Bedazzled for Homecoming

Wooohoooo! Just took my second set of school dance pictures last weekend! Same couple... but you know what that means... they liked my last photos enough to ask me to do it again! I consider that a victory and an honor!

I know I'm guilty of almost ALWAYS going black and white... but in my defense, her dress was black and his shirt was white... I didn't want green leaves and other color distractions to take away from their details.

She stole his oh-so-cool aviator sunglasses and did her best Fonz impression. Wait a minute... does she even know who the Fonz is??? Waaaaay before her time...

 Okay, I HATE that the car is in the background, but these are in fact candids and they were in a hurry to get to their dinner reservation, so I couldn't mess around with backgrounds. Note how lovely her running legs are! I'm so proud of her budding running career!!!

 They did this spontaneously right before they were off, and I told them to reenact it for the photo. How cute.

You know you're feeling good if one of your photos becomes someone's profile picture on Facebook!

I also took some pictures of daughter with mama. But I worry that mama might disown me as a friend if I post those pics on here... but I think they're awesome!

So, just a quick update about my Team in Training progress:

Thank you so much to those who have given me such a great start in fundraising. I was contacted by the local TNT coordinator, and he praised the progress we've made so far. If you've donated to the fund already, I cannot thank you enough and tell you how much it means to me. If you're interested in donating, please visit my fundraising page. I really, really appreciate your interest and support in this cause.

And of course if you're local and you'd like some photos taken, by all means contact me!

I have been assigned a coach and a mentor for training, and our kickoff for the training season starts next week!

I am so excited to be a part of a team, and cannot wait to see us pull together and bring out our best selves for the sake of those who need us.

"I Hope You Dance..."

Truth be told I haven't looked back at my prom pictures in years and years. I shudder at the the thought of me in that oh-so-stylish mermaid style frock in the appealing shade of Pepto Bismol, with my hair poofed up to a maximum height and secured soundly with Aqua Net. Not one of my better moments. It almost seems fitting that the only pictures I have to remember that vision of "beauty" I was were some fuzzy low quality shots from a cheap disc camera (remember those?). We all stood like ridiculous statues in front of a rented limo in our 80's style. I cringe just thinking about it.

But now that I'm a mom and watching the children that I've known since babyhood grow up and come of age, I look at these moments from a different perspective. For a teenager, a school dance is monumental. When my neighbor's oldest daughter got invited to her high school's ring dance and her mom asked me to take pictures for her, I became as giddy as if I were going myself. And looking with a photographer's eye now, I thought about some of the moments that are special but typically not captured by the camera... such as the preparation process:

I love the fact that the style of  the dresses nowadays are pretty timeless. I can't see this beautiful young lady looking back at this image and think "Oh-mi-God, I look so 2011!!!"

 Her date might look back and giggle a bit at his hairstyle, though. Just sayin'... actually, my son's hair is way shaggier than this.

The corsage was beautiful and just popped against the backdrop of her lovely blue gown.

This was a ring dance after all, so we needed what I like to call the "Wonder Twin" shot. Actually this image has even more meaning since he's wearing his class ring, and the ring she's wearing was a gift from him.

Perhaps one of my favorite shots (because I'm a parent now) is dad giving the happy couple the "talk" before they get in the car...

And the fun shot as they drive off into the sunset...

I hope she looks back at these shots years from now and smiles. No shuddering or cringing allowed.