Yes – thank you Ryan Gossling for your introduction  Valentine’s Day is approaching and you can just feel the love in the air – or maybe it’s because I’m bombarded with a pink and red aisle at the grocery store and have good friends as florists and bakers – anyway, with all this love in the air, I wanted to do something to thank you all for following my blog, for supporting my dream and for always leaving such sweet comments on the projects and clients I’m working with!

To me, it’s a blessing that so many couples have allowed me into their personal space to capture moments of their unique love story.  It truly is such a joy for me to watch/photograph people so madly in love that they forget I’m with them and just laugh/hug/kiss and have fun together!  It’s magical – and it’s not just for engagement sessions!  Yes, those who are newly engaged make for awesome oooie-gooie love sessions, but being a married couple of almost 8 years, I know it’s still important to update those wedding photos and I try to do something each year with my hubby (thanks to my amazing photog friends in the industry!) When was the last time you and your spouse took photos just for the fun of it?!

DETAILS>>>>>

Want to get your spouse/girlfriend/boyfriend/mom/dad a gift they’ll never forget?!  

I would love to offer a Free Couples Session + CD - A 1 hour photo shoot for 2 either in Bakersfield, in Austin (March 10-18) or if you want to pay to get me where you are, I’ll travel (hello to my followers in Ireland and to Nina in Germany!!)!  

This session plus online viewing of edited images and high resolution CD of those images is worth $450 – prints/travel will be up to you.

HOW TO WIN>>>>

1) Leave a comment in the FACEBOOK comment section at the end of this post below and tell us the following:

“My name is <insert your name here> and I what I LOVE about my <insert husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend> is when he/she <insert something here>!

EXAMPLE:  My name is Jessica and what I love about my husband Eric is when he agrees to give me a foot rub after photographing a wedding!

 **BONUS** If you’re the winner and you’ve:

A) Liked my “Jessica Frey Photography” Facebook Page: www.facebook.com/JFreyPhotography

AND

B) SHARED this on Facebook (copy the sentence below and paste it as your status) :

Love is in the Air!! Win a FREE Couples Photo Shoot from Jessica Frey Photography! Enter here: http://www.jessicafreyphotographyblog.com/?p=5925

You’ll receive $25 in print credits!!

MORE DETAILS>>>>

You have until Sunday 6pm EST to enter and then on Monday’s blog post, I’ll announce the winner through a random number drawing!  So, you get one comment and each comment will be numbered -I’ll then use the random number generator to pick the winner!

*This session is valid for 6 months and cannot be used after August 14, 2012*

*You may transfer this session as a gift and the session date/time will be based on mutual availability*

*I hold the right to deny this session should the winner become rude, difficult or ungrateful – this is supposed to be fun – just covering my rear!*

Thank you Matt & Ashley for modeling love for us, you two are fabulous!! LOVED this session we did earlier this year!

And Marvin & Phyllis – you two are soooo sweet!!!  Adored our quick shoot and your cuteness

GOOD LUCK!!!

*If you don’t win or if you want to just purchase a session for your lady/man as a Valentine’s Day gift shoot me an email mentioning this post & I’ll hook you up with a deal!

Jessica@JessicaFreyPhotography.com

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com

Austin Photo Sessions:  Engaged? Need Bridal Portraits?  Graduating High School? Modeling? Had a Baby?  It’s been 20 years since your last family photo?

Hi Everyone!  Guess who has their Spring Break plans booked!  I’ll be heading home to Austin, TX for a week….so, if you’ve been asking when my next trip is so we can get your photos done, here it is:  I’ll be in the Austin/Blanco/Dripping Springs area March 10-18th – that’s 2 weekends and a full week.  I’ve already got a few scheduled, so contact me asap if you’re interested and I’ll send you all the information and available dates!

All sessions will be an hour long and you may change outfits twice.  Sessions are $250 and you may add on print packages, edited high resolution CDs and canvases!  Email me for a pdf of all the information:  Jessica@JessicaFreyPhotography.com

**Sharing is caring…..If you and a friend of yours BOTH book a session, BOTH of your session fees will be reduced to $200!  

Have a wonderful week!  Can’t wait for some breakfast tacos, real Tex-Mex and some Salt Lick!

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com

***If you missed the last week’s worth of shoots, please check these out to see what we created in the middle of this epic adventure in the snow:  Beauty & The Beast Fashion Shoot AND Beauty & the Beast Wedding Shoot

After trying for 10 min., we said to heck with lighting any candles.  Turns out 20mph winds are NOT in your favor when it comes to candles!  

Yes, James – dance like this.  You know, how they dance in the big scene?!?!  

Catching an “Inception” moment – a photo of Lauryn taking a photo of Makenzie taking photos of me.  Yeah, did you follow that?! The top is still spinning.   

Props and equipment at about half way in. Awesome.

Fairy Godmother Pam doing her thing!!!

Lauryn getting the chair signs ready for their debut

And a peek at what the final table looked like once we got it set up – time to take the tent down for the next 10 mins.

It was GORGEOUS once we removed the tent

Um, it’s starting to get worse really quickly!!!!

Getting Jessica transported to the wedding dress that is in the Yukon – yes, by standing in the bed of a truck.  Go figure  Toughest model out there. Period.   Thankful to her and her mom and the girls for getting her ready to go!

In the meantime, let’s get the cake photos done!

She’s ready! We’ve got 5 min. left to make something happen before we get snowed in….when did the storm get worse?!?!  Why is it so dark all of a sudden?!

And what I was able to get in the knick of time….thanks you two for braving the elements!!!

And just a few shots of the table when professionally completed in a dry, indoor environment – Lauren at Walker Lewis Rents did an outstanding job taking our theme and making it elegant and gorgeous!!!

VENDORS:

Photography:  Jessica Frey Photography and Makenzie Photography

Wedding Dress & Balero:  Ladies and Gents Bridal - Maggie Sottero “SaBelle”

Necklace: From Ladies & Gents Bridal - Bel Aire Bridal piece

Suit: Finos Menswear & Tuxedo

Models:  Jessica Evans & James Frey  (James Frey Comedy)

Stationary Items: Matinae Design Studio

Makeup:  Sylvia - F.L.Y. Cosmetics

Hair: Alivia Daniels - La Ti Da Salon & Boutique

Table Decor/Linens:  Walker Lewis Rents

Flowers:  House of Flowers

Cake: Gimme Some Sugar

Coordinating:  Fairy Godmother Wedding Planners

Assistants:  Lauryn Hornug & Makenzie Barefield

Props:  Jessica Frey’s home, In Your Wildest Dreams Antiques, Wonderley’s & White’s homes

 A Tale as old as Time – a Modern Day Fairy Tale Wedding

Beauty and the Beast/Navy and Yellow Wedding Inspiration

Here is Part 2 of our amazingly EPIC adventure to capture the modern day Fairy Tale ideas for navy and yellow weddings!  If you missed Part 1 – the Blizzard/Snow filled photo shoot you can view it here:  Beauty & The Beast Snow Wedding Photo Shoot

Today’s images are more details that we were unable to capture due to 17 degrees/20mph winds and SNOW  I’m so thankful that both models, Jessica & James were able to shoot again the next morning in a more dry and slightly warmer area so we could show you just how wonderful this wedding dress was from Ladies and Gents Bridal, the suit from Finos Menswear, and more detail shots of the flowers/cake/stationary!  When we met with Tiffany and Laura at Ladies and Gents Bridal, they had the PERFECT dress for us – “SaBelle” by Maggie Sottero.  Add some gorgeous bling and a romantic ballero and you’ve got a high fashion modern bride inspired by “Belle’s” dress from Beauty and the Beast!  I was thrilled to showcase this modern day, elegant beautiful way of doing a Navy and Yellow wedding that wasn’t cheesy or too “Disney” so I hope you’ve enjoyed looking at them!  Please scroll to the bottom to visit our vendors and tell them what an amazing job they did!!  Have a wonderful, magical day – thanks for stopping by and if you come back on Freyday – you’ll get to see some behind the scene shots of our shoots!!!   -Jessica

Just a few more details – books, a chipped tea cup, and James’ interpretation of the rose in the vase

You guys know I had to grab a shot of shoes that Jessica picked out to compliment the Navy/Yellow theme – Gold sparkly heels!!  Makes my heart pitter patter

Modern Day Classy Fairy Tale Beauty and the Beast Wedding Cake

Here are some more images of Gimme Some Sugar’s amazingly beautiful cake!  Owner, Stephanie took the invitations and created this beautiful yellow and blue damask cake.  Matinae Design Studio who created the invitation also created a custom sillouette cake topper for us!  I threw in a red rose from house of Flowers, more bling and grabbed just a few more shots to showcase this amazing centerpiece!  Truly a modern day fairy tale Beauty and the Beast cake!!

 Again, I cannot thank these amazing vendors enough – their expertise and creativity continue to blow me away! I’ve personally worked with all of them before and would HIGHLY recommend their services to any bride anywhere.  Love them!

VENDORS:

Photography:  Jessica Frey Photography

Wedding Dress & Balero:  Ladies and Gents Bridal - Maggie Sottero “SaBelle”

Necklace: From Ladies & Gents Bridal - Bel Aire Bridal piece

Suit: Finos Menswear & Tuxedo

Models:  Jessica Evans & James Frey  (James Frey Comedy)

Stationary Items: Matinae Design Studio

Makeup:  Sylvia - F.L.Y. Cosmetics

Hair: Alivia Daniels - La Ti Da Salon & Boutique

Table Decor/Linens:  Walker Lewis Rents

Flowers:  House of Flowers

Cake: Gimme Some Sugar

Coordinating:  Fairy Godmother Wedding Planners

Assistants:  Lauryn Hornug & Makenzie Barefield

Props:  Jessica Frey’s home, friends fun stuff!

Modern Day – Fairy Tale Wedding

Wedding ideas for the Bride who loves Beauty & The Beast and Navy & Yellow weddings!

I got such an amazing response after the ‘Snow White‘ inspired wedding ideas I shot last month that I, along with several amazing vendors started working on taking it to the next level to really give brides out there Fairy Tale inspiration!  I am in love with the wedding colors of Yellow and Navy – it can be done in so many ways and always photographs well, and well, is the main colors for Beauty & The Beast! I have thank to my model, Jessica, who contacted me about doing a photo shoot….and, hello….looks just like Belle!  So, I thought to myself,  ’What could a modern day bride do for a Fairy Tale “Beauty & The Beast” inspired wedding?  Here’s what we came up with – please scroll to the bottom and help me thank the vendors and people who all made this possible!

*Also, come back on Wednesday for Part 2 of our photo shoot sans snowstorm and blizzard conditions!  (Yes, it was 17 degrees, 15mph winds and snowing during our entire shoot!)

Without further ado – Beauty & The Beast’s Navy & Yellow Wedding concept shoot:

And one more shot literally taken seconds later with flash just to showcase to you the snow that was indeed coming down the entire photo shoot – we got at least 2 inches in the 10-15min. that I was shooting this scene!  Crazy!!!  

Again, I cannot thank these amazing vendors enough – their expertise and creativity continue to blow me away! I’ve personally worked with all of them before and would HIGHLY recoomened their services to any bride anywhere.  Love them!

VENDORS:

Photography:  Jessica Frey Photography

Wedding Dress & Balero:  Ladies and Gents Bridal – Maggie Sottero “SaBelle”

Necklace: From Ladies & Gents Bridal - Bel Aire Bridal piece

Suit: Fino’s Menswear & Tuxedo

Models:  Jessica Evans & James Frey  (James Frey Comedy)

Stationary Items: Matinae Designs Studio

Makeup:  Sylvia – F.L.Y. Cosmetics

Hair: Alivia Daniels – La Ti Da Salon & Boutique

Table Decor/Linens:  Walker Lewis Rents - Laura

Flowers:  House of Flowers

Cake: Gimme Some Sugar

Coordinating:  Fairy Godmother Wedding Planners

Assistants:  Lauryn Hornug & Makenzie Barefield

Props:  Jessica Frey’s home, In Your Wildest Dreams, Whites, Wonderleys, Ikea

 5 Things you probably didn’t know about Jessica:

1) I took Russian for 6 years – Middle School, High School and College.  But don’t ask me to ever speak to a Russian – it’s been 10 years, so without much practice that skill is long gone!  I can howerver write, read & speak you a poem I learned in 7th grade

1a) I lived in Russia as an exchange student for a month in 1996!  Da!

Привет! Меня зовут Джессика

.

2) I have a random obsession with Irish Step dancing – I hear the music and my feet just move on their own.  I wish I had taken lessons!

2a) I may or may not have bought a pair of hard sole step shoes from Ireland and had them shipped to California.  You know, just in case I ever get a chance to take lessons!

2b) I may or may not be on a first name basis with the band Sin Ri Ra at Nine Fine Irishmen in New York New York – Las Vegas

3) I’ve worn contacts for 17 years.  Ug.  Too scared to do lasik eye surgery, and without my contacts I’m completely helpless!

4) I LOVE, I mean LOVE playing basketball!  I may only be 5’6″ but I’ve got a mean 3 point shot – and was a wiz at the freethrow line…..and I’ll box you out low and hard if I have to – Game of 21 or HORSE anyone?!

4a) My mom was a HS Varsity basketball coach, so I kinda had to start playing young – I adore the photos of me as a little girl with perfect follow through on my fisher price Dr. J hoop and foam ball!  And here is my photo from high school – Go Lady Tigers!

5) I’m deathly afraid of pillow fights.  But only because when I was 10 I was at a sleepover and my friend’s brother hit me with a pillow causing me to fall backwards….and break my arm!

5b) Full arm cast and a week later I was on the basketball court shagging balls and ended up breaking my thumb on my other hand.  Double awesome for a 10 year old.

And if you’ve scrolled down enough, here’s a surprise sneak peek at our Beauty & The Beast – modern day inspired Wedding!!

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Join us on Monday and Wednesday for the full story of our photo shoot!  Have a great weekend!!!

www.JessicaFreyPhotography

Wow.  A few days ago, 4 car loaded with friends and props headed up through the rain to the Sierra mountains an hour east of Bakersfield…and had an adventure!  The weather called for 1.2 inches of snow and when we all arrived to the destination, it was magical to say the least to see the ground covered in white…and for the next 4 hours, it continued.  And continued.  And continued.  I’m pretty sure we shot through at least 4 inches of non stop sleet and snow!!

For those of you who saw the Snow White inspired shoot I did last month, here is my take on Beauty and the Beast!  Today’s blog is full of images from our “Fairy Tale” part of the photo shoot….and the main shoot – the wedding inspired one, will be coming to you on Monday AND Wednesday AND Freyday next week!  Check my facebook page for sneak peeks throughout the week though!

What you see here is a collection of items (outfits and props) from my house, from our model, Jessica’s house, and from good friends!  I can’t thank everyone enough for their help, carrying equipment, props, picking up items, dropping off items – and making both of these styled-shoots a success!  [Jessica, James, Pam, Dale, Amanda, Makenzie, Lauryn, Lauren, Laura, Tiffany Colleen, Sylvia, Stephanie, Jenae, Jerry and Shari]

We had an epic adventure as the snow and wind came down on us while Jessica & James assumed their characters

Enjoy this tale….

Teaching the Beast to read can be tough sometimes….

And last but not least…..Having fun playing in the snow!

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com

Ok, maybe not ever…I mean, my wedding day was wonderful, and I’ve had a lot of amazing days in my 29 years of life.  But, this would be in the top 10.  A few weeks ago at the Ultimate Bridal Event’s wedding show I joined the Fairy Godmother booth as their “Cinderella”!  It was by chance that I had coffee with Fairy Godmother owner Colleen Bauer the Freyday before the show and while in her office I finally saw the costume she had as decor – on an adult sized manequine.  Those that know me, know I excitedly asked if I could try it on!  Low and behold, we put it on….and it fit like a glove.  After thinking about it for at least 2 seconds, I gently let her know….um, I’m not doing a booth this year….I have Sunday open in my calendar….it fits and I don’t want to take it off.  So there, can I pu-lease help bring brides to your booth?!?!  Because A) They’re amazing women and every bride should hire a coordinator and they’re above and beyond the best and B) They’re my favorites since they too think it’s a great idea for a 29 year old to dress up and utilize the knowledge gained working in Toon Town in Orlando to bring Cindy to life  Also, Michelle from F.L.Y. Girls Makeup did an amazing job transforming me into an everyday non-makeup wearing girl into a princess, for that I’m so grateful!!  Very few vendors and friends recognized me!

Here is a gathering of photos I took, Colleen took, and Felix Adamo took for the Bakersfield Californian!

Have a magical day!  I’m off on an EPIC photo shoot today full of it’s own magic….stay tuned for Facebook for sneak peeks and maybe on Wednesday I’ll post some detail shots!   -Jessica

With my bride, Katelyn, her mom and her own Fairy Godmother Denise!

My very own for-real Fairy Godmother, love you Colleen!!!

Yessi helping me get dressed backstage!

Yessi grabbed this shot right before we entered the show….and I love it.  It’s a true smile of anticipation and how excited I was!  

Here’s the shot Felix grabbed for the newspaper (see here: Freyday Blog Post)

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com

Hi guys!  Well, not to be debbie-downer (Whaaa Whaaa), this is the second Freyday post in a row dealing with loss.  Unlike last week, today I’d like to mourn the loss of a certain awesome yellow couch.  Yes, that one.  The couch that somehow helped define my photography business and became a branding image for Jessica Frey Photography, thanks to all of you fabulous clients  Is it sad to say I loved an inanimate object?  If it is, then I don’t care – I loved that couch, and I’d now like to let you in on a secret – I named her Cindy. She had an elegance and blondess to her, and made any photo with her in it magical.

To be fair, I never owned the couch and the manufacturer stopped making it in that yellow pattern 3 years ago.  I was lucky enough to borrow it from a local store in town on several occasions, then it was broken while at the store and put into storage for a while.  I eventually asked if I could still borrow it, show it some love and prop it up on concrete blocks hidden behind the beautiful craft balls a friend made for me.  Cindy is a trooper.

I now say a sad goodbye – after years of trying to purchase it myself, Cindy has recently been sold to another local photographer for her studio.

Here are some of the photos I had the privilege of taking with Cindy starring in the happiness of a handful of my clients along with the magazines she’s been in, so enjoy and adios beautiful yellow couch!

Jessie & Jessica’s wedding day!

Bakersfield Life’s September issue:

With Gladys & Jeff at their engagement session:

With Jordyn at her HS Senior photos:

 In a National magazine – Professional Photographer October 2011 issue – one photo to define my wedding photography business to my peers:

Promotional Video time!  A few behind the scene shots with the couch and my amazing clients!

And we’ll end where it all started….February 2010 modeling with Ashley:

 As a half page ad in Bakersfield Life + My Business cards in 2010/2011:

Me and Cindy hanging out

I hope you all have an amazing weekend!  Get ready – next week is EPIC. I’ve got a shoot on Monday that will literally knock your socks off.

www.JessicaFreyPhotography.com

www.mentor.JessicaFreyPhotography.com

Hello fellow photographers out there!  I know I’ve spoken to a few of you about February sessions, so I wanted to make an announcement that I am now accepting a maximum of 3 mentoring opportunities for next month.  I feel so excited about the ladies I’ve worked with and are currently working with.  It’s an honor and I’m loving digging into their businesses and working with them to define how to take it to the next level, how to get it off the ground and hopefully helping skip some of the major mistakes we see a happening in this business!  If you have any quesitons, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Also, please allow me to share two testimonials from ladies whom I recently worked with and I admire and am so excited to see what happens in 2012 for their businesses!

Jessica,

I just wanted to say thank you for your willingness to work with me over the past month.  Our weekly meetings helped give me the motivation, encouragement, and accountability that I needed in order to take my photography to the next level.  You are super sweet and very talented and I hope I’m half as good as you someday!  Thanks again for all you’ve done!

-Carissa

Jessica Frey…..what an amazing business woman, photographer, friend and mentor she is!!  I have been following Jessica the last 2 years and the day I saw that she was going to offer Mentoring Session I knew my photography business was going to change, of course for the better! So of course, I signed up as fast as I could! From the start Jessica was such a sweet person.  I have learned so much from Jessica that I wasn’t doing for my business and now I know why I feel like I have been struggling.  This coming year there are going to be a lot of new changes for my photography business and learning to balance my personal life with my business. For anyone that is in that “spot” that I was I would highly suggest mentoring with Jessica Frey! Thank you Jessica for sharing your knowledge of this business and your willingness to help others such as myself with it!

Heather

Photography By Heather

FOR ALL THE INFORMATION AND TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION VISIT:

www.mentor.JessicaFreyPhotography.com