Looking for Brides to "Trash The Dress!"

This link was passed onto me from a fellow photographer. I've always wanted to do a session like this, couple on the beach, in the ocean in the dress... in a fountain in the dress, etc. I've not yet had a bride willing to do it...

SO... I put this out there to my previous brides, or clients that haven't had me do their wedding but might be interested, or we could call this a model call of sorts. If you have a wedding dress you don't mind getting dirty, wet, etc please contact me for a shoot! Afterall...you won't wear it again! So might as well have fun with it now! For participating you will receive a proof book ($700 value) of all of the images we shoot... so a great way to get some more cool photos of you and your dress!

To see what I'm talking about, read this blog. I'd LOVE to get some of my shots on that blog! So bring it ladies! http://trashthedress.wordpress.com/

Gotta love when they can't stop kissin!

Meet Devin & Josh. And Devin's son Noah... he's quite excited about this wedding! These guys are going to be a ton of fun. They are new love at it's finest... cuddly, giggles, laughing and lots of smiles. You can tell they are just comfortable together and that is always fun! Their wedding is at Leu Gardens in May. We shot these this afternoon at about the same time as they will be getting married. Leu Gardens is so gorgeous and such a fun place to shoot. Check back in May for their wedding photos!

Check out the new stuff on here!

Fellow photographer Brianna Hall helped me to get a header up on my blog! YAY! I'm happy to have a much cooler header up there! I also added a subscription box if you'd like to subscribe to my blog to see the lastest images I've shot, updates, and my typical ramblings on about weird things. I'm going to really try to stay up to date on my blog for all of you, family, friends, clients and all. I feel like I never talk to anyone because I'm so busy working and being mom and wife, so here's a way I can show you all what I've been up to, will be up to, etc...lol.

Enjoy!

Little Noah man turns 9 months!

And this little guy has to just be one of my favorites ever! He will just sit there and grin at you with this smile that makes you melt. Not quite mobile yet, so he's perfectly okay just chillin in a basket or watching the cars drive by. He also apparently like to grab your face and go in for a nibble...lol. Doesn't take much to bring on the grin, he's quite the happy little guy! We'll be seeing him have the cake fiest in a few months, so check back for more of this cutie!

The twin girlies again!

These two just crack me up every time I do their photos. They are quite funny together! We did two sessions for their 9 month photos cause miss Ava did NOT want to partake in the fun during the first session. Apparently little miss thang wanted her own photoshoot...lol. So her mom and dad brought her back a few days later to finish up. They are getting so big and changing so much! I look foward to seeing them grow up and watching them turn into stumbling toddlers and quick witted little ones!

Melissa & Kyle Engagement Session

These guys are gonna be fun, I can just tell! They were a referral from another client Melissa's sister Chrissy! Thanks Chrissy! Their wedding is in Mid April in Sanford... should be a great time! Stay tuned!

So much going on...

I'm going to attempt to catch my blog up here for a bit... I'm home, and have been working on albums, proofing, and have several sessions this weekend. Doing my best to stay on track and be mom and wife at the same time. My daughter has spring break this coming week so I'll be with her a lot. The pressures of self employment is a challenge for sure...lol!

Kyleigh is currently in a waiting "zone" if you want to call it that. They did a second operation, found infection, and she's back on her ventilator and sedatives. They are going to have her pretty much paralyzed and out for several days to sleep, rest, and let her body just try to get slowly back to normal. My good friend and fellow photographer Kimberly Smoot has been with Amber the last two days, took her home to see the boys, get things together, and then they got a hotel for one night to give Amber some time to gather her strength, rest and go back to be with Kyleigh for probably another week or more in the hospital. Many of us are currently trying to get breastmilk donations for Kyleigh. If you'd like information on how to donate, please contact me.

I'm going to update my latest sessions in these next few posts. I'm a bit behind, so I apologize. I have a few more coming this weekend, so I want to try to stay ahead of this...lol.

Bare with me...

Home... please continue to pray for Kyleigh!

I got home from Lexington this evening, after chaos at the airport with flight delays, having to book a different flight on another airline to get home, and a double Vodka Pineapple at the bar for my sanity, I'm here. It was a long emotional week, and it's not over yet. I feel horrible for leaving today, knowing that Amber and Troy were facing emergency surgery with Kyleigh again.

Please continue to keep her in your thoughts... we thought she'd be home today, but it's not turned out that way. To keep up on Kyleigh and her progress, please visit the Schmidt Family Blog. I'll be posting updates as well. http://the-family-schmidt.blogspot.com/

Those of you that got email replies from John, or emailed or called while I was away, I will get back to you before the weekend. Thank you for your patience and understanding during this time. It is appreciated by myself and the Schmidt Family.

It's good to be home, hug my girly girl, and my hubby. Back to the grind with a big piece of my heart still in Kentucky...

Kyleigh doing better, I'm still in Lexington

Kyleigh is doing better day by day. It's been a slow journey for her, but she's a tough little cookie so I'm sure she'll be fine given lots of time to heal. I'm still in Lexington watching Amber and Troy's boys... man are they giving me a run for my money...lol. Boys are so different than having a girl. They are cute and fun though and I'm enjoying how different they are.

I'll be home on Wednesday evening and trying to catchup and get back in the groove on Thursday. Thank you to my clients who were so understanding and moved their appts and sessions to make this happen for the Schmidt family. Those of you that I rescheduled, or need to, I will confirm with you on Thursday.

Thanks again!

:)

Kyleigh doing better today!

I arrived into Louisville, KY at about 11 am, and we got to the hospital at about 1:30. Kyleigh was sleeping peacefully, thank goodness. Amber showed me photos from yesterday that were very hard to look at, what a change she made in 24 hours. So I'm here now until Weds to help Amber and Troy care for the boys, help them at the hospital, and hopefully help them transition Kyleigh home. Here's a few photos of her from the hospital today. Thought I'd share... keep the prayers coming... she's not quite done with this all just yet! And also threw in a shot of Julie (left), Ky's mom Amber (middle) and me. These two women are two of my very best friends!



:)

More prayers for Kyleigh please!

Kyleigh is still in the ICU in Lexington, KY trying to recover from her open heart surgery. She's having a rough go of it, and has had a very hard day. She's had fevers, seizures, a collapsed lung, and now they think she may have fluid surrounding her heart. She's had a really rough day, and I just couldn't sit here any longer and be so far away. I am flying to Lexington tomorrow to be with her momma and dad, Amber and Troy, and will care for their two little boys Ross and Owen until Wednesday when I will return to Orlando.

I will be available by phone at 407-619-1359, but will not be checking email while I am away. John will check email in the evenings, so if you email me and I don't get back to you that is why. I appreciate your patience and understand during this time. Please keep your prayers up for Kyleigh... she needs all the love and good thoughts that she can right now.

Hugs to everyone! I'll be back on Wednesday!

For anyone waiting on DVD's/Slideshows

I have been having computer problems when trying to burn discs for months now. Tried a new burner, tried downloading 3 different burning software programs, none have fixed the issue. Now today, I'm trying to download yet another program and it won't even download without errors. Computer problems are a photographers worst nightmare... I'm NOT technical, nor do I even know what to look for when something like this goes wrong. So for those of you waiting on DVD's of your slideshows from me, I apologize, I'm working diligently to try to get this figured out and have contacted my computer guy yet again to come over and try to fix it....cause at this point it's getting ridiculous. So again I apologize for any delay in getting these out. As soon as I have it fixed, discs will be in the mail. *Sigh*...ugh!

Prayers for Kyleigh today!

Some very dear friends of mine and fellow photographers in Lexington, Kentucky~ Amber and Troy Schmidt have a beautiful little girl named Kyleigh. Miss Ky was born with a hole in her heart, and she is having open heart surgery today to repair it. Just wanted to post about it and ask that you keep them in your thoughts today and over the next few weeks. They are very near and dear to my heart and have been some of my biggest supporters since I started my business. Their work can be seen at www.kentuckystudio.com .

There were blessed to have our other wonderful friend and fellow photographer from Salt Lake City, Utah, Julie Williams come to stay and help care for their two older boys while they are with Kyleigh. LOVE you Julie! You truly are an angel to everyone who knows you! Man we photographers stick together eh?

Hugs guys! WE LOVE YOU!

Here's a few shots I took of Kyleigh when visiting in October. To read more about Kyleigh, you can visit the Schmidt family blog at http://the-family-schmidt.blogspot.com/

Welcome Baby Taegin!

My cousin moved here with her husband and newborn baby a few weeks ago. They are staying with us until they figure out where they want to live and get settled in. So I have a new baby to practice on whenever I want! It's soooo fun to have a newborn around again, altho he seems to be giving John a case of baby fever...lol. We went to my dads in Ft. Myers to visit and I was able to take some shots of him on their perfectly white couch, and thought I would share. He's the sweetest and cutest little guy!

Bridal Fair was GREAT!

Sorry it's been a week since any update. I was down visiting my father in Ft. Myers this week. I have loaded the photos from the bridal fair to the slideshow section at CNP. For any of the models, if you would like copies of any of the photos from the fashion show, please email me at cristy@cristynielsen.com. The show was great, and we got some great contacts with local vendors and brides.

You can find the slideshow at www.cristynielsen.com/slideshows , the password is bridalfair

CNP at A Wedding For All Seasons Bridal Fair!

Please join us this weekend for A Wedding For All Seasons Bridal Fair! ohn and I will be setting up shop at the Rosen Plaza Hotel this Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. to display our work, and wedding services. If you have considered CNP for your wedding, stop in to meet us, see our work, and say hello. There will be a great group of other wedding vendors for your wedding needs as well, as well as door prizes, and a fashion show. They are also giving away a Honeymoon! For more information please visit http://floridaweddingexpo.com/ See you there!

:)

Remember Abigail & Huy??

Just finished their wedding album this morning... Check it out!

http://www.cristynielsen.com/HuyAbigailWed/

These guys were a blast and have the coolest vibe about them! It's always bittersweet when I am in the final stages with wedding clients. I fully enjoy working with them, so when all of the prints, albums, and canvas's come back it's a sad day for me... I'm excited to show them, but then quickly realize that it may be a while before I work with them again. I always can't wait till they have kiddos so we can continue to capture the big things in their lives!!

:)

Crazy Day!

It's been a nuts day here in Central FL. This morning we awoke to find out that huge tornadoes had destroyed lots of homes in the Central FL area. Our thoughts go out to those families who lost their homes and loved ones. At this point there have been 14 fatalities. So sad... John and I were woken up by the wind, thunder, lightning and rain at about 5 am. I really didn't think anything of it and went back to sleep. And then woke up to phone calls from people wondering if we were okay, and I had no clue about what had happened. Then to turn on the news and see the devastation.... sooo horribly sad!

I'm busy here as well, leaving tomorrow for Chicago to teach a workshop with Misty Woodward and Kimberly Smoot. Should be a ton of fun, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Also thought I would post a few shots from a maternity session I did a few days ago. Elise is 30 weeks pregnant with a little girl. She hasn't figured out a name yet, and is going to see her baby first before she picks out a name. For 30 weeks she looks amazing. We are going to do one more session before she has this little girl, and a newborn session after. Can't wait to do those! I always love mama and newborn shots. Congrats Elise!

Some Thanks and a few Welcomes!

Wow it was a crazy weekend! I actually took a day OFF! I spent most of yesterday cleaning the house, catching up on my DVR's shows, and playing with Shaylee. I avoided the computer most of the day, altho I went to bed early, then woke up at 1:30 am and couldn't sleep. Ended up yackin with my bud Misty about all the changes we are making to the new photography forum. FUN Stuff!

We would also like to welcome two of our newest couples to the CNP family! In the last week we have booked two weddings with Devin and Josh, and Melissa and Kyle.

Devin and Josh are getting married at Leu Gardens in May, and I've indirectly known Devin for a while through the Central Florida Birth Network. She works at a Birth Center where I will also be putting up a display here in town. We're excited about their wedding. It should be a ton of fun, and we'll see a bunch of people that we know there!

Melissa and Kyle are getting married at the Palms in Sanford in April. They were referrals from Chrissy, a client whose son I have photographed and she and I also know each other from my moms group. She's also the Matron of Honor at the wedding, so I'm sure we're in for a ton of fun that night as well! Thanks Chrissy for sending your sister our way!

Just a note also, I currently have 3 couples that need to get me your image selections for your albums. I can't start design until I know what images are most important to you, so if you can please get those to me asap that would be wonderful!

I will be taking this weekend off as well and flying to Chicago to teach my first workshop with Misty Woodward and Kimberly Smoot. The workshop is called Wake Up and Smell Success! You can find out more information by going to this link...http://www.wakeupandsmellthesuccess.com/workshops.htm. We have lots of registrants and I'm excited as many of them are people I have met before and grown to love and become friends. Should be a really fun weekend full of learning and growth! So if you are trying to get a hold of me over the weekend and I'm not around you'll know why. I leave on Saturday afternoon and do not return until Tuesday.

At home we have my cousin, her husband, and their new baby coming to stay with us for a while. They are moving to the area from Maine, so they will stay with us until they get established and find a place to live. I'm so excited to have my younger cousin Jess here with her new baby... be prepared, cause I'll have a newborn baby boy to practice on! Pics to come!

That is all for now... have a great week ya'll!

:)

Why I LOVE my brides!

Because they aren't like this! ACK!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=10VmJ-8XGA4