He sure is a handsome young man....

If I do say so myself. I can't believe he is 14. Time sure does fly by. Austin's birthday was Saturday. We spent a quiet day at home per his request. He requested dinner and a cake lol.

Yes those are snow capped mountains behind him, along with an orchard and vineyard. Love the view from our balconies.

Austin is a chocoholic to say the least. We were at the NEX early last week and I told him to go to the Ice cream store and tell me what he wanted on his cake. We always do ice cream cakes for them. He came back and said they didn't have anything but plain chocolate ice cream and chocolate cake.
So he asked me to make him a cake. HAHA. I am crafy with a camera but when it comes to baking and decorating yeah um not so much.
Any way here is his chocolate cake um I mean brownie cake lol. Thought I had a cake mix but didn't so we improvised and make the "cake like" brownies instead of the usual chewy ones. He requested the chocolate ice crean, crushed oreos, semi sweet chocolate chips, M&Ms and chocolate icing.

It was so sweet even he couldn't finish his slice lol.

Here are a couple quick snaps of his cake.

And yes I know that is an ugly cake. I think it is the ugliest cake I have ever seen. But he was totally happy with it and that is all that matters :D

Man that sure is a lot of fire!

Yeah he blew them all out.

Thank goodness we didn't set off the smoke detectors.

Le Monte Saint Michel and more.....

Here are a few more images from our trip to France.
Most are from Le Mont Saint Michel. Absolutely beautiful!

This is part of one of the doors. They are huge.

The view from the Cathedral area. When the tide comes in they water surrounds it. You are even told what time you have to move your car or it will be underwater.

This was by the gardens

Ivy growing on the wall. We saw this in several places in France. I loved seeing it growing on the houses.

View from the parking lot.

View from the road. I think this is my absolute favorite.

Sheep in the field with Le Mont Saint Michel in the background. This was suggested to me by my friend Amanda. Thanks again Amanda.

One of the graves at La Cambe German Cememtery/

View of the cemetery in the fall. the colors here were stunning. And the gray sky added to it.

Craters from the bombs at La Pointe Du Hoc.

Here are a couple of links

La cambe German Cemetery

Le Monte Saint Michel

Just a few images from our trip to France.

Well I decided while I had a little time today that I would process a few images from our trip to France. I think they turned out great. They are just random photos from the coast line around Cherbourg France. There will be more to come.

This one is the river front in Cherbourg.

These 2 are both from the plane as we were leaving Naples, destination Paris.

Just a cool view of the water.

And those who know me know that I like to photography lighthouses :D

What to wear for the Mini Valentines Day Sessions

I have had a couple of people ask me what to wear for the photography sessions I am offering on Jan. 14th 2012 at the Market Playce. They will be held at the Community Center onboard NSA Naples Support Site.

I was referred to a photographer that offers up these great templates by my friend Shakyra Canchaney who is also a photographer down at NSA Sigonella, Sicily.
I know the photo says November but I think it would work great for the Valentine photos here in Naples now that it is starting to get colder. Hopefully this gives you a few ideas and you can put your on twist on these. I would be happy to offer my opinion  as well.

Over View of what to wear for any session

All in all you should Coordinate outfits. That does not mean everyone in white shirts and khaki pants or black shirts with jeans for casual portraits. You want everyone to pop in the photo, not blend together like a blob with a few heads.

Colors and Patterns are a natural part of life. So use them to your advantage, but do not use every color of the rainbow. Again you want to make sure that you coordinate the colors together. Patterns are ok as long as they are not distracting and taking the attention away from YOU the SUBJECT. That would mean smaller ones and only use them sparingly. Just like with the colors, don't use competing patterns, it will only distract the viewer. Avoid large logos and graphics again too distracting. The best way to do this would be pick someones outfit first, usually the patterned person and then play off of it. Find everyone elses clothing by matching up the color schemes to the pattern. Just make sure that the color you choose for each person goes well with their complexion.

Layering is a great way to change up similar portraits. It provide a more visual interest, and it will allow a lot more variety in your shots and poses. Great ideas would be a scarf, hat, sweater, tie, belt etc.. The ideas are limitless.

At Breezy Cranford Photography I want your portraits to speak volumes about you and your family. Have a family meeting and discuss props that represent your family. It could be anything, I just want to capture YOUR family or childs personality in the portraits I take. Bring collective props for the family and also individuals for each family member. If you all enjoy your time at the beach or lake why not hold your session there? What about the snow and skiing? We can do that too.

MakeupLadies if you normally wear makeup then apply just a tad darker than you normally would. It will enhance your photo. Do not go overboard, don't apply it heavy like the models on the run way do. Just bump it up a notch. If you don't normally wear makeup then at least apply a little mascara, blush and lip gloss. A little goes a long way. And another tip for you ladies who don't wear much makeup, the ladies at the NEX makeup counters will gladly give you a "mini" makeover for Free! And then you don't have to worry about the makeup.

Changes of Clothing are allowed for all sessions minus the "mini" specials that I offer from time to time. And that is just because of time constraints. But normal family, newborn, boudoir, bridal sessions etc... all allow for clothing changes.

Plan accordingly. Give ample time to have everything in line before the session. You don't want to be rushing around last minute trying to get haircuts or coordinating outfits etc...

Most importantly is BE YOURSELF! Don't wear something just because someone else said to. Don't put your kids in uncomfortable clothes. If they are uncomfortable the portraits will not be as memorable as you had hoped. You want the express your personality or your families personality, not someone you aren't.

Remember what your home Decor is like. If it is very casual and "liveable" then you normally want that to be the style of your photos. If your house is very elegant and everything is in its rightful place then you may very well prefer a more elegant and glamorous session. On this note also think about where you have bare walls or where you want to hang your portraits. We can incorporate that into your session. Especially knowing you want a landscape orientation style portrait over a portrait orientation to fill the spot above the mantel etc... is very helpful.

Also for those of you who are interested in the boudoir sessions I am holding in a private location on Jan. 15th 2012 you can search boudoir here on my blog and I have a HUGE list of ideas for clothing and props!

These outfit ideas come from http://corinanielsen.com . Thanks for sharing your talent with fellow photographers!

When in France, do as the French!

We did the best we could with our non English speaking waitress and our non French speaking selves lol. We knew what this was before ordering, but Sommer said bring it on.

Then when it came out this is the look she gave lol.

Still debating on it. Do you know what it is?

OK I might as well give it a shot she said.

OK that wasnt too bad. I will try the whole thing now.

Back Off! She said to Austin lol

And incase you hadn't guessed, it is sea snails lol. All of those were an appetizer.

She finally let Austin try one.

He wasn't too sure about it, but in the end he said he liked it.

This is what the little boogers look like out of their shells.

Hey mom try one she said! I was very skeptical, can't you tell haha.

OK better just get it over with or I won't do it.

It wasn't too bad, not as bad as I had expected that is for sure.

And Gary tried it, he put a little of the mayo mixture on his though.

He liked it too.

Sommer asked to take the rest of them home with her and the waitress thought she was crazy or something. Her and Gary both agreed they were better hot than they were cold. And yes Codey refused to try them at all.

Any way this was a cute little place on the river in a little village between Juno and Sword beach I think. I will know specifics when I look for the papers that we brought back. There was a fresh fish market right beside of it. Pictures to come soon from that too.
Sorry mom hope it didn't make you sick. Sommer just said we had to share them with ya'll. HAHA.

trying to see if this is going to

finally post to Facebook of if it is still blocked.
I hope to update here on Monday.
So much to talk about too late to do it tonight.

Great Smoky Mountains Wildlife

It has been almost 2 weeks since my last post. But I have been sick and on vacation. After a trip to the ER for dh and I, (He needed to go and the insurance said I had to go to the ER or wait another 48 hours to go to urgent care!!!) what the heck is up with that? I am finally on 3 meds for a Sinus infection and slowly starting to feel better. So I processed a few quick pics from a couple of days ago.
These are some beautiful animals that we saw while traveling through the Cades Cove part of the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. We saw lots of animals and I was very impressed with the trip.

This was a Doe that we saw just inside the loop in the woods. She was with 3 others. I wish the background hadn't been so crowded but hey you take what you can get with mother nature :D


These are some Turkeys that we saw in the fields beside of the horse pastures. I wish they had been closer. But again oh well lol.

 The husband and I are pretty sure this is a coyote. Pretty none the less. We actually saw a couple of these but the other one was running through the woods. If you know for sure what this is I would love to know :)

He decided to sit right beside of the tree to the right as we were heading up to the restrooms but some car come flying up so they could get a picture of him. Needless to say he was up and moving again before I could fire the shot. This was right at dusk.

This buck was right along the side of the road and had no care in the world. I believe he even posed for us. And when I say us I have to give credit to "the husband" as he actually pressed the shutter and snapped this beautiful image. I set the focal point and all settings to get the right exposure etc.. I think we work pretty well as a team lol.

We also saw a black bear cub, unfortunately I didn't get a shot of it as the was literally a "crazy" lady in front of us who jumped out of her car as soon as the bear ran in front of them and chased the poor thing across the field and into the woods. I really think she was crazy as apparently she doesn't know that "mama" was more than likely watching her every move, either that or the cub is going to be in big trouble when mama bear wakes up from her hibernation and realizes the baby is gone. Yes I was crazy in Alaska when I sat on the window seal of the van and photographed a bear cub there but I wasn't crazy enough to get out and chase him. But then the one in Alaska never moved haha, he just laid there and ate his dandilions.

 I was totally bummed that we didn't get a shot off though as I am sure most of you know that bears this time of year is a huge rarity. They aren't supposed to be out. lol

I have some images of icicles, waterfalls, the mill etc.... coming up soon. Hoping the weather and infection cooperate and I get a few images of the Winterfest lights before we leave.

We have been trying to find things that were here 15 years ago while we were on our honeymoon but that is pretty hard. Most things have been torn down or things built up in front of the old ones. The China unlimited shop is still here that is one of very few things we remember besides the lights.
Any way ears are hurting will try to write more tomorrow evening or maybe even Thursday while waiting on the husband to take his Chiefs exam in Knoxville.

It is a new year and lots of things...

Finally blogger and google are cooperating :D

are in store for us.
But before I get into all of that I will just post a couple of pics from our "White Christmas". I don't consider it a white Christmas unless you wake up with it on the ground lol but apparently that isn't the "official" way to look at it :D
Hope you enjoy.

Well apparently blogger and google aren't communicating. I will get the images up as soon as they both cooperate.

Gorgeous Couple from OPLOVE Session

Jamie is retiring!

These are a couple of quick edits I did for Jamie. She is retiring from the Air Force. Doesn't look it at all.
Jamie it was great to work with you and I wish you lots of luck in the civillian world. I hope everything goes great for you. And I hope you have an awesome time in Grand Cayman!