Loquacious Lady

UPDATE: My bag has been sold. Thanks for the interest!!

————————————

I LOVE my camera bags by Epiphanie bags. I have two, the Belle bag and the Clover bag, and they are both awesome. Here’s why:

• They look like purses, not manly camera bags.
• The inside is bright, so I can see all of my equipment.
• The inside is also able to be rearranged to suit my needs thanks to the super thick padding having tough velcro on the edges.
• It can carry all of my camera stuff PLUS all of my necessities from my purse, so when I go to a photoshoot, I only need one bag.
• When traveling, no one even knows I have a nice camera with me because they just think I have a purse. I feel like less of a tourist (and therefore less of a target).

The only thing my Belle camera bag didn’t carry was my laptop, which was too bad because when I was traveling, I had to bring it in another bag.

So, for Christmas, I asked for the Clover bag by Epiphanie bags. It can carry a 15″ macbook pro, which is what I have, as well as all the other things my first Epiphanie camera bag could carry.

And I got it! I LOVE it.

Unfortunately, there was a mix-up, and I received two. Not long after Christmas I had Josey. Then I tried to return the bag, and they told me I had waited too long and gone past the return date.

SO. Here I am with two awesome Clover bags. One I have used, and one I have never even touched. Seriously. I left it in the plastic and green packaging so that I could return it.

Now I am offering to sell it to you for $10 LESS than they sell it for on the Epiphanie Bags website…completely brand spankin’ new.

They sell it for $184.99 plus taxes and shipping which totals to $195, and I am willing to sell it for $175, no taxes and no shipping-as long as it is within the continental US. With taxes and shipping taken out, that saves you a total of $20 from what you would pay to Epiphanie bags for the same thing!

(Here is a picture I took with a cell phone to show the camera in the bag, along with the laptop and cord, an extra lens and a flash):

It is the Clover bag in pink, and here is the description from the site:

Dimensions (LxWxH) 18x 6.25 x13 inches. Exterior is water-resistant, high quality synthetic leather. Interior crafted with extra padding for maximum equipment protection. Velcro panels can be adjusted and moved to any position for maximum customization and flexibility. Removable cross-body strap with padding for extra support. Two exterior pockets, one with zipper . Zipper top closure, with one zippered interior pocket. BAG CAN HOLD: 1 15″ macbook pro with battery cord,1 camera body with lens attached,1 long lens, 2 extra lenses, wallet, keys, cell phone, and other miscellaneous personal items.

If you are interested in buying this from me, you can comment below or email me directly at meghan {at} loquaciouslady.com. It is a great bag; I know from experience!

Get yourself one today!

~Meghan

Yesterday, in between bouts of editing, I had a photoshoot with a family from our church. They wanted to get some family portraits, like they do every year or two, and I was so honored to have been asked.

But my favorite photo of the day is one I promised not to share online. I did not, however, promise not to tell anyone about it!

I should start by saying I love this family. They are so down to earth and fun. The mom’s sense of humor ALWAYS has me laughing.

Anyway, she wanted a picture in a certain room in her parents’ house, but it wasn’t very conducive to photography. We decided to turn a deep, squashy chair by the window around to get light on the face of whomever was in it.

But the seat was just too deep and narrow for a good shot of a family of four. I mentioned to the mom that we might end up with an “awkward family photo” if we ended up using it. To my surprise, she said, “I wanted to get you to take one of those of us- on purpose- for a friend of mine who loves that site!”

After the husband sat in the chair, this mom and I got the giggles. He’s a tall guy, and even he looked dwarfed in this chair. On top of that, he had crossed his legs, which gave me an idea.

I had the kids sit on either armrest and cross their legs. Then mom crawled onto the back of the chair and did the same…somewhat like a “mudflap” girl.

(source)

To make things even funnier, behind them in the photo are Civil War weapons hanging over the fireplace. The mom’s dad is a collector. I wish I could share this photo with you.

I took a few pictures, then we moved on to more normal portraits. But I will forever love this family for having enough of a sense of humor to want this kind of photo of them taken. Granted, the dad looked a little skeptical, but he kept his mouth shut and let me and the mom have our fun.

Her friend is going to love her Christmas present this year.

~Meghan

Lately I’ve been editing photos SOOOO much.

I am determined to get these out on time.

Back to it.

~M

I just saw a picture that Tom took on Saturday when I was getting some portraits of the groom’s family. Jellybean was very obviously a part of my day.

I also notice how badly I need to get that blonde streak in my hair touched up. Yikes. I look pretty ragged.

Toting Jellybean around all day when I pretty much was on my feet for 12 hours straight and didn’t eat a thing from 1pm until 8:45pm took it out of me.

It took me all of Sunday and Monday  to recover. I definitely don’t have the same level of energy I had before I was pregnant!

~Meghan

As many of you have noticed, I’ve added a new logo to my photos, and I’ve put “Story Lens Photography” on my photos for some time.

I decided on the name Story Lens Photography because I feel like portraits should help tell the story of someone’s life; they should be a window into where that person is in life at the time of the photoshoot. That’s my goal for each photo session, so I ran with it. Story Lens Photography was born.

Then, I got serious about getting a site together. I wanted it to kick booty, so I decided to wait until ProPhoto Theme was released by the 8BIT guys.

And who better to hire to design my site than 8BIT’s own designer, Jared? Through 8BIT, Tom and I have gotten to know all the guys, and they are each so talented. Not to mention, they’re just awesome people. Jared is the only designer I wanted touching my site, so we met and discussed what I wanted.

He absolutely BLEW IT OUT OF THE WATER. I could never in a million years have explained what I wanted well enough to have expected a design that captured every last detail I could imagine…and quite a few that I didn’t even think of on my own.

Then I turned to my hubs, Tom,…who, ya know, happens to be the developer for 8BIT….to make Jared’s design into a functional website. He freaking rocks. And he made it hum with perfection.

So, go ahead and be jealous. I got my site completely pimped out by the 8BIT team. Just one of the perks of being married into this elite group of (somehow, very cool) nerds.

And while you’re at it, I’d love to introduce you to my site. Please check out Story Lens Photography, and let me know what you think!

~Meghan

Well, I’m still alive. I have been SO bad about blogging because I’m just so dang tired and a good dose of nauseated. I don’t feel like doing anything.

But today, I woke up with goals:

Get a shower, get dressed in normal clothes instead of PJ’s, put on make up, dry hair. (So far, I’ve done all of that.)

Eat cereal, blog, go check out sewing machines in Duluth. (Still in the process.)

Come home, do laundry. (Well, I don’t doubt I’ll at least come home.)

Make an actual meal for dinner instead of Tom making himself sandwiches…again. (When it grosses you out to even open the fridge, it’s hard to cook. But I can do this, I can do this, I can do this!)

____________________

Anyway, in order to complete a goal, I am blogging. And for your enjoyment, here are some photos of my brother, Jonathan, his wife, Lisa, and the fab four: Tyler, Madeline, Anna Kate, and Violet.

I took these the day before their 10th wedding anniversary. The picture of the kids pulling them apart is mimicking that same pose done with flower girls and ring bearers on their wedding day.

And I just realized that I put the new logo on both photos of Violet and Jonathan. Oops. I guess I went a little logo crazy. But can you blame me? I can’t wait to tell you more about the designer behind the logo AND the new website that will be coming soon. SO pumped!

Anyway, hope you enjoyed the photos. I had fun looking through all the shots from that session and seeing the ones that really made me laugh or sigh or smile. Aren’t they a pretty family?

Jellybean is going to be so lucky to have all those cousins to play with so close-by!
~Meghan

Yesterday, my sister, Kristen, brother-in-law, James, and my niece, Ella, all headed down to the beach for some photo time. I really love sunlight for photos, and at the beach, it just seems that much prettier.

You might not believe me, but I was working HARD for every smile I got out of Ella-Belle. She was not in the mood, but I managed to dance like crazy, kick water all over myself, work up a sweat making crazy faces and noises, and get some smiles out of her. Phew!!

~Meghan

A couple of weekends ago, I got together with Chris and Rachel to photograph their engagement session. What a beautiful couple. And sweet too.

Also, this location is hard to beat. It kind of has it all.

Yep. All of that- the gardens, the palms, the ranch, the lake, ALL of it- was one location. What sweet, generous homeowners the McFarlands are to let us borrow their property for the day. This is a tiny handful of the photos.

I’ve known Rachel since we were about seven or eight years old, and I really enjoyed capturing all these special memories for her and Chris. I had a lot of fun working with them, and I’m excited about their wedding in August!

Thanks for letting me help tell your story, you two!
~Meghan

Lia has certainly changed a lot since I met her at 5 days old. Back then she was teeny-weeny and sleepy, like most newborns.

She’s now 6 months old, has gorgeous, multi-colored eyes, and has a totally delightful personality. She just smiles and laughs constantly. I adored photographing her.

Did I mention that she’s teething? Well. She’s teething. Didn’t affect her attitude any. Amazing.

So fun.

~Meghan

Had to post just one picture from today. More to come.

But seriously? I mean…How cute are they?

I can’t wait to narrow down the 3 million or so photos (it feels like 3 million anyway) that I just transferred to my computer so I can get to editing.

I get paid to take pictures of good-looking people. I like this job.

~Meghan