A few weeks ago I asked you for some tips on my shooting style for weddings, and I’d like to do better at following up on things when I ask for advice, so I thought I’d show you a picture of what I wore to my last wedding.

I tried getting a new belt to see if it would help jazz up the dress a bit, but I think I’m going to have to give up on this dress (so sad because I had someone sew a pocket into it and dresses with sleeves that reach the knee and have pockets are really hard to find!) because I’d like to get something dressier. I shall keep searching for the perfect black dressy modest wedding shooting dress with pocket(s)!

My second shooter did a great job taking pictures of not only the action, but of me capturing the action. I thought you might like to see some of them. I look ridiculous in some of them because I’ve got a laser beam focus on trying to get the best shot possible, so please don’t laugh.

I think I spot the bride and groom coming around the corner! I’m like a cheetah honing in on its prey.

The resulting shot.

Can you see me in the far right corner of this photograph?

Here is what I was taking pictures of. Somehow I didn’t end up eating any of this wedding cake, something which I’m still very sad about.

As we were heading down the elevators two of the bridesmaids stopped for some hair retouching.

My perspective.

The ceremony is over and everyone is clapping and smiling. Everyone except me of course, no time for clapping and smiling when you have pictures to take.

Boom, the newly married couple.

I’m not taking pictures here, obviously. I try not to bug my brides throughout the day, I don’t want their only memory of me to be that I was intrusive and annoying, but I did talk to this bride a little bit more than normal because we are close friends. I also try to step in and lend my know-how when I think it might be helpful, like in this instance when we were talking over whether we needed to do any more formals (the site coordinator for some reason was saying we needed to, I didn’t think it was necessary and it wasn’t really what the bride desired).

Mother/son dance time. Oh my, and my breasts look a bit saggy don’t they? Can you see the cute polka dot lining of my pocket peeking out of my dress though?

My photo from this moment.

At the end of the night I try to make sure I’m RIGHT THERE in the action. I want to get every last smile/tear/wave/fist pump!

My gorgeous friend about to sail off into the night with her new husband (or maybe rev loudly into the night in his sexy Charger would be a better description ).

Now that you’ve seen my dress in action if you have any additional tips I’d love to hear them! I went through all of your suggestions on my last post and revised my Pinterest board if you’d like to check it out.

My last fashionably modest post was on shooting style, and this must be something I have on the brain lately. I spent the morning adding things to my Shooting Style Pinterest board, and I’m wondering if you wouldn’t mind helping me brainstorm to figure out an outfit to wear when shooting weddings.

I need my outfit to:

Be professional.

Include some fun/sassy elements!

Not something that will stick out like a sore thumb in guest photos. It can’t be so loud that every time I get caught in a photograph people think PHOTORAPHER when they are looking through photos on Facebook, you know?

Include really comfortable shoes. Just go with the shoes I’ve included on the board already, unless you have a really cute pair of 10-hours-or-more-on-your-feet kind of shoes. For $200 or less.

Include tights/leggings. I have to be able to scramble around and not show off my lady bits or make the groomsmen uncomfortable.

I want my outfit to:

Reflect my personality. I’m pretty bubbly and I like to try to get my clients laughing. I think when I work with clients throughout the day I come across as a very happy person who loves weddings.

Include jewelry! I’m awful with jewelry and I feel overwhelmed trying to put things together. I’d be open to hair accessories as well. No big headbands that stick up from my head though, I look silly when I wear those.

I don’t want to buy a new dress. That one was a big investment and it just might fit me all the way through my weight loss. Dresses with sleeves that reach the knee are hard to find too.

Click here to check out my board, and then comment below if you have any feedback regarding items you think would make a great outfit, whether using items I’ve put on my board, or items you’ve seen somewhere on the internet.

If you want to be really awesome, you can make me a Polyvore board with the items you would put together and post the link in the comments below. If people do this I’ll write a post with screenshots of your Polyvore boards that way everyone else can see what you came up with!

I think this outfit is kind of boring, but I wanted to show it because it’s an example of something I put together when I was headed out to take some pictures for someone. It wasn’t an official shoot, more like a little mentoring session that I was doing for a friend, but I was taking pictures so I used one of my newer tips from Kelli Nicole, to wear white (especially on top) so that you have a built in reflector when you’re standing in front of your clients. It will help brighten up their faces!

I want to be more stylish when I shoot (I get really jealous of the outfits I see people like Jasmine Star or Sarah Rhoads putting together when they are shooting as I think they look unbelievably fabulous). I think I’ll have more confidence in this area when I’m thinner, as I need to wear very long layers to keep my fat from poking out when I’m squirming all over the place to get the best angle for the shot. Once Jenna Cole is profitable I’d like to put together some Pinterest outfit boards and invest in an outfit specifically for shooting portrait sessions and one specifically for weddings. This is the mostly thrift store ensemble I have for now though. I love wearing maternity pants when I shoot, because the full panel gives me the ability to bend over without worrying that I’m exposing things that my clients don’t want to see!

White sweater – $6.50
Black sweater-$5
Black undershirt, DownEast Basics -$10
Black maternity pants-$25
Red heels, Zara-$40
Jewelry-Gifts from my mom, teal bracelet was free with another purchase

Total Cost of The Items I Purchased: $86.50

Total Cost of Thrifted Items: $11.50

If you’re a photographer I’d love to know what stylish outfits you wear when you’re shooting!

Friends! After so many seconded and thirded and fourthded the motion that I go out and get some clothes, I decided to do just that. I didn’t just get a pair of pants and a new shirt though, I bought a whole new wardrobe! It was all found at Family Thrift Store so the prices were great (some things are even new with tags!). I plan to model all of the outfits (I did it for TH last night and I came up with 6 outfits made up of completely new pieces!) and have TH take pictures, so you can see what $125 bought me. I’m officially obsessed with Family Thrift Store and plan on buying all of T1′s clothes there from now on. It’s so organized! And clean! And they make announcements like “Parents, keep your kids with you and stop them from running around like maniacs or we will ask you to leave the store”! And they even had plus-size sections!

Speaking of plus-sized, I have a few links for you. The first plus-sized fashion blogger was found through Clothed Much, the rest came from a list compiled by Healthy Tipping Point.

Plus Sized Pretty

Sweet Faced Style

ameliapontes

young fat and fabulous

Messy Carla

Curves & Chaos

Bombshell Beauty

Fab Finds Under $50

Loving the Reflection

Skinny Emmie

Le blog de Big Beauty (in French, but if you’re looking for pictures you’ll still find some inspiration!)

If you’re a plus-sized bride, I found Plumage through Think Splendid.

Do you have any links I can add to this list?

Via Allison K: Fatshionista

Via Meg: Frocks and Frou Frou and Big Girl. Small Budget. Tiny Town.

You will need a special post-baby wardrobe. WHY DID NO ONE TELL ME THIS?!?! Well, you’ll need them if you are like me and gain 60+ lbs during your pregnancy. You’ll put on your maternity dresses and you’ll have a post-baby fat pad around your middle that will poof out in the exact spot a baby used to. That pooch combined with a maternity style dress will have everyone asking you are due unless you have a baby in yours arms. And then, because there really are people this dense, you will might get asked that question anyway.

I wish I had known about this before baby came because I might have spent some of my waiting-for-delivery time shopping online for post-natal clothing possibilities instead of surfing blogs all day.

The first time I went into TJMaxx with T1 in tow it was depressing and frustrating on many levels. I was new to bottle feeding him, still depressed that breastfeeding didn’t work out, and someone walked in on me feeding him while I was sitting half naked in the dressing room. He started crying not long after we entered the store, and stayed fussy throughout. And, to make things even more awesome, I had gained so much weight that I was too large for all of the XL clothing pieces. I just wasn’t feeling the plus size section that day, so I went home with one measly shirt, a shirt that’s still a bit tight around my middle even after I’ve lost a few pounds.

It was time to swallow my pride and turn to the LB. (I recently noticed that a store for heavy people can be abbreviated to the letter lb. Ironic, right?) I had to shop at Lane Bryant once before, when I gained so much weight right before meeting TH, and I admit I wasn’t ready to go back there again. Guess I’m lucky they vanity size big time because I won’t have to be wearing their stuff for long.

Even though I plan on getting this weight off soon, I wanted some clothing to tide me over until I got there. Wearing ill-fitting clothes that make you look pregnant or emphasize that you just left the town of pregnantville stinks bit time.

I placed an order with Lane Bryant for $900 worth of clothing, and had a little dressing room party in my living room. I had read through their return policy carefully, and knew that I could return everything that didn’t fit at a physical store, which happens to be within walking distance of my apartment. Out of the 20+ items I ordered, I ended up keeping these:

I was able to find a few shirts at TJMaxx, and I took a few things from my mom’s closet while I was home, and between all of that I have a decent supply of clothing that will get me through the next 10 lbs or so. By that time I hope to start fitting back into some of my old clothes again!

I also bought a swimsuit. I loved this one and thought it was super flattering, but the smallest size was a bit too big so I had to send it back. The one I bought looks really similar to this one, but it has some purple accents as well. It’s a tight fit (a Miracle Suit that claims to make me look 10 lbs slimmer, unfortunately I need to look something like 50 lbs slimmer), so I’m hoping I’ll be able to wear it next summer as well.

Soon I will be able to fit back into the clothing sold at Ross and TJMaxx once again. Until then I’m a plus size girl battling the bulge and poking at her muffin top. If you’re like me, and gained a lot of pregnancy weight in the form of adipose tissue, start thinking about what you’re going to wear when baby is out before baby is actually out. You’ll save yourself some time wailing “I HAVE NOTHING TO WEAR!” to your husband while riding the post-pregnancy hormone rollercoaster.