (or flu, whichever you prefer!) :0P I usually have my blog post up the day after any shoot but this time I did the slideshow quickly and the blog later... much later!

Marissa and Nick are so cute!! They got engaged at one of my favorite places- Kazimierz!

Marissa was looking for someplace unique to do the engagement pictures and I thought well, why don't we do it at the wine bar! Great idea, and of course sentimental too but how much time could you really spend there (well, I could spend hours of course but we're talking about a photo shoot here guys!) So we got to talking about how she wanted a Spanish atmosphere and I couldn't think of anything authentic... well nothing in Phoenix at least!

We decided on Tlaquepaque in Sedona! How awesome is that? They've spent a few weekends up there too so it was perfect! Loving the fall colors in these images- perfection! The engagement slideshow is here, if you want to check it out but as always, here a a few (or more!) of my favorites!





I think this is my favorite from the whole day. What a great laugh- I can almost hear it just from the photo!







I can't wait for your wedding guys- it'll be absolutely wonderful with all the great things you've got planned!

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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com

Trent's Senior Session!

It's time to play catch up on the blog now that I'm feeling mostly better. Did I mention I had tonsillitis last week? No? Oh that's right, I was out for the count for five whole days with a fever! It's been so long since I've had one I forgot how much it takes out of you!

But I'm tough! :0) And I have a great network of friends and family to help out with my kiddos when things get rough!

So now I get to share with you (albeit almost a month later!) Trent's senior session! It was great and it was my first one too! You're welcome to check out the slideshow but of course I'm posting a few of my favorites here...

gotta mess around with those funky mirrors!

This was fun! Trent just jumped up the wall on a whim and it was so cool looking I had to get him to do it a few more times! Trent- my son thinks you're Spiderman! :0)


and I had to get my back lighting fix of course!


Check these two out- they look absolutely different! I was looking for a lomo action online and found one here. For the photographers out there, you have to play with this set! The lomo effect worked great on another image but when I got to checking out what other actions were there I saw "The 300" Hmmmm... what's this?


It processes the image to mimic the movie 300 and it's just so surreal! The skin tones aren't too out of whack either, which is something you have to watch out for.


On a side note, it took me a while of processing images to figure out who Trent reminds me of and I'm sure he's heard it before, but check this out- doesn't he look just like Matt Damon?


yep... :0)


I had so much fun doing this shoot and meeting your family! I absolutely love it here in Arizona and I know you guys will too! :0)

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Laura Siivola- Photographer. Organic wedding photography based in the Phoenix Arizona area.
laurasiivolaphotpgrapher.com