Jen and Tony Part 2

I just wanted to share a few more pictures from Jen and Tony's session this past weekend. These made me smile as I processed the images tonight.

I just think the look on Jen's face says a lot about how she feels about Tony.



I usually try and avoid harsh shadows but I thought the pattern of the shadows looked kind of cool in this shot.

Okay, I take total responsibility (blame) for the looks on their faces, you should see the whole series of "photobooth-like" shots. I call this one "the sky is falling" look!

Jen and Tony

What a beautiful day (finally) we had in Michigan for Jen and Tony's engagement pictures. I can't wait for their outdoor wedding in a few weeks!

Thank ya, thank ya very much!

I am laughing out loud sitting on my couch looking at these pictures. Do they bring a smile to anyone else's face?

My husband "won" these Elvis glasses, complete with porkchop sideburns. Luck us! Before they go in the trash, or out to my brother in California...who would LOVE them, my son and dad had to try them out.

My son misses the "love" so leave him a comment below if he helped brighten your day.

First, grandpa had to show him the glasses were okay to put on.

That was all my son needed to convince him.

My son LOVES his grandpa!

Let them eat cake!

I was hoping to take a few pictures of my son today but he wasn't having it. So...here's a few more of the cutie pa-tootie girls from this past weekend. Grace and Gracie are both turning one soon and both moms took me up on the idea of giving the girls their first taste of birthday cake during the sessions! I have to say, they were both MUCH neater than my son was with his first taste of cake!

Here's Gracie with her birthday cupcake.

Sister Anna had fun with the frosting too!


And a few of Grace



Grace telling me without words that she was finished with the cake.

Meeeechigan!

...(not Arizona as my website might have lead you to believe today)...is where I am still located and will be for at least another year, but likely much longer than that.

Some web related glitches gave another person access to my website "backend". It was a little painful to watch hours of work I spent on the site magically change before my eyes. Fortunately, the contact page was one of the first changes to be made, so I was able to contact the other photographer and ask her to stop working on her site until we figured things out. There are still some changes I need to make so consider anything "abnormal" on my site, a late April Fools joke. (Thanks Sarah for responding to my email so quick and stopping work on your site temporarily!)

Since my blood pressure was through the roof, I couldn't sleep, so I decided to work on my two portrait sessions from this past weekend until I could calm down. Here are a few more of each of the girls.

I love this one! My son is SO into showing me his belly button lately...I guess he is not alone!



First taste of birthday cake EVER and what do kids go for....the candle!

There was a whole lot of messiness between the image above and the one below which was taken after a bath.

I often am drawn to images that most people wouldn't necessarily pick as the first image they would want framed....like this one. I really dig it!

Two princesses.....

Anna and Gracie

It was a weekend filled with beautiful children! I also had a wonderful time meeting Anna and her sister Gracie, as well as their parents. So many fun shots to come but here's a sneak peek at the girls' session, one of each girl and the two of them together.

Big sister Anna


Little sister Gracie
Don't you wish siblings felt and acted like this all the time?


A few more of the girls...

Yes, I love crib pictures

Grace

I had the pleasure of meeting Grace this weekend, along with her mom and dad who are really good sports (you'll understand a little better after seeing some of the 1st birthday cake pictures...coming soon).

I haven't even begun sifting through all of the shots from the day, but I wanted to post 1 or 2 today just for fun for mom and dad to see. This was post-cake tubby time....isn't she a sweetie?


This pretty much sums up what I think Grace thought of me after an hour of pointing my camera at her.


A few more...pre-cake

Looking back...with gratitude.

I was so excited to find a comment on my blog recently from my very first bride. Photography has brought me so much joy and stimulated a creative side of me that I didn't know existed for the majority of my life. When my husband bought me from first non-point-and-shoot camera (film of course) back in 2003, I could not have possibly imagined where that gift would take me.

There were a couple willing volunteers who allowed me to practice on them and shoot some engagement pictures, but I never would have imagined that someone would take the chance on me and ask me to photograph his/her wedding. I mean, it just doesn't sound very enticing when a bride-to-be asks you, "How many weddings have you photographed?" and your answer is....ummmm, well none. Elizabeth and Matthew had to change the date of their wedding due to Matthew's early deployment and their original photographer didn't have their new date open. It was my lucky break!

I think I appreciated the gravity of the task I had accepted. But by the same token, I knew I had to start somewhere and both Elizabeth and I knew that I would do the best job I could with the equipment and skills I possessed at the time. The time between leaving the wedding, driving home, trying to sleep that night, driving to take the film to be developed and waiting for the film to be done was one of the most stressful times of my life. I had a new appreciation for wedding photographers. For all I knew, every picture might have been horribly over or underexposed, blurry and for lack of a better word...stink. It would have been the end of my very short stint as a photographer.

Fortunately, they did turn out. Matthew, Elizabeth and their families were a pure joy to be around and I am glad I could capture some of their wonderful memories. Thank you Matthew and Elizabeth for giving me my start, for trusting me to preserve such a special day in your life and for showing your love for each other so openly that day such that even a "first timers" wedding images shine!

I'm not going to lie, as my skills, equipment and experiences build, I often wish I could go back and re-shoot some of the events I have been lucky enough to cover, if for nothing else to improve the images technically. I hope all of my clients know I do my very best with every event I document. I can only hope our paths will cross again to share in other joyful events in the lives of my past clients...babies anyone?

Here's a few film scans from Matthew and Elizabeth's wedding and my very first wedding back in 2004. (Going through old film scans from 3 years ago isn't the easiest thing in the world, so instead of looking for my favorite shots, these were from the first 3 rolls I grabbed.)

Frankie

Our friends Chip and Melanie visited us this past weekend for a few photos of their new son. While I am a little sad they didn't bring his "Frank the Tank" t-shirt made by one of their other friends, we still had a wonderful time meeting him and visiting with our friends.

This recent session was conclusive evidence that kids do not like to smile around me. Hmmm...maybe I should consider landscape or still life photography.