Shoot and Share Live

Gratitude, Saying Thanks  //  3rd September 2013

It is so incredibly crazy to think that today is September 3rd. WOW! Where in the world did this summer go? We hope you are coming off of an AMAZING weekend full of celebrating the fact that summer really isn’t technically over yet! ;) Our weekend was FULL of just that… we had the most dreamy wedding on Saturday at a BEAUTIFUL vacation home in Annapolis. Seriously- it was full of all kinds of nautical goodness, and a sweet couple that is so full of love! Dreamy! ;) And then we relaxed, had pizzas on the grill (burnt bottoms and all- they were AMAZING! ;) ), listened to the sounds of the Grand Prix right down the street, enjoyed our very first Pumpkin Spice Lattes! ;), and finished the weekend off with a drink at the Tiki Barge! ;) WAHOO! Happy weekend!, right?!? ;)

As you may have noticed from the fewer than normal blog posts recently, we have been quite busy. We have been doing our best to balance work and life and everything in between… and unfortunately that meant that sometimes our blog posts had to get pushed to the next day on our to do list. Believe me, we beat ourselves up over it many times… but we knew you all would understand! ;)

As you can imagine… we have so much we want to share with you! So this week will be full of posts that may seem all over the place! ;) However, we want to make sure we share all of this on our online journal so that we can always remember the crazy days of this AMAZING life!

Throughout the month of August we have been the hosts of an online Live Broadcast called Shoot & Share Live. Showit, the company we use for our online galleries & image delivery, asked us to host the shows in Baltimore. Every Wednesday & Thursday of last month, we put on our very best Oprah & Matt Lauer shoes and interviewed/chatted with some of our favorite photographer (and beyond) friends in the area! We were so excited to be able to share the gifts of so many incredible people through this show!

We even created a “Geek Week”! ;) Haha!… and it turned out to be one of my favorites!! We have an incredibly talked friend, Natalie Franke, who graduated from the University of Penn last year with a degree in Visual Studies. Her talents expand far and beyond photography! Whenever she shares with us what she learned through her studies, her heart explodes with her words and passion to share! She is INCREDIBLE… so we challenged her (literally challenged in the most heartfelt way possible! ;) ) to share her knowledge and passion on Shoot and Share Live. The number of aha moments for me during that 30 minutes show are literally innumerable!

Ryan joined Natalie to round out Geek Week! He put his engineering shoes on and shared a very technical approach to understanding our cameras and lenses! To be completely honest, I was super duper nervous that no one would tune in because it was quite nerdy! ;) But Ryan rocked it! (I am quite biased… but he did!) Ryan has this incredible way of turning his advanced photonics understanding into something that even I understand. (And let me tell you- that is not an easy task! ;) ) During his live show, I was once again reminded of just how lucky I am to have him by my side!

As we wrapped up the month’s shows last week with Caroline Rausch (an absolutely incredible 18 year old who has been in business since the age of 13!), I found myself with grateful tears in my eyes! Having the opportunity to sit down with some of our incredibly talented friends to learn from them and share their incredibly special gifts with the world was such a blessing! As much of a challenge it was for us on some days, in the middle of our crazy busy season, to make these shows a reality, we would do it again in a heartbeat just to share the couch with some of our favorite people!

Huge thanks to Andrew and Kevin from Showit for putting the live kit into our hands and giving us the opportunity to share the many gifts that Baltimore has to offer!! ;) We are so honored to have been a part of this! To Caroline, Natalie, Becka, Ryan, Ashley, Jeremy, Tom, Maureen, Mikey & Samantha… THANK YOU! Thank you so incredibly much for making the time in your busy schedules to bravely share your gifts and talents with the world through this live show! It is not easy to put yourself out there on a LIVE show… but every single one of you rocked it out!! We are so grateful to be surrounded by you!

Here is the link to the re-watch for all of the shows… (http://showitfast.com/live) When you have 30 minutes here and there, please check them out! There is so much goodness that you definitely do not want to miss!!

Caroline Rausch (Carrie Logan) – Have Confidence in Your Photography*
*Even if you are not a photographer… this one is full of life lessons! ;)
Natalie Franke and Becka Nix (Editors of Bayside Bride)– Get Published on Wedding Blogs

Geek Week! ;)
Ryan Bower – Understanding Light, the Lens, and the Camera
Natalie Franke – The Psychology of Shooting

Ashley and Jeremy Mitchell – Working with Videographers
Tom Barnhill – Financial and Tax Planning for Photographers

Maureen Luther – Photoshop Workflow Tips
Samantha and Mikey Smith – Building a Photography Studio

 

Liz and Ryan As Seen In | The Buzz Updated

Gratitude, Saying Thanks  //  5th July 2013

Since yesterday was July 4th (hope you had a sparkly celebration! ;) ), we thought it would be fun to end the week with a bang and celebrate all of the exciting places we have run into Liz and Ryan photos recently! ;) We have FINALLY updated The Buzz section of our website and words really can’t describe how grateful we are for every opportunity we have had to share our photos! Seeing our brides and grooms (and our fun DIY projects) on other blogs and in print sets fireworks off in our hearts! ;) (haha… I am full of it today! ;) ) But the reality is… the more people that see our AMAZING couples the happier this world is going to be because their happiness radiates happiness! ;)

Thank you so much to all of the editors and creators of these AMAZING publications for sharing our work and most especially spreading happiness by sharing images of our AMAZING couples!!

When you have a few minutes, definitely check out The Buzz section of our website and click through to the links of these AMAZING publications! Leave them some love… guaranteed they will appreciate a friendly hello from you! ;)

Thank YOU so much to these AMAZING publications where our work has recently been featured:

Southern Weddings Magazine V5, The Huffington Post, Style Me Pretty, Heart Love Weddings, Bayside Bride, Wedding Chicks, Destination Weddings & Honeymoons, The Baltimore Sun, The Knot, Weddings 411, My True Blu, Bridal Guide, Baltimore Bride, Charm City Wed, and The Happy Family Movement!

So grateful for you all and an extra special thanks to all of our couples too!! Thank you all for being so AMAZING!! We love you! ;)

 

Warm Hearts and Positive Energy! | DC What’s Next Tour

Gratitude, Saying Thanks  //  18th January 2013

We woke up yesterday morning after just a few hours of sleep and we looked out the window hoping for a reminder of where we were that day. The bus was parked in a parking lot with buildings surrounding us that were not recognizable. But, somehow we knew we were close to home. I quickly remembered we were in DC and we were soon going to see some very familiar faces- the faces of some of our favorite people ever! ;)

As the attendees arrived and we opened the doors, we were feeling pumped! The whole crew had a sense of positive energy that was unlike anything else! As our friends walked in the doors and greeted us with warm hugs- we knew exactly where that positive energy was coming from! ;)

Yesterday, it hit me. We were in a room full of people (new friends and old) who made the choice to be there to do the hard work to make a difference in their lives AND the lives of others! As Mary shared her inspiring words, tears filled my eyes knowing that so many hearts were being changed! Knowing that so many incredible people are making the choice to live out their dreams and do the hard work is so heart warming! It truly is AMAZING!

We are so grateful for the AMAZING blessing of being surrounded by all of these incredible people (new friends and old)! Thank you to everyone who is doing the hard work… who have dreams in their mind that are not going to go to waste… who want to make this world a better place… not just for themselves, but for the lives of those around them! Thank YOU for warming our hearts and sharing your positive energy!

A Giveaway that became so much more!

Gratitude, Saying Thanks  //  15th January 2013

As we reflected on 2012, we had an overwhelming feeling of gratitude for our couples. Each and every one of them has left a special place in our hearts and we wanted to find an extra special way to thank them! As we continued to think about it, we thought that giving away a free session would be the perfect way of doing it… mostly because it would mean that we get to spend quality time with some of our favorite people! ;) (Is that selfish?!? ;) ). We did put a little poll out to our couples on facebook and they overwhelmingly decided that a free session was exactly what they would love to win! ;) So it was a win win for everyone!

But, we couldn’t end there… we know that the people our couples are surrounded by are pretty incredible themselves. Their family and friends have helped shape our couples into who they are and for that we are so grateful for them too! So, why not thank them as well by giving away a photo session to one of the voters from the giveaway!

After two weeks of voting AMAZINGNESS, we are SO EXCITED to be announcing the winners of the giveaways today- right here, right now! Let me tell you… the race to the end was CRAZY! ;) Darcy and Patrick and Stephanie and Justin blew our minds. They each wanted to win and ALL of their family and friends wanted them to win too! ;) It came down to the wire, but Darcy and Patrick came out on top with 330 votes! Wowza! ;) Darcy and Patrick, you are the winners of the 1^st Free Session Giveaway! Wahoo!

And the random winner from amongst the voters is Amanda Collins!!! ;) Amanda, you are the winner of 2^nd Free Session Giveaway!!

We are beyond excited about these two upcoming sessions and we will be in touch with the winners to chat about the details! ;)

However, it does not end there!!! Around 7:15 p.m. last night, we saw a Facebook post come across our feed that went like this:

At that moment… I was overwhelmed with emotions. Emotions of excitement and awe-inspiring gratitude. Ohh my goodness, they just took this contest to a whole new level. What started out as a giveaway for 2 very special couples turned into an effort that is going to touch the lives of so many more! We are blown away! Seriously!

We couldn’t end this giveaway without paying it forward. So, we decided to match Stephanie and Justin’s donation to the Red Cross. Instead of $70.00 they will be sending $140.00!

I started off this post by saying how grateful we are for our couples… but after the last 2 weeks, our level of gratitude has totally multiplied! (We didn’t think that was possible! ;) ). We are humbled by every single one of our couple’s hearts and we are so grateful to call them friends!!

Thank you to EVERYONE who took the time to vote! We are so excited to welcome all of our new friends to the Liz and Ryan Facebook community! Looking forward to sharing our passions with you all in hopes to help you live your AMAZING life every single day of your lives!

Send a Holiday Greeting to a Soldier – Advent Calendar Day 3

Gratitude, Saying Thanks  //  3rd December 2012

There are a lot of things that we often “think” about doing during the holidays that would be “nice” things to do, but we get too caught up in other things that we don’t end up doing them! This year we have decided to change that and actually make the things that matter happen! We hope our Amazing Holiday Advent Calendar will help you do the same! Today, Day 3 of Advent, we are sending Holiday greetings to soldiers!

While we were writing out our Christmas Cards this year, I came across a note from a friend who mentioned that soldiers who are serving our country might enjoy a holiday card too! What an AMAZING reminder! So, we Googled how to send a Holiday Card to a soldier and actually was totally surprised to find out that it is a bit more complicated than I would have hoped. (Sadly you can’t just send a card directly to the Walter Reed Hospital and expect that it gets into the hands of a soldier.) However, we did find that the Red Cross has a Holiday Mail for Heroes Initiative where they will take your cards and make sure they end up in the hands of those with whom you intended!

Of course we were excited to find this program and we couldn’t wait to get a few in the mail. But then, we found this video that actually showed the Red Cross delivering a few cards in 2010…

Whoa! With tears running down my face our passion and drive to let these men and women know how much we appreciate them multiplied x 1 million! I was originally worried about what I was going to say- and then I realized that we have the power to bring a smile to someone’s face or bring encouragement when things are hard! It is as simple as just speaking from our hearts and letting them know just how grateful we are for them! Without their service we likely wouldn’t have the freedom that we do to live out our dreams everyday!

We hope you join us today in sending a smile to a soldier and letting them know how much we appreciate them! Don’t delay and push this off to another day… all cards must be delivered to the Red Cross by December 7^th! (That is this Friday!!) More details can be found on this website (they have a few rules to follow to make sure they can actually be delivered… no glitter, etc.!)

Also! Just in case you don’t have any stamps today, Savannah’s Soldiers (a non-profit organization started by an 11 year old!!! YES 11!!) will take a message that you email through their contact form and they will send it off to a special serviceman. So AMAZING!

No excuses! Make the things that matter happen! ;)… start by sending a letter to a soldier! ;)