6 Months

I forget how fun six-month old babies are. How they grab ahold of mama's hair to gnaw on it it. How you make strange sounds and they look at you and 'pose'...flashing their gummy smile. How they make grunting noises to get the parents (and photographer) to laugh. How in an instant they are hungry and need to eat. How they drool uncontrollably. How they sit so perfect...then in slow-motion fall over. Here are a few of H's photos with his mama and daddy. They are so in love with him - which is naturally obvious!

A colleague of mine asked if I'd be interested in taking their family pictures sometime next year.
I asked "Why not sooner? We could do it now with the pretty leaves -that way, you'd have pictures for your Christmas card!"

He came back the next day and said "Ok, does next week work for you?"

Yes. Yes it does.

Natural

Tamara asked me two years ago to take her senior photos. At that time I said sure, and thought she'd change her mind. It was a long way off. I was thrilled when I found out she wasn't joking - she showed up to my classroom at the beginning of the school year and asked me. We had such a fun time - this is just a small sampling of the photos!

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Samantha asked me over a year ago to take her senior pictures - and I couldn't say no! Little did I know at the time she wanted to have them taken with horses at her aunt's horse farm. Eeek! I have never photographed people with horses, so I was a bit nervous. It was a lot of fun, and turned out to be not as crazy as I anticipated. I was happy with the results...but there are two that are my favorites....the last two.

Tree.

Portraits of a Senior: Shane

Shane asked me to take his senior portraits. Due to his love of football, we met up after school on the football field. Needless to say, we got some pretty great shots! He also plays drums, and wanted a 'nice' photo...and we found a woodpile out by the greenhouse that made for a great backdrop. Pretty clever, eh?

Portraits of a senior: Danica

I had the pleasure of meeting up with a young lady at a local park for some of her senior pictures in her prom dress. It was so much fun....and the last image is my personal favorite...everything about it, I just love!

My personal favorite:

Coneflowers & a Bee

I just posted this for fun on the Pioneer Woman's latest photo assignment: flowers.


(Check out Ree's site if you get the chance. I'm addicted! http://thepioneerwoman.com/)

On the other side...

...of my camera lens.
I took the boys to the park last Friday after I picked them up from daycare so we could let loose and have some fun. I set my camera down on the platform of the equipment because Ethan loves when he and I go down the little slide together. Austin, just off to my right, said he wanted to take a picture of us. How could I say no? I made sure my camera settings were still right (I shoot in Manual about 98% of the time! Yay!). I helped him put the camera strap around his neck, then told him to look through the eyepiece to see if he could see both Ethan and I, back up a bit, and then press the button. I was pleasantly surprised at how well they turned out! Austin says that in addition to being a "Police" he wants to take pictures of people, too. :) Way to make a mama proud!

Glory in the Afternoon

Mariposa

at the beach in Bayfield, WI

Pinkie

Taken this past summer....texture added....love the feel it gives.

Blondie

This young lady was having a blast outside this past fall on one of my visits....getting a decent picture of her was a bit challenging since she was consistently on the move, but nonetheless fun! I'm honored and giddy to be called "Auntie Kelly" by her! Her mama and I are good friends. We go waaaay back - all the way to kindergarten!  (Shhh, don't tell the kids, but her mama and I have it all figured out. Austin and this little blondie are getting married! Yup! It's already been arranged. Hehe!)  

Lily

Lily in Costa Rica...

I ♥ Faces Photo Challenge

This week at I ♥ Faces the challenge is "Hilarious Outtakes"

An attempt at a family photo using the timer on the camera.