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Happy 6 Months Sweet Baby J

My sweet baby boy is already six months old! I can't believe it. He is such a blessing to our family - a true joy. He is happy bubbly and oh so precious. Thank you Lord for this amazing gift.

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Reflections

This family had me cruisin down memory lane. My first child is nearly three, but seeing these friends - brand new parents of thier first baby girl - I felt like I was watching my own little family at the begining again. Three little years, it doesn't seem so long ago, and then again, it seems like an eternity. I loved watching them with thier newborn daughter - so proud, so happy, so in awe of this new life they have created...

Blog Giveaway

I have been making some great discoveries in the Blog world of late. One of my favorites is The Maternal Lens. They are officially one year old and doing a huge giveaway in celebration. I love the idea of giving away presents to celebrate your birthday - I think I need to adopt that practice.
http://thematernallens.blogspot.com/2010/03/its-our-birthday-time-to-celebrate.html

Manual Mode!

I did it! I took great photos all in manual (in a setting where the auto mode gave me poor photos)! This may not sound like a big deal to many, but it's a big step for me. I am realizing that I have been holding myself back out of fear. I don't enjoy numbers and rules, but that is how I was taught to deal with exposure and aperture. So my response? Just don't deal with it. The composition of photography - that catching an ordinary scene at an angle that produces a great photo - has always come easy for me. But when I have tried to learn (or rather, memorize) the rules for the camera settings I would get scared and go back to what was easy for me. The big epiphany for me this week is that my way was actually harder!

Here are a couple of favorites from my first all manual photo shoot (ok, it was bathtime with my almost 3 year old, but wow was it fun!)

Anticipation

What a priveledge to shoot my very first maternity session. I loved being pregnant. The anticipation was amazing. What will he look like (I have two boys), will I be a good mom, how fast will he grow, what will be his first word, will it be love at first sight? It was such a joy to photograph this beautiful couple in this stage of life - the anticipation of their first child. Thank you for sharing this time with me. And now, I can't wait to get my hands (well, camera) on your little one in a few weeks!

Girly Girls

I live in a house of boys - and I adore them, hands down, no questions asked, adore them. But every once in a while, a girls gotta have a little pink to play with! Sweet Baby A was so much fun this weekend. She has a big brother, so he fell right in with my big boy and I got to chase this little 9 1/2 month old darling around while they crashed some trucks and stuff. Have to say, I was actually sad when her mom took the tutu off, but all good things must come to an end, I guess.

Inspiration

Oooohhhh Mama had fun today!! My little Baby J and I had fun playing with the camera (and my new 50mm 1.4 lens!) while big brother took a nice long nap. Happy almost 5 months Baby J!

I also need to thank all the photographers who post photos on their own blogs. I have been browsing a lot lately and getting lots of new ideas and inspiration. Funny, I often find a photo that I love and focus on getting the same shot with my own subject. But somewhere in the process I end up with something totally different and love it. So I guess rather than finding a template to copy from other photographers, I am actually finding inspiration to create. So thank you to my many wonderful Inspirationists!!!

Merry Christmas Photos

I love photographing this family any day of the year, but there is always a special place in my heart for photographing them at Christmastime. Maybe it's reflecting back on the year, maybe it's knowing that the photos will be a gift to friends and family to help them see how much the kids have grown, and maybe it's that the K family Daddy always appreciates them so much. Most of all, it is because this is a family that I, and my family, love with all our heart...

Santa's Little Helper

I love watching my friends darling children grow, especially when I get to do it through a camera lens! And this little angel is such a joy. Baby A is six months old and an awfully cute little Santa's helper!

My Precious Baby J

I definitely learned some big lessons while photographing my OWN newborn! First of all - thank you thank you thank you to all the MaMas. I knew I depended on you during our shoots, but didn't know how much...until I tried to play photographer AND Mama at the same time. Whew! But oh so worth the effort. Our precious baby boy is such a joy and gift, I felt very blessed to be able to take his photograph when he was 13 days old.

I love big families!

My second big family of the summer - and so much fun! What a joy to watch this family grow, in years and in numbers, and to see them do it so well. I can't wait to photograph them again next summer.

Growing Family

I had the joy of photographing Baby C a few weeks ago, and now the whole family! It was the biggest family I have photographed so far...and I loved it. Thanks to the M Family for thier patience as I push my skills (and my body, my second baby boy is due in just a couple months :)

Big Sister M (age 7) and Big Brother B (age 4 1/2) were so much fun! Little Brother J (19 months) wasn't quite sure he wanted to be here, but was such a trouper. And Little Sister C, well, at 8 weeks, who could be more precious...

The Gorgeous Big Sister...

The Adventurous One...

MaMa and her boys...

I love taking pictures, period. But there is something about newborns...maybe its because I will have a new one in the fall, but really, I think there is just something about newborns, particularly when you can get them to sleep and be cuddly - naked!
I had such a great time yesterday. Thank you Baby C (5 weeks) for being such a lovely - and cooperative - model. And thanks to a beautiful MaMa for a wonderful afternoon. I got the bonus of not only photographing the little one, but also getting to sit and visit with a wonderful new friend. I hope to see her again, with all FOUR of her little ones in tow :)