Opening WordPress for the first time in a month to post pictures is like a breath of fresh-air. I assumed that as it got colder here in East Tennessee that far less people would be wanting photo sessions and I braced myself. I didn’t, however, realize how long winter really is! Every day seems to just creep creep by. I find myself making lists and calenders and schedules for the upcoming craziness that will be this wedding-packed summer. I will surely be grateful for all the organization when it comes… but it’s no fun at all! Taking pictures, editing and designing things with them are my favorite things to do in the world. All the other stuff is just … bleh..

In order to keep from twiddling my thumbs for one more day I set up a weekend full of free photo-shoots. I’ve had so many new ideas to try out and wanted a new playground to try them out in… so to Johnson City.. my old home.. we went! David and I are always inspired by that city. A piece of my heart will always be there from spending 5 years of my life as a college kid in the Johnson City sun, but David loves the slower pace, the fact that you can arrive anywhere in 5 minutes and the awesome, awesome people that are there. I found some incredible friends while in college and they married some incredible people. Whenever we spend time with them we feel so full and honestly.. ready to move! ;)

One of those awesome awesome couples.. are the Nutters! I seriously think David Nutter and my David could talk and laugh for hours and forget where they are. And Sarah is always encouraging me in my quest of being a kitchen dweller. Most of the meals we eat here in the Hensley house that require a measuring cup.. have come from the Nutter kitchen. That girl knows what she’s doing!

We love them so.. and wanted to bless them with images of their sweet sweet family. Never have I realized the rich photography locations of that place! They are everywhere!! Ahh.. Johnson City.. how I love thee! Until next time…

I couldn’t pick a favorite from these two.. so I’ll let you decide! ;)

my favorite shot all day! ;)

this is David Nutter’s fav… Christian was spitting down the drain… all boy!

I love the composition of this shot… not necessarily the faces .. lol

I’ll leave you with the sweetest face…

Meet Jana and Kayla! These girls are budding photographers just getting started in the biz like myself. They drove in from Kingsport, TN  so that I could take some shots of them for their new website (www.kmphotography.info)! Kayla and I go way back to our college days at ETSU in Johnson City. We were both elementary education majors and ended up in most of the same classes. This included a “Storytelling” class that taught all about the art of Storytelling. Ugh! I will never forget the torture of that class. I’m a huge goofball in front of kids. Heck, I’m practically a kid myself; but get me in front of my peers and ask me to dance and sing and you won’t be impressed. The more Kayla and I got to know one another, the more we realize we were EXACTLY alike. I could give you the exhaustive list of our similarities (that would almost scare you) but I’ll spare you. You’re welcome. Kayla loves to teach (and my guess is really good at it) but has found her love for photography to be really strong and is pursuing  this new hobby and growing it into a beautiful business! She is well on her way and full of passion to fuel her love!

The girls met me at the Knoxville Center Mall; which is full of more mall walkers than shoppers. This gave us lots of space and freedom to take a couple “fashion shots”, as she called them! Shopping bags in tow, we took full advantage of the place. After hitting up a local park we ended up having lunch at Litton’s in Foutain City. If  you haven’t experienced Litton’s let me be the first to tell you, it is a Knoxville tourist MUST! Although I was raised on their Thunder Road burger and amazing sugar cookies, I refuse to consider myself a biased critic when I say “BEST RESTAURANT IN TOWN”! Big claim, big truth! Enjoy a little laughter and lightheartedness with Kayla and Jana! Also, check them out on the Facebook fan page! By clicking here —> facebook.com/knoxvillephotos

As always, I’m so grateful you stopped by to check out my blog!

My good friend and hairstylist (www.heatherkerley.com) Heather and I are really into Bravo’s “Housewives of New Jersey, ATL and Orange County”. So, when Heather came to me with the idea of doing a shoot like the Atlanta Housewives (alter ego shoot).. I was totally in! Example:

Photo courtesy of: www.clearlyfabulous.com

She picked the perfect outfits: sweet, smiley housewife and BAD-A biker chick that looked like she wanted to beat me up! We had so much fun until the rain brought the shoot to an end. Unfortunately, I backed up the session with a faulty hard-drive and only saved about 1/3 of the shots! Such a bummer!!! (Of course now I’m using an amazing 2nd hard-drive that I would trade my left foot for!) I was so pumped about sharing them and have been sitting on them for about 5 months now, hoping to find a way to recover the lost files. So, today I only have a few to share. Rest assured.. we will attempt this again and they will be the best stink Alter Ego images EVER! Prepare yourself!

This kind of goes along with one of my New Years Resolutions. I’m going to start taking an “off” day every once in a while and shoot fun sessions to boost my creativity and inspiration. I’ve got a growing list of fun photo shoots I want to do with friends that are WAY outside the box! I’m looking forward to sharing these and stretching my artistic ability. I have much more to say about this but my puppies are currently begging me to go outside and play in the snow and I just CAN’T say no to those eyes! Enjoy!!

Thanks for stopping by! Leave a comment to say hi and let me know what you think!