Me too!!! =]

It has been so fun the last few weeks seeing her excitement grow!  Who could possibly know that turning 8 years old could be THIS much fun!!

I really thought she would never be able to go to bed last night, but after a few calls of  ’Mom, I can’t go to sleep’ she was dreaming peacefully!!

I decorated her room with balloons and left her a trail through the entire house with yarn!  Instructions were left for her to ‘follow me’!

She found the end of her string tied to her new trampoline in the garage!   It was a surprise that she did not expect at all!

Being a school day we were rushed to get out the door in time so we are probably short on few pictures of the birthday girl’s bed head!

She did not forget her Birthday Girl ribbon that her Nana bought for her!

(Mrs. Hannah … I truly apologize for excitement today! )

It feels like such a dream that our baby girl is turning 8 today!  Shannon and I looked through her baby album last night before bed and needless to say we each were a little stunned at the realization how fast the last few years have gone.  It seems like only yesterday in one way … and a lifetime ago in others.

We took these photos a few days ago … I can’t remember what I bribed her with at this moment, but I am sure it was something she thought was a good deal at the time!  =]

I am so glad we did!  I love this smile…..

Happy Birthday to you sweet girl!  Love, Mom

This should have been a simple task … maybe … but add in a mob of people attending a Vegas fight plus a Linkin Park concert and it makes it a little difficult!  =]

Finally, we located a few other photographers standing on the corner and we knew we were in the right place!

Anthony Vazquez was such a delight and the minute I met him I knew this would be a fun adventure!

Once everyone was loaded we were off to an undisclosed Vegas location for our first shoot!

After riding the bus for a few minutes, I suddenly realized I was headed to my first ‘wedding’ in a Vegas Chapel!

Not just any chapel … The Graceland Wedding Chapel and Elvis was waiting!

One of the seminars I later attended emphasized not taking yourself too seriously all of the time and this shoot was a great example of just having fun!!

So different than what many/any of us normally shoot … it was hilarious and definitely a good time!

So grateful to the Chapel owners, our engaged couple and Elvis himself for allowing us inside for our quick shoot!

We had to hurry though.. it was almost time for a ‘real’ wedding!

Once again were loaded on the bus and off to our next stop!

I had just commented to my friend Kari that I would love to go the official Welcome to Las Vegas sign when she squealed, ‘There it is’ and I returned the squeal by exclaiming, ‘AND we are stopping’! =]

Who knows what day /time it is Vegas!  Not me!

Living in a 3 hours time zone switch I totally stayed confused, but that’s okay!

Fast forward through lots of classroom learning that I soaked in as much as humanly possible!!!

What seemed like a few hours passed by and it was already Monday!

I was so excited that my sweet friend, Kamee June decided to host a mini shoot in Vegas too!

I love small groups and this was one of my favorites shoots ever!

Miss Whitney was gracious to be our model for the day and it was really hard for anyone not to get a great shot of her!

Kamee June …. <3 her!

I do not get to see her as often as I would like to, but when our paths do cross we pick right back up where we left off! Not only is she a great friend she is also an amazing teacher that loves to teach!

After a short while of shooting, we headed back inside for a crash course photoshop workshop too!

MGM security came by to see what we were doing, but since we were hanging out at the back entrance of the Lion exhibit he decided if we wanted to shoot there that bad he wouldn’t bother us!  =]

We almost lost Miss Whitney a couple of times when the elevator decided to switch floors! =]

Isn’t she Gorgeous!!!  Kamee also photographed her recent wedding!  It was the anticipated wedding of the season by many of Kamee’s blog followers!

We all had a blast catching the motion blur of the traffic in the background!

I got lucky ….. I caught a bus zooming by!  So much more exciting than the mini van that I caught at first!

This shot reminds me of my next adventure with Kamee June in April!!!!!!  =]

Tuesday:

Sunrise in Vegas?!

We were probably only a few that actually were getting up for the day instead of winding down for the day!

My roommates and I headed out to the dry lake bottoms for a sunrise concert!

My alarm went off at 4:15 am!

It was totally worth it!

The view itself was breathtaking!

Can you guess which shadow is me?

Me … feeling inspired and larger than life itself!  (I have always wanted to be tall’er!)

I love these girls!!!  These are my official WPPI roommates!

Krista Powell, Kari Sikorski and Me!!

(We were smart this year and packed heavier coats!)

I am so thankful for constant  emails and texts from these two!

They just simply make me happy!

Can’t wait until next year!

It was cold… too cold to just stand and watch/listen to the concert so we took silly/fun photos while enjoying the sunrise and listened!  =]

These photos were lifted from my iPhone!  I always love the collection of photos I find!

A few weeks ago, Kamee offered a challenge to do a project in self ….. much harder than one might imagine, but I finally used the time in Vegas to make it happen!

This is ME!

I know this has been a long post and if you have made it this far THANK YOU!!

I would love to hear from you!  Leave a comment at the bottom!  It would excite me!  =]

One more thing!

A lot of metaphors could be used of ones reflection in a door… especially an open door and this particular one is no exception!

Exciting things that are happening  in 2o11 at Kellie Carter Photography hint #2 :

I am back from a whirl wind trip to Vegas to attend WPPI!(Wedding and Portrait Photographers International)!

My suitcase is still waiting to be unpacked as life outside of Vegas has resumed!

When you live and breathe photography for several days… adjusting back to the ‘real’ world can be slow!  =]

This was my second voyage to Vegas to attend this amazing conference along with thousands of other photographers!

Last year I returned feeling a little overwhelmed, but this year, even though I am still in information overload …. ahhh …..I feel encouraged and inspired… and ready to explode into my future!

Reconnecting with friends and meeting new ones are just an added bonus to the hours of informational and motivational sessions and workshops that I attended!!

I will share more about my trip soon!

but for now:

I. AM. EXCITED

Many thanks to my friend, Krista Powell  for capturing this photo of me at sunrise in the Nevada desert ……… Living Life!

Today was a special day for me!

As we start a new year and reflect on the past and focus on the future, I had the opportunity to celebrate both!

This is Chloe!

I have been photographing her since before she was even born!

I have looooooved watching her grow through my lens and it warms my heart that I call her parents my friends!

This sums up by business!

I am truly blessed with wonderful clients that invite me to document their story!

Happy Birthday Chloe!!

photo by Chloe’s Mommy!

Dalton will be 12 in 3 weeks and Emma is 7 going on 17!

(Miley is 3 and is not amused at her new Christmas outfit!)

Be still my heart ……

I cannot believe that I have an ‘almost’ teenager in our house!!  Unbelievable how much he has grown!  He constantly likes to remind me that I am getting short!  =]

This was just too funny not to include!  Technically it should have been tossed, but it just expressed her mood!

This one was a little better, but she is never amused when it comes to taking her photograph!

Merry Christmas from all of us!!!

Happy Thanksgiving from our family to yours!!  ~  Kellie

She will tell you so too if you ask her!

If she isn’t under my feet she is in my lap at all times when I am home!

I never thought I was a ‘dog’ person until this fur ball came home with us for a Christmas surprise!

She is pretty rotten and even when there are times I would like to send her to obedience school, I really wouldn’t trade her for anything in the world!

She got a haircut today so I felt it was a perfect opportunity for her to model her new Halloween dress.

She was not amused, but it was cute anyway!!

Shannon and I were excited and the kids were along for the ride!  =]  We only offered to ship them back home a few times!  They were overall great travelers!

Here is a Cliff Note version of our adventure documented by my point and shoot camera Shannon gave me for my birthday!  =]

Our first stop was San Diego!  Loved this city!  While our family and friends were sweating it out home in KY we were enjoying 65 degree weather!  (I will not lie … I was cold!)  =]  It was beautiful though!!

We had enough daylight when we arrived to take the ferry over to Coronado Island!

Our Family!

Our next adventure was the world famous San Diego Zoo!

The much anticipated Legoland!

San Diego Bay

Emma loved taking our picture too!  =}

We celebrated our Anniversary too!  Happy 13 years!

La Jolla Beach

Laguna Beach, CA

We couldn’t miss out on a trip to Disneyland either!  =]

Huntington Beach, CA

Oh the beautiful beaches … I hope to see you again soon!