I am starting to think I need to check myself into Picture Addict Anonymous. I try so hard to keep from doing image "dumps" on the blog. Every time I begin selecting images to post I have in my head "four or five, four or five, FOUR OR FIVE!!!" But I am now going to give up beating myself up because I have come to realize I just can't do it. So thank you to the Kelly family for getting me over my mental issue and just accepting my reality.
The day I photographed the Kelly kids I had posted here about how excited I was to have an opportunity to photograph the kids by themselves. Throughout the Kelly kids shoot their mom made herself very scarce and I had a ball outside w/ them. At the end of the shoot I asked their mom if she had read my blog that day because she had just done what I wrote about. She hadn't, she just knew it would be better for her kids if she wasn't near. So it made me laugh that what I had mentioned earlier in the day just happened. Now don't read this and think I do not want parents present. That is not at all the case. I am confident I will be able to engage any child whether mom & dad are there or not. But it is fun to discover a child's personality on my own w/o any coaxing from someone who knows them.
Anyway, I had a blast w/ "K" & "J". We played outside then went indoors for a few fun shots. I love "J" at the top of the stairs, bum in the air w/ little boy dirty toes. And his toes & youthful expression at the piano w/ John Lennon's "Imagine" in the background. I want to give little descriptions of them all but I will restrain from more rambling. I do want to mention the last image. They ran to the edge of the lawn in overwhelming excitement that dad was home...what a great welcoming committee!

My next family has been so patient w/ me waiting to see their images. I had a scare w/ a memory card while in El Paso. I had heard about other photographers losing images on their cards but in my 3 years being digital I had not had it happen. And then while I was in El Paso after photographing the first two families one of my cards failed. I cannot tell you how horrible I felt and as soon as I got home I went to work trying to recover the images. I used a number of pieces of software w/ no luck. So I sent the card back to the manufacturer, Lexar. I was not hopeful and had informed the families of this frustrating situation. Then last week (after 4+ wks) I received the best delivery from UPS. A brand new card along w/ a disc full of the lost images. I cannot describe the relief that washed over me. I am sooo happy that the families are going to get to see all the images and their time w/ me was not wasted.
The Tarwater family is such a great family and the highlight of my visit to El Paso was getting to spend an evening w/ them. So I am excited to share all their images w/ them. Especially the ones of their son "J" since his mom wasn't sure he even gave me one good look...he fooled her!!

I had a first a few weeks ago, photographing a baptism. Little Scarlett who has made a few appearances here was baptized at St. James Cathedral. It was a bit of a challenge because light was limited and flash (which I do not like to use anyway) was not an option. I had so much fun watching all the little ones react to getting dunked or water poured on them. There were quite a few tears shed but not by trooper Scarlett. She remained calm throughout the entire service.

Happy 40th!!

Yesterday my parents celebrated their 40th Anniversary. I was sorry I could not be w/ them to raise a glass but thought I would put together a few pictures that I hope will make them smile. We were together for Mother's Day weekend and had such a great time. The highlights for me were watching my mom swing w/ my boys and my dad play ball w/ Cooper...I had many years of playing ball with him and it was so fun to see Cooper having a blast hitting the ball and running around the bases backwards w/ the biggest smile on his face.
Congratulations mom and dad. I love you!

I had really been looking forward to meeting little Sam since before he was born. Sam is fortunate to have the best uncle (Ben) ever and he happens to be a friend of mine. For a shower gift Ben gave his sister a gift certificate for a sitting so I had been waiting for the call to finally meet Sam and his family. The opportunity came on Mother's Day "eve" & hopefully it was the start of a wonderful first Mother's Day for Sam's mom, Lisa.
Sam kept us entertained the entire time. And when he got bored w/ us he found his toes...or got a little walk from dad. It was such a sweet moment seeing them silhouetted against the window.

After my time w/ the school kids I started daydreaming about how great it would be to just get the opportunity to spend 15-20 minutes w/ kids w/o their parents around as kids really seem to open up when they are left alone w/ me. Well not more than a few days later I received a call from a parent of one boy from school. She was hoping I could photograph him w/ his brother w/ no parents involved at all. Now, don't get me wrong I love everything about photographing a whole family but I was so excited about this opportunity. I had loved working with Jack at Secret Garden and was looking forward to more time w/ him & his brother.
We had a ball together. And I couldn't get over their gorgeous green eyes! They loved exploring different spots w/ me and were running and jumping along the way, with a pit spot (documented in the last image) to water the bamboo.