Monday, December 31, 2007

My last session for 2007


I was so happy to meet this lovely family last week and photograph them and their 6 month old son "J." He has truly the biggest eyes I've seen in awhile! And he was already crawling - bet he's an early walker! Their home was just beautiful and I loved the colors in their home. We did a "lifestyle" session - mostly natural light and no backdrops, just photographed them in their home and yard. It wasn't very sunny that day but it worked out just using the light...love that they had large windowns in their rooms. So here is my absolutely favorite from their session!

What I got for Christmas...


I have a very good friend, Amy...she actually started off as a customer in 2005 and we became friends after that. She and I have lots of common interests and she is always so thoughtful in sending me cards for thanks, birthdays or just because! She made me the best Christmas gift this year...she taught herself to solder and made these ornaments for her friends. I love it! It has my son, daughter-in-law and our grandbaby on it so its something I will treasure forever! I had to take a photo of how nice it looked on our tree...I'm hoping I can "twist" her arm next year into making these for my customers....are you listening Amy? hint hint hint ;)

Monday, December 17, 2007

Christmas Funnies



"Dear Santa, all I want for Christmas....

Dear Santa,

I've been a good mom all year. I've fed, cleaned and cuddled my
children on demand, visited the doctor's office more than my doctor,
sold sixty-two cases of chocolate bars to raise money to plant a shade
tree on the school playground. I was hoping you could spread my list
out over several Christmases, since I had to write this letter
with my son's red crayon, on the back of a receipt in the laundry room
between cycles, and who knows when I'll find anymore free time in the next 18 years.

Here are my Christmas wishes:

I'd like a pair of legs that don't ache (in any colour, except
purple, which I already have) and arms that don't hurt or flap in the breeze;
but are strong enough to pull my screaming child out of the candy
aisle in the grocery store.

I'd also like a waist, since I lost mine somewhere in the seventh
month of my last pregnancy.

If you're hauling big ticket items this year I'd like fingerprint
resistant windows and a radio that only plays adult music; a
television that doesn't broadcast any programs containing talking
animals; and a refrigerator with a secret compartment behind the
crisper where I can hide to talk on the phone.

On the practical side, I could use a talking doll that says, 'Yes,
Mommy' to boost my parental confidence, along with two kids who don't
fight and three pairs of jeans that will zip all the way up without
the use of power tools.

I could also use a recording of Tibetan monks chanting 'Don't eat in
the living room' and 'Take your hands off your brother,' because my
voice seems to be just out of my children's hearing range and can
only be heard by the dog.

If it's too late to find any of these products, I'd settle for enough
time to brush my teeth and comb my hair in the same morning, or the
luxury of eating food warmer than room temperature without it being
served in a Styrofoam container.

If you don't mind, I could also use a few Christmas miracles to
brighten the holiday season. Would it be too much trouble to declare
tomato sauce a vegetable? It will clear my conscience immensely. It
would be helpful if you could coerce my children to help around the
house without demanding payment as if they were the bosses of an
organized crime family.

Well, Santa, the buzzer on the dryer is ringing and my son saw my
feet under the laundry room door. I think he wants his crayon back. Have a
safe trip and remember to leave your wet boots by the door and
come in and dry off so you don't catch cold.

Help yourself to cookies on the table but don't eat too many or leave
crumbs on the carpet.

Yours Always, Mom...!

P.S. One more thing...you can cancel all my requests if you can keep
my children happy, healthy and always believing.

Thursday, December 13, 2007

Gigi and the Grinch


I can so clearly remember sitting down with my Dad to watch the cartoon How the Grinch Stole Christmas the year it came out. Every year when it comes out I watch it and it brings back such a happy memory of that time with my Dad. I'm a much bigger kid now (ahem) and I still love watching it!

Happy memories of watching it with my son, and seeing his delight in it also. My son will probably deny this but he's really a big fan of tradition and Christmas (like the year we didn't have brown and serve rolls...he said "what? But we ALWAYS have brown and serve rolls!" I hope my son has his wonderful memories from his childhood like I do with my family.

I had our 13 month old Gigi over yesterday and we watched it. Even though she's still a baby, she was old enough to enjoy it! She loved the beginning when the Whos stand around the tree singing. My puppy even enjoyed Max, the cartoon dog...he kept barking at him! I have to admit, I had to rewatch it today by myself because I was so enjoying watching Gigi watch it last night, that I really didn't see the cartoon at all. So we are now making a memory together.

Hope you and your family make some wonderful memories this Holiday Season. Thanks to all my customers for letting me be a small part of their lives, and capturing their memories, in 2007!

The image attached to this blog is my husband playing Santa and Gigi is the little elf...this is the card I sent out this year to my customers. Even though she watched him put on the suit she still wasn't too sure about him all dressed up!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Reflective Moment


I love this shot...mom ordered a large wall portrait of it - yea! It deserves to be big and impressive and shown as a piece of art. I love the look in her eyes (her hair is red in real life, beautiful), she seems very soulful here. A nice change from the smiles and looking into the camera...makes you wonder what she's thinking about. Miss K here worked it during her session...she was a doll to work with as always!

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Please, just go away!


I photographed little I here yesterday...we were hurrying to beat the cold weather that has now arrived, brrr! Grandma had hired me 5-6 years ago to photograph her other granddaughter. This is the same dress and bear, suitcase etc. we used then. But "I" here, she wasn't liking the bear so much being in her shots. I think she knew she was supposed to be the "star" of this shoot! She was very gentle but kept nudging him over and away from her! I had a really hard time editing her session because she gave great expressions in about 99% of them...very hard to throw any out! It's so easy to overshoot when you get a cutie like her who was enjoying it all. Well, except when we put her on textures she hadn't had before, like trees etc. New stuff to a 9 monther!

My Umbrella!


I was cracking up Friday on this session. I have been photographing R since she was a newborn and she is so cute, love her curls! She is now 2.5 and I think her motto might be "I am woman, hear me roar!" She loved playing with the rain boots and umbrella and of course, the petti! Which I think may be magical...no little girl yet has been able to resist it, even when they don't feel like having their picture made. Anyway, R loved the rain gear so much that we couldn't get her out of them. I finally had to hang the umbrella handle from the back of my pants at the waist, to hide it from her (kind of like a dog with a tail back there...). The rain boots we just left on! And she didn't forget about that umbrella...the title says it all. I was seriously cracking up, she is a typical 2 year old...knows what she wants and wasn't going to forget about it! Mom, Dad...I love this image and it was hard for me to edit ANY of them out...your gallery is coming, look for your email!

A Nice Note from Mom:

Hey Cathy!
Cracked up at the blog! "R's" motto could also be: "What's mine is mine and what's yours is mine!!"

You've proven from this last shoot that you can also work miracles. The pictures of "R" were just beautiful and made the choices very difficult!