Archive for 2011

and i’m so ready for the kids to just be out of school and home with me.  Abby is just exhausted right now.. poor girl just needs a day to hang out – so do i quite honestly.

Emily had a wonderful 4th birthday!!!

I’m hoping to do a little blog post on that tomorrow as well as send my class some information.. I just need about 3 more – NON tired hours in the day.. around 10:00 am would be so great!

 Christmas time is such a neat time to pay attention to the different types of light and light sources..

It is a PERFECT time to play with gorgeous Bokeh too.. (that pretty blurry background stuff)

one of the “homework” assignments I asked my workshop group to do was to capture an image of pretty Christmas light bokeh..

our tree is – well – a hodgepodge of glittery random stuff… for so long, I had a perfect white-light tree in my visions for our home.. NOPE.. this is our tree – random, bright, and totally decorated by the kids and ornaments from our trips, special ornaments they have made and pictures of them from each year.  The wall has crafts they’ve made from babies to now…

then by focusing a bit in front of the tree and recomposing (focusing on something closer than the tree, holding the shutter 1/2 way down and then moving the camera to fill the frame with the tree)..

cool, eh.. ?

i do have three small trees downstairs.. i may go take one of these with those..

I took these this morning – I will retake at night and they will be different with out the warm morning sunlight coming in..

these kids are two of my favorite..  i’ve known their parents forever and consider them family…  needless to say fitting them in to our whirlwind two week tripFlorida, Georgia, Tennessee and South Carolina was a must.. of course photographing the kids was a must as well..  Aidan is such a little charmer – and kept saying “Aunt Nikki” while we were shooting – like come on.. just talk to me.. and I wanted to put the camera down and have a conversation with him.. like just us… maybe next time.. we only had a few minutes to get these pictures so I felt bad not spending more time to get to know him as the awesome 6 year old boy he is!!!.. Avery, his little sister, OH.. this girl.. I met her the day she was born.. a FULL head of hair.. she always gives me a difficult time when I visit.. this time was just the same – UNTIL picture time.. she was my best friend and would have taken pictures all day.. She won’t look at me, but take her picture – she LOVES her some Aunt Nikki.. put the camera away.. back to the same .. sigh… i still love her.

here is Mr. Aidan.. crazy handsome..

darling Miss Avery.. she looks sweet and friendly here, but that girl – gosh.. she gives me such a hard time!!!  I know.. deep down.. she loves me and KNOWS exactly what she is doing!  … OH.. I KNOW.. from now on I will start the visit with a photo session – BRILLIANT

and some fun sibling shots.. i love them!!!

hope you guys love them…

now for some pizza and wine..

on our great trip of the Southeast, we had a nice stop in Augusta, Georgia.. I was thrilled to be able to fit this family in to my schedule.. I’ve been photographing Emma for quite a while…  before Jack was around.. it has been amazing to see what a really neat little girl Emma has become.. she and I had a wonderful time – I think she would have taken pictures all day..  she has a great little sense of humor and loves to mess with me when I’m taking her picture.. she has come so far from the first time from our first session when she was super shy… little brother Jack, not so shy!!! he is all boy, but a cautious little dude..  he was in a great mood for our session and wore-me-out!

we had a perfectly overcast morning – really a photographer’s happy day – especially with kids with the fair complexions that these two have.. i had a wonderful time chasing – and i do mean CHASING them around.. very thankful I had coffee waiting!

we started out with the more traditional “Christmassy” clothes .. hoping to be able to keep both Emma and Jack in good spirits to change in to some more casual outfits – Jack recently turned 2 and Emma’s birthday is very soon – so we were doing a double session of sorts.. i am soooo pleased with the results…

love this.. i love how Emma looks at him and cracks up..

Pretty Emma alone.. there are so many great ones of her..

back to the two of them.. Now, to get these smiles on them – I was a tad loud and obnoxious – a huge sorry to the families who live around this area.. but I think it was worth it..

do you see how tight they are holding hands??  oh… i just love when they love each other.. warms my heart..

now.. this of Jack.. I just love it.. love him.. love him in all his two year oldness.. you just never know where he is about to bound off to..  he is cautious, but dude, he is wicked fast!!

i really like this family one – you can see how little the little guys are..

and wardrobe change.. emma’s little dress was orginally for her Alice in Wonderland Tea Party Birthday … but she has changed her mind a bit.. I asked her if I could borrow it because it is just adorable, she was worried I would stretch it or get it dirty.. smart girl..

i love this one..  doesn’t it look like a magazine ad or something.. just makes you wonder what is next.. well, okay, maybe that’s just me.. but I love it..

and then Mr. Jack was in a very adorable boy outfit.. button up and pants.. and he looks soooo much older to me..

with little boys, ya never know what you are going to get.. i love his little belly.

and then they ran.. and ran.. and ran..

hope you love the peek Emily and Keith.. Thanks again for letting me chase them around..

when planning our trip to Florida, we knew we had to leave time to visit this family.. Tom has known the dad, Ray, since – well, like forever.. and I met them about 10 years ago.. Back then we were all in our mid-twenties and just starting out on our lives as couples.. not a child between us.. NOW.. 10 years later, there are six kids between us.. SIX kids.. 

Little Maya was born earlier this year and this was my first chance to meet her.. she is a doll.. the sweetest little disposition – happy, friendly, and well, LOUD!!!  she is a chatterbox.. FULL of personality.. Tom, my husband, has had baby fever for about 3 years now and he is absolutely smitten with Maya..

i must admit, i am too.. how could you not be..

she has the chubbiest little cheeks, softest litte bald head.. and jumpiest little legs

and pretty bright eyes..

big sister Lilly is a bit quieter at first, but man.. she and i had fun during her little photo session..  we were just laughing.. chatting.. laughing.. attempting to be serious..  she was a natural in front of the camera and once she relaxed, she needed no direction.. i would love to sit and chat with her and hear her thoughts on things.. anything..  

and brother Anthony is just all boy.. the only time i could get him to come alive was when talking sports.. so we talked a bit of football…  i love this serious look a lot.. but his laughing face is sooo cute too

 we did the kids individually first, then got them together in hopes that we could get ONE of the three of them.. Maya LOVES her brother and sister..  and they are so good with her..

i actually got a few of the three of them.. i just love this one a super lot..

probably will end up on my blog.. or website.. or both..