Throw, catch and compete like a GIRL!!!!

I'm just so proud of these girls for being the athletes they are at their age. I am so glad that I know them and that I had the chance to see them in action last night at their championship game. Wow! They both had some great hits and both are so focused and determined out on the field. It is truly inspiring to watch.

Such a nice surprise...

It is so nice when you go into a situation thinking that the outcome with be a certain way and then the outcome 100% exceeds your expectations. That is the way I felt after meeting with this young lady and her sisters. You see going into this session I felt as though, I am the photographer, therefore, I will need to guide, coach and direct my subjects how to sit, when to smile and generally help them through the session. Boy was I wrong. This very creative young lady had so many good ideas on her own. She was partial to having some flowers in her hands or her hair. She had tons of suggestions about different poses and backgrounds. She took the pressure off me and she had some really great ideas. Like I said, what a nice surprise.

Seventh in line...

Did I mention she is the seventh child in her family. She is one lucky little lady. Her brothers and sisters sure do adore her. Her Mom and I were talking about it would be hard to predict how many kisses she gets eveyday! I am so glad I brought this little cradle along with me to put her in. The blocks on the bottom row are the first intials of all of her siblings...how fun!

By the way Julie you are WONDER WOMAN!!!

She didn't even know I was there...

because most of the time she was doing this.

I contacted this little ones Mom about coming to take some pictures of her. I told her that I wanted to try to capture her little feet, hands and sleepy, dreamy smiles because they grow up way to fast you know. I hope you enjoy them Julie!

I wonder what she is dreaming about?

Jeni + Sam = Love

These two are getting married soon and I get to capture it all. So, you will be seeing more of them around here!

Thanks, Jeni and Sam for meeting with me the other day! It was good to chat with you guys and I will get some more from our session up very soon.

As promised...

This turned out to be a fun shot. I am still learning to get out of my comfort zone as a photographer and learning to be brave about asking people to sit a certain way or try a different pose. These girls were up for anything. I just got a kick out of how willing they were to just flop down in the hay for me. And I think it was worth it to get this cute shot!

In my own backyard...

I got to spend some time with these young ladies last night. We started off by just taking some pictures around my property. However, we had the most fun playing in one of our hay fields. They had fun hiding and letting me peek through to get a shot. We played follow the leader and they were even willing to lay down in it (those shots to come). We didn't see any snakes (whew), just a few bugs. I am so glad that their Mom called to see if we could squeeze in this session. These are going to be a father's day present. How awesome is that! Thank you so much girls, it was really great to hangout and get to know you better.

He's mine...

And he just turned 7. I just have time to post one this morning. But I could wait to share at least one. I got some really cute ones and some of the poses were all his idea. If he doesn't become a photographer too, I will be shocked. When I opened these up on the computer, he made a comment about one of them being really dark and it need to be edited...oh boy!

I can't wait to...

boogie down with you guys again sometime...

Signed, sealed, delivered...

I had fun editing the pictures from this session. Every time I thought to myself I think that should be plenty of images, I would find a few more that I just couldn't leave off the disc. When you hire me to take your pictures, your session will include at least 25 hand edited images, well...this disc ended up being 75 images. Kymberly, I hope you enjoy these and I hope they turned out to be what you had in mind. You guys were super fun to work with and your kids are really darling.

What a difference...

I just wanted to post these for you Kymberly so you knew I was working on your disc...and maybe to show off your daughter's amazing lashes just a little bit!

The one above was taken shortly after we had met and shortly after we had started our session. She wasn't quite sure about taking pictures at that point. Then she really warmed up and look what happened!

One talented young lady...

One of my very best friends has a daughter who has many talents. But one of them happens to be playing the piano. Well I had the privilege of going to take some pictures of her after her recital this weekend. It felt kind of cool walking in with my camera bag to photograph the star of the show. From what I hear she was the best!

I imagine this one being in her room...

...and safe to say that these two are best of friends. A black and white just for you Kymberly!

Something I noticed...

As I was reviewing the photos from my session today, I couldn't help but notice this cute little sequence of shots. In the first two we were saying "smile like it is your school picture"...
Yes, good!

Even better!

And then this would happen!

Awesome!

(click on the images if you want to see them bigger)

I read lots of photography blogs to get ideas and inspiration. Often the photographer will say "this family was so much fun, the kids had so much personality" and sometimes you wonder, is that really true! These photos are proof that "this family was so much fun and the kids had so much personality"!

I love it!

I was so honored...

to spend the morning with these two...

and these four...

There is a reason they are all dressed up in their red, white and blue duds and I think it is special and the reason I was honored to take their family pictures today! I hope you enjoy looking at this little sneak peek!