Baby Wyrvn

Oh, these 2 photo sessions have been such a treasure to me. I no longer have babies to take pictures of. I miss so many aspects of that, but I really do love sleeping at night! I first met Wyrvn when he was about 3 or 4 month old. He has a look of wisdom and wonder in his eyes. I really wish I knew what the lad was thinking, but perhaps it would be too deep for me to understand. He was so tolerant to my pushing and prodding and turning him over so we could get a picture of him on his tummy.

I love the interaction between him & his mama, Shanta. Babies are so in love with their moms, it is a precious miracle to watch. I am in awe with this every time I see it. Oh sigh, I miss having a baby.

Next up, stripping him down to get naked baby pictures. Nothing cuter than that. He kept wanting to roll over onto his back!

He finally had enough of these shenanigans! He was ready to eat again. He has to keep up his strength, you know! Crying pictures are so very cute, aren’t they? You can hardly take them serious.

Fast forward approximately three (or so) months!

Look at the look on his face! He was so good for me sitting out in the warm prickly field. He sat there exploring everything around him which mainly consisted of green grass and dry grass. Never a sad or irritable moment was found in this boy then entire time he was visiting. He even let my kids maul him…I mean hold him.

That is just a piece of straw in his mouth. Doesn’t he look so relaxed? I think it’s the heat…or mid-blink!

Aww, look at the love he has for his mama. I never thought I’d love slobbery baby kisses, but it’s so lovely to be kissed in such a way by your baby. I remember my heart filling with so much baby love I thought I might burst.

Thank you Shanta for letting me take part in your baby’s first year of life. It truly is a gift!

Can you hear it?

The question over at Shutter Sisters today was? If today could speak to you, what would it be saying?

Sometimes I forget to dream. I forget that God has given me the ability to dream. He has given me hope that dreams are not futile. That my desires really do matter Him. He gave them to me in the first place.

What is today saying to you?

…and now

This is Dusty. Nine years old & very affectionate. Here is her photographic debut to the online world. It is interesting to see what she sees. Each of my kids enjoy taking pictures of different things. One of them likes to set up his toys for a photoshoot.

taken on Kodak EasyShareZ700

Lookie Here!

Golden hour had hit. You know, right? The time right before the sun is setting and the land is bathed in golden sunlight. We all look beautiful in this light. The dullest yard looks amazing. My children even look happier.

Anyway, my eldest son, Christopher asked if he could take my camera out to take pictures. We put on the 75-300mm lens and he headed out with my beloved Pentax. He crossed 2 ditches, traversed a vast plain, tackled a mighty hill, & climbed up a tall tree. (All this with about $1000 hanging around his skinny little neck.) It took me awhile to feel a little panicked that he could’ve fallen and broken my camera. It’s all for the sake of art, isn’t it?

Look at that shot! Isn’t it amazing? It warms my heart that my kids love taking pictures as much as I do. It is not unusual to find my kids with some sort of camera in their hands. If you have a camera or a camera phone you may be subject of one of the little ones saying, “Can I take pictures on your camera?” Then disappearing for awhile to return with hundreds of blurry pictures. However, they also get in some pretty cool shots that I wouldn’t think of getting.

Christopher likes long walks on the beach. Has a steady job delivering pastries to the local coffee shop. He’s been dancing in ballet going on 8 years. He was an only child for 9 years. He’s been asking for the same things for his birthday for about 7 years: legos, Bionicles, art supplies. He prepares breakfast every morning. He is now taller than his mama-which would be me. He used to want to be the president of the U.S., an anthropologist, and a professional danceur. He doesn’t know it, but he also wants to make a way for his mama to spend a good part of his life travelling the world. He is only 12, so if you’re hoping for long walks on the beach with him you gotta sign up and await my approval.

[My son is hoping for lots of comments on this post. He is so excited. This truly is his crown jewel in the photography realm.]

Chris & Bryanna

I had the privilege of being the second photographer at my good friends’ wedding. I know their photographer, Krista [whom I love], from the camera store and asked if I could just follow her around to see how she did things. Can I express to you how relaxing being the 2nd photog is!?! She is very good at the posed shots, making sure the hair & veil look just right, adjusting the dress, all those little details that I am not so good at noticing. I mentioned in the last post about weddings being like reunions, but I’m telling you that this one truly was a reunion. I saw friends from California that I hadn’t seen in awhile & one of my friends had just come home from South Africa. It was great. The whole thing was an adventure. I drove hours to get there, couldn’t figure out where I was supposed to camp with Krista’s family, finally caught up with her, set up their tent in the dark, and finally nestled into our side of tent. I should mention that cell phones don’t work out there! What did we do without them in the first place? Anyway, everything about this wedding was amazing. The food, the music, the friends, the love.

Jeremy & Amie

What an incredibly fun wedding! It was perfect. There was a fear of rain since it was raining the evening before, but it all cleared up in time for the wonderful wedding. The bride was beautiful, of course, and the groom was always up for more pictures. Since I know the bride & groom personally it felt like we were at a big reunion.

The last 2 photos were taken by my sweet sister-in-law, Rachel. Edited by me.

Amadeus Cafe

Beautiful Food by Amadeus Cafe in South Salem, Oregon

Wedding Reception

Michael & Tabby- Wedded Bliss

It occurred to me a moment ago that perhaps I should post their wedding pictures before I start posting pictures of their newborn baby born to them 44 weeks to the day after their wedding! This was the first wedding I did & by far the most difficult. I had a few fears and every single one of them came true. Thank goodness I had a second photographer! I missed the kiss. Couldn’t get the camera to focus from where I was. My battery died right when the cake cutting was happening. Someone handed me  a battery and it literally flew out of my hand and went under the cake table. Also, at that time I didn’t have an external hard drive and my laptop drive was too full to download the photos. My UV filter caused a weird reflection with the overhead florescent lights that I had to edit out. I shot every single picture with the ISO set to 1600. Why, you ask? Because I was taking pictures of my husband’s band in a dark tavern the night before and forgot to change it. Can we all say, “Ugh!” together?

It was still a lot of fun even though I was told I looked horribly worn out at the end of the day. That worked to my advantage, though. I walked into the Mandate School graduation and immediately was pampered. People brought me water, food, & someone started rubbing my head. My children were ushered off and fed. I couldn’t have planned it better myself!

It has been a joy to watch Tabby go from a giddy teenager to a joyful wife and mama!

Brotherly love

Brotherly Love…again

photo by: Bryanna Sarnowski

Father of the bride

photo by: Bryanna Sarnowski

photo by: Bryanna Sarnowski

34/365- Sunrise

This isn’t the sunrise, but the sunrise light reflecting off the clouds

33/365- Samantha

Because something in me thinks that perhaps I could have another baby though that’s not an option right now. Babies are so perfect, especially when sleeping. There’s just something so precious about her mocha latte skin and puffy curls of hair. Her smell, her smile, her ability to *almost* walk even though she’s only 7 months old. And she’s all mine…until her mama comes and gets her, that is. Which is great, cuz last time I had her overnight I didn’t get to sleep until it was daylight!