New York City

The streets will make you feel brand new. The lights will inspire you.

Its true. New York City is the most exciting place I've ever visited. Nick and I went up for a long weekend. We had so many people to see and places to go. This was the first trip I've taken in two years that was strictly personal. That's right! No weddings, no scheduled portrait sessions, and no one paying my travel expenses! I wasn't sure how I would handle myself on a true vacation. Turns out - it was wonderful!

I have so many pictures to show you ... and I will warn you some of these were taken with my point and shoot camera so don't judge the quality! I was on vacation!

I will begin with Travis and Zak! Travis is one of my best friends from college. I've been wanting to visit him in NYC ever since he moved there. He and Zak have the most awesome (and big!) apartment in Brooklyn. They welcomed Nick and I and were the most gracious hosts I've ever had! They baked bread, made coffee, and gave us their home for the weekend. Love them! Thank you Travis and Zak!

Upon arriving (last Thursday) Zak promptly took Nick and I to get a huge slice of pizza. Nothing says "welcome to New York" better than that. Following that ... we met Travis in Union Square for some drinks and appetizers ... then we met with Nick's cousin Ryan in Chelsea. Lots of conversation and yummy food for our first night in the city. Exhausted after all the traveling that day ... we subwayed ourselves back to Brooklyn pretty late and had no trouble sleeping despite the noisy streets!

On Friday we had a nice slow morning. I don't care if this is New York City ... we were in a hurry for no one. We lunched in Little Italy (oh ravioli and calizones) and then milled around at the Natural History Museum.

Now, the big reason I had been itching to get to New York City is because another friend of mine from college was cast in the Broadway revival of HAIR! (They won the Tony for the best musical revival.) The show is actually leaving New York and going to London for six months. When I found out I only had a month left to see it, Nick and I made plans immediately.

Friday night was the night. 8pm. We were on the 2nd row!

Let me just say that NOTHING is more thrilling than seeing a wonderful show on Broadway! NOTHING! My heart still swells when I think about it. I had purchased the soundtrack to HAIR months before the show so I knew all the songs by heart. Adding the live action and the storyline and the energy of the crowd and the thrumming of my heart made it an experience I will never forget. It was such a beautiful show!

And the best part was that my friend Alli recognized me during the show - sitting in the second row. She ran up to me after the curtain call and told me to meet her back stage! She took us through the dressing rooms and showed us all the props and costume areas. It was so exciting! Thank you Alli for doing that!!! I also got to have dinner with Alli a couple nights later ... that picture is coming soon.

After the play we met with Travis and Zak, Nick's cousin Ryan and his friend Laura, and Nick's best friend since 1st grade Erik. We had the most yummy desserts and coffees and conversation at The French Roast. It was a very New York night!

Here is me and Nick and his friend Erik. I am so happy I finally got to meet you Erik!

On Saturday morning Nick and I took a train to New Haven, Connecticut. We visited Nick's cousin Bonnie and her husband Jalloul and their tiny brand new baby who is 5 weeks old. They took us to a winter festival where we ate apple pie and drank cider. It was a very nice change of pace for a day.

It was also the first day I got out my big girl camera. This is the Connecticut countryside.

Saturday night was complete with dinner in China Town with Ryan, Laura, Nathan, and Erik - including frog porridge, seafood in a pineapple boat, and the best sesame chicken ever.

On Sunday I was happy happy happy because this was the first day we didn't have plans. I told Nick I just wanted to take pictures. I didn't care where or what of. So we went-a-wandering ...

We are so in love.

Like the average tourists ... Nick took some pictures of me ...

And I took some pictures of him (lots and lots actually!)

But I really loved the freedom to just snap snap snap as we walked and walked.

(this horse one is one of my favorites ever)

My favorite place we went was down to Pier 17. The boats!!!!

Even better than the boats was the view of Brooklyn ...

(very romantic!)

It was finally time for dinner and we met up with Alli and Travis on 9th Street. I can't remember the name of the place but they had everything. Nick was so happy because they had meatloaf. His favorite! I was happy because the food was good and I loved visiting with Alli and Travis and reminiscing about college days. So fun.

Then we had some silly fun in Times Square. Travis took this one (thanks Travis!)

Our last night in New York ended with some tea and beer in Greenwich Village with Nick's cousin Ryan.

I'll leave you with just a couple of my favorite night photos of the city.

Good night New York! I'll be back again soon. I promise!

A day in San Diego with Julie

I meant to post these pictures a month ago! You have no idea how many folders upon folders I have full of personal photos that I always mean to blog but somehow never get around to it.

Well if you are the least bit interested in scenery, travel details, or my personal life then this is your lucky day! If you follow me on facebook then you know I just returned from a trip to New York City. Before I let myself post those images I must post these from San Diego. This has been a year full of travel for me (which I love).

I visited San Diego years ago and spent a little time in La Jolla Cove at the seal beach. I knew I wanted to go back there this time and take a few pictures. This was the first image I shot that day. I love it there!

So yeah, there are a ton of seals and they just roll around on the beach there. Its kinda weird looking from a distance - maybe even a little gross like dead fish or something. But if you are patient and you watch them you can catch little moments. I love animals and seeing their personalities develop ... so sweet!

You can't get very close to them. These images were shot with my 70-200 zoom lens. So I seem close but I was pretty far. That's the best way to photograph animals because you don't freak them out as much.

Dis wittle one was sweepy. (wuv the gween moss)

So here is a sad story. Later that day I was planning to meet with a beautiful lady and her family at balboa park. Her name is Christine and she is friends with my friends Julia and Adam. Christine was going to model her wedding dress and then do a mini family session with her husband and babies. The sad part is that they were driving from LA and the traffic was atrocious and they actually weren't able to make it to meet me.

I know Christine was just as disappointed as I was ... but what's a girl to do? I just decided to wander around Balboa park and get familiar with the place in the event that I might have a chance to photograph there in the future.

I found an orchid garden.

Then I found a bride and groom!

I'm not kidding! There was a gorgeous wedding going on and I just happened to catch the bride and groom getting out of the car and preparing to enter the reception. They had to wait for a few minutes for their real photographer before they could enter. Like a complete weird-o I asked them if they would mind if I took a picture of them. They were getting all kinds of requests like this from other tourists so they just smiled politely and let me take their picture. Just one. Here it is:

So thank you San Diego for being so beautiful. I love your sunlight and I am determined to photograph a bride at Balboa Park eventually. Mark my word!

Baby Beau Brannon - Julie Roberts Photography - Knoxville, Dandridge, Tennessee Baby Photos

I've been photographing the Brannon Family since 2007.
Just a few months ago they had a brand new addition ...

Baby Beau

Its obvious, but I have to say that I love baby feet.

Baby Beau was such a good boy during his session. He reminds me of his older brother Lawson. Very pensive and curious about me and my camera.

brand new baby brother!

This one is my favorite of the day:

I wanted to post a little something to show what I have been so busy with for the past couple of months. Obviously I haven't had a ton of sessions but that doesn't mean I have been bored. I took some time off in December to begin the huge task of designing the albums from the weddings of 2009. It was incredibly daunting but I am pretty much caught up. You have no idea what a relief that is! My goal for the coming year is to design the albums within a month after the wedding is shot. I think I can do it! I like posting it here because you can help hold me accountable.

Enough jibber jabber ... here are the links to the wedding album designs for 2009. Click the images to view the designs.

Julia & Ben Davenport:

Robert & Elizabeth Schwarze:

Ashley & Ray:

Izzy Hudgins & Martin Ward:

Katie & Devon Knox:

Jenny & Andy Henry:

Cliff & Hallie Mahala:

Jeremy & Emily Jinnett:

Marshall & Cassandra Grace:

Brandon & Tasha Watson:

Jared & Valerie Faul:

Ryan & Christine Fitzgerald:

Tommy & Lauren Morgan:

Rebekah & Darrell Greer:

Laura & Justin Singleton:

Ashley & Brandon Kittrell:

If you are a client from a previous wedding and you did not have a storybook credit included in your package but you are interested in getting a storybook please email me! julie@julierobertsphoto.com

The Runaway Roberts Kids ... Hobos in Knoxville ...

So after a billion snow days ... what do you do to keep the boredom at bay?

My nephews and niece come to visit their crazy Auntie Julie. What will she come up with this time? Well I just wasn't interested in another trip to the movie theatre. So Nick and I went to KARM Thrift Store and rummaged through piles of old shoes and clothes. We came up with this idea for a photo shoot that might be a little more fun than the average session. Let me tell you my nephews and niece have had their fair share of photo shoots and they are kind of over it all. But this time I think we made it more interesting for them.

They were prisoners.
They made an escape.
And then they became the Roberts Runaways!

This was the story line that Nick gave the kids ... talk about theatrics!

Emma Kate:

Eli:

It was FREEZING outside. I think you can even see the snow in the air in some of the shots. And we were not without our fair share of tantrums. (see exhibit a: emma on the left:)

But she perked up when the sun came out and I got this little beauty. Love her!

Cole. The oldest.

And Thomas.

The Pink Book Blog loves me!

Thank you so much to Knoxville's own wedding inspiration source: The Pink Book Blog for doing a feature on me along with Tara Kneiser of Dixie Pixel Photography and Erin Brown Photography.(two of my favorite local photographers! Im so excited to be featured with them!)

Click below to see the feature and while you're there leave some love for the pink ladies!

Kelli Anderson & Chris Corwin - Key West Wedding - Knoxville Destination Wedding Photography - Julie Roberts Photography

I am SO happy to show you this wedding! As some of you have already noticed ... I am developing my services as a destination wedding photographer. I am so excited to see where this development will take me (literally)! I love to travel! But one thing that I have experienced with the destination weddings that I have been privileged to do so far ... is that when on these trips with my clients and their families I get to be more involved in the events that surround the wedding day. Which results in more time spent with everyone - which I love because it gives me the opportunity to learn more about the couple and their relationships.

Kelli and Chris chose to get married in Key West, Florida. This is somewhere that Kelli's family has vacationed and made a lot of memories over the years. It was the perfect back drop for Kelli and Chris's wedding. The entire event was made of a very intimate group of family members and a few surprise friends. The Anderson and Corwin families were both SO wonderful to work with. They welcomed me like just like another member of the family. I absolutely loved spending time with them over the weekend and getting to know them.

I arrived on Friday afternoon. Kelli (the bride herself) picked me up at the airport (after I was greeted by a huge sign that said "Welcome to the Conch Republic" which made me feel like I was finally there!). Kelli and I had lunch and then she helped me check in to my room at the amazingly beautiful Ocean Key Resort where we found out that I had been upgraded (for free) to an ocean view suite. It was beyond words! Beautiful!

Before the rehearsal dinner Kelli brought her details to my room so I could take my time photographing them instead of rushing to get it on the wedding day. I am SO glad she did this. As a result there are 8 million photos of her jewelry and shoes. This makes me happy!

Hair & Makeup: Lorri Bollander Key West Hair & Makeup http://keywesthairandmakeup.typepad.com/key_west_hair_and_makeup/

Kelli's sister Misty was there that morning helping Kelli get ready. I love this proud photo of her looking on.

I haven't mentioned yet that Kelli is drop dead gorgeous.
She is.

Custom wedding rings- Michael M. http://www.michaelmcollection.com/
and C. Gonshor http://www.cgonshor.com/

We rushed to get a few bridal shots on our way to the Hyatt for the ceremony.

Bride's gown- Da Vinci Bridal http://www.davincibridal.com/

c/o I Do Weddings http://www.idoweddingsofknoxville.com/

Some more lovely details ...

This is Chris, the groom. He is so handsome ...
Groom's attire- Tommy Bahama http://www.tommybahama.com/

I love this story and I really hope Kelli doesn't mind me sharing it here! Kelli's wedding day was also her 40th birthday. (I know - she totally doesn't look 40 - but yes, its true.) She found out that her actual birth time was 10:55 am. So she determined to have the ceremony at 10:30 so she could say "I do" before she turned 40. I think we might have been about 10 minutes behind schedule but she still made it by 3 minutes!!!

As she walked down the isle she kicked her heels off so she could walk in the sand. I loved that moment! This is Chris winking at her.

Kelli's dad Charlie was so proud ...

This sweet moment when Charlie gave Kelli away he said to Chris "Take good care of her."

The setting was breath-taking.

The ceremony was officiated by the lovely Amy Figg of St. John's Lutheran Church of Knoxville, TN.

Charlie, Gale, Carolyn, and Tommy - the parents.

Flowers (and decor): Love in Bloom Florist www.loveinbloomflorist.com

This is Chris (Kelli's twin brother - Happy Birthday to him too!) and his sweet little girl Allie:

Oh my goodness ... the food.
a m a z i n g !

Catering & Ceremony Site: Hyatt Key West Resort & Spa www.keywest.hyatt.com

Cake: Key West Cakes www.keywestcakes.com

Guest Accommodations: Galleon Resort www.galleonresort.com, Ocean Key Resort & Spa www.oceankey.com , and Hyatt Key West Resort & Spa www.keywest.hyatt.com

These four guys were Chris's friends who drove all the way from Knoxville the night before to surprise Chris before the ceremony. It was a HUGE surprise!

And now for my favorites ... the portraits of the bride and groom.
I'm so happy that Kelli and Chris gave me a little time once things settled down so we could get some gorgeous shots around the Hyatt property.

Then we had a little siesta time followed by an evening out on the sea in a lovely sail boat!

Sailboat: Floridays www.floridays.org

Sailboat catering: Hyatt Key West Resort & Spa www.keywest.hyatt.com

So beautiful!

And I will leave with a few images from they very colorful Mallory Square where you can see all varieties of people and local flavor.

I photographed a beautiful wedding in Key West, FL this past weekend.

I can't wait to share it with you! But there is a very exciting reason why I have to wait before I can post it. I will explain later!

Until then ... I want to redecorate my bedroom based on this photo:

OH! And don't forget this:

P.S. I want to have more contests and different things here on the blog to encourage commenting and viewer participation (yes, I'm talking to YOU!). Please comment on this post if you have any clever ideas or creative suggestions.