Category Archives: Personal Stories

Winter lingers a little longer where we’re from. I see current photographs of blooming trees, bright colors, & gorgeous sunlight in various places across the world. I can’t help but feel envious since we are bracing for more cold days & barren landscapes. In some ways, I’ve never been patient. I’ll never grow out of being anxious for Christmas or Spring. It’s in my blood.

A few months ago I had a conversation with my four year old son, Kevin. While having a morning snack he looked at a canvas of himself hanging in our living room.

I want to jump inside that picture,” he told me. “I want to bring you, and Damian, and Daddy,” he said with a wistful smile.

I looked at the picture he referenced. We used to take daily walks on a bike path near our old house. There was a small field we passed & the day I brought my camera {and a cute outfit} it started to rain. I still managed to capture a few images of three year old Kevin before we made a run for home sloshing in the puddles.

Unknowingly he summed up the potential power that photographs have. He reminded me why pictures are taken.

 

I capture the soul of a moment so that even the subject is jealous of the experience.

I capture images that record a history, so that the ones who were not there are able to relive the event.

 

This past year, with a deployment looming, an emotional pregnancy, Rock’s Achilles injury, a new {old} home, a new baby…
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve looked at the small canvas of Rocky & I on our wedding day and wanted to visit that simple, splendid moment.
To visit the innocence of our beginning.
To remember why we have everything to fight for when it feels like the universe plots against us.
To feel thankful for all we have & all we have continued to build together.

Going back to where we’ve been helps us to embrace what will come.
I will admit that I have done a good share of canvas jumping. I am a stronger, happier, woman for it.

 

This past week was Kevin’s birthday, he is now five. I finally made some prints from our session with his Easter outfit. They hang above our couch with the DIY doily covered pillows {thanks mom}. The one where he holds my hand is in my please remodel me office. I like to look at it while I work & remember how nice it is when he lets me hold his hand. Looking at this picture makes me forget how much I can’t stand the wallpaper residue from the previous owners. Kind of.

Once the weather warms up I can’t wait to freshen up the office & make it feel more like home. You can see some of my inspiration on my Pinterest boards here.

We celebrated Kevin’s birthday this week, it was a good time for my little family. I will share some of the fun soon. ♥

 

 

 

 

 

Pin It
  • Brancoprata - March 29, 2011 - 12:04 pm

    Kevin is adorable!!And the studio looks very cozy 😉

 

This week has been all about playing catch up. I have my first wedding of the season this weekend, so I have been trying to touch base with clients, ship orders, & clean up the office. If you are waiting on an e-mail or phone call, don’t worry… I am definitely not through with my list yet! The hidden fact about being a wedding photographer is that you do a lot of work inside that seems to have nothing to do with a camera. I’ve been feeling a little suffocated after this long winter, I am so excited to take pictures! Nothing tops warm weather & photographing weddings.

Rocky took his much anticipated Air Force promotion test, so we all feel the relief of knowing it’s done & we won’t know the results until mid summer. Now that he’s finished studying, we look forward to doing really fun things at some point this weekend: a trip to Ikea, organizing the garage, meeting with our accountant to file taxes, & planting grass. Don’t worry, we won’t be too wild.

I just found our food coloring… looks like we’ll have green Coronas around here. Hope you all have a fun St. Patrick’s Day! ♥

 

***Another Sneak Peek of my shoot with Hooray Design

 

Pin It
  • Brancoprata - March 17, 2011 - 2:43 pm

    Oh I want to see more of this shoot!!!

  • Raspberry essence - March 18, 2011 - 2:48 am

    i love your photos Andrea! they always have a touch of sweetness!

This past weekend I got my hands on my first printed wedding feature…

Sarah handcrafted a wedding that was full of DIY details & her own artistic vision. I am so happy that her lovely ideas are being shared with so many other brides!

Thank you Sarah & Joe for asking us to photograph your wedding! You can see more of their wedding on my blog, here.

For all kinds of wedding inspiration, advice, and ideas, please visit www.theknot.com!

And finally, a big thank you to my husband, Rock Dozier, for traveling to Duluth, MN & shooting this wedding with me.
I am always so excited when we can work together!

It is such an honor to be included in the Spring/Summer issue of The Knot MN! I love to travel, so feel free to invite me back 🙂

Pin It
  • Brancoprata - January 25, 2011 - 5:37 pm

    Congratulations! You deserve it!! 😉

  • Kristi - January 28, 2011 - 7:43 pm

    Oh my goodness!!!!! Absolutely fabulous my dear!!! So thrilled for you. I can only imagine how happy you are ;-)))) So deserved – congrats!!!!

    xoxo
    Kristi

  • Michelle - February 2, 2011 - 7:27 am

    Congrats!!! The first of the many, I’m sure!

2011 Military Wedding Photography Contest

courtesy of Andrea Dozier | Boutique Photography

The winning couple will receive a wedding package valued at over $3,000!

A peek at what is included:

Andrea Dozier will serve as your personal photographer for 8 hours

Optional Second Photographer

An Engagement or Day After Session

A Disc of your High Resolution Images

20 x 30 Gallery Wrapped Canvas

Entries accepted for weddings in any location!

*All destination weddings will be charged a travel fee, at cost (100+ miles away from 45415)


  • Contestants should kindly submit 1-3 photographs of themselves along with a brief description of their history & love story to andrea.dozier@yahoo.com. Any details about the wedding are also encouraged. Please do not compromise any security concerns by disclosing specific deployment locations/missions.
  • Wedding Photography Giveaway Contest is open to any military couple (only one of you needs to be a member of the military), of any branch of service. Eligibility is based on my availability. Weddings need to take place sometime in 2011.
  • Please submit all entries for consideration by Sunday January 30th.
  • I will post all the submissions that are eligible {dates I have not already booked} on my Facebook Page in an album titled “ 2011 Military Wedding Submissions.” I thought it would only be appropriate to put it to a vote, right?
  • In order to be eligible to vote, please visit my Facebook Page & “Like” it. Then you may vote for your favorite couples by “Liking” your favorite contestants’ photographs. Photo comments are awesome, but will not count as part of the official vote tally. You may vote for more than one couple, but each one only once.

Voting will begin Monday January 31st
Voting will close Sunday February 13th

The winning couple will be announced on February 14th!

What now? Are you a military couple that is engaged? Please send your story & photograph to contest@andreadozer.com

Do you know an engaged military couple, {even if they are not from this area}? Please share this link with them!

Are you just really excited to be part of this giveaway?
THANK YOU!
One special couple will be so glad you are sharing this giveaway through Facebook & Twitter with your friends & family & community…

Please VOTE starting Monday January 31st!

Much love and appreciation to my military family! ♥

Here’s a little of the “back story” for those of you who don’t know…

A little over five years ago, my quiet, predictable life changed. Eight months into our marriage, my husband took an oath and joined the Air Force. I had no idea what would meet us on the other end of his training {besides a a move 1,000 miles across the country}. We jumped into the military life eagerly, blindly… together.

Although my heart swells with pride & respect for him & the ones who serve next to him, there are certainly challenges to this path we’ve chosen. Rocky & I have been married for six years, but have spent over a year of that apart. That number is actually low, since he was supposed to deploy this past summer until an injury compromised his ability to go. He would have missed the birth of our son & met him for the first time just a few days ago.

This Christmas season, I took a lot of personal time to appreciate the luxury of having him with us. However, our thankfulness comes with the knowledge that many families had someone missing in their photographs. Thousands of couples weren’t able to kiss at New Years. I’ve been trying to think of a way I can give back to my military family that I am so honored to be part of!

Pin It

Looking at bare branches, sloshing through cold rain, and tightening up my coat lately leads me to believe it must be close to winter… even if I swear it must be September. There haven’t been any posts lately. Not for lack of content, just prioritizing time with meeting deadlines & taking care of my family in the midst of one {huge} home project after another. They always take longer than you think {trust me}! The chaos & clutter of a busy fall is still evident in what feels like every corner of this little home. Sometimes it can be frustrating to have a vision of how you want everything to be, but feel like it’s just not happening fast enough.

Today we are all reflecting on what we are grateful for. As a military wife, thankfulness has become a practice that eases many other disappointments. As a mama, it brings new life to mornings that begin after very long nights. Being thankful is powerful, it always positively affects the atmosphere of my mental state.

When I see tools overtaking my kitchen, I feel gratitude that my husband is here to use them.

When I trip over train tracks, I smile because of the little engineer that builds them brightens my world everyday.

When I see itty bitty laundry, I cherish these moments of my baby’s tiny size.

It gets harder and harder to remember why I could ever feel discontent when I am so aware of all the ways my life is overflowing with blessings.♥

Rocky & the boys were reuniting after two weeks apart for him to work on the living room. He just refinished the floors {not pictured} & we have “moved back” in this past week! I honestly am not able to picture what life would be like if Damian still wouldn’t have met his daddy for another two months! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Pin It
  • Courtney - December 4, 2010 - 9:40 am

    *LOVE* 🙂