My football game shooting friend, Caleb, wanted to learn some tips on taking portraits.  He is a great sports photographer, but wants some experience in working with less sporty things.  I suggested that we go out to the South Carolina Botanical Gardens with Madi and Colby (an adorable couple of which I love dearly).  Madi knows how to pose and Colby does not, so it made for a great experience with two ends of the spectrum in terms of the kinds of people you could be photographing.  I was too excited to share these with everyone, and now I get to share with you!  Enjoy!

Since my heifer from last semester is due to calf in November, I have been assigned to a new heifer.  Her name is El and she is beautiful.  I know that you probably don't read my blog for cows, but who doesn't love a cow picture every now and then??  Wish us luck at the Anderson Show!

I had an idea the other day. . .  I thought about all of the times that I have thrown paint at some people, but I have never thrown something that wasn't a liquid.  So, I went out and bought 25 pounds of flour and a dress from salvation army.  Surprisingly, this whole thing cost $10.  It took four of us to accomplish, but it was worth it.  Do you have any other ideas of what I can throw at more models???

This gorgeous girl is Mallory.  Her and my mom are pretty much best friends and we have been dying to get together for a shoot!  It finally happened. . . after four locations and some rain and thunder and lightning.  We were on our way to  Happy Berry Farm in Six Mile when it began to look really dark and rainy in front of us.  There were lots of pretty places we passed on the way there, so we decided to hit those on the way back to the house.  
It worked out very well and I think the hay bales were the best location for what we wanted to do.
Makeup: @xoxokarrie ​https://karrielykinsmakeupartist.com/

I did not think that I would miss the hectic and loud stadium on game days, but it turns out, I really missed it.  Here's to another great season for the Clemson Tigers! 

As a Clemson University photographer, I get the opportunity to follow our school's president,  Dr. Clements.  He is such a genuine man and I can see why not only the students, but the entire town, love him. 
​
This time, I photographed him meeting some of the new students at the Welcome Back Festival, and guess who I ran into?  My little brother, his roomie, and his friend!  I am so excited that Jon is here at Clemson studying business because I get to see him around and photograph him whenever I want!  

This beautiful face belongs to my roommate's girlfriend.  She is here to visit and we decided to wake up and be makeup ready by 8am and drive to the Greenville Saturday Market.  Karrie Lykins did a wonderful job on the peachy makeup and even got us donuts from the Donut Wagon!  Is there anything better than donuts and a market with plants and veggies?  I think not.  
https://karrielykinsmakeupartist.com/
https://www.saturdaymarketlive.com/
​https://www.facebook.com/thedonutwagon/

You Will Need:

• 1 cup soft butter
• 2/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 tsp almond extract
• 2 egg yolks
• Extra regular sugar 
• Jam of choosing (see how I make my jam: https://www.sydneyrosephotos.com/blog/the-best-jam-ever) 

Cream butter and sugar, then add flour and wet ingredients.  Roll dough in regular sugar to coat and place on baking sheet.  Make a thumbprint size dent in the cookie to hold your jam and then bake at 350F for 10 minutes!  Once they have baked, wait for them to cool for 5-10 minutes and spoon the jam into the center dent!  
​Enjoy! 

You might have noticed that when you scroll through my instagram, my images don't all match each other like a lot of other photographers.  I do not have a set style.  I have a set way of shooting so that all my images have that consistency, but no set editing.  I always thought that you needed all your images to have a certain feel that is consistent.  I am not sure how much I believe in that now.  
I think that each session and each person are different and therefore deserve and require different editing strategies.  I am not sure if this comes from me just wanting to do what I want, or if it comes from the fact that my images don't have the same colors.  I have been working on finding my "style" but I don't think it matters all that much anymore.  It would be nice for my images to be vaguely similar, but they already are by how and what I shoot.  
I would love to have a solid style, but I am not sure that I ever will.  I am a photographer for the art, and helping others see and feel what I do when I capture that something or someone.  

My mom and I were going through some old family photos from when my mom was a baby recently, and we think someone in the family must have been a photographer.  Or at least really good with a camera.  I haven't been up to a whole lot recently, but it is Monday, which means blog post day!  So, instead of sharing my photography, I have decided to share one of my family's photographs that we found.  This is my grandma.  Taken around the 60s.  Classic Nan.