http://cristiowen.net Arizona Wedding Photographer Cristi Owen Tue, 22 May 2012 23:51:39 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 http://cristiowen.net/2012/02/contest-winner-2/ http://cristiowen.net/2012/02/contest-winner-2/#comments Tue, 21 Feb 2012 22:54:30 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=3668 contest It may be easier to watch it on my Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/cristiowenphoto Thanks again!]]> http://cristiowen.net/2012/02/contest-winner-2/feed/ 2 http://cristiowen.net/2012/01/pregnancy-thoughts-and-a-giveaway/ http://cristiowen.net/2012/01/pregnancy-thoughts-and-a-giveaway/#comments Thu, 19 Jan 2012 04:56:05 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=3587 My thoughts on pregnancy thus far:

• I’m hungry ALL the time. You’d think it would be great to get to eat a lot more, but it’s actually really exhausting. Just when I finish cleaning up the kitchen I’m hungry again and have to start all over. Not to mention the slight embarrassment of having to get back in line (i.e. at Rubio’s) to order just one more taco.
• I’ve had approximately 12 zits my whole life, 8 of them were in the last few months.
• Feeling the baby move is the coolest and strangest feeling ever.
• Watching my husband’s face feeling the baby move is the sweetest feeling ever.
• We are super excited to find out the gender of our baby! So much so that we thought we’d spread the joy by letting you in all the fun…

So here are all the giveaway details: First things first… THE PRIZE:

• A FREE session. Yes, completely free
• Your favorite 20 high-resolution images on a CD!

HOW TO ENTER: 1. Go to my facebook page: www.facebook.com/cristiowenphoto 2. Click the Like button 3. Leave a comment on the wall with your guess if we are having a girl or a boy One entry per person. Yes, you and your fiancee can each have a separate entry. And if your mom, neighbor, cousin and co-worker want to help you out, they can each have an entry and if they win, they can give you the prize. Or keep it for themselves ;) Entries must be received by midnight on Valentine’s Day (Feb 14, 2012) AZ time. WINNERS: All of those with the correct answer will be entered into a drawing. Winner will be announced Feb 15 on my blog and on Facebook. A FEW OTHER RULES: The session must be booked at least 10 days prior to the session date Sessions cannot be rescheduled Session must take place by April 1 2012 (based on my availability at the time session is booked) Sessions will last one hour Session must take place within 30 miles of Chandler, AZ Anyone can enter. Past clients, new clients, current clients, family, friends, other photographers. There are no rules here :). So tell us! What do you think? Boy or Girl? Click here: www.facebook.com/cristiowenphoto]]> http://cristiowen.net/2012/01/pregnancy-thoughts-and-a-giveaway/feed/ 4 http://cristiowen.net/2012/01/hello-2012/ http://cristiowen.net/2012/01/hello-2012/#comments Mon, 02 Jan 2012 06:58:10 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=3545
Everyone knows I love my business, but after almost 4 years of working from home all by myself all day long I started to feel pretty lonely. And then I felt guilty. I had the job of my dreams and I wasn’t happy. Major guilt. I still loved my clients and the job I get to do, but I was overwhelmed with the amount of work I had and was desperately longing for some personal connections. The opportunity to work as an associate photographer for a friend came along and it seemed like the perfect solution to all my problems. I could still photograph as many weddings overall as I have in previous years, but have half the amount of the work on weekdays. I decided to take on half as many of my own weddings as I usually do to allow time for a social life (and in preparation for maybe a baby some day soon), as well as pursue some other interests. Even though we got all set up, I never actually got to work for her. Which I think it turned out to be a very good thing. First, it taught me that it’s ok to not have every idea or plan work out. Even if it sounds like a really great thing, maybe it’s just not meant to be. And most importantly, as I now reflect on what would have been, I’ve learned that what I love is not to just create images, but my passion is to form relationships with my clients and then create images for them.  And this little ‘discovery’ makes me so excited for 2012! It’s the core of my business goals for next year and I can’t wait to meet and get to know the couples and love stories I will get the honor of documenting over the next 12 months. I’m also happy to focus back into my own business 100% and give my clients the best wedding photography experience! I’ve been working hard on some changes and improvements and I’m so happy with how it’s all coming along!

Now on the home front, after a failed attempt at growing our little family, we are very excited to be expecting a little bundle of joy to arrive at the end of June. I’m still going to keep my maximum amount of weddings the same as 2011 which proved to be the perfect balance between giving each of my clients a lot of attention and also having time for my friends and family.

Speaking of balance, 2011 was the year I went back to yoga and it felt SO good! I’m not by any means a yogi, but I love the journey of trying to get there. And although it’s not very yoga-like to hold on to things or feelings from the past, I’m really excited to brag about the fact that I finally conquered scorpion pose. Sure, it may only have been two times, but it felt so good! It’s hard to explain how a physical accomplishment can do so much for your mind, but it totally does. If you’ve never tried yoga before, I highly recommend it! Find a good studio and it will change your body and your mind.

So besides a few struggles and some failures, 2011 was a pretty awesome year! I learned more balance, had a great time with friends and family, made some pretty incredible new friends (Hi, Megan!), photographed fantastic weddings of truly remarkable couples, worked with the greatest wedding vendors and traveled to some really extraordinary places.

Here are a few of 2011 Kodak moments:

A BYOP (Bring Your Own Pool) Party at my house:



Camping in Pinetop with my husband’s cousins:A perfect trip to Costa Rica with Tom and Trisha:

An amazing time in New York with my hubby:

And some other fun trips to Sedona, Florida, Vegas, San Diego and Montana! But I just realized those photos are on my laptop which is currently waiting for Apple to send its new battery. Oops!

Here’s to 2012 and all that it brings, including the best news ever that my family is moving back to Arizona! I’m so happy!!]]> http://cristiowen.net/2012/01/hello-2012/feed/ 4 http://cristiowen.net/2011/04/pinterest/ http://cristiowen.net/2011/04/pinterest/#comments Sat, 16 Apr 2011 20:32:03 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=3002 pinterest.com on Facebook, I had a lot of people ask me what it is and why it is so great. I was surprised by how many people didn’t know about it and so I thought I should share the news with all of you. Warning: You may become addicted. Pinterest is a website where you can organize images of things you like into different categories (or themed boards). Here’s a screenshot of one my boards full of images with ideas on how to display images in your home: You can pin any image that you find online or upload from your hard drive. You can also follow boards that you find interesting and new pins from those boards will pop up on your “home screen”. If you see something you like, you can simply “re-pin it” to your own board. If you are planning a wedding, pinterest makes it SO easy to keep your ideas organized and help you envision how everything will look together. It also makes it super easy to find clever and unique ideas to make your wedding feel personalized. Here’s a screenshot of a wedding board: On my last post I mentioned I was working on renovating the kitchen a little and pinterest.com has been a huge help! You can go see what my kitchen board looks like and I will be posting photos of our new kitchen soon. (I’ve been anxiously awaiting the handyman who’s coming to hang some lights and the microwave in about 2 weeks from now). After you check out pinterest.com, let me know what you think and I look forward to following your boards and great ideas! Once you are there, you will see that you can leave comments on pins, “tag” friends, like pins, share it on facebook, twitter, etc. It is super simple to use and oh-so-much fun! Happy pinning :)]]> http://cristiowen.net/2011/04/pinterest/feed/ 2 http://cristiowen.net/2011/02/wishing-you-a-picture-perfect-valentines-day/ http://cristiowen.net/2011/02/wishing-you-a-picture-perfect-valentines-day/#comments Mon, 14 Feb 2011 18:57:31 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=2844 I love any and all holidays! I feel like it’s a good reminder to make the people I love feel special. I hope you feel special today! XOXO]]> http://cristiowen.net/2011/02/wishing-you-a-picture-perfect-valentines-day/feed/ 1 http://cristiowen.net/2011/02/date-night/ http://cristiowen.net/2011/02/date-night/#comments Wed, 09 Feb 2011 06:58:39 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=2838 Who loves pita jungle? We do! And I can never leave without my “to go” cup of berry tea. And in case you were wondering what we had, that’s Chicken del Sol. Yum! And then we came home and the Last Song was on the “watch it now” Netflix and since we’ve pretty much watched everything else… I bawled my eyes out while Curt sat next to me and read the paper or worked on a crossword puzzle. And then out of the blue he says, he should’ve stayed with the blond chick, she is way hotter. Hahaha, didn’t know he was paying any attention. I love you. Thanks for watching a Miley Cyrus movie with me. And for supporting my berry tea addiction.]]> http://cristiowen.net/2011/02/date-night/feed/ 2 http://cristiowen.net/2010/12/merry-christmas-2/ http://cristiowen.net/2010/12/merry-christmas-2/#comments Sat, 25 Dec 2010 22:34:31 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=2672 I’ve spent the last few days working less and spending more time with family and it feels so good! We are in Montana spending Christmas with my in-laws and it’s most certainly a white Christmas. Nature photography is not my specialty, but here are some of the sights around here. The sun only came out one day (first two photos). The rest of the time it looked like this: And here’s a self portrait. Yes, it’s blurry and yes, we look terrible (post-massages and therefore looking a little “oily”), but it makes me happy. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and that you are surrounded by your loved ones.]]> http://cristiowen.net/2010/12/merry-christmas-2/feed/ 1 http://cristiowen.net/2010/11/my-love-for-dresses/ http://cristiowen.net/2010/11/my-love-for-dresses/#comments Sun, 21 Nov 2010 07:13:49 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=2442 And just for fun, here are some other ways I’ve worn the same dress. And it works with every dress! No judging on the facial expressions. Curtis gave me exactly 5 minutes to pull this off. One shot per outfit and then off to dinner. And I forgot to take a picture of what I actually wore. Oh well, you get the idea (and get to laugh a little too :)).]]> http://cristiowen.net/2010/11/my-love-for-dresses/feed/ 7 http://cristiowen.net/2010/11/confession-friday/ http://cristiowen.net/2010/11/confession-friday/#comments Fri, 12 Nov 2010 07:10:36 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=1704 I was going to write a blog post and then saw this on my drafts and I thought I would share this instead. Yes, it’s back from May. I have quite a few posts in my drafts. It was a passing thought back then, but in the spirit of keeping things personal, I thought this would work. And who knows, maybe I’ll even make it a monthly thing as it was initially intended :). This first Friday in May is the launch of a new blog feature – Confession Friday. Things I should probably just keep to myself and most definitely not share online, but here it goes anyway :) 1. I don’t have one single song in my iPod. That’s right, zero, nada, not one! 2. I really hope the socks with high-heels look really catches on. I think it’s adorable, but I’m afraid to wear it until/if it really catches on. 3. I’m still in denial about turning 30. 4. Sometimes in the middle of the day when I need a break, I read my own blog. I know it’s pathetic, but I have at times caught a few typos, so I’m going to say it’s super productive :) 5. I had a chocolate dipped cone from Dairy Queen twice last week. And for the embarrassing photo of the month… Yes, I wore this and not just anywhere, but to a wedding! No, I won’t wear socks and heels, but tribal print, suuure!  Nicole and Chris, please forgive me! And thanks to Beka Lowe for taking the above picture and making sure this one time outfit is recorded for posterity.]]> http://cristiowen.net/2010/11/confession-friday/feed/ 2 http://cristiowen.net/2010/10/owening-it/ http://cristiowen.net/2010/10/owening-it/#comments Wed, 27 Oct 2010 05:05:57 +0000 admin http://cristiowen.net/?p=2350 As a business owner,  I’m always making sure that I’m investing my time in things that benefit my clients and my business. As much as I like to blog, I don’t have to do it for myself (it takes less time to write a personal journal), but I wanted to make sure that my clients and other vendors in this industry were benefiting from it as well. I really wasn’t sure what to expect when I wrote that last blog post, and having 22 comments probably isn’t an indicator to give me a green light to keep blogging, but the comments were so meaningful, that there’s no way I could let those 22 people down. Who am I to mess with Irma’s morning routine :) So, yes, I will keep blogging and I’m gonna owen it :).  It may not be the smartest business decision, but I will work to make it better and hopefully it will become a really big asset to my business.  And yes, I will follow Melissa Jill’s advice and make it more personal because I believe it is smart to learn from other’s experiences and Melissa’s blog is a huge asset to her clients and her business. And if there’s anything you would like to see on my blog, please let me know :). Let’s make it awesome! And for all of you who commented on my last post. Thank you so much for taking the time to do so, I meant to reply to each and every one of you, but some of you didn’t leave an email address. So, from the bottom of my heart: Thank you! And here’s a funny picture of me at 5 years old reading the business page of the newspaper. hahaha :) Thanks, Dad, for teaching me early :) ]]> http://cristiowen.net/2010/10/owening-it/feed/ 6