Special thanks to Koellsted Upholstery for allowing us to shoot on their amazing furniture.

This is a great question.  The proof book is a 8 1/2 x 11″ spiral bound book of your wedding images. The pages are printed on archival quality professional photo paper.  The proof book is like a catalog of your wedding images.  When it isn’t convenient to look through a disc full of images, sort through 4 x 6’s, or when you don’t have internet access to log onto your online gallery, you have a tangible book of images to relive your day.    It organizes your images by file name, making it easier to chose your album images as well as have a physical book to take with you to show your friends and family before you album is complete.

• First up would be some changes to the blog and website… Did you notice my little sun heart logo has gone into retirement? I kinda miss it already, but the time had come for it to be put to rest.  The story behind the sun heart actually came from when I lived in Arizona.  Phoenix is referred to as the Valley of the Sun, so when you add a little love, a sun heart logo was born. Well, and I also had 2 keychains from the Coach store that overlapped on my keyring one day forming a sun and a heart… So it was kind of meant to be.   It really represented happiness, love, sunny days, everything that made you feel good, but it didn’t necessarily compliment my photos and sometimes distracted from the elegance, so with a fond goodbye, or adios as I sometimes say… I’ll find a new use for you sunshine!   But… Please know I’m still the same sunny, happy person you know and love!  Some bigger changes are coming so check back and hopefully the transformation will be complete in the coming month.

• Next I want to send a big hug to all my past brides that gave me such great reviews and made Burnett Photography one of the recipients of the 2010 Brides Choice Awards! Thank You Girls! I once won a haircut in the 2nd grade, and it was BAD, (notice the capital letters) so I’m not much for contests, but I was honored that my brides said such sweet things!  I love each and every one of them!

• I was having a conversation the other day about canceled weddings and how it is better to cancel the wedding if you know it isn’t going to work out. Which got me thinking…  I went back though all my brides and guess what, every single one of them is my friend on facebook, AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM IS STILL MARRIED!   WOW… I’m at 100% over 5 years and I like those odds!

• Then there is my friend David Dismukes, who loaned me his old school Nikon film camera today!  He even gave me 3 rolls of film, now THAT is Southern Hospitality!  Look out people… This takes me back to the college days, well, except I’m not developing these in the darkroom, using my teeth to open the canisters and loading rolls of film in to spools all by myself.  I’ll leave that to the professionals.  Thank You David!

• Lastly, and because blog posts are way more fun with pictures…  I’ll leave you with a shot from a wedding  a few weeks ago…  Ashley and Owen were absolutely amazing and their friends and family were a blast!

Lacey’s gorgeous bouquet was from Stanley Sistrunk at the Flower Store and her shoes were from Diane Hassell of London.

Lacey added a set of gorgeous vintage broaches to her Priscilla of Boston gown.

Lacey had 15 of her closest girlfriends up to her suite for a champagne toast before she walked down the isle.

They left in a rickshaw in the rain and it was so fun!

Their reception was at Moore’s Mill and it looked amazing!

The cake was made by Gourmet Tiger

Congratulations Lacey & Thom!

Wedding Venue- Auburn University Chapel

Reception – Moore’s Mill Club

Rickshaw – Tiger Shaw

Hotel- Auburn University Hotel and Conference Center

Cake – Gourmet Tiger

Florist – Stanley Sistrunk – The Flower Store

Band- KingSized

Tables & Rentals – Special Arrangements

Wedding Planner – Beth Whitten

Hair & Make Up- Spa Auburn

Dress – Priscilla of Boston

Shoes – Diane Hassel of London

The random drawing winner was #54

Who was Jen Rhodes!!

The second winner was chosen for having the best reason for wanting a session and the winner was Tami.  It took me awhile to post this because I wanted to ask permission to share her story.  I have cried several times reading this and trying to put it here on the blog, so please take a moment to read an incredible story!

We had twins in June of 2008, a boy and a girl Audrey and Avery. A couple of hours later, the nurse rushed in and said, “we need to get Momma in the NICU right away.” I was nervous and felt like I couldn’t get there fast enough.When they rolled me into the NICU the doctor proceeded to tell me that their hearts both stopped at the same time. She went on to say things, but I just didn’t understand what she was saying. I looked at Adam and he said, “Our baby girl is gone.” I was in complete shock. After much persuasion, the nurse convinced me to hold her, I didn’t want to hold her out of fear, I didn’t want to face reality. I still wanted her hooked up to those machines, because that meant she was still alive. But they unhooked her and wrapped her up in a blanket and put her in my arms. It was so hard. My body was going into physical shock (septic shock) due to the massive amount of blood lost during surgery, and my heart, and mind were in shock and not able to comprehend the magnitude of loss I just experienced. We sat there, crying, and staring at her. She was so beautiful and perfect, I couldn’t understand how she couldn’t be alive. My wheelchair was parked in the middle of my twins, and to my right was our sweet boy, Avery. As we looked into Audrey’s face, heartbroken, we would look up and see Avery’s tiny body, fighting for life. They worked on him for another hour and half. The doctor explained that there wasn’t anything left for them to do and asked what we wanted them to do. I looked at her and said that I know what she was saying, but I couldn’t tell her to stop trying. How can you tell someone to stop trying to do everything they can to save your child?   Just minutes later, he was gone.  We never thought about taking pictures of them, we weren’t ready or had planned to have them on that day and so we didn’t have a camera with us.

I never knew leaving would be so difficult. There were no babies in my arms and no carseats to fill. We had their funeral the day after our 8th anniversary and then we were faced with a new life and learned how strong we were and how good God is. God has been our rock. Adam is such a strong man of God and really helped me get through it. We never gave up hope. In fact, we didn’t have a middle name for Audrey and during the time I was in my room after they were born, I starting thinking about her middle name. Immediately, I felt like I heard the name Hope being spoken. It was so clear that this was to be her middle name, I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of that before! But little did we know that “Hope” would be what would bring us through the most difficult time of our lives, and keep us living. If it weren’t for hope we wouldn’t have had the strength to keep trying. We tried IVF again in Jan 09 and June 09 with no success. We tried again in October and are finally pleased to be pregnant…with triplets and we are due on our 10th anniversary!!

Because we didn’t have the opportunity to take professional pictures with Audrey and Avery, it is even more important and on the forefront of our minds with the delivery of our triplets.  We want to make sure that we capture their first few weeks here with us with special portraits and capture their smallest of features.  We can’t go back and get close up shots of our twins tiny feet or hands, but we can with our triplets and don’t want to miss this opportunity to celebrate their lives through photographs.

I think after reading Tami’s story, you can clearly see why I felt she and her husband Adam deserved to receive the session.  But it gets better… I had an option on the contest to get an extra entry for posting about the contest on their facebook or blog, and Tami posted a link on her facebook page.  What happened next made me cry again.  Several of Tami’s friends and family registered to win a session and instead of asking for themselves they each asked that if they won to please give the session to Tami, because she, if anyone deserved photographs of her babies when they arrive… And I”M CRYING AGAIN!

Tami and Adam are expecting their triplets this summer, and I am so excited to be a part of capturing this families memories.  I will ask you, whether you are a friend, client, or just stopping by this blog, PLEASE say a prayer for Adam and Tami and these three tiny babies they are expecting.  Lift them up in your prayers and deliver them safely into the arms of their Mommy and Daddy.

Thank you Tami for sharing your story, and I can’t begin to tell you how much it means to me to be able to give you this session.

And I found a little wallet size family pic that I’m guessing is about 1995 or so? And yes, I got my Dad’s crazy hair and eyebrows.

Now these are both nice pictures and all, but if you know my Dad, you know he is the funniest, goofiest, story telling guy you have ever met.  In fact, my kids and I were having a conversation about why old people sometimes tell the same stories over and over again, and one of my boys said, “Not Grandpa, he tells lots of stories, but they are never true!”  To which we all laughed because that is SOOO Dad.  He makes up all kinds of funny stories to make us laugh.  He’s gonna kill me for this, but I stole this image off my Mom’s facebook page.. This is my Dad!   I’m not sure if he’s trying to look like  a moose or he’s just trying to appease my mom and get the picture over with, but this makes me smile so big because this is how he normally looks, minus the funny gloves!  I love you Daddy!  Happy Birthday!

Amanda and Larry each got ready at The Auburn Hotel and Conference Center.

Amanda made an absolutely stunning bride…

The Handsome Groom…

Amanda and Larry said their vows at Auburn’s Holy Trinity Church.

We took a few minutes to get some nighttime images in front of Samford Hall!

The wedding cakes by Barbs Cakes were phenomenal!

Congratulations Amanda and Larry!

Wedding:  Holy Trinity

Reception:  Auburn Hotel and Conference

Flowers: Opelika Floral Company

Cakes: Barbs Cakes

Band: Kidd Blue

Tableware:  BBJ Linen

Hair:  Envy at Wisteria – Atlanta

Dress Designer: Cassablanca