..This Blog Is No More..

With all the great and exciting changes coming to ..Echo by Design.. , I have released a new blog to match my branding!  A new and fresh look for now and the future.  It doesn’t take a whole lot but just a quick and easy ..click here.. to visit the new blog!!

The new blog will now be attached to my website like so…  www.echobydesign.com/blog

Thank you for visiting Echo by Design and I hope we can make a great friendship happen!

..NEW BLOG..

love, echo

PS Subscribers I hope you receive the new emails.  If for some reason you don’t, please let me know!

..Nothing Like a Day Off..

A day off, it’s not something I do for myself very often.  I had been warned by other photographer’s in the industry, “You will become a workaholic.”  I have done my best to not let that ring true.  I actually picked up a book to educate myself on this so that it doesn’t happen to me.  And once I am done reading it, I am sure that I will have plenty to share!

A couple of weeks ago when my husband had a government holiday off ,we decided to go hiking at ..John Bryan State Park..!  We figured that it would get us out of the house, give us some together, and get some exercise in.  For being fall, it actually was a pretty warm day.  We were sure to come prepared with water and a snack, and it was needed.  It was a beautiful afternoon and despite seeing a snake in the first few minutes of our journey, the rest of the afternoon was gorgeous.  We hiked over 5 miles and enjoyed the fall colored leaves as the breeze sent them dancing all around.

I do have to say that I absolutely love what I do, but every now and then a day off is music to my ears.

..DAY OFF..

love, echo

ALSO stay tuned because there is a really big, fun, new thing headed your way.  Just working out a few kinks and we should be good to go!!!

..Shooting Just Because..

Every now and then I will get an email from an aspiring photographer who needs just a little advice, maybe a push in the right direction, or just wants to tell me they enjoy my work.  Those emails are always so sweet and sometimes a piece of humble pie.  I love being reminded that although photography can be just a hobby for some people it’s my passion and how I make my living.  So when I recieved an email from Rachel (a friend of a friend), telling me that one of my blog posts touched her and she would love to photograph together one day, I thought why not?

I emailed Rachel back and we decided to meet up, she was going to bring a couple she knows for the shoot.  We met at ..Side Cut.. in Maumee before the couple came, allowing me time to show her a few things about her camera.  Once Missie and Kevin our couple for the afternoon arrived at our location, I went over teachable ways with Rachel that I personally feel work.  We covered everywhere from posing to composition to photo coaching and more.

Rachel getting the shot…

A few of mine…

My favorite of the afternoon…

Rachel in action again…

My angles, they are so cute…

Thank you to Missie and Kevin for being such great sports while Rachel learned about one of her passions.  Now Kevin, I think she’s ready for that ring!

..LEARNING..

love, echo

P.S. If you would like to see any of Rachel’s work from the shoot, visit her at ..Ranville Photography..

..Sneak Peek to the Crawfords..

I want to tell you a lot about this wonderful couple, but I almost feel like I would be ruining a good story before all of their portraits are up.  I had the pleasure of photographing this couple last weekend on their big day and boy did we have a blast!  So to send everyone off on a great weekend, I thought I would share a short sneak peek, a teaser if you will.

Mr. & Mrs. Crawford, stay tuned for the rest of your portraits next week on the blog!

..TEASER..

love, echo

..Baby Grady..

Just a little over 3 years ago while I was still in college, I agreed to shoot a wedding for my friend Manda and her fiance Jason.  As if you haven’t heard enough about my adventures at Whirlpool Park, Manda was yet another lifeguard and friend.  She too along with a couple other of my brides and grooms this year relished in the amazing job and life we had.

So as always, I was estatic when Manda had contacted me a few months ago inquiring about maternity portraits.  They would be my first wedding couple to have a baby!  We tentatively picked out a few dates and said we would decide on an actual date and time when we got closer.  Thank you to facebook and it’s social networking, I found out that Manda’s water had broken while they were on their last mini vacation in Pittsburgh.  Needless to say she still had 7 weeks to go in her pregnancy!  They found a hospital in Pittsburgh and made sure Mom and baby were stable before transporting them to Columbus just a few days later.  At 33 weeks and 2 days Manda gave birth to baby Grady.  Weighing only 4 lbs. and 1 oz. at 17.5 inches long, he was early but healthy.  And although we missed the maternity session it was good to hear that three weeks later he was able to come home from the hospital with Manda and Jason.

Love his room decorations…

Baby Grady on Mom and Dad’s bed…

So little.

Brand new parent pictures are my favorite…

Love this one with Jason and Grady…

So precious…

Manda and Jason it was fabulous seeing you again!  I am so excited for you in this next step in both of your lives.  Enjoy baby Grady!

..PITTSBURGH..

love, echo

..The Woods Family..

Meet the Woods’ family, two more of our best friends.  Michael and Lyndi met in college within our circle of friends and happened to be in Brad and I’s wedding.  They are two of the sweetest people you could meet, and both have the most outgoing personalities that are a perfect fit for each other.  Their son Dominick and them still live in Bowling Green while Michael is finishing his graduate degree in psychology.  They all are anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Woods in December.

So we decided that while I was in town one weekend we would have a quick family session before the Baby arrived.  We awoke to the early morning rise of Dominick wanting to play with his toys and wondering if his guests were up yet.  While Dominick showed off his newest train set Lyndi made some delicious breakfast; including eggs, sausage, and pancakes.  Once everyone was ready we were out the door for their shoot.  It was a beautiful day and the sun shined brightly giving us a little warmth to the crisp morning.

I love Dominick kissing Mommy in this photo…

Dominick’s turn…

I was in the middle of taking this intimate photo of Lyndi and Mike and up walks Dominick with a gift for Mom & Dad…precious…

I can’t wait for Baby Woods to arrive…

I just LOVE it!!

My little D…isn’t he adorable!?

Thank you Michael, Lyndi, Dominick, and Baby Woods for letting me hang out with you!

..FRIENDS..

love, echo

..Jaci Said Yes to Brett..

I am so excited to show you the amazing time that I had with this couple; they are fun, a little camera-shy, but all around IN love!  We met up for lunch to officially meet each other and become acquainted with each other’s personalities.  This wonderful couple found me through Patrick and Jessica Burkin, my foundation couple and decided to book without meeting me face to face!  (I just love that!)  We chatted and they asked me questions and then we got to hang out for a short time for their engagement session!

Jaci met Brett at a baseball and softball fundraiser in Findlay where they are both in school.  Jaci plays for the Findlay Oilers softball team and Brett helps coach baseball!  In Jaci’s words, “He thought I was cute (and much older than I really was.)  We talked and flirted all night.  The next night we happened to run into each other at the bar.”  That is when the phone number exchange happened.  They started to hang out and I guess you could say the rest was history.  But not just yet.  Brett found out that Jaci was 5 years younger and got a little worried that he was “robbing the cradle.”  He was teased by friends and unsure of how to treat the new relationship.  After a long discussion Brett and Jaci realized that love has NO BOUNDS and age doesn’t matter.  They fell in love and here she is with a ring on her finger today!

Brett’s beautiful gift to Jaci…

They are just the cutest couple.  Can you agree, Jaci and Brett have it going on?!

I love the reflection in the window too 🙂

I think I fell in love with them just as fast as they fell in love with each other!

These next ones are my favorite!

Love that she is playing with her ring…

Always trying to find something new, using the glass door as a reflection!

And since the both of them are such big baseball fans…what relationship isn’t fun without being rivals?

Jaci & Brett, I don’t think August could come soon enough!  I had an absolute blast with the two of you!  Happy planning!

..NO AGE..

love, echo

 

..The Lefeld Family..

You have already met a few of my BGSU roommates (Missy & Bridgette) and today you get to meet one more!  A few Sunday’s ago we had our annual roommate get together, which unfortunately only happens about once a year due to all of our schedules.  We cleared our schedule months in advance and met at Mel’s house in the very small town of St. Henry.  Knowing full well that we would already be together Mel asked if I would take a few pictures of her beloved family before the rest of our friends arrived.  I couldn’t wait and knew I would get some good ones.

I met Mel my sophomore year while she roomed with another friend.  We always got to see each other every now and then, but never thought we would be roommates.  It’s a good thing that we were able to eventually live together, because we now have such a great friendship.  We have so much in common coming from a small town and just how we live life in general.  During our senior year of college  I can remember when Kyle first came into the picture and would come to visit.  He was quiet and pretty reserved but I could tell he made Mel happy.  I made it a point to always give him a hug, I’m not so shy or quiet for the most part and love expressing hello with a hug!  Eventually I was able to get him to come out of his shell, I knew he was a great fit for Mel.  After we graduated they got married and shortly after became pregnant with Mr. Owen.  He is just over a year old now and is every bit of cute.  So meet just another one of my dear friends, the Lefeld family…

He just has the cutest laugh…

Playing with Dad…

and with Mom…

Thank you Kyle, Mel, and Owen for such a fun little afternoon in your cozy home!

..ROOMMATES..

love, echo

Have a good weekend everyone!

..Whats up Facebook..

In my opinion its the best social network in the world and has 500 million active users, so why wouldn’t I want my business to be a part of all of that?  (Stats according to facebook.com)  Many have asked, and guess what it’s here!  Echo by Design is now a business on facebook!!!  If you have a profile on the social networking site make sure you stop by and click “Like” on my page 🙂  Thank you for all of your support and I can’t wait to continue making great changes to further our friendship together!

Click here to become a fan now!

..FACEBOOK..

love, echo

..The Frisch Family..

Fall… your never able to tell how the weather is going to cooperate.  Especially here in Ohio where the sun is shining with 80 degree temps one day and then the next day we are calling for snow with freezing temperatures!  It just so happened that on this particular fall day it wanted to rain.  There was the beautiful backdrop of East Harbor State Park that sort of had to fall through the way side due to the weather.  We made our way to the stone shelter house and decided to push forward with the session there.  Although I would have liked to reschedule because of inclimate weather we had a few people including myself that drove a long way to make this session happen.  So we made the best of the day and while they were in the shelter I was in the rain!  (Don’t worry Brad came with me to hold the umbrella, we came prepared.)

This is the Frisch family, they live on Catawba and love East Harbor!  After hearing about me from their son’s girlfriend Tiffany, they chose to set up their family session weeks in advance! (That’s what I like, planners 🙂 )  Tiffany happened to be a bridesmaid in a wedding that I photographed and fell in love with my work.  She has been a “resounding gong” in telling people all about me, and I will be forever grateful!

Joe & JoAnn Frisch…

The grandkids…Logan & Noah

and Haily & Tyler.  Children of Jason & Shannon.

I love how her curls stole the show!

Front Row (l to r): Jason, Jake, Tiffany, Trent, Joe, Brad, and Sheena.

Back Row (l to r): Noah, Shannon, Haley, Logan, JoAnn, and Tyler.

Thank you so much to the Frisch family for allowing me to capture your family photos, even if we had to dodge the rain!

..PLANNERS..

love, echo