another use for a brown cardboard box

my boys were playing in one of my photo shipping boxes today for fun. christian kept asking me to close the lid so they could pop out. thought it was cute and of course i had to grab my camera (which was nearby) to get some shots. ok, so they have bad hair (morning hair) and maybe even christmas pjs on but at least i managed to pull the boxes into the better lighting. they thought that was fun being pulled. so, let this be inspiration to take pics of your kids even when they aren't looking their finest and get in the good window light! ok, summary

1. keep your camera nearby

2. don't worry about your kids looking like they just woke up

3. move them to the windows and use natural light (turn off that ugly flash)

4. remember how much fun it was!

my little guy

some days i just have to take a break from work, house cleaning, discipline and live in the moment. i just take one kid away from everything else and photograph him/her while trying to document the essence of what makes him/her so very special and so very darn cute. connor is at my all time fav age (2 1/2 yrs). i love how stinking cute they are and the funny things that come out of their mouths. it upsets me that i don't have more photos of maddie and christian at this age. life goes way too fast and whether or not you are a professional photographer or just a parent, it's a gift we give ourselves and our loved ones to have memories of the everyday or ordinary stuff. coming from a family where photographs were rarely taken i tend to cherish them all the more.

and i can't stand when people overly photoshop the eyes of their photos (b/c it looks like an alien and so fake) but these eyes are not! he does have the blue-est eyes... and they do keep him from getting in a lot of trouble!

some snippets from our memorial day weekend

we had a little r&r this weekend just enjoying the company of family and good times. we headed up to my in-laws for a weekend getaway.

only in the country can you stop off at a random field and take pics.


or even better yet... can you be a total hillbilly and have fun doing it!!
yes, only in the country can you do this.

and this one was taken on Sunday afternoon during our picnic. i rarely take pics of my boys all together so this was a golden shot!

full of cool stuff

That's the best title I could think of tonight. It's late and I'm tired but even so I am just as excited to show mom and dad a few from today's session. I love this age!

happy late birthday!

This is friend of our family who was just a couple years late on his girlfriend's birthday present. But that's ok!! Better late than never.

i've been planning to do a shot of my daughter in a field like this (very soon) but I am so glad we decided to do it for their session. It just felt so surreal.

Thanks guys for a fun session. You look so cute together!

not your ordinary photo session...

unless you consider the following events ordinary.

First we started out blowing bubbles (yes, this is fairly ordinary)

then we headed over (across the field) to grand-dad's tractor

and it's always fun to capture a 4 yr old driving a golf cart :-)

but the absolute best was when I had the privedge of cutting across the creek (while getting stuck almost knee high in the muddy creek) into the back woods to discover the hidden clubhouse. Little "N"s daddy's childhood fort was in the back woods and we found it. He was SO excited! I have a funny feeling he's going to try and play back there again soon!

a perfect day

I was nervous the weather was just too cold for two kids to be happy and comfy but I was SO wrong. The lighting was perfect and we just had a lovely time.

She has to be one of the most beautiful and photogenic girls I've ever worked with!!

and little brother is a such a cutie too... with his big blue eyes and light hair! He sure is a fast one but the creek and rocks got his attention!

the adventureous ones

it wasn't the warmest of days but we sure didn't complain too much about the weather... even when Dad suggested we get into the creek! Just my kind of family! We had a fun time together and it inspired me to take my kids to the park the same day.

So,you can't tell for sure here... but they are having fun kicking water up in the air! I got to even kick back!

and i just melted when i saw this
the kids were already in this position when I asked them to snuggle up to their parents... so I found it only appropriate to capture it like this.

sisters

I had so much fun with these young ladies. They reminded me of my sister and I back in the good old days (but i think they got a long much better!). One thing I am working on with my photography (which is really what I was doing more of when first starting my business) is working extra hard to capture more life, emotion, and action along with getting those great close-ups that every mom and dad desires. So, I really think I accomplished my goal with this session. Can't wait for mom and dad to see ALL the stuff we got.

so I will have to wait until the session is complete (and the parents have seen their gallery) before I show some of the rock throwing, weed/flower picking and running shots.