M&Ms

Whew! Blog's back up! :)

So last night's session was a first for me in that I've never exclusively done a mother-son session. A few days previously, I was surprised to hear on the phone that this handsome 14 year old was actually quite excited about our session--trust me, most 14 year old guys are about as excited about spending 2 hours with yours truly and having their picture taken as they are about going pantyhose shopping with their mothers. So I was really surprised to arrive and find him just as eager and cooperative as his mom said he was.

Spend two minutes with these two, and you'll be blown away by their bond. What a gift they are to each other. They simultaneously made me eager to see my own sons grow, and they also made me miss my own mom even more than I do.

I think this one captures their essence. *wink*

Ack!

My blog isn't letting me upload photos tonight. Sit tight D--should hopefully be worked out by morning. (I hope! :)

As sweet as a cookie...

That's Miss E, who is celebrating her 2nd birthday in a few days. This is the second time she's been behind my lens this year, and I swear she's gotten even cuter since last time.

Evidence #823 why simple knit hats photograph so amazingly well on kids (well, for the short time she let us keep it on her). How can you possibly resist falling in love?

Have a happy birthday, E! I hope you get lots of presents (and a few iced animal cookies! :)

*sniff*

My baby sister got married yesterday. Although I wasn't her photographer, I couldn't resist snapping some of her on her absolutely perfect and beautiful day. Even back when I was taking pictures with 110 film, she always jumped in front of my lens every time I pulled my camera from the drawer. She's the one who was key in encouraging me to pursue photography professionally and has continued to believe in me and the worthiness of my work, so I will always owe her a major debt of gratitude.

She was as beautiful as her day. And I've got a fantastic new brother-in-law, too, who constantly keeps us laughing. They will surely have a lifetime together of laughter and love.

Congratulations, Dan & Ashley. We love you!

Holiday cards are here!

Wow, first day where I haven't worn shorts, and I'm discussing Christmas! I'm excited! Wanna see my '07 cards? Go to my website and navigate to clients. Enter "cards" as your password, and you'll be taken to the gallery. There may be a few more additions to the gallery in the coming days, too.

For those of you who have booked holiday appointments with me, these are the cards you may choose from. Cards come complete with your own custom message inside.

If you've already had a session with me this year and would love to use your portraits on one of these cards, you certainly can. Orders for cards are being taken now through November 26th to ensure Christmas delivery. (Sorry, no orders for cards will be taken past November 26th.) All cards are printed on 5x7 folded cardstock in an elegant pearl or sophisticated linen finish and come with white envelopes. Cards are available in increments of 25 for $3 a piece.

Now, is it too early to start my Christmas shopping? :)

One thing I love about my work...

Is having repeat clients--especially ones I love. I photographed her back in June, and she was just so sweet and petite, and even though she doesn't love looking at me or my camera, I find something just so sincere about her, like I just want to pick her up and protect her. It's almost too bad you can't hear her talk through her pictures--I'd love for you to hear her sweet little voice.

Though, you know, I think you can almost hear it when you look into her eyes, can't you?

Game on!

What a weird weekend for fall sessions! I'm a summer lover, so you won't catch me complaining about the 85-degree heat and humidity well into the second weekend of October (other than it would be nice to turn off my a/c), but it sure does make it interesting for my poor clients who have planned their fall photo wardrobes thinking it's going to be nice and cool outside. I sure felt bad for these guys sweating it out in sweaters, long-sleeves and pants during their family portraits. What else made this session interesting is that the fall color is starting to peek out in the trees, but there is hardly a patch of green grass to be found anywhere, so we actually did most of the session on the road (uh, except for the ones I'm just happening to show... LOL), which was fun each time a car decided to drive down the road and this poor family had to get up, clear to the sides of the road, let the car pass, and then resume their positions in the middle of the road, only to do it again a few minutes later. Yep, all that moving sure helped the warm clothes/heat situation. :)

So I had to chuckle to myself when the sweet and shy 2-year-old here decided it might be fun to start yelling "car!" as soon as I would lay down in the the middle of the road just to catch my reaction. Suddenly, after a half hour of not liking me or my camera too much, we became fast friends. And she reminded me of great line in a Wayne's World movie, "Car! Game off!"

(And now I'm showing my age, so I shall shut up and let you see the pretty pictures with the non-sweaty kids... ;)

Magic pebbles (and a very helpful "intern")

I've often joked that perhaps I need an intern to make my turnaround on proofing go a bit quicker, or someone to help me out during sessions by either holding my reflector, my flash, or--to really dream--schlep my stuff. Yep, I bet I'm going to wake up tomorrow morning to a bunch of resumes from eager college students! *wink*

But seriously, I did have a friend of a friend come along tonight so she could observe a session, and while I didn't ask her to schlep my stuff, she came up with a brilliant idea of a magic pebble to help re-engage a done-with-pictures 3 year old. So much for me teaching her a thing or two. :)

None of these are magic pebble moments, but still, I've got to love 3 year olds. I don't think I've ever met one without personality, but this one? She just oozes it on film, doesn't she? (And she happily made me and my "intern" work for every moment :). And the 7 year old? We didn't need any pebbles for him; just lots of conversation about his best friend Gertrude. *wink*

The 38th anniversary gift...

After photographing this couple and their children and children-in-law (and one grandchild, who has been in front of my lens a lot lately!) for their anniversary, I decided to see what the traditional gift is for a 38th anniversary, and can you believe that once you hit your 20th anniversary, they only list gifts every 5 years? Perhaps that's a testament to the modern marriage and the high divorce rate--and maybe a couple of disillusioned list makers who thought, "Ah forget it! No one makes it past 20 anymore."

So, if I am allowed to start filling in a gap between anniversary years 35 to 40, I now present to you my just-invented 38th anniversary gift: family portraits! I also present to you a couple that still laughs when they remember their early years, and who surrounds themselves with beautiful and devoted children.

My warmest congratulations on your 38th year of marriage! No doubt, you'll be together to get the good stuff when you celebrate your 50th!

Boys, boys, boys...

Three of 'em to be exact. One a leader, one a clown, and one a pirate (and I bet you can guess who is who from the pictures below). All of them loving football (I seem to be getting a lot of football families lately!), and oh yeah, I wouldn't mess with any of them during recess either--those boys have got some muscles!