Jason and Mary Kathleen are expecting their first child next month, a little girl. I am so excited for them! Even though my daughter Haylie is almost four, I can remember the anticipation for her arrival. We were so excited to meet her and finally hold her. Our world completely changed the day she was born - she was the love of our lives and we were instantly smitten. You can see the love between these two and how much they will love their little one.
I must note how good of a husband Jason was throughout our session. He was so considerate of Mary Kathleen, getting her water, helping her watch her step, constantly taking care of her and doting on her. So sweet! You can tell he is going to be a good Daddy as well!
Beautiful Mama!!
OK so the little heart has been done before many times but I couldn’t resist. It just basically fell into place and it was adorable. Thank you both for allowing me to photograph this special time in your life. Congratulations I am so excited for you!!!
Many of my clients have learned that I have many jobs, besides photography. Well, my next job is to become a modeling agent because as soon as I sign up this next girl I’ll be able to retire! Is she adorable or what??!?? Kristine - consider this the beginning of her modeling portfolio! 
Not only is Marissa gorgeous, but she has no idea she is gorgeous. She is such a sweet girl and was very shy about getting her pictures taken!
Mom, Kristine and brother Josh were great models too. Here are a couple of Josh. We had a good time hanging out, throwing rocks, and breaking logs while Mom and sis were changing. (Kristine - I got some good smiles of Josh with his teeth showing too - even though he pretended like he didn’t know how to smile!!)
Since we didn’t want Kristine to feel left out we got some great shots of her as well. You all know my affection for laughing shots. So cute Kristine!
Here are the three amigos…
And some individual shots…
OK Marissa - if you are totally embarrassed by these next shots I can take them out but I LOVE them and am so excited to add them to my out takes gallery. I have decided I need to get shots like this from every session I do!!
AWWWW so cute:
Thank you all for a great session and patiently waiting for your photos Hope you enjoy them. I had such a great time with you guys!
I’ve never been one to try new things easily. I always order the same thing at restaurants and I’m characteristically not super adventurous. However, I absolutely love when I do try something new and it really pays off. That was the case with my session with Dalila this weekend. Dalila contacted me regarding some maternity photos and she wanted all indoor and primarily a studio look. I admitted to her I really hadn’t done any indoor / studio maternity shoots yet (only outdoor). Even though I have done numerous indoor / studio newborns I was still a little nervous to try maternity that way. But Dalila had confidence that we could get great shots and I think she was right. She and Michael made it very easy since they are such a beautiful couple. We started off with some around their house and then incorporated a variety of backdrops. Dalila loves black and white photos so Michael and Dalila - here is your sneak peek… I will post your gallery soon - Hope you like them so far.
This next image I had a little fun playing with. This gives you a good idea how you can change photos to have different looks. First a full color version with a little texture:
The next version is desaturated a bit but not all the way to black and white (no texture):
And now a black and white version:
Dalila’s dog Bailey was very into the photo shoot and ready for his turn to model. He was often sitting at Dalila’s feet trying to work him in the picture. I’m sure he was reminding everyone that he is baby #1! Isn’t he a cutie?
Dalila - I can’t wait to meet Baby Nylah!!! Thanks for a fun time today and thanks for the vote of confidence and allowing me to capture this moment for you!
My new goal in life is to try and take my camera with me everywhere - not my point and shoot, my big gigantic camera! Why you say? I am trying to force myself to look at things differently and find art in all the little things in life. I want to continually make myself a better photographer, learning to shoot in all different lighting situations and all different environments. The last couple months I have been capturing all sorts of random images of things like trucks, landscapes, fences, houses, old stores, trees, doorways and much more. I’m completely not ready to share any of those pictures yet and although I think I still have a long way to go to be good at that kind of photography I am determined to learn and get better.
About a week ago I had such a fun time getting together with my girlfriends from high school. We dressed up for dinner and we even went out dancing, which I haven’t done in probably 10 years! The girls were super supportive of me lugging my big camera around the restaurant and even out dancing, often running up and suggesting cool things to take pictures of. It was SO fun and I felt like I learned some things in just that one night. I am so thankful for this great group of girls who are so supportive and genuine. My friend Abbey recently wrote a post about these girls who are true friends, always encouraging and honest, that don’t hesitate to dish out compliments and are willing to tell you the things you need to see. I am lucky my Dad forced me to move schools in high school so I could meet them all!! Here are some of the pictures we captured from our fun evening!!
Below is a picture of me (on the left) and my cute friend Liz - she is our single, “cool” friend who was telling all of us old moms and wives where the cool places are! (This is one of the rare times you will actually see pictures of me on this blog!! That happens just about never!)
And here’s “the girls” (minus April and Abbey) - missed you guys!!!!
