Defining your own personal style with your photography is a life process it doesn’t just happen over night and as an artist defining your personal style and taste changes constantly. Through building our business we have go through a lot of likes and dislikes of editing. We’ve traveled through warm images, crazy colors, too smooth of skin and the crazy white eyes [yes I admit I DID THAT!], but without that I wouldn’t and we wouldn’t be where we currently are with our post processing. We’ve grown so much with our editing, now instead of smoothing skin out we just remove a few imperfections and let the true person shine through, instead of brightening eyes we make that happen in the camera by using the right lighting or bounce lighting off of items around us. We started spending less and less time editing due to the fact that we do not wish to drastically change how our images look but instead enhance them, make them pop and appeal to the look that we love. We’ve simplified so much over the years and it’s truly been for the best. We are so happy now and each and every session we edit we are always so excited to share. Growing through art is such a crazy process but such a rewarding one at the same time.

We couldn’t be more thrilled to share the images below that were all taken by the amazing and so talented Kate Crabtree, and then edited by us. Showing our style vs. her own, what our eye sees when we get the chance to edit her images. This is something that should also be seriously considered when hiring a photographer for a session or a wedding. Look through their recent work on their blog [not just their portfolio] and see if what they are producing is what you would want your images to look like. Chances are that most photographers will not redefine their style or change their style for you, so you should find someone who already fits what you are looking for. In the end you will be the most satisfied with the images that you are receiving.

Thank you so much Kate for asking us to join in on this, it was so much fun and such a great experience, it really helped us see our own work in a new light and define our style just a little bit more! If you would like to check out the images that Kate edited from one of our session go here! It will further show the difference that two photographers have when looking at and producing their images. Kate did an awesome job editing our images and we were so excited to see them and see the differences.

Check out Kate’s full post of this beautiful girl and inspiring images here!

All Images take by Kate Crabtree. Images on the left edited by Kate Crabtree, Images on the right edited by Jillian McGrath Photography. This images were NOT take by us.

Matt, Lauren and Quinn just had so much love, care and compassion for each other they were so much fun to photograph.  Not to mention they are just goofy and we love that! They made a family session so much fun and so enjoyable. Letting Quin run around and do his own thing, he kept us on our toes and laughing the entire time In the end we couldn’t be more happy with how this session ended up turning out. We are so proud of these images and are so excited to not only have shared them with Matt and Lauren but to share them with all who check out our blog. Maybe one day we will actually start capturing more families

Thank you so so so much Matt + Lauren for asking us to capture you, your family and your love. We had such an amazing time and couldn’t be more happy to have had the opportunity to capture you three and get to know you better! Let’s do it again! Enjoy <3

The process of coming up with and putting the shoot together went really seamlessly, Belovely Events took over where they know best, decorating and bring together all of the crazy ideas in our heads and their own. Their knowledge of amazing artists in the wedding industry built an amazing creative team for this Penelope inspired shoot. It was hard not to feed off of the energy of the day.

Penelope is such an inspiring story to begin with, but to bring it to life in a wedding setting was just amazing to watch and even more fun to photograph. From the beautiful details that Belovely Events provided us with, to the amazing flowers by Wildflowers by Design, to the cake by Addy Maes, the invitations by Studio Four Three and more, it was pure eye candy. Each artist did what they did best for this stylized shoot and made this shoot exactly what you see. We couldn’t be more grateful to them all.

Our approach to shooting this amazing set up was go at it with wonder and possibility. Not hold anything back and just exploring our environment, our models and the decor kind of like Penelope in the movie. Josh and Colleen were so amazing to work with and so laid back smiling, laughing and having a genuinely good time. Evey thing just fell right into place and magic happened.

We couldn’t be more proud of this shoot and everyone’s hard work and effort to make it all come together beautifully! From the pig noses to the piano and everything in between everyone truly worked together as a beautiful creative team to bring together Penelope and Johnny’s love story. Bring it together as inspiration for any bride planning a wedding looking to add a little sparkle to their day.

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From the Belovely Ladies:
When Jillian McGrath Photography came to us to do this styled shoot, we knew from the get-go that we wanted to do something fun and edgy. Her photos are so soft and pretty but still have that mysterious, wanderlust appeal and we wanted to take full advantage. When we thought of the idea to do a Penelope inspired shoot, the more we watched the film the more we felt inspired to design a shoot – it was perfect! The movie has such a bright, magical and whimsical feel but also has a dark, rebellious and cursed storyline. Jillian’s style and our inspiration complimented one another so well and we couldn’t be more happy with the results!

In designing the shoot we wanted to stick as close to the movie as possible, however try to plan something as if Penelope was truly our client. As a horticulture enthusiast, the Horticulture Center was the absolute perfect location for Penelope! We started off with an engagement shoot of the couple, with bright colors, and an ode to the movie of how they first fell for one another – learning about one another through music and chatting over a few games of chess.

For the big wedding we couldn’t help but make it as colorful as possible, but in a sophisticated, whimsical way. We absolutely loved the purple wedding dress and the wonderful florals by Wildflowers by Design. While planning this shoot we gave all our vendors some color and inspiration guidelines but really wanted them to put their own mark on it. Working with so many artists on such a wildly fun shoot, we knew we couldn’t go wrong with ‘the bigger the better’ – so we just let them have at it.

All in all the shoot came out even better than expected. A photo booth with pig noses and a Penelope mask seemed like such a fun way to add in some silliness, and a scarf wedding favor felt so appropriate. We loved our ceremony and reception set up – with an air plant heart backdrop, and a hot pink branch chandelier inspired by the pink tree in Penelope’s bedroom…we truly feel as if we captured Penelope and Johnny’s love for one another and planned their perfect wedding truly exemplifying what makes them them.

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Thank you so much to all of the amazing and so truly talented vendors involved in making this shoot truly amazing! All of your help and support truly means the world to us and without you all this would never have turned out nearly as beautiful as it did. Be sure to check out these amazing vendors and what they have to offer to make your wedding day truly a day you will never forget.

Thank you so much Colleen and Ross for being awesome and for being who you are. We cannot wait to photograph your wedding where we know there will be excitement, star wars, zombies, and all sorts of other zany fantasticness that always seems to comes from you guys!