oliverblue photography: November 2013

Thursday, November 28, 2013

The BIGGEST {itty bitty} blessings; Cyber Monday SPECIALS from Oliverblue to YOU!; photo + food recipes!

i remember it clear as day.

my little sister had picked up some wine for me

and had come over to drop it off.

as we were chatting, she teared up -

as she had many times in recent months -

because another month had come and gone without being pregnant.

she had been trying for nearly two years...

she said "we might as well drink this"

and i said to her:

we will drink this wine

AFTER you have that baby.

i stuck the bottle of wine in the wine fridge and there it sat

patiently month after month after month...

three weeks ago - on november 1st,

i met my sister and her husband at the hospital

to witness and photograph the birth of their new baby boy.

we all waited patient{ish}ly 28 hours

before he arrived.

as the doctor laid beautiful baby FINN

on my sister's chest

and tears streamed down the faces

of everyone in the room -

i thought to myself

we can FINALLY drink that bottle of wine!

{kidding}.

i thought to myself

God. is. SO. GREAT.

and His GREATEST, BIGGEST blessings come in itty bitty form...

days after sweet, healthy, perfect baby finn arrived,

i found myself at his home photographing him in his proud mama's arms

(my sis and i each with a super special, long awaited glass of wine on a table nearby)...

is he a sweet little muffin

or what?!!!

crazy about him.

this holiday, and every day -

i feel overwhelmingly lucky to have so many

amazing {little and big} people in my life...

my family

my friends

my clients

bring overwhelming JOY to my heart.

i've been blessed. beyond measure.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours.

xoxo,

nikki

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights"

- James 1:17

ps. - in the spirit of the holidays...

CYBER MONDAY deals from Oliverblue to YOU!

NOW THRU Midnight, Monday December 2nd:

$100 off Oliverblue portrait sessions!

book a session for YOU or purchase a Gift Certificate for a FRIEND

and save $100 off the regular session price!!!

GROWING CONFIDENCE

PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP

and your family/friend can sign up for 50% off!

{hurry! just a few spots left!}

these workshops are awesomely FUN + inspiring! -

the perfect holiday gift to give yourself!!!

start 2014 with CONFIDENCE!

3 ways to get the discount:

when you and your friend sign up seperately for a workshop, you each put your friend’s name in the comment box so we can cross reference your deal. {first+last name.} use the coupon code: cyberfriendday (copy and paste if you’d like!), and you will get your half of the 50% discount! that way you AND your friend both get to split the 50% off between you!

if only one of you is paying - simply register for two spots, put your friend’s name in the comment box, and use the same coupon code: cyberfriendday. this will automatically take 50% off one of your sign ups, and you will both be set!

**if you are wanting to sign up a friend that will attend a different workshop in another city {my fellow teachers from across the country are fabulous!!!}, and get the 50% off for them, email our team at support@merakoh.com. we'll get you and your friend’s registration set up via phone or email.

pps.

i have 2 holiday portrait sessions left!

call me if you've not yet gotten new {super rad} photos

for your holiday cards!!!

lets take advantage of the forecasted sunshine next week!

and speaking of holiday portrait cards -

ALLOW ME to introduce MJ!

i am so excited to be partnering

with the mega talented + creative {and super fun} MJ Phelps

of EmJay Studios...

to develop custom photo card templates

exclusively available to Oliverblue Photography clients!

these new templates will be rolled out in the new year!

if you've not yet found your perfect holiday card this year

look no further than {right here!!!} and have

one designed/customized exclusively for YOU!

{MJ is also crazy talented with web/blog/logo/branding design! be sure to contact her if you are thinking about giving your brand a fresh look in the new year!!!}

LASTLY,

leaving you with recipes for my three favorite

easy-peasy turkey day {finger-food approved} appetizers:

steak and chimichurri toasts -

1 cup packed fresh parsley

3/4 cup EVOO

3 tablespoons red wine vinegar

2 tablespoons dried oregano

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon salt

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1 1-lb pieces flank steak

1 french baguette, cut into 40 thin slices

Blend parsley, 3/4 cup olive oil, vinegar, oregano, cumin, 1 teaspoon salt, minced garlic, and crushed red pepper in processor until smooth. Place meat in large glass baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush meat with 2 tablespoons chimichurri sauce. Cover steaks and remaining sauce separately and refrigerate at least 1 hour. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep refrigerated.)

Preheat oven to 450°F. Place bread slices on large baking sheet. Brush with olive oil. Bake until just firm, about 5 minutes. Transfer to large platter.

Preheat broiler. Transfer meat to rimmed baking sheet and broil until cooked to desired doneness, about 4 minutes per side for medium. Transfer to cutting board. Let stand 5 minutes. Cut each steak along grain in half. Cut each half crosswise against grain into 10 slices. Top each bread slice with 1 piece of meat. Spread each with some chimichurri sauce; place on platter. Spoon remaining sauce into small bowl and place in center of platter. Serve warm or let stand up to 2 hours at room temperature.

mozzarella stuffed chicken sausage balls -

2 lbs hot or sweet fresh chicken sausage

1 tub bite size fresh mozzarella

EVOO for liberal drizzling

fresh pepper

simply roll chicken sausage into balls (roughly 2 inches) and stuff with fresh mozzarella. place on foil lined baking sheet about one inch apart. stick a toothpick or skewer in each and drizzle with olive oil. bake at 400 degrees for 16-18 minutes or until cooked through and browned.

delish!

caprese skewers -

40 baby tomatoes, sliced in 1/21 fresh buffalo mozzarella sliced into 40 cubesfresh basil, larger leaves torn in 1/2sea salt and freshly cracked black pepperextra-virgin olive oilgood aged balsamic vinegar

using a skewer, put 1/2 tomato, cut side up, followed by a piece of mozzarella, basil, and finish with another tomato half. Season skewers with salt, pepper, oil and vinegar.

** i like to add some (cooled) sautéed garlic to the olive oil before drizzling...

i love a macro lens when shooting food - to get in super close with a sharp focus! for this shot, i used a nikkor 105 mm, f/2.8 lens. settings: shutter 1/80, f 3.3, ISO 250

shoot WIDE open to draw attention to the object you are shooting, while achieving a blurry, buttery background! i shot this with a nikkor 50 mm, f1.4 lens. settings: shutter 1/320, f 1.4, ISO 125

enjoy! ;)

Thursday, November 21, 2013

Growing CONFIDENCE Photography Workshop:: In Review

good morning lovelies!

grab a cup of joe and head on over to {my dear friend, mentor, cohort} Me Ra Koh's blog this morning! I am thrilled to be featured this morning in a guest post reviewing my

Growing Confidence Photography Workshop!

i had the most INCREDIBLE time teaching this workshop and am SOOO excited for the next one.

please be sure to check out the full review {here}

AND THEN

TREAT YOURSELF to an awesome holiday gift! I would love for YOU to JOIN ME in the new year for my next Growing Confidence Workshop! Saturday, January 11th. only 8 spots! Get yours now and SAVE 20% with the early bird special (discount valid through November 30th. Use code: EARLYBIRD). Purchase your spot {right here}.

Live Creatively! ;)

Nikki

connect with me at http://oliverbluephotography.com and SHOW ME SOME LOVE {well, LIKE} on my Facebook page to be the very first to know about giveaways and promotions from Oliverblue Photography!

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

november blog circle: THANKFUL (that oliver put mommy in check) + photo tip: shooting in low light! + 10 fabulous holiday hostess gifts!!!

oliver put mommy in check last week...

i have been guilty {on far too many occasions} lately

of getting the legos down to play...

and then sitting next to the boys + the legos

while on my laptop, editing or writing or marketing -

piping in on the lego action on occasion,

{typically after one of them had called my name about 20 times in a row...}

pushing oliver on the swing

with one hand,

the other hand busily responding to

text messages and emails

simply

turning on the tv for my babes {for hours}

while i worked.

after a good solid week of WAY too many superhero tv shows

and partial attention to lego time,

guilt started creeping in.

so i decided to turn off the tv.

oliver was so excited when i told them it was time do some art with mommy!

we gathered up supplies

and set them on the coffee table...

right next to my laptop.

i started out invested in art time.

but within a few minutes,

i went back to working.

in an attempt to appear involved in art project time

i said to my son, "i love playing with you."

he looked down at the table - at my laptop, my iPad, my iPhone (all three in use at the time),

looked up at me - and then asked

"but are you playing with me mommy?"

and my heart sank.

i put my computer away.

i grabbed a large bin full of matchbox cars -

and my babies and i spent the next two hours

racing them two by two down the hallway,

laughing (miles with his perfect toddleriffic belly laugh),

cheering, and laughing some more.

at one point, oliver grabbed my cheeks, gave me a big kiss

and said "mommy, i love you. you are always the best. and you are so pretty."

(melted).

and so we have spent two hours doing the same thing

EVERY day this week.

i am so thankful for my sweet babies.

and i am thankful for the brilliant ways they remind mommy

of how lucky i am to be doing the work i love

while having the privilege of spending my days

at home with my sweet lovies while they are itty bitty

and changing so much from one moment to the next.

they remind me that sometimes, the most productive

(and certainly the most meaningful) days are, thankfully,

the ones spent exploring an old army fort,

riding our bikes,

splashing through rain puddles,

making a giant mess with a bin of sidewalk chalk,

catching up with dr. seuss,

or racing hot wheels cars down a hallway.

together.

this week i renewed my promise

to be intentional in the time i spend with my babies

and to always remember what a luxury it is

to have hours every day to play with them.

my coffee table will be meant for paper + crayons + play dough

rather than a laptop.

and although the TV is the one constant thing

that oliver thanks the Lord for EVERY day,

i know he'll be thankful

to watch less of it ;)

PHOTO TIP: shooting in LOW light!
{above} i wanted to capture sweet miles playing with the cars we
had recently thrown down the hallway. although there are windows
in all the outlying bedrooms, the hallway is still not well lit.
rather than turning on any artificial lights,
i opted to shoot at a low aperture (f1.4) AND a slightly higher ISO (640)
in order to capture the shot with natural light!
take advantage of these rad camera settings to get great exposure in low light!

thankful,

nikki

ps. - going to dinner/to a party
this holiday season?
10 gorgeous holiday hostess lovelies
from the loveliest store ever:

from the current gift collection at anthropologie.com: