This won't be pretty.

Welcome!

Ok so the title says this wont be pretty and well.. it won't.
BUT...

I am a real person and while you book me cause I'm fun, I laugh.. I may take pictures too.. OH and I Dougie. I'm still a real person.

It's almost 365 days since the husband left to go to Korea. In those 365 days I've stayed strong, grown as a photographer, a mother, a person. I haven't really let anyone see me fall and to be honest I havent fallen hard.. (except for last Friday when I sprained my ankle.. but we wont talk about that).
Today though the list of things I wanted to do was so long and so daunting that I couldn't categorize where I needed to start or even see a light at the end of the tunnel.
I needed to wear so many hats today.. one of mother, one of maid, one of photographer, one of wife, one of business owner. Usually I can wear one hat for a few take it off put on the next one and get it all done. Yet todayI needed to wear all the hats at the same time! Well apparently when you combine all the hats, they magically turn  into the "crybaby" hat. So this day today I was a cry baby.. I cried at everything. It was like my body was on a mission to loose all the water it had retained.

So here I am , its the end of the day.. Ive taken off most hats and put my work one on by its self and I am getting stuff done. I try not to think of all the things on the list I didn't get accomplished because in the end of the day I have to realize I'm just one person.

I tell you all this.. (you know my 5 readers) cause whether you are a mom, a bride-to-be a fellow photog.. we all try to wear an insane amount of hats and if you find yourself like me today crying to your best friend who lives a million miles away.. you might remember this post and go " I totally know what she was going through". It may make you smile to know you aren't alone and its ok to be a cry baby! I'm owning my cry baby and in 14 days at 10:30pm I'll be another cry baby.. the best part is though it'll be in my husbands arms and he will wipe my tears and say, " I can help you Monday- Saturday, all you need,... but you better stock up on Kleenex cause Sunday is football and you ll need to put your hats back on!"

Donna and Jason | Engaged

Row, row row your boat....

Ok well I did no rowing but I did do lots of snapping!

I couldn't help myself... Cypress Gardens is gorgeous! Donna and Jason are beyond in love! and I was thrilled to be where they filmed the boat scene from The Notebook.

I love when we head out on shoots and we laugh! We laughed hard this day.. at Donna insisting that better life insurance should have been taken out before Jason decided to rock the boat! We laughed when we realized the bottom of the boat was wet and sitting in it was probably not one of my better ideas.. but anything for the shot! We laughed just because rowing these boats is not easy and trees... well they just get all up in your way! (seriously they were jumping out of nowhere!)

But when I get home I smile! Cause I look at the pics and realize..... this is what it's all about!

Congrats Donna and Jason! Can't wait till October! :) (there aren't any boats at the wedding right?)

Shot by Chad Carlile

Special thanks to the most awesome boat guides at Cypress Gardens who removed all the life jackets :) and the unsightly back rests!

And as always special thanks to Chad Carlile for second shooting and his rowing skills.. and lets not forget his serenade skills!

The Photographers Assistant

Some days here at Collette Mruk Photography we just like to have fun....

Please note.... Chad is not really treated this bad! (at least not all the time).
Huge thanks to all the assistants out there! :)

Awesome family photos aren't easy!

Afternoon!

My job is behind a camera. Seriously! It is! Don't take pictures of me... I won't like it. I can make you look and feel beautiful, handsome, sexy, fun.. insert more adjectives here... BUT when I go to have pictures of myself taken, things go wrong. Terribly wrong!

I don't know what it is... maybe the camera senses an intruder, it knows. It knows that someone foreign is handling it and it's proper owner is in front. Maybe my body physically rejects photos of me taken.. like the flash actually sends me into spaz mode. But almost never do I get a photo of me and go... "Heck Yeah, I like it!". What I do get is eyes half closed, funky poses, sticking my tongue out, talking.. the list continues.

So I have given up... until today! Today I let the assistant fire a few pics of myself or me and the kiddos..l You can judge for yourself if I should resume the position behind the lens!

You don't actually have to tell me.... I'm behind the camera again! :)

One Crazy Day!

One Crazy Day!

Most days, during the summer I refuse to join the world till about 10 am. This is a personal choice and it may not work for you but it makes Collettie very happy. (ps In my defense I stay up till 3am). But the last few days I have had to get up at, are you ready for this... 7am! It's a very disgusting time! (ps.. I was still going to bed at 3am cause why would I compensate knowing I had to get up early).

So yesterday was one of those get up early days.. cause it was a marathon of a day! First, I had to LEAVE the house by 8am(gasp!). So at 7:45 I rolled out of bed, (my alarm went off at 7 but Hey, that's what snooze buttons are for!). I get to the door and low and behold the best assistant is there with a Dr. Pepper (no ice)! Ahhh the breakfast of champions!

And we were off.. first on the list was Cypress Gardens.. this is also where the boat scene was filmed for the movie 'The Notebook'. Twenty minutes into the car ride I finally woke up!

So here is the deal, You have to row your own boat merrily down the stream. Well yeah I cant row the boat. I have tried, I went in a circle... Hence "the Chad". So my super cute couple is in the boat in front and Chad, myself and the Canons are in the next one.
The shoot went great.. lots of laughs! The groom to be is rocking the boat for bride to be though at one point so hard I am considering making couples now sign a "Collette Mruk will not be responsible for the end of your engagement due to groom tipping over boats and bride being eaten by gators." (this didn't happen just thinking of the 'what if's'!
So Chad and I turn to head back to dry land (insert picture of me kissing ground when we arrive) and this is when the first beauty of the day is shot.... as we leave our super cute couple on the lake Chad decides to set the mood:

So in case you can't tell.. we are a bit crazy here at Collette Mruk Photography!

As soon as this session ended we were off to the next. We were shooting the appearance of Guy Harvey at Palmetto Moon. Of course i had one mission to accomplish there.. I wanted a picture with him with both Chad and I turned around pointing to our shirts.....

It started normal (we don't let um see our crazy right out the gate)

Than it was time.. we knew what we were doing but no one else.... I failed... Epically!

Dear Collette.. while the back of your head is ridiculous... this was not the pic we needed!

Oh well its time to head to the next:

The shoot with Noel... Now I wasn't expecting some crazy but we let our freak flags fly high! There aren't proper words for what went down all I can do is show the pics...

Planking!

Superman on the random chair

LOL.. We love Noel!

This is an abandoned building and honestly I don't want to know what else lives in that hole!

Reminds me of the 1980's super glue commercial

Don't block the ramp!

Umm yeah... Almost pee'd my pants for this one.. this is the last shot of the day!

So in the end... I love super busy crazy days! Most people are not as lucky as me! I have a wonderful hubbie who listens to me while miles away talk about all my fun and goofy times! A great assistant who joins in and waves his own crazy flag! And clients who make me laugh and smile with every outing and shot! 

And.. last but not least I now promise to have a video of Collette Mruk Photography.. teaching you 'How to Dougie' from our next wedding... stay tuned.. Fun times, amazing clients and good laughs will definitely continue!

How to successfully lose stuff and be super happy about it!

Morning!

So in my 2 years of snapping away I've been pretty lucky...

I havent had a card fail... (knock on wood)
I havent dropped a lens...(double knock on wood)
I havent killed anyone with making them do strange crazy things while risking their life...(Knock on wood, wiggle ears, spin three times)

But last night in the misty ocean of Folly I came across my first dealings with some bad luck...

ok so here's how it goes:

I got my girl Hanna and shes looking all cute and apparently people are noticing cause some super drunks would not leave us alone.
So it's about 9:30 and I go to get some pics further out in the ocean water of another model
Well to do this I must carry the lights out (well I cant carry them but we wont name names of the culprit)...

I got my shot all ready to go, I mean i am locked and loaded and I got a guy in jeans in front of me... the water has wet just enough of the jeans.. it's gonna be super sexy.. I check the settings, I line up the focus... I press the shutter... and Nothing.

ok, ok no big deal lights didnt go off.. try again

I check the settings, I line up the focus...

Zero, Zip, Nada

And then I hear the voice, (you know the one holding my light behind me) say, "umm Collette, there is no transmitter attached.. I think it fell."

It did right in the ocean...It's is now Shark Bait.. ohh haha (Nemo people, you know the movie)!

So normally I would be upset, possibly sad and kicking myself for bringing equipment out near the dangerous seas but something magical has happened...

I got home and saw this shot:

It's not the jean soaked male model.. but it is my super smokin friend Hanna right before the loss of light and I realize "I'm glad I decided to bypass Taco Boy and take the challenge to go out!"

Hanna Banana.. you look Amazing

Jean soaked male model... we will meet again

Light holder... Youre lucky you make some sick music mixes :)

And in the end it's all about how you find the brightside :)

I vow to blog!

Whats up!

So I fully admit my failures in life:

1.) become a lawyer.. fail
2.)never drive a minivan.. super fail
3.)blog every day for the year my husband is gone... EPIC FAIL!

It seems I have missed 300 days (give or take).. quit counting! But guess what your daily dose of crazy is back on track!

I vow to blog about my life, my dogs, frick and frack, my clients and the darn bees!

300 days (roughly I said.. quit counting) have passed... what the heck have I been doing?

I've been shooting weddings, shooting engagements, shooting models, running buisnesses and basically smiling!
Its been slightly over a year since I moved to Charleston and all I can say is Thanks! The people, the place, the friends, everyone! I feel pretty darn lucky to be here!
I've seen some of the most beautiful places and met some of the most beautiful people inside and out!

Now I sit I have 31 days till the husband returns from Korea, 15 days till the girls start school and 2 hours to edit my last session! My arms feel like jello cause somewhere in the wee hours of the morning i decided i was ready to start doing p90x...now this is not a good idea... at least right now its not cause my arms feel like jello and i am most certain i have lost all muscle control! But eventually you will see this girl and her Canon out and about downtown.. in a tank top....(yikes) and be proud cause I will have some fabulous arms and I'll be wearing something smashing from Charlotte Russe and the beatles shirt I love to death will be replaced by something so fab I wont mind being in front of the camera!

But until than.. here are some of my favorite pics from the last few months...(300 days I know I know)!

<3
Collette

Till tomorrow peeps!