Happy Birthday Ainsley!

We get to Ainsley's Tea Party/Birthday Party and it's like I stepped into an episode of Martha Stewart Living. Ainsley's mom really had the party planned to a.....'Tea' - I couldn't resist!! But just because you dress them up..doesn't mean you can take them out...Bea found her BFF Madeline and they started picking up the rose petals in the grass and spitting them out of their mouths. Madeline proceeds to scale the jungle-gym in her dress and got shot down by (I think) an older sister who told them that was off-limits. She also had chocolate ice-cream dried to her nose and face...you get what I'm saying..right? But you know it's a good party when you go home dirty - even when you are wearing white!!!

All I want for Christmas...

I get a little giddy when I think about Christmas cards! I've got an absolutely gorgeous collection this year and I plan to have a few samples online here in a few days to show you. On a sidenote: Don't wait to book your holiday session this year - I'll have limited bookings in December since I'm traveling more!! And why wait anyway? Get those cards out of the way and focus on what's important...shopping!

Halle...

10x20 Canvas...

For Rudi:

Annalise...

In The Garden...

Mindi & Andy's Album...

A few pages from their album:

Kristin's Photobooth Collage...

Kristin said the color scheme in her house was very neutral. They have a lot of "butter" pale yellow, reds, khakis, and browns in their kitchen & family room, most likely where the collage will hang. So we did a deep red for their name square. Love it!

Love this church...

and this shot of Dionne:

Calendars!

I'm giving this as a birthday gift! It's a desk calendar for my Father-In-Laws desk at work. I'm still putting together all the months but here is a sample:

Triple Canvas...

Mindi wanted something different and unique for her walls in her house. We put together this 3-piece canvas from her wedding day. I'm so glad she picked this image! I have a secret love-affair with lens flare. It's so spontaneous, romantic and photojournalistic. It makes posed pictures look like they happened by chance. It has it's perfect imperfections...*sigh* for lens flare.

The Frog Whisperer...

That's me! At one point, near the end of the trip, my Mother-In-Law told me to 'give it a rest.' I'm sure the wildlife was glad to see me go home. I caught frogs, tadpoles, minnows, a soft-shelled turtle and even found some (gross) leaches! We fished for Blue-Gill and Bass - it was too much fun! I've had my fill of the 'great outdoors' for awhile though. That's almost TOO much peace and quiet. Back to civilization for me!

Blue-Eyed Babe....

I could just love on him all day long!

Sneak Peek...

A little preview of our annual Photo Session at The Cottage...

Early Morning at the lake...

The Spiders' Web...

The Farm...

Mindi's Collage...

Mindi had a great idea and wanted to put together some collages of her guests from her Photo Booth at her reception. Here is a sample I put together for her:

A fun play with Dionne & Brad...

It was a bit windy and very sunny but we still did a fun little shot after the ceremony at the church...

Kristin & Greg's album...

A few pages from Kristin & Greg's album:

Mindi & Andy's Multiplicity Shot...

The Veil Shot..

Listen..I KNOW! You don't need to tell me. I know, I know I know...it's soooo 1985 but I can't help doing it! I really love tulle and especially the really long veils..yeah...I know. Erica and Daniel were just so sweet in this shot. Some girls love chocolate or stilettos...I love tulle. (Well, a really hot pair of stiletto's might trump the tulle.)

Blessed...

One of Erica's bridesmaids had this tattoo on her arm..what a great tattoo to have.

Great Eyelashes!!

Great angle of Mindi's lush lashes!

Lovely Lurkers....

Oh c'mon!! Leave me a comment! Pretty please! Ruthie..I know you check the blog all the time - you can leave me a love note!

Who's got the biggest one?

Son and the other photog's at Mindi & Andy's wedding...

The Amazing, Annoying Race...

So in the middle of me taking Mindi's formal pictures at Drees Pavilion about five yahoo's coming running up and want to know if she is a REAL bride????? And they asked her if she 'had a clue for them.' It was kind of crazy but I think we were told they were from the Amazing Race and they were looking for a clue..which came by way of helicopter a few minutes later. I don't get to watch much TV so I really had no idea what they were talking about...but they did pose for a picture.

Mindi & Andy's Photo Booth

These Photo Booths get more fun each time I do them...We had bartenders and even the Park Ranger from Drees Pavilion jump into the Photo Booth. (Thanks Janine for letting us 'borrow' them!) The bride and groom were fantastic! People always ask how many can you fit in the Photo Booth...well, that's really up to them - how close do you want to get to your neighbor? Sometimes people get cut-out of shots and that's half the fun of the Photo Booth. If they were all in the picture, nice and pretty, it would be called a 'formal' photo. I get so many comments from Guests on what fun the Photo Booth is -and many repeaters too! CLICK HERE for a sample of a few of the photo-strips from Mindi & Andy's Photo Booth:

Marathons..

I have a love/hate relationship with marathons...I LOVE to finish them - there is nothing like the feeling of coming down the last half-mile and seeing the clock ticking away...not really knowing how I'm going to feel when I finally stop - when I cross the finish line - what my body might do at that point. I love it.

I HATE training for them! Ugh! It takes so much time..BUT..I found this website (USA Fit Gwinnett ) and you can train with other local runners - I had a buddy (Bonnie) I trained with last time - that helps to have a buddy! If anyone is interested in running - this is a great site to check out!

Photo Junkies...

in the photobooth - a rare shot of the photographers..

Kristin...

Another one of my fav's from Kristin and Greg's wedding. She was very comfortable in front of the camera and just had a confidence about her that was so much fun to manipulate and work with.

Multiplicity...

Just a little play with a series of images I took at Kristin & Greg's wedding:

Shadows...

Love the deepness of this shot..the way the blackness hugs the flowers and Christa's face...the shadows are perfect.

Cake shot...

I love this angle..I'm just always worried someone holding an overfilled manhattan will bump into me and my camera will do a face-plant into someone's wedding cake...I just make sure to take the shot quickly! And for those of you (like my husband) who need things 'centered'..I wanted the small bouquet in the upper left-hand corner in the shot and centered is soooo last year anyway!

Jen & Bernardo...

They both have such striking features - such a great couple to photograph! Bernardo has these ICE blue eyes to die for..and Jennifer has this natural-curly hair that is just beautiful. We had their engagement session last weekend with their wedding coming up in October. I tried some new material out on them and they were great to work with! Here's a few of my fav's:

How I LOVE the beach...

not so much the sand...I think it's mostly the sound of the ocean..that's my favorite part!
a few more from the same series...someday - I'll have that quiet little beach house I've been dreaming about...

Last year's vacation...

found this picture while STILL trying to get organized since the move...

Baseball...

I'm not going to pretend I know anything about baseball...but since I've got Blake and my husband is coaching my daughter during the games I thought I'd show him a thing or two....about baseball. So I thought this looked good...you know, a 'lead-off' the base. I think I've seen that before. So I taught him something..I did my part.

Christa's Dad...

There is just something about this picture I love. My eye is drawn to Christa and her smile. I love the fact it's THAT tight of a shot where I just see her face and there is nothing else to see. I wonder what was going through her mind. What was the conversation about? It's such a genuine moment between her and her father. Maybe she was saying thank you for years of putting up with me...maybe I love you...whatever it was..it's one of my favorite shots...

Erica & Daniel's Wedding

What a fantastic day! Erica and Daniel were super creative and Daniel had some really fun stuff he wanted to do! They really were a blast to work with. Ceremony was at Phillips Temple Church in Trotwood and Reception was at Celebrations Banquet Center in Dayton. The ceremony was very touching and I'm so glad I got to photograph their day with them. I really have the best job in the world! Click HERE to view a sneak peek of their day.