Bronte | senior photos

Meet Bronte... The lacrosse extraordinaire.

Bronte will forever be known as my most dedicated client. She came straight from the hospital to our session complete with hospital bracelet and concussion (I told you she was a lacrosse extraordinaire). Some chick smacked her in the head which not only scored her a hospital visit but a swollen lobe and 10 days rest, but a nice shot in the paper right as she was smacked.

She was a trooper indeed :)

So we found this sweet field of reeds off the freeway and pulled off to go shoot. Next thing you know, we got in trouble with the police. Oh what an adventure...

Sage + Young | married [pt.2]

Finally.... Part Deux of the wonderful wedding of Sage and Young.

Enjoy. :)

Design on a dime....

If you are anything like me, you're SICK of hearing "we are in a recession"... I don't know why but I feel like saying

"ok, we are in a tough state... get over it and figure out what are we gonna do other than simply talk about it, PLEASE?!
(maybe I'm listening to a bit too much NPR lately?)

Anyway, recession or not, everyone is always looking for ways to save money, right?

I've spent the last week trying to get set-up in my new place and I'm exhausted!
I literally started from scratch and I've done my best to buy as little NEW things as possible. I was determined to prove that you don't have to A. spend a lot of money and B. buy NEW things to have a fully functioning home. It's not only easy on the wallet but on the environment... plus I look for any excuse to get creative :)

Here are a few of the fun projects I've been working on...

First of all, stuff like this has been found all around my place. I take measurements, write them on wood and then misplace the piece. There are already so many scraps of wood around this place it's CRAZY.

My new favorite vase. I found this jar at an antique store for $2!

My favorite store (Anthropologie) has been my inspiration for a lot of the stuff happening around here. I was in the other day and saw this awesome blue flamenco-like shower curtain. The only problem was it cost $118 ! I couldn't fathom spending that on a shower curtain number one and number two it wouldn't match my bathroom.....so I just decided to make it myself. My brother said it looked like he was looking up someone's skirt... haha

This would be the BIGGEST project thus far... I scored this couch for free off Craigslist with the intent to reupholster and started ripping the fabric off...

I didn't quite know the enormity of the project but alas I did it. I'm pretty proud of this sucka. I wanted a crazy purple suede couch and thats what I got. I already have a client wanting to use it in a photoshoot but I need to finish the piping at the bottom. I ran out so that's why it looks a little unfinished on the bottom :)

This hanging wardrobe was also listed for FREE on Craigslist. I decided to convert it into a dresser so I took out the clothes bar and built in a few shelves. Then I added some fun knobs and have a great piece to hold my clothes :)

So I was shopping for curtain rods since I have five 5ftx6ft windows to cover and was again inspired.... why spend $50.00 a pop when I can make them myself?! SOOOO... I went to Home Depot bought some plain dowels and unfinished fence post toppers. I drilled holes in the dowels and screwed in the "finials" Now all I need to do is stain them and VOILA!

This last project isn't finished yet either but basically I found this little treasure in a friend's cousin's junk pile that he has collected over the years. It was just collecting dust so he let me have it for FREE! I went to Home Depot (again) and bought some wood and then cut it down to size. The next step is screw it on and stain the top for a great little side table.

For everything you've seen here....
Couch............................$FREE
Fabric for Couch............$70.00 (found for 40% off)
Paint for Couch wood....$FREE from the contractors next door

Wardrobe Closet............$FREE
Wood for shelves...........$12.00
Knobs............................$3.95/ea (2)

Shower Curtain Fabric...$25.00

Vase..............................$2.00

Curtain Rod Dowels.......$3.95/ea (5)
Fence Post toppers........$3.00/ea (10)

table base.....................$FREE
Wood top......................$6.00
________________________________________
GRAND TOTAL: $172.65


Now it's back to work...

The rugged artsy type.

Monday:
10:30am: I show up at the :e:-loft with the ingredients to make breakfast and start our day off right. You know, a hearty warm breakfast so we could attack the day with strength and vigor. [see 12:30 pm]

11am: Sorted through Eric's closet picking out his wardrobe. He was my life-sized barbie doll. "Here put this on... take that off...um... and you can just leave that off if you like. ;) We concocted some great entertaining outfits but I was banned from capturing them on camera. Something about not trusting me? blah blah blah... I dont know WHY he couldn't trust innocent ol' me.

12:30pm: Gave up on breakfast and ate granola bars instead. haha. I made quiche but for some reason something went wrong and I ended up using it as a frisbee into the garbage can :) If anyone can tell me WHY the quiche wouldn't solidify in the center you will be my hero. Egg soup wasn't on the menu so Nature Valley came to the rescue.

2pm -6pm: drive out to Marblehead and start the shoot. The weather was forecasted to be nice but alas it rained...and rained...and rained... so what was supposed to be an outdoorsey rugged man shoot had to be moved inside. Luckily, my new place has an old barn so we morphed it into a rugged...uh... artsy-man shoot. Eric played the part (or just played himself) quite well.

Check out the fun from the day....

You probably can't tell because of the smile but I think this is where Eric started not liking me. Something about being barefoot with no jacket in a drafty barn.

And then I think this is where Eric started HATING me. "Let's remove the hat too please, Eric."

The end. :)

Sneak Peek

Just thought I'd share a little about what's going on in the life of Shyla...

So after 1 year of being in Boston and trying to find the PERFECT town where I could settle a bit, I fiinally found just the right fit about 10 miles north of Boston proper in the little oceanside town of Marblehead, MA.
[click here to see pics of the town]

Construction on the new place wrapped up and I'll get to move in next week! Here's a sneak peek from behond the scenes with the trusty ol' iPhone. I'll post real pictures once the place is up and running but for now you get this...

:e: came out to help me clean the place up a bit and I couldn't help but laugh at the shots. It's a gender role reversal. haha. He swept and I manned the power-tools. ;] (but to his credit, they are HIS tools and I did wear frilly girly gloves to clean)
Anyway, I found this great piece of furniture and decided to revamp it by adding/making shelves. What was once a hanging wardrobe will soon be an upright dresser with pull out shelving. The couch and chair you see are the sweet finds that are about to be re-upholstered.

I cannot wait until it's all put together but since you're being patient, I'll leave you with another sneak peek of a session I did earlier this week...