Oh Baby!

Is there anything more wonderful than a beautiful baby??

I was doubly blessed at the end of 2010 when both a niece and nephew arrived into the family, bringing their velvety skin, gummy smiles, pudgy thighs, downy heads, and tiny toes along with them. I smile at just the thought of them.

An endless source of adorableness for the camera's lens.

Don't you feel all warm and fuzzy inside now?

Siblings: Focusing on the Unique

After studying biological sciences for years in college, the power of genetics never ceases to amaze me.

Do you ever look at a family with more than one child and realize that those children can look shockingly similar, or shockingly dissimilar? My kiddos fit into the latter description. It's like our genes were in a battle each time they combined. It isn't unusual for strangers to ask if all three of my children are actually siblings. If one looks closely, you can see the traces of similarity. But they also have some stark differences: eyes color, eye shape, skin tone, hair color, and even body type. Not to mention personalities. A true genetic mosaic... all three!

When photographing children in a family, I think it's really interesting to focus on the unique, yet highlight the characteristics that tie them together as brother and sister.

So, as I was photographing my friend's kiddos I first wanted to capture each individual (oldest to youngest):

Then take one aspect of their features that we can draw attention to and compare. I loved their eyes. They were similar, yet different...

And we had so much fun with these that we decided we had to update the "eye shots" this year.

Your siblings... your kids... little clones or genetic mosaics?

Capturing A Friendship

Last fall we went on our annual camping trip by the river. It's a picturesque scene: the sunlight dancing on the water, the colorful leaves splashing our surroundings with color, the crisp blue sky... all the makings of a pretty photograph.

We are so fortunate to have neighbors and friends who like to go on this adventure with us. On the picture-perfect morning after we spent an unrestful night in our tents, the mamas of two best buddies approached me and asked if my friend and I could snap a few photographs of the girls together by the river. They wanted to have a photo the best friends could frame and put in their rooms.

How many of us have special photographs capturing our best friend at 10 years of age? I loved the idea. It's true, over time our friends may change and so do we, but we cannot forget those special ones and those special times. That can never change or be taken away.

Friendship is a treasure.

When taking photos of two best buddies, we thought about what the two share in common. What brought them together? In this case, cheerleading and tumbling were a common interest. So that just had to be captured too.

But at the end of the day, your best friend is one that you can kick back and share a quiet moment with... someone to soak up the sunshine with you, shed a tear with, and celebrate your triumphs... or just have fun doing nothing at all.

Who knew that a moment in time could be so precious? Thanks mamas, for such a great idea of capturing a friendship in photographs.

Good Bye, Hurricane Irene!

We survived the fury of Hurricane Irene! We lost power early yesterday, and lost cell phone service a little later in the day, but this morning we are back on line. Whew! We dodged a bullet! The storm spared us... we have no damage, no flooding. We are counting our blessings.

I'd really like to thank those that have responded to my project idea on Facebook. I feel very motivated to get this show on the road. I'll continue to brainstorm about details and specifics, and post them as they get worked out.

In the meantime I will continue to feature some portraits I've done in the past couple of years. I confess most of these will be of youngsters... a personal favorite subject. Children are beautiful creatures, and photographs of them are precious because they seem to change almost daily. One day you might see the sweet little freckles on their noses disappear. It never ceases to amaze me how quickly they change, right before your very eyes. Photographing them allows me to make time stop... if only for a moment.

By the way, if I happen to post a photograph of your child on this blog or the Picture A Cure Facebook page I will not attach a name or tags for your child's security. Let me know if you have any questions or concerns regarding your child's images.

So again, thanks for supporting the project, and if you think you might like to get involved, shoot me a message with your idea(s) and we'll come up with a plan!

Have a great day!

A New Vision, A New Project

While Hurricane Irene looms about 100 miles south of us and I still have electricity, I decided to lay some groundwork for a project I started dreaming about a few weeks ago.

Those who know me are aware that I lost my young cousin to leukemia this past May, and like anyone who has lost a loved one to cancer or disease, grief compels us to wonder what we can do to honor their memory and continue their fight.

I have few hobbies/interests outside of my career, but the two things I seem to do most to cope with stress and express myself are running and photography. I wondered one day if there was a way I could apply my interests into a larger goal of raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

My first decision was to register for the Nation's Triathlon in September 2012, with LLS's Team in Training. After researching what is required to participate, I realized I had quite a bit of fundraising to do over the next year. I've always had trouble feeling comfortable just outright asking people for money. While I am blessed with friends and family that are generous beyond description, I thought my vision might be easier to attain if I had something that I could give back for their generosity.

So that's where my love of photography comes in. My background is minimal; I took a photography class in high school (back when we developed our own film and processed our own prints) and a couple of self-tutorials for my digital SLR, but I am by NO MEANS a professional. But I have a love for faces and portraits.

When my neighbor's daughter turned thirteen I offered to take portraits of her for her birthday. We hung out on a winter morning in my sunroom and just played around with the light and her pretty face. These were my favorite shots from the session:

So... after that session I had a couple more requests from friends to take photos, and a new little hobby was born.

So my "brilliant" idea is to offer to take portraits for a small session fee, which will be a donation to my Team in Training fund. I haven't worked out the specifics yet... such as how much the fee will be (I think it will depend on the situation), but the planning is underway.

Until then, I will use this blog and a Facebook page to showcase my work, and try to generate interest. I figure once the kids are in school I'll have a little more time on my hands to give this project it's due time.

Any comments, questions, ideas, suggestions, advice are welcomed! And thanks for reading!