Kristen Steele Photography

I love snow days!

I love all this snowy weather we’ve been having!! It makes for amazing pictures, since I like all things to be bright and light anyways.

This morning my friends Chris & Adrienne Scott invited me to go sledding in our neighborhood… yes, I said sledding. It was AMAZING! I felt like I was 5 years-old again and it was fantastic.

Both of those photos by Chris Scott.

We all had the best time sledding down this huge hill in our neighborhood!

Then we ran across the most adorable family, with their twin boys in laundry baskets sliding around on the ice!! They were the CUTEST things I had ever seen, like little snow bunnies.

Tags: brentwood tn, chris scott, personal, snow day

Dane Sanders at Imaging USA | Day 10

My brain is officially on information overload! So many incredible speakers, but my favorite from the first day of the conference was definitely Dane Sanders.

He is definitely the motivational speaker for photographers. He asked all of the photographers (there were thousands!) the question: Do you remember why you started taking pictures?

For me, I started taking pictures to capture the amazing moments that I had with my family. I know that I was a big picture-taker in elementary and middle school. Then, finally in high school I asked my parents for a “nice” camera. Thankfully, I have parents who love and support me and had the ability to see that my picture taking wasn’t just a fading hobby, but much more than that. I know that the treasured moments we share with our family and friends pass by all too quickly and if we don’t document them, they could fade away.

I don’t want those special moments to pass by for you or your family. I have a heart for people, I love to become part of your family for a day, get in your world, find out what you’re passionate about and capture all of the emotions that come with those things.

He called letting life pass you by “going on automatic.” For photographers, when we shoot in automatic mode, it means we’re not in control, we can’t manually adjust the settings to make the photo the way we want. So for a life-analogy, not going on automatic means living your life awake at the wheel, being alive and active in every aspect of your life and going ALL IN on anything that you’re doing.

So for 2010: I’m going ALL IN. I am taking my photography to a whole new level. I’ve had some amazing mentors over the past 6 months walking with me, helping me learn more about the craft of photography, learn more about how to run a successful luxury photography studio and to treat your clients the best. Bottom line: you’ll see changes in how I do things and all for the better.

Tags: dane sanders, Fast Track Photographer, ImagingUSA, my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

Getting Ready for ImagingUSA! | Day 9

Tomorrow I get the awesome opportunity to go to the Professional Photographer of America conference, ImagingUSA. Tomorrow I will wake up at 5 a.m. to be sitting in a chair @ Opryland Convention center at 6:50 to hear the fabulous Dane Sanders (creator of the Fast Track Photographer movement) speak… I am SO excited!

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

The Snow Just Keeps Falling | Day 8

It just keeps snowing… this photo is from Day 2 of the snowfest and I just woke up to MORE! I hope that I can make the drive safely to ImagingUSA this weekend, but I definitely don’t have far to go!

This shot is taken in front of my lovely friend Jordan’s house {shoutout!} when it felt like zero degrees.

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

Snow in Nashville | Day 7

Last night all the local weathermen were calling for BUCKETS of snow to be on the ground this morning when we all woke up. So school was canceled, weather policies were issued, etc.

Fast forward to this morning when we wake up and find…. NO snow on the ground. None is even falling. So we all go about our day & then finally just before lunch it starts coming down really hard. Throughout the day it just gets worse & worse and then tonight it gets down to the 20s so now it all freezes and is just ice.

Well at least it makes for gorgeous photos. I think snow and black and white photos is ridiculously beautiful. Enjoy!

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

Gallery Wrapped Canvases + Wedding Pictures | Day 6

Gallery wrapped canvases. You can’t fully appreciate them until you see one you one in person. It is a personal piece of art. This photo (taken by the fabulously talented Tec Petaja) was on our wedding day & it resides on our entryway table. I see it everyday when I walk in and place my keys in that bowl and I smile. I smile because that was just the beginning for us, of our life together as the Steeles… Do you have a piece of art or photo of your family that you cherish?

{P.S. I’m posting this a day late because I’ve officially gotten bit by the Twilight bug & I was up last night reading the last bit of New Moon.}

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

Las Palmas Mexican Restaurant aka Food for my soul | Day 5

Tonight hubby & I had my sweet daddy & amazing sissy over for dinner (aka Jack and Caroline). I didn’t feel like cooking & there’s a Las Palmas mexican restaurant that’s literally around the corner from our house! That’s good for the soul, bad for the mid-section.

I never claimed to be a food photographer, and I’m not even sure if you can make really GOOD mexican food look fantastic, it just tastes good. So here’s a photo of our chicken fajita meat!

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

It felt like 2 degrees this morning | Day 4

This morning when I walked out to my car I had frost all over it & there were snow flurries! It was beautiful, despite the frigid temperature!

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

the journey home | Day 3

I’m really really enjoying this 365 challenge so far, already I’m looking at my daily, sometimes mundane life differently — trying to find the beauty in all things.

This photo is from our fun ride home today… enjoy!

Also, I’m reading my camera manual & will begin posting what I’m learning from that too.

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge

Mastering Sun Flare | Day 2

Day 2′s photograph is also brought to you from the Blue Ridge Mountains & I have mastered the art of sun flare!

For more in depth info about Sun Flare and how to achieve it, check out this post by Melissa Jill – it really helped me and I hope it helps you too.

Tags: my 2010 resolution, tasra 365, the 365 challenge