About The Photographer
Hi! My name is Erika Blackwell and I am photographer of Center of Attention Photography. Located in Northern Michigan. My blog is a way for everyone to view some of my favorite images from recent sessions and get to know me! I am the very VERY proud mommy to Braylan. I LOVE what I do and I hope you can tell! These are not JUST take pictures I take. I create memories... I pour my heart into my work. I genuinely care about my clients and get to know them and learn what they like and dislike. I am an artist. A business woman. I love to have fun. I love to sing. Dance. Make crazy sounds to get those smiles. I am very open! I work into the night even though my son hates to sleep. I LOVE oreos and soymilk. I dream big. I have tons of ideas. I cry during touching ceremonies and awesome reception speeches. I try not to be messy but it happens. I have so many new faces to meet this year and just thinking about it makes me excited!
Want to win a one hour outside photo session in June worth $250 from Center of Attention Photography?
How to enter: Make sure you do 3 things! LIKE our page at the top (if you haven’t already) LIKE & SHARE this picture… SO EASY! Braylan will draw one name on April 20th.
CLICK HERE to be directed!
On a personal note… it’s been a sick couple weeks in our house. Two weeks ago tomorrow I went down to Ann Arbor and photographed a boudoir and some families. Right before we left my boy got sick and it’s been a battle ever since with croupe/stomach flu and now teething and allergies. I’ve been busy with sessions in the studio and Easter has come and gone. I’m crossing my fingers that by the time we leave for Florida we all three are healthy!
I have finally hired a babysitter. I have needed one for a long time but never want to change our schedule and of course I LOVE being a mommy. I also LOVE being a photographer so I know I can make both worlds better. I have so many things I want to do in both my personal/family life and business and now I think I will have more time to do that. Plus my son really needs to learn it’s ok to be away from me.
I have one more boudoir session to edit and my total is up to 18 since Jan. 22nd. I have a waiting list going right now for future mini sessions. I never thought they would this popular but you better believe I’m happy about it! I LOVE doing them. I also have a couple girls who are having me come do regular sessions in their own bedrooms.
I thought I would post somethinggggg… so here are a few things I’ve been working on. Lots more to come soon!
A boudoir (French: [bu.dwar] English: [bud.wɑr])
What is this you ask?? Let me show you! I love love love this type of photography and I have a BLAST shooting, editing and getting creative. I also love making woman feel amazing, beautiful and in the end confident! This is not to say that these girls don’t come a little nervous because they do but the #1 thing by the end of their session is that I made them feel comfortable and they don‘t want to stop.
The pictures are in no order… I mixed them up just to give you a little look. I also added some of the girls reactions when they viewed their gallery and some reviews. 
There will me more to come because my facebook is acting up and won’t let me see my messages tonight!
I will be releasing my next date SOON. I take a limited number of girls for my boudoir mini events. If you have some girl friends that might want to join in on the fun let them know about it! It is a super fun day with some pampering, laughing, and of course fun! These photos make great gifts but even more than that they are just amazing to have of yourself. I have always looked at pictures of Marilyn Monroe and thought I wish I could even look half that amazing. Being a woman and feeling sexy… heck I can’t even describe how that feels!
“If you are looking for an amazingly talented, creative, fun and open minded photographer, then look no further!
What Erika is capable of is genius. She has the ability to make you feel comfortable and beautiful at the same time. Every experience I have had with her has been absolutely delightful! I cannot thank her enough!” -Heather S.
“Oh.. Erika Blackwell– what can I say!??!!..♥♥♥” -Julie M.
“Erika I just wanted to thank you for yesterday! I had a blast! U made me feel so comfortable!” -Vicki D.
“OMG I LOVE! I love so many of them… you are amazing. U have an amazing talent.” -Penny L.
“The Boudoir Mini Session I did with Erika Blackwell was AMAZING!!! I did this for my husband for our 2 year anniversary and he is going to be SHOCKED at how sexy I look, I have been with him forever and have never been able to give him such an awesome and unique present. I went with one of my closest girlfriends from high school and we made it a girls day! We both were excited for weeks and we kept saying how we will continue to do this every year for fun! I have not had this much fun dressing up and looking beautiful since my wedding day! I have never felt more sexy. This experience and amazing day is something I will NEVER forget. I felt extremely nervous until I walked into the room with Erika, she had me smiling and laughing instantly! I recommend the Boudoir Mini Session to anyone who wants to spice up their marriage and make their husbands drool over pictures of their wives!!! This is something you should do to remember yourself and how beautiful you really are, celebrate womanhood! I felt like a super model. My pictures came back and look like something out of a magazine!!!!! This woman puts her heart and soul into this and you can tell she has nothing but love and passion for this because it shows in EVERY single photo. I can’t wait to look back at these photos when I’m 60 years old and say to my husband “Remember when I looked like this!!???” Once again all my thanks goes to Erika Blackwell.” -Carissa H.
Hi! I’m Erika! I have a passion for photography… seriously! I also use the dot dot dot thing a lot. It’s what I do. I also use the smiley. I can’t help it!! I’m pretty much always smiling. Sometimes my cheeks and jaw hurt after my son does something cute or I’m at a session/wedding. There is so much in life to be happy and thankful about. I also jump topics a lot when I talk. Back to the passion thing. If you personally know me you know that I eat, sleep, take care of my son, and talk/work photography. I can’t help it! I have so many ideas and plans it’s crazy to keep up with. It’s helpful and hurtful I think. I totally underestimate myself sometimes and I feel like I need to fit in with other photographers to keep my business growing. I have come to realize that I have my own style and yes sometimes I do get some inpiration from others BUT I need to get doing what I do. It’s very hard to keep up with people opening photography businesses and trying to stay current and up to date. Okay on to some Q&A’s!
When did you decide to become a photographer?
Shortly after taking my brother’s senior pictures fall of 2004. I borrowed my aunts camera and LOVED it! I had a couple of my friends “model” for some pictures… hung a few posters around town and it all kind of started there. This was before myspace or facebook was the in thing.
If you weren’t a photographer what would you be?
I think I would love to do event/wedding planning. I help my friends and family with their weddings all the time and it’s so fun to be creative. That or own my own children’s boutique/resale.
Future goals?
To keep growing. We are building a new bigger studio this year and updating/adding new camera equiptment. Hopefully in the future I will hire someone full time to work with me. I also want to go to some photography confrences and workshops. It never hurts to keep learning!
Best advice from another photographer?
Shoot what you enjoy and not what you feel you have to. I stopped photographing babies between the ages of 15 days-6 months. Lots of reasons why for me… I love shooting newborns when they are sleepy and easy to pose. There comes a point where they are wide awake with very little facial expression. I’m all about wanting this to be capured on a personal level but a whole photoshoot is hard.
What is your favorite thing to do outside of your business?
Obvious choice here… spend time with my family. I love going to the mall even when I don’t need anything. I just love to hangout and watch my one year old interact with people. He’s a ham! I love going to the beach, park, or anywhere I get to just relax.
Other fun facts:
I’m 27
I love reality tv
I really want a tattoo but I hate needles
I have a sister and a brother
As of right now Aunt to 3 but the number is growing
I love lemons
I want to change the colors of our walls all the time
I love to throw parties
We even have pictures hung in our bathroom
I’ve been with Josh since he was 15 and I was 16
I am obsessed with baby names and love hearing about how names came to be
I have 3 cameras and 3 computers
I’ve been to Hawaii, Florida, Ohio, Canada… SO-FAR
Got a question for me? Shoot!
After 36 long hours of labor…. our sweet little boy made his grand entrance on 12-10-2010 at 4:54pm. 8lbs 10oz and 21 1/8 inches! So many of our family and friends came to the hospital and waited it out for almost two days. We couldn’t be happier. They say after you set your eyes on your baby everything is so worth it…. I have to say while going through the pain I already knew and felt that it was. More pics to come! I took it easy on him for his first official photo shoot.
Ok I get asked what to wear to sessions a lot. Some of my photographer friends post “what to wear” blogs once in a while so I’m going to start doing it too!
MATERNITY
These two outfits can be purchased at Old Navy!
