Her kids

A sneak peek for a mama who has been waiting.

Sandwiched

I met a beautiful little girl named Nora today.  10 days old and we sandwiched her between Mom and Dad's childhood Teddy Bears.  What a good time for that big smile.  There's a whole lot of love here - old and new. 

Jessica

This session last night really reminds me why I would like to do more senior sessions.  More to come.

low light love

This is a good example of one of the reasons I love indoor sessions as much as, if not more than outdoor sessions.   We are often on the hunt for that perfect soft and flattering, abundant light, no matter where we are. Low light images are something that may not be at the top of our list. I like to move around a lot during a session, getting different angles and lighting and  when things like this happen it just reminds me to step back but be prepared and shoot!  shoot! shoot!   Because little bits of magic can happen when we are not trying to control everything and just letting things be.  I love when I get to the point of a session where we feel like we've done enough and gotten what we wanted and then the pressure can just seem to slip away.  I so often see what I am really looking for during this time. 


I was talking with my friend  Tonya  other night about how it is a funny situation entering a client's home for the first time and seeing the space, the lighting, the energy, meeting the personalities which more often than not includes large friendly dogs and one or more children and how we go to work in your head about how to put things together to create opportunities for great images -- all the while keeping the conversation going, and feeling everyone out for any , hesitations, concerns, etc. 
  Calm and collected seems to work for me.  There are some photographers who will come in and insert their high energy and excitement to create a roller coaster ride of a session  getting the smiles and so on, but that just isn't me.  I am certainly not above being silly (feel free to help me with this as I love to turn around and see mom and dad being crazy to get their little ones  happy) but I don't want to photograph so much my effect on everyone as I want to photograph their effects on each other. 
  Of course there is no way around the fact that we have most likely just met and there is that little fact of the big camera in my face, someone may have missed a nap, the baby needs to eat, the clothes don't fit, it's raining and so on. We will deal with this  and do all the things that we do to direct the situation, but more often than not, our favorite images have nothing to do with me.  


My husband often asks me (or tells me really) that he isn't sure how or why I am doing what I am doing because it can be intimidating and difficult to meet folks and hang out and come away with what they have so kindly paid me to do.   I often end up standing on people's beds or lying in the grass or mud laughing, talking about personal things and really being allowed in this bubble for awhile which is kind of unbelievable.  I've made lots of friends because of the closeness that can be created in these moments.  I've ended session crying happy tears with moms because we "get it" and how important what we just did is.


   I am by no means an extrovert or like to control people or situations. There is just something about this kind of an opportunity to be the one to spend a little time getting to know a family with a new baby, or a three year old girl who is the center of mom and dad's world, or a couple that can't help but show the camera how much love is between them.  That is what I love the most;  the realness of relationships.  You can sit side by side and look at the camera and smile, but when I see you looking at each other the way you would were I not there...THAT is why I do this.  It's life.  It's that little snuggle in the image above of Nash knowing his mama has him; and that is all he needs.  It especially gets me with moms because I know we want the close ups of their happy smiling faces, but we also want to remember how much they loved us and them be able to see down the road how much we loved them and  cared for them and they will see it in these images.  


I could not stress more how great it is when there is a relaxed, go with the flow, and into each other vibe during a session.  There are certain tips and tricks to getting folks to be at ease, but if you go into it knowing that "if you build it, they will come", meaning that if you love on each other and interact be yourselves and be real, I will deliver that to you in your final images.  You are all beautiful so please try your best to forget about the camera and just feel good about yourselves and your lives.  This really is about catching a moment in time.  We are all in so many ways the same.  


Courtney, Nash's mom from above, almost didn't have this session at 18 months as we had the one year session and she was planning on waiting until he turned two to do it again.  I hope she is as glad she did as I am.  Another good reason to just let go and relax.  You will never have this moment again.  I love lifestyle photography.  

An extra special Valentine

This is LOVE................................

X marks the spot

The boys love these blocks.......sorting and spelling.......putting them back in the box together and then dumping them out.  These will be one of the items the I will hang on to for them to pass down to their children.  My favorite kind of toys.  

Presence

This is of Katie and Lauren.  Sometimes these images get lost in the middle of a gallery of big blue eyes and smiling faces, but they are always the ones that I go back to.  Just a few seconds of checking in with mom for that familiar comfort.  It says so much.

I need a break...

I can't tell you how many times I day I have said that this past year.  "I need a break!"  .....from the noise, from the responsibility, from the cleaning, from the teaching, the directing, the cooking, the job, the remodeling, the driving, the organizing, the planning, the caring for,  the doing, doing, doing.  And I'm a doer!  This past year has been extra hard.  


Wow, it takes a lot to work from home. If you do, you know what it is like having 10 things going at once, while you are planning the next 10 in your head.  Moms do it all so we end up feeling like we've been through the garbage disposal.  We get up the next day (after nowhere near enough sleep) and we do it again.  It's for them.  Everything is for them, because they are young and that is what now is all about.  


Most of us could certainly add to this, "I need a nap" "I need a vacation" "I need a raise" "I need someone to care for me". 


So many photographers all over  now are moms.  Moms-with-Cameras, clickn moms, Momtog,  and so on.  We've managed to create this situation where we can be at home with our children until they go to school (or homeschool) and still run a successful business.  We are living the same life of spreading ourselves so thin to satisfy all of these needs; feed the family, raise the family, be a professional, create and share our art to fulfill ourselves, trying to give 110% to everything.....at the same time!!!!   Trying not to resent work (that you love) or your family (that you love). It's exhausting.  I need a break from work to be with my family.  I need a break from my family to get my work finished.  Deep breaths. 


Everyone is just tired.  We live a simple life and we're still tired.  It's probably the only way we are getting through it.   Focusing on just the important things and pretty much shutting everything else out.  There just isn't time.  It's the way I like it though.  I'm not concerned about anything celebrity, or what the folks down the street are doing or buying,   TV is minimal here (Wild Pacific last night had unbelievable imagery, FYI).  There are probably 5 channels that we all watch in total and it usually isn't even turned on until after dinner anyway.  To quote my 6 year old in the waiting room of the doctor's office (quoting me)  "Mom, this show is garbage."


It was.  


With so little time, I will not fill it up with garbage.  We like to play a lot, cook, read, to create something, to be OUTSIDE!  Although the mud and dirt makes me crazy when it comes back in the house, we do it.  We get muddy and look for bugs and find walking sticks, and climb tress.  Good thing I am not a girly girl.  I might be lost here with four males. 


Are you feeling this way?   Are you overworked and underpaid, exhausted but can't sleep............... all the while really happy and  inspired, hopeful and appreciative?  Trying your best to live in the moment? I am.  

Drew's day off

I got these from my teenager today.  He must have thought it was my birthday because this is such a rarity around here.  He is not a fan of being in front of the camera.  I don't know why, looks like one handsome guy to me. 

Nothing better than a newborn