My Candid Moments

There is no doubt in my mind that these two are mine.  They are the best of friends and the worst of enemy’s which they are will change moment to moment. Today for a brief second they were friends.

One love to help has recently developed a bit of an attitude, some might even say she’s turned a bit bossy lately.  The other wants to help, but on his terms.  He struggles with being the big kid yet not being ready to let go totally of being ‘little’.

So as you can imagine my shock when they said ‘let’s take photos’.  I pulled out the camera — thinking this is going to be quick and fun.  No they wanted the backdrop and the lights and the whole “deal”.  Then they proceeded to be two little monkeys with silly faces.  The images I captured are a reminder to me of why I love photography. I love to capture every part of their personality…. happy, sad, mad and the silly.  This image is who they are.  No they did not give me this when I had them in their nice clothes the day before, using the background I wanted and with all the lighting just right.

They like the world to meet them on their terms, they are determined.

I can not believe it’s Friday again.  Where do the days go?  That’s right they are spent working, taking kids to the park, Karate and having fun!

This week I have something exciting to share with you — I have been dying to share all week long!  I am the featured photographer for the annual Buy Local issue of My Healthy Beginning.  This has been a project in the works for a long time and I am so excited to finally see it in print!  Go on over and check out this site. It has tons of great information and resources on local vendors.  If you want to see a sample of this issue click My Healthy Beginning Buy local issue!

I love when spring starts to come.  It may not be green and lush yet, but the snow is gone and we can get to the park.  Going to the park is most likely the one thing that both kids love and can agree to do,  so we go as often as the weather and time allows us to.

At the park by our home a few years ago I took what has come to be my signature photo of my son.  He was in a play tunnel and I had the most amazing light in his eyes and he gave me a real smile and not the cheesy one or the funny face he would rather do.  I “TRIED” to get an updated one as it has been a few years.  Instead I got lots of goofy faces and ONE shot I LOVE of him.

I tried to get Kate to give me a few seconds, but I got one yes ONE shot of her giving me the don’t bug me Momma look.  I will have to try again to get one in that spot of her — to match the canvas I already have of John.  I also want a series of her and her face in the holes just like John’s – I never want to forget this time in life when they are so young and the world is still so fresh and new to them!

I was so excited I got to meet Baby J this weekend.  I think the best part about photographing newborns is that I never have two sessions go the same.  Even when they are so little each baby is their own person and as such has their own likes and dislikes and more importantly their own way of letting you know things.

Baby J is no exception.  He liked being naked and was very content on my bean bag.  I think he had almost convinced his Dad that he needed one for his room already.  He was  a trooper and got through most of my ‘poses’ before he let us know that he was done with being photographed in his own unique way.

I always try to use personal items whenever possible in my photographs.   So to show case Dad’s love of hockey we had planned to photograph Baby J in a few of Dad’s favorite Hockey Jerseys.  He had just been put into Dad’s Juniors Jersy — when you guessed it he pooped.  put him into Dad’s High school jersey and taken a couple of shots, when….. it happened Baby J decided to poop. That was the end of it for him!

S family I hope you are doing well and your gallery will be ready soon.

1. Winter is leaving — HURRAY.  The downside is that we have had two straight days of rain to get there.

2. John got to try out driving a snowmobile for the first time (well really second I guess he did it a few weeks ago at his Grandparents but since I was not there I can call this the first time I saw him do it).  He loved it and managed to put a dent into the house as well — I guess it’s better the a baseball through the window so I won’t get too upset, yet.

3. I am getting excited for a local event:  The PYD meet and Greet!   Carrie’s site and her approach to saving money has had an amazing impact on my life. Her own personal story is pretty amazing too — so I suggest you go on over and check out her story.

4. It may be rainy and gloomy but I am excited because two of my clients had their babies last week — so I have a couple of fun newborn sessions coming up!  I can not wait to meet thesenew little ones in the next week.

5. I know I missed mine on Monday so I am going to sneak a couple of photographs of my kiddos in now!

This weeks Five on Friday has to do with Newborns. I think there is nothing more beautiful or simple then the love you see between a newborn baby and their parents.  Who would not want to photograph all that sweetness (and get a baby fix at the same time).

1. Please,Please check out this post by fellow photographer Lisa Russo. She has said something I have felt for a while and said it well.  I think that as the popularity of some newborn poses continues to grow, we all need to be aware that many of those amazing images shown in media outlets are composites or done with photographers working as a TEAM .

2. I found this link for Ruffle Butts on photographer Yvonne Nieman of St. Louis’s blog the other day.  These are amazing!  They will make for fun shots as your little one grows and starts to crawl away or run as they get bigger.

3. Has anyone found a Tonka Truck lately? I love these classic toys but have not seen any at Target, recently.  They make for a fun ’size’ comparison as a baby boy grows and I wanted to add to John’s outdoor collection for the summer.

4. Don’t forget to take images during that first year. I recommend you focus less on the ‘age’ and more on the milestones and love to see my newborns come back when they can sit (at about 6-8 months) and again at a year when they can walk!

5. I am booking up for the spring so if you are interested in a newborn session, please call as soon as you can to secure a spot on my list.

I have always made my son’s birthday cakes, and they have always had a theme.  Some years it’s a lot of work doing the stars and making Thomas or Lightning McQueen come to life others it’s been easy. The year he wanted a Nemo cake was one of those easy years.  That year I made  fish bowl, which was easy but impressive.  This year he wanted a mountain biking cake.  I thought this will be a snap, the instructions were easy and it was mostly just layering cakes and frosting them.  I was wrong., I was just plain wrong.  The first cake looked good (it’s the one on the right) but it fell flat by the next morning. I prefer to think of it as it experienced an earthquake or there was a mud slide.

So like every good Mom I went and I made ANOTHER cake, this one shorter and much more sturdy.  That is the cake he is blowing candles out on — the lessons I learned are you can never have too many boxes of cake mix (LOL) and that you need wooden dowels when building a mountain of chocolate cake.