Balloons & Rocking Horses...

          I may have just been in love with this little family, but oh my goodness, these images were just adorable and I couldn't get enough of them! Madison is 2 years old now and she is B.E.A.U.TIFUL!!! She was a bit reserved to give me many smiles, but eventually I caught a few of that elusive, yet gorgeous smile!

          Enjoy a few images from our shoot!

Balloons are off to Disney World!!

Dad said they wanted a black and white photo with only her eyes in color... so here it is. And yes, this is her REAL eye color... I'm beyond amazed at how beautiful her little eyes are!!!

The Big Yellow Chair

          First off, I must say THANK YOU to everyone for their support over the last year. We have grown in leaps and bounds and we have met some really amazing people along the way! We are so grateful, and it's just humbling to have the honor to have met each person, as well as the amount of support we have received!! I could not have seen my dream become a reality without each and every person, whether it be by having a session, or just spreading the word, sharing an image, or commenting on a photograph! Photography is not something I do... It's who I am.

          I like to run a contest every now and again, and the first contest of 2012 exceeded my expectations three fold!!! I was AMAZED by the amount of contestants, and then the fight to the top to win a free session with us! I had completely underestimated just how well this contest was going to go, and I think it took a little while for the shock to wear off! But when the final minutes finally passed, we had but one winner - and it was a close one! 

Our Contest Winner! Miss Ayda!

         Little Miss Ayda not only won, but she won with this image above that I had taken last year when she was 7 months old! (That was kind of like a double win for me!) Ayda's mom has used the same image in numerous beauty pageant competitions since our shoot last year, and has won - to date - every competition for Most Photogenic with this image. So this makes that an award winning photograph... and I'm an award winning photographer by default, right? :) Only kidding. Ayda is just beautiful in her own right, and I only had the privilege to photograph her. She's the real winner. I'm just happy for her (and mom and dad!) that I was able to capture that time for her (and them!) and I was thrilled to be able to do so again this year, along with her big brother Davian! 

        I was completely pumped about this session... the night before, I received a message with a picture of this big, old yellow chair. And I was INSTANTLY in love with it! I could have literally been picked up off the ground after seeing it in person... It was just, for a lack of better words, AWESOME! And the images - ahhhh! I could have died! It just really made each one of them POP! I'm still just head over heels for this chair... I could go on and on about how much I love this old thing... but for your sake, I won't. Instead, I'll quiet my fingers, and let you enjoy the sneak peek images from Ayda's contest winning session!!!!

 

 

Isn't big brother just handsome?!

 

Ballerina in training!

         So there you have it folks! I hope you enjoyed these as much as I enjoyed shooting them!

Sarah & Kurt: Engaged!

     Sometimes, when you try to make photo plans... Mother Nature has other plans. This was certainly the case with Sarah & Kurt, as we planned on shooting their engagement session! It has been a mild winter - to say the least!!! - this year. So, even though I am an avid weather bug stalker  - even I was not prepared for the harsh, cold day that happened on our originally scheduled day. It was windy, and freezing... and to be honest, neither myself nor Sarah were really looking forward to being in that weather. So, since my schedule was free on a later Saturday, I was more than happy to move her session to a later date. (As, I'm sure they were as well!) Appointment rescheduled and that meant a nice warm day inside the house for me!
      Then, as the rescheduled date was upon us... Mother Nature decided to throw some severe thunderstorms our way.. oh, and some tornados. Perhaps for fun. I'm not sure, but it almost seemed as though Mother Nature was just trying to torture us. Only kidding. I'll admit, this time - I was just a bit depressed. I had been aching for more camera time to try out all the new equipment we had purchased over the winter... BUT of course, everything worked out the way it was supposed to. We were able to reschedule - AGAIN, and I was able to squeeze their engagement shoot in between a very busy photo day. And the weather was perfect. It was neither hot, nor cold... it was P.E.R.F.E.C.T!

     I had a wonderful time getting to know Sarah and Kurt - and as it seems to go, found out Kurt was related to other friends of mine... It always amazes me how connected this town seems to become the more I shoot. But I'll admit, it just brings me joy when I find out these people, who I barely have met, are connected to people I hold near and dear to my heart - and then I am able to just watch that list grow.
      Although Sarah admitted they were both nervous for their shoot - I think they either quickly came out of their shell, or were REALLY good at pretending they weren't nervous at all! I didn't see a nervous face in any shot, and really - they just looked like pros! But... don't take my word for it. See for yourself!

Check out that ring!! L.O.V.E!!!

     Congrats, Sarah & Kurt!! Many blessings for you both in the many, MANY years you'll spend together!!! And Thank you for letting me share this important time with you! It was an absolute pleasure!!! :)