Bye bye blogspot. Hello Shiny New Website!

It's time!!! My brand-new website--you know, the one I've been teasing you with for months now--is live! This entry will be my last one on this site. All of my old blog posts have packed up and moved to the new site, but they will also stay here in case you just feel nostalgic. (Wouldn't you like to be in two places at once?)

The website and blog are combined in one handy location, so I hope you will take the time to click around and see what cool surprises you can find. Be sure to bookmark the new site, and you can also sign up for RSS Feed so you'll get updates when I post. 

I can't wait to hear from you!! 

Please, come visit ACP at http://www.amycliftonphotography.com .

Hannah & Alan are Married!

When Hannah was in high school, she would come to South Carolina during the summers to visit family. She always hung out with the teens from her family members' church, and although she and Alan knew each other, they were "just friends." Fast forward to 4.4.09....the perfect spring day for these two to show the world that while they are the best of friends, they are no longer "just" friends.

Hannah is one of the sweetest, most relaxed brides I've ever met, and that just shines through...

She's a little bit sassy, too. :-)

Hannah with her sisters Olivia and Amanda...

...and their parents.

Alan was just as relaxed, just as easy-going as Hannah. (Although there was some discussion about a Batman mask coming out during the ceremony...hmmm, I think he's got a mischievous side too!)

Alan and his mom. Did I mention that he was about a foot taller than anyone involved in this wedding?? :-)

I loved the architecture in the sanctuary.

Husband and wife! BTW, they processed up the aisle after the ceremony to the "Super Mario" song, too cute! 

I love when a photo can tell a story without even seeing anyone's face...

 

Love love love the details on Hannah's dress!

Hello, adorable!

Any guesses on the honeymoon destination? Hehe!

Hannah and Alan--thank you so much for inviting me to be a part of your wedding day. Everything was beautiful, your family and friends were so much fun, and you guys are awesome! I hope you are having a great time at the "happiest place on earth"...I'm guessing that as long as you're together you make it the happiest place. :-) 

And finally, my favorite:

*NOTE to Hannah and Alan's family and friends: Please check back over the next week or two for a link to the full ordering gallery so you can see all of the proofs from the wedding! Thanks!

A Month

What a difference a month (+ 2 days) can make! March 1st came in with a Southern snowstorm, and only a month later, spring is here. Even though I complained incessantly about the daily rain last week, it seemed to leave the world covered in green...so I guess there is a "silver lining" after all. 

(I spy a tiny little visitor in the picture above...do you?)

Dogwoods always seem to bloom just in time for Easter. Below, my pecan tree and the same dogwood on March 1st...

Not only has spring sprung in the past month, but baby Rossi, baby Liam, and baby Eli were all born! Tomorrow I will be shooting a sweet spring wedding, and next week is filled with tons of photo sessions and some big news: my website is FINALLY going to launch. Wooohooo! Check back!!

Coming [really] Soon...Rossi

It seems that through nearly every phase of my life, I've had a good friend named Amy. Over the past couple of years, Amy and Matt have become such great friends of mine, and of course we always wreak havoc and cause confusion when we're together and someone says "Hey Amy...". Um, which one? The similarities don't end there--Amy is a photographer in Greenwood, and we often shoot together. I always tell people at weddings, "If you need a photo, just find an Amy."

Matt and Amy's first child together, Rossi, is coming really, really soon. I was actually a little concerned that I wouldn't get these maternity photos posted before he was born, so I'm glad he's running a day or two off schedule! (Sorry Amy.) :-) Rossi is a bit of a "miracle baby," and we are all excited to meet him!

I'm so loving shadows and reflections these days! 

This crazy old building was full of cool textures and colors...

This last series completely rocks my face off. Hello, fierce.

See? Total rock stars.

 

Really. My face has been officially rocked off. These last two are my faves.

Amy and Matt--y'all are such wonderful friends, and I had so much fun with you shooting these photos. Not a single "Chandler face" to be found. ;-) I'm so happy for you guys, and now that I've finally gotten these posted, I can't wait for Rossi to get here! (hehe)

Don't forget to click below to "show me (and Amy & Matt) some love!" I love to know who's been looking and what you're thinking!

Contest: Charlie's Snow Day!

SNOW DAY!! Very few phrases strike such excitement--and such panic--into the hearts of Southerners. If you are reading the blog from anywhere besides the south, I must explain that everything (schools, businesses, major interstates) shuts down for even a dusting of "the white stuff," and the entire southern population empties the grocery stores of all bread and milk. (Apparently bread and milk are all you need for sustenance if you are trapped indoors during a blizzard.) So anyway, the 1st day of March came in like a lion, with big puffy flakes of snow, and 2 days out of school. It was the best-kind-of-snow that sticks to each tree branch and twig like tufts of cotton and packs the perfect snowball. 

By early afternoon, however, I was a little stir-crazy and lonely in the house all by myself, so I announced a FREE contest on facebook! (If you are a blog reader but you aren't my friend yet on fb, please send me a request!) Little Charlie, via his facebooking mom, was the lucky winner of a frosty cold snow session. They braved the cold, and we traipsed around my backyard for some frikkin adorable photos of Charlie's Snow Day...

I think this photo of Charlie and Jennifer is simply magical!

I love the happiness on Jennifer's face here...

By the way, Charlie's newborn portraits were one of my very first posts on the blog, and now I'm nearing my 50th post. It won't be long at all before we move over to the new blog and site...I'll keep you updated! 

Now I'm off to eat my bread and milk....  ;-)

(Don't forget to "show me--and Charlie--some love" by clicking below!)

Kelly and Brady: Engagement

Kelly and Brady are such a sweet and cute couple! Kelly is a hairstylist, and we've gotten to know each other through my super-amazing stylist Holly (my last post). (Kelly is awesome with color--contact me and I'll hook you up with her info!) Anyway, Kelly and Brady are getting married in a few months and already have a fabulous photographer for their wedding, but they asked me to shoot their engagement session Valentine's weekend. We had a very Greenville session, hitting lots of cool downtown spots, and it was tons of fun!

Kelly has the greatest laugh:

I really like the mood of this one.

I love the colors in this one!

Looooove this series...

My favorite from the day!! I think this would make a very cool canvas...

Thanks for checking out Kelly & Brady's photos and for bearing with me even though I've been a super-slack blogger lately! Don't forget to "show me (& them) some love." :-)

Holly & Mark--Contest Winners!

Holly and Mark were my cute and sassy contest winners who hadn't had portraits taken since their wedding 15 years ago. Um, why?? They are adorable and completely rocked it for the camera, in spite of being cold and Mark being a little nervous at first. :-) By looking at these photos, you could never tell either of those things! I love their gorgeous eyes and totally real laughter and expressions....so sweet.



Loooove this one...seems like I just stumbled into such a personal moment between these two.















I love this series--the yummy backlight is fabulous!







Too cute! I love it when a couple gets comfortable enough with me that I can capture the expressions that define them....in this case a mix of sweetness, eye rolling, and giggles.

H-O-T-Tness!

And, just a little clue as to why I hosted this contest and what we'll be doing with these photos on the new website (which IS coming soon!)...

FYI for any photographers out there, I edited this entirely in Lightroom2...only opened PS to add my logo. Craig and Lindsey--yay, I have my life back. Thank you!! :-)

Don't forget to "show me (and Holly & Mark!) some love!"

My Logo!!! Finally, revealed!

Back in November, I began working with the amazing creative team at Peculiar Productions here in Greenville. One of our main goals was to build the "brand" that is Amy Clifton Photography. That brand had to be a reflection of who I am as a person and a photographer as well as represent the work that I produce. I quickly discovered how much of ME goes into my photography--my emotion, my quirks, my beliefs--and into the way I approach my clients. One thing that kept coming up in my discussions with the design team as well as surveys and conversations with my clients is that I really, genuinely care about my clients and their stories. I love to create beautiful photographs of you and your life, but I can't truly do that if I don't know YOU. It sounds really cliche, but I am honored when someone chooses me as their photographer, because I understand that preserving your memories is a huge deal. 

I had a tough time deciding on my logo (sorry TJ!), but once I finally made my decision I haven't looked back or regretted it for one second. I love it, and I believe that it reflects me and Amy Clifton Photography..."elegant yet edgy, classy but cool, sassy and sentimental, traditional with a twist." I hope you love it, too!

Wedding Festival!

I had a great time at the Wedding Festival Saturday, and enjoyed a fun dinner afterwards with some awesome photographers from the area. And then I slept all day today, hehe. 

For all of the super sweet brides (and grooms and moms and friends!) I met at the Wedding Festival, thank you for taking the time to stop by and look at my work. I know there is an overwhelming amount of information to take in at an event like that, and it's hard to get to know someone in that brief time! I can't wait to hear from you again so we can talk in more detail about your wedding. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy reading the blog and checking out my work from the past year. Talk to you soon! 

Here are a few more photos of my booth. :-) 

ACP on Display

Today is a big day for ACP--my new logo and "look" will be on display at the Wedding Festival. I hope you'll stop by to say hello if you are there! I am so excited--and a little nervous--about really debuting my work and my business...I'm certainly not new to the photography scene, but I've definitely been working behind the scenes, and it's time to bring ACP to the front! 

Here is a quick (icky quality) photo I snapped of my display tonight. I still have a rug and a couple of other things to add when I arrive Saturday morning, so I'll take some more photos and post them after the Festival. :-) I'm looooovin' my display!

See you at the Wedding Festival! (And hey, my booth is in between a wedding cake vendor and a caterer. Yummo.)

Coming Soon...Liam

As soon as Kristen and I began emailing back and forth about her maternity photos, I KNEW they were going to be amazing! Had never met her or her husband, but I just knew. Maybe it was all of her creative ideas, maybe it was her enthusiasm for having the session even though a snowstorm was supposedly on its way (um, no), or maybe it was the sweet innocence of their love story... 

Kristen and Mitchell began dating the summer before 9th grade...yes, when they were only 13 years old. Kristen told me "After all these years of us being in love, for him to tell me that I am the prettiest I have ever been, and see in his eyes that somehow he really does believe that, is hard for me to put into words. Mitchell and I have literally grown up together and have been together more years than we have been apart." 

I don't think anymore words are necessary. Liam is going to be loved so purely, so intensely, and I think these portraits truly express that... 

Out of the bazillion images that I loved, these last three are my absolute favorites. 

Kristen and Mitchell, you are going to be wonderful parents as your love grows with Baby Liam. I can't wait to meet him!

In other news, I will be at the Wedding Festival this Saturday. If you're coming, please stop by my "studio" and say hello! Also, stay tuned for a b-i-g announcement about my new website. Woohoooo!

EDIT: Kristen and Mitchell's proof gallery is now online! To view their full session, go to http://www.MyProfessionalImages.com/EventLogin.aspx?sid=132288 . The password is their last name.

Maternity #1: Super-Sneak Peek

I could not have found a better couple for my first maternity session! Kristen and Mitchell were fun, sweet, creative, and totally not afraid of the chilly weather on Sunday....I actually felt like I was cheating a little, because they had such great ideas! I am so excited to get their whole session ready, but in the meantime I wanted to share this super-sneak peek...

On another note, one of my friends and clients made my day today when she emailed me and said "By the way, I've been following your website like an obsessed groupie." Awww, yay! I am addicted to reading so many other photographers' blogs, and it's pretty exciting to know that somebody (even just one little reader) is out there feeling the same way about mine! If you're out there reading and looking, show me (and my fabulous clients) some love! :-)