Hump Day Happy: The Sweetest Thing

I caught this image just after the Grandfather of the Bride walked the Mother of the Bride, his daughter, down the aisle. It was touching because you could see the knot forming in his throat, just before, as they were walking down the aisle. As they sat down, he was gathering his composure. Even sweeter, was this smile that his daughter gave him as they sat down.

You wonder what was going through his mind. Of course the joy and pride he had for his granddaughter. Perhaps walking down the aisle with his daughter was reminiscent of a day many years ago. We will never know.

Weddings are such a great occasion, not only for the bride and groom, but for all family and friends to celebrate. I always feel so fortunate to be chosen to capture moments like this.

This Family was just too Funny

Okay, so I will admit it, Christmas can make one a little cranky. You have a long to do list and you are just trying to check it all off. I was doing my best, when I got the sweetest e-mail from a woman about a gift they wanted to give her mother for Christmas--a Family photo shoot. Her sister would be in from LA and would I mind doing it on Christmas Eve? I got a deep laugh out of it. Then I thought, I know how my mother in law feels about my sister in law living in Utah, so, I will give this girl a call.

I did. She was awesome, we planned on the 28th. I loved them. We started out with a large Family photo.

However, since we had just finished a nice snow, and it was melting, I had the pleasure of getting snow from the roof falling on my head. It made for a good laugh. I told them it was part of my shooting style.

Snow aside, we did a little "funny" too.

And why not take pictures of the daughter that put it all together? Kristin and her husband were so cute!

Of course I loved their dog too!

In all, I think Mom was pleased with her Christmas gift this year.

Shoot us while we Shoot

The Tornoe Family is awesome. Love them and their dog. For their family portrait shoot, the weather was quite frigid.

I took a step back and told them that my goal is to capture you enjoying one another, not braving the Artic winds. With that, they thought and thought some more. Do you guys use the pool room? I had two excited boys, well, three if you include the grin on their dad's face...

We got some fun shots and details inside! They loved it and so did I.

Perfect Fall Foliage

For the past few days I cannot get over the vibrant colors of the trees. Either my memory is failing me or I don't recall fall being this gorgeous. What I can tell you is that the Gilmartin family picked the ultimate Saturday morning for their shoot.

Fall Foliage aside, I do make jokes on how I get people to relax for photo shoots. Let's face it, who gets their picture taken everyday? But, I actually know Colleen from my book club. Which was a good thing and what I love about this book club is the fact that we actually read interesting books and have valuable discussions. So we have that in common.

As for Steve, men can be slightly more difficult to "break in". Now, Colleen and I have both hosted book club at our homes. I think the discussion segment is something that our respective husbands may want to differ with us on, in terms of it's possible "discussion". In fact, I think Steve was a bit nervous about me. As soon as I made a crack about me having a "gaggle of book club geese" over the other night which drove my husband to the liquor cabinet, this caused Steve and I to be fast friends. In fact, I think he wanted to get together with my husband to check out his cabinet.

Crazy Faces, a must with little boys...

Little boys just love their mommies.

Such a sweetie.

It was a fun day! I actually did get shots of the kids in their Halloween costumes. Charlie wants it to be a surprise, so out of respect, I will not post those. Maybe on 10/31 he will approve it...

Little Second Shooter

It is true, when you are three it is time to get a job. So when his girlfriend had a scheduled shoot, it just made sense that he wanted to take the lead. However, I told him he just was not ready. I do admire his drive and determination, however I just did not think that composition was there yet. But, he did shoot a few good shots, of course.

So, we had a fun shoot. Shane we able to get some shots--they were great. He loves his little friend, of course he hopped into a few shots with her. They had fun, I think he's getting to know how to work that camera and, of course, he really knows how to work the ladies.

How you make work?

Ah, ma boy. He is a nut. He sure is my boy. Imitation is definitely a form a flattery and he loves to imitate me constantly. One of my favorites lately was when he threw his arms in the air in disgust and said, "Ugh, I can't take it any more!" My husband knows where he got that one fer sher.

My newest favorite came recently. A few weeks back he came in with this on his face......

He said "Mommy, I shoot you!!" Sadly for him, it did not work. Not due to the fact that there were no memory cards. It was a headlamp that my husband and I used for camping. The camping we used to do before little man came along.

But my favorite was today. He sat in one of my client chairs and said, "Mommy how do you do work?" "You mean what do I do for work", I said. "Yea", the 3 year old replied like, how much more obvious could he be? I tried to think of the easiest way to explain this to a 3 year old. Did I start with, "I left my job at Comcast with people that I loved and doing things I enjoyed, to stay home with you my cherub", no sounds like a guilt trip he would see right through it. Should I pointed to the walls and say, "Well, my son, look a this vast elaborate empire of beautiful images your mother has crafted using her Nikon products". Puke, no not getting paid for a promotional message. So I went with.

"I take pictures of people. It makes me happy." I said. "Them happy too?" he said. "I think so" I said. He took a look around at the walls, slowly and carefully. As much as a three year old can. He smiled and said, "Wow Mommy, you have Style!" With that, he jumped off the chair and was out of the room. Yep, my heart swelled with obnoxious joy. Getting that from my 3 year old was so much more than any compliment I could ever receive.

Photos for Daddy!

As a special gift for Daddy for Father's Day, I had the fun time of shooting the cutest kids and their mommy. Having a son the same age, I know how they can be. We just let big bro take off and play. He had no interest in what we were doing. I was able to get some action shots of that guy--silly toddler.

Of course the baby was super awesome and sweet. She could have hung out looking nice for hours, well until she either got hungry or fell asleep. Heck, if she fell asleep that would have been so cute too. I could have pinched her cheeks off.

So super Sweet. Just loved her little Buddha belly and those big brown eyes.

Loved these sweet shots of big bro and Mommy

With Big brother in the background, mommy spends fun time with her baby girl. The sound of her giggle was super cute.