I am still alive

It has been a few days since I posted and I just wanted to let everyone know I am alive. I will shortly have some amazing baby pictures and maternity pictures to post, but this week and weekend I have been very very busy with the studio. It is looking so wonderful and we are almost all moved in. Everything is pretty much in place except for the pictures on the wall. Isn't that funny, a photography studio with no photography? Well soon that will change and I can't wait!

Once it is totally ready I will post up pictures. We have been down with access to phone and email for a tiny bit, so please be patient while we answer emails and calls. We are getting everything set up again and will be running fully shortly!!

Fun Conference

Yesterday I had an awesome opportunity to go to a conference with 2 world renowned photographers, Jerry Ghionis and Bambi Cantrell. It was a jam packed day full of a ton of good information. Everytime I go to a conference I always learn some great things to take away and use on my shoots. Jerry and Bambi are both very talented and have won numerous awards; They both spoke in great length about advertising, marketing, creating assignments for your self at every wedding, posing techniques, album design, outsourcing, lighting techniques and so much more. (words excerpted from Jen Bowens Site:))

I was able to hang out with two great friends as well, Jennifer Bowen and Melissa Jill. I love having friends in the community that I can do these type of things with. There were a few other great friends there as well, but really a lot of faces that I didn't know.. which is kind of weird to me!

I was able to shoot a few shots and was so happy with what I got.

First, this was a posing technique that Bambi was sharing with us.. Mandy, Elizabeth, and Melissa were all a part of this.
This is Jerry in Action.
These are shots that I got, but Bambi and Jerry set them up; however, all day I was eying this location as an amazing place to shoot, so that was exciting. These turned out so great!






The girls are going to kill me for posting this, we all look horrible, but I wanted to put something up. This is Jen, me and Melissa.

Finally I can share the exciting news!!!

Hello Friends. The time has come.. I now get to share the exciting news that I have been talking about all summer. There are 2 major things that have been going on this summer and I have been wanting to tell them to you so bad, but have had to refrain.

The first exciting news is something that I have been contemplating doing for the last few years now and after much thought and consideration we have decided that now is the time...... We are CHANGING the name of MichelleAllen Photography. I know, this might come as a shocker to all of you, but there has been so much confusion as to who Michelle Allen is that we have decided that we need to start going by my name to help with the confusion, so the company soon will be officially be changed to Kimberly Jarman Photography. Within the next few months you will be seeing subtle changes. You will still be able to access everything as you have before.. nothing other than the name has changed... I am still the photographer, my husband is still my assistant, we are still the same company, but with a different name.

For those of you who don't know the history behind MichelleAllen Photography I will briefly share that with you. When I first started my company I was trying to figure out what to call my company, it was before I was married so I didn't want to call it my maiden name because at the time I was engaged and knew my name was going to change, but I wasn't married yet, thus the debate of what to call my company. After much thought we had an amazing brainstorm to call it MichelleAllen Photography, which is my middle name and Jamie, my husbands, middle name. It sounded great and was the perfect solution.

Little did I know that the name would confuse people like crazy. Everyone wants to know where Michelle is or why my company is named someone else's name. For the last 4 years we have been debating on what to do. Finally I realized that for everyone's sakes we had to change the name.

Therefore, MichelleAllen Photography is now Kimberly Jarman Photography. Below is our new logo!
The second part of the exciting news is that we now have an official studio in Downtown Mesa. The space is phenomenal and I am so excited to work from there and meet clients as well. We are in the process of renovating it and getting it ready to open.

This really is an exciting thing. I have been needing a place to meet with all of you for the longest time and now we have the perfect place to look at pictures, talk to you about your wedding, show you albums, and have fun. We will be having an open house in the next few months so keep checking the blog to hear more news about that.

Below is a sneak peak of what we have been doing over the last month.





My wonderful husband doing the manual labor.

My daddy came down from Pinetop for 2 weekends and helped so much. I couldn't have done it without him. Thanks dad!!


By the 2nd day of laying floors down Jamie was hurting so bad. It was quite funny.. he was moaning and groaning and limping:) Tonight we are going to go to the jacuzzi to help relax his poor legs!
Keep looking for more updates! We will post more pictures as well as share the new updates with the name change.

Newsletter!!

We just sent out a July Newsletter with tons of updates on what has been going on over here!!! If you would like to be added to the newsletter email update just sign up to the right of my blog, where it says Subscribe to our mailing list. Everytime we send out a newsletter you will get all of the good gossip!! Don't worry, we won't bombard you with emails!!


If you would like to see this Newsletter just shoot us an email and we can send it on over.

Katherine and Charles Album

Katherine and Charles were married in December of 2005; Katherine had wanted an album really bad but didn't have the time to sit down and choose her favorite images, so she asked if I would pre-design an album for her. I love the opportunity to pre-design albums because I can really lay it out how I think it will look best.

This is their pre-designed album, they will have a chance to make any changes they want to make sure that this album is exactly what they want!

Click on the image to view the album.

Jennifer and Jeff's Album

So much is going on this summer and it is very exciting!!! I will be posting pictures of what I have been up to this last week shortly, but until then I want to show you all another album design!

Jennifer and Jeff are such an amazing couple and I have had so much fun working with them! Their wedding was in March and it was a beautiful day.

Jeff had a lot of input on how he wanted the book to be designed.. simple and sweet... so this design is a little different than the others I have done.

If you would like to see their album click on the image below.

First 101 accomplished!!!

So I know I just now posted my 101 in 1001 but I had written them out a few weeks ago and yesterday I completed my first goal so I'm going to mark it as being complete. I am bummed though because I totally forgot to take a picture of it; but yesterday I took Melissa out to lunch at Salty Senorita. Melissa and I are both Mexican freaks and Salty Senorita is one of my husbands and mine favorite new mexican places so I had to take her! It was very good as usual.. they have amazing chips and salsa (my favorite).

So my first check off is number #63 - Take Melissa to Salty Senioritas.

101 things to do in 1001 days

A while back a few of my friends, Melissa Jill, Liene Stevens, and Jennifer Bowen all created lists of 101 things to do in 1001 days. I said I was going to do it, but never took the chance to write them down. So, while I was in Sedona with Melissa she made me take out a piece of paper and write out as many goals as I could on our way home. I'm really glad she did because I really do like goals and wanted to get working on them.

So, I have joined the bandwagon of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Hopefully I can start making somewhat of a dent on the list. Some goals are business and some are personal. I have 5 more that I need to think of, but that will come in time.

I will update once I complete one and let you all know the progress!

1. Published in Destination I Do
2. Go to Asia/Africa and take pictures
3. Wedding in Italy
4. Open up a studio
5. Successfully switch my company name to Kimberly Jarman Photography
6. Get a new logo
7. Get printed products made – brochures
8. Win a photography award
9. Published in Rangefinder
10. Speak at a PICtage conference
11. Have a baby☺
12. Work out faithfully 3 times a week for 2 months
13. Get a blog with bigger photos on it
14. Find a software package for clients
15. Get packaging for the studio
16. Stickers with logos
17. Outsource color correcting
18. Cruise around Mediterranean
19. Cruise in Bahamas/Caribbean
20. Shoot a wedding in Disneyland
21. Read 3 business books in 6 months
22. Quiet time every day for 2 months
23. Go on a vacation with a group of friends outside of Arizona
24. Go to Sandiego with my sister for a weekend by ourselves
25. Take pictures of my parents
26. Make a album of the twins for my sister
27. Take the twins to Disneyland
28. Make a album of personal pictures
29. Road trip to just take pictures
30. Photo Essay on New Orleans
31. Trip to New York
32. Go to the Florida Keys with Mary Beth and Ryan
33. Family picture of the Gerharts (the entire group)
34. Make a nice book for Grandma McClean (Family History)
35. Engagement Pictures of Katie and Bart
36. Take Dance lessons with Jamie
37. Go to the Sundance film festival
38. Go to a Broadway musical
39. Go to Durango/Silverton/Uray
40. Trip with my parents to Hawaii
41. Outsource cleaning of my house
42. Write a letter to my compassion child
43. Visit Compassion child in Africa
44. Get another Compassion child in Asia
45. Look into the adoption process for Russia and Asia
46. Take Golf Lessons
47. Create a business manual
48. Business Exit Plan
49. Experiment In studio viewing of wedding pictures for clients
50. Figure out a way to get customer Feedback/Survey
51. Go to Disneyworld
52. Walk a 5K
53. Write a business plan
54. Look into having associate photographers
55. Be on Simple Photo Minutes
56. Hold a conference or session with Melissa Hester
57. Organize a shoot around town for a PUG meeting
58. Organize a photographer shootout for families
59. Go to Yellowstone Park
60. Do a trash the dress session
61. Go to Bryce Canyon
62. Drive on the West Coast from Washington to California with my sister, Josh, Christy, JC, and my husband
63. Take Melissa to Salty Senoritas (Completed 7/9/07)
64. Go to lunch once a month for 6 months with Melissa and Jennifer
65. Go out once a month with wedding industry girls for 4 months
66. Market for more dstination weddings
67. Wedding in Mexico or Carribean
68. Help Melissa with the One Light Seminar
69. 2nd shoot with IDC photography
70. Golf with Gino
71. OSP SW get together
72. Make T-shirts with my logo
73. Get a set of Studio Lights
74. Develop Senior Portrait part of my business
75. Shoot a band cover
76. Get car decals with logo
77. Recipe book for all family recipes
78. Go back to Nepal
79. Camp on the beach with friends
80. Go to an ABC Meeting
81. Make book of Oregon trip for Grandma and Grandpa
82. Get Senior website up and running
83. Go see Largo Photography Studio
84. Get a wedding into Grace Ormonde
85. Enter some photos in a print competition
86. Market myself in Pinetop for summer weddings
87. Stay at a luxury resort & go to the spa
88. Begin sending out anniversary cards to past clients
89. Make a "press" page on my website
90. Look into hiring a publicist
91. Make a list of my favorite meals and recipes so that I can have certain dishes I cook once a week.
92. Organize my office
93. Get involved in a small group at my church
94. Publish a photography book
95. Journal everyday for a month
96. Put Name Labels in all of my books

7/7/07 - Gorgeous Wedding in Minnesota

I just finished shooting a wedding on 7/7/07. As I said, Preston Palmer, the brother of one of my brides asked me to come up to Minneapolis and shoot a wedding with him. I had a great time hanging out with the bride; she was beautiful inside and out. The wedding was so much fun and was quite the production. Eric, the groom, is a production guru and owns his own production company. The ceremony showed how good he really is; it was gorgeous with white linens hanging down everywhere. They had lighting equipment, sound guys, an entire video crew, and it was phenominal. It was so fun going to the mall to get Crystals makeup done because she had a microphone on and a video guy and photographer hanging around her the entire time. People all over were wondering who this famous person was.. she was living it up!!!

Below are some of my favorites from the day.


The wedding was at the Crown Plaza in downtown.

Crystal had so much fun; she laughed the entire time getting ready and told some great stories of how they met and the proposal. Really it was amazing.

We went to the MAC store in the mall to get makeup done. She looked phenominal.


One of my favorite parts of the day are the portraits of the bride and the groom; especially if they let me do whatever I want! Crystal and Eric were up for anything!



Isn't she GORGEOUS?



Eric looked handsome as well.

Crystal was a hoot! She has so much energy and had so much fun with the camera.






This picture is HAWT! I showed it to them after we took it and they were so excited!


Cyrstal wanted to show off her garter. It was her something blue.


The last few weddings I have been doing a lot of fun things with light during the reception. This is one example. They are gorgeously lit and you can see the crowd in the back. I love lighting.
This is one of my favorite first dance pictures.

The reception was fun; everyone laughed, danced, and had a blast.


Now for the funnest part of the day. After the reception Eric and Crystal wanted to jump in the fountain and get some fun pictures. She got soaked, but had a blast doing it and we got some really fun pictures out of it!






Thanks Preston for inviting me up there; I had a great time. Crystal and Eric, you are an amazing couple and I pray for Gods best for you! You are going to do powerful things together; change that world!!!

Minnesotta and more album designs

Well I made it to Minnesota just fine. I arrived at 8:00 Minnesota time last night and Preston and his wife Annie picked me up. They decided to go grab a bite to eat and took me to the Mall of America... even though I didn't have much time to see it all they said I had to at least see it. Crazy... a theme park in a mall, that is nuts!!! So we ate some good Italian food and then they dropped me off at the hotel.

Today we shoot the wedding. 7/7/07.. this is supposedly one of the most popular days to get married. If you know of someone who got married today I would love to hear how it went!

On to other news.. I said I've been doing a ton of albums lately and I keep forgetting to post them up for you all to see, so I decided to go ahead and try to keep posting every once in awhile so you can see them. I love albums. I think they are the final part to a wedding because it pulls everything together and really tells the story of the day.

This album is going to be 9.5x13, so it's a really good size. These books are beautiful.

Catherine and Christopher just sent in approval to order this album, so this is their final product. They loved it.


PS. I know I spelled Minnesota wrong above but my software will not let me change if for some reason. Computers can be weird sometimes.

Engagement Guest Book Album

Well, I am back from Pinetop and had a wonderful vacation. Once I have a chance to download the pictures off of my camera I will share some of them!

However, again, I am off traveling the world. I am on my way right now to Minneapolis to shoot a wedding on 7/7/07. A photographer friend, Preston Palmer has asked me to shoot with him and I'm really excited to see Minnesota; I have never been there before.

When I have a chance I will post more pictures of this trip as well!

But, now to my headline up above.. I have been really busy this summer working on albums. I just finished Jessica and Jim's guest book album. These albums are so neat because they are from the engagement session and work as your guest book, so that you have a unique way to show off your pictures and remember who was at your wedding. These are hot hot items and everyone wants one! To view the entire album click on the image below.

Away in the Pines!!

Well Jamie and I are enjoying a much needed vacation out of the heat. Right now we are in my hometown of Pinetop, AZ enjoying the weather and grabbing a few rounds of golf! The life!!!

If you need to get ahold of me I am trying to check email at least once every couple of days. I might take a little time to get back to you so please bear with us!! We will be back in the office on the 9th and will be answering voicemails and emails at that time! Please enjoy your 4th of July!!!