RACHAEL EARL » PHOTOGRAPHY: Lifestyle Portraiture and Wedding Photography

Since Christmas is the season of giving, I decided to give you a secret tidbit of information, which is that the Earl family will be growing by one come July! The 4th of July to be exact! And while I will spare you a picture of my fat ever-growing belly, here is a photo with a depiction of how I feel right now, as taken in the State Fair mirror:

I’m at the awkward-is she pregnant or just getting fat-stage at the moment, which stage is second only to the-did she have her baby or is it still in there-stage in awfulness. BUT we are feeling so blessed and grateful to add to our family. We have the best, most wonderful little girls we could ever hope for, and would love to add another girl or a boy to our family.

Here are some random tidbits of oh-so-interesting information:

1. I have been lucky to not have morning sickness, but not so lucky to have crazy night sickness instead. I crave bean and cheese burritos and chips and salsa ALL the time (thankfully, I live close to Mexico, and we have an abundance), and despise ketchup and syrup to no end. Also, any form of meat is fantastic, especially Texas Roadhouse ribs. So, if you need a gift idea for Christmas…I’m just sayin’…

2. If the baby is born on the 4th, we probably won’t name him/her after our founding fathers, although we do love our country. George Washington Earl just isn’t a good thing. We have names picked out, but they’re not set in stone yet, in case you have some ideas

3. We won’t be finding out what we’re having-we’ve actually NEVER found out with any of our kids! It’s fun and a great surprise in the hospital.

4. Both of our girls were born at least 2 weeks early. If the baby is born 2 weeks early, it will be born on my birthday, which is also Father’s Day this year, which would be awesome! Also, Dan hates to wait, so I hope that this little guy or girl follows the trend!

So there you have it! You can stop wondering if I’ve simply eaten a few too many holiday treats this season…well…I probably am guilty of that, too

You’ve seen this family on my blog a lot a lot a lot a lot. That’s what they get for being our best friends

Love this whole series and couldn’t decide:


Mental note: Don’t teach kids how to do wet willies-LOL!



Grandma got in for a few after a little convincing. She can hardly pass for a grandma if you ask me!



Canvas:

So there you have it! I love these photos, and wish I could Photoshop my family into them!

These two photos are SO them, and I don’t even know them very well yet.

We shall call it a medley. Sorry readers. I have been sucking it up with the blogging lately for sure!

Cutest smile. Period.

You may have seen this if you follow me on Twitter. Some of my favorite neighbors and Abbie’s amazing preschool teacher:

Bowties are insanely cute.

A lucky location find and a super cute fam:

May I just comment on my good friend Aimee’s dress that I totally covet from Shabby Apple? I pretty much want to buy up the entire site.

Looooove when I can find a little fall color in the trees:

Whitney is awesome. Period. So are the clouds in this building.

Love this family and glad they are my neighbors:

No, we are not in the mountains:

JJ and his bike-bad to the bone?

These boys have some major hops and kept me laughing for sure!

Little Miss Pouty Lips was the cutest (from today, by the way!)

And last butt not least…pun intended.

If I missed you somehow, I am truly sorry. I will include you in the future-promise. Thank you for tuning in-goodnight America!

I am honored to be able to host Dane Sanders‘ Fast Track Roadshow Workshop this January 19-20 in Phoenix! Dane is an inspirational photographer, writer, and mentor to many. His book, Fast Track Photographer is essential in my opinion to starting and running a successful photography business.

If you are struggling to find your way, or just struggling through these tough times, this workshop will be invaluable to you in helping you push yourself and your business above and beyond. The information, discussions, and live shooting with Dane are valuable enough, but included in the workshop are tons of free products such as a year subscription to Showit Sites (my personal favorite site building tool), a one year pro membership to Smugmug (also my favorite for galleries!), and many more awesome products, making the workshop more than pay for itself.

If you are interested, check out more about the workshop here, or email me for more information. I hope to see you there!

PS-if you are a fun couple interested in modeling for the live shoot on January 19th from 3-5pm, please email me at rachael@mycameralovesyou.com

I wanted to get a sneak preview up, so here goes! First up, some details, including the best wedding shoes!


Yes, those are metal flowers made by the groom. They were amazing.

The bride looking stunning:

Sunflare through the window=double awesome

The groom looking badass:

Might just be the coolest groom ever. Sorry, other grooms, but that is a working gun in his belt.

Two of my favorite shots of the couple:


Uncle Charlie, we love you and this photobooth shot (no pun intended).

The Myers are the neighbors I miss having down the street from me the most!!!


I can hardly stand Avery’s cuteness!

SQUIIIIIISH!

Parker has the best hair EVER.


Ryder was on the move unless bribed with food. Bribes worked very well. I am pretty sure he is staring at a bag of fruit snacks in this photo.

I would enlarge this one (hint hint).

Kristin is one of my favorite friends, can you tell why?


The kids got pennies to make a wish in the fountain.



“Hold Ryder there and don’t let him move” Literally.

Such a fun session!!! Thank you guys!

Thank you to everyone who entered! I have notified the winner of the free session-a very deserving family. I would encourage other photographers, if possible, to take the time to help a family in need. There are so many more this season than there have been in seasons past, and we have the opportunity to really bless those families with something special.

I’ll leave you with a quick picture of one of my favorite families and neighbors (not the winners of the session):

Warning: I had a really hard time choosing, so although these are just from yesterday, I cannot call it a sneak peek. Feel free to make up your own name for my “peeks” and post it in the comments. I need help.

This is Justin + Josi. They are awesome. They make awesome art. The have awesome dogs. They have awesome clothes. The end.

They make these amazing metal paintings (for lack of a better word), which are hung all over their home.

This was my first time ever photographing a Murder by Death shirt for an engagement session, but it worked

I love this one:

This is still their backyard-so many cool areas to shoot!

Then, we headed to the Boojum Tree for a few more shots. They are getting married there next Saturday, and I can’t wait!

Oh yeah, Justin’s beard is awesome, too.

Maybe this is a Boojum Tree?


Justin used to be a male model, which is probably why you recognize him.

Thanks, guys, and I’m excited to shoot your wedding next weekend!