I'm TWO years old going on 13...

This is Claire and I's dear sweet friend Laney. She had a birthday recently and I got to take her two year old pictures!! Laney has been the subject of my camera many times; she has been so patient!

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Today was just Laney, Mommy, and me at the Botanical Center. Laney was all dressed up and ready to party in her beautiful orange party dress, pink toe nails, and Dora sandals that lit up when she walked. I LOVE her pigtails; they are so characteristic of her personality. Laney did some posing and some dancing, she was a great model! Laney found Nemo in the pond and said the shark was there, too. However, she never was convinced of the (nonexistent) ladybug on my shoulder in a ruse to get her to look my way. I need to think of a different shtick. :)

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Thanks for allowing me to take your pictures again Laney, you are beautiful!

Sweet Sara

Oh my goodness it's been awhile since my last post. I was working on the previous pictures and learned a lot about post processing in doing so - for heaven's sake fix your White Balance BEFORE you start with curves, hue/sat, etc!

Here are some of my sweet wonderful niece Sara I took a few weeks ago at Valley Junction. How gorgeous is she?!?!?! Eat your heart out Ryan!






Oh, can't forget these...

Paige, Grace, and Jake

These gorgeous children are my good friends' kids from my former place of work. I've known her for several years, before Grace and Jake were even part of the family yet! I've watched these kids grow and get more and more beautiful every day. Look at the hair on those girls!! And the freckles on Paige, makes me want lots of them! Grace is just that, graceful as can be. These were supposed to be full body shots of the girls in their baton costumes but I couldn't quite get them with my prime lens. And let's be honest, how can you not move in and get close ups of those faces! I'm looking forward to taking pictures of them again in their luscious back yard once the weather warms up and things get a bit more green. I can't wait!

Thanks Paige, Grace, and Jake! You guys rock!

The Storm Is Coming

OK there was no storm coming this day but didn't it look like it? The sky was amazing and it's contrast to the orangy - brown tall grass was very cool.

Maffit Lake

This past weekend I attended a weekend conference by Rocky Mountain School of Photography . I was so inspired after learning about the Zone System for Color that right after the conference I grabbed the girls, went to the lake and started shooting. I'm still not right on with exposure but I have no doubt with this system I'll be closer each time. When we got there the sun was glaring on the lake, it was really beautiful. Still not a lot of green grass or any green leaves, but at least here the grass was trying to peek through. That orange spot is lens glare, not usually a good thing but I think it can sometimes be cool.

Last Friday morning there was a gorgeous fog on the ground. After dropping Rachel off at school Claire and I quickly stopped for some photos by the library. The fog was rolling out by the time we stopped but it was still pretty cool. The photo also shows how darn brown it is here, still brown brown brown...

Those eyes

Can you feel it? Just looking into those eyes, can you feel them look into your soul? Kids do that, they make you look keep inside yourself and be true. You can't lie to those eyes.

Green

Going through old photos last night I was immediately drawn to this one because of the green. I'm feeling sucked dry by the total lack of color outside and am aching to see some blooming!!

This picture was taken in September of 07 while at Pine Lake State Park cabins for the weekend. While we were exploring Rachel walked on ahead, the independent explorer that she is. The image also illustrates her quiet nature. She's so peaceful, content, comfortable, being herself. She's amazing.