At the beginning of the year, I met up with Yadira & Johanna, the lovely ladies from One Sweet Party, to start planning a shoot inspired by the recent Little Red Riding Hood movie. However, since the movie is pretty scary, we wanted to take a spin on the woodsy, elegant imagery and create something light-hearted, fun, and delicious – the way a fairy-tale themed party SHOULD be!!

Our tablescape inspiration Birthday Party shoot includes lots of luscious florals by Cathy from Forget Me Not Flower Shop, a gorgeous cake designed by South Florida bakers Mike & Desiree at The Dream Cakery, fun printable table decor & treats by Yadira & Johanna at One Sweet Party, yummy custom-decorated sugar cookies by Anne at The Flour Box Bakery, and photography by me, Karen Lisa.

For a closer look at the printables by One Sweet Party, head on over to their blog site to view the Little Red Riding Hood collection.

We photographed over at Long Key Nature Center in Davie, which provided a gorgeous, woods-inspired backdrop for our shoot. I couldn’t help photographing some of the incredible trees and plants as a prelude for what was to come. :)

Moving on to the gorgeous table set up!

Note how the florals completed the design and really brought everything together. I think this is a great example of how important a great floral artist can be for enhancing your tables at your wedding or party. If you want unique florals that will enhance and bring vividness to your event, get in touch with Ft. Lauderdale floral designer Cathy from Forget Me Not.

Johanna and Yadira did an incredible job putting all of the elements together. Not only are they amazing South Florida party and event designers but they are talented graphic artists too, as each of the printed elements of the table set-up was custom designed by their company, One Sweet Party.

South Florida cake designers The Dream Cakery put together a simple and elegant cake design that perfectly matched our needs. I love the red detailing and the way the texture has been added to the cake. The red detailed trim on the cake really helped to bring our theme together – from the florals to the treat bags and the cookies.

We can’t forget about the amazing custom-decorated sugar cookies that were created by Anne of The Flour Box Bakery! She created the small flower cookies for our flower tree as well as the red riding hood and tree cookies shown below. These were all customized designs based on Johanna & Yadira’s Little Red Riding Hood Collection. Wow – so much talent! They were delicious too. :)

Thanks for checking out our inspiration shoot – Little Red Riding Hood tablescape – and please be sure to visit all of the vendors for any of your party needs in South Florida & beyond!

Wedding & party photography by Karen Lisa
Event printables & design – One Sweet Party
Custom cakes and more – The Dream Cakery
Unique floral design by Forget Me Not Flower Shop
Custom designed sugar cookies by The Flour Box Bakery

I love love love giveaways! They give me the chance to meet new people and have a lot of fun doing something different.

Thank you all for supporting me these past 5 years as I have grown my business and for entering my giveaway! I received so many great entries. The winner of the contest was chosen via a random number generator, which is a good thing, because I would have never been able to choose someone if it was left up to me! Thanks to everyone who entered the contest!

I’m excited to announce that the winner of the free portrait session is Vanessa Prieto and her children!

Vanessa’s winning comment was: Oh my G, to quote my daughter, Sonnet… I searched “artistic photographer in Fort Lauderdale” and yours was the 1st site to pop up! It’s fate and I am looking no further! Your work is everything and M-O-R-E that I was literally searching for and that is simply why I would be so grateful for a comp shot. I am in need of some edgy yet professional pics for a new business website that I’m super excited about, as well as holiday shots (not the boring red sweater kind) of my most amazing 2 kids, Sonnet & Kruis, and I (first family shot as a single mom and this will be very special since I’ve avoided this for a couple of years). I envision these shots with an organic, eclectic nature feel, throw in a Spanish style gate, fountain, and/or art deco sign and we are $$$$. Fingers crossed, Vanessa

Vanessa, I’m looking forward to working with your family!

This is a big year for Karen Lisa Artistic Photography – I am celebrating my 5th year as a professional photographer! I’ve been through 3 different business names, learned a lot through trial & error, and truly developed my style over the past 5 years. Above all, I’ve had the pleasure of working with some of the most amazing clients, quite a few of whom I now call my friends, and some awesome vendors within the wedding industry!

Additionally, yesterday we celebrated my son Zachary’s 2nd birthday! The year he was born, 2008, was an amazing year for me, and its only gotten better!

Photo of me shooting Ciara & Joe

To celebrate both events, I’m giving away a complimentary 1 hour lifestyle portrait session (up to four family members) with an 8×10 print. This giveaway is open to old & new clients, however newborn & boudoir sessions are ineligible to be redeemed for this promotion due to time investment being longer than a standard shoot. Session must be redeemed by March 31, 2011. Please note that if you are outside my shooting radius (Broward & Palm Beach up to Delray) you will be responsible for travel fees or will need to come to me. Additional persons may be added for a fee of $20 per person, with a maximum of six.

This week only, in honor of my 5th year in business, I’m offering $50 off my session fees for both lifestyle & boudoir, and $500 off of a Complete Wedding Collection for 2011. Remember, this discount is available THIS WEEK ONLY!!!! Only applies to new reservations which are booked between now and November 29th, 2010 at 11:59pm Eastern.

And, in honor of my son’s second birthday, purchase any gift certificate for a portrait session over $200 and receive a bonus $200 credit! This is a great way to book sessions for your child throughout the year, purchase a baby plan, an awesomely discounted maternity/newborn combo, or buy a holiday gift for yourself and a friend (I’m happy to split up the amounts)!

- Buy $200, receive a $400 gift certificate
- Buy $300, receive a $500 gift certificate
- Buy $400, receive a $600 gift certificate
- Buy $500, receive a $700 gift certificate
- Limit two purchases per household. Maximum purchase $500 per certificate.

Final invoices will include any applicable FL sales tax or travel fees; minimum order requirements still apply for discounted sessions. These are great Black Friday deals too. :) You must have your sessions/certificate paid in full to qualify for the discount/promo. You will be mailed a gift certificate, or you can choose to redeem it on a purchase at the time of booking. All gift certificates are valid for 1 year.

To enter the giveaway for a complimentary session & 8×10 print, please comment to this blog post and tell me why you want to win a complimentary photo session and what you envision for your shoot if you were to be the winner!

For additional entries and opportunities to win (leave a separate comment per each additional entry), you may do any of the following:

• Let me know if you follow Karen Lisa Artistic Photography’s Facebook Page
• Subscribe to my Monthly Newsletter (I don’t email more than 1 or 2 times per month)
• Subscribe to this blog’s RSS feed.
• Enter any giveaway at my personal blog, Bright Autumn Sun,  and come back and leave a comment saying you entered. You can do this as many times as you want, per giveaway.
• Click here to share this post with your Facebook friends.
• Click here to like this blog with StumbleUpon.
• Use the RT button at the top to ReTweet this post on Twitter

And that’s it! The giveaway and these promotions will end on November 29, 2010 at 11:59pm Eastern. I will announce the winner the following day. Good luck to everyone who enters! Make sure you tell your friends!! :)

Photo Fun Month is in full swing over at my personal blog, Bright Autumn Sun! The month is nearly over with only 10 days of posts, giveaways, interviews with my favorite Photographer Moms, and photos left to go! I’ve already given away a bunch of awesome stuff, interviewed some awesome people, and posted fun photos, and I have a lot more to fill up the next 10 days. I hope you’ll pop over there and see what I’ve been doing in my personal time! :)

For a quick giveaway run down, here is a list (and stay tuned for tomorrow, my son Zachary’s 2nd birthday, where I will announce a special Karen Lisa Artistic Photography giveaway!):

Win a $30 gift certificate towards Pear Tree Greetings – ends Nov. 22nd

Win a Black Rapid RS-W1 Camera Strap - ends Nov. 23rd

Win Angie Warren’s Project Photography eBook – ends Nov 24th (if you are interested in photography as a hobby, enter this one! it’s a great how-to book for DSLR enthusiasts)

Win a Lexar Twist Turn Jump Drive – ends Nov. 25th

Win a set of Paint the Moon actions and blog boards – ends Nov. 26th (if you’re getting into editing and blogging your pics, this is a great contest to enter!)

Win a calendar from TinyPrints – two winners selected, ends Nov. 28th (fill your 2011 calendar with this year’s snap shots!)

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I do want to share a little preview of some wedding pictures with you. A post is not a post without some pictures!

I shot 2 amazing weddings this month, one in the Florida Keys and one on South Beach and was blown away by each of them!! Both of my brides were beautiful and each wedding was absolutely unique! While I am not ready to share a full blog post yet, I want to share my favorite picture so far from each wedding…. MORE to come soon!

Megan & Cesar at Pierre’s, Islamorada:

Kirenia & Matt at the Mondrian, South Beach:

Photo Fun Month got off to a great start over at Bright Autumn Sun (my personal/family/fun blog), and I’ve been doing a lot of photography this month so far! I’ve had an awesome engagement shoot on South Beach, traveled to the Florida Keys for a gorgeous wedding, and later this month I have portrait sessions, boudoir, and more weddings to photograph and share with you all!!! Plus… my little boy is turning 2 in less than two weeks so as part of my Photo Fun Month, I’ve been photographing my life with him each and every day. What an adventure that has been! You can see TONS of my photos (mostly iPhone fun snap shots) over at Bright Autumn Sun.

I have some great photo-related giveaways over there that I just wanted to make sure everyone who reads at this blog is aware of:

Black Rapid Camera Strap – this is an awesome camera strap designed for women. Shooting with the Black Rapid RS-W1 has eased the pressure on my neck and back considerably when I photograph weddings & sessions and I’m excited to be giving one away! This is a GREAT strap for traveling when you will be walking around for extended periods of time with your DSLR! (ends November 23rd)

503 Online Photography Workshops – If you’re an amateur/hobby photographer or want to learn more in general about how to work different functions of your camera, basic lighting/flash, etc, the awesome Jessica of 503 Happenings teaches a fab workshop designed for you. You can win a spot by entering the contest on my blog. (ends November 19th)

BorrowLenses $100 Gift Certificate – I use BorrowLenses to rent additional cameras and lenses for my photo sessions and weddings if needed. They have so many different types of camera gear in stock. This is a great way to try before you buy (or just have fun) and you can win a gift certificate compliments of my blog! (ends November 17th)

LOTS MORE COMING SOON!!!! And don’t forget to check out all the super adorable family pictures I’m posting over there, if you’re into that sort of thing. ;)

Do you follow Karen Lisa Artistic Photography on Facebook? If so, you will get an extra entry in all of the above giveaways (make sure you leave a separate comment for each saying you follow after completing the mandatory entries). ALSO if you are one of my FB followers you’ll be able to see all the awesome photo teasers that I’ve been posting from my most recent photo shoots/weddings!! This is such a busy month between shoots, travel, personal life, etc, so I am trying to keep updated by posting teasers via Facebook prior to posting the full posts on the blog!

My son’s 2nd birthday is in about two weeks as I previously mentioned, and this fall is my 5th year anniversary in business as a professional photographer. In honor of both, as well as my Photo Fun Month, I’m going to be hosting a giveaway for a complimentary lifestyle photography session! I’m still ironing out some of the details, but I’m really looking forward to celebrating year number 5 with all of you with an awesome giveaway! Keep your eyes peeled on the blog and on Facebook for more information.

Here’s a photo to round out the post — if you’re on Facebook you may have already seen it. If not, then enjoy this adorable teaser shot from Nicole & Scott’s wedding two weeks ago!

Occasionally I blog about personal things here on my photography blog, but I’m not sure if many of my readers know that I have a personal blog, as well! It’s called Bright Autumn Sun, and I’ve been blogging there, at my own personal domain for many years, since I was a teenager, in fact! My blog is now more of a “mom blog” since I write a lot about my life especially with my son, Zachary, but I also do a lot of fun things on my blog to keep my readers entertained – like product reviews and giveaways of things that are of interest to moms or women in my age range.

This month, Zachary is turning 2. I can’t believe it! He’s gone from an adorable newborn baby to an adorable AND handsome little boy!

This year, my business is turning 5 years old! I started out shooting with my husband Adrian, just assisting him at first, then being his second shooter at weddings. Over five years we’ve transitioned between three names, starting as Ziemkowski Visions to The Wedding Couple and last October, I decided that it was time that I took over the company since I was the primary photographer and photo editor – so our company was renamed Karen Lisa Artistic Photography.

This job is very important to me, and I simply cannot imagine doing anything else. In my life, I’ve been a secretary, a technical editor, a vacation planner, a teacher… None of them were right. But this? It’s the only job I’ve ever had that has made me feel like what I’m doing has true value for those I’m doing it for. Shooting a great session or wedding makes me feel proud to have captured someone’s memories for generations, knowing one day their grandchildren will look at their photo album and see how they felt and what kind of person they were. It is a powerful and special feeling to be able to create images for people that will be important to their families for years to come!

In honor of my son turning 2, I want to take more pictures of my own family and document my life better. This second year of Zachary’s life has been a busy one, as he loves running around and in typical toddler fashion, doesn’t sit still very often. I feel that I haven’t taken as many photos as I should have, and that needs to change. I need to get better about documenting my own family to the best of my abilities.

And so do you. Capturing family memories is one of the greatest things that you can ever do for your children & future generations.

Whether that means doing it myself, or asking photographer friends to help out a few times a year for family photo shoots, I have a duty to capture my own family’s life and record it for ages to come. Especially this month that Zachary turns two, this month that we celebrate Thanksgiving and all that we are thankful for, this month that I remember how far I’ve come as a photographer and artist and person in five AMAZING years! This month, I  will get my camera out, for myself, and document as much as I can.

Do you have a camera? Any camera? It doesn’t matter if it’s a point and shoot… or a Digital SLR… or your iPhone. Even a polaroid will do, as long as you can scan your prints. Well, take a look at it/them, because I want you to use it every day this month. Join me in my Photo Fun Month challenge over at my personal blog, Bright Autumn Sun, where I’ll be photographing life as I see it, and blogging my images. I’ll be tweeting, too, using the hash tag #photofunmonth, and would be delighted if you’d join in the fun!

In addition to posting photos each and every day, I’m going to be hosting loads of amazing giveaways from fantastic vendors such as Modern Bird Studio, Black Rapid camera straps, 503 Workshops, Tiny Prints, and more. All of these giveaways will inspire you to get out and use your camera or do something more with your photos. And for those of you who are still learning how to shoot or just like to do it as a hobby to take pics of your children, there are even some resources I’ll be giving away that will help you do that better. SO many awesome things are happening on Bright Autumn Sun this month so please please come check it out – if not for the daily photo candy, at least for the giveaways ;)

I’ll be doing a weekly roundup of giveaways and fun stuff here on this blog, too, so those of you who don’t want to subscribe over there can still read about the fun going on, see great photos, and find out how to win awesome prizes!

And stay tuned for a Karen Lisa Artistic Photography giveaway later in November…. :)

You can click the button to visit Bright Autumn Sun and find out more!

Want to keep in touch with me and get the latest in photo sneak peaks, news, promotions, specials, and participate in photography related discussions? Make sure you visit the Karen Lisa Artistic Photography Facebook Page and click “like” so that we can stay connected!!

Here’s a preview of what the page looks like, but make sure you click here to visit & follow!

This Youtube video is making its rounds, and I wanted to share it with you. This is not a wedding I photographed, but I thought it was a great video! What a wonderful, joyful, happy experience! I hope you watch this all the way through to the end.

I’m back from my Alaskan cruise (and have about a zillion photos to go through) and thought I’d ease back into blogging with a fun before and after from Ciara & Joe’s beautiful wedding at the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens.

Here’s an example of a color corrected proof and an artistically edited Signature Image.

The color-corrected proof has had the exposure and contrast adjusted from the original and it is ready-to-print.

In the Signature Image, the general tones have been warmed to signify that the bride & groom were photographed at sunset, the greenery has been given a slightly more lush color, and the skin has also been softened. The final image is a little more “dreamier” than the proof and is the image that I actually saw in my head when I captured Ciara & Joe embracing following their ceremony.

Sometimes the effect used on a Signature Image can be drastic to achieve a certain goal — and sometimes it can be very subtle. I like posting these “Before and After” entries so that you can see the different methods used to achieve what I “saw” as I released the shutter of my camera and created an image with my clients.

One of the most common questions I receive from potential clients is regarding retouching images.

Most photographers have three stages of retouching. The first stage is the RAW image straight out of the camera. This image is unedited and unfinished, so it normally will never be seen by anyone other than the photographer. The second stage is your color-corrected proof. This is the image that will go in your online gallery. I color correct each proof individually to ensure that the color is balanced perfectly and I also make additional adjustments like cropping, exposure, black and white, brightness, and contrast.

The final stage of image editing is the fully retouched image. Retouched images are those which you’ve ordered for your album or as a print enlargement. With these images, I make sure color is perfect, smooth the skin if necessary, and make sure the image looks as great as it possibly can. Note that if you require additional extensive retouching, an hourly fee will apply.

Additionally, I include a selection of fully retouched images in every wedding collection called Signature Images, which have been artistically edited just as all the images you’ll see on my website and blog have been — in my signature artistic style. Each wedding collection includes a number of these images in the online gallery and on disc with print release.

Check out this beautiful portrait of Carly & Darren from their engagement party and see the different stages of this image. By the way, this image is one of my favorites from that evening because it captured a real & emotional moment between the couple.

Hope you enjoyed checking out this “before and after” post! I know my blog readers tend to enjoy these since I’ve been asked to post them more often, so I will try to do more! :)