Amy & Little Man

Amy is a great friend of mine, not to mention a rockin' photographer as well. We are constantly bouncing photo ideas off of each other, playing with lighting techniques, talking about marketing promos or cool new brand concepts.... not to mention the latest blog posting from some of our favorites... Jessica Claire, Becker, Jasmine Star, Kara May, Mark Brooke, Gabriel Ryan, Uniquely You, Ohana... I could go on and on... 

 Our conversations everyday literally go something like this... "Oh hi hi hi... did you watchBeckers [b] school today?? Are his bloopers not the funniest thing ever? And where does Jasmine Star find all of her rockin' women to shoot? And... SERIOUSLY... Kara May's color in her photos rocks my socks off. Is her daughter not the cutest thing you've ever seen? How lucky is she to photograph all those sweet kids clothing lines?!... Well you get the gist of it. It's so nice to have a friend who is EXACTLY on the same page with everything your interested in. 

So we finally ventured off to do some new headshots for her.. as she has some new things she is working on for her business. She is a very fun, outgoing, caring, enthusiastic person whom you can almost NEVER tell when she is upset. Seriously.. even when she is.. she's not. She amazes me with her patience, kindness, cooking abilities, creative ideas, energy, workouts, and parenting skills.

This called work it, work it, work it... 

Vogue!

Her little man Tavin has so much energy. He amused himself as I did some shots with Amy.

Love this shot. 

Isn't that little coat she put him in adorable? She dresses him soo cute!

This is my fav of the day.. and one of my favs I have caught during a family session. It is so them. Very real.

Introducing James

This little man, James, is so sweet.  We tried to get him to sleep, but he wanted to stay up and see what all the excitement was about... it was his first  big debut!! At 19 days... he is still just a little guy.

Beautiful features
While they tried to get him to fall asleep.. you could tell how in awe they were of their new addition to the family. 
I love watching how newborns reach their little arms and hands out... ready for the world. I LOVE this shot!


Love, love, love this one!

Celebrating Life

Today is a day to celebrate loved ones lost. This January my grandpa and uncle (father and son) moved onto a better place. Just 18 hours apart they moved from their cancer ridden bodies to a new life.  God works in amazing ways.. you just really have to be conscious of his presence. My grandpa and uncle tom were traveling buddies throughout their lives.... New York... sports games.. hunting trips... my uncle was always up for site seeing with my grandpa. God brought them on another trip together. 

So many things were said by many at the funerals... but today what I remember most is my Uncle Tom's laugh, the way he said "Jame!" everytime I called or saw him, his constant sports updates, his genuine spirit and big bear hugs. 

It's amazing how powerful an image is... I remember the way my grandpa sat... his body language.. his hand placements.. It was always so distinguished to me and paid close attention to that small detail when he was here. Now looking back at these images.. it reminds me of him completely. He loved giving tours of Aberdeen, SD.. he was so proud of the new developments that he made in the community. He was an avid runner, and although I couldn't even begin to keep up with him, he loved going on walks and bike rides with us. I miss his newspaper clippings, his motivating post-it notes, his pep talks on the phone, his genuine concern for everything I was involved in, and his voice when he would call and say.. "hey there sports fans!"

Take time today to remember the details that made your loved ones stand apart from the rest. You are truly missed.. but know you are in a happier place.

Reunited

There has been something missing in my life for many years. A laugh, a smile, a tear, a hug, a phone call, email, or just sense of feeling complete in a way. I was blessed to fill that void this past weekend that I have had on my heart for so many years. I hadn't seen or talked to my dad in 4 years. I came to realize that the hurt and disappointment that I felt was being extremely overridden by how much I missed him. We are just alike.. very similar mannerisms, same taste in food & music.. and always have a great time laughing together. I didn't want to wonder how he was anymore... I wanted to KNOW.  He had JUST been in my thoughts and had wanted to surprise him for his big 60th birthday, but I wasn't sure if I could pull it off... so when I got the call from his sister with an invitation to his major birthday party he was throwing, it seemed that God was making a way. 

"There is no one else I would rather see today than you...you made this party for me." I definitely had to fight tears when he said that to me. 

He throws a FANTASTIC party. It was his 60th, so he decided to go all out. The largest BBQ grill I have ever seen, more liquor than anyone could drink, jello shots, birthday cake, poker games, swimming, hot tub, golfing on his personal course, an AMAZING band, dancing, and many friends and close family.

A beautiful sunset on his course.
On Monday, we had a ceremony to lay the headstone for my grandmother that passed in September. I was so happy to be a part of it. The area is close to the water and has these huge, beautiful trees. 
Do we look alike ?? :)

Dad, Happy Birthday! I am still on an emotional high from being there all weekend. I had so much fun with everyone and can't even explain how happy I am that I got to be a part of it.  I love you.

SOOC vs. Touched up Images

Hello to my bridal clients... present and future. I have made an addition to my current wedding packages that is a big perk. I have added the copyrighted disc of images for the wedding to your packages... yea!!!! This will give you the rights to reproduce these images at your leisure. The reason I have added this is for security for my clients, as I know they want to have the "negatives" forever.. as well as being able to print 800 4x6's if they choose to do so :)

The difference between the images that are purchase through me and the images on the disc is... the images will be pretty much straight out of camera images (SOOC). When images are ordered through the online gallery..they are brought into photoshop for a little magic wand action :) A little pop. So for those of you who want that extra pop (suggested for anything that is going to be large, hung or a gift)... order through your personal gallery or contact me.

Here are a couple of images to show you the difference. Notice the pop in color.. creaminess in skin.. and contrast in black and white.