Emily & Steve | Gretna Engagement Portraits | cb Yates Photography

This is one fun loving and easy going couple! We spent a couple hours together on a perfect fall day a couple weeks ago. We wanted to make sure and capture the essence of their relationship and I feel we succeeded! They met while playing on a volleyball league so naturally we went up to Spikers to use their sand volleyball court as our backdrop. The evening sunset lighting worked great to provide a romantic mood to these photos. I loved hearing Steve describe meeting Emily when she was a sub for his team. He said he was interested right away and wondered when they’d get to play together again. Isn’t that cute?

Emily and Steve, I had a great time with you both. Thanks for wading through the tall grass at the weathered barn location. I’ve been wanting to take photos there for awhile now! I am looking forward to your wedding next May. I can’t wait to meet the rest of your family and friends. I know that if they’re anything like you two it will be a great time!

Another great fall morning, another beautiful family.

I’ve been constantly busy shooting and editing fall photos but I just had to take a minute to share this family.  We had a great morning at the park and they were so much fun to photograph. Aren’t they beautiful? And I love their outfits. This mama did a great job planning their outfits.

There’s definitely a lot of love in this family. There was plenty of hugging and kissing going on! 

So this little guy was fun to work with. I’m so glad I remembered to grab a couple tootsie roll suckers outta my Halloween candy bucket before I left. They work wonders for making little guys smile! And what a smile he has.

I had to sneak one in of Mom and Dad. They looked so cute snuggling together while little man D was playing. Thanks again Ashley and Sam! I’ll have your gallery finished and uploaded very soon!

Photographing an amazing photographer . . . Becky Novacek

Two weekends ago I got the opportunity to spend some time with the Novacek family. Becky Novacek is a beautiful and talented photographer that I am thankful to call my friend. Please go check out her site and fill up on beautiful words of wisdom as well as some spectacular photography! This girl is about as sweet as they come. I am forever inspired by her creative works. She is so good at writing from the heart and I strive to open up and share like her.

Last year she photographed my family and I couldn’t have been happier. She asked me about getting together with her family for a shoot this fall and I knew it would be fun. I couldn’t have expected the gorgeous scene that I drove up to. It looked like a commercial photoshoot! She had borrowed an old vintage truck from her vet and even had the family sofa set up outside in the fall elements. It was the coolest scene! And I’m so glad the weather held out for us that day. It was a little overcast and windy but way better than rain!

So I’ll quit my yapping and show you the photos we got with her beautiful family. I couldn’t decide which was better, the sweet props we had to use or her great-looking family! I loved seeing all these families come together to make one big loving one. I know you won’t believe me if I tell you but Becky is a Grandma (I believe her grand-kids call her “Mimi”) My main goal was to get a photo with her and her husband and all the grand-kids.

Can’t you feel the love in this photo? This is such a special group of people. Everyone was so kind!

I also go to take some of just Becky and her husband Tom. They run into the same dilemna that Chuck and I do . . . we don’t have many photos together because I’m the one that’s usually behind the camera. I’m glad I got to photograph these two on their own. I know they have a very special relationship and it needs to be documented!

Thanks for having me Novacek Family! I really enjoyed my time with you.

2008 Holiday Cards are in production

The weather today is a good indication of where we’re headed . . . winter! Which means that the Holidays are right around the corner. I’m somewhat glad for the rainy weather which means I can get caught up on my proofing. No photoshoots scheduled for today. Just me and my assistant Kona together working on the computer. I figured this was a great day to showcase the 2008 Holiday Card designs. Holiday cards are the main reason I’ve got so many shoots on the schedule book these days!

Below is this year’s examples:

Another way to view these is by going to the proofing section of my website. This is also where you can place your holiday card order. As soon as your session is proofed and loaded to your private gallery I’ll send you an email with the link and password. From there you can choose which card you’d like and which photos you want to include. We can also customize the greeting and family names, etc.

Most of my clients have gotten a sneak peak at the card examples but in case you didn’t here are the specifics:

• Press Printed Cards are not photographs, but are produced on state of the art digital printing presses. The printing facility uses real liquid ink, not toner like a color copier as some other printers use, to give the cards the look and feel of a very high quality printed piece.
• Cards are double sided (more room to show off your gorgeous photos!)
• Size is 5″x7″
• Ordered in increments of 25
• Pricing includes envelopes
• There are multiple paper finishes available (matte, glossy, watercolor paper, and pearlescent)

I am always excited to place orders for the Holiday cards. I love designing/customizing the cards and waiting to see the end product once it’s shipped out. Everyone loves them since they’re such a personalized item. And the other good thing about these cards is all you have to do is address and stamp the envelopes and you’re ready to mail. No need to sign the card since we’ve already customized them with you family’s name.

And since I can’t post without a picture I snapped a quick one of a couple of last year’s cards. Remember when I said it was a rainy, dreary day? Well please forgive the lighting in this photo since I had less than desirable natural lighting conditions!

Family portrait sessions are in full swing!

I’ve been photographing some beautiful families lately. I’lll have lots to blog about in the next couple of weeks. Stay tuned to see some great fall colors and cool new locations!

I really enjoy family sessions because during the shoot I’m on a conquest to get that perfect shot. The one that really captures the essence of their family. The ingredients for me involve *genuine* smiles, big hugs, and usually some great belly laughter. All it takes is one person to say something funny or to bring up an inside joke and I get to see their true family. You know, the same laughter that they share around the dinner table each night.

Here are a couple from a recent family shoot at one of my favorite places to shoot this time of year . . . Schramm Park.

Aren’t these kids adorable? Mom had them dressed in the cutest outfits too. At one point I got a little concerned that they were getting too dirty while they were playing and mom told me they had a little philosophy about dirt  . . . it comes off with a washcloth! Love it! A girl after my own heart. I totally relate especially since I grew up on five acres and played outside all day as a kid.