Summertime

Ahhhhh, sweet summertime! This is the kids' first Slip-N-Slide, and they are absolutely thrilled with it! I have a feeling that next months water bill will be a bit more than usual! lol! That's ok, it's worth it to see the pure joy on their faces!

The song that is playing is a song I remember my dad singing all the time when I was little. He would tap his fingers on the steering wheel, while driving us to school, to the beat of this song.

You Belong To Me

I try every year to get shots of my two together. And every time, it turns out a complete disaster! My kids seriously do suffer from photographer's kid syndrome and the symptoms worsen when they are together! I ALWAYS have to do a "head swap" or sometims a full body swap just to get ONE good picture with both kids looking at the camera! That was before I really found my style. Now, my style is more photojournalistic and natural. These are the first pictures of my two together since I've "discovered" myself. I love these pictures so much. It is the first time I have ever been able to capture that sibiling bond that they share. Every shot that is in this post is being printed really big! Thank goodness I have a big house! lol!

I tweaked my usual B&W conversion for this shot. I wanted to duplicate a process I learned in the B&W darkroom in college.

Sorry I have been neglecting my blog and the blog group. Been super busy here lately!

Thank you all so much for supporting and visiting my blog!

Beautiful

For the first time since I had my daughter (4 years ago) I feel beautiful. After I had kids, my body changed....ALOT! And it gave me some self esteem issues that I have battled with ever since. Well, that's gotta change! How will I ever be able to teach my daughter to see her beauty, as well as others', if I can't reach into MYSELY and see MY beauty? My husband, Jonathan, took some incredible pictures of me yesterday, on my birthday. And I was joking with him saying that I was going to "liquify" my body in PS to make myself look skinnier. Only I was half way serious! When I started to edit the pictures he took, I had an epiphany! I have decided to embrace me (ALL of me) for who I am! No more worrying about how I am not "beautiful" by America's standards. I am short and curvaceous, and you know what? That's ok! Because I feel good about myself! So here I am. The true me!

Oh, I had an absolutely wonderful birthday! On June 5, I had the most incredible experience. I had my home birth session. It was amazing! I will not be sharing the pictures from it, out of privacy and respect to my client. Then, yesterday, my mom took me out and I got a new haircut, which I LOVE! After my haircut, Jonthan and I spent the day in Nashville. We took pictures of each other all day. It was really fun! We then went to The Melting Pot for a nice romantic dinner. I couldn't have asked for a better birthday!

I have these pictures in color as well, and I really like them in color. But, I edited them in a different color space in PS and when I upload, the colors are dull and nasty! So I just flipped them all to B&W for my blog.

Random Thoughts

Ok, bare with me here, this is a long post! I've been so busy with my clients' sessions that I haven't gotten around to my own photos lately! All of these shots were taken in May. They are shots of my kids and their cousins. These shots show how I see these children.This is my FAVORITE type of photography! I absolutely adore capturing kids being themselves!

And I also wanted to share a few more of my favorites from last weekends wedding.

Sorry, these photos have been removed. :-)

June is going to be a fun filled month for me! Next week is my 22nd birthday. My husband and I are going to downtown Nashville for the day. I will be doing some shots of the two of us together. I am excited about doing them! We have not had shots of just us in forever! I also have a home birth session any day now, 2 engagement sessions and a famiy session for this month. And my son will be having a minor surgery at the end of the month. Nothing serious, but I am still nervous.

Until next time.....

Erik and Danielle

I shot my first wedding yesterday with my SIL, Jennifer. It was a lot of work and I was exhausted when I got home, but it was so worth it! I had a lot of fun! I almost cried though! Watching Danielle be "given away" by her father, brought me back to MY wedding day when my dad did the same. So many emotions went through me at that particular moment. I had to really fight back the tears so I could continue shooting. Here are a few of my favorites from their special day.

Sorry, photos have been removed. :-)

My session song pick is Inside Your Heaven by Carrie Underwood.

This song s just so beautiful, so full of love and emotion. It makes me cry!

Sugar and Spice.......and SNIALS?!?!

This is my lovely little girl 'saving the snails'! She is such a little animal rights activtist! She found a bunch of snails in our flower bed. She scooped them right up and started to yell "Save the snails!!" It was so funny! She didn't even mind the slimy little things slithering all over her! Yuck! She didn't get that from me, that's for sure! I didn't want anywhere near the little creatures! What's even funnier, is that Jon-Jon wouldn't have anything to do with them (except for when he tried his best to EAT one)! He actually yelled out EWWW and squished one! Poor snail :( Gaby thought it was the end of the world because her brother killed one of the snails she was trying to save! Hehe! I couldn't help but laugh a little!

My first shot with my new wide angle lens! I love wider angles!

It just LOOKS gross!

Real lady like, huh?

And my first try at adding texture!

It also seems that Angie Penrose has tagged me! Now I have to list my five favorite things!

1. Being with my children and husband. They are my world!

2. Music.

3. Photography....of course! :D

4. Quiet time! I crave peace and quiet!

5. Hearing my children say "I Love you" Which by the way, Jon-Jon said this for the very first tim yesterday morning!!!!!! I started to cry tears of joy! I have longed for those words to come from his little lips for such a long time!

I'll tag five other people tonight after the kiddos go to bed!

Oh, and the song I chose for this post is Snails by The Format. It seems
like the most perfect song to go with these pictures!

I've been Tagged!

I was tagged by Jenna http://www.aboutimage.blogspot.com/. Now I have to list 5 reasons why I blog!

1. I am a shy person. Blogging and talking to all of my blog friends has really helped me break out of my "shy shell".
2. I love sharing my photography with others!
3. I like to give people a glimpse into my life as a mom, wife and photographer.
4. It gives friends and family that I may not get to talk to all the time, a chance to see new pictures of the kids as well as read updates on how everyone is doing!
5. Because I like it!!

Now I'm off to tag 5 other people!

Tiffany

Julie

Virgina

Louisa

Dawn

You ladies are next!