Happy Thanksgiving Friends and Family!

Wishing all of you a lovely Thanksgiving filled with all the love, family, and turkey, and non-traditional eats and treats that can have! Happy Thanksgiving!

Oh So Candid Family Shoot with the Hardmans: A Sneak

Candid moments are great.

They are the things that let us know the human condition still remains.

They are not hallow social media selfies.  They are real. They are beautiful. They never go out of style.

They are my specialty.

The great thing about  shooting close family friends is that they trust your ability to accurately use creative license: in other words, you can be yourself. You can use your specialty.

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It was weird to see someone you had known since they were a teenager be so grown up. My first thought was "he has kids and EVERYTHING." My next thought was "gosh, you're such an old bird now."

  Although we aren't really that far apart in age, I have always thought of Randy as my little brother (he kinda is since he is the younger brother of my very best friend). But, to see him grow into such a mature, responsible father of two in awe inspiring.  I now look at his family and think "wow, they were always there, just not there yet." It's surreal.

This weekend, he and his kids ventured a few hundred miles back in to NC territory for Easter Weekend and I made good on my promise to retake their pictures.  I'm so happy it worked out because I got to capture so many great moments in this beautiful little family.  These kids could not ask for a better father and he couldn't ask for better more joyous kids. They all got to be themselves. They let me be myself.  Couldn't have asked for a better photo session.

NEW Custom Packaging for Blue!!

The devil is in the details.  I say again, THE DEVIL IS IN THE DETAILS. 

I have always been one for the details.  Symmetry is best friend.  In recent months, I have worked on a design I felt would fit the new image of my business.  When Blue Arden was Ollie Wills Photography, though my business had a name, it didn't have brand.  It did not showcase the things I love which are: antique, vintage, rustic, modern, and simple.  I like bold colors.  I like aged things.  I like new things made to look old and old things made to look new.  That's my SCHTICK.  My brand, instead, was all over the place with constantly changing watermarks, editing styles, and imprints, as I tried to find myself. 

Finally, this year, the name Blue Arden found me and with it came a brand.  What came with it was specificity and direction. What came with it was a THANK YOU NOTE.  I believe my clients should always know how thankful I am for them choosing me.  It is a huge honor to be the number one choice! With that being said, I am proud to introduce what will now come standard with all large packages and weddings. It's so cute, I think I'll make one for myself.

Baby Shower: A Party and a Reunion

Pleasantries and great fun from the 40th birthday and Baby Shower of my dear dear friend who I had not seen in over 10 years. Such a joyous reunion and amazing occasion.

Favorite Kid Portraits from the Days Past

I don't like everything I shoot. It could always use improvement.  These are a collection of the Kid Portraits that still make me feel like an accomplished photographer.  Some of them are from YEARS ago while others are quite recent.

Photographers Recollect Life Quite Differently

When people consider memories, they think of them as in good or bad memories. Photographers are a slightly different breed of rememberers (if that's even a word). We remember in "how good we thought we were" at the time we took a photo. We remember by "what camera we used." We also remember by "how we edited at that time" and "what was I thinking by posting that photo."  We are quite the eccentric bunch of individuals.  I can honestly say that my memories of my work have been love/hate memories.  Though I now have an incredible following (which I am humbled by everyday) of over 1K likes, it is still not enough. I want more...I want to be better...I want to be recognized...I want to be the best....until something reminds me of how far I have actually come.

When I look back at some of the work I have done, I am in awe of how my style has changed, yet how my vision has remained intact.

This very night, while putting together a new downloadable pricing packages, I came across one of my first Senior sessions. What struck me was not how many of the photos were bad, but rather how many were STILL good. Despite the fact that I didn't understand lighting and under exposure to the extent that I do now.  Despite that fact that I wanted to pretend like I knew everything and now I openly admit "I'm a forever learning photographer." Despite that fact that now I am amazed I was even paid for my earlier work, my earlier work is still my art. It is still my experience. It is still something I can enjoy.

What's more is that no matter how much I despise the techniques I used at the time, someone will always have my memories somewhere in their album, Facebook page, school year book, or even wedding album.  I am forever engrained in this family. That is something for which I can be very proud.

So how does this overcritical, perfectionist, sadist photographer feel about this shoot? I feel fortunate to have had the opportunity to shoot such a beautiful and intelligent young woman. But really, it doesn't matter what I think. What matters is what my clients will remember about their experience.

-Ollie