Sneak peek

I am running late on my proofing. Sad, but true. A few weeks ago I had four sessions in one weekend, then two more the next weekend... Needless to say, I couldn't keep up and my last family from the first four is still waiting for their proof gallery.

And just to put their mind at ease that we did well that day, here are a couple teaser family shots that I think turned out beautifully. That tree behind them really finishes these off, don't you think?



One of my favorite family shots:


I think the above photo is such a real capture of a family with children that are almost-five and one. Whenever I see this particular family, their older girl reminds me so much of Emma. I think of her as a blonde, blue-eyed version of her. They are alike in so many almost-five year old ways, but they both also have shifty eyes and it's hard to get them to look at the camera. They truly make me work for it.

To the "S" family, hope you enjoy and I won't make you wait that much longer.

Okay, one more favorite cause I just can't help myself:

But I do have to say that this photo doesn't have the best story to it because Miss "Q" ended up in tears. She didn't fall or anything, so don't you worry. But the tears were totally my fault. Bad photographer. Her dad did it the first time, but I wasn't ready and it was such a cute shot. So I asked him to do it again and she was not too thrilled the second time around. I would probably say she looks like she's laughing up there, but no, she's crying. (Okay, the fact that Dad was threatening to hang her up to the tree probably didn't help...) I could never let this photo go over a few tears though. I mean, c'mon, get a load of mom and sis down there! The amusement may have been brief, but this photo just makes me laugh every time I look at it. Do I love torturing kids, or what!

Scary

This was the scene about 45 minutes ago:


This car was on fire in the alley behind our apartment building. Just behind the car is the street. To the left is the apartment building directly across from ours. The tree next to that building was lit up, along with the dumpster you see next to it. To the right (which you can't really see) about 12 feet or so is our building. There is plenty of foilage on our side leading up to our bedroom window, exactly opposite of the dumpster, that could have easily lit up.

About 20 minutes ago:


A fire engline lit the scene well. Here they are still hosing it down and getting ready to remove the hood.

To say this was scary is an understatement. We were both up talking in the living room. Daniel had just come out saying he couldn't sleep and I was working. When we first started hearing strange noises we thought people were fighting upstairs. Not that this happens often, but we don't live in Mayberry, that's for sure. Then there was a horn beeping non-stop; just one continuous horn blowing. Then we started hearing pops like gunfire. And yelling. And running around. We still didn't know there was a fire. At that point I knew something was really wrong and felt that we should take cover. Then we started hearing someone yell there was a fire. I immediately said we needed to grab the kids and when Daniel went into the bedroom to grab Ethan he could see the flames outside our window (or at least they appeared to be just outside our window). At that point we headed out the door with the kids, not really knowing what the danger was for us, but knowing we needed to head in the other direction. This whole time we kept hearing pops and explosion sounds. I was almost in a panic, but knew too that we would be safe. It's still not a good feeling thinking that your home could go up in flames. Daniel got the furthest (with Ethan) to investigate where exactly the fire was and what we should be doing. And then shortly after we were told to stay put in our apartment.

The fire department still hadn't arrived on the scene and that's when I joined the group outside for a couple shots of the car in flames. Then went out again once I heard them putting it out. Now I hear a helicopter outside.

And yes, I'm blogging all of this at almost 2:30 in the morning. Crazy scary. I'll never forget the feeling of panic I had when we were scooping up the kids and heading for the door.

We'll see what tomorrow brings. Daniel and I suspect foul play. Yes the gas tank could have exploded. But I have never seen a car parked in that spot before. In front of the garages, yes, but not just off the street in front of the dumpster. Just an odd spot.

Thank goodness no one was hurt. The building next to the fire was fine. I can't imagine how scary that must have been for the people living there.

Randomness... Is that a word?

So funny the comments I got on my Little House post below! Man do I love that show. Yes Linnie, you would have fit in well in those times! Don't worry about finding me the stations that still play it because I have them on DVD, crazy enough, so I can watch them when I am "kid-less" in the late hours of the night. :) And Paige, I do remember that episode with Carrie, though I can't exactly remember what the actual dream was about. I do remember that it was the only episode made using both sisters since Carrie was a twin in real life. Never really got into Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman, but I enjoyed it when I did happen to catch it. I remember my college roommate watching it and sometimes we'd watch together.

So I'm sure you'll be hearing more about my Little House late nights, be prepared. ;)

Took a few shots of Emma today before she and her daddy left to see a movie! Sort of a first for her. Up till today, she had no idea what a movie theatre was about. Hope she's being good because she's been very difficult lately. Can you imagine this sweet little face being attached to the body of a difficult little girl? Well, I can. I live it. Every day. Love her to pieces though. Love these shots too.


Love that she has that cute little mole on her cheekbone in the same place as her daddy's.



And because I also like it in b/w:


And just have to put it out there that though my daughter looks like she's an easy-peasy subject to shoot, it's only now, or maybe since turning four, that it has progressively been easier to get great captures of her. I love that she is so photogenic; it kills me to fight the battle for it though. Absolutely worth it when I get nice shots of her. Had to share this thought with you because many of you think she's the perfect little model.. Photographer's children are harder than most.

I had the camera in the first place because I was trying to get a daddy/daughter pic in honor of Father's Day weekend. I'll share that one later... Took these pics of Emma in the back of my Santa Fe. You'd never know she was in the back of a car, would you? Never shot in the garage like this before, but who knows, I may start doing it more. And no, I didn't touch up the eyes. Almost too much, isn't it? I wish I could see more color in them, but hey, loving the light.

Well, back to my proofing. It's killing me right now. That and my class. Oh, and if you noticed my new logo, that might give you just a little taste of what's to come with my new "look" and website. Nothing is in stone yet. Colors or otherwise. Hoping to get my new website "presentable" by the end of the weekend so I can use it for my next client proof galleries due to go up next week. It may not be perfect and I may just move over my current website galleries for the sake of having something in there until I can go through all the new stuff. But it's going up no matter what! I am truly truly excited about this. :)

Have a great Father's Day weekend!

P.S. Nice to meet you Amy! Thanks for your encouraging words and I'm so glad you could feel encouraged by me too! Little ole' me. Take care!

Crying like a baby

I think maybe I have made the wrong choice for my late night television viewing... I'm the type that needs background noise while working late at night. My usual choice is Lord of the Rings, a favorite movie collection of mine, but I'll admit that I truly am not following it in the least anymore. Hardly even looking up and barely even hearing it anymore. Which is really okay because it's just there to keep me company.

But I decided to watch something new tonight, something I haven't seen in a long time. In fact I don't even know if it still airs on regular television these days. I put on the first season series of Little House on the Prairie, my all-time favorite tv show. Okay, probably a mistake. I'm watching more than I'm working and I'm blubbering like a baby during and for sure by the end of each episode. I'm getting lost in Pa's smile. I'm laughing a bit at the staggering run of Caroline's when she is completely overcome with joy and tears. I'm standing in front of the TV, with my hands on my cheeks, crying while Laura recites an essay about her mother on "visitors night" - an essay that she really didn't write, except in the simplest form - and then crying even harder when Ms. Beetle praises her for it with that sweet warm smile of hers. Isn't it amazing the connection between these people? The chemistry between Ma and Pa is crazy believable. Isn't Ma so beautiful? Awkward looking at times, but stunning and beautiful.

My all-time favorite show. I love what it does to my heart.

sneak peek!

I recently had the pleasure of doing a very special session with four generations of women from the same family (okay, 3 women, 1 baby girl). For this little babe, who is not even six months old, she will surely treasure these photos with mom, grandma, and great-grandma.





I will share more once I wrap up on my proofing for this session. Enjoy ladies!