there are a few things in life that i love.  ok maybe a little bit more than a few.  today i love being a mom and a wedding photographer.  they both go hand in hand for me.  my being a wedding photographer allows me to be able to be home with my angel daughters and be there for all of their special moments in life.   and being a mom, opens my eyes to other people and all of their special moments.  it is all about those everyday moments that one wishes to remember forever.  i am so lucky to be there to capture them for so many incredible people. 

 i have really struggled lately with finding my passion in photography again.  by that i don’t mean the wedding side of things because i still truely feel the passion there, but i mean the personal side of photography.  i have found myself more and more leaving my camera at home because “it is too much hassle to bring it” or “i have so much other work to do that i won’t have time to edit them”.  i have given myself a challenge to take more “personal” pictures because there are lots of moments in my life and the life of my kids  that i never ever want to forget!!!  do you find any excuse you can to leave your camera at home?  well if you do, then i challenge all of you to take it with you more often and embrace the moments in your life that you never want to forget!

this is emilee and justin.  i met emilee at the bridal show back in january!  don’t these two have incredible style!?!  and not only that, they were so fun and up for anything!  we shot these all out at salt air and the salt flats.  it was so much fun!!  if there is anything i love it is new locations.  i had never shot out there before and loved it!!  emilee and justin met about 4 years ago when she was hanging out with his friends.  she does hair, which isn’t a big surprise since her hair is amazing!!!  wow!  maybe i am in the wrong proffesion :)   these guys were so cute together and totaly knew how to work the camera!  they made my job WAY too easy!! thanks for an amazing time emilee and justin and i can’t wait for your bridals and wedding!!

emilee, you are seriously gorgeous!!!!

i almost threw this one out because it is out of focus, but i ended up keeping it because i love the artistic-ness (is that even a word?)   LOVE IT!!!

love!!

my very favorite!!!

another favorite!!

love

one of my favorites!!  aren’t these two amazing!!

love!!!

click here for slideshow  and let me know what you think!!

 i swear sometimes my life is like the twilight zone.  but, i guess it keeps it exciting that way!  i have been deathly allergic to fruit for the past 8 years.  i mean, it is so bad that any time i would even touch fruit without washing my hands let alone eat it,  i would swell up like a balloon and itch like crazy!  everything would itch from my eyes to my tounge to my throat.  i could feel my throat swelling up and my eyes would almost swell shut.  in fact i even have pictures of myself with my eyes almost swelled shut, that nobody will EVER see!!  it all started when my first daughter was born.  now, it isn’t all fruit, just fruit with thin skin, like apples, strawberries, peaches etc.  i have been able to eat fruit with thick skin with no problems at all, like oranges, bananas etc..  i also developed seasonal allergies after she was born, which i did not have before either.  so a few weeks ago i ate some strawberries and had NO reaction at all.  i have eaten strawberries from time to time with no problem, so I wasn’t too excited about it, i just thought it was a one time thing.  but then last night, i ate strawberries again and no reaction.  so i braved eating an apple and guess what….nothing happened!!!  it was the wierdest thing ever!!!  the only thing i can think of is that i am allergic to the pesticides that they put on them and maybe they changed the type of pesticide to one that does not bother me??  has anyone ever heard of this?  if so i would love to know!! 

right after christmas i shot pictures for this amazing family!!  aren’t they so awesome!!  i absolutely had a blast with them . The kids were all in town for christmas so they wanted to get some family pictures done.  they were referred to me by my wonderful senior courtney!!  if i could seriously have all families be as fun and incredible as this one, i would take it!  thanks courtney for the referral and thanks siekiera family for an awesome time!!

let me know what you think!!!

thank you so much to everyone who participated in the  photo/video giveaway!  i am so thrilled with the response that we got!! i  have chosen a winner using random.org

AND THE WINNER IS……..

E.B.

She said the most imporant thing to her in a photographer is:

“The most important thing I look for in a photographer is a balanced combination of style, personality, and price. If I don’t like the style, it doesn’t matter what the price is, I won’t be happy with it. If the personality of the photog doesn’t mesh well with mine, it has the potential to wreck the whole day (this happened to my sister). I think there needs to be a friendly working relationship between photog and customer… Thanks”

I completely agree with everything she said! 

congratulations!  we are so excited to shoot your session!!  we will be in contact with you with all of the details!

that’s right, you can be entered win a free engagement or bridal session with an 11×14 gallery canvas wrap and a free engagement or bridal video from Kale Fitch Productions, just for joining a quick contest!  just post a comment to tell me what is the most important thing you look for in a photographer?  is it style, price, personality, a combination of these or something else all together?  what makes you say this is the photographer for me?  the deadline is march 28, 2010 at 11:59pm so just go post now so that you don’t forget. A winner will be selected at random (using random.org) on monday morning March 29, 2010 and it will be posted to my blog so come back and check to see if you won.

there is no obligation with the contest (I promise that you do not have to purchase anything).  it is however subject to my scheduling availability, but I am pretty flexible so don’t worry about that either!

good luck!

i am scatterbrained to say the least!  not only that, but i am also clumsy. 

yesterday was a fabulous day with the exception of one small mishap.  i have the motorola cliq phone which is a fabulous phone and i love it!  but like i said, i am clumsy.  i was getting ready to go to the gym and running around my house like a crazy person trying to find my keys and my shoes and my ipod etc…  i not so carefully set my phone on the counter and it crashed down on the tile floor and shattered the entire face of the phone. before i even had a chance to react let alone blink, it happened.  i was so sad, i cried!  that is what i do when things like that happen.  i cry.  oddly enough, i rarely if ever cry at funerals or over serious uncontrollable events, but over the minor things, yes i cry.  and no this wasn’t the first time i had dropped my phone, it was probably the 30th, but this time it hit just right.  i called my husband, who wasn’t surprised at all i am sure.  he was entirely to nice too me and said it’s ok, go order a new one.  because that is what he does.  he puts up with me.  he rolls his eyes, shakes his head and then fixes it.  he fixes everything i break or ruin  and i love him for it.  like the time i backed my car out of my garage and shattered my passenger side mirror.  that was after he had told me a million and a half times to slow down and back out more carefully or “you are going to break your mirror!”  i guess i just have to learn things the hard way. these are just two examples of the millions of things in my life that i had to learn the hard way.  but guess what?? i will ALWAYS back out of my garage more carefully and i will sure as heck treat my phone as if it were another one of my children, because i would never ever drop one of them!!!

wedding season is quickly approaching and i am beyond thrilled!  i absolutely love what i do and love working with so many fabulous people.  i swear my weddings just keep getting better and better! 

this is jessica and dan.  i was warned by jessica’s mom before doing their engagements that dan was hilarious and she wasn’t wrong!  i was seriously cracking up the entire time!  these two are so in love and so cute and natural together.  right now dan is living in idaho, about a 4 hour drive, and jessica is living in salt lake.  he drives down every friday and stays until sunday and then drives back home.  now if that isnt love and dedication, i don’t know what is! 

  jessica, you are a rockstar!

they are so adorable!

favorite!

favorite again!

love, love, love!

 awwww.  off camera light is so spectaular.  mix that with a little flare and you have won my heart!

 loved this spot!  thanks vanessa!!

love!

 love this one!  another favorite! ok let’s be honest.  i just love them all!!

 these two are just so adorable!!

 click here for slideshow!

 now while i am patiently waiting for my new phone to arrive, you guys all let me know what you think of these pictures!

it has been a great monday!  i know most people think that mondays are lame but honestly i kind of like them.  it is my day to start over and to feel refreshed for the week.  the kids and husband go back to school and work so i can get my house clean again from the weekend.  i get to start back with my gym routine and hope that maybe one day i will actually commit to eating healthier so that all of the hours at the gym will actually count!  speaking of the gym i am a member of golds gym and i love it!  i went up there this morning and decided that i would try running on the treadmill again.  if anyone knows me, they know that i hate running! like i totally despise running!  but i thought i would give it a shot today since i usually just do the eliptical and i needed a little change up.  so i jump on the treadmill thinking i would do my normal PAINFUL 1 mile run/walk.  like literally i run for about 3 minutes and walk for 2. it is that bad!!  no seriously!  i push myself through the most painful 10 minutes of my life when i get on the treadmill.  get the point?  ok, so i get on the treadmill, warm up for a couple of minutes, then start my run and to my surprise  it was totally not hard at all!  i ran 3 miles straight!  3 MILES!!  it was totally insane!  i literally did not stop except for like 30 seconds at mile 2.  it was just plain wierd!  so i guess that makes me a runner now?  haha! except now the pain is starting to set in and my hips hurt and my legs hurt and i feel like an old grandma!  but it is good pain!  i totally did something i have never done before and it feels great!    oh and i got my house cleaned spotless so bring it on tuesday!

now on to this amazing couple whose wedding i get the priveledge of shooting this saturday.  me and brock went up to red butte gardens on friday after having to reschedule with laura a several due to location and weather issues, but it was totally worth the wait!  these two are seriously amazing!  laura looked so gorgeous in her dress and was totally awesome about not worrying about it getting dirty even though her wedding is in a week.  it opens up so many doorways when the bride is so relaxed about her dress!  and sean look killer in his grey pinstriped suit from italy and purple tie.  these two seriously win for most fashionable couple of the year! and most awesome couple at that.  i felt like i totally clicked with both of them right away.  this was the first time i had met them, but laura felt like she could’ve been my best friend for years!    they were both so sweet to us and to each other.  i love all the romantic shots we got.  seriously these pictures are some of my favorites of all time! laura and sean, you guys totally rock!!   

love!

favorite!  isn’t she gorgeous!?!?!

another favorite!

and another

ok so this is the #1 favorite!  laura, you need to blow this one up HUGE!!

love!

love, love, love!!

ok everyone, let me know what you think!!

click here for slideshow!

Hi everyone!  i am officially back from las vegas with a brain full of awesome ideas on how to make amanda abel photography even better!  every year my husband and i go to las vegas for a photographers conference, wppi (wedding and portrait photographers international).  it is 4 days full of awesome classes and a HUGE trade show!  i seriously learned so many things that i am planning on implementing into my business and i am SO excited!   it is so refreshing to go every year and i feel more this time than in years past that my batteries have been fully recharged and i am ready to make this year the best ever!!!  i can hardly wait! 

also, i wanted to spotlight a vendor  here on my blog.  if you have not ever heard of kale fitch films, you must go check out his website!   he is a fabulous videographer that i will be referring to ALL of my brides!  seriously!  and another great thing is that all of the images on his website were taken by yours truly!  that’s right!  so hop on over to his website and check it out!!  i am ecstatic to be working with such a fabulous videographer!

heather and matt had their reception on 12/29/09 and got married on 12/30/09.  they had their reception the night before their wedding at heather’s dad’s auction house in salt lake.  it was such an amazing place!!  she had a winter theme and it turned out so cute and perfect.  it snowed like crazy both days which is exactly what heather had always dreamed of for her wedding!  it turned out so beautiful! heather and matt are seriously some of my favorite people ever.  they are so sweet and down to earth and i just enjoyed every minute i got to spend with them.

day 1- reception

i love this shot of the 2 moms helping heather with her dress and they were both so giggly.  it was adorable! 

heather’s beautiful daughter olivia.  isn’t she adorable?!?!

playing around with some off camera lighting at receptions is one of my favorite things to do!  i  love to try new things and get different and cool lighting.  for this one i put my flash behind the centerpiece and slaved it from my camera flash.  i set my on camera flash to 1/128 power so there was basically no light coming from it.

for this cake shot i did basically the same thing as i did for the above centerpiece shot, but i set my camera flash to have a little power coming from it, so i didn’t completely black out the front of the cake.  i still wanted to preserve some of the detail in the front.

for this cake shot i slaved my flash the same as the other two but had my lovely assistant brock hold my flash off to a 90 degree angle.  it is pretty direct flash which i don’t really love all the time, but i really actually do love it in this shot.

flash placed behind flowers, but point at flowers to get this effect.

for this shot, i had my flash on camera, but i didn’t want flat front lighting, so i bounced it off the wall to my left.

day 2- temple

they had their sealing at the draper temple, which i love!  it was snowing pretty hard when they came out and when we did family and group pictures but when it was time to do bride and groom shots, the snow calmed down quite a bit and it turned out to be so beautiful!

for all of the outdoor shots i used natural light and it was a perfect overcast, snowy day!

i am leaving tomorrow to go to a photographers convention!  i am so excited to learn new things and to implement them into my business.  i will be back next wednesday.  see you then!!  also, to any new brides who are looking to book with me for their wedding, get on the phone and call now!  i am booking up super fast and i do only take a limited number of weddings a month.  i have already had to turn several brides away :(  i can’t wait to hear from you all!!!