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Isabel Sam Photography bio picture

Welcome to my blogsite!

Welcome to my site! I wanted something different and completely personable - like my photography - and a blogsite seemed to be my perfect fit! 

This is my little corner of the internet where I get to show off my fun and custom portraiture! I love updating my blog with joyful images from clients and my little family, so feel free to come back often!!!

If you love my work as much as I do, please leave a comment or just say hello :)

With lots of love,

Isabel


Swamped!

You know when you’ve hit that time of year where you just feel totally overwhelmed?! I’ve officially hit it!!!!!!!!

I’m going to work on digging myself out of this….so please pray for me. ;-)

In the mean time….a preview of Phil and Heather!

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Justin & Lisa

Lisa and Justin decided to keep their beautiful wedding carefree and simple. And if you know me, you know that works soooooo perfectly with me! :) Lisa LOVES the color red – which happens to be my favorite color too! I think my heart melted when I saw her shoes! Hello Beauties!!!!!!!

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They did a rad first site! I just cannot express how great these are for everyone involved! The bride and groom are always more relaxed because they’ve already seen each other, which means we have more times for relaxed photos, and everyone gets to the party faster after the ceremony!

I would say that the majority of grooms are kind of excited and nervous about finally getting to see their beautiful bride. I’m always amazed at the changes in facial expressions as the bride gets closer to her groom. Justin looked about the same. He had a serious face and then he started smiling so so so much more the closer Lisa got to him!

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And then she’s here and it’s perfect-o!!!!!!

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Aren’t they cute together?!

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It was really warm outside, so we went inside to cool off a little. Look what we found in the basement?!

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I just can’t say enough how much I loved her shoes!

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Moody light = Sexy light :-)

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And then they got married! HURRAY!

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I know I’ve said this a thousand times, but I LOVE photographing newly married couples seconds after they are pronounced man and wife! It’s the BEST!

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Congratulations, guys! It was such a great pleasure spending your awesome day with you!!!! :-)

Ciara & Kip’s BFF Senior Session

Ciara and Kip opted for the BFF option in my senior pictures packages. (BFF = Best Friends Forever) They are actually step-siblings, but you’d almost think these two were twins from how great they are together!!!!

We started out with Ciara’s make-up by the fabulous Heidi McKenna and hair by the fabulous Jenny Hawins!

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And then they wore their “formal” clothes out of the house…and we found this abandoned mechanic’s place to get these. :-)

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Ciara said that she couldn’t believe she was in this picture. I get that reaction a lot from my clients…I still can’t figure out why?!

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Kip just looks good.

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Then we went to a park and changed clothes. Kip had only two outfits…and is super laid back….he was a piece of cake to photograph!

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Ciara had some more outfits, but we made sure that she’d look unique with her poses. There was no way this beautiful girl was going to look like everyone else’s senior pictures!

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This is their favorite image from the session!

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So, how did all those clothes get carried around? Like this, of course! :-)

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They love running and jumping! And so do I! It’s just so hard on me with my big belly that I have until the end of November.

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Sun-kissed.

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This is sooooo Ciara!

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And she wanted one of her running in her soccer uniform. :-)

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And another one just for fun!

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BFF sessions are a little different than normal sessions. These work extremely well for best friends who are super super close, twins, and even triplets. Each participant saves $50.00 off his/her package and I’ve noticed that the sessions go faster and are even more relaxed because your rad buddy is there with you! I love them and think they are a total Win!!!! :-)

If you’d like to see their complete set of images watch below.

Kip’s video

Ciara’s video

And, if you know Ciara and/or Kip – go see them for their gift cards! They each have cards from their session with a picture of them on the front and a $50.00 gift card on the back! You can use these towards your session or package or wall art – how cool is that?!

Thanks so much for a super fun time, Ciara and Kip! See you both soon!

Gary & Laurie’s engagement session

We started out by playing at a park in Mason. :-)

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And then we ran off to a shaded area to get some more fun pictures!!!!!

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This one reminds me of Greece. Sigh. I wish I was there!

Stay tuned for their wedding next month!!!!!!!

Sivanya’s 1st Birthday Party!!!!!!!

I arrived at the club house where this party was held to find that mostly men were there setting it up. I thought all the PINK surrounding these big guys was just too darn cute!

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The beautiful birthday girl’s first party dress. :-)

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Her second one. I’m getting kind of jealous of all these outfits!

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And then we took a break so she could check out her pinky balloons with Mommy & Daddy! (That’s basically all a one year old wants to do anyways.)

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Yes, she fell asleep at her party. Over-stimulation hit and she just needed a break. It’s a part of life at that age. :-) Don’t worry, though, it didn’t last too long!

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Because when she woke up, everyone sang happy birthday to her!

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This shot was really fun for me to take. Take a good look at this, my dear wedding clients, this is how you’ll be cutting the next cake for the cameras. :-)

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Thanks, guys, for having me out for your awesome party! It was all so cute and happy and fun and loud and international! It was totally PERFECTO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Emily’s Senior Session

Emily’s session of course started out with fabulous make-up by Heidi McKenna!

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And hair by Jenny Hawkins!

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We then headed over to her Mount Notre Dame :-) And got some fun pictures in places she normally hangs out at! Here’s the front!

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And a staircase where her Anime club holds their meetings. (I know, I wish they’d give them a room like all the other clubs!)

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And then we headed over to the Borders which holds a large amount of Anime books! She’s reading one that she helped edit! How cool is that?!?!?!?!?!

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And then we ran behind borders to get some funky shots!

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Emily is such a natural!!!!!!!!!

AND if YOU know Emily and need your senior portraits done, go get a card from her so you can get a special discount! :-)

And here’s her movie of her entire session. Enjoy!

Kenya + Bruce + Ari + Baby Boy :)

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When I came over for their session, little Miss Ari was getting her hair done by Grandma. She’s totally adorable!

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I had taken a similar picture to this one when Kenya was pregnant with Ari, so she wanted it done again for her little guy. :-)

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What a happy family!!!!

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We messed around with some moody lighting as the two year old got sick of us.

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I LOVED this balloon Kenya got at her shower!!! How stinkin’ cute is that?!

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“Can you guys play airplane with Ari?” – “Uh, Sure!” Ari Loved it!

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One last shot of just the two of them…..because they are about to become a family of FOUR!!! That’s right! Kenya is in labor right now people! So say some prayers for an awesome delivery for her!!!!!!!

I CAN’T WAIT TO MEET THE NEW BABY BOY!!!! CONGRATSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!

Stephanie & Matt

This was one of the most intimate ceremonies I have photographed in a long time! Stephanie and Matt were actually planning all along to run off to Hawaii to get married. How fun would that be?! But, their family convinced them to do a small, intimate ceremony here instead. So, they got married at Jag’s instead! The last time Bernie and I had been to Jag’s, we’d just received some really really sad news and ever since then, for some reason, I remember that every time I go by there. So, it’s wonderful to now have a super happy association with this wonderful restaurant!!!!

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The guys.

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The beautiful bride! Her dress was her something borrowed – how cool is that?!

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I LOVE the moments just after a couple has their first kiss and are announced! They are PERFECT!!!!

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This one made me laugh, so I thought I’d give you a laugh too!

It was such a delight to be with Steph and Matt on their wedding day! Thanks for having me out and I wish you a wonderful wonderful marriage!!!!!!

:-)

Free family portrait session!

Happy Saturday morning! I’m working on tweaking my family portrait sessions and I’m looking for a LARGE family! So, if you live in the Cincinnati area and have 10 or more family members you can get together for one hour – you could be my guinea pigs! YESSSSSS!!!! You’ll get a one hour family portrait session together and five retouched images on CD for your awesome help! Email me at isabel at isabelsam dot com! :)

My little brother graduates :-)

My baby brother, who is about a foot taller than me now, just finished his bachelor’s at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign! I just can’t believe it! We’re so stinkin’ proud of him!!!!!

We came in on Saturday evening and went straight to campus. :) Quincy was there in his gown getting pictures taken already! He wanted TONS OF THEM!!!!! I was totally not expecting this and felt SO GUILTY for not bringing more gear – but we had fun! He literally ran around to all his spots he wanted pictures and just kept on posing! I think this is my very first, pose free, suggestion free random shoot I’ve ever done!

Bernie took this one at the gateway arch. :)

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Yes, this is exactly how he was – the entire time!

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He took a VERY similar picture to this one his freshman year, so he needed one for the end of this ride. :)

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My mama just completed her second Master’s degree and wanted to wear her robe too to celebrate. :-) She kept on asking if I was getting her cape in the shot! JAJAJAJAJJAJA

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The three alum! We all completed our Bachelor’s at UIUC. :-)

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Bernie and I couldn’t be in Quincy’s department graduation hall because Solomon had just totally had it by that time of day. BUT my sister let me know when his department was ready to walk and I RAN in there and grabbed this with my 85mm. :-)

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CONGRATULATIONS, Quincy!!!!!!!! We are SOOOO Proud of you!!!!!