Friday I shot Jim & Julie's Engagement Shoot up at Desert Mountain near where they live and where they will be getting married in November. They have a great story of how they met and began doing business together, developing a friendship before their relationship blossomed into a romance. They're a great couple and we had a fun shoot. Here's some of my favorites:
Jim has a two-year-old daughter named Bella who came along as well--super cute!
It's so beautiful up at Desert Mountain. I can't wait for the wedding!
Thanks for the great shoot and for dinner you guys!
April is Autism Awareness month. These are my two nephews: Elijah (5) and Noah (6). They are the loves of my life. They are SO sweet and full of love and I couldn't adore anything more. They are both autistic. And it absolutely breaks my heart. I've been laying in bed unable to get to sleep the last two nights because I'm so angry about Autism. Let me fill you in on some of the basics about this disorder and hopefully it will help you to understand why.
Autism is a complex disorder that has no known cause or cure.
1 in 150 children are diagnosed with some form of autism. For boys, the number is 1 in 94. This makes it more common than pediatric cancer, diabetes and AIDS combined.
Symptoms can range from mild to severe and span 3 general areas: -Language development -Social development and behavior -Repetitive and odd behaviors
No two children with autism are alike. My nephew Elijah is more severe than his older brother, Noah. Elijah is 5 and is nonverbal, not yet potty trained and has difficulty being in new environments with people who are unfamiliar to him. He is very frustrated with his inability to communicate his needs. He loves to do certain activities over and over again such as watch the same videos endlessly, throw rocks, and jump in the pool over and over.
Noah is 6 and now has a large vocabulary of words. He is still unable to form spontaneous sentences and largely communicates through one or two word phrases. He is potty trained and loves to help his younger brother. Both he and Elijah are in special classes in the public schools with one on one attention from teachers. Noah loves to learn and enjoys practicing his flash cards of vocabulary words, shooting basketball hoops and lining up his toys in certain patterns.
There are some theories about the potential causes of autism. It is generally agreed that there is a genetic predisposition in children with autism that causes them to be susceptible to environmental triggers. A controversial theory that has been refuted by the medical community but is strongly held by a group of parents and a few scientists is that immunization shots given at a young age trigger autism. This is a lengthy discussion that I'm not going to go into here, but if you're interested, here are a few videos to check out on the subject:
I help my sister take the boys to a doctors appointment every week where they get chelation treatment. They are injected with a medication that helps rid their body of the poisonous toxins such as mercury and lead that their bodies are unable to process on their own. Their urine is collected and tested and we get reports of the amount and types of metals that are coming out of their bodies. This is somewhat of an experimental treatment but seems to be helping many children with autism.
One last thing I wanted to share on autism--and if you're still reading at this point, you are awesome!--are some early signs of Autism. These are important to know so that you can watch your own children and possibly help other parents out who you know. The earlier Autism is detected the more successful treatment can be. Here are some "red flags" to be on the watch for:
No big smiles or other warm, joyful expressions by six months or thereafter
No back-and-forth sharing of sounds, smiles, or other facial expressions by nine months or thereafter
No babbling by 12 months
No back-and-forth gestures, such as pointing, showing, reaching, or waving by 12 months
No words by 16 months
No two-word meaningful phrases (without imitating or repeating) by 24 months
Any loss of speech or babbling or social skills at any age
Remember that Autism is very complex and mysterious at this time so no two children will display the exact same behaviors or symptoms. But these are some general things to look for.
One of the most frustrating things to me is that this epidemic is largely ignored by the medical community. Doctors are not taught about it in medical school. Parents take their children in to their pediatrician with concerns about their child's development and they are told that they are over-reacting and not to worry about it. And there is very little being done to find a cure. The effort is definitely out of proportion to the size and extremity of the epidemic. It breaks my heart to think of what we, as a society, may be unknowingly doing to an entire generation of children. We've got to put an end to this disorder.
If you are interested in finding out more about what you can do to be involved, check out these sites:
I just got my Toyota washed on Tuesday for the first time in over a month and last night it rains. Not only does it rain, but there's a huge dust storm. So this is what my car looks like now:
I swear I have special powers.
On a totally unrelated note, I took my friend Teri out to lunch today and I think she forgave me for being a loser friend and forgetting her 30th birthday last week. So that's good. Her 2 year old, Kailey, was with us and she just totally brightens my day every time I see her. She is total preciousness.
She sang "Jesus Loves Me" during lunch and I got it on video. SO CUTE! I think she was a little distracted by the Mexican food (understandably).
Tonight I finally had my friends Matt, Angie & Maddux over. We've been trying to set up a time to hang out for what seems like forever and finally we gott'er done. Matt and Angie are local wedding photographers as well, who I met through the Phoenix PUG (Pictage User Group) and we hit it off right away. Together they make up Sloan Photographers.
Their son, Maddux, is the most angelic child I think I've met to date. I don't think I heard a peep out of him all night and there were no toys in sight. He even sat quietly watching "American Idol" with us. We had chocolate for desert and he got his hands on two mini Twix bars and just hung on all night. Too bad he doesn't know the yumminess hidden underneath the cool, shiny wrappers :).
I'm so thankful for my friendship with Matt & Angie. Not only is it great to have photographers who are friends as we can talk shop and help each other out, but they are just darn good people who make me happy whenever they're around.
Tonight I shot portraits of the definition of cuteness. This little 19 month old is the son of my friends, Carrie and Dorian, who are a part of my church community. Every time I see him at Portico, my heart melts. So I insisted on taking photos of him.
Now, when I say I "shot portraits of him," what I really mean is that I chased him tirelessly around Freestone Park for about 45 minutes. I think he was purposefully trying to lose me :).
Braeden is quite the little package. He is full of energy, knows what he wants, and I can tell he's got a lot going on upstairs. He is a man of many expressions. Here are a few of my faves:
This is the look I like to call, "'Whatchu talkin about Willis?"
So scrumptious!
Thanks, Carrie, for helping me keep him alive during the shoot! (Mom rescued Braeden numerous times from going into the lake after the ducks he was chasing :))
My sister brought my nephews over to my pool today for a little swim. The pool is heated part of the year but it's getting really warm out so it won't be long until the heating is unnecessary.
It's always so fun to watch them swim because they love it SO much. They can just jump in over and over for hours.
I had fun taking some photos of Noah (6) and Elijah (5) which is always challenging because they're both autistic. I watched a "Larry King Live" recently and found out that more kids are being diagnosed with autism than AIDS, cancer and diabetes COMBINED. The number is 1 in 150 kids now. With the rate for boys being 1 in 94. Autism has really reached the level of an epidemic and is getting very little attention for how prevelant it is. The cause and a possible cure are still unknown.
Anyhow, my nephews are super-cute. Here's a few shots of Elijah. I love his floaties :)
And Noah hit a mile-marker today. He lost his first tooth! Unfortunately it was in the pool somewhere. Notice in the photo on the top of this post, he has a whole set of teeth and on this one, he's missing the top middle one on the left:
These are my dear friends I am visiting here in Charlotte this week. Michelle has been my friend since 4th grade -- for 20 years now! We only went to school together the one year in Minnesota. I remember riding the bus with her to school and singing songs. Then she moved away and we were pen-pals. I have over 50 letters from her from that time. We both moved numerous times and then when we were in high school she flew out to visit me each year because her dad is a pilot. Then I was in her wedding nine years ago. And since then she has had 4 kids. I've been doing the visiting the last few years and it's been nice because I have shot 4 weddings in the Carolinas now so each one is a good excuse to visit her. God has really blessed me with her friendship and used us in each other's lives over the years. We always have the best deep conversations about life. Anyhow... now that you know my life story :)
Today the kids were playing in the backyard--the weather is GORGEOUS here. And so I did some shooting and got some great shots of their cute family.
This is Gavin, the oldest:
Logan is next:
Rhiannon is the only girl:
And Aiden is the baby:
I love his chipmunk teeth:
Here's Brian and Michelle:
And a cute shot of the three boys:
I love this family. The kids are each so special and have their own unique personalities. My friend Michelle is an absolutely amazing mom. She blows me away. It's crazy to think about where we are now and how far we've come from the little girls who rode the bus together in 4th grade. Life is one amazing, unpredictable journey.
My friends Michelle & Haines, whose maternity shoot I did a few months ago, just had their little boy, Tate, on Saturday morning! He is 6 lbs and some change and 19 inches long. I got to stop by the hospital yesterday to meet him and shot a few photos while there. Oftentimes I don't find newborns super-cute but Tate is a cutie and I'm always so amazed at how tiny and soft newborns are.
So today I was supposed to have an engagement shoot but the couple had to postpone last minute so I took my whole Saturday off to spend time with my good friend Jessica which just so happened to be on my list. Now you may wonder why spending time with a friend would be considered a legitimate goal. Jessica has been my friend for a long time. She has two kids--Sydney is 8 and Grant is 5. I've been friends with Jess long before she had Sydney and we've been through a lot together. Last year she got remarried and she now lives out in the boonies beyond the limits of Queen Creek -- about a 45 minute drive from me. And our relationship has changed a bit this year. I don't get to see her nearly as much and have only made the trip out to her house once. Isn't that sad? So I decided I needed some quality time with her and would make the effort to go her way.
But we didn't spend the whole day out at her house. We started the day at Grant's little league game. Which was a lot of fun. Here's a great shot I got of one of the little leaguers at bat:
Here's Sydney playing with her most cherished toy--an American Girl Doll. I haven't seen Sydney in months and she is getting so big and seriously talks like a grown up.
This little guy is playing the outfield and is totally prepared for any fly ball that may come his way:
I love this shot of the team as they wait their turn up to bat:
After the game and lunch we made the trek back to Jess & Daniel's house. They live off a dirt road and burn their own trash and they don't even really have a city name to call their own. Right now they're "borrowing" "Queen Creek" for their address even though their house is 10 miles beyond the edge of town. I give them a hard time for living so far out. Here's their house:
We went next door to my friend Lindsay's house. Lindsay is also Jessica's sister-in-law. She is pregnant and I got this great shot of her:
She was watching some cute dogs. Check out these ears:
We hung out for awhile working on a school project with Syndey. Here's Sydney--I can't believe how gorgeous she is!
To wrap up the fun-filled day, we went ice skating! Sydney made the honor roll so this was her reward. It was the first time ever skating for both Sydney & Grant!
Getting laced up:
The whole fam:
Now mind you, all of the following shots were taken while I myself was on skates on the ice. Pretty impressive, I know :).
Grant was really tentative at first and either held onto mom or the side:
But then he got this walker-looking-thing that helped him not fall and gain confidence. It was really cute:
I caught this action shot of him wiping it even with the walker:
But then he got rid of the walker and was wizzing around the rink on his own. He had a blast!
I got some cute shots of Jess & Daniel as well--still newlyweds :).
What a fun day! Thanks guys for hanging out! I hope it's not too long before we do it again :).
Yesterday I went to LA for the day to attend Joe Buissink & Marcus Bell's Photo Conference. It was awesome! These two are amazing photographers and I was so inspired. Joe is a celebrity wedding photographer but is very genuine and down to earth. I found out that he has a 13 year-old son who has autism so I definitely felt a connection to him in that since I have two nephews with autism. Marcus is from Australia and so I enjoyed listening to his accent all day. I wanted to get a photo with the two of them to share with you. Here's Joe saying, "do we need a reflector?" as he acts like his bald head would work well for that:
So then I'm cracking up and look like a total goofball for the photo:
I went to this conference on my own but ran into two friends (top photo). Michell Jonas is a Phoenix photographer who showed up and it's funny cause we're running into each other EVERYWHERE lately. And then Jen Disney (on right) is a girl I went to college with back in the day. We didn't know each other too well then but were in a girls' choir together and I ran into her in the bathroom at the conference and we immediately recognized each other. So the three of us girls went to a little hole in the wall Mexican Restaraunt for lunch and it was delicious.
The conference was inpiring mostly because of Joe and Marcus' images which just made me want to be a better photographer and get out there and shoot. Marcus also shared about his workflow using Lightroom, a new software that is out there that I will be buying and incorporating in our workflow soon (one of my 101 goals!). So it was good to learn a little more about that. I was also inspired to get some fine art canvas prints made and enter a print competition. So those goals will be going on my list.
At the LAX airport as I was waiting for my plane, I saw these adorable boys playing and had fun taking some photos of them. Check out these mugs:
I nearly missed my plane because I was having so much fun shooting them and didn't hear the boarding call. But I made it and had fun taking a few pics on the plane. LA by night:
My adorable nephew Elijah turned 5 on January 5th but the poor guy didn't get to celebrate his birthday until just last week. He was sick for awhile and then the family just couldn't all get together until now. But I don't think he noticed. He's autistic, non-verbal and still hasn't caught on to the birthday thing. But I was excited because he seemed to enjoy his party for the first time in his life! He usually goes in the back room to watch videos when a lot of people are in the house because it just overwhelms him. But he hung out with all of us the whole time!
My sister is such a great mom - Elijah is on a VERY strict diet and can't have like 30 major ingredients so she found a way to make a special cake just using nuts, egg whites and powdered sugar! And it was good.
Here's some more fun pics from the party. I just had my point and shoot so they're not too fancy but I still wanted to document the event.
Me and my cute dad:
Elijah playing with his favorite gift - large legos:
My brother-in-law, Josh, giving his best pose for the camera:
Last Friday I had the opportunity to shoot a high-energy event at Bethany Community Church in Tempe. It was put on by an organization called KidzBlitz that travels around to churches entertaining kids and their families while sharing the message of Christ. The worship center was packed with families and everyone had a blast. Here's a few photos of kids before the event getting excited:
Throughout the night there were shouting contests between the two teams and it was CRAZY loud.
The teams competed in various games. First, two kids got oversized clothing stuffed with balloons. It was pretty entertaining :).
Next someone from both teams had to jump rope with swimming fins and a top hat on. I don't think I could have done this myself:
Check out the air this girl got when she found out she won:
Next kids had to try to eat a donut off a hook without it falling to the ground:
This cute little girl really got into the shouting contest:
THIS was impressive. This little boy had to stand on a stool and constantly hoola hoop while blowing up a balloon blindfolded.
I can't believe how well he did:
More screaming:
This little girl looked a little nervous when placed in a cage and told that things were going to drop on her. Don't worry--it was just plastic balls and such.
The parents even got involved. Here a dad had to sit on a bean bag with a water balloon on his head covered in shaving cream. His little girl had to shave the cream off using a razor.
The little girl did a great job and never broke the balloon but the guys running the event had to pop it afterwards anyway :)
For entertainment value, all the adults involved in running the show got "poofed" at various times:
And this is what a bag of grits getting smashed by an oversized hammer looks like:
For the last game, a large group of kids got covered in toilet paper.
TOTAL CRAZINESS. And my ear drums are still recovering...
So I know Christmas is long gone for this year but I was taking down some of my cards and decided I wanted to share with you some of my favorites I received this year. Every year I receive cards from people with their family picture on them and it's fun because I shot them! I love to see the creative cards that people come up with using my photos. So if you have a card with one of my photos on it--make sure to include me on your mailing list--I would love to receive one and add it to my collection!
Here's the four I received this year (all very poorly scanned in):
I have to say this is my favorite family I've ever done family photos for. Definitely NOT the easiest. But my favorite. This is my sister, brother-in-law and two adorable nephews. We've attempted family photos numerous times throughout the years and it's always more work than usual because Noah (6) and Elijah (5) are both autistic. Noah's gotten a lot better and will hold still and try to smile at the camera. But he's easily distracted and Elijah is usually the distraction. The boy won't sit still and won't look at the camera no matter what a loud fool I make of myself :). But I love them to death so we always do our best. Even though it takes a lot of energy, we always end up with some cute photos in the end. The best thing to do is keep moving. So we do things that are fun for the boys. Noah loves swinging:
And recently he's taken up basketball:
It's pretty amazing. The basket towers over him but he ends up making his under-handed shots a good percentage of the time. Here's some more cute shots of him playing:
And a cute one of Josh and Noah. Josh is so good with the boys.
Here's my sister taking Elijah down the slide:
After some fun on the playground equipment we went on the merry-go-round. Elijah lit up.
And finally we ended our outing with a ride around Freestone park on the train.
I love this one of Elijah. Poor guy was SO cold by this point.
Well, I made it home. It was tough to leave. I love this family so much. Thursday we did some family photos. They were troopers because the temperature was in the 30s!
This is Shannon & Andy's cute house that I got to stay in for the past week:
My room was on the 3rd floor and had slanted low ceilings that mirrored the roof line. It's very homey and charming.
Anyhow, all of the portraits we did were in the front and back yard and we defrosted inside between groupings.
Shannon & Andy mainly wanted photos of the kids but I made them take some just the two of them. They make such a cute couple. They've been married for 13 years and together for 20!
Here's Madeline (8) and Grace (3) together on the front porch swing:
And I love this shot of Grace looking up to Maddy:
Here's dad with his girls:
And finally, individual shots of the three kids:
I miss them already! Thanks so much for a great week you guys!! Love you!
Today the weather cleared up and Shannon, Grace, Marshall and I took a little road trip. We stopped at the beach and got out for a few minutes. It was a nice day but the harsh wind made it SO cold out on the coast. Here's a few fun shots I got at the beach:
Grace looked so cute in her red coat and stylin' sun glasses:
And Marshall was adorable with his hood up:
Here's the whole cute gang:
And Shannon made a sweet note in the sand for me:
After the beach we drove to this great little town named Exeter. I love all the history in New Hampshire. This little sign talks about how Exeter was one of the four original towns in the colony starting in 1638 and became the capital of the state during the American Revolution.
I also really like all the architecture and old buildings on the east coast. They have so much more character than a lot of our cookie-cutter houses and stucco bulidings in Arizona. Here's some other fun shots from our time in Exeter.
A cool red barn:
A fun old mailbox:
A piece of art on a shed alongside the road:
An old window on the side of a barn:
A rusty latch on an abandoned buliding (pictured at the top of this post):
And some tall marsh grass growing out of the wetlands:
After exploring a bit we had worked up an appetite for lunch and stopped and this cute cafe. Outside was this fun old bike:
Here's a cute shot of Shannon and Grace during lunch. Shannon is such a great mom! Even though I don't have kids of my own, I feel like I have learned so much from her example.
After lunch Grace wrapped herself up in the cafe curtains. It made for some cute shots:
And finally, on the way back to the car, Marshall and Grace did a little window shopping:
SO CUTE! I love these kids. It's going to be hard to leave in a few days.
I'm in New Hampshire visiting some good friends of mine and taking a week partially off to relax a little. It's partially because I have my laptop and am still checking emails and blogging a little. But it has been such a relaxing really blessed time so far. I was hoping for some snow but the weather here is unseasonably warm and pretty much feels like it does in Phoenix right now. Although it has been raining pretty much non-stop since I've been here. So unfortunately I haven't been able to get outside with my camera to do some exploring. But I'm hoping to do so later this week.
Shannon and Andy have been married for 13 years and have 3 unbelievably adorable kids. I'm going to hopefully shoot some family portraits later this week but I shot a few photos of the kids around the house as we've been hanging out.
Madeline is in 3rd grade and super-smart. She's a great big-sister:
Grace is 3 and is very sweet and cuddly:
And Marshall is 1 and a little mischevious. But also SO cute:
Here's Marshall trying on his big sis's boots:
Anyhow, I hope to be able to shoot more in the next couple days so stay tuned for more NH fun!
Last night my family celebrated Christmas. I think it was my favorite one so far. Mostly because my 6 year old nephew, Noah, was finally at the age where he really got into it. He was so cute and excited and helped everyone else open their presents. When he got a present open we would ask him what it was and he would often screech, "ANOTHER BOX!" It was SO cute. Of course there was an actual present IN the box but it was cute that he was so excited about the box itself.
Here's Noah before we sat down for dinner looking all cute and adult-ish with the freezer door open. All he kept asking for all through dinner was ice cream:
Here's my cute family sitting down for dinner at my parent's house:
From left to right - my dad, Noah, my mom, my brother-in-law Josh, my sister Natalie. The little diapered kid in the background is my youngest nephew Elijah. He still doesn't get what all the fuss is about so spent the majority of the evening watching Family Feud and playing in the back room.
Here's a close-up of one of the many highlights of the night--the honey-baked ham. SO yummy.
My mom admitted to going a little over the top with the gifts this year. They practially blocked our view of the trees at the beginning of the night:
Father & son ready to open presents:
We got Elijah to sit down and help open one gift. Hopefully next year he'll be more into it.
A couple of Noah's favorite gifts--a train set from Grandma & Grandpa and flash cards also from Grandma & Grandpa.
Noah is autistic and LOVES his flash cards. He is quite the wiz at learning his words from them. He must know hundreds by now and it is so cute how much he enjoys learning.
How many people does it take to assemble a toy?
Some of the other favorites of the night - my sister with her new steak knives:
Mom with some new earrings:
My dad with a tiny version of what my mom is going to allow him to buy for himself--a new motorcycle.
And the best reaction of the night caught on "film" - Josh opening a new wedding ring from my sis:
I got some great gifts as well. My favorite is a black video iPod from my parents - thanks mom & dad! I was totally surprised by it. Believe it or not, it is the very first iPod I've ever owned. Hard to believe, I know.
Finally, here's a bad attempt at a self-group portrait using my wide-angle lens:
Today was a fun day. I went downtown to partner with my church and Crossroads Youth Intervention to spread some Christmas cheer to needy children and families. I was told that many of these children will get nothing for Christmas except what they received from us today.
Above is a line of people from the surrounding neighborhood patiently waiting in line to enter the event. Here's some more pictures of some of the 200 or more cute kids waiting in line:
This little boy wanted me to take a picture of his little lizard he was carrying around:
When kids entered they were given lunch:
There was live music, a bounce house, some arts & crafts for the kids to do, and a message about the love of God in Christ--given in both English and Spanish. When the kids left, they were each give a new toy to take home with them:
When I do this type of thing, I always end up feeling more blessed than those who are there to receive the blessing. It's amazing how that works.
Tonight I did portraits of Jacob and Justin - two very cute brothers. Jacob, the younger of the two, is at that age where he tries his hardest but hasn't mastered the natural smile. So it was a little tough to coax it out of him. But we got some great shots nonetheless.
Justin is a great older brother and was always trying to help out. He was very sweet with Jacob. Here are a few of my favorite shots:
Justin got into the shoot by making suggestions for poses and spots to take photos. These last two were his ideas--pretty good :)
Today I got to spend some time with Teri, my best friend from high school, and her adorable little girl Kailey. It's always fun to hang out with them and recently I insisted on taking some photos of Kailey because she is just SO cute. I couldn't resist. Here are a few of my favorites from our laid back, "hanging out" shoot today:
Next week I get to do a family shoot with them so there's more cuteness to come!
Starting tomorrow, I'm shooting 20 hours worth of weddings this weekend. They're going to be great but if you don't hear from me after Sunday, it's quite possible that I dropped dead in the process. Just wanted to give you all a heads up :).
This weekend I logged 16 hours of shooting--a rehearsal dinner Friday, a wedding yesterday and 11 family portrait shoots today. The family portrait shoots were all a part of The Silverleaf Club's annual Family Portrait Brunch they hold for their members. This is one of my favorite venues for weddings, by the way--it is SO gorgeous. It was a crazy 4 1/2 hours but I met a lot of great families and got some great Christmas card shots :).
There were cute kids everywhere. Here are a few of my favorite shots:
These two cuties were stylin'. I love their colorful clothes:
The little girl was SO spunky. I had her and her brother in the above pose and then she gave me one of these:
I think she has a modeling future with all the poses she was coming up with :).
The wedding on Saturday was fabulous as well. Stay tuned...I'll post some of my favorite shots from the day and the slideshow in a day or two.
Yesterday I shot family portraits for Scott, Ginni and their little girl Jadyn. They are a cute family and we had fun walking around Freestone Park on an absolutely beautiful Fall day. It was the perfect day for a portrait shoot!
Here's a few more of my favorites:
Jadyn is just getting the hang of walking and she looked so cute in her pink coat:
Thanks Scott & Ginni! It was fun spending time with you yesterday!
The other day I got to shoot family portraits for my assistant, Jamie. She has two of the cutest kids ever. Blake is 3 and Tyler is 18 months. Blake was such a trooper with the portraits, trying his best and being very patient. Tyler was a little tougher but that's to be expected at her age. But I'm excited because we got some super-cute ones!
Blake is such a good big brother and loves Tyler so much. Check out the love:
And a few more of my favorites:
Thanks for everything you do for me Jamie! I love you and your cute family!
Last weekend I got the chance to shoot family portraits for the Arthur family. I had my hands full with 9 adults and 5 children all under the age of 5! It's always tough to get a shot with everyone looking at the camera, eyes open and smiling all at the same time. But we had fun with it and the Arthur family was great to work with. After we did a group shot and a few individual family photos, we all just hung out at the park, the adults interacting with the kids, and I got some great candid shots of the kids being themselves that are just precious.
Here's a few more of my favorites. Greg and Tracy have their hands full literally with twin girls and a little boy. They are such a cute family:
Then yesterday I went to lunch with Scott, Julie and the boys. I also got to talk long distance with my friend Michelle from North Carolina. And my friend Shannon from New Hampshire sang to me on my voicemail :). Thanks to so many of you also for the emails, cards and calls. It was kind of an emotional day for me just thinking about how thankful I am for my friendships. I am truly blessed with life-long friends who are so faithful and true.
Today I got to hang out with my mom, sis and nephews in the afternoon. I took some cute photos of my youngest nephew, Elijah who is 4. Both of my nephews have autism and are so special. Elijah's favorite thing to do is throw rocks. He can sit in the backyard for hours.
And then tonight my parent's took me to dinner at Shabu Fondue. It is one of my favorites. You get to cook your food in front of you and then for dessert dip things in chocolate! It's entertaining and yummy. Here's me with my birthday dessert:
Amazingly the birthday fun isn't over. It's more like a birthday week this year. Julie, my sister and mom are throwing me a party Friday night that I'm really looking forward to! I feel so spoiled. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you to all of you for pouring on the love and for being such amazing people who I feel honored to call friends.
Today I got to shoot portraits of some close friends. Scott & Julie have been friends of mine for over 10 years and I joke about moving in with them because I hang out at their house so much. They have 3 boys -- Hayden is 6, Sammy is 3 and Colton just turned 1. Julie is so brave to try to get photos of the whole family with three boys at these ages. It's a miracle if we ever get everyone looking in the same direction let alone smiling simultaneously. It was crazy! And she works so hard to get them ready and looking their best. She got Sammy all put together and then he showed us this:
One of the main reasons for this photo shoot was to get Dotey's one year portraits. "Dotey" is what Sammy first called Colton and it has stuck. Everyone calls him "Dotey" or "Doten" and when he finally goes to school and the teacher calls his actual name, I don't think he'll respond. He has no idea that "Colton" is his name. Boy is he a cutie:
Here's the whole family in the backyard:
And a miraculous shot of all the boys looking at the camera at the same time. Gotta love the matching shirts:
After everyone was all posed-out, we finished off the shoot with some fun rides:
I got a new camera yesterday! Yay! It's a Canon 5D--12.8 megapixels, full-frame sensor and bright and shiney new. The full-frame sensor means that my fish-eye lens is even fishier. I realized I haven't put some photos of important stuff up on my blog, so I thought this would be a great opportunity to have fun with my new camera. Above is my office where I spend a lot of my time. It's also where I meet with clients and boss Jamie around. This is Jamie:
Cute, huh? She's going to hate me for posting this. Ok, so I don't really boss her around. We work together and she mostly just gives me a hard time usually. And then I threaten to fire her and then the cycle repeats itself :). It's great to be able to have fun while working.
Today for lunch, my friend Marisa invited me over. She and Erik and their three kids live really close by and I love hanging out with them whenever I can. I even feel free to invite myself over sometimes. Their kids are so cute and have been my models for years.
Here's Keith eating what he refers to as a "po-ca-ca":
Along with my new camera, I also got a new lens--an 85mm 1.8. It's like Christmas in the summer :). I love my new lens too. It's got a great wide-open aperture so I can get shots like this where the whole background is out of focus:
I caught a picture of Marisa:
And then Marisa and Karina having a sweet moment:
Gotta love baby parts:
Keith is sure to be a genius one day, starting on the phonics so early:
Thanks for letting me try out my new stuff on you guys! You're great!
Friday afternoon I got to hang out with some of my favorite people--other wedding photographers--and we went bowling--which is something I haven't done in a VERY long time. It ended up being super-fun. The fun group above is as follows (clockwise from me in the lower left corner) Britton & Jared Platt, Jefferson Todd, Isaac Bailey, Marcia Mauskopf, Rebecca Bouck, Stuart Thurlkill and Kim Jarman. They are all amazing photographers and I ripped off some of their shots to show you along with some of mine for my blog. I won't name names, because I don't want to publicly humiliate them, but I am proud to say that I did beat a few of the boys' bowling scores. I'm not a great bowler but I always think anything over 100 is pretty good and I bowled a 102, 108 & 119. If we would have bowled more, I'm sure it would have just gone up from there :).
Photographers are pretty crazy when they're put together with a bunch of cameras. I could hardly keep track of mine--everybody else used it more than me :). Plus I nearly got assulted numerous times with one. Here's one example:
And here's an embarassing shot of me feeling disappointed with one of my throws. I'm pretty competitive and hard on myself :).
I love this one of Stuart...pure joy.
And here's another good one of Stuart--a flattering close-up with the fish-eye:
Jared brought his cute little boy, Britton who had a lane to himself next to us with the bumper rails. He was pretty cute. I think Jared bowled a few on that lane too, to feel better about himself.
Here's Kim in action...good form.
We played in two teams and my team kicked butt. Here's a shot of us doing a team cheer with JT and Rebecca being sore losers :).
I had a blast and feel so blessed to have friends in the industry to hang out with, be inspired by and learn from. Can't wait to do it again!
This is my super-cute nephew Noah. He turns 6 this Monday. And that's his mom, Natalie, my younger sis. I got to hang out with them today which is one of my favorite things in the world to do. Tomorrow is his last day of kindergarten and my mom and I went to his class to visit him and observe today.
He was so proud to have us there and showed off a lot. After school we went back to his house and he promptly took off his clothes down to his underwear--which is what he always does at home--and started to play. I guess it's good to be comfy at home. Anyhow, I got some fun half-naked kid photos.
He loves being in front of the camera and seeing pictures of himself. And I think he might take after his aunt because later tonight he stole my sister's phone and went around from person to person in the house saying, "smile at me," and taking pictures with it. The only problem is he always had the camera backwards and took all super-close-ups of himself. But we're working on it. The passion is there and that's what's important. Technical skills come with time. :)
Today some photographer friends and I went to lunch at Chipotle. Mmmm. Good stuff. Jared Platt brought his son Britton. Kids are so cute. He started playing with my sunglasses and I got some fun shots. I love the shot at the top with the cup that says, "We all have to start somewhere." So true. I think back to when I first picked up a camera. I never dreamed that I would be able to take pictures for a living. I didn't know anyone who did and I didn't even have it on my radar. But God took something that I enjoyed and showed me that I could make a business out of it. Amazing! I still can't believe it. I still have so much to learn but I look back at some of my prints from my first photo class and it's amazing how far I've come. We all have to start somewhere. If there's something you've always secretly dreamed of doing--start. You never know what could come of it.
