Welcome to the Land of Wild Designs Blog!!!

Land of Wild Designs Location Portrait Photography Serving Globe/Miami, Arizona and surrounding communities

January 21, 2024

Let it Rain - Jodee and Greg Engagement Session

 Let it rain - we don't care!  We wanted a 'gloomy' vibe for the background so these two would be the ONLY beautiful thing in the image.  I think we accomplished what we wanted! 

We really don't get much rain in Arizona, so we schedule Photo Sessions pretty much regardless of the weather.  Today it wasn't raining really hard yet, but it was a steady misty drizzle all day long.  It was cool especially for them not having jackets on, but we kept going until we got all the locations and images we had in mind.

Originally, we planned to have this session in an amazing location about 2 hours away, but we noticed the weather alert and decided to keep it closer to home (but we never even discussed cancelling).  We met at the Studio, picked through a few items to take with us and headed out - and the rest is an EPIC adventure!

I can't wait to share the full gallery with these two, but for now I do have permission to post these, and I am so excited about it!  

Rain was not going to stop us, we aligned ourselves in ways that the background colors would be enough difference in brightness/darkness and contrast of textures to give the illusion of background or foreground light and the rainy weather and dark skies.  We picked locations that we don't use often and don't see used often so we could have some originality with this session because these two are celebrating their love, their engagement, the beginning of their forever.  This became so unique with every photo we captured and they went with the flow, the suggestions I had and they just naturally created the best environment in front of the lens I could dream of!

Here are just a few of our rainy day - She Said Yes Session!













March 27, 2023

2022 A Look Back 


Click the link above to look back at 2022.

Every single year I promise myself that I am going to be blogging more and keeping track of stories and adventures that we take, but it is all I can do to post on Facebook and Instagram, so I fall behind on the blog.  

So here we are in March (the end of March at that too) and we just haven't been on-top of the social media stuff much less the stories of our sessions or our adventures.  But I do love what I do and I would LOVE to be your photographer.  2023 is a fun year so far and in June we will be celebrating 13 years in business in Arizona!

Sometimes I feel like an imposter or less-than.  I begin to compare myself to other photographers who have a finger on the pulse on the current trends, but while I am feeling bummed and insecure, I have to remind myself to ONLY compare myself to the past version of me.  That is why I am posting a 'look back' as my first blog post of 2023, sorry that it is already 3 months late, but here we are.  And you know what?  We are NOT 'less-than' we are not 'imposters' we are doing ok, and most importantly, we are learning and wanting to grow and keep trying new things.  

Turns out, we only have one life so we need to live it to the fullest. 

Come on the 2023 adventure with me.  My goal is to encourage others as I have tried to do in the past, and also to encourage myself and remember we all have worth and are amazing!  Let's do life together.  Let's celebrate the special days and let's celebrate the average days too.  Let's celebrate life.  Let's live life.  And I hope we can all do it with love in our hearts, leaving smiles in our wake.

Here is a photo of our newest family addition.  She is proof of how beautiful this life really is. 

My cup is overflowing.





August 3, 2021

New Video on the YouTube Channel!


Head over to our YouTube channel and subscribe then click the little bell so you get notified for updates!

This session was I.N.C.R.E.D.I.B.L.E.

Just WOW!

We met at sunrise and got amazing photos in the glow of the early morning.

I don't know if the sky was glowing more or if it was this stunning momma!

Have I mentioned lately how much I love my job?

Can't wait to meet this Princess but until then, we are praying for a safe and healthy delivery.

July 28, 2021

Before and After - Our edit style

Our editing style is our own - we do our best to get you the type of edits you wish for, we aren't just a canned filter or action.  We actually individually edit every single image we include in our packages.  We also listen to you and we do our best to get the style, coloring, etc that you are wishing for.  We love what we do and are so honored to have the opportunity to photograph amazing people.

Enjoy this preview into our style and process of editing.

Arizona Photographer

Hot Diggity Dog, I finally BLOGGED!!!


It has been a while (quite a while actually) since I have blogged.  I have promised that I would blog more commonly and update frequently more times than I can count!  I guess the best place to start is ANYWHERE, so how about here, and how about NOW?

It isn't that we haven't been busy, because we really have been.  And maybe that is why I haven't blogged much?  Maybe.  Maybe it is because in my typical 'blog-time' I have been spending it with family, organizing my home, working on my day-job, making props, creating marketing tools, and just trying to figure out updated trends and locations for sessions....just so much to do and so little time.  But I need to add Blogging to my to-do list.  I really DO need to get with the program!

I have some goals and I have some plans.  Now to just get them put into motion - - - that is the trick!

As everyone knows and has a story, 2020 and 2021 have been quite a ride.  Not all good - not all bad, but a ride none-the-less.  I have been busy, I have had changes and been negatively affected but have also had many MANY blessings. Although there have been some changes that we couldn't avoid, we have figured it out and continued moving forward.

Changes aren't always easy, but somehow they always make us who we are, right?  We can progress with the change and evolve into a better version of ourselves or we can sit still and unchanged or even lose ground.  I choose improvement.  I choose progress.  I choose to learn and grow.


I'd love to hear your comments - how did 2020 & 2021 affect you?  What did you do to make a change?


August 2, 2018

July 24, 2018

Why to Choose a Professional Photographer

Why should you hire Land of Wild Designs Photography to be your portrait photographer?  Lately, I have been seeing a lot of photo-shoots with someone taking Senior Portraits with a cell phone.  It is actually pretty common.  Yes, cell phones these days do capture beautiful photos, they really do - but let me take a moment of your time to explain to you why I think it is worthwhile to hire a professional photographer, and more specifically - - - me.
These photos are a rarely seen glimpse behind the scenes of one of our photo-sessions. We don't often post unedited images, but I wanted to let you know that part of the experience with a professional photographer is the final image.  The way they are in the camera isn’t always the way they end up in print.  As we move from area to area during a photo-session, the light changes, color-casts happen due to surrounding vegetation or objects, or other variables may come into play.  We are doing regular adjustments to the camera settings in the effort to get the photo as perfect as possible in camera during the photo-shoot, but occasionally, we move so fast with ideas and inspirations that we just shoot first and look second.  It is generally when we get the photos offloaded from the camera and onto the computer that we notice some of the details that need attention, such as an incorrect crop, or color balance or contrast that isn’t exactly what we want . . . so that is why every image that you get has been individually reviewed and enhanced with our professional editing software.  It is because we want the images we provide to you be end up in a frame.
Don’t get us wrong, keep taking those cell phone photos – please make sure that you document life in your own creative way, but keep us in mind for the professional portraits that will last a lifetime.  Sadly those cell phone images won’t print in the quality you hope and they end up looking so different in print than they look digitally on your device, and that can be disappointing.
Our images are individually edited, then sized specifically to be printed professionally to retain the resolution you are seeing on your computer or phone when you view your gallery.  We are selling more than just a digital image.  Land of Wild Designs provides an experience, we also provide very careful edits and we capture more than just the photo, we capture the emotion – the feeling.      

 A before/after image enhancing her skin, brightening the shadows, and bringing the color back into the background.

 
With a simple crop and rotate, the photo looks completely different.  On this image, we edited the background in a different style than we edited her skin & clothing so the contrast was wonderful - it really pops!

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