I've been wanting to hang a Food & Drink gallery in my kitchen since we moved in almost three years ago. A few weeks ago, I actually followed through! Yes, it's a little crooked and off center. The gallery needs a little fine-tuning but I've gotten a few inquiries about the photos themselves so I thought I'd share them with you.

Almost all of them were taken in my kitchen at different times. The strawberries were taken at my parents' house the morning of my sister's wedding and the first shot was taken at my in-laws' house. My husband's uncle actually grew all of those vegetables. The cake is from our wedding, one year later.

I also want to take a quick second to discuss photo printing. It makes such a huge difference to print in a lab vs Walgreen's or Target. I did a test run at Target because I was in a hurry- big mistake and a total waste of time. The photo was so blotchy, it looked like someone had colored it in with a Sharpie. Please, take the time and a few extra pennies and go to a lab.

I hope you like them!

(And if you do, see the right side of my blog.)

Last weekend, I took a trip to Columbia, Illinois.  I'm convinced it is the most amazing place to shoot- it was so photogenic and the light was spectacular, I think!  Don't let the warm light  deceive you though- it was crisp.

I met Shawn and Jeremy at their place and then we headed over to the local park with their dog, Barkley.  She warned me.  He was a spaz.  Lucky for him he was super cute and I think he did a great job.

Here are a handful from that session.  Hope you like them!

My little cousin, Ellen, got married to the man of her dreams on Saturday.  Here are a handful of shots from her reception.  (I forgot my camera at home for the ceremony and picked it up after.)  The reception included a serenade to the Bride by the Groomsmen and Ushers, frequent Mizzou game updates and Ted Drewes.

Hope you like them!

The leaves are changing...

I told you I'd be back. About a month ago, I shot a Boudoir Session with this mysterious girl. Her face and name have been withheld to protect the innocent sassy.

It's been a while, I know.  Thanks for those who stick with me during my bouts of blogging procrastination.  I'll be playing catch up for the next week or so.

First up, I'd like you to meet Asha.  I had the wonderful opportunity to photography her and her family.  Asha is one of the smiliest five-month-olds I've even seen.  She was so captivating- I could have photographed her all day!  It's no wonder her family wants to spend so much time with her.  Both sets of her grandparents were able to join us.  One set traveled all the way from Seattle and one set came all the way from India!  Thank you, Asha and family!  It was a pleasure hanging out with you!

Look at those lashes!  (and the sweet baby drool.)

Little baby feet are my favorite.

*By the way, I'm playing with new photo posting. Everything looks fine on my computers but if my shots are cut off on yours, please let me know. Thanks again.

These are from a few weeks ago. My friend, Alli, got married! I was in the wedding so I only got to take a few. I threw that shot of Michael up there too. Starbucks is a great way to start the day. (Also, I think he looks cute.)

I obviously have an affinity for capturing other people's flashes in my photos. I think one of my favorite photos ever is the last image and since I couldn't decide if I liked the color version or the B&W version best, I posted them both. Hope you like them!

*Warning- although I believe that these photos are in good taste, this could be viewed by some as Not Safe for Work.






I had a couple more Boudoir sessions and these lovely ladies have allowed me to post a few for you. Thanks, Girls! I hope your husbands like them!

Teresa, this one's for you!

This was a Trash the Dress session and that's exactly what she did! Literally. When the shoot was over, she walked out of the restroom empty-handed. You can guess where that mud covered, soaking wet dress went.

Thanks to my sister, Diane for helping with hair and make-up that day!

Teresa, I hope you like your sneak peek!

*As you might have noticed, my blog is having a bit of an identity crisis when it comes to watermarking. This is a topic I used to feel strongly about but have decided to hold off for now. I feel that they've been taking away from the photos themselves and until I can come to a solution my posts with be without.

**Also, I've noticed that my EXIF data says that I'm using Picasa as editing software... I think it's a blogger thing because I know of other photographers using Photoshop and Aperture (like I do) and theirs is saying the same thing. Just in case you were curious....

Hello, Readers! I'm testing a few new ideas for the blog here and I thought I'd use an old photo from my personal archives. Just for the record, yes, I was doing a drive by shooting but the light was red and at that very second my shutter got the photo, the light turned green. Honest! Then I put my camera aside and drove on without holding up traffic. I hope you like it.

*Warning- although I believe that these photos are in good taste, this could be viewed by some as Not Safe for Work.




I know that most of my readers understand that the photos below are known as Boudoir Pictures. For the reader out there that maybe hasn't heard, they are a fun session that's all about you and they are commonly given to a spouse or a significant other as a wedding present, anniversary present, birthday or Valentine's day gift. (If someone else can come up with a better description, have at it!)

Now with my client's permission, I give you just a few shots from my first B Session. You were lovely, Lady! Thank you.

Hope everyone had a wonderful & safe holiday!



*Yes, I understand I haven't posted in a long time.... please forgive me.
I will be back on track this week. Promise!

Meet Parker! You might remember his parents, Kelly and Doug. I am so grateful and honored they've let me come into their life to photograph such an amazing journey. You mean so much to me. Thank you so much from the very bottom of my heart.

Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to show off your new baby! These first two shots are in the hospital when Parker was only three days old. Then they took him home where I photographed him on his two week birthday. I love the Screamin' Demon pictures- he was so mad at me. Understandably. We were disrupting his sleep, swaddling, unswaddling, changing his diaper and practically making him do handstands. And no, I don't give my clients insulting nicknames- his parents came up with that one. :)

I love the next two. They're probably two of my favorites and since I couldn't decide on whether to post the color or black & whites, I posted both.

Knowing how much I love color, it's hard for me sometimes to convert them but I was on a rampage with this session. With infants, less really is more sometimes.

Happy Easter! You may recognize this handsome little boy. It's Baby Brendan's older brother, Timmy showing off his eggs. Also, for the first time I was actually able to get some shots of our niece, Ryanne. I love her curls in the first one but the second shot is my favorite.

Like I said, I'm behind. Now that my carpal tunnel is feeling better, I'm finally getting caught up. I've missed playing with my pictures. I thought I'd start in chronological order and I'm starting here with the Easter Vigil. The Triduum and Easter masses have always been my favorite and this year was especially important. Back in July, my sister's fiancé told her that he wanted to become catholic. He chose my mom as his sponsor and began the journey.

For those who aren't catholic, I'll briefly explain the pictures above. In the first picture, the priests and deacons light the Easter Candle. This candle burns for the rest of the year. Then all the congregation goes inside and everyone passes the flame until all the smaller candles are lit. In the third picture, the deacon is doing a reading- there are eight total. After that, the RCIA candidates are brought to the front of the church for a blessing. Then they are baptized, confirmed and receive communion. While many might say it's a long mass (and sometimes boring to them) I have always felt something emotional and spiritual about these masses. I'm proud of him. And excited for him.

Growing up, I attended and threw Barbie Parties and My Little Pony Parties but last month I attended my first Princess Party. My little cousins Annie (who wore her favorite Princess Aurora dress) and Lilly (doesn't she look like Dakota Fanning?) had a birthday and everyone invited was supposed to wear something a princess would wear (you have no idea how close I was to breaking out that wedding dress again...) and the entire place was covered in pink and purple. Of course, Cousin Pamela was there to document this glorious event.

*By the way, for those Google Readers who can't see it, I've got a new header. It's a logo of sorts...

These were taken a week ago. I really like the first city shot- in a larger version, you can see the moon so clearly. Then you can catch a peek at what happened inside the ballpark... notice my husband's polite scowl as he glances at the scoreboard. The second to the last shot is a bit out of focus but I just had to post it because I love how you can see the foggy, cloudiness in the lights. The last shots is, of course, from the parking lot. I've mentioned this before but I've lived in St. Louis my entire life but I'm still in love with our skyline and the presence both of our stadiums have had over it throughout the years.

I've been meaning to post these for about a month... I'm behind. Way behind. Regardless, I hope you like a few Spring shots. I obviously shot a bunch outside (in our backyard) and then decided that we'd enjoy some flowers inside too- I love the smell of hyacinths.

Also, I have some sad news to report... my kit lens broke. It might have been dropped. By me. This is yet another lesson learned. What's the lesson? Do not try to jigsaw all of your equipment into a bag that is too small and out of carelessness forget to completely close it. I'm going to see if I can get it repaired and if it's going to cost an arm and a leg, I might be in the market for a newer, faster lens.

If this picture doesn't melt your heart, you might not have a soul... Look at that face! Look at that hair! And his eyes! Baby Brendan is growing up so fast!

You might remember Tricia from a previous post. Now meet her handsome husband Brendan. Aren't they an attractive couple? I think so- inside and out. Tricia is super encouraging and one of my favorite "clients" to shoot. I also want to give Bren big props for coming out that day... while Mizzou was playing. I know that was hard for him.

This one is my favorite.

This one below could have been better if I just would have gotten on the ground... you live and learn.

Kelly and I met at work. Then we became friends. When she told another coworker friend and I that she was expecting, we were ecstatic. Knowing how much I love photography and how much Kelly and her husband wanted maternity pictures, we decided to collaborate a session. It was like the blind leading the blind. And we loved it. So with a lot of excitement, I am happy to say I have a new tag on my blog. Maternity.

Thanks again, Kelly and Doug! Letting me be a part of this really means so much to me. I hope you enjoy your pictures.

As you can see, it was a very colorful session, despite it still being a little drab until Spring. Also, almost all of my pictures from this session were taken with my new 50mm lens and I absolutely adore it. One last reason to thank Doug and Kelly for being my guinea pigs.

I've had a couple requests for some food and drink shots. I'm working on the drinks but for now, here's a Strawberry Daiquiri Cupcake courtesy of Sarah at Sassy Sweet Shop! This was my first time with a light box and I loved it. My head is swimming with all of the things I could shoot in it like jewerly... maybe I'll post that tomorrow... or shoes, or flowers or or or.... my list is actually getting pretty long.

Yes, it is real and yes, after I shot it, I ate it and it was delicious.

It was the best $10 I've spent in a long time. I am a huge fan of indie/folk/acoustic (and mildly depressing) music and on Wednesday, a couple of coworkers and I went to Off Broadway to catch a show. I had a great time shooting the whole thing. The venue was really photogenic and the lighting was perfect which is great because I actually did almost zero retouching or editing. I feel like these are a huge improvement from the last post I did with live music. I can only imagine how much better these would have been with a 50mm lens because it's a little faster and then my shots would be even sharper so that's on the top of my wish list. Because of the low light combined with a slower lens and their movement some of my shots aren't 100% clear.

We mainly went to see Greg Laswell but the other two opening acts were seriously incredible. We even got the pleasure of meeting all of the musicians and they were so, so cool- extremely down to earth and friendly.

Up first were Rosi Golan and her sideman du jour, Jake Phillips.

Next up was the extremely entertaining Jay Nash and his drummer, Frederik Bokkenheuser. Another thing I loved about this venue was that when he'd talk in between songs, you could actually hear him. And he was hilarious. For certain songs, the main one on stage would call up the others and they'd all play together. This is a shot of Rosi and Jake joining Jay and Frederik.

Last but not least, Greg Laswell and his sideman Brandon Walters. Holy cow! He's truly wonderful.

Hope you enjoyed the show. I know I did.

Here I am- whoring my cats out on the internet again. They're just so easy to photograph because they're always around. (I swear I'm not a crazy cat lady.) I couldn't decide which picture to post so I posted them both. I like the first one a lot. I like how you can see the reflection of his paws on the coffee table. The second one isn't as sharp but I like it because of the color and the lighting. Oliver is obviously being bad- sitting on Michael's laptop. When I yelled at him to get off he looked at me like he was confused. Little monster...

I know I have more material laying around here somewhere... I just can't remember what I did with that memory card...

I think I'm going to have a few more portrait sessions in the next couple of months and I'll post some of that fun stuff then. Also, I was going to ask if anyone had any assignment ideas for me. Is there anything you'd like to see more of? Less of? Something new that I haven't posted yet? I can't make any promises about how they're going to turn out but I like the challenge! Leave me a note or shoot me an email. Thanks!

Thank You Stacey at Simply Tasty! She's given me the Lemonade award! It's fun knowing someone thinks my blog is refreshing. (Does this make anyone else even more ancy for summer to get here?)

Here are the rules:

- Add the logo in your blog.
- Add a link to the person who gave you the award.
- Nominate 10 other (refreshing…like lemonade) blogs of your choice.
- Don’t forget to add links to those blogs in yours.
- Also leave a message for your nominees in their blogs, informing them about the award.

Now for some of my fav blogs. These are blogs that I always look forward to reading.

Eating Drinking, and Being Married - By the way... are you ever going to post more info about that cookbook you wanted to write?
Sarah Gone Wild - I love how honest she is. That's refreshing.
Sarah Babble - Sometimes I feel like I could have written her posts myself. And I like her playlists.
The Wishes and the Glitches - I like her playlists too. And her pictures. And her bunny.
The Adventures of a Redheaded Woman - because I like her Music Mondays. (I'm starting to see a theme here.)

.... I know I should nominate 10 and I would nominate Stacey if she hadn't already tagged me. I'd Nominate Ali if she had a blog, Rhonda doesn't do tags and I feel like a lot of my other blogs have received other awards lately so I'm only nominating five today and the open five spots are open nominations.

Thanks again, Stacey!!! It's refreshing to think someone finds me refreshing. It makes me smile. Later on tonight, I'll post another picture. It's been a while...