I really want to let all of you who made time to come down to the event how much it means to me. Meeting you and your families, hanging out with you a little bit, seeing the little ones run around in their gleeful packs, and getting the honor of glimpsing at the love in each of your lives made my Valentine’s Day incredibly special. I know no other way to thank you than with a cheesy business gift: Each of you get $50 off a future portrait session with Morgan Day Photography (this is also a sly way to hopefully to get to hang out with each of you and your families again soon). Thank you so very much. Don’t forget to download your free portrait- You can find all the pic from Love in Lex on my Flickr.

Big thank yous to Buster’s, Vespa, and Babycakes for making the event so much more fun than just getting your picture taken. And a even bigger thank you to my husband- your belief in the vision for Love in Lex and your daily encouragement made free portraits for charity more than just a “good idea”, but an actual event . Thanks for being my hot best friend and husband.

P.S. On the Bluegrass Romance blog I talk about how the vision for Love in Lex came to be. It was the most meaningful mini-mission to date. Check it out here.

Become a fan of Morgan Day Photography on Facebook

]]> http://www.morgandayphotography.com/portraits-fashion-and-editorial-inspired/feed/ 0 http://www.morgandayphotography.com/if-anthropologie-had-a-family-catalog/ http://www.morgandayphotography.com/if-anthropologie-had-a-family-catalog/#comments Mon, 25 Jan 2010 18:39:45 +0000 admin http://www.morgandayphotography.com/?p=651 I don’t do a ton of family portraits, because to be honest, I like the one on one interaction boudoir and glamour portrait sessions afford. Family dynamics can by hairy things, as we all know. I have no interest forcing smiles on stressed out parents and hungry little ones….so I generally shy away from family sittings as I do weddings too. UNLESS the family is well aware of my style and my preference to avoid the mall portrait look at all costs…then I get excited!

Like this past weekend with the Smiths (I love this family, and I’m a big fan of Megan’s blog too).  Mike and Megan have  got two handsome boys and one on the way. We shot at the Henry Clay Estate and knowing the hip, domestic goddess Megan is (she sews!) my vision for the shoot was a family anthropologie catalog.

Here are some  of my faves from our time together:

See more photos from the Henry Clay Estate photshoot on the Morgan Day Photography facebook fan page.

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I have an idea and I need your feedback!

It’s fairly simple: I want to put on a citywide, free, photo-shoot capturing portraits of love in Lexington. We’ll call it the “Love in Lex” event. Couples newly in love and in love for decades, a child with their favorite grandparent, a single dad with his son, a yogi with his/her yoga mat, a dog groomer with her pups. You get the idea? There are hundreds of possible pairings, and I want to photograph them.

Two reasons why:

1). To celebrate love.

2). To connect with the city, give back and serve it.

Everyone who comes down and takes part in Love in Lex will get to download their photo for free from my flickr account and use it however they like-  get prints made to frame, post on Facebook, give to family as a gift. For the Lexingtonians, it’s an opportunity to get a professional portrait done  for free,  and take part in a city-wide celebration of love- love of all kinds.

Does this sound like fun? Do you think folks in our city would be interested in joining in?

If so,  I would love to work with a non-profit in town and do this as a Valentine’s Day fundraiser for them. (I’m happy to donate my time and resources and do the portrait photography for free for participants who make a small donation to the chosen cause). With this in mind I’d also like to get other businesses and volunteers involved to help make the “Love in Lex” event a success.

1)First things first, though, good idea or no?

Please let me know your thoughts and if you want to help to make it happen (ideas for a cool venue!?) let me know!

See more photos from the snow and horses fashion editorial style portrait session and the slideshow here on my Flickr page.

If you liked these, please join my Facebook Fan Page, I would love us to stay connected there.

What an awesome honor to be included in Skirt Magazine’s January 2010, “No Regrets” issue! Thank you Kelli Patrick for the fantastic interview you conducted.

From Jan 2010 Lexington Skirt Magazine profile:

“I don’t regret pressing into new possibilities for romance and adventure, even when life seemed to offer none,” says Morgan. Pregnant at 26 and facing parenthood alone, Morgan embraced her situation as a chance to “live courageously.” She pursued her passion for photography in Portland, OR, and made a wave in the online world co-founding iheartsingleparents.com-a social network for singles raising kids-and sharing her journey on her former blog Modern Single Momma. Love found her along the way, which brings us to Morgan’s latest chapter- landing in Lexington 11 months ago with her dream man, whom she wed in June, and basking daily in the joys of raising son Lucca. Morgan, a poet at heart with a master’s in philosophy and a seasoned passport, revels in romance. These days, at 30, she’s growing her photo business, specializing in boudoir photography….and keeping passiona alive wither her latest project, bluegrassromance.com

Whether twenty or sixty, every woman should have their own sexy memoir. Pamper yourself with a series of sexy portraits or give a personal gift to someone special. -MyBoudoir.com

Being a boudoir photographer, I completely agree. So here I am to put a little bug in your ear. Make this year very memorable. Get some sexy pictures done of yourself. I promise you’ll be impressed by your inner vixen…She is gorgeous and wants to be remembered when you are 80. Email me to book your session. Valentines will be here before you know it.

Welcome to the eve of a  brand new year. Here we are, December, 31 2009! This time tomorrow we will have 365 sparkling new days ahead of us to mark however we please.

Do you want to experience life differently than you ever have before?  You can. Start by spending the next twenty minutes reflecting on the experiences you do want to have. Write them down. Rip them out. Tape them to bathroom mirror. If your up to being pushed spiritually, read on…

Midnight Jan. 1, 2010: I love how refreshing, spacious, full of possibility and just plane “good”, that first  moment of a new year feels, don’t you?

A new year invites us to meet love, joy, beauty, strength, discipline, patience, compassion, charity, challenge and hope in new ways. I’ve been thinking about these opportunities and I hope you are too.

As a photographer, the new year invites me into thousands of new chances to capture moments and create exciting images. As a mom, wife, and woman, 2010 also invites me to reinvent the way I live my “everyday.” Who says each week has to be “same old, same old”? I’m entering this new year with a vow to live life with more creativity, romance and adventure and I can’t wait to see what is in store!

Have you noticed I haven’t said the word “resolution” yet? It’s actually on purpose, because this year I’m not making any; I’m doing something else instead. Resolutions sound good, but don’t often end good. They begin making you feel hopeFULL, but generally end making you feel hopeLESS.

From wikipedia, “A New Year’s resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a project or the reforming of a habit, often a lifestyle change that is generally interpreted as advantageous. The name comes from the fact that these commitments normally go into effect on New Year’s Day and remain until fulfilled or abandoned.

At the root of resolution making is a belief in new possibility. This is an awesome thing. Belief in new possibility is central to hope, dreams and positive change. I’m keeping a commitment to this belief, but the other half of resolution making- the demand to measure up, to performing without fault- I’m letting go. This year I’m not interested in basing my sense of self worth on any one accomplishment, instead I’m interested in growing deeper in my understanding of who I am.

More often our yearly resolutions are tied to our performance and not a lifelong commitment to growth. The thing is, a resolution feels great so long as we are performing great, but our resolution often turns on us the moment we drop the ball. All of us a sudden the thing that once offered hope and motivation, becomes the thing that marks us as a failure, and robs us of our confidence to experience real change. We throw in the towel, we give up, we abandon the sinking ship of habit reform.

Here is a radical new idea, albeit a tad bit evangelical: Instead of making resolutions this year, make a commitment to know who you are in God.

Did I just say that?  I feel myself dangerously out on a limb here….

I recommend this to you humbly, letting you know that it is something I am committing myself to, too. And, it is not something that comes easy to me.

So, here is the one thing I will be focusing on in 2010, in lieu of resolutions: I am loved by God. How deeply do I believe this?

The year ahead will be a beautiful one, but it will also be a year that I will inevitably loose my patience as a mom, get frustrated with my husband, feel like a failure professionally, wish I hadn’t eaten that or this, get horribly self-absorbed, miss opportunities to serve others, desperately want to stay under the covers for hours at a time, feel resentment over silly things, and all together doubt I am worthy of being loved or forgiven.  No resolution I can make can save me from these things, but by focusing efforts on spiritual matters, at least the experience of these things can be different.

Returning to the belief that I am loved by God (and choosing to believe it no matter what I am temporarily feeling), will be a challenging exercise in humility.   The New Year is hopeful and bright, and ups and down it will surely bring.  For all of us, I invite Grace and a daily remembrance of Love to see us through. Pick up your Bible’s and read Romans 15:13.

We shot Nolan’s baby portraits in my sister’s kitchen, sliding the table against her beautiful dark wall and setting the 7 month old babe on top like a Christmas Turkey. Hope, my sister, was close at hand to make sure ‘Rollin Nolan’ (as he is affectionately called) didn’t roll off the table after being blinded by my flashing lights.

These are some of my favorite shots from our kitchen table shoot:

Do you like them? If you would like, you can see more baby portraits and happy baby pictures on my Facebook Fan page. If you are in the Kentucky area, email me to book a session for you little babe!

I told her about my bridal boudoir photography sessions and we struck up  a friendship and a joint promotion: Morgan Day Photography clients will receive 5% off of any planning collection and 10% off of any invitation order. And I’m giving Always Planned clients 10% off any bridal boudoir packages. One thing Rayna and I have in common is networking to spread the love.

When you work with Always Planned, you will receive a personalized level of service that fits into your budget and planning needs. Their personalized collections provide you with the ease and flexibility needed to customize your wedding or event, giving you everything you desire and more.

When you become an Always Planned bride you become a part of their family, join some of the most amazing couples in the area and you will find someone who loves your wedding almost as much as you do.  With offices in Lexington, KY and Louisville, KY they proudly serve the entire state of Kentucky and are available for destination weddings world-wide.

Contact Rayna: 859-619-1841 www.AlwaysPlanned.com.

p.s. She is also on Twitter (@AlwaysPlanned), so be sure to follow her there too.