Owensboro Wedding Photography Stigman Photography Blog

Senior Models 2012

2011-08-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

It's back to school time! Time to start thinking about getting your senior pictures done for those that are in the graduating class of 2012. In case you haven't seen the 2012 Senior Models from Stigman Photography on Facebook, here's a little recap.

Tessa-Owensboro Catholic High School

Hillary-Daviess County High School

Margaret-Owensboro High School

Lisa-Henderson County High School

Lindsay-Ohio County High School

If you are wanting to save a little money on your Senior Portraits, these girls have a referral card for you with $50 off your Senior Session! Go talk to one of these girls, ask them for a referral card, they'll be happy to give you one and tell you how much fun they had during their senior session. Get your appointment scheduled soon, Saturdays and after school times are filling up quickly!

One hot wedding!

2011-08-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Back to blogging, things get updated on facebook much faster than on the blog. So, if you want to see what I'm up to that's a little more current than the blog, click "like" on my facebook page and you will be in the loop.

It's been a busy summer, with 3 kids in ball, and coaching a Tball team, we were constantly on the go. Not to mention all the sessions I've done this summer and plus a wedding. I have lots of updating to do so I will just start off with the wedding from June.

You might remember Heather from a few facebook albums, she was the girl in the formal ridding a 4 wheeler in the mud and this family session with her and her little guy at the carnival. I was super excited for her when she got engaged to Keith, I knew from all the sessions I had with her previously that her wedding would be a great time as well.

You can tell by this image, it was the hottest wedding I have ever photographed.

HaHa! I meant literally, the temperature that day was 94 degrees or something like that, plus the high humidity I think the heat index was probably 104. Everything was outdoors, and it was hot! Heather and Keith were
troopers though, they did a first look before the wedding, and had their special moment seeing each other for the first time and then we went right into getting their pictures done. Here's a moment from when Keith saw her for the first time.

Some of the portraits......

and some of the details.......

I gotta say the shoes were pretty hot......

Heather's little man Gavin, walked her down the aisle, it was so sweet.

I loved how excited they were to be married!

Heather and her dad a didn't miss a beat with their choreographed father/daughter dance.

Now she's showing Keith some new dance moves........

How do you end an incredibly hot day?..........fireworks of course!

Congrats to this new little family, thanks so much for letting me be a part of your day!

If you'd like to see more images from this wedding, click here to see the slideshow or here for the facebook album.

Fitness Fridays

2011-03-11T15:07:00.000-08:00

It's Friday! Another blog post about fitness. Today is all about baby steps to health and fitness. I think so many times people are so overwhelmed with the amount of changes they have to make in their life to get healthy that they quit before they even start. Start with something small. For the first couple weeks pick one little thing to change about your lifestyle. How about giving up soda, or at least cut back on the amount of soda you drink to maybe 3 a week. Instead drink water, or another low calorie drink. You'd be amazed how calories you actually drink each week with soda, juice, coffee drinks, etc. I don't know about you, but I'd rather eat my calories than drink them. Just one small little change like that will help you start losing weight.

After doing one little change for a couple weeks, add another little change to your lifestyle. Take the stairs instead of the elevator. Park further away at the store, so you have more walking to do to get to the door.

A few weeks after that, choose an activity you want to do 3 times a week for 20 minutes. It can be as simple as a walk or bike ride. Do something that gets you moving, put on some music and dance for 20 minutes. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. Soon you'll be ready to start making changes to the types of food you are eating, and increase the amount of exercise you are doing. Taking small steps every few weeks, will get you on your way to a healthy lifestyle. Go ahead, pick one small change today.

My fitness and health update: I've joined another weight loss challenge with 9 other people for the next 10 weeks. $10 goes to the winner each week for the most percentage of weight loss and at the end of 10 weeks the one with the highest percentage wins $50. My goal is to lose another 10 lbs, another pants size and lose another 3% in body fat in these next 10 weeks. Wish me luck!

favorite things

2011-03-10T10:18:00.000-08:00

My favorite color (or shades of that color) has always been turquoise. Maybe because it reminds me of the ocean, which is my favorite place to be. By luck that color is in my logo. Subconsciously, it's probably the reason why I choose my logo. I wore a teal colored dress to my junior prom. My husband makes fun of me that I liked such a "90's" color. Guess what, If I had to do it over again, I'd still pick that color, maybe not that particular style, but for sure the color. Today as I was searching the Internet for turquoise living room accents and chairs, I came across a blog devoted to the color turquoise and was tickled pink. (hahha pun intended) I immediately added it to my google reader. If you happen to like turquoise too, here's the link

My birthday is coming up, and I found a piece of jewelry I would love to have. It's only $5400
hahaha a girl can dream can't she?

High School Seniors

2011-03-07T13:20:00.000-08:00

I love being able to photograph on location. I get to photograph my clients at their favorite spots, and they are so much more relaxed and comfortable in front of the camera. I got to photograph Bekah at a few places, we started off at my house, where we have access to 45 acres to play on; the woods, fields, a lake.... so much to do. Then we went to Bekah's house, I photographed her on the swing in her backyard that she used to play on when she was a little girl. Then off to the farm where her horses are at. We got some great images with her horses and her sweet dog, Hunter. I think Bekah's inner beauty, as well as her outer beauty shined through in these images. Thanks for all the fun!

By the way, in case anyone was wondering about location photography, and what I do about the weather if it's bad- here's the lo-down. The only time I cancel a session is if it's really cold, or raining. Sometimes, windy days can be used to my advantage with blowing hair, usually we can find places where there is shelter from the wind. Gloomy cloudy days are fine too. The key to great images is lighting, if the light is not great, then I will make it great with various reflectors, and light modifiers and possibly some off camera flash. I usually bring all that stuff with me when shooting in clients homes as well, in case you are worried about the lighting in your home. In other words, don't worry, I'm a professional. :0)

Fitness Fridays

2011-03-04T14:00:00.000-08:00

I've been wanting to do a weekly blog post for some time now. I decided that since I have been on this fitness journey for a while now, that I would write weekly posts on some aspect of fitness. Now when I say "fitness" I don't mean starving yourself to be a size 2 or trying the latest greatest diet fad.   I mean changing your lifestyle to making healthy food choices a majority of the time and exercising your body. I have not reached my fitness goals yet, but I am working at it daily.

I think the best decision I have made when it comes to fitness is having a personal trainer. Someone who can help me figure out realistic fitness goals, hold me accountable to them and giving me the tools (exercise and food choices) to reach those goals.

Now I don't want you to think a personal trainer is going to be like your fairy godmother, who will wave her magic wand and poof, you're in shape. It took you more than a week to put on the weight, and it's going to take more than a week to get it off. You have to be patient, and not give up when you don't drop 13lbs in a week like they do on "biggest loser" That doesn't happen here in the real world. You may not lose any weight the first few weeks, but that doesn't mean your body isn't changing. You may find your clothes are fitting better instead. You may find yourself not getting winded after going up two flights of stairs. Things are changing, stick with it.

You also have to remember a personal trainer can't be with you 24/7 (unless you're very wealthy) to monitor what food you are putting into your body. You have to make the food choices, but if you write down what you eat every day in a journal, and bring it to your trainer, she can help guide you in the right direction. She may tell you that after seeing what you've eaten for a week, you may be eating way too many carbs and not enough protein, or vice versa. She may tell you that you have not been eating enough calories and your body is going into starvation mode and holding on to the weight, or maybe you're eating a few too many.

You still have to show up for your workouts, she can't be a puppet master and move your body for you. She is not there to be your friend during a workout. My personal trainer really is my friend in my everyday life, but when I'm there to workout, she's not my friend for that hour. Sometimes I don't like her during that hour. She doesn't pat me on the back and say "it's ok honey, that's good enough, you did your best, you can be done now." when I want to quit. Oh no, after 60 seconds of doing a wall squat and my legs are shaking and burning and I want to quit, she says "You got another 30 seconds to go, if you drop and quit, I'm going to add even more time!" "You can do this, focus!" Believe me, she will add more time. That is just what I need, someone to motivate me and push me further than I would push myself, not someone who will enable me to give up when I think it's too hard. I do get a "you did good, I'm proud of you." after I'm drenched in sweat and completely spent.

With the help of my trainer, Heather, I have lost 27 lbs, 12% body fat and 3 pants/dress sizes. How long did that take me? Well most of it I achieved in the last 6 months. The first year I trained with Heather, I worked out with her about twice a week, maybe once or twice a week on my own. I lost about 7 lbs and a pants size and dropped a bit in body fat. Now had I been making healthy food choices consistently I would have reached my goals last year. I would eat pretty good during the weekdays, and then on the weekends I would completely blow it and eat whatever I wanted. Now you're not going to reach your goals very quickly by only working out twice a week and not eating consistently. I also had to stop my training during the late spring and summer because of my kids' sports schedule. I tried to workout on my own at home, but I certainly did not push myself. I did maintain my loss during that time, so that was good.

In August, I decided to get more focused on my goals and be consistent in my training and eating. It has paid off. I was part of a "biggest loser" challenge with some other girls, and that helped motivate me as well. Our last weigh in was in February, and I'm sorry to say I was not the biggest loser. I lost by less than 1%. So close! I am hoping to reach my goal by summer. What exactly is my goal.....well it's not a number on the scale. It's a realistic size, and body fat percentage along with a few physical goals of being able to run a 5k and being able to do pull ups. That pull up goal may take a while, but I will achieve it! On Monday, Heather intensified my training and added some more to it.
Here is my training schedule as of now: don't be jealous :0P
Monday-1 hour of circuit training and 90 mins. of Muay Thai
Tuesday- couch to 5k program 30 min.
Wednesday- off
Thursday- 1 hour of circuit training
Friday- couch to 5k program 30 min. and 90 mins. of Muay Thai
Saturday-couch to 5k program 30 min. 1 hour of circuit training
Sunday-off

And because a blog post is always better with picutures, here's my before and after pictures from the last 6 months. Don't make fun of my workout look, or I may have to show you some of my Muay Thai moves. :0P
Looking at these photos motivate me to keep going, hopefully these posts will help motivate you to reach your goals as well.

momma's kisses

2011-03-03T10:04:00.000-08:00

The best medicine in the world is a mother's kiss.
- Anonymous

If you'd like to see more images from this session, click here to see the facebook album.

Twirling, Twirling

2011-03-02T15:14:00.000-08:00

Sunny days and warm weather make me want to go and twirl in a field too.

If you'd like to see more images from this session click here to go to the facebook album.

2012 Senior Model Program

2011-02-28T14:09:00.000-08:00

Stigman Photography is looking for current juniors to be a part of our Senior Model Program.

The Stigman Photography Model Program is a way for 2012 high school seniors to earn discounts on their senior portraits, while helping us show off the latest styles and update our senior images.

Senior Rep Benefits:
1) A free 45 minute modeling test session taken in March.
2) Receive the senior portrait session of your choice for FREE when photographed in June 2011 (session fee only)
3) You'll get your test shoot images on facebook, and these will add more variety to the images for your senior portrait session.
4) Rep Cards-25 custom designed cards with your name and image to get you started (lets hope you will need more) Be sure to hand these out to your friends. For every rep card redeemed from your friends, you will receive $50 off your final portrait order and your friend will receive $50 toward their session fee. Valid one card per senior, per session.
5) A Look Book featuring some of your images from your test session. Be sure to show this to all your friends.

What's required of me?
We will need you AND your parents to sign a contract stating that you agree to have your 2012 senior portraits taken at Stigman Photography and that you will not represent another photographer or studio during your senior year.

Does is cost anything?
A good faith investment of $100 is required, but that entire $100 is given right back to you as a credit towards your senior portrait order.

Who are we looking for?
We're interested in 2012 seniors who appreciate the Stigman Photography quality, style and look, and who can see the difference in our work. You don't have to be a perfect model size or look like a model to get into the program. We base our decision on personality, activities, and eagerness to be in the program.

Only a limited number of reps will be accepted from each school. So if you are interested in being a part of our senior model program, then sign up TODAY! Click here to fill out the application. It's super easy!

Owensboro Family Photographer

2011-01-26T11:09:00.000-08:00

Here is another fun, family session I had in the fall......Heather, Gavin and the bulldogs; Booker and Lola.

We went to Heather's Grandpa's farm and made use of some old barns.

We included Gavin's special blanket in a few images, here he's pretending to be superman, flying with his blanket...er...I mean ....cape.

and then it was off to the carnival.....Gavin got his tickets,

and had a blast on the slide as well as a few other rides.

to check out all of Heather and Gavin's fun click here to see their slideshow.

Owensboro Family Photographer

2011-01-21T13:01:00.000-08:00

Back in September I ran a family portrait contest, where the winner would receive a portrait session plus 25 Christmas cards. Angie Wathen was the winner, and she had the perfect idea that would fit her family not to mention all the facebook votes. This was Angie's idea:

"The location would be my parents farm. We could make pictures by the lake of us just having fun. Us riding on the ranger in the the woods. Would love pictures of us in the woods. There is also some old barns on the property. Mom and Dad's porch would make wonderful pictures, and there fountain area in the front. There is so many places on there farm that would be great for making outside family pictures."

A quick side note I have to tell you, most of the time the men do not like having to be in portraits but I do have the answer to remedy that problem ladies! Are you ready for the answer? Involve them in the whole process. Take some time to talk together as a family, talk about what you enjoy doing the most together, and where. Include the kids too, they will tell you when they have the most fun. Once you figure out your favorite family activity and location, the rest is easy. The guys and kids are more comfortable in front of the camera when they are in a place that is comfortable to them. Just ask Angie's husband, Frank. He'd tell you he was pretty apprehensive about having to have family portraits made, but after a couple of minutes of driving around the farm and taking pictures, he was having fun, the whole family was having fun.

I did Angie's family session at the end of October and I think we pretty much photographed every idea Angie had, plus some.

If you'd like to see more images you can check out the facebook album here.

Oh and her Christmas cards were pretty cool by the way, she was the envy of all her friends for having the coolest cards. ;0)

I'm back.......

2011-01-20T22:53:00.000-08:00

OK, so I got through Christmas and New Years, and the sessions I meant to blog before Christmas never got blogged. SO.......I'm just going to start with something recent (like last weekend) and then move backwards in my posts.
Last weekend was the ladies' conference at River City Church. It was a blast; with great speakers, worship, music, terrific food, and getting to hang out with the girls. Guess what my job was......you are correct....photos!
I set up a photo-booth for the ladies to get some fun pictures with their friends.

And yes, there were some men at the conference working behind the scenes in child care, food service and music... Way to go guys!

Pastor Jessi Gibson speaking, with her baby on her hip. It was an illustrated sermon during which she got a pedicure. Can your pastor carry a baby, get a pedicure and preach a life changing message all at the same time? Mine can! :0)

Pastor Sarah Wehrli speaking. Pastor Sarah and her husband Caleb are the founders of Inspire International. They have been missionaries to several countries in Asia.

Pastor Brian Gibson also spoke at the conference. Good sermon as always.

We even had a few special guests. If you live around Owensboro then you may have heard the hilarious Kizzy on the radio every now and then. She did not let us down and had us laughing all the time.

The musical guest was Lacey Brown, who was on American Idol last season. Lacey sang during the worship time and closed out the conference Friday night with a few of her new songs she has coming out. Fabulous! You can check out Lacey's new website here.

Check out the decor of the conference......

Several people worked hard decorating the church, they did a tremendous job. Meagan Williams created all the shoes displayed. She's a talented artist by the way, you can check out her site here.

The worship music was excellent as usual.

Of course you have to have chocolate at a womens' conference,

And shopping! A silent auction was going on with proceeds going to Life Impact International. A bizarre was also set up for women to display their talents; sewing, knitting, crocheting, art, etc. I put up a display of some of the new portrait products I had gotten in recently. Many thanks to my good friend Sarah Wellmeier for helping me put up my display.

I have to give a shout out to Robin Jones for assisting me with the photo-booth and to Carrie Colbert for taking some great candid shots during the party. Thanks ladies! It took many people to make the conference a success, and I think they all did a wonderful job. I'm looking forward to next year's conference!

Click here to see a slideshow of more photos from the conference.

heart warming

2010-12-08T13:30:00.000-08:00

I just thought you all needed something to warm your heart on a cold day. Isn't she just adorable?

Family Photography

2010-12-08T07:07:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple more sneak peeks for you. I'm almost caught up so I'll have those blogs coming out soon, maybe I'll do "the 12 blogs before Christmas" or something like that. Enjoy!

Fall Portraits

2010-12-04T10:28:00.000-08:00

Thank you to my wonderful clients waiting so patiently for their images to show up on the blog and facebook.
Full blog posts and more to come soon, I am totally swamped and I now see why some places are creating a job position just to manage their social media networking. Here's just a sneak peek of what I've been up too.

Black Friday/Cyber Monday Gift certificate sale.

2010-11-25T20:23:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday spent with family and friends.

Well tomorrow is that crazy shopping day of the year. What type of product are you willing to stand in line for hours on end to get? For me, quite honestly it would have to be some kind of insane sale on Canon pro cameras or L series lenses.

Stigman Photography is having a Black Friday/Cyber Monday sale. Buy $100 gift certificate and we'll give you an extra $50. That's right......for $100 you will get $150 gift certificate. No need to wake up before dawn or stand in line for hours to get in on this sale. All you have to do is call me or go online to purchase your gift certificate. To purchase online go to www.stigmanphotography.com click on the "clients" section and enter in bf as the password. Or call me at 270-925-9311 to purchase your gift certificate. Gift certificates will be mailed to you. Gift certificates may be used for portrait sessions, prints, albums and portrait products. ***Restrictions- these gift certificates may not be used for orders already placed or in process.

Photography is a great gift to give to someone, you are giving them a gift of preserved memories of their loved ones. Make sure you put Stigman Photography on your shopping list, this special sale ends Nov. 29th. HAPPY SHOPPING!

"A day in the death of Joe Egg"

2010-10-22T19:41:00.000-07:00

Meet the cast of "A Day In The Death of Joe Egg" I did a quick session with these witty characters for the printed advertisement of this production put on by Theatre Workshop of Owensboro. You may recognize Katie, I did her senior session back in August.
Here's the image they chose

and here is the poster the TWO graphic artist designed. Looks great!

You can get your tickets for this show here. Don't delay, I hear these tickets are selling pretty quickly. I can't wait to see it!

50 years!

2010-10-21T19:39:00.000-07:00

I slacked off on the blogging. I've been busy with school work with the kids, and quite honestly figuring out if I should continue blogging. It seems I have more communication through facebook than with my blog. I still have not made my decision....... so for now the blog will continue. I have made some changes as far as when images get blogged and tagged on facebook. Tagging and blogging of images will occur after clients have placed their orders. So if you haven't seen your images tagged on facebook yet, get your orders in. :0)

Anyways....on with today's post. I can't believe I took this long to blog this. My apologies to the in-laws. In May, we traveled to MN to celebrate my Mother & Father in-law's 50th wedding anniversary. Quite the accomplishment, 50 years of marriage. They had a wonderful party with family and friends celebrating their marriage. Al and Bev gave me about 2 minutes to take some portraits of them. Really! 2 minutes is all I got, but I still got the shots I was after. They have a picture of them on their wedding day, on the front steps of this church, so we had to re-create that...50 years later.

Here's a few more of my favorite.......

awwww 50 years and still in love!

The youngest grandchildren put on a little skit of Bev and Al's years together. The skit was written by Bev's cousin, Fuzz, who always has everybody laughing. It highlighted Bev's love for shopping and Al's love for hunting, fishing, wild rice harvesting, wine making, and of course, baseball. Al is quite the baseball legend. I think he played the "old timers" league up until just a few years ago. He still plays ball with all his grand-kids. My son Sawyer, enjoys getting pitching advice from Grandpa when ever he can.

Bev and Al have 4 children of which my husband Sam, is the baby by 8 years. He was their "bonus" as they call it. They are also the proud grandparents of 14 almost 15 grandchildren. #15 will be born sometime in February.

Here's a few shots with some of their closest friends.

and of course I had to get some details.....beautiful flowers.

I think it's awesome to be able to celebrate 50 years of marriage. Sam and I have 13 down, only 37 years to go until we hit that milestone. I say we celebrate our 50th somewhere warm and tropical; Hawaii sounds good to me!

Wedding Featured!

2010-09-28T09:20:00.000-07:00

I am thrilled that Matt & Emily's wedding is featured on the OneWed blog. I loved everything about that wedding, especially the pink '69 Chevy. You can check out the full post by clicking here.

Timeless Kentucky Wedding with a ‘69 Chevy: Matt and Emily

Featured Wedding by Stigman Photography

Photo: Stigman Photography

We have a winner!

2010-09-10T13:40:00.000-07:00

After my week long family portrait contest, we have a winner. Congratulations to Angie Wathen who won a family portrait session along with 25 press printed Christmas cards. Here was Angie's idea for her session:

"The location would be my parents farm. We could make picture by the lake of us just having fun. Us riding on the ranger in the the woods. Would love pictures of us in the woods. There is also some old barns on the property. Mom and Dad's porch would make wonderful pictures, and there fountain area in the front. There is so many places on there farm that would be great for making outside family pictures."

I'm looking forward to your session Angie. Thank you to everyone who participated and who voted for their favorite session idea. Everyone who posted had great ideas, I would love to see you put those into action. Watch for Angie's session on the blog in the next 2 months!

Maternity session 70's style

2010-09-08T14:27:00.000-07:00

Remember when I posted about the VW bus and how I had the perfect couple for the session idea I had in my head? Well here they are.... Andrew, Rachel and baby bump. Turns out Andrew's first vehicle was a VW bus.....close to the same year as this one, but in orange. YES! I knew I had the right couple!

I also had to incorporate my sunflowers as well.

Thanks Drew & Rachel, you rocked it out as usual! Thanks Steve for letting me use that beautiful bus!

In other news, 2 days left to enter the family portrait session giveaway. You still have time to post an entry and get your friends to vote for you. See the previous posts for contest details. So far there are 9 entries and they have come up with great ideas that fit their families. I'm so glad it's not up to me to pick one, I'd have a very difficult time choosing the winner. If you don't want to enter, that's cool, but go read through some of the ideas and help them out and "like" your favorite. The entry with the most "likes" wins! Click here to read through the posts.

bad kitten

2010-09-03T21:20:00.000-07:00

I walked into the bathroom yesterday and caught this kitten in this act of mischief. I turned around and went and got my camera. I had to take a picture, because really how can I be mad at him when he's so darn cute. This little stinker had unrolled the entire roll of toilet paper after I had just put it in the bathroom.

If you're looking for a kitten, I have 3 for you.....yes once again. No wait, 4. The momma cat needs a home too. Another momma cat showed up on our doorstep pregnant. I think it has something to do with my daughter the cat whisperer. The cats seem to flock to her, she can tame the wildest of cats. They must know she wants to be a vet when she grows up. The kittens will be ready to go home with you in 2 weeks.

Family Portrait Session Giveaway!

2010-09-03T07:06:00.000-07:00

Alright, fall is here.....I think........well soon anyway. Fall is the perfect time to have your family portraits made. SO.....I figured I would have a fun contest and give away a family portrait session and 25 press printed Christmas Cards with images from your session. Let me warn you, you will be the envy of all your friends when they receive those cards in the mail come December. I can make some pretty rad cards.......jus' saying. :0P

Here's some info about me; I shoot only on location, I do a little bit of posing and direction but I also capture families interacting with each other and having fun. I want to see my clients have family portraits that show the bond you have with one another, at a location that means something to you, doing an activity that you enjoy as a family. That may be as simple as playing baseball together, or going out for ice cream. It could also be about your family's style.....do you like vintage cars or clothes, are you into fashion, are you a little bit country? Whatever it is, I want it to be about your family.

This is how to enter the contest........it's just 3 things and it's really simple.
1. Be a "fan" or "like" Stigman Photography on Facebook (click here)

2. You must post your most creative idea for your family portrait session on the Stigman Photography Facebook page. Now this idea has to be something you are willing to do, because if you win that's exactly what we are going to do for your session. So if you don't like getting muddy on a 4 wheeler, don't post that idea for your session. If you want to go to a tropical island somewhere for your session, I'm cool with that, you just have to pay for the trip and mine. :0) I'm willing to travel up to 60 miles outside the Owensboro area for this session so keep that in mind when thinking about what you want to do.

3. Get everyone you know to "like" your session idea......that's how you're gonna win. The family with the most "likes" under their post is the winner. The best way to do that is post it on your FB status . You can post something like "please help us win a family portrait session by "liking" our session idea, just click here and give us the thumbs up on our post". Contest ends Friday, September 10th at 8am. I will count all the "likes" at 8am and announce the winner that day.

The fine print......you are winning a family portrait session and 25 press printed cards, a value of $270. Not redeemable for cash. This session will need to take place by the end of October 2010. You can enter to win if you live out of state, but you would need to travel to the Owensboro, KY area, or you can always fly me to where you live :0)

Here's a few images just to get those creative minds thinking outside of the traditional photography box.

What are you waiting for? Start posting and get those "thumbs up" to win. Good luck!

healthy (trying to be) update

2010-08-27T10:13:00.000-07:00

So it's been awhile on the health update. I think the last time I blogged about getting in shape, I was going to try some supplements. I tried them for a month, which I don't think I gave them enough time to work. I think you need to try something like that for at least 3 months. Anyways, I kind of fell off the exercise wagon so to speak. Two of my kids were in baseball/softball this summer, which pretty much took up 4 nights a week... So I had to stop going to my workout classes in the evening to take them to ball. I still tried to exercise at home, I did some P90X until my joints started to hurt from it. The good news is I maintained my weight, I did not gain any weight, but I didn't lose anymore either. I found out the 8% body fat I had lost, helped lower my cholesterol. It went from 209 to 196. Whoohoo! I plan on getting that number even lower! Baseball is coming to an end this week and I will finally be able to go back to my workout classes on a regular basis. It is so much easier to exercise when I have other girls there doing it with me, and a trainer to push me harder than I would push myself.

I also have a bit of new motivation......some girls I know have put together a "biggest loser" challenge, we are getting together on a weekly basis, to encourage and support each other, and of course "weigh in". We are putting some money into it on a monthly basis, and the person with the most percentage of weight loss wins it all. I'm planning on being the winner.......I'm gonna need some newer smaller clothes. :0P The challenge ends in January.....I'll let you know how it goes.

Katie's senior session

2010-08-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

Before I tell you about Katie's senior session I have to give you a quick background story. So........there I was in the Arby's parking lot, helping out with a car wash for the Masonville playground. My kids play ball there and we were doing a fundraiser for the playground. In pulls this awesome guacamole green, 70's VW bus for a car wash. Immediately I imagined a vintage photo shoot with this bus, I even knew the perfect couple that could pull it off. So I introduced myself to the owner, told him I was a photographer and asked if there was anyway I could ever use his bus as a prop. He said yes, and gave me his contact info by way of the "Green Gazette" (a neat publication by the way, be sure to pick up a copy.)
After a few emails back and forth about use of the bus, I found out he had a daughter in need of senior pictures. I always enjoy meeting new people, and had Katie's dad not brought the bus through the car wash, I might not of gotten the opportunity to meet this super cool family.
Moral of the story.......drive a really cool vintage vehicle and you will never lack the opportunity to meet new people. Seriously.....I think Steve probably meets someone new everyday......he says people come up to him all the time to talk about his bus. Oh and moral #2 always stop at a fundraiser carwash, you just might meet a super cool photographer. :0P

On to Katie's session.........she and her parents got up super early for this session. We started at 7am to beat the heat and the light was great. Katie loves vintage clothes, so of course we had to use her dad's bus with this dress.

My sunflower crop was in full bloom and a perfect background. Katie you are beautiful!

Katie's favorite author is C.S. Lewis and favorite book is "The Chronicles of Narnia" it just so happened I have a lion statue in my front yard.......let's use it.

I got a little "artsy" with this image. I used some textures as an overlay and I really like how it looks. This image says "freedom" to me. The freedom to really enjoy life.

Katie is a very talented young lady, she sings and plays guitar and is quite the actress I hear. I got to listen to her play a little bit during her session and I was impressed. She is also very involved with the Theatre Workshop of Owensboro and will be in one of the productions that is coming up in November.
I love this image with Katie and her guitar.

Katie you have a very bright future ahead of you. I'm so glad I got to be your photographer.

If you'd like to see more images from Katie's session click here for the slideshow.

Coming soon........sunflowers

2010-08-17T10:33:00.000-07:00

Here's a couple of sneak peek's from a few sessions where we used the sunflowers. It really has cooled off this week, so if you are wanting to do a session with the sunflowers this will probably be the last week they are going to be photogenic so to speak.

Stay tuned for more images from these two sessions.......you'll want to see what we did with the green 70's VW bus.

Limited Edition

2010-08-06T13:58:00.000-07:00

Limited Edition Session

20 minute session in the sunflower field
2 5x7's
8 wallets
$75
Special limited edition pricing with gift prints starting at just $30
August 10th, 13th and 14th, evening session only, 6p.m.-7:30p.m.
These prices only happen once a year!!!!
Call now to reserve your session time.....270-925-9311

Baby Justice is 3 months

2010-07-27T21:08:00.000-07:00

So I'm a little behind on blog posts, because this little guy is 5 months old already. But here are a few images from his 3 month session. He didn't have a whole lot of smiles for me, but he had some super cute expressions.
Like this one,

and this one,

and this one

While he was napping, I captured a few shots of his cute little toes,

and his chubby little hands

They don't stay little for very long, I'm so glad I get to capture these precious moments for parents. Photographs are so important!

Ohhh to be 4 years old again!

2010-07-27T20:45:00.000-07:00

4 years old, what a wonderful age, full of imagination and lots of fun. Brileigh turned 4 and I think I captured the true essesence of a 4 year old. From just hanging out in her bright pink room,

To hoola-hooping on her bed,

to picking dandilions, and jumping on the trampoline

to a few pouting moments.

That's a 4 year old! What a wonderful age. If you'd like to see more photos from this fun session, click here for a slideshow.

Kittens.......again

2010-07-24T09:43:00.000-07:00

Our mama cat had kittens......again. I just didn't around to getting her to the vet to get spayed, I know, I know, bad pet owner. I will this time though.....promise! On the bright side, the kittens give my kids several weeks of enjoyment until we find homes for them. Shelby was inspired by all the new mommas at our church carrying their babies in slings, so she came up with her own invention.....The Kitten Sling. (patent pending....lol)
Here she is modeling her invention.

Here are a few snapshots of the kitten "hanging around" he did seem to enjoy being carried around in the sling.

By the way, if you are looking for a kitten, these guys are 4 weeks old today and will be ready to go home with you in about 3 weeks.

Phillip & Mary Katherine Married!

2010-07-05T23:25:00.000-07:00

Wedding Ceremony: Third Baptist Church
Reception: River Park Center
Florals: Welborn's
Cakes: Tammy's Cakes
Band: Soul Groove

A beautiful wedding with a beautiful couple. Phillip and Mary Katherine were both so calm and laid back on their wedding day, they were just going to enjoy their day as it happened.

Mary Katherine had her dress designed just the way she wanted....it even had pockets sewn in....a bride has to have a place to keep her lip gloss and tissues. Simply beautiful!

Love the shoes too.

I love it when my couples choose to see each other before the wedding. They get to have their private moment when they see each other for the first time and I get to capture real love that looks like this......

Gorgeous bride!

and a handsome groom

I love these next three images!

The bridal party was a up for a little fun.

Welborne's did an awesome job with the florals and reception decor.

Check out these wonderful cakes from Tammy's cakes.

The reception was at the River Park Center, where everyone was dancing to the music of "Soul Groove"

You'll have to check out the slideshow to see more images from this wedding. Thanks to Joanne, who was my wonderful second photographer and assistant for the day!

And one more of the newlyweds......

Don't forget to check out the slideshow by clicking here.

Emily's senior session

2010-06-12T11:42:00.000-07:00

When I was in Minnesota a few weeks ago, my little cousin asked me if I would take her senior pictures. Of course I would! I really can't call her "little" anymore because she is all grown up now. I remember when I was a teenager and going to see my aunt and this new baby Emily in the hospital. Time sure flies! Here's a few of my favorite images from her session.

Joleen from JAG Productions and I colloborated on this session too. Check out this fantastic video.

Emily Steinle Senior Video from Joleen Giefer on Vimeo.

This is the Cinematic Senior Session. If you want a senior session like this, Joleen will be here in October, and we can rock out your session then. Call or email for more information about these cinematic sessions!

270-925-9311 or steph@stigmanphotography.com

Exciting new session

2010-06-11T10:49:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to share this piece of news. But before I do, let me give you a little background history. My long time BFF Joleen Giefer and I go way back......we went to photography school together and we have photographed several weddings and projects together. We are a dynamic duo so to speak, we both have different styles that blend well together, and since we've worked together so much, our sessions and weddings just flow together nicely.

Recently Joleen has decided to venture down a different path into the cinematography world. She went and trained with one of the top 25 wedding videographers, Josh Smith from Cinematic Bride. The projects that she has created are amazing!

SO, that leads me into my exciting news. I have wanted to offer this for about the last year now, and finally I am able to do so. Stigman Photography in collaboration with JAG Productions is now offering Cinematic Family Sessions. These sessions will be a great way to create memories with your children, memories that you can cherish forever.

Here's a sample of that collaboration. I'm going to overshare images from this session, just because I like so many of them.

And here is the awesome family movie. Check it out, wouldn't you love to do something like this with your family?

Caulfield Family from Joleen Giefer on Vimeo.
http://vimeo.com/12223003

Think about something that you do as a family, maybe it's playing sports together, or hanging out by the pool and grilling out. Maybe it's going to a park and having a picnic, or riding horses. Maybe it's just going out for ice cream. Whatever your family time is, we want to capture that. Joleen will be in Kentucky for a week in October, if you would like to do one of these sessions, give us a call or email and I will get you all the information you need to know. 270-925-9311 or steph@stigmanphotography.com

just for fun

2010-06-03T20:03:00.000-07:00

I am really behind on blogging again. I've had a lot going on with proms, sports teams, my kids playing ball and a trip to Minnesota in the last month. Here's a shoot I haven't blogged about. Back in April I got together with some of my photographer friends from the Evansville area and we did a fun photo shoot in our flooded woods. Here's some shots from that session. The lovely Pamela Terry styled all the girls' hair and modeled for us.

Gotta love a girl who can put on a formal dress and then go muddin' on a 4 wheeler. Thanks Heather!

Here's the photographers having a little fun.

Sarah is not afraid to get muddy, here she is shooting with her boots on.

Thanks to all the models for getting all muddy. We had a great time and got a lot of fun shots.

Mother's Day Giveaway winner.

2010-05-09T19:25:00.000-07:00

Happy Mother's Day to all you fabulous moms out there. I hope you had a great day.

Thank you to all those who nominated several moms for the portrait giveaway. All of the moms were deserving, and I had a hard time choosing. Without further ado......

The winner is Jessica M. Jessica is a stay at home mom to 3 kids, and a military wife. Congrats Jessica!

Mother's Day Giveaway

2010-05-03T09:52:00.000-07:00

All you moms out there know what it's like taking care of the kids, the house, working, running the kids to their activities, etc. We sometimes just run out of steam and forget to just do a little something for ourselves. I know I am guilty of that. I think it's a treat just to go to the grocery store by myself!

SO, in honor of Mother's Day coming up on Sunday, I decided to give away a very special Mother's Day treat. A portrait session for the Mom, capturing the bond between a Mom and her children, and of course we will get some portraits of just the mom, since every mom deserves to have some fabulous pictures of herself. They will also receive a $150 credit to go towards prints or portrait products.

All you have to do to win is, send me a recent snapshot of this mom and a couple of sentences on why you think this mom deserves to win. You can nominate yourself too! Nominations will be accepted through Friday, May 7th and the winner will be announced on May 9th-Mother's Day. Snapshots and nominations will be posted on my blog.

To recap
Mother's Day Giveaway
$150 session for the mom with her kiddos
$150 print credit
Winner will be announced on Mother's Day
Send your nominations to steph@stigmanphotography.com

So get the word out, post it on facebook and twitter and nominate those deserving moms!

You can catch blog posts, and announcements by following me on Facebook or Twitter.

Everyday life

2010-04-19T20:05:00.000-07:00

Naps are always better when you have someone to cuddle with.

I just had to capture this when I saw Sienna and Tigger napping together. Too cute!

Matt & Emily Owensboro Wedding Photographer

2010-04-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

What can I say about Matt & Emily's wedding? Simply beautiful and romantic. You can watch the slideshow of this wedding by clicking here.

Here's a few images of the gorgeous bride.

Emily's hair was styled by Gracie at Kennise Salon.

And a few of the handsome groom

And the fabulous couple

I love the fact that the bride pulled up in a pink 57' Chevy.

The reception was at the Miller House, beautiful inside as well.

Emily did a wonderful job on her flowers.

The bride's sister, Jenna is a very talented cake decorator. She made this awesome cake and even did cupcakes and a special cake for the groom, since he loves paint ball.

Making their grand exit

I loved everything about this wedding! There are just too many images to share, so you'll want to watch the slideshow by clicking here, or you can check out the facebook album here.

New Logo

2010-03-31T07:59:00.000-07:00

I just wanted to post my new logo. It was time for a change. A new website will be coming soon!

Custom Photography part 3

2010-03-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Here is the final article in the series on Custom Photography by Marianne Drenthe http://www.professionalchildphotographer.com

Why Does Custom Photography Cost More?

The digital revolution has brought amazing flexibility and ability to control various factors during the image taking and making process. Photographers, the hobbyist, the professional, the amateur all benefit from this ability to manipulate pixels. However, with flexibility comes a price. Digital camera equipment is still considerably more expensive when you factor in its' lifespan, the need for additional resources for processing those images, the time it takes to get a usable image and the effort that goes into creating a work of photographic art. We all know that you can go to the local Walgreen's and pay a $1.99 for a print – as a client you may wonder why you may pay upwards of $50, $70, $90 for a custom photography print. Photographers hear this statement every once in awhile:

"How in the world can you charge $60 for an 8×10 if it costs me less than $2 to print at x store?"

The truth of the matter is the answer to this question is multifaceted. Much of the cost of a photographic print produced by a professional photographer has a lot to do with the time, equipment costs, artistic vision and reputation of the photographer not to mention expertise and the usual costs of running a legitimate business. The cost of TIME Approaching it from a time standpoint, let's imagine that you have hired a photographer who has work that you love. This photographer is traveling an hour to your destination to photograph your session. Here is an example of a time break down:

booking time: 30 minutes to one hour (client contact time + paperwork)
pre-session prep time (30 mins – 1 hour, includes equipment and back up equipment checks + vehicle checks)
one hour travel time TO session
15-30 minutes prep time at client's home
90 minutes-2 hours with client photographing subject
one hour travel time FROM session
30-45 minutes uploading time from digital cards from camera to computer
30-45 minutes time spent backing up the original images
2-5 hours editing time to present you with a diverse gallery of edited images
1 hour prep time getting ready for ordering
2-3 hours time with client for ordering images
1 hour sorting through and checking order
30 minutes-1 hour prep time for delivery
30 minutes-1 hour getting order shipped
any additional phone time or time needed for add on ordering, shipment issues, quality issues

In this example, the time spent per client can range from just under 13 hours to 19 hours – dependent on the photographer's level of service. This is time dedicated only to ONE session. When the photographer charges $150-$300 for the photo shoot (aka SESSION FEE) you are not just paying for the two hours of session time, you are paying the photographer for 12-19 hours complete time for your session.

The COSTS of Maintaining a Custom Photography Business:
Regarding equipment costs, a good quality professional camera with a selection of good optical quality lenses and digital storage mediums and computer set up can run from $10,000-$30,000 costs dependent on the photographer. Even though you can purchase a really good quality digital SLR for about $2100 there are still other costs related to photography. A good lens for portrait photography can run from $900 to $2500. A dependable computer system with software loaded for business and creative usage can run $2500 to $8000 dependent on the photographer. Then come lab costs for specialty products. A good photographer knows their professional lab is an integral part of their success. These labs often cost more and offer a range of products that allows the custom photographer to continually offer new, innovative products for the discerning client.
Discussion on other costs of running a photography business could take awhile so we'll skip many of the intricate details. An overview: the costs of running the business, taxes, studio rental/mortgage if the photographer has ownership of a dedicated studio, vehicular costs, costs of advertising/marketing, costs of sample pieces that the photographer will likely bring to your session, etc.
APPLES to ORANGES to BANANAS: Often times clients will mention to their photographer that X studio in the mall/department store only charges $19.99 for an 8×10 "sheet" or they may mention other things related to discount photography chains. The fact is those discount chains make their money on volume, not on customized 1:1 service. In February 2007 a company who has leased photography retail space in a rather well known discount retailer closed down 500 of their portrait studios across the nation. The reason it happened is simple, you cannot make money on 99¢ "professional" prints if you do not sell enough of them. Interestingly enough – those same studios that offer the loss leader packages often charge much much more for their a la carte pricing vs. many custom photographers (as high as $40-50 for an 8×10).
A little history – the whole reason the big department stores began offering portrait services in the first place was to get you, the savvy consumer, in through their door so that you could spend more money with them in other departments. Your "PORTRAITS" are considered the "loss leader". Your portraits that are meant to symbolize a once-in-a-lifetime stage in your child's life are part of what a store considers a way to get you in there door to spend more money on goods that you might not really want or need but because you're there "anyway" you buy.
Also keep in mind that when you go to a chain studio, as a consumer, you don't have the benefit of 1:1 attention for 2 hours at your home where your child is allowed to explore, play and be comfortable in their home environment, nor do you get the experience that many custom photographers are known for as well as the lovely captures of natural expressions. You simply get a bare bones, "SAY CHEESE" experience.
REPUTATION/EXPERTISE of the PHOTOGRAPHER: There is an old story about a ship that cost a company millions of dollars. Something went wrong in the engine room and the ship was stuck in dock. They called various "experts" who spent weeks trying to fix the issue to no avail and at a cost of tens of thousands of dollars. Finally a older gentleman was called in who simply brought in his small tool bag and a hammer. He set about pinging on various parts of the vast engine with his hammer, finally settling on one area. He spent a few minutes pinging in that area, took out a few tools and fixed whatever what was wrong. After a few moments the man straightened up, looked at the captain and instructed him to "start her up." The captain disbelievingly went to get the engines started while the man sat in the engine room listening as the engine roared to life. The man tipped his hat as he exited the ship to the staff who sat dumbfounded because they had seen all the experts come on board for days with their expensive equipment only to have the ship not fixed. This man did it in a few minutes with a few pings of his hammer!
A few days passed and the man sent the shipping company a bill for $10,000. The accounting department contacted him immediately. Why all the rumors mentioned that this man had only spent "a few minutes" fixing the ship "with his hammer and a few other random tools". When questioned about why his bill was for $10,000 – did he accidentally leave an extra zero on the bill? The man confidently responded: "In fact the time was worth the $1,000. The other $9,000 was for the years of experience and the ability to discern the issue as quickly as possible for the company."
Now I'm not saying that photographers fix large ships but being in demand, being well known for quality work, having a good reputation often costs time on the photographer's part (years of practice, study, experience, etc). A photographer's expertise comes at a cost, their time learning their craft and learning the intricacies of lighting and the commitment put forth on their end to create a persona about their business that oozes professionalism. A great number of photographers go a very long time from the time that they purchase their first good camera to making money at the business of photography. Many photographers, when first starting out, rush in thinking that the business will be easily profitable in no time, how expensive could it be to get a camera and use it to create their dream? These photographers often undervalue what they do because they have the realization that they do not have experience or expertise but are very adept at pushing the shutter on the camera. Many times these casual "professionals" neglect to factor in the cost of business, the cost of equipment, software, back ups, etc.. When you hire a photographer of sound reputation, you are hiring an expert, one that knows that they must always reinvest in their business to create the reputation of being top notch. To create good work a photographer possesses not only sound knowledge in the technical and creative aspects of photography but also good, reliable equipment and back up equipment.
The photographer who desires to be known as better/best/unparalelled reputation-wise knows that the most important thing they can do for their business is reliability and dependability. This is how reputations get built. Good work often is a wonderful side product of building that good reputation.
I hope this (lengthy) article helps shed some light on WHY a custom photographer is a better choice for your family's memories. The photographs that are produced as a result of the professionalism and dedication that your photographer has will be cherished for a lifetime (or more) and great thought and consideration should be placed into hiring who is right for your family's most precious investment.

Series on Custom Photography

2010-03-17T13:31:00.000-07:00

Here is part two in the series on Custom Photography by Marianne Drenthe http://www.professionalchildphotographer.com

Why Choose Custom Photography

Custom Photography as something "special"

Custom photography is more of a luxury than your entry level cookie cutter chain experience. Custom photography truly is not for everyone, it requires a level of commitment, investment in time and money, forethought and planning on the part of the subject/client and requires a larger time commitment for the photographer as well.
Clients who enjoy taking a more active role in the creation of their families’ memories have the desire to have portrait art that is truly personalized. These more discerning clients have been known to budget and allot time for a custom photography session. Many clients opt for it to be a once a year special experience, some opt to have custom photography sessions done to record their child's stages in life. Having said this, it is clear that custom photography is not in everyone’s budget, it is something that most families save for to splurge on from time to time to memorialize their children as they really are (not posed and primped in the cookie cutter studio setting).
There is a great deal of time involved in creating high end custom photography sessions for a client. The luxury of great service, better choices and a supberb end product. The result of all this are heirloom quality images. The time invested at the session is only a small portion of time involved in this process.
Custom photography has been likened to purchasing a fine vehicle. To get to point B from A let's face it, even a bus ride would suffice. If you want to luxuriate in a finely appointed vehicle, customizing your own experience by listening to smooth jazz while sitting in a climate controlled setting adjusted purely for your comfort in a body hugging leather interior, perhaps that Lexus you so desire is your cup of tea. Custom photography is much the same cup of tea. It is the Lexus of the photography world. It is where the intangibles make the experience truly wonderful and the images themselves make the investment of money and time truly worthwhile.
Custom photography can be broken down into even more levels. There are on location, studio, mixed studio/on location, specialty location and destination type photographers. The beauty of custom photography is in the choices and in the luxury of thoses options. The customized service level you are sure to experience will be amazing. The knowledge that your final images are the result of someone caring about those moments so much that they take extra time ensuring that the artwork you receive is good enough to stand by with their name on it. That level of quality and commitment is all but lost in the age of "mass produced," "mass marketed," corporate "everyone is a number". Custom photography is based on being unique to you. How great an experience would be, to be able to sit back and allow a photographer to do this highly custom work for images that you will most likely cherish for a lifetime?
Keep in mind more than anything that the Lexus will never appreciate in value the way your portraits will. The portrait art you become invested in from your custom photographer will no doubt increase in value and become more priceless as the years pass.

Custom Photography

2010-03-15T13:30:00.000-07:00

Marianne Drenthe wrote this article for photographers to share with their clients. I wanted to share it with all of you. She explains it so well. http://www.professionalchildphotographer.com

What Is Custom Photography

The photographic art you choose to place on your wall is ultimately the result of the vision of the photographer. This vision, coupled with what you wear to your session, the environment, the lighting, even the mood the subjects are in at the time of photographing creates the work that you will want to proudly display on your walls forevermore.

Your first step in the process is more about determining who you are, who your family is and then seeking a photographer that reflects your style. For instance let’s say your family is extremely outdoorsy and loves playing on the beach. You start determining what style you like, browse through photography website portfolios and determine if any of the styles exhibited there would be a good fit with your life and family style. You have already determined that you should probably seek out a beach type photographer (that is if you live near a beach) and then begin narrowing the field down a bit.

Finally after a bit of internet research, you have narrowed it down to two photographers who do what seems like solid work, the sort of outdoor beach look you desire. It is now time to ask yourself: Do you like photographer A’s style over photographer B’s style? Is it because the people in the images of A’s style are having a great time and it seems very caught up in the moment vs. B photographer more posed, looking in the camera images? If this is a case, you probably like LIFESTYLE photography or perhaps even take it a step further and define your desired style as a PHOTOJOURNALISTIC photography style. The photographer you probably should choose is photographer A because their style is very similar to the style you desire.

What custom photography ultimately is all about is choice and experience. Custom photography is about finding someone who will photograph your family, give you devoted 1:1 attention without worry of who is next ‘in line’ or the feeling of a crowded portrait studio.

A custom photographer will typically show you a fairly extensive gallery culled to only show the good images that meet the photographers’ creative sensibilities.
Often the images are fully edited images-color corrected with blemishes and undereye circles removed.
Custom photographers are also known as boutique studios, offering a range of products and unparalleled service. Think Lexus vs. Hyundai, think Nordstrom vs. WalMart.

A custom photography experience should have you, the client and your experience in mind.

If you're trying to figure out what type of style my photography is, I'd say it's a combination of posed with a little bit of lifestyle photography. I am a location photographer, every session I do is either outdoors or at the clients' home. I do some posing and directing and with in that I try and capture the fun and special moments. The most important thing to take from this article is to choose a photographer that best fits the style of pictures you are looking for. Stay tuned this week for parts 2 and 3 of this series on Custom Photography.

Baby Justice Owensboro KY newborn photographer

2010-03-12T22:22:00.000-08:00

Last week I photographed a beautiful baby boy. First I have to share some of the images of him before he was born.

Isn't his momma beautiful?

Here he is with his big sister.

Two weeks later, Justice came into the world 4 and 1/2 weeks early and you'd never know it. He is a strong and healthy baby and he and his momma were able to go home just after 2 days in the hospital. God is good!

His bedroom is decorated in a western theme. His momma wanted a picture with him on his daddy's saddle to hang on the wall. (when his daddy was growing up, his family was in the cattle industry and they used horses to round up the cattle. I think it's safe to say his daddy was a cowboy.)

This next image is one of my favorites. If I were to give it a name I think I'd title it "Safe In Daddy's Arms"

And lastly another favorite. It speaks so many things to me. I see so much love in this image.

If you'd like to see more images from this session you can click here to watch the slideshow. Or you can check out the album on facebook by clicking here.

fitness update

2010-03-11T07:58:00.000-08:00

Well it's been 4 weeks since my last post about health and fitness. Here's the update: I'm still working out 5 days a week and in 4 weeks I lost......drum-roll please........................1 pound. Yes folks, 1 stinking pound. But it's not about weight right? I also lost 1 inch and 1.5% body fat. I was disappointed, I thought I'd have better results. I'm not giving up, I'm going to continue working hard and stick to my plan. I will be changing some things, I think as I have gotten older my metabolism has slowed down so I need to get that working better. I've started to make sure I eat every 3 hours. I also have realized I was not eating enough protein for the amount of working out I was doing, and possibly not enough calories. I'm gonna add some protein shakes and maybe some supplements as well to my diet. I'll let you know how that goes.

Kittens

2010-02-22T11:30:00.000-08:00

Our cat Lilly had her two little kittens on Feb. 6th. I'm glad she only had two, I didn't think she would have that many being she is such a small cat.

Here's the little mommma

Here's her kittens just about 10 hours old

here they are at 10 days old, with their eyes almost completely open

And here are pics I took yesterday at 15 days old. They are getting cuter by the day (thank goodness)
We will be keeping one of them and giving one away in about 4-5 weeks.

Lilly seems to be enjoying being a momma, she let's us hold them but gets a little nervous if they start to whine.
This will be her only litter, I will be getting her spayed.

loss of a family pet

2010-02-15T13:59:00.000-08:00

About a month ago we had to make the hard decision to have our cat Annabelle put down. We had her for almost 7 years, from the time she was a little puff ball.

This summer she had pawed at the screen door to get outside and when she ran out, the door slammed on her tail and she kept on going. We took her to the vet and they said she had pulled a spot in the vertebrae of her tail about 1/2 inch apart. Her tail would now only drag on the ground and she had no feeling in it. We waited to see if the problem would heal over time, but it didn't, it only got worse. The tail accident also caused her to lose bladder control, so she had to become a permanent outdoor cat. The bladder problem caused her kidneys to start failing and she was getting to be a hunched over all the time. She was in pain and miserable, so we made the decision to let her go.

Annabelle was the best cat ever, she was more like a dog. She followed us everywhere, and had to be apart of everything we did. Sam would go fishing down at the lake, she would follow him and sit next to him while he fished. The kids would go outside to play and she would want to be a part of it. She also loved having her picture taken. She always knew when I was getting ready for a session, I would pull out the lights and the backgrounds and she would just plop down on the background and wait for me to take her picture. In this photo, I was taking Shelby's pictures and Annabelle had to follow us and be in at least one of them.

At Christmas time the kids would be unwrapping presents, she would be there right in the middle of it.

Here she is watching Sienna in the right hand corner.

Anyone that would come over, Annabelle would come and greet them right away, and of course they would always comment on what a beautiful cat she was. Even people who weren't fond of cats liked Annabelle.

My oldest daughter, Shelby took it the hardest. She was 4 years old when we got Annabelle. Shelby would dress her up in doll clothes and push her in the doll stroller.

Annabelle was also Shelby's first patient when she would dress up as a Veterinarian. Shelby would pretend to give her shots and Annabelle would just lay there, happy to be playing along. I have a video of Shelby and Sawyer doing a little skit as Mary and Joseph and they wrapped up Annabelle in a blanket as baby Jesus.
We have lots of good memories of Annabelle as well as photos being she loved the camera. She will definitely be a cat we will never forget.

We do have another cat. Her name is Lily, she's a good cat, but she's no Annabelle. A few days after Annabelle died, we found out Lily was pregnant. That helped to ease the sadness, and the kids were excited about having kittens. Lily had two kittens a little over a week ago now. I'll post some pictures in a day or two.

Health & Fitness....personal rambling

2010-02-11T13:09:00.000-08:00

EXERCISE....oh that dreaded word. Who here loves to exercise, raise your hand. Ya, just what I thought, not many of us. One of my goals for 2010 was to get back into shape and really take control of my overall health. I want to be able to be on my feet for 12 hours holding up to sometimes 5 pounds of camera and lens with more gear hanging from my shoulder, photographing a wedding and not be out of commission the next day. That's what was happening last year. I would spend a whole day photographing a wedding and the next day I felt like I had been hit by a Mac truck; all my muscles were sore and I could hardly get off the couch. It seemed it would take me until Tuesday to get back to normal. Enough of that! I love photographing weddings and I don't want to waste a day laying around because I'm so drained.

The training has begun! No, I'm not standing on my feet for 12 hours holding a camera to condition myself. I'm doing a combination of Muay Thai and workouts with my personal trainer....5 days a week. What is Muay Thai you ask.

Well it's a form of kickboxing..Thai kickboxing, where you throw a lot of knees and elbows. The class I'm in has guys and girls in it and some of them are training to be fighters. I'm not looking to get into the ring to fight, I'm doing it for the fitness aspect and self defense. I feel empowered that I am learning the skills to defend myself if anyone tried to attack me. Unfortunately we live in a world that has some crazies in it and I don't ever want to be a statistic. And in the words of Mr. T "I pitty the fool, who'd mess with me" HA!

I won't lie, there are days I dread going, because I know I'm totally going to get my butt kicked; but I go and I feel great afterward. My energy level and my mind are renewed and I have a better attitude and any grumpiness I had before I worked out is suddenly gone.

I was working out last year, but I wasn't giving it my all. I didn't have the eating aspect of it worked out. I was still eating junk here and there and not being consistent in making healthy food choices. I've been at it for about a month now and things are changing. My measurements are going down, my body fat percentage is going down. I can't say the same for the scale yet, but that will come. My trainers gave me a nice lecture which was "stop looking at the scale" and go by how your clothes fit. I can do more push-ups and squats and jump rope longer than I could before....things are definitely changing.

Once a month I'm going to post my progress just to help keep myself accountable and to see how far I've come.

If you are looking to change your health with personal training and martial arts, Bill and Heather Mayfield are the trainers to go to. They have martial arts classes for kids as well as adults. For more information about their martial arts school and personal training click here to visit their website.

If you want to see what Muay Thai looks like, just google it, it will pull up a bunch of videos on Muay Thai fights. Here's a link I found that demonstrates what some of the training looks like. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2RlFrRbB1c

Sienna is 4! Owensboro KY childrens' photographer

2010-02-09T12:25:00.000-08:00

My baby girl turned 4 in October and I'm just getting around to posting these. As my kids get older I always ask them if they have any ideas for their portraits. Sienna loves to play dress up and since we did a princess theme last year, she decided she wanted to try a fairy theme. So we did just that. I think she makes a pretty cute fairy.

I think this one is one of my favorites.

If you would like to see more images from this session you can click here to see them on my Facebook page.

www.stigmanphotography.com

The Saints go marching in!

2010-02-08T10:53:00.000-08:00

Way to go Saints! It was great to see them win the Super Bowl. What an awesome play by Porter with the interception and touchdown. Of course you can't forget the commercials....I think Doritos had some of the best ones, with E-trade coming in second. My favorite Doritos commercial was the one with the little boy, his momma and her date. I could have done without the half time show-maybe just cause I'm not a big fan of the Who. Overall I'd have to say it was a good Super Bowl Sunday, of course hanging out with great friends and eating some good food made it even better.

Superbowl

2010-02-07T11:06:00.000-08:00

It's that time again.....SUPER BOWL! I was really excited about football this year because the Vikings were doing great. I was really looking forward to the Super bowl being I thought the Vikings would be in it. But, unfortunately the Saints beat the Vikings in overtime and I was heartbroken. Even though the Vikes lost, I will always be a Vikings fan. (gotta cheer for my home state -ya sure don'tcha know) So now who do I cheer for? I should cheer for the Colts being the Saints roughed up Favre. But I don't like the Colts, plus they've been to the super bowl twice in the last 4 years and have won a super bowl already. The Saints have never been to the super bowl.....so I'll do what's logically fair. I'll cheer for the underdogs, the Saints. So who will you be cheering for?

Family session-Owensboro Family Photographer

2010-02-05T10:51:00.000-08:00

Meet Pastors Brian and Jessi Gibson of River City Church. I photographed their growing family back in November. Jessi had wanted something urban looking for their Christmas cards, so we went downtown and had some fun with their session. Here's a few of my favorite images from the day.

I told Brileigh to give me some attitude, and that she did. She's so cute.

I also got to design the church Christmas cards this year. Here's the front of the card.

This was the back of the card.

If you'd like to see more images from this session in a slideshow you can click here.

On a side note:

If you're looking for a church or would like to check out River City Church, services are at 9a.m. & 10:30am on Sundays and 7p.m. on Wednesdays. Brian and Jessi are awesome pastors and would love to have you visit River City. Ok, so I'm a little biased because it's my home church, but really, you will think they are awesome too! I think it's safe to say River City is the fastest growing church in the Owensboro area; they started out 5 years ago with just a few people meeting at a pizza place to outgrowing 9 places and now moving into their newly remodled 50,000 sq. foot facility. (The former Service Merchandise building)

For more information on River City Church go to www.rivercitychurch.cc

Family Session, Owensboro Family Photographer

2010-01-30T08:14:00.000-08:00

Here is family session from my Minnesota trip this past August. These kiddos are my cousins.
This image is probably my favorite.

Minnesota Wedding part 2

2010-01-21T18:24:00.000-08:00

This wedding had fun, colorful details to photograph. Here's the outside of the clubhouse where the ceremony was held.

Love the card box.

There was a different floral arrangement on each table. I loved the colors.

Minnesota wedding

2010-01-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

When I was in Minnesota this past August, I helped out my long time bff Joleen Giefer with a wedding. It worked out great, she second shot for me for the wedding I had in Montana, and I was able to second shoot for her. This particular wedding was on a golf course (Thumper Pond) in Ottertail, MN. It was a beautiful day despite the wind. I have several detail shots so I'm going to break this up into two blog posts. Here's a

few images I took while the bride was getting ready.

I love the next few images of the bride and groom.

Looking good guys!

The girls were workin it for me.

A little something fun with the bouquet.

Check back for more images from the reception.

New year, new blog.

2010-01-18T09:15:00.000-08:00

Well it's a new year and I've decided to make some changes. My first change is my blog. The old blog did not make it easy for people to leave comments, and I want to be able to hear from you. So comment away people! If you still want to check out my old blog, you can do so by going to www.xanga.com/stigmanphotography www.xanga.com/stigmanphotography. Everything will be posted here at this new site from now on, so keep coming back.