the great 2014 senior search | contests

I guess you could say that I started out shooting senior portraits...and portraits in general remain my favorite! Be it wedding portraits, senior in high school or even college portraits, or family portraits, I love going out with one (plus some) to capture their personality in tiny pieces of magic—pixels. :) However, what is the fun in having crazy cool photos of yourself and not displaying them?!

On another note, I'm realizing a few things.

1. I'm getting close to wrapping things up with the 2013 senior class.

2. My baby sister graduates high school in 2013, and most of her friends do, too.

3. There are a lot of current high school juniors (and 2014 seniors!) that I don't know.

4. Everyone likes to hang photos on the wall. Especially of themselves. Especially free ones!

So what's a girl to do!? Especially one who loves photos and is doing what she knows how (and a lot of what she doesn't!) to build a client base & business while in college?

Well, she's going to announce something biiiiig and exciting! That's what!
if you're an Amelia Renee 2013 high school senior, this is for you!


how it works:

I'm looking for 10+ of the coolest, raddest, artsiest, out of the box fun, craziest, most awesome seniors-to-be!

—So, if I had the pleasure of shooting your senior photos this year...

—Show any current juniors this blog, give them my email, make them write on the facebook page—do whatever it takes! ;)
—For each senior-to-be that books me by April 1st, YOU get entered into a drawing!

But now you want to know the prize.
Well, it's photography related. Obviously.

And it's awesome. 

Why? Simply because you are on it!

On April 1st, I'll draw from the pool of names. 

The winner gets an 11x14 gallery wrap for free!
(that's a $115 value—just for you!)

sidenote: if you're a junior, and you don't know any of the seniors that I had the pleasure of working with this year, that's ok! you can still pre-book your session!!! in your email, just mention which senior's photos were your favorite & I'll add them to their credit. :)

[if you're confused after reading this (my head is spinning with excitement just writing this post!) just shoot me an email & I'll try to clarify for you! ameliareneephoto (at) gmail.com :) ]

and, ready, set, GO!

amelia renee

new personal project!

this year, i decided to attempt something i've been wanting to do for a long time...a 365! if you aren't familiar with what a 365 is, it's when a photographer take a photo every day for a year. sometimes they get super crazy and always do a self-portrait (generally really amazing, intense, time-consuming ones) but i've just decided that i'll take a photo. it may be a self-portrait, but it really can be anything. the goal is to keep the camera in my hands, to document my daily life (because so often i don't even think to photograph an event or daily occurrence!) and to try some new techniques & ideas along the way.

i'm hoping to shoot some crazy cool ideas floating around in my head, although some of them may have to wait until later aka spring. ;) but if you'd like to keep up with my little project, the link can be found here!

photo from day 9. one of my current favorites:)

love always,

amelia renee:)

PASSION 2013 | personal

Can you believe that it has already been 2013 for two whole weeks? Especially now that I've started up classes again...I know that this year is going to go by so, so fast. Christmas break did, and part of it was that I was down in Atlanta, Georgia for almost a week at a conference for college students. It's been put on every year since 1997, started by well-known paster, author & speaker Louie Giglio—and has reached the largest numbers yet!!! This January, 60,000 students met in the Atlanta Dome to hear wonderful speakers such as Beth Moore, John Piper, and Francis Chan, to worship the Lord with a wide variety of musical artists (hello, David Crowder!), and to become united in our love for Christ! I decided that I didn't want to take my huge camera, should anything happen to it...that would be baaad news bears! So I had to do with my little ol' point&shoot. Apologies for the low-quality photos, but hey, it's better than nothing! :) we drove a charter bus down & around in Atlanta the line of students waiting to register at 2:00 pm on 1/1/2013! so glad we pre-registered!! remember how we were going down south "where it is warm?" well, it was warmer than iowa...by a little. and a wholeee lot more rainy! those of us who forgot umbrellas improvised;) worship! so many students! this was during a break, but normally the entire bottom, middle and top (red) sections were practically full of people.
lunch time with new friends!  I attended on a Beth Moore scholarship. She is such a woman of the Lord, and we gals were able to listen to her for an hour and hear the stories of a few of the girls who came on scholarship as well. Such amazing testimonies! when JAX kids are in the same place, something is going to happen! we attempted to go to Rita's (there was one in Jacksonville, FL—where we were last summer) but it was closed! sad day. :/ the Passion committee asked us to each bring a towel & socks to the conference. they're used to stock all the atlanta homeless shelters...and even beyond, with overflow! this is just one stack of towels...there were more! fav fav fav photo from the week! this is my beloved family group!:) they were all kinds of wonderful—we met 6 times through the course of Passion to talk about what we were learning/hearing and how it applies to our life. love you guys! go striped purple! ;)
the biggest take-away from the week: the END-IT Movement. modern day slavery is something i've been passionate & interested in for years, but it's hard when not many people know or care that it exists. our generation is seeing the MOST SLAVES EVER. this is so horrible! can you imagine a life of hopelessness, all you've ever known is having to pull fish from a river, being a domestic servant from a young age, factory work, or be sexually abused multiple times a day? it happens all over the world, even in the US. we want to end this. so please, check out the link above. Slavery can be ended!

all in all,  passion was so so so wonderful!  if you get a chance,  go! love always, amelia renee:)

Erin Rose | Winter Portraits

i love life with friends, especially ones who keep me laughing! erin rose is definitely one of those good friends. (you'll notice that she is rarely serious in photos. "i can't stop laughing! it's what i do!" i enjoyed spending my warm, snow-melty, wintery afternoon with this gal. we took a walk through her neighborhood, while small children on a daycare walk trailed us and cars headed home in the disappearing sunlight. it was so fun listening to erin tell me about the homes in her neighborhood. "this is who i was on the phone with earlier!" "i've babysat here before. i hope they aren't home...that would be embarrassing for them to find me on their front steps!" 
i think i'm quickly deciding january sunlight is my favorite. so gorgeous! so if anyone wants some new headshots, wintery senior photos, or just portraits for the heck of it...now is your time;)

love always, amelia renee:)

A Year in Review | 2012

if I had to choose a word for this year, it would be growth. in all areas of my life (academically, as a photographer, spiritually, emotionally) i have seen improvement! specifically in my photography, i've been able to experiment more—and so learn more what my "style" is. there have been new experiences that i've had to experience, new cameras and equipment, new people...now new friends:) so thank you, to all the new friends! those who have been willing to let me learn more about you through the lens of my camera, to drag you through mud or fields for "that one photo!" or get up before the break of dawn so that the light will be perfect for your session. none of these images would be possible without you! 2012 was a good year, but I fully expect 2013 to blow it out of the water! it holds so many wonderful surprises for all of us, of this i am sure. and i already have a few surprises up my sleeves, so be prepared:) cheers! here is a tiny glimpse into 2012. in backwards chronological order, 'cause that's how i roll.









































































love always, amelia renee:)