A World With Other Halves :: {Tulsa Family Photographer}

The first time we met we were among 150 other young freshman girls at our Alma mater... all pledging the same sorority.  Sitting in a large upper room of the sorority house, every girl went around and said who they were and where they were from.  This is your introduction into sorority life.  As an 18 year old girl, thrown into a fairly small room {when it's filled with every member of our house... around 300 girls}.  And this was our introduction to each other. 

It seems like that moment was just yesterday, but then again, seems so long ago.  It's been 8 years since we first sat in that room and introduced ourselves to one another.

I had the honor of photographing this sweet sorority sister of mine and her other half a few weeks ago.  We actually gathered the whole clan together, all 11 of them, on a nice and steamy Sunday afternoon and snapped a thousand few shots of their sweet fam together. 

Internet, meet my admirably gorgeous friend, Chesley and her sweet, sweet other halves.

Now, Chesley just stop.  You're making the rest of look bad!

I just love how the youngest one is looking at his brother like, what the heck are you doing??

Taking Applications :: Senior Representative Program :: {Tulsa Senior Photographer}

Schools are letting out.

The stores are filled with shorts and tanktops.

And most important?  Snow Cone Shacks are open for business!

What does all of this mean?  It means SUMMER is almost here and we've got a new class of SENIORS about to relish in all that it means to be Seniors!

So what does this mean for you all?

I'm looking for unique 2012 seniors who want to be part of my Senior Representative Program!!!

In exchange for your help promoting Allison Lee Photo to your friends, you'll receive a free senior photography session!

One male and one female student will be chosen from each of the local high schools in Tulsa and its surrounding areas:

(Bartlesville, Owasso, Jenks, Broken Arrow, Bixy, etc.)

Now for the deets...

In order to be a senior rep for ALP, you must:

Be a senior graduating in 2012

Be camera friendly (if you hate having your picture taken this probably isn't the position for you ;)

Have a fun sense of personal style, be unique... funky even!

Live in Tulsa or it's surrounding cities/suburbs

Agree to promote Allison Lee Photo to your friends and classmates

Represent ONLY ALP & use the images from your session as your senior photos

Return a photo release signed by you and your parent/guardian

If you are a part of ALP's Senior Representative Program, you'll receive the following:

A free senior photography session

Unlimited shoot time

Two sessions (a fall/winter AND spring/summer)

A proofing gallery to select your favorite images

A CD of low-res, watermarked images to be used on your social networking page (Facebook, Myspace, blog, etc.)

50 senior rep. cards.  Each card will be personalized with your name, your photos and our business information to hand to your friends and classmates.

3 mini albums of your images to be used to show your friends and classmates (and so you can give one to mom and grandma!)

An opportunity to earn print credits and print discounts for each person you refer to Allison Lee Photo

A $50 prepaid Visa gift card will be awarded to the senior rep with the highest number of rep cards returned by January 1st, 2012 (**must be at least over 10 returned cards to qualify)

Card can be spent however you like

You'll earn referral discounts for each referral you send to Allison Lee Photo:

1-3 Referrals - 10% off print order and $20 print credit

4-6 Referrals - 10% off print order and $40 print credit

7-10 Referrals - 15% off print order and $60 print credit

11+ Referrals - High-Resolution DVD of all images from your session

All senior reps must agree with the following terms and conditions:

Senior representative sessions must be scheduled and take place before August 14, 2011.  You may schedule an initial session before August 14th and a follow-up session to take place before January 1st, 2012.  This might allow you to have the fall landscape as well as the summery Oklahoma weather in your portfolio.  Rep cards will be given to the reps before September 1st, 2011.  All students will be entered into the drawing for the $50 Visa card, but only rep cards before January 1, 2012 will count towards the drawing.  Any rep cards after January 1st, 2012 will still contribute towards your print credits and discounts, but will not count towards the Visa gift card drawing.  When your referrals book a session and pay in full, you will receive credit for that referral.

Any referral that presents your card when booking their session will receive 10% off of their senior photography session.

Be sure and tell your friends about the perks of the senior rep session.... they can sign up for the 2013 season!  Your participation in the program will not only introduce you to fun & funky, personalized photography, but wlso a way to help your parents out and earn incentives towards your session for senior portraits at little or no cost!  All students must return the aplication, including the model release, before June 30, 2011.  This program is first come, first serve so be sure to act fast if you're interested.  All reps will be contacted and announced on my blog July 13, 2011.

TO ENTER:

Please send me an email to allison@allisonleephoto.com with a photo of yourself & the school you will be graduating from (for my records)!

I will send you the full application & model release.

I can't wait to work with you!!

The Best Is Yet To Come :: Tulsa Photographer

Alright, as promised I have something very exciting to share with you all.  Will this change your lives?  Probably not.  Will you get as excited as I did?  Umm... yeah, again, probably not.  BUT, because we're friends I'm sharing it with you anyway.

Yesterday, that fabulous employee sporting the solid brown ensemble with the three little letters U. P. S. arrived on my doorstep.  Little did he know that package he was holding was going to make me jump for joy and almost want to hug him!  I said almost. come on peeps.

I scribbled my signature as fast as I could and snatched up that beautiful brown box as quickly as my little hands knew how.

And what was inside?  Well.... only this!!!

Like I said, you probably aren't as excited as I was when I saw that beautiful brown truck pull up, but let's just pretend you are.  (and yes, sorry the pictures are small.  I took my own but don't have them with me at the moment.)

So there you have it internet.  A beautiful new Nikon D3s is the newest member of the Allison Lee Photo family and I couldn't be more excited!!!!!

The Dynamic Duo :: Tulsa Photographer

This little family is as sweet as pie!  Yes, we live in the south and I can say things like that.  Their two little boys are the light of their life which was completely evident as they ran at high speeds through the field during our session: the parents eyes watching them the whole time.

The youngest - Little C - was quite the edition to this family.  He's cute and he knows it.  At one point I asked him if he was cute and he said, YES! followed by a quick no. 

Hilarious!

So here are a few from our time together a few weeks ago.  Enjoy!

And stay tuned for tomorrow.  BIG news!!!

And, well, we all love a little more. To view their complete session go ahead and click play on the slideshow! It won't disappoint!

Anything Like Me: Tulsa Photographer

You know those families you meet and you immediately want to shrink them into tiny people for a minute so they'll fit in your pocket?  You know, so you can take them home and cherish them forever? 

Yeah, that's how I felt about this family.

In most families you can sense the love they share for one another, but when there are little people involved I think the love overflows.  Well, at least you see it more plainly. 

Children can't help but show affection for the ones they love, be it mom, dad, brother, sister, you get the point.  You can see it in their eyes, in their expression or even the giddy squeels they display as they run towards the one they love.

It makes me happy.  Families make me happy.  They remind us of the love in the world. 

And, if you're super lucky like I was, they'll show their love through the displaying of their belly buttons!  Remember that post! 

So, sit back, relax, grab a morning/afternoon snack and enjoy the lastest family I wanted to put in my pocket and take home.  This little one's tu-tu and giddy squeels were enough to make me love them forever!


Yes, my child will for sure be wearing a tu-tu with a bow in her hair.  It's alreaady pre-determined.

Can you get a more photographic family?  Seriously.  Beautiful.

One of my favorites.  They look so much alike.

Three Little Belly Buttons: Tulsa Photographer

So, if you grabbed that thing we like to call a dictionary, pulled it off the shelf, blew the dust off it's cover and looked up the word slacker, what do you think the definition would be?  You really want to know?  OK.  Fine, twist my arm.  It's ME.  I have owned the definition slacker this week. 

 Well, let's be fair to me for one minute.  I had a huge event to get ready for which consumed all but enough of my time to let me sleep, so, even though I constantly thought about how I needed to blog some new stuff, my life just wouldn't let me.

What does this mean for you... it means this is my way of saying I'm sorry and I hope I didn't lose you all forever.  I still want to be friends.  I still want  to bake cookies and make friendship bracelets.  Are you still interested?  GREAT! see I like to answer for you all so I feel like you're listening.

And, since you all have been on the edge of your seat wondering what entertaining things have taken place in my life - I'll oblidge and fill you in.

• I got my new passport today.  The hubs and I are almost ready to begin our jet-setting trips!
• I shot a family this past weekend who had one particular 20-month old member of the fam that was obsessed with belly buttons.  Cutest thing of my life.  Don't think I'll ever think of belly button's the same.
• Bad news.  Terrible!  Some very rude individual decided it'd be a really awesome idea to slam their car door into my 3 week old car.  RUDE!  If you know me personally on FB then you know what my new car is and I'm beyond IRRITATED!  Newsflash, if someone parks way out in a parking lot all by themselves and has a nice car DO NOT PARK DIRECTLY NEXT TO THEM!  They are obviously walking an extra hundred steps to stay away from your car!  off my soapbox now.
• While looking over the new passport today the hubs asks, what language is E pluribus unum and what does that even mean?  I think it's Greek, he says.  Wrong.  Wikepedia informed us it's Latin.  Don't say I never educated you on anything, internet.

Has boredom set in yet?  You're about to close this page aren't ya?  You just can't take anymore about my super-interesting life.  I understand.  But wait.  I got one more thing for ya!!

Belly buttons!!!  Or maybe it's just a sneak peak to a few things to come.  These three little bellies just warm my heart.  Love.

I promise I'm back. I have lots of lovely things to post for you all so stay tuned!

Little B & The Secretary That Could

Little B is about to become a BIG SISTER!  Her momma's due in less than a month and from the convo's I had with little miss B, she's super excited about it.  So excited that throughout our shoot she told me she had to make a few phone calls to insure everything was in line for her newest edition to the fam.  What can I say, she's a bit of a perfectionist!

She managed to fit in a few glam shots for me between phone calls.

Momma & Little B - Thanks so much for our fun session.  B is going to be such a good big sister!

Don't Judge a Book By It's Cover: Tulsa Wedding Photographer

Don't judge a book by it's cover.  Well, friends.  Now, I hope you judge me by my new cover!   Straight outta the box - I give you the new DVD and Case.  I spent the last few weeks designing these bad boys and am oober excited to share them with you! 

So, take a look.  Drool over them a little.  And let me know what you think!  Do you love them as much as I do??... probably not, but a girl can dream, right?!



A Big. Gigantic. Thank You: Tulsa Wedding Photographer

You all made our day.  My photography partner and I could not be more thrilled with the way you all represented yesterday.  You absolutely blew us off our seats with your eagerness for pictures!

So, thank you.  Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for allowing us to enter your lives and capture a small piece of what you love so dearly.

Thank you.  Thank you.  Thank you.

We cannot wait to begin working with all 158 of you!  Ya'll are the b.e.s.t.

Sweet Valentine's Day Gift Idea: Tulsa Wedding Photographer

Do you still need the perfect gift for your sweetheart?  Tired of the standard $60 roses? Don't want to spend an outrageous amount of money to impress the sox of of them? 

Today's deal on Living Social is a one hour photo session with yours truly for only $40 dollars!  With your purchase you will receive a CD of 10 images to print and an online gallery with the remaining images from your session.

I promise.  This deal is too good not to buy into! 

And the best part?  You don't even have to tell your sweetheart how much you did or did not spend on them!  A voucher will be sent to you via email and all you have to do is wrap up something cute saying you purchased a photography session for the two of you to make some memories together.

Talk about the best gift ever.  Your loved one will be extatic over this gift!  And guys, it's the easiest gift you can give!  After all, didn't you get her roses the last 3 years?  Gettin kinda old, don't ya think?

I'm just sayin.  This gift will make her eyes sparkle.  She'll think you went way out of your way and got her something extremely unique.  Dream come true.

So go buy it.  You have 24 hours until this deal expires.

To buy into my living social deal click HERE.  I promise.  You won't be disappointed.

Free? I like free stuff!!

We're mixin' it up a bit over in these parts!  Today I'm announcing a GIVEAWAY!  And honestly, who doesn't just love something free. 

This one's a little competition to see just how many fans we can get on our fan page.  Currently, as of this morning, we are at 106, good job guys!  But that's not good enough.  We want more!  muahahaha.... sorry bout that.

So to spruce things up a bit, I've designed this little gem here.

There you have it folks.  All you have to do is like our page, go to your own status and make a post about this blog offer using this link http://tinyurl.com/296h2o3 , then make a comment on this blog post below telling me you've done everything... and if you just feel like hoppin' around, you can always visit our website.  There's some pretty awesome stuff there.  That's it!  All you have to do now is tell all your friends about it.  Blog about it, tweet about it, and keep facebooking about it.  Remember, the more you tell your friends and the more they 'like' our page... the better your chances are of winning!

So here's the real sweet part.  For every 25 additional fans we receive, we will give away a 30 minute mini-session along with 10 images on a CD for your printing pleasure.  How awesome is that?  And all you have to do is post a few things!  Saweet!

Ok.  Hop to it!  We will annouce the winners next Friday, January 14th... so stay tuned!

*** Reminder.  You have to go to our fan page on Facebook and like that page to be entered.  A few of you are liking this blog post with the like button above, which is great!!, but you have to visit the actual Facebook page too.  Thanks guys!

Dear Jesus, Thank you for this food.

All of the food had been prepared... much like in every other family.  The women gathered in the kitchen, well, because that's where most of us do our best thinking.  Not all of us... but most of us.  The grumbles of hungry tummies began to fill the room and it was declared time to eat.  Everyone gathered in the new house and formed a smashed circle in the kitchen to bless the food.  She leaned over to oldest brother and wispered, "do you want to say the prayer" and he shook his head eagerly.  "Dear Jesus, Thank you for this food.  Amen".

That's all it took.  It doesn't have to be elaborate, just heart-felt.  Our Thanksgiving prayer wasn't long.  It wasn't filled with all of the things we are utterly grateful for.  It wasn't scripted.  It was said by a 2-year-old little boy who, from the bottom of his tiny heart, was thankful to our God.

And that was my Thanksgiving.  It was simple yet filled with so many people that gut-wrenchingly loved one another.

Broken Hearts & Little Soldiers

My heart broke last night.  Like split straight down the middle, break.  I guess I've just lived in a pretty bubble my whole life.  But last night my bubble got a pin-hole in it and burst.  I had a world revealed to me that we all know is there, but until you stop you don't realize how real it is.  I'm talking about babies.  Through this blogging world I've been introduced to several women who's babies have 'broken hearts'.  Literally.  These little guys come out fighting and have no choice but to fight to the end.  Some fight and regain strength, while others fight equally as hard and don't quite make it.

So today I'm broken.  I'm broken and praying for all these little guys and their amazingly strong families.

To read the stories of these little soldiers click on the links below.  They will change your world.



Cohen's Story , Brayden's Journey , Team Ewan , Cora's Story

Christmas Miracles

Every year we sit back and reflect on our achievements from the past year. We lean back in our chairs, cross our arms and pat ourselves on the back for a job well done. What have we really achieved though? I mean, don’t get me wrong, we’ve all done some pretty fantastic things, but isn’t there still so much more to be done?

My best friend became an aunt last night… to a beautiful little Ethiopian boy named Silas. In my eyes, this is one of the most beautiful achievements. The new parents of this little gift followed through with a plan God had for them and have now blessed so many people around them. Silas has been blessed with not only two awesomely loving parents, but also a family the size of Texas to love on him! No, seriously, you should see the amount of stockings hung at the grandparent’s house. It’s enough to make anyone jealous.

I have been excited for this young couple since my best friend leaked the news to me a few months back. I’ve known about the struggle and heartache they had endured throughout the adoption process, but to see it all come full-circle, well, it nearly sent drippy little tears down my face. This has all been so special ,but it wasn’t until this morning when I saw the pictures of baby Silas being carried through customs to be embraced by his new family all adorned in white t-shirts that said ‘Welcome Home Silas’ that I fully understood the joy they were all feeling. It was then I realized what Sarah and Jonathan had done. Realized how with this one decision they have changed and blessed this little boy’s life forever.

So, yeah, we’ve all done some pretty awesome things this year. Maybe you’ve conquered your fear of skydiving or made your very first batch of chocolate chip cookies, but man, isn’t there so much more to be done?

Magical Christmas Elves

We would wait for hours for those sneaky little elves to make their way from the North Pole to leave bits of candy in our tree decorations.  We were diligent about it too.  We schemed about how we would stake out in corners and eventually catch the little guys, but man were they fast!   My brother and I could not figure it out!  We would turn our heads for one second and, BAM!, the candy would appear, nice and cold, yet tucked neatly in our Christmas ornaments.  Puzzled, we walked away, not understanding how we missed them again!

This one particular time I turned to my grandpa and questioned why the hershey's were so cold.  He looked down into my inquiring little blue eyes and said, "Well, sweetie, those elves come from way up north at the North Pole where it is very cold."  Good call grandpa.  He was a very wise man you see. 

I remember bending my little knees and leaning forward towards him all-the-while my grandpa mimmicking my action as I sneakishly whispered closely to his face, "We'll catch them next time grandpa, won't we!"  Indeed little one, he replied, Indeed.

You see, it took my brother and I a few years to figure out this fun little game that was being played on us, but alas - one cold night in December we were at my grandparents for dinner and I opened the freezer door to get ice out and.. what was in the door you ask? Huh, my question exactly.  I turned to my grandma and asked why they had Christmas colored Hershey's kisses frozen just like the elves brought?  My grandma replied ever so nonchelantly, well, your grandpa likes frozen hershey's. 

It was in this moment I figured out there were no magical little Christmas elves.  That they didn't venture miles through the land of 'swirly,twirly gumdrops' in hopes of finding their dads.  It was then I realized my grandpa had been the magical Christmas elf all along.

It is memories like these that make me love Christmas time.  They allow me to venture back in time to my best childhood memories and re-live special times I had with  my grandpa.

My grandpa is no longer with us, but because of the magical Christmas elves I will never forget him.  Every year I  put up my Christmas tree and hang my magical ornament on it in hopes that my elf will make his way through the land of 'swirly, twirly gumdrops' to bring me a christmas colored hershey's kiss.

Tick-Tock

It never happened fast enough.  They kept saying, it will come around again next year.  But no.  I wanted it to stay today, in this moment, forever.  The warmth of those around you.  The unconditional love I always felt.  I feared the end of it all.    But then, the infamous scream, " SANTA'S COMING!!!"  Ok, so maybe we didn't scream that exact phrase, but we all know what runs through the mind of a six year old on Christmas Eve.  " SANTA'S COMING!!"  Sorry, couldn't resist.

These are the times we get to swoon over the love our family's give one another.  And yes, I did fear the end of Christmas Eve.  See, my family always celebrates on this particular night.  We sit around until the wee hours of the morning exchanging gifts with one another, then scurry off to bed in time for the big man in the red jacket to scale down the chimney.

And folks, the time is nearing.  Christmas time.  I, for one, cannot wait.  You see, I am a Christmas girl.  Born two weeks before Christmas (and yes, I will expect you all to remember that) I think I have earned my right to bask thoroughly in everything that screams Christmas Time!  Ornaments, little bells that jingle, extremely tacky Christmas sweaters (I have one that will take the cake!), big, beautiful glittery bows, Christmas carols, gifts stacked upon gifts, Christmas candy, glistening lights, and let's not forget the infamous tradition of driving around looking at how everyone else decorated for the Holiday.  I simply love this time of year.  There is something about this month in particular that brings out a special side in everyone.  One I wish we could keep around all year long. 

A lot has changed since I feared Christmas Eve ending.  I have welcomed many new editions into my family and no longer fear reaching the last package in my stack of gifts because I've learned as you get older life moves faster.  It moves faster than a blink of an eye and before I know it Christmas Eve will peak it's beautiful head out again!

And since everything's a little more interesting with pictures, here is one from my day after Thanksgiving session.  Two adorably-beautiful cousins!

Oklahoma City Photograhy Session- Family

I find it impossible to say that God doesn't have a sense of humor; after all, I think He made little boys just to keep moms on their toes!

I ran around Oklahoma City with these two Saturday morning and loved every second of it. We were under a bit of a time constraint considering Oklahoma State played at 2:30, but with the time I was given, I think we ended up with some great shots.

These two boys are, well…, ALL BOY! Jacob is the oldest and, like most children, thrives off of being outside on open ground and allowed to just RUN! Andrew, on the other hand, is at his prime doing whatever Jacob does. That, and doing the opposite of what you want him to do. Typical two year old.

Oh, and did I mention their mom, Courtney, makes some stellar cookies! I think if I spent more time around her I’d weigh 80 pounds more than I do right now. She is amazingly talented with the cookie icing. No seriously. I have trouble spreading the stuff right and she makes the most amazing designs you’ve seen. God-given talent. That’s what I call it.
All-around, this family is amazing.  They love one another with their souls... just another reason to make me love them more.
 

Little Miss Riley

I love this child. Riley is one of those 'hide behind their momma's skirt at first then ten minutes later run around the room because they're not shy anymore' kind of girls. She was a little bit on the hesitant side at first, but after the first few minutes, she fell in love with what we were doing. She had lots of questions about 'why do you have that shiney thing?' and then ' well, why does it have two colors on it'. But the coolest part was teaching her how to find the light in the reflector then using her as my sidekick while I photographed other people! Once she got the hang of it, Riley would go 'Oops, the light is over there'... then she'd move the reflector and pop the light right where I needed it. I'm not sure, but I think she has a future ahead of her. Here is a gorgeous five-year-old named Riley.

Ruffles & Bows

God is awesome! He knows just how to package up so much wonderfulness into one very small little object.

These kids were something else. We spent the day running around new territory for me: Ft. Smith, AR. We dodged a little rain, ate some snowcones, rode an awesomly bumpy train and soaked up all that was good on a Saturday afternoon.

The mother of these three beautiful kiddos use to be my bible study leader in high school. She has an amazing spirit about her... the kind you are automatically drawn to and love from the first moment you meet her. She is also one of the most tallented designer for children's clothes... ever. She owns Brown Bag Bebe which not only is a rockin name for a clothing line, but also has some stinkin' sweet kids clothes that come along with it. She walked me through her 'design' room before we started shooting, and all I have to say is, WoW! Designing & sewing clothes is something I could never do. I think I'd be one of those people who end up sewing the sleeve to the bottom of the shirt or something. God definitly did not grant me with that gift. Andrea, on the other hand is fan-TASTIC! Check her out.

Now, go ahead, meet Andrea & Steve's little babes.