…and darned proud of it! The years that came to pass throughout the 1980’s were special in so very many ways. Seriously, how could anyone not love the era that brought us so much that we could never live without?? I mean…My Little Ponies, The Karate Kid, swatch watches, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, hair crimpers, PacMan, the Material Girl, Lite-Brite, spandex, kissing coolers, Cyndi Lauper, roller blades, OH I could go on forever!! I’d wear cut up sweatshirts with purple tights, scrunchie socks, and white hightops every day if people wouldn’t think I was nuts. And then I’d rollerblade over to the dojo after school to see my boyfriend Axel perfect his moves in his hot headband. YES.

One of my favorite things about 80’s style is the abundance of bright, happy colors that seem to have hypnotized the world for a good ten years.
I’m thinking this is maybe what Josh and Kelley had in mind when they picked the 80’s as the theme for their first (of many!) shoot day at River Market.

Josh and Kelly planned an awesome afternoon of shooting 80’s models, and I’m super-glad I went! Each and every one of the images I made during the shoot makes me want to eat a pound of candy and dance around in circles to “Love is a Battleground” (oh my GOSH I love that song…). The models and the locations were just that rad! I get hyper just THINKING about these photos…

Hitting the ground running with my fave:

Looooove LOVE LOVE these next two!!! They make me warm and fuzzy inside!

Ow OW! Work that yellow eye shadow girrrrrrl!!!!!

**LOVE!!!**

I’ve got to admit, shooting models is definitely not my thing. One of the things I love most about photography is the opportunity to capture emotions, connections, romance, and love. You definitely don’t get as much as that when you’re shooting models!
Nevertheless, I felt like this shoot forced me to think in a different way about what I was shooting and how I could portray it. I ended up enjoying the shoot SOOO much!! I came away inspired and less afraid to try something new! And after a little bit of Jaclyn Marie signature photoshop love, the images look much more *me* than I had expected. Love it! I’m definitely looking forward to the next Josh and Kelley shoot day!

I’ll leave you with a rad action shot of Josh and the girls. Can you say rock star photographer?!?!

First off, can I just say how weird it is to post photos of myself on my own blog?? It feels downright strange, but that’s just what I’m about to do!

Anyway… Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I’ll move on! I’m always so amazed how different photographers can work with the same subject, location, and light, yet walk away with such unique portrayals of the same scene. It’s really fun for me to see the same situation through the eyes of many. Lucky for me, I have the opportunity to see the different ways in which 20 talented, distinctive photographers portray the love between Mark and myself! It’s like, the best of all worlds. Times ten. On crack. And java chip ice cream. THAT much.

The morning began with Jasmine telling us a little bit about how she works with clients to help them be more genuine in front of the camera. I’m not going to lie; I was just a tiny bit intimidated by all of the cameras in my face for the first 10 minutes or so. But that quickly passed because, hello, SO much fun!! As the morning progressed, Jasmine showed us how she looks for light and shared some helpful insight on camera settings. It was everything I love all rolled up into one flawless package: early morning, ga-ga-GORGEOUS sunshine, palm trees, time with my soul mate, enjoying photography, Jasmine Star. I could go on. It was just this perfect, beautiful, ethereal morning. So with that…onto some pictures!

Kali Corliss captured this lovely photo of Jasmine working with her “clients,” who just happen to be…well, MARK AND ME! I’m still uptight at this point…give me a break. You know you would be too!

Compare that to this shot by K. Holly Photography from the end of the shoot, where we’re FIERCE and like old pros at workin’ it for Jaz!

Jasmine (of course) rocked my world and captured a barrage of gorgeous, perfect photos of Mark and I that made me want to cry (in the good way:). These two are extra awesome; Jasmine and JD followed us out into an intersection for some quick posing! I LOVE love the background in these images!

Oh Jasmine…you look fabulous at 6:45 am, you teach a captivated audience with ease, you dodge Vegas strip traffic…and you walk away with killer images like these. Really; is there anything Jasmine Star can’t do?!?! Give the rest of us a chance, girl!

Other than Jasmine’s, I’ve seen images from about half of the photographers at the shoot. I’m blown away by what they came away with!! Mark and I definitely had the pleasure of being photographed by some serious talent, including but not limited to…

Bob Pattison || Pattison Photography

Bob is a super-cool guy and a really talented Massachusetts photographer! I really love his editing style and how much it adds to his images. When I saw this photo on the stairs, I about flipped. It’s just such a pretty image!!

Kristen Leigh || Kristen Leigh Photography

This first image is so California to me. Mmmm-mmm warm and fuzzy LIGHT!

Kristen is a super-cute Maryland, Virgina, DC photographer who has the sweetest personality! I’m just in love with this girl, and I think her sincerity and charm really shine through in her photos.

One of the coolest things about how Jasmine works is that she goes for great light over location. Although I’ve been known to rock out a colorful dumpster myself (as my clients will attest…), it’s the light by this particular dumpster that yields such a fabulous image. The warm light bouncing off of the big white wall facing the dumpster (it’s about 20 feet in front of us) illuminates Mark and I so nicely.

Heather Cole || Heather Cole Photography

Heather is an outrageously fun Kansas City photographer with a major eye for style! Though she lives in my neck of the woods, we’d never met before the shoot. I’m super-psyched to have met her, ’cause she is quite possibly the coolest ever!

Sharon Sossaman || Homegrown Photography

Believe it or not, Sharon was dealing with an unexpectedly half broken 30D! Despite that, her images are just plain incredible. I adore the Vegas-y-ness (yep, I just said that) of these two images of hers.

Kristen Carlson || K. Holly Photography

Kristen is a super-sweet, very talented Michigan photographer. Let me just say, Kristen has a flair for capturing the essence of people. Mark and I look so US in her images! I feel like she must secretly know us or something. It’s crazy!

Ksenija Savic || Ksenija Savic Photography

Ksenija is yet another fabulous Michigan girl. She makes the most vibrant, beautiful images!

Daria Bishop || Daria Bishop Photography

Daria is a fun, sincere Vermont photographer who I was really glad to meet! She was so sweet and reassuring that Mark and I were doing an okay job!

Emily Griffith || One Lime Photo

Emily is an awesome Minnesota photographer…and I thought I was used to dealing with cold weather! Brave girl…

Check out these guys’ blogs to see more of their images from Las Vegas! Or check them out to see their work in general, because they are all such talented people! The complete list of “the posse” can be found here.

I could go on posting photos all day! I feel ridiculously honored to have spent even a short time with a group of such friendly, talented photographers. They made working it out for them SO easy! Thank you all so much for sharing your talent with Mark and me! Never again can we say that we don’t have photos of the two of us together. Oh my. Thanks to Jasmine, JD, and you all, never again! And we couldn’t be more grateful!

It’s 5:30 am. I’m dolled up like I’m going to a nightclub. Judging from the hum of the bustling Vegas casino, you’d think I was going to a nightclub.
Coffee. Is that too much to ask? Apparently, it is. Though there are eight open bars within throwing distance, there’s not an open Starbucks in sight.

Wearing 5-inch heels on any other day at 5:30 am, I’d be a grumpus deluxe. But this is the dawn of no ordinary day. This is the day that I get to meet and be photographed by Jasmine Star, photographer extraordinaire. The adrenaline pumping through my veins is the equivalent of four venti nonfat mochas with whipped. And that’s a lot of coffee!

A few weeks ago, one of my favorite wedding photographers on the whole planet wrote a blog post announcing that she’d be doing an early morning mini-shoot shop during the WPPI convention in Las Vegas. Though I’d have killed to be one of the lucky photographers to learn from Jasmine Star, I had something else in mind. I decided to send in photos of Mark and I in hopes to be the lucky chosen couple to be photographed in Las Vegas. It would require a spur-of-the-moment trip and taking an unscheduled 20 hour hiatus from reality, my job, and Mark’s law classes, but boy would it be worth it.
The reason you never see photos of Mark and I together is that….well, there are none! I take photos of Mark…and then I take photos of Baxter…then some more of Baxter…and then I bully Mark into taking one of me. That’s the way it works around here!

Well, despite the disbelief that exists in my head to this very moment, Jasmine and her awesome husband JD picked Mark and me! So off to the kennel went Baxter (much to his dismay), and off to Sin City went Mark and myself. The shoot was everything I’d hoped for and more! Jasmine worked her magic and captured our love, and I learned sooo much from her in the process. Jasmine has an undeniable inner joy that just radiates as she works with you, and JD is quite possibly the sweetest, sincerest guy I’ve ever met (aside from Mark, of course!:-). I also met some incredible and super-inspirational photographers from around the country. The morning made my YEAR, hands down!!

Jasmine’s sneak peek blog post can be found here. I’m particularly in love with the second shot of all the photographers clicking away whilst we work it out for them Tyra-style (ha).

We didn’t check any luggage, so I resisted the urge to pack my Canon 5D and 70 - 200 and opted instead for my AH-mazing point-and-shoot and just seven expired polaroids. After the early morning shoot, Mark and I had just 4 short hours to experience Las Vegas. As you all know, that’s utterly impossible. Nevertheless, I attempted to capture the essence of Vegas with my rapidly deteriorating stash of polaroid film. Mark and I walked the strip hand in hand and took it all in while I came down from my Jasmine Star high.