Lucy & Henry

As I mentioned in my previous post, my own children – Lucy and Henry – are of course my favorite little subjects to photograph.  They are also my most difficult!  I am expecting this to change as they get older.  Here is the plan: They will be so accustomed to me taking their photos, they will know not to flash a fake smile at me, or better yet, they will fake a real smile.  I’ll have little models, right?  Right… I can just see them developing the ability to “smize” on cue at a very early age… act like they are laughing, or act like they are deep in thought, gazing out of a window… [record screeches to a stop].  Not gonna happen.  In fact, as much as a tiny part of me wants that to be the case, I know that what I have – reality – is better.  They make me work for any great shot (and any of these that turned out I think, “thank goodness I got one!”), and thank goodness my husband is there to make sure no one runs into the street or eats a rock, while I snap away hoping for the best.  That’s all you can do, right?  That’s probably true for their entire lives:  Hope for the best.  Hope they don’t get hurt, although they will.  Be there to catch them, when you can.  Let them be themselves, and love them for who they are.

So, what happens when Mom drags the kids out on a chilly spring morning for some photos?  A lot of this:

But a little of this too: facing the same general direction = successful photo of a preschooler and a toddler!

This might be my favorite photo of him.  He’s looking at Ron.  He looks like a little boy – not a baby anymore!

So, this is my beautiful daughter.  She is starting preschool this coming fall.  She tests my patience and challenges me constantly, but she also amazes me in every way!  She’s smart, hilarious, loving, and imaginative… and sometimes a little naughty.  She likes to push our  buttons, she knows exactly what she’s doing.
In case you have just noticed or don’t know me personally, yes Lucy has two different colored eyes, a condition known as heterochromia iridium.  She has had this since birth, although her left eye (greenish blue) used to be bluer.  Her vision is perfect and she does not seem to have any health concerns that could potentially be linked with heterochromia.  We might never know what caused it, but we love this unique trait.  She will have to list “multi” on her driver’s license, in case you were curious ;) .

Back to Mr. Blue Eyes… I love this little boy.  He’s just so adorable and (almost) always happy.  He’s nearing his 7:00 bedtime at this point and still had smiles for us.  Amazing.  He will be 18 months old on the 28th.  Hard to believe.

Thanks so much, Lucy & Henry for being such good sports during our photo session (and all the time).  Love you!

Looking Back | 2009

At the end of 2009, I posted my thoughts about what a great year it had been.  I thought back on the people, and the moments I witnessed.  I need to be honest… it’s a lot to process.  After hundreds of hours, and thousands and thousands of photos taken, it was all turning into a blur!  It wasn’t until I recently decided to put together a slideshow of some of my favorite images from 2009, that I realized just how much all of that amounted to.  I started going through galleries of photos, looking back at pictures that, truthfully, I had forgotten.  I know some of these images are hanging on walls, or hiding in wallets, or sitting in a frame on a side table, and it’s humbling when I start thinking about all these photographs.  All these photographs on my hard drives, and DVD’s, and how precious they are to all these people, yet to me they had gotten lost in the shuffle (not literally, thank goodness!).  I loved revisiting the older sessions, and was again reminded how grateful I am to those who gave me an opportunity back when I was just starting out (relatively inexperienced)!  I loved seeing my photography evolve, knowing how and why the images have reflected what I have learned.  So, I put together a collection of favorites to share with everyone who has been so encouraging to me all along.  Although there are photos that come to mind that I would love to have put in this, I could not include photos from every session (believe me, it could get totally out of hand) – some of the older sessions have already been archived to DVD, and are no longer easily accessible.  I didn’t know back then that I would be putting this together.  Hope you understand.  This year I will plan ahead!  Fortunately this blog has documented almost all of my sessions since December of 2008 – so you can always jump back in the archives!

…and it wouldn’t be a trip down memory lane without a couple more personal notes.  Perhaps the highlight of the year would have to be flying to Mexico with my family to see my sister get married on the beach in front of the ocean, and although I didn’t photograph the ceremony (hi, I’m the Matron of Honor!), I was able to grab some incredible photos before the ceremony, and post-ceremony portraits on the rocky beach before the rainstorm swept through.  What an incredible getaway that trip was.  I also had to put a few photos of our own kids in the mix.  After this business got going, I found myself taking significantly fewer photos of  my own kids!  I want to get back into that habit this year.  My kids, Lucy and Henry, are my world.  They are also the reason I got so into photography in the first place!  I could do a slideshow of just the two of them!  They are growing (too) quickly, and the photos I have of them are priceless to us.  So, if you’ve made it this far, thank you!  Here’s the recap of 2009, mostly in chronological order, all the way to New Year’s Eve.  The whole slideshow lasts only a couple minutes:

Noticing the days hurrying by

It’s hard not to look outside and feel a little better today, after months of cold, gray, and dreary… we are getting more and more sunshine, and more and more blue skies!  Don’t get me wrong, I love the sparkly serenity of winter, but this time of year is so refreshing – I even opened our slider for part of the morning to let in some fresh air!  I was inspired to aim my camera upward and catch this bold little cardinal perched on the branch of one of our big maple trees.  Spring is right around the corner, and I am definitely ready!

Terrence | Senior Session

Last weekend I met Terrence and his mom downtown for his senior portraits.  Right away it was clear that Terrence is truly one of the good guys, and his mom is just beaming with pride in him.  I was happy just to be around both of them.  We laughed and talked as we visited a few locations around the city, and on top of it all, the weather was kind to us, which made it easy for us to stay out for a couple hours and get lots of photos for them to pick from!  Terrence is graduating this spring, and will be going on to study business and psychology in college, and also plans to continue playing basketball.  I wish the very best for him.  He has character, and he will go far.

It was hard for me to narrow down the photos for this session, but these are a few of my favorites…

I took a few photos of Terrence with his mom Crystal, so I wanted to share one here too.  :)

I love the ones where he has a big, natural smile, but this is still one of my favorites:

Thanks again, Terrence!  I hope you like your photos, and I hope the rest of your senior year is outstanding!

Emmerson Elizabeth | 3 Days Old

At the end of 2009, I had a maternity session with my cousin and his wife (which sounds so impersonal – I’ve known her for years, she is a friend!), who were expecting their first child, a little girl, sometime in late February.  Well, she’s here!  Emmerson Elizabeth arrived one minute after midnight on February12, and I got to visit Megan, Jason, and meet Emmerson, when she was only 3 days old!  She is a little peanut and it was so much fun to hold such a  new newborn baby.  They change so quickly, and the next time I see her I expect her to be a little less wrinkly, a little more awake, and a little bit bigger… She is the newest member of our family, and I look forward to watching her grow and change for years to come.  Megan and Jason, congratulations on your little girl.  I am so happy for you both, and thank you for letting me visit you so early to capture these images!

View more images from this session in the slideshow below: