So long, farewell...

...it's time to bid you adieu!

Well old blog, we have had lots of fun over the last couple of years! Remember that one time we had that giveaway for your birthday... or the time we launched the 'original' website... or even the time I posted shots from 2nd shooting a wedding for the first time...look how far we've come!

However, the time has come to move on to the next chapter. I am soooo excited to announce that this will be the last and final post on this blog.

Sweet Moments [photography + design] is now...



Please, oh please follow me on over to the new blog at blog.michelleherrick.com. Be sure to update your RSS and Google Reader feeds!

Much love to all my peeps!

The count down is on...

Pay no attention to the wizard behind the curtain...



All will be revealed on Monday... fingers crossed!

In the meantime hop on over to my brand, spankin' new photography/business Facebook page. I sure would feel all warm and fuzzy inside if you 'LIKE' my page!

It's been a rough week...

...and I will only steal a moment of your time...

This week our family suffered a great loss. My dear sweet husband's mother passed away and while she was technically my mother-in-law she truly was so much more than that to me.




Words will NEVER be able to fully express what she meant to me. I am beyond grateful for that gentle, yet strong voice in my head that urged me everyday to schedule a quick photo session for her and her children. Tami, I simply adore you for what you have given to us.

Please, let this be that gentle yet strong voice in your head... don't delay in getting your own family photos done! These stolen moments we were able to have captured will be with our family for generations.

Triple threat!

You know the saying, 'too many chiefs, not enough indians'? Well, for those who know this family (seen HERE and HERE) know that they already have too many indians and not enough chiefs. I love these little guys and have loved watching them grow up so quickly, in addition to their twin sisters.

In order to mark the spectacular occasion of their 3rd birthday we set out to get some great, fun photos with the amazing tee-pee their Nana made for them... gotta love Nana's!! As you can see we really only had one who was willing to wear his feather headband, but hey in this family one is better than none!

Monthly Design Freebie :: June

Super simple. Super cute. Super fun.



With this months download, not only are you getting a set of 2 photo borders, but also a BONUS 4th of July banner. The photo borders are a hi resolution .png file allowing you to size it anywhere from as small as a 4x6 photo up to an 8x10. The banner can be used as an element for your digital scrapbooking, an overlay on top of your favorite holiday photo or when it's resized can even be a fun graphic element for a blog or webpage.

Go download HERE.

REMEMBER... these freebies are of my own creation so feel free to download and use for your own PERSONAL usage... just please don't sell or pass them off as your own.

--Now for the fine print... please note the following before you download--
*All designs are created in either Photoshop CS3 or Illustrator CS3. I do not have access to test these files in older/newer versions of these programs or with Elements.
*It's helpful if you have some experience working with Photoshop (or other photo editing software) in order to use these freebie files.
*Since these are free I will not take requests for modifications or changes... what you see is what you get... why? because it's FREE! ;-)

However, if you ever have any questions please ask away. And as always I'd love to hear your feedback on these design freebies!

Side note >> Just a quick update to all my newsletter subscribers... This month's edition has been shelved pending the business rebrand which should go live mid-July. A million times thank you for your continued loyal support; I'm beyond excited about what the future holds. In the meantime, any new subscribers can go ahead and sign up HERE.

On the road again...

That's right, you heard it here folks! I'm taking the show (and family) on the road! This August we're hittin' the great wide open heading up to NorCal (bay area & central valley/Stockton area)... the birthplace of yours truly. Lots of destinations on the itinerary, but with only one goal in mind... NOTHING!!

So, naturally I thought while I'm there (and it ain't that often, unfortunately) if anyone wants to hook up for a photo session I can definitely make time for my peeps! I'm going to have an awesome travel session package that can't be beat! So call or e-mail me for all the details. Be sure to spread the word if you have any family/friends in NorCal, too.

Ahhhh, I can already hear the beaches calling my name...

How about another go at some OCF...

One of the biggest lessons I learned from this weekends webinar class with Mr. Arias was not to just practice, but to really put into motion some of the techniques he was teaching with regards to lighting setups. He even half joked that if you don't have a subject to shoot then take your vacuum cleaner to the top of some hill and shoot the heck out of it until lighting, shadows and everything makes sense. Well, fortunately for me I have at least one willing participant and my vacuum cleaner is spared any humiliating photos of it floating out there on the internet. ;-)

And by willing participant, I mean this one was all the way, 100%... see below...


I really wanted to get a better feel for that softbox; the photos above are from that small softbox...and who better to shoot then my tiny B.


Now with these photos I switched off the softbox and replaced it for my shoot thru umbrella... just lovely!

Thank goodness I have at least one I can call upon and is absolutely in love with getting her picture taken and wants to help her mama! One guess as to which one it is...

Testing, 123... is this thing on...

That's kind of how I feel about my camera lately. I've been so busy in other areas of my business and life that sometimes my camera looks more like a home decor piece sitting on my bookshelf.

A few months ago I picked up this nifty little softbox for my external flash to experiment more with OCF (off camera flash). I haven't had the opportunity to play with it too much, but after being so inspired by a webinar class I'm taking this weekend with the lighting guru himself I just had to get out and test a few ideas and lessons I've been learning.

Unfortunately, as you can see I had no control over wardrobe or hair... that's what I get when I'm spontaniously inspired after bedtime.




And so this begins my love affair with light... and not the natural kind... anyone wanna come out and play??!!