Family Art!

I will say I treasure my pictures a ton! Each one that we get printed has so much meaning behind it. There is always a story behind each shot! Weither its a posed one to one that no one was even aware that it had been taken! I have said it before and I will say it again... I love being behind the camera and HATE being in front of a camera! As most people I have a hard time looking at a picture of myself and saying OMG... I look fantastic! Though I see other pictures of people and think OMG... They look fantastic and they may look at it like seriously.... UGH... I hate how I look... So I guess its a extremly great lesson to always take the time to get infront of the camera and understand what others go through! I'm one that even though I may not like myself in pictures... down the line my children are going to adore them!! Heaven forbid something happen to me.. I want my kids to have tons of pictures of us together! To see what there Momma looked like!! Something that they will always be able to treasure for years to come!! I love the saying a picture says a thousand words.... To me its true... A picture can say soo much!! They way you get a picture printed can say so much more also.. You can take a picture make it into a 4x6 ratio and sure its adorable but you can turn it into say a 10x20 and it can turn into so much more!! Though even us as photographers have an extremely hard time shelling out money to get pictures printed... its so worth it! We recently got some pictures printed and we hung them up yesterday! It was amazing the difference I feel it has made our living room.. Amazing how sizes can just pop out more!!


Family Pictures 16x20 and 3- 10x10's



More pictures and my coffee table books! Just ordered 2 more!! :)


10x10's- Doing different sizes helps the pictures stick out more! Loving the Standout Boards! Really makes the picture pop more and makes them look like they are floating!






Coffee Table books are a big plus in my eyes!! I do a yearly one for each of our children and also for our trips we take! We really enjoy grabbing one and looking through them now and then and they really capture all of our treasured moments we get to have with each other!!


My hall way photos!! 2- 5x7's & a 8x10 both on foam core!

April Special!

So I was just telling Randy for I don't know the 100th time that we really need to get our family pictures done. The one in our living room a month after Tyus was born just didn't cut it! Being the one behind the camera I never end up getting pictures of me with the kiddos! I mean those fun little snap shots with my point and shoot are cute and all, but come on... I can't blow that up to anything more then a 4x6! I may not alway like the way I look but I also know that I love looking back to old pictures of when Tash was 1 and me holding her and her giving me big kisses!! They melt my heart every time!!! So I decided that for the month of April we are going to run a fun Mommy special!! Since May is in my eyes... The Month of the Mommy's!! We are offering mini sessions. A 30 min. session of Mommy's with thier Babies! You will get appox 10 poses of you and your little one/ones on a cd for $55! These shots are shots of you interacting with you little one/ones.. Laughing, smiling, hugs and kisses, toes and hands, tickles, etc... not just you looking at the camera and saying cheese! The moments that always make your hearts melt and you smile just get a little bigger!!

Hey Daddies... A very nice Mother's Day gift!!

Call or email us and make an appointment!! randy@bluedotphotography.com or 309-224-9386

EXPRESSION! EMOTION! UNIQUENESS!

Got our new website template up and running. Will say I'm loving it! Really opens us up more. Gives us the opportunity to add more samples of our work! Expand our creativity a little more out there! As we have always stated we are always open to our clients to give us any critics. Weither good or bad! We accept it with open arms! One thing I couldn't change or delete on the website is the testimonals. I tried... But since I can't if anyone would love to write a little about us and don't mind if I quote you, we would really appriciate it! ;)

The last couple of weeks our family has been sick. We finally get over one thing and then on to something else. Thankfully we have been able to just stay at home and relax! But having a 3 month old and a 4 year old sick hasn't been the easiest! When you are sick and still having to get up at 3am.. Makes your body hurt worse! So I'm hoping that the kiddos get over this a lot faster then we do so they sleep a little better at night! That way we all can get better and enjoy this nice weather that has been coming our way! May not be 70's but I'll take the upper 50's to 60's any day!

We are super excited about getting out there and starting up Outside Portraits again! (Family, Engagements, Children, Seniors) We have really made some great goals for ourselves this year and excited to start to pushing our new motto!! EXPRESSION, EMOTION, UNIQUENESS!!

So many Changes!!

I honestly will say I have totally forgotten about this whole Blog thing! I have noticed a lot of photographers have been doing blogging and realized its a great way for our clients to see a little more inside our lives and for us to express some of our work and our life as well! Over the last year a lot has changed! From going onto bedrest for 6 months to getting the greatest reward from bedrest! A beautiful baby Boy!! Tyus William!! We are so thankful for our little bundle of joy! Our little family is now complete!! With maybe a gold fish or a pet rock in our future! lol!! Whatever doesn't involve waking up in the middle of the night! We are finally getting into a routine and though it was a little adjustment having 2 kids instead of 1! It has honestly been so rewarding in so many ways!! One being that not only do I have a great little girl model but I now have a little boy one as well!! As my little man grows I get to expierence ever aspect of photographing each stage of life! So it helps me to learn what works with what age! This year has been the 1st year we have actually reached out to do newborn/infant portraits! I have always had a passion for children photography but never really put forth the effort to see what I could make of it! I see so many phenomenal children photographers out there and hope one day to be able to do half as great work as they do!

I'm really excited for our weddings this year! Though the 1st one of the year I ended up staying home with the stomach flu! This year is the year we are really going to try and step more out of the box and capture some unquiness and make more expression and feeling come out of our work! We are really excited for July! We will be doing a wedding down in Cancun! Can't wait to see the incredible shots we are able to capture while we are there!!

Our Little Man~ Tyus @ 3 months

Our Daughter Tasha! Just a month shy of 4!

May Flowers!

So its finally May! So guess that means all this rain will stop! I'm happy that we got it all b/c if you take a look outside and see all the beautiful flowers and all the green out there you know that we needed it! Maybe just not all we got! But it sure does look great out there! ;) So I decided to take Tasha to Botanical Gardens today. It was starting to sprinkle when we got there so I wasn't table to really switch outfits like I wanted to since it was muddy and gross out there I just desided to take shots of her in the outfit she wore today! ;) Still need to get pictures of her in the outfits I got from PinkPlicity, but I'd rather the sun be out and weather be a lot nicer since I can't really put a undershirt under them as well. But I'm really proud at how good i'm getting at sewing! I just got a new pattern in the mail today! A Kyoko (Asian-inspired shirt and dress) pattern. I'm rather excited to try this out!! Might try on Monday! Taking a little break from sewing for the weekend so I can clean out the basement and get everything garthered up for a garage sale we are going to have in a couple weekends! I have about 5 tubs of Tasha clothes!!! I am seriously in over my head in little girls clothes! So if you need clothes from who knows newborn to 2t!! Let me know! We really don't have the room to keep saving and if I have another girl some day... I know I'll just end up buying! I mean hello I have 5 tubs of clothes and so many Tasha didn't even wear! Now to know that I got great deals on these clothes! Pretty much all from either Old Navy, Target, or a resale shop and they had new tags on them! So seriously let me know cuss I'm just going to yard sale them and what doesn't get sold just going to take them to the woman's pregnancy center! :) Right now Tasha is enjoying a nice little movie sitting right next to me! Land Before Time 2! A show I've watched with her a million times! Girl gets to watch a movie a day during quiet time and this movie is the one she repeatedly picks!! Gets rather annoying.. why I decided to write! :) Excited b/c one more hour and Randys off! YAY!!! Think we are just going to chill at home and grill out and watch a movie after Tasha goes to bed! Keep it simple! Okay Tasha is starting to get a little antsy so I better stop writing and take this time to play a game with her or just wrap her in my hands and enjoy my moments I get! Before I know it she is going to be to told that I can't wrap my arms around her and cuddle her! Hate that they grow so fast!! I will add some pictures that I took of Tasha in the first Celia Orginal! I so need to come up with a creative name! But for now its Celia! ;)



This cracked me up! She said Mom take one of me sitting next to the little girl as she reads to me! Then said oh shes fake!! Oh well Mommy she's still really a nice girl! :) lol!


My little Princess! :)


I really like this picture! Turned on the bubble machine and she was funny around popping them all! Just kind of a cool effect! ;)

My 1st Blog!

So I decided to start a blog site! Why...... I have no clue! I love to type and write and well I feel with all that we have going on. I'm never able to update people with everything thats been going on. Right now we are just now getting back into Wedding season. We have I believe 18 weddings this year! 2 done! Already starting to book up our weekends for engagements, family, children, and senior pictures! Which I'm rather excited! I really enjoy doing children photography the most! So my goal is to really start getting more creative and kind of take over childrens portraits and really put all my focus into that. I also just got a new sewing machine. I LOVE it!! I really enjoy working with my hands and being able to creat things. I love making Tasha dresses. I'm no where perfect at it but I will say I am getting them down. My last two were starting to really look like the ones I bought! Thinking... way far in the future. Of actually trying to sale some dresses I make. Nothing crazy at all just to maybe earn some extra money on the side. I really get lost in sewing and well Tasha's closet is really running out of run! So it would be fun to take some for other people! :) I'm hoping that this sun will go away and the sun will come out and I can actually start taking pictures of Tasha in her dresses! That way people can see my work a little better! But I will say if you are wanting dresses like Tasha and are wanting perfection http://www.pinkplicity.etsy.com/ is really the best place to go! They are the kindest people! Do wonderful work and really will work with you! I will continue to push people there way b/c they are seriously wonderful people! But yes maybe in the future I can start making and selling my own outfits on the side. I'm hoping every week I can perfect something new and really do great at sewing. I honestly can't believe how much I love it! Okay I'll stop here! I have one baby down for a nap and Tasha is laying down watching a movie so... I really should be getting some stuff done! More to come...