Joelle - Finished!

Just a couple of Joelle's images...some more can be found on Facebook (if you're my friend...request me at the bottom right corner if you'd like!).

Such a sweet young lady. I can't wait to work with her again in a place that will be much more fun and more colorful!

(I did remove the stray hair here, but didn't upload the new one.)

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"S" Family

Such a beautiful day for a nice session with two of the "S" family. Dad was coming back from a trip so he couldn't make it, but today is his birthday....so, Happy Birthday "S" Dad! ;)

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My other favorites from Brandon's session...

Here a couple from the sneak peek...and here are a few from all of the finished images. Al and I are so blessed to have met and become friends with Brandon. He is one of the SWEETEST things ever. As soon as I can announce some things he will be on, I will. We're already some of his biggest fans and I can't wait to see things happen for him!

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Future Farmer (or Photographer) of America?

This afternoon Riley and I went to drop off my and Al's photos that were accepted into the fair. It's always a big deal when you get accepted because you never know what they are looking for. I seriously thought that my mailbox image would be accepted, but they decided on another one. You just never know.

Anyway, something pulled at me to bring my camera today. I always think about it and just brush it off thinking there isn't going to be anything interesting around...which is ridiculous when you think about it. But anyway, today it was a really strong feeling, so I did. And I am soooo glad I did.

It was Riley's first time at the fairgrounds...well, at least outside the womb. ;) I absolutely love the fairgrounds and I just LOVE the Orange County Fair. I look forward to it every year. When I pulled up and saw people bringing their entries in and saw the workers setting up and saw the trucks loaded with rides, I got butterflies. Seriously, for me, the fair is up there with Christmas.

I put Riley in the Baby Bjorn and after we dropped off the photos, we headed over to where they have a plethora of animals during the fair. No babies today, but there will be babies when the fair comes around. "Buttercup", the pig is due July 11th...so the sign said. I cannot wait to browse the fair with hubby and Riley and introduce her to the sights and sounds AND smells of the fair. It was the first time where I thought about having her share something that I love and it was so exciting. I know she won't remember, nor will she remember today, but at least I have these images and will have more, with her in them, come July!





























And if you're visiting the fair...here is my entry. Al framed it the other night and it looks AWESOME. My friend's beautiful daughter...who is now a big sister AGAIN as of this morning! Congratulation to the "B" Family!



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Joelle - Naples Plaza SNEAK PEEK

Al (and Riley!) and I met Joelle for the first time today. A beautiful girl that is also soooo sweet. We are always thankful for that! Here are couple of sneak peeks for her.

P.S. Like I stated in my last post, most of my blog readers are now my friends on Facebook and usually see the photos first, so if you'd like to be my friend, feel free to go to the bottom right of this page and add me! Sometimes I add them on Facebook and forget (or don't have time!) to blog the sessions until a few days after I've had them.

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Brandon - Naples Plaza SNEAK PEEK

You may remember Brandon from here and here. Such a nice guy. He just received some great news about an acting part, but I forgot to ask if I can share it, so since I forgot, I'll just keep it to myself right now...which is also kind of fun. :)

Brandon is such a nice guy. Al (and Riley!) and I had a great time spending some time with him this morning. A couple of sneak peeks for him.







P.S. Most of my blog readers are now my friends on Facebook and usually see the photos first, so if you'd like to be my friend, feel free to go to the bottom right of this page and add me!

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"You know I love it when I get to be a dirty girl!"

That's the song I kept thinking of when I was working on Stephanie's photos. More on that later...

I've recently started to work with some actors and models. I didn't know what I was in for, but my experience has been 99% positive. I've read about famous photographers who have said that they'd never work with so and so again because they are just too high maintenance or whatever. I always thought, "Big deal...you take some pictures and you're in and you're out." I was wrong. You really have to click otherwise it's really uncomfortable and you really don't enjoy it. And...when you are editing the images, you wish you were doing something else and the bad energy just comes back over the computer screen. It's not fun when it doesn't "mesh".

Fortunately, I lucked out with Stephanie. I love this girl. Not only is she beautiful, sweet and funny...but she is up for anything. We did a shoot together a month or so ago and we clicked and she told me that if I ever wanted to shoot again, she'd be game. Well, I said the same thing to her! When we were setting this one up, I told her that I always wanted to shoot in a laundromat and she basically said, "Let's do it!" I told her that I wouldn't be able to do it unless it was early in the morning. She said, "How's 8:00 am?" On a SUNDAY!! Like I said, I love this girl. :)

Another neat thing about the two of us. I told her that I was searching the internet the night before for laundromat images to get some inspiration. She said she did too! I told her, "But there was NOTHING there!!" She said, "I know!" I said, "But there was some CRAZY images..." She again said, "I know!!!!" LOL Trust me...DON'T search for laundromat photos unless you really want to find some DIRT! Pun sort of intended. ;)

I wanted to play around with some of the processing to get a different feel than just "laundromat" photos. I really had fun with that. Thank you, Stephanie...for yet another relaxing, yet quick and fun session!

Just a few of my favorites so far...my Facebook friends have seen different ones that I posted there, but I save my favorites for here sometimes. :)











Oh...and the song I kept thinking about when working on these photos...I don't know how I was raised in the city and ended up loving country music, but so it goes. And I absolutely love the tongue in cheek lyrics that are in a lot of the country songs. And...if you've never seen this little lady in concert, you need to. She's AWESOME! Enjoy:

Terri Clark

More CMT Music

More CMT Music Videos

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Happy 5 Months, Baby Girl!

Dear Riley Grace,

I can't write much this time because you have been fussing and when I finally picked you up and sat you on my lap, you calmed down. So we are sitting here writing this together and your right hand is on my left hand while typing. I wish there was a picture of this...it's sooooo cute.

Not much has changed...I continue to love you more and more each day and love seeing you get so excited to see me and Daddy. You smile the biggest smile and then you tuck your head into our chest or neck. It's so funny. :) You are loving your samples of different foods and you ESPECIALLY like applesauce. You also seem to love carrots, which I am happy about. You are not a huge fan of peas, but Grammy Roma did get you to eat some when you visited with her one night.

You are now sleeping in your crib and I've gone from checking in on you about a dozen times a night to hardly at all. I still worry about SIDS, although the statistics for that at your age have gone way down, but I always ask God to watch over you each night. I leave it in His hands and He has blessed us with so many things this far, so I try not to worry.

I really don't have any nicknames for you yet, but Daddy calls you "Munchkin" all the time. :) You love to pull on Daddy's goatee and you love getting kisses from him. He kisses you on the forehead and you close your eyes and then when he is finished, you look up at him and wait for him to do it again. It's so sweet.

OK, baby girl...you are getting a little crazy sitting with me and now have your face and mouth on my hands while I am typing. It's quite funny. So I think it's a good time to sign off for this month.

I love you sooooo much, Riley Grace. Happy 5 months, baby girl!



P.S. I've started making bows, so here ts another shot of you modeling them for me. :)

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Family of three, a couple of cars and a tank engine ;)

You probably remember this cute little boy from this sneak peek.

One of my favorites from the entire session:


And their images...

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Guinea pig...

Poor baby girl...she's in for some wardrobe changes to match all the new headbands momma's going to be making. Here are just two that I started this weekend.

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In case you need to see it to believe it...

Remember my post about investing good money in a photo session, but throwing all that money away if you take your CD (if you purchase it) to a "discount" lab? Here is the proof:

#1 printed by our lab:


#2 printed by Walmart


I could give you examples from Target, Costco, Walgreens, etc...but why waste my money??

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"K" Family - SNEAK PEEK

It was great seeing "M" and her family today. We used to work together and she has been one of those people that I've liked from our first meeting. I was in a new role twice (hey, that happens when you have been there 11 years) that dealt with her office and she welcomed me wholeheartedly both times. I never forgot that and she is just a "good" person to all around her. She always has a word of encouragement for everyone and it's just fitting that she has such a great family.

I've seen plenty of pictures of her son "B" (which I LOVED and even asked if she had any new ones), but today was the first time I actually met him and met her husband. "J" was just as friendly as "M". A great, great family together. I had so much fun spending the afternoon with them.

And "J", please know that we were really grateful for the dinner invitation...If Papa Bear hadn't eaten right before, we'd have been all over some Southwestern Eggrolls (my favorite!!).

I went back and forth about photoshopping out the dirt on his face and the picnic tables in the back, but I decided I love this image just how it was. (Michelle, I can photoshop the dirt out when I give them to you, if you prefer ;0))






:)


Seriously?! I want to hug the heck out of him!!




Like father, like son:






My absolute favorite of the sneak peek. Nothing like Thomas the Tank Engine and some trusty car friends to get a little boy through the day.

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