Alison Kamper Photography

NEW BLOG!!!!!

2011-06-30T16:23:00.003-04:00

if you've been so awesome as to a) be a fan, b) a follower, c) a stalker, or d) at least bookmark my blog, please update your fan-age with my new blog address! i finally figured out how to change it :). YAY!!!! here's the new link:

http://www.alisonkamperphotography.blogspot.com

and my new website should be up next week!!!!!!!! (after 2 years of being on the back-burner). exciting times!!
SMOOCH -ali

Jeff+Christie=Landen, Wyatt & Alaina :)

2011-05-26T20:27:00.001-04:00

you people are crazy :) thanks for being one of those families that makes a gym membership unnecessary :) -not that i'd go anyway hehehe XOXO

Rick+Emily=Ricky & Lucas :)

2011-05-21T21:49:00.000-04:00

here you go Em :) glad you love them so much!! :)
starting with my fave...

Alyssa :)

2011-05-17T21:04:00.000-04:00

Tried out some fun coloring on these :). Alyssa and her sis Abby were SO fun to work with :). Although I knew Alyssa was already - recognize her from the hip hop shoots?? Thanks for helping me out with the shade disk Abby!

ps: "the grass is strong" HA! told you so.

Hot ta ta taaaaa ;)

2011-05-17T01:37:00.003-04:00

Yes, I have full permission to post each and every one of these and we left most of the hotttttness out -at least for the world to see :). We called this fun fresh and flirty. ;) This is a new category for me - BOUDOIR!!! And I am super excited to debut with one of my favorite little ladies!! Funny little note - I shot these 9 months pregnant. If you ever want to feel confident enough to do this, shoot with a 9 month pregnant photographer. HA! She decided not to pick her favorites until a week or two ago so that I could have more time with my baby. So selfless! Thank you!
Btw, the bird laughs. Hopefully the video works at the end. XOXOXO

Rachel :)

2011-05-07T21:38:00.000-04:00

Rachel, I had so much fun with you!! Can't wait to hang out with you again! :) Thanks for all the hugs!!!

Kami :)

2011-05-05T11:10:00.001-04:00

put my two faves up first. can't decide!!! eeek!!!! :)

Chris+Beth=Lily & Katie :)

2011-05-03T21:11:00.000-04:00

Lily's 2!!! And for her birthday, she got a baby sister!!! :) Loved playing with you all again!! :)

and for the die hard fans ;), remember THIS little girl?

here's an updated swing pic :) she's a bit bigger!!!

Jeff+Allison=Lily & Avery :)

2011-04-27T19:22:00.000-04:00

I'm BAAAAAAAACK :)

Croix Michael Kamper is here!!!! :)

2011-03-26T11:25:00.000-04:00

After almost 20 hours of labor we finally got to see this little guy's precious face. We are absolutely in love and ridiculously exhausted. He is perfection. Here's a peek into the first few days of his life. He was born on St. Patty's day at 2:47 am and weighed 7 pounds 1.9 ounces and measured 19 1/2 inches in length. Apgar score was a 9. We think he's a 10 ;). We are some happy Kampers :). More pics later :)

epidural working again - it punked out at 9cm. OUCH

THE most amazing moment of my life. i requested immediate skin to skin. this is right after i stopped sobbing uncontrollably ;)

my hubby is so talented. this shot is one of my absolute faves.

our little elf :)

and his big crazy feet

nursing :) love.

love at first sight :)

getting ready to go home after a 5 day stay. croix's wearing a onesie my sis decorated since she couldn't be there...

one of my favorite nurses :)

home :)

Jason+Erica=Alexa & Kendall :) (and Jack and Brutus too) :)

2011-03-12T10:29:00.000-05:00

Love this fam :) -will write soon! lame, i know... :(

special request :)

seriously, who's hallway is this cool? ugh.

Steve+Laura=Clay, Declan & Tanner :)

2011-03-09T21:00:00.001-05:00

will write later!

PJ's :)

and down to the fire station :)

and last but not least, remember this little guy???

well - he got bigger! :)

Scott+Amber=Alexander & Cameron :)

2011-03-06T21:06:00.000-05:00

made another friend!!!!! :) xoxo amber!!! :) scott you're awesome too!!! yay for awesome guys!
will write later!

but MOMMMMMMM!!!!?????

Cameron :)

2011-03-03T20:25:00.000-05:00

here's another shoot i squeezed in when i was completely booked to score some decently warm weather (before they put the boat away for the winter). we had to do it then or never since i knew i wouldn't be shooting much at first once i had the baby. so here they are, your long awaited senior pics!!! and ladies, finally some eye candy for you!!! i mostly photograph the girls, so it was a treat to finally photograph a guy - and one with a WHOLE lot of personality :). thanks cameron and family for SUCH a fun morning!!!!! can't wait to shoot garrett in a couple of years!!!
will write more soon :)
ps can i just say how flipping fun it was to shoot ON A BOAT????

cameron's brother garrett - who i'll be shooting in the future :)
love that he brought the bailey the pooch!!!!!
couldn't resist :)

just a fun little outtake :) i have no idea what he's doing - driving the trash can?? :) it happens....

Todd+Andrea=Luke, Brooke & Ben :)

2011-03-01T20:25:00.000-05:00

fyi (i actually completely hate fyi's!) - i am having a lotttttttt of contractions these days, so in an effort to save time, i will not be writing much if anything on several blog entries until i'm caught up and can go back and blab away :). gotta get pics out before baby kamper arrives!!!! thanks for understanding :)

welcome little ben!!!

Constance :)

2011-02-25T21:29:00.001-05:00

will write soon!! :) love this woman!!!

Bruce+Radha=Asha, Mira & Nikky :)

2011-02-23T20:40:00.001-05:00

obviously there is no hiding the fact that these were not shot recently, considering all the green ;). these were shot in very late fall when i was booked, and i squeezed them in under special circumstances. (don't hate me!) and they knew i wasn't touching their pics until i was finished with those already booked.
thanks for keeping your promise on complete patience!! you're wonderful!!! it was a treat going back through these pics :) XOXO!

Andy+Kelly = Baby Liam :)

2011-02-18T16:13:00.002-05:00

i met kelly 2 ish? less than 2? years ago when she contacted me about shooting a dance crew...sound familiar?? :) i've been shooting them since :). we became friends on facebook not too long after and when i was about 8 weeks pregnant, i saw her announce on her page that she was pregnant too (she's due 10 days before me) - i was still in secret stealth mode, so i messaged her with disbelief and told her i was as well. since then we've been joined at the text hip and i seriously think we should write a book with all our hilarious and mostly disgusting pregnancy texts back and forth. jenny mccarthy we've decided is just not as funny as we are. belly laughs, my butt!
and andy, well i just met him :) i kinda like him! ;) he HATES pics (what guy doesn't), so i told him he didn't have to look at me or the camera at all. (i like it better that way anyway - it's like peeking into their lives instead of them staring at you like what are you looking at? and trying to force a non-fake smile). so that's what we did, and he warmed up pretty quick :). and i have to say, he was such a gentleman - took great care of the pregnant ladies, making sure we didn't slip on ice outside and checking often on not just kelly, but me too :).
kelly, you're awesome. i'm glad we are friends :) thank you guys for everything :). i freaking love the dual-personality of this shoot.
xoxoxo :)

this little moment happened for real approximately 5 seconds before i asked andy to repeat it. i was checking my lighting (camera not up to face) and out of the corner of my eye, i saw him do exactly this. i could not love this picture more! feeling your baby move inside of you and having your husband experience it too is by far the coolest thing i've ever felt in this world and i guarantee i'm not the only woman to say this, so to capture something so amazing is why i do what i do.
love.

ok so it's no surprise i'm sure, that everyone having their photos taken are at first a little (or a lot) nervous, excited, anxious, etc. and have no idea what to do. sometimes i also feel the same at the beginning of a shoot. until everything starts clicking (no pun intended), it takes a minute to get comfortable. what i love about the first part of a shoot - the nerve-racking part - is that it makes funny things happen. nerves = laughter... generally. so what did kelly do? she started stuffing diapers in andy's shirt, pants pockets, etc. :)

soooo wish you could see the robot artwork andy created in the background. it's washed out from the light :( and of course i stuck my logo over it ;) whoops.
and sometimes, smiles and laughter don't come from me saying anything funny, or them doing anything in particular....they sometimes come from the dog (scootzy collins) in the next room whining and crying from inside his cage because he feels left out. it was an absolute riot. 2 preggos about to pee themselves anyway, and then you throw in a basset hound being a baby. :) thank you scootzy! love this :)

trust your photographer :) when i told kelly i wanted to shoot in their ikea catalog (but way artsy-er) living room, her mouth dropped. "i HATE that room!!!" but trust me, she did, and guess who picked a bunch of her faves from that room? kelly :)

gorgeous. :)

i love love love this one :) maybe it's the angle? maybe it's the looooooove? who knows. but i love it.

there are so many things going through my head on a shoot...lighting, composition, shutter speed, true emotion, lint, dog hair (just kidding), stray hair, etc. that sometimes my directions go a little like this:
"put your....uh... face.... on her .....uh face...." seriously???!!! i said that! put your face on her face! hahahaha :) so i pretty much said that the rest of the shoot. it worked ;).

andy i heart you in this next one :)

outfits and personalities............presto-chango :) off to shoot some modern pics!!!
btw, we had no idea where we were going. we started out hoping for one location to be open (it was FREEZING outside) and guess what, downtown dayton is SHUT DOWN on sundays. so we drove around looking for ANYTHING and thank goodness they knew about the location we ended up at, cause i'd never been there. SHHH! it's a secret secret place! it might be a new fall-back location. ;)
ok, so don't judge. i haven't done "modern" before and i know like 3 poses. stand there and look uninterested. stand there, face each other and look uninterested, and stand there looking away and look uninterested. after those were accomplished i looked at kelly like help me. :) hahaha
pose 1 :)

pose 2 :)
pose 3 :) (told you so)

oooooo tricky tricky!!! throw in a little one up front one standing back action! the tie check thing happened before this shot and i saw it and made andy do it again :) fun :).

a little self-portrait. i was obsessed with the reflective ceilings, so i took one of myself lying on the ground shooting :) (i am always on the ground i swear!) getting back up is getting trickier these days ;)

gorg.

eeeeek! i feel like this one should be in a magazine! i love it!!! maybe it's just me...

and they looked at me like i was crazy when i said "OOOOOH ESCALATORS!!! THAT IS HAPPENING!!!" oh yeah, one of kelly's faves. booyah grandma. booyah.
omg i've had too much starbucks.

Dance Crews!!! ~Howard School of Dance :)

2011-02-16T08:58:00.009-05:00

first i want to apologize to these amazing dancers. these took me forever!!! i started with over 700 pics and had the hardest time narrowing them down without going blind. i finally got their dance instructor involved in the final selections about a week ago. (she went blind too) ;). we shot these in early december! thank you for your patience!!! even though you were warned it'd take awhile, i didn't hear a peep from anyone :).
what a day for 2 seriously pregnant women!! kelly (their instructor) and i were both 7ish months pregnant and we shot for 5 hours i believe. i was on the ground for the majority of it. (i couldn't walk the next day) haha :) the location looks pretty clean huh? that's called editing. that place though SWEET for pics, was dirty and smelled of mold like nobody's business!!! i was reminded yesterday of a bat carcass we stumbled on. YUM! so kuddos to these kids and the parents for braving it for so long :). not to mention it was (if memory serves me correctly) 17 degrees outside? which meant about 20 inside?? no electricity, no heat, no lights, just overcast sky peeking in through the windows. for photographers, i'm au natural - own no flash but have a crappy set of lights that i didn't drag along because there was no electricity anyway. so ya'll know these are grainy from iso crankage (is it a word?) ;) and when you see some of these actions shots with backlighting to boot, you'll know just how difficult they were to capture. i am THRILLED with the outcome considering all the road blocks for sure! heck, we almost lost the location due to a miscommunication and were about to shoot outside at the location we used last time! (check it out!) everyone was like uhhhhhhhhhh....seriously??? haha :) it all worked out though. thank you thank you thank you for being amazing and busting through these shots so we could all go warm up ;). YOU ROCK!

XOXOXOXO

here's a link to Howard School of Dance just in case anyone wants it :)

FIRST CREW: Neverquit Dance Crew (NQDC)

RIGHT????? :)

Christa - AFRICA - in my unprofessional opinion, you win Christa - this is killer!!!

Alyssa - DRIFFTA

Kayla - ECHO -you may recognize her from her senior shoot :)

Sabrina - SPOTLIGHT

Samantha - TRICK

Jair - MINIME

Kaitlyn - ROGUE

Ellen - JELLIN - another one of my senior girls :)

Kyle - SPYNZ

Megan - SLINKI

Taylor - DIGIT

Elise - E SQUEEZY

SECOND CREW: AP Hip Hop

Chris - DIGGY

Alexis - FLIPZ - Alexis, i think you might win the sweetest jump in your crew :) love lil' v and diggy's jumps too :)

Victoria - LIL' V

Elizabeth - FREEZE MACHINE

Gabby - GBABY

Timmy - SKULL

Sarah - PRINCE$$

Maddy - EMCEE

Scott+Katie=Velouria :)

2011-02-14T20:38:00.038-05:00

Happy Valentine's day to Scott's Oma! :)
& all my blog readers :)

XOXOXOXOXOXOXO
I've been itching to post these and I'm posting a lot because quickly frankly I just can't help myself!!

i met katie on a hip hop shoot a little over a year ago and fell in love - in a friendhip way of course :). then i met the rest of her little family which fit her perfectly. scott is great (i recently gave him a shout-out in a post about my ROCKstar guy clients), and "V" as katie calls her, is ridiculously adorable and hilarious - i just want to eat her up! speaking of eating... we did a little bit of that on our shoot... between us, we dove into 2 sundaes, a milkshake, a banana split, a big lollipop, and we all went home with a bag of goodies :). V even got a few random pieces of chocolate from the folks working there that day - every once in awhile one of them would come up and give her a piece of chocolate - pays to be adorable!!! seriously though, thank the lord for ice cream shops and for this particular one letting us use the place. ;) i knew about this location several months ago because of a fellow photographer and friend lisa hezlep in cincinnati. i drooled over her shoot there and told her so, and then vowed never to shoot there. a) i prefer to find my own locations and b) it's just proper photographer's etiquette not to steal sweet locations. scouting takes time, effort and vision, the first being one a lot of us lack when we get really busy. so when katie and scott came to me with the idea for the location, i was thrilled and cringed at the same time. i was SO excited to shoot there but felt guilty even though it wasn't my "fault" ;). lisa sooooo didn't care :) i warned her in advance :). the reason they chose this location?? LOVE THIS!:

scott's oma and opa (grandma and grandpa) used to go on dates there and every year on valentine's day, his opa brought his oma a heart-shaped box of chocolates :). so this year, (this evening in fact), scott and katie presented his oma with a book containing these images and i believe some chocolate to go with it. oh if only i could be a fly on the wall!

you'd think i was done talking, but i'm not.
as for the shoot, it all went down without a hitch.... HA! YEAH RIGHT! if you were there, you'd know otherwise. we had a series of unfortunate events happen, big, little and everything in between. including me falling down a few icy steps and breaking my SWEEEEET lens. thank you state farm for replacing it in full!!! however, that being said, we rocked it if i do say so myself. everything just flowed - i mean who doesn't have genuine fun eating ice cream??? everyone came with great ideas and in great moods and it just worked. completely. much love guys :).

starting with my favorite :)

i'm sorry, i have to....love this next pic, but i can't get over the milk shake thingy that looks like a goose on the left because it reminds me of the story scott told me on the way to cincinnati.... apparently a 50 pound goose attacked him in a random parking lot one day and no one was there to see it happen. he thought he was hallucinating and said it was straight out of a movie - it was coming straight at him and he punched it right in the face!!! HAHAHA - it fell down and got back up and started attacking him again!!! he finally won, but holy randomness!!!

love.

hysterical :)

my one genius idea of the year - to shoot through the back of the heart shaped chair! :) i think i broke my arm patting myself on the back ;)

V was "driving a car" using the back of the chair. hahaha :) whatever works!

scott's idea :)

classic.

love.
and one with me and V for fun :)

and last but not least, a text pic katie sent me the day they got their cd :) think scott liked the pics?? hahaha :)

Denis+Brianne=Ethan :)

2011-02-09T23:02:00.002-05:00

will write tomorrow!! :)

Tom+Heather=Cole & Charlie

2011-02-08T11:35:00.000-05:00

yet another ridiculously fun family!! and they were OOOOOOOhhhh so patient with their children. :) i could've shot them all day - too bad the sun goes down at a set time ;). heather and i started chatting the moment we met in the parking lot and hit it off, so much so that after what felt like an eternity (maybe 3 minutes?), i finally looked over at tom and introduced myself ;). his first words were "i love your work" - my brain didn't process that at all. i'm like huh?? and he said it again. i was beaming! thank you!!!! a GUY said i love your work!!! wahoo!!!! (this has only happened a handful of times!). yipee!!!! plus he said "work", like it was ART. double yipee!!!! so anyways these two were up for whatever, and i loved that they thought an urban and then more normal combination would be fun, cause it worked out beautifully i think!!! we wandered around downtown for a bit - not as far as i'd have liked, cause it was so cold, but far enough :), and then headed over to the dayton art institute. charlie warmed up quickly (she's not a fan of cameras) and cole started out as a hoot. he and his dad were quite the pair!! personalities from the get-go! heather and charlie were effortlessly beautiful and thought the guys were pretty funny :). cole posed a lot but in hilarious ways, not studio ways and charlie was all girl - she had boots with a small heel on them and stomp stomp stomped around and thought it was hilarious. i think they said "shoes" was her first word? they said she wakes up in the morning and says "swimming?" and they say "no" and she says "shopping?" hahaha :) girl after my own heart!
here you go my wonderful new family!!! starting out with the westies: emmy and ellie? is that right? they're so cute!!!

my instructions were "just look cool" man i really need to work on specifics - good thing it usually works out like this! ;) (p.s. cole wins).

tom and cole were walking ahead of the ladies and i just had this picture of them doing a classic heel kick, so i yelled ahead: "tom, do this!" and gave my awful pregnant version of it (which i'm sure was funnier than this pic gravity-wise), but i love this!!

i'm not much for everyone looking and smiling, but i am really in love with this one!!

how could you say no to anything he ever wanted??? look at that face??? puppy dog eyes award!!

ohhhhhhh how i love this next one....

this pretty much sums up the day :)

look at cole (i think this is air guitar) and then look at tom egging him on. :) classic.

:)

be still my heart

:)

love!

why wouldn't we??? (yes there are still some leaves on the trees - it took them a minute to decide which pics they wanted) ;)

and some special ones of the lovebirds :) LOVE!!

OK - you won't believe this, but i did not enhance heather's eyes. nor tom's in the ones below. i should post an unedited image to show you - i won't but just trust me. it's the first thing i noticed about the both of them - and once the sun goes down super low in the sky, people's eyes just pop. so beautiful!

I SERIOUSLY DIDN'T SHOP THEIR EYES!!! ISN'T IT CREEPY BEAUTIFUL??? i might even tone them down it's so ridiculous! :)

ending with one of my faves :) XOXO you two :)

Mike+Cory=Harrison :)

2011-02-04T15:41:00.000-05:00

I HEART CORY AND MIKE!!!! (and harrison too - who doesn't heart babies??). cory, we're hanging out. asap. you're great, perfect, whatever -we're over it ;) hahaha. but i must give a shout out to the male species. mike are you kidding me? how easy are you?? sorry boys. i think mike wins the trophy for easiest male to work with. ever. as in, i didn't even realize what had happened until i was driving home. i'm like wait... he was easy!!!! wait hang on... there've been a few others...dave k. comes to mind, scott m., jon s., wil d., tom w... from ohio - off the top of my head. um...pretty much every single male i've worked with in san diego (oddly enough). ok now i'm gonna get myself in trouble if i forget someone. ;) i guess i should say not only easiest to work with, but most comfortable and least self-conscious. YAY! and now on to harrison - mr. fussy but adorable pants :). between the tears and feedings, we got some great shots!!! aka when he was sleeping haha :) i'm only teasing. he was a doll, he just wasn't feeling so well. so if you're worried that your little one won't cooperate, here's proof that it really doesn't matter. i'm patient. and in the end, we get the pics :). and in the middle, i pet the dog and probably drink my starbucks (figure i'm gonna show up with one in my hand, so if you want one, let me know and i'll pick you up one on my way over -seriously) :), and yell at you to do whatever it was you were doing before i got there (eating taco-bell in their case) and not feel like you have to entertain me or be the hostess with the mostess. ok i am rambling about nothing. SHUTTING UP - here you go!!!!
oh and seriously, cory? play date. give me a few more weeks ;)
starting with one of my faves :)

love :)
looooove :)

diaper changing dad proof!

rosie :) she got a lot of lovin :)

this next one was in starbucks near the dayton mall :) (if you recognize it, dayton) we're a small town ;)
looooooooove

ok so i know you wanna know what that hideous thing is lying next to screaming harrison. that folks, is cory's childhood grund bear. i should say WAS. i knew i was in trouble when she told me she had a prop she wanted to use but she prefaced it with like a billion things. "it's not in the best condition", "it's kinda really old", "it's falling apart a little", "if you can't do anything with it, i totally understand", each new thing she said made me that much more worried. i knew it was special and hideous at the same time :). and it was. she pulled this nasty, stained up, falling apart, half bear half chewed up fish looking thing, i mean it literally felt like gauze it was so thin, out of a zip lock bag and i just burst out laughing and asked what the heck it was. i couldn't help it! IT WAS SOOOOO UGLY. you'll find out real quick, i'm honest. i said "good luck with that!!!!" hahahaha ok so anyways short story long, i TRIED to work this ugly @$$ bear into the shoot and what do we get? the PERFECT shot of harrison hating it as much as me!!!! :) so here you go cory!
i heard the whole family cracked up at this one on the preview :).
ohhhhhh i love this one :)
and this one....

and i know with recent events, this picture is really, really special. you are all in my thoughts and prayers... honestly. much love.

Brian+Bonnie=Nicholas

2011-02-02T22:23:00.001-05:00

love this family! already knew i loved bonnie & nicholas - we met at orchardly park in oakwood when i joined my friend marena for lunch one day and she introduced us. :) but then i met brian and the package was complete. :) it makes my job sooooo easy when everyone goes with the flow and doesn't have anything in particular in mind as far as the outcome is concerned :). nikki (spell) as they call him, was soooo adorable and smiled for the camera from the beginning. he started out the way they all do, very posey and when the camera is on them, they stop and smile or say cheese. halfway through, he knew he could just play and be himself :). he loved hide and seek and basically anything that involved playing, and close to the end he was running towards me so i put the camera down and put my arms out and he jumped right in them and i got to swing him around and upside down. definitely the highlight of the day even though i knew better than to pick him up being this pregnant ;). it had to be done!! ;). speaking of which, the grunting i am doing lately - getting down on the ground, sitting, squatting, kneeling, etc. all being the cause, is just getting ridiculous - bonnie and i joked - they think they're getting old and i heard a few grunts from them, but i was definitely the loudest. what we'll do for pics!!!
anyway, i must say...my favorites from this shoot are towards the end - the long distance paparazzi shots in the field.... i absolutely LOVE them. you forget all your angles and distances sometimes when you're shooting because you're just so focused on so many things. thank goodness i'm slow and the boys ran ahead because i started shooting from where i was standing and decided to stay there for a bit :). you'll see what i mean in a minute :). (as soon as i shut up) ;).

fave "throw shot" to date :)

canvas. period.

i believe this is just before my big hug :)

love :)

double love :)

Ryan+Kelley=Grace :)

2011-01-30T22:45:00.004-05:00

Kelley is apparently my biggest fan (you can let me know otherwise, if you think YOU are) ;). she told me she's been following me since alivia's famous lollipop shoot and i gasped in shock - i'm surprised i didn't lose her a long time ago! i'll just say i've learned A LOT since then and my equipment is wayyyyyyyyyyyyy (like a million times) better. so anyways THANK you kelley for being one of the 3 people who believed in me ;). anyways, we shot at kelley's parents house because the lighting was amazing there (i didn't believe her, but holy SMOKES!). i got there 15 minutes early and met her parents. her dad talked to me for awhile (mom was on a call) -he was sooooo nice!!! like ridiculously nice and he made me sit down, got me ice water, showed me around the house, told me i had free reign and to move whatever i needed to. just loved him. and man -their house looked like it was straight out of a christmas magazine! (i blocked a lot of it out for timeless pics of course, but just trust me - gorgeous). so ryan and kelley show up with adorable grace and we got started right away - we shot in the snow real quick- like quickest ever. i brought my vintage tobogan but there was one in the house that was even cuter and smaller, so we used that instead. we knew she'd fall off immediately, and i'm learning to shoot what we need to shoot first and then shoot dangerous so we'd get everything we needed :) and sure enough, 3 pics on the tobogan annnnnd face-plant. so inside we went, to warm up and let grace recover. ryan and kelley did SUCH a great job of making grace smile and also being right there to catch her when she leaned too far or was about to topple over. :) thank you for being so incredibly awesome!!! i would talk more about kelley and ryan but let's just be honest. i'm pretty sure i talked about myself the whole time (stupid starbucks high!!!!!) XOXOXO

hope grandpa (bill??) loves this!! (this is the chair in his office :))

she really liked the buttons :)

David+Erica=Owen :)

2011-01-26T22:56:00.000-05:00

session 1: a super fun disaster :) we ended up hanging out for a couple of hours and enjoying the results of david's mcdonald's run. we got just enough pics for a verrry last minute christmas card/gift/who knows and then decided to say to heck with it and i came back a week later :) why you ask? i think erica and i like each other too much because we couldn't shut up long enough to work. it's hard enough with feedings and diapers and fussyness to get all the newborn pics you hope for - then add two hormone and word-filled chicks to the mix...(that by the way have a crapload in common - minor example, we both have an owl-themed nursery) you might want to lower your expectations ;). anyhow, i've decided to blame it on the crappy weather. it was too dark when i got there so we waited for a bit more light and by that time -well you know the rest. :P -so this makes you nervous right? you want your photographer to show up and do their job, not be your friend... welp, i'm gonna prove you wrong, because what you're about to see is the results of lots of chatting and idea forming and bs-ing around on the 1st shoot:
session 2: A PJ SHOOT!!!! how comfortable are we??? we are so comfortable around each other that they were willing to try my pj shoot idea i've been wanting to try (nope, contrary to popular belief, i am not a genius ;) i saw it done before and it was SWEET) - the rules? wear pj's - the wrinklier the better, minimal makeup, and rock some bed-head. only request, ditch the eye boogers & brush your teeth. :) the goal? to capture -in most likely an unrealistic & prettier way, the moments that happen early in the morning with your brand new baby. basically to capture the moments no one has a camera around for :). my best friend says that (most mornings) she wakes up feeling like it's christmas all over again when she sees her two boys :) and i just love how that statement makes me feel :). so here's to picture perfect christmas-like mornings with precious little ones!!!
i have been SOOO excited to post these!!!! HUGE XOXOXOXOXO to erica and david :) and owen good grief, could you be any cuter???!!!

just a couple from "super fun disaster shoot"

told you he wasn't happy - he's about to kick his mama's aYass!
(by the way, i just attended a pretty hysterical bre*stfeeding class (hysterical because i'm immature of course) and based on what i learned in said class, owen is displaying the classic "stop sign" (arm extended out). it means leave me the heck alone!!! - like we needed the arm when it's written all over his face ;). who knew newborns were so expressive??? unless that was just a poop face?

and now for the pj shoot :) yayyy!!!

erica's special request :) -i think this is my favorite rings on toes pic yet!!

david just needed a 60 second catnap ;)

:)

one of their favorite things is bath time :) so we gave him a little rinse :)
and last but not least, this quilt is suuuuuper special to erica. she used to sleep with it at her grandma's house, but it was a sheet - and when her grandma passed, she wanted to keep it, but her aunt took it first and erica was really upset.... until she found out her aunt had made her a quilt out of it :). awesome, right? love it :)

Aaron+Lauren=Ryker :)

2011-01-25T10:20:00.000-05:00

i almost stepped in cat poop. (do i have your attention now?) ;). seriously though, i show up, lauren meets me outside and i step up onto the porch, thankfully i stop for a second - thinking i forgot something- and say "oh crap" and she's like "is that CRAP???!!!" i'm like "huh?" and i look down and there is a giant load of cat crap one step in front of me :). hilarious :). so that's how we met. and i always know a good friend when the first thing we talk about is poop :). it's like you skip over talking about the weather etc. (1st level friendship stuff) and move right along to the good stuff. ok enough about that! lauren wasn't "ready" for pictures. i told her she was. (and she was). i wish MY "not ready" looked that good. and i'm so glad i didn't listen to her because i just LOVE the pics of her and ryker :). aaron was camera-shy but i am good at bossing people around so he gave me a good 15 minutes which i took full advantage of ;) and then i released him from my grubby paws so he could run away ;). but howwwww precious are the ones of he & ryker??? i asked nothing more from him than for him to play with his son the way he would if i weren't there, so he nuzzled him :). loooove. ryker looks happy and alert in most of these but in fact he was not super happy that day - so we shot here and there and he fed and was changed and then he pooped on mom...you know, the usual. but we got it! you'd never know from the results :). thanks you two for inviting me into your home so soon after little man was born. it's a very special and exhausting time, so as always, it's an honor :).
XOXOXO
btw, almost all of these are black and white because darn it, i just liked them better that way!! and it's my blog. so there. :P

Corey+Lori = Cohen & Calder

2011-01-17T22:54:00.000-05:00

oh my goodness - cohen and calder were all smiles from the get-go! :) thank goodness cause if their expressions were as blah as "my" barn was that day, we'd have some awful pics!!! i thought there'd be SOMETHING left on the trees but i was wrong - even the weeds were all flattened and yucky! oh well!!! this family was not concerned in the least :) we started off playing a little baseball to get the kiddos warmed up, plus it teaches them fairly quickly that when the camera is on them, they don't necessarily have to look at it :) win win for me! lori, you ROCK for sitting on the ground in that dress & boots (i'm always afraid to ask!) and corey, bringing out the "b-b-b-b-busted" family joke was perfection :). even though my self-esteem took a hit (since calder thinks i'm "b-b-b-busted"), it was well worth the laughs and smiles ;) and oh wow - it was so cold, the inside of poor corey's shirt was covered with snot - (i'm convinced this is the final test before you can officially be in the parents' club). ;) note-to-self, keep tissues in camera bag.... oh and i have to say, rather than telling the kids to smile or yelling at them to smile - hey, it happens!, they helped DO things to make them smile :). i heart you for that!!!! thanks guys for a great shoot!!!!! oh and just out of curiosity, did cohen get "all the leggos in the whole world" for christmas?? :)

ornery little man :)

sorry - i had to! they were climbing the rock pile and i'm so immature i start laughing at this and snap it just in time :)
"so hey, uh could you maybe watch where you're going??" hahaha

love.
wish we got cohen's face too, but i totally heart this picture!

loooooove.

this one cracks me up :)

:)

michael+jamie = braeden & evie

2011-01-13T20:27:00.001-05:00

i don't think these two kiddos thought i was particularly fun or funny or anything special at first, but man could they take direction!!!! braeden was the best big brother ever!!!! and they adored each other!!!! no fighting -period! and once they warmed up, they were hysterical :) and jamie, omg. so fun and so quick to laugh :). XOXOXOXO!!!! two best moments: when jamie wanted everyone to get in a random canoe for a quick pic (that of course was not selected later, but hysterical nonetheless), and when i tried to ride a wire sculpture buffalo (jamie was convinced it was a bison - LIKE anyone could even know the difference ;)) and almost knocked it over - sorry park rangers! hehehe :). OH! and when we first met, there was a funky stench in the air that we secretly both thought was each other - ADMIT IT JAMIE! you totally thought it was me - here i am telling her i thought it was her and she's being all nice "i didn't know what it was!" riiiiiight ;) come to find out, there was a stinky stinky plant nearby, cause we walked past it again on the way out :). glad THAT was cleared up - otherwise i'd forever be remembered as "the stinky photographer!";)
this is braeden's popeye smile :)

ok pay close attention to the next two - evie obviously looks up to braeden and wants to be just like him :)

evie trying to do what braeden is doing again :) we laughed soooo hard :)))

dang!

love :)
who knows - but it's funny :)

cousins!!!!!!!! :)

the whole fam :)

:)
love!

this took a few tries hahaha :) an O is surprisingly difficult to make! (their idea) ;)

everyone doing whatever they felt like it :) why wouldn't we?? if you could see this big, you'd know that braeden wins - he's punching the air with a popeye face :)

Jason+Jan=AJ & Aislin :)

2011-01-12T14:40:00.000-05:00

DISCLAIMER: coldest/fastest shoot ever!!! 30 minutes i think, and we were OUTTA there. it was super overcast, snotty red noses showed up for the party - well less snot / more red ;), and it was freezing!!!!! jan just wanted a few pics for christmas cards, so she was going to be happy with whatever we got :). since it was so short, i really don't have anything clever or funny to say, BUT i will say my day was made when i showed up and aj wanted to hold my hand :). i was so excited he remembered me!!!! k jan and jason, here you go! :)))) it was SO great to see you all again!!

James + Sarah = baby girl! :)

2011-01-11T11:10:00.000-05:00

if you're under the age of 18, please do not read this hahahaha :) i don't want to be responsible for the corruption of your mind. ;)
o.m.g. how fun was this couple?????!!!! sarah and james were in town from north dakota visiting family and even though she was only 22 weeks pregnant and knew in advance that my turn-around time was going to suck, she still wanted to schedule with me and i'm soooo glad she did!! she and i are only a week apart preggo-wise, so it was inevitable for us to stay friends after clicking so well on the shoot :). and the icing on the cake was when i won james over within the first 10 minutes! he said - and i quote "this is actually more fun than i thought it would be!" (i think this was one of those shoots where i sucked down a peppermint mocha just before arriving, yes, with caffeine or i wouldn't have made it through the shoot ;). so i was super wired! anyway, we laughed the entire time, i swear. either they were being funny (see first pic) or i was being vulgar -for instance: when some big spiky burrs landed right on sarah's ...nether-regions and i kindly informed her through snorting laughter that she might want to remove the balls from her uh. cr*tch. hahahaha :) hey - if you can't handle the kamper, don't hire her ;). i have issues. and now without further adoooooooo (adeux?), your pics :) xoxoxoxo
red sweater + red barn = super dumb looking so i went grungy for fun :)

love. i hope this is one that your baby cherishes when she grows up :)

there is no way to not feel awkward in this position - laying in pokey weeds looking like you're about to make out while a strange photographer is paparazzi-ing you, but man you two make it look amazing!!!! i want one like this with hubby.

loooooove. sarah you look amazingggggg :)

large canvas please!!! pics like this can only be appreciated when viewed massively.

just had to show everyone some of the fun :)
i know you guys didn't pick this one, but it cracks me up :)

james found a comfortable place to sit while i photographed his lovely wife by herself :)me: "ok do something fun. surprise me" (this is the kind of thing i say when i'm temporarily running out of ideas)
sarah: (no clue, but i peed a little)

this needs to be a card. "growing like a weed" :)
(not you sarah, the kid) ;)

this laugh is a direct result of me yelling at them "you suck at walking pictures!!!!" they kept tripping on stuff and looking straight ahead which looked contrived and boring hahahaha :) so i was giving them grief :)

thank you random dead tree. might be my favorite.
and as for this next laugh, see pic below :)
hahahahaha :)

me trying to get creative - it looks like a heart though!!!! :)

a little jersey action... - i always give in to it even though sports are soooooooo lame ;)
sarah: 22 weeks / ali: 23 weeks :) rockin the bellies :) thanks for taking this one james!!

we are BACK!!!!!!!

2011-01-11T09:40:00.001-05:00

well. the babymoon was 100 times better than we imagined. i was mentally dragged kicking and screaming to the airport. :) here's a few pics from the trip!

VACATION!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-12-28T21:19:00.000-05:00

be back on the 6th!!! i'll be far more relaxed and ready to post lots of beautiful faces i've photographed recently :) happy new year everyone, from the VIRGIN ISLANDS!!!!!!

Nathan & Scarlet :)

2010-12-27T10:26:00.000-05:00

will write soon!!! :)

Matt+Beth=Ellie :)

2010-12-19T21:17:00.000-05:00

will write soon!!! :)

Chris+Molly=Warren & Devon :)

2010-12-17T23:23:00.001-05:00

will write soon!!
starting with one of my faves from the shoot :)

Rick+Emily = Ricky & Baby Lucas :)

2010-12-17T17:51:00.000-05:00

I love when I get to photograph a family several times :). The kiddos get used to me and the parents know what I want from them :). I'm so glad we were forced to shoot indoors with the cold because these have such a natural home-y feel to them! Emily & Rick, congrats on baby Lucas :) he's perfect!! & Ricky...oh my gosh - what a little man!!! He is getting so big!!! He was so cute with the baby too - loving and kissing on him. It was precious! :)
Meet: baby Lucas :)

emily you're ridiculous. i mean who has legs like that after two kids. hubba hubba. note to self - be athletic like emily.
looooove

love!

no. thanks for asking, i don't want to lighten this. :)

diy!!! (do it yourself) - wrap canvases with the coordinating fabrics to your handmade crib bedding!

double love.

i. want. this. onesie. gotta love that face ;)

someone special made this blanket - who was it??!!!!
oh and hey tiffany s. - yeah you, here's your dresser drawer idea you saw and told me about when we shot brady :). had to give a shout-out ;)

and a portrait for the parents :)

as promised!! Grace & Ca$h :)

2010-12-16T20:06:00.000-05:00

I'll let this video speak for itself :). If you want the full story or to see more images, click here. It'll be worth it :).

Grace & Ca$h & Alison = a fabulously fun photoshoot!! from Lisa Nardella McCoskey on Vimeo.

Roman+Sara=Brandon, Ethan, Nick, & Alyssa :)

2010-12-16T19:19:00.000-05:00

did i mention before how nerve-racking it is to shoot another photographer??? i was like a deer in headlights at first!!! and then add 4 children to the mix! i snapped out of it pretty quickly though i think ;). sara, it's been so fun chatting with you over the phone and email :) it's nice to have a few friends in the biz to get excited with you when you have an amazing shoot or totally sympathize (empathize?) when your plate is full and you're ripping out your hair ;). so thanks for being my friend!!! and i hope you totally love these :). roman thanks for being a great sport - you're kinda funny too :).
ok starting with a random fave :)

brandon, buddy, thanks for teaching me your sweet hand-clap - i still can't do it right ;)
nick was such a little flirt! i totally loved him.

i asked alyssa who her favorite princess was and she said without hesitation: "my mom" (*tear*!)
ethan was the brave one - he's the one that wanted to get up in that tree - once he was up there he didn't want to stay long, but it was pretty stinkin' high up so i don't blame him :)
i cannot stop laughing at this pic!!!
love this little series!!

Wil+Shannon=Jayden & Joey

2010-12-15T23:01:00.004-05:00

these kiddos jumped right into being goofy! what a blast!! :) we got a little bit dirty, but we had fun doing it :). thanks wil and shannon for a great day! i gave a play by play below cause i wanted to comment individually :)
starting with and awwwwww moment :)

the first of many leaf attacks :) i think i still had leaves in my hair the next morning :) that's when i know i had a great shoot ;). it's a little (a lot) blurry but i love jayden's crazy face :)
you can have whatever you want little man. :) this is joey :) i might've called him jo-jo a few times... my nephew's name is joey and we call him jo-jo mostly :) pretty sure he answered to it ;)

couldn't decide between this one and the next...
i think i really like this one :)
get him jayden!!!
love.
canvas material!! this is my favorite of the whole shoot - i know it's kind of a funny favorite but i can't get over it. might be a personal thing- this is what hubby (uncle mike is his official name) looks like when the nieces and nephews are around :).

i don't know, but it's funny :)
another canvas. i am pretty partial to pics that make you feel something...not necessarily the pics of everyone looking and smiling, ya know?? this one is nostalgic a little i think. not to get all sentimental, but in a world of technology, it's refreshing when a child plays with a leaf or a bug or a blade of grass :)

joey is a very matter of fact little boy. i'm pretty sure he was discussing a very important topic in great detail when i took this. i remember saying "oh yeah?" like i knew what he was talking about ;). i was totally paying attention i swear! i just really can't remember what it was!

wil's idea? so cute!! jayden wouldn't put down the stick of course ;)

i think jayden liked me, but he had a lot of energy so i think there was too much going on for him to bond ;) joey however left me a little mushy. this is my final image of the day - him walking a good 20 yards with his arms spread wide open for a hug the whole time. :) THIS is why i do what i do :)

Greg + Carey = Samuel & Eli

2010-12-13T17:20:00.004-05:00

you'd think i'd run out of words on the post below, but oh never! if i don't write it's because i don't have time, not because i don't have something to say :). i love this family. :) i love that carey knew what she wanted - she was dead-set on this random field of weeds across the street from her house and as soon as i showed up, i knew why. it was akp heaven. I LOVE WEEDS! and carey has an eye for good weeds ;). this particular day was GLOOOOOOOOMY - and that paired with some bright red foliage later on in the shoot, provided for some serious color casts :(, hence why half of these are black and white. (don't worry, you'll get them in color too). that being said, i love how everyone played together!!!! the boys were crazy (in a good way!!) and i remember thinking "if i am having a boy, i want him to have this much personality" :). a few days later, i found out i was!! anyways - their treat for being good was a hayride and at the end of the shoot, eli asked if i could go with them. it was the cutest thing! there was a big part of me that wanted to invite myself!!! i told him maybe next year and i'll bring the baby! :) they asked about the baby a lot during the shoot and kept trying to feed it (him) muffins from their bag of goodies :). shutting up now :) xoxoxo

a little rough housing on grandma's quilt :)

family portrait gone hysterically wrong. :) sorry guys! we tried!

just hangin out. :) love.

all aboard the POO POO TRAIN!!! they one upped me on yelling fart and poop :) they yelled diarrhea and started up the poo poo train for the long haul back to the house ;).

Grace & Ca$h :)

2010-12-12T18:49:00.006-05:00

Worth the read - (and I hate reading)...
I have been dying to work on these and at the same time, dreading posting them - only because I have no idea where to start. This new career of mine (yes it's still kinda new) is going to take me on little journeys from time to time and I'm starting to realize that in full effect. & guess what? Because Grace and her mom Lisa are so open and so amazing, you get to go on this one with me :). So that I don't screw it up, I'll tell the story through Lisa's words in one of the emails I received from her prior to shooting Grace's senior portraits with her horse Ca$h:

"...Three years ago when she was taking a leisurely ride on her horse, he spooked and she came off. The lower half of her jaw was completely torn and shattered. She had an emergency 7 hour reconstruction surgery that night and was wired shut for 13 weeks after that. But instead of being angry and bitter and mad, this amazing girl (she was 14 at the time) became everything good that she could ever be. After feeling relatively invisible in the shadow of her two older sisters, God removed the scales from her eyes, and she saw for herself how immensely she was loved by Him and by all those around her, how she stood in the Light, and she said that was the moment that she "found her voice" for Him. She's pretty special! The scars are there, but they have healed amazingly well, and there have been miracles surrounding that as well. Grace is completely comfortable in her skin and she is completely comfortable talking about what happened. I just wanted you to know about all these things ahead of time, so you wouldn't be wondering about it."

I then watched a video that Lisa had filmed and edited one morning of Grace with Ca$h and their wonderful bond. It had music to it and was sooo beautiful. I literally cried watching it. I was SOOOO moved and SOOOO honored to become a tiny part of Grace's life and this incredible journey she is on. I was so anxious and nervous and so excited for this shoot and when it finally arrived, I was not disappointed. Lisa was unbelievably amazing and welcoming and we immediately hugged and Grace - well....she's kind of perfect. Not only is she obviously gorgeous, but her spirit was so inviting and warm. I fell in love with the pair of them instantly. Ca$h however, kinda scared the crap out of me if I'm being totally honest. Hahaha :) Not so much at a distance, but up close and personal, horses in general are a bit intimidating - I'm not gonna lie! At one point, Lisa suggested I enter the stable WITH Ca$h and SHUT THE DOOR and then shoot Grace peeking in at him. So here I am standing behind him waiting for him to kick me right square in the baby bump ;). He didn't. He's an amazing horse and has the sweetest demeanor and even though he almost took my hand off cause I didn't know how to feed him an apple correctly, I still totally love him ;).

Lisa filmed the entire shoot and is in the process of putting everything together - once she receives these images in the mail, she'll be adding them to the movie. I cannot wait to see the final product!!! AND, she's letting me put the video on the blog!!! So stay tuned for that post in the very near future. Thanks for reading all this :). It's kind of a big deal :). ~Ali

Tom+Melissa=Allison & Logan

2010-12-10T11:48:00.005-05:00

these poor people!! they thought their shoot was a hour earlier than it was and ended up waiting a good 45 minutes for me to arrive. i was all relaxed, stopped at starbucks etc. and was moseying that way when i received her call and started hauling butt. kids only last so long, ya know? but everyone was so chill and laid back when i arrived luckily so we had a great shoot! logan was obsessed with the leaves which was cute - i love when parents don't care when their kids hang on to a piece of nature during the whole shoot ;) a stick, a leaf, or like on the beach recently, a starfish that was supposed to be a temporary prop ;). anyways allison was an absolute HAM! i love love loved her and thought she was adorable. and logan was SUPER smiley except when he was spitting up on himself or melissa ;) once he spit up right on melissa's chest and when tom went to help clean up, i turned around as if i was witnessing a moment ;) tom said "how do you think we got this way?" and pointed to the kids ;). love it! totally a wonderfully inappropriate joke i would make :). tom, you're funny :) good thing too, cause melissa, your laugh is contageous :) i remember you apologizing for the "chaos" of the wild and crazy kids, but guess what? that chaos makes for the best, most fun and REAL pics. plus i'm totally used to it. told ya so! look at these cuties!! xoxox

this one cracks me up :) (tom's holding him up)

love this age - they'll do whatever i tell them and have fun with it :)

why wouldn't there be a random rusted out horse when i needed one. although he's kinda lost in the trees. better switch to color. uno momento. ah who am i kidding - that's too much work ;).

although this one, is alllllll her. look at those eyebrows!!! hahaha love!

ok so this is awful cause logan totally wants picked up, but i snapped this anyway because he looks like the cowardly lion in the wizard of oz!!!! look at that face!!!

that's better :)

love. is this the good witch? what was her name?

continuing on with the wizard of oz theme, we stopped down the road to get a quick pic with the tin man :) -why wouldn't we?

Matt+Erika=Emerson & Luke #7 of 7 shoots in San Diego!

2010-12-09T19:38:00.003-05:00

yep this is another family i stalk. (see the shoot below ;)) LOOOOOOOVE that i got to shoot you all again!!! what a poopy day though! i swear this family cannot score sunlight to save their lives!!! 1st shoot ever, slightly overcast, 2nd shoot, a little rain, 3rd shoot - just kinda spitting - you know the kind of rain that's a big tease? anyways i am SO in love with these -despite the totally crappy lighting! i don't even know what to say except i heart you!!! and the kids are just tooooo easy!! i'll let these mostly speak for themselves :). XOXOXOX!

a tiny gene simmons! appropriate facial expression considering the guitar on his shirt :)

doesn't he just look like the sweetest but ornery-est little fart there ever was? i could eat him up!!

BELLY MEAT!!!! num num num :)

you had to be there, but this rock turned into more of a stage :) it was kinda hilarious. :)

love :)

right??? hahaha :)

for some reason, sticking your tongue out always helps get the task done :)

so i know luke well enough now to know that he is doing his classic tip-toe walk here. he walks on his toes a LOT!!! :) so this might mean zilch to y'all, but i totally love it :)

i just threw up a little with all this lovin' ;) (however, i'm totally jealous of this shot)

totally love this one :)

Rob+Misty=Finn :) #6 of 7 shoots in San Diego!

2010-12-08T20:29:00.007-05:00

it is SO fun seeing this little guy get big!!! i get to photograph him every few months and we live 2000 miles apart! i really look forward to hanging out with rob & misty - they just exude awesomeness. i feel like one of those stalkers a little bit, you know when you really want to be friends with someone and you're all excited to hang out every time but don't want to appear desperate or clingy? yeah, that's me with them. i totally heart them both. and yay for me, i am a confirmed NON-stalker friend wanna-be, because misty wants to go shopping with me next time i'm there :). so there :P. (we bored the POOP out of rob with conversations about shoes and clothes etc.) ok shutting up hahaha :) so it's obvious these were shot in october -hence the dinosaur costume at the end ;) which by the way was HYSTERICAL. i couldn't stop laughing :). but i am catching up, and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, so YAY! anyway - thank you again for the deLISH coffee :) - i was shooting finn and i turned around to include rob and he's ordering coffees and a brownie or something at this little vendor thingy - so i busted out with some big puppy dog eyes and he bought me one ;) note to self: keep a little cash on hand during shoots ;). now on to the pics!! (starting with a random and slightly creepy ronald mcdonald encounter) - why wouldn't i?? what do you think about his 2010 hair-do? hahaha

num num num ;)

love!!! this is a great spot for babies cause you can lean over them and tickle shoot tickle shoot :) NOTED!!! totally works :)

Ed+Stacie=Josiah :) (this was #3 of 7 shoots in CA)

2010-12-07T20:39:00.006-05:00

this one's out of order :) someone couldn't decide what images they wanted! ;) glad to know it's difficult to choose!!

as for the shoot-

hurray for patience!!! you two were sooo patient! it took josiah awhile to warm up to me, but once i started roaring at him, he was all fun and games :) (see pictures in the grass) :). stacie was an elephant, ed was a giraffe, and i... well i apparently was a bear :). (yep i wrote that down so i wouldn't forget) :) thank you guys for playing!!!!! it was a blast!!! and ed, thank you for telling me about content aware-fill in cs5 - it has saved me tons of time!!!!!! -i had just bought the new adobe photoshop software and had no idea about that sweet little trick. :) GENIUS. k here you go!!! i turned a ton black and white cause i thought it looked sweeter :)

see the leaf he's holding?? i could've sworn i got a picture of it, but he filled Stacie's purse with those leaves!!! it was so cute!!!!

one of many roars :) - i love all 3 faces on this one :)

sneaking up on his sleeping prey ;)

i love this!!!

don't know what he's doing here, but i think the pose is hysterical :)

looooove

Jim+Christine=Ben :) #5 of 7 shoots in San Diego!

2010-12-06T21:55:00.006-05:00

i love ben. he however, was not so sure about me ;) we got 30 minutes into the shoot and he kinda lost it from then on. :( this happens on rare occasion (kids love me i swear!), it just wasn't little ben's day :(. luckily, i had an opening later in the week, so we did a second little shoot to make up for it (since i don't live in CA and it'd be awhile before i came back and i knew i hadn't gotten enough great images). on the 2nd shoot, as soon as ben saw me, i started played peek-a-boo on the walk towards him -hiding my face and making big crazy faces at him and he started smiling instantly :). jim kinda ended up in a breast cancer awareness walk just trying to park the car ;) -ok not really, but the road was closed and he had to park far away and walk back through the park which was filled with men in pink :). anyways while waiting for him, mr. supposedly shy ben, was sitting on my lap playing with my camera and having a grand ole time! and the only time he got upset during the whole shoot was when we wouldn't let him play in the parking lot ;). love these!!! love you guys!!!

love!

second half:

i shot this 30 seconds after arriving :) in case it was the only huge smile headed my way ;) - for the record, it was not. :)

totally found these bubbles at the fountain - must've been from a recent wedding :) thanks for littering!!! what a fun score!

he kept stepping on the bubbles :)

love :)

double love.

chris+robin=jaclyn :) #4 of 7 shoots in California!!

2010-12-05T09:25:00.003-05:00

skipping number 3 but not for long!!

will write tonight - on my way to a shoot :)

LOOOOOVE THESE!!!!!

Keenan+Helen=Samantha :) 2 of 7 shoots in San Diego, California!!

2010-12-02T22:46:00.003-05:00

will write soon!!!! :) :) :) too many favorites!!! yay!!! xoxoxox!

1 of 7 shoots in San Diego!!!!

2010-11-30T23:02:00.005-05:00

BFF CHRISTIN!!!, hubby Jason, and my two godsons, Asher & Banyan!! :) No I'm not doing their shoot first because I heart them most ;) I'm doing theirs first because I shot them first :). but for the record, i do heart them most ;) Thankshaveaniceday ;). Ok I'll write later. It's almost midnight. BUT, just so you know, this is a compilation. I'll explain later. These didn't all happen on the same day. What am I? Made of magic? ;) I LOVE THESE!!!! Starting with the newest addition :)

LIPS!!!

canvas!!!!

Jon+Courtney=Ana & Fiona

2010-11-30T08:14:00.004-05:00

rushing around like crazy -will write later today! :) i used a LOT of black and white this time for the preview - i couldn't help myself! found the most DELICIOUS black and white action from one of my favorite action-makers (?) :).

looooove this family. period.

Jeff+Erin=Emma, Jackson & Parker :)

2010-11-29T09:00:00.004-05:00

Erin is one of my good friends (Jeff you're alright too) ;), so it's so fun to photograph her beautiful little family!! The kids are such a trip - especially Parker this time. He found a stick that he couldn't part with, and made a lot of pouty faces at me (which is the kind of thing I adore actually), so it made for great pics :). Sometimes when kids aren't into it, they become my favorite subject!!! Emma was little miss pose-y which was hysterical and jackson just laughed a lot :). Erin and Jeff thanks for being awesome, and it was really fun getting to hang out with you guys for a bit considering I have no free time right now ;). I miss you!!!

loooooove

group hug! this was spontaneous or we'd have stuck emma in the back ;)

fave.

i heart weeds. i can't help myself!!!! it's like the palm trees of ohio! they're flippin everywhere!

or maybe this one's my fave. i want one like this with my hubby!

Matthew+Meghann=Norah, Mark+Nancy, Zach+Dana & puppy Zoey

2010-11-28T13:04:00.003-05:00

PLEASE forgive me if i messed up on a name!!! I think I got it right! (I really need to write this stuff down ;). What a BLAST!!!!! This family was SO much fun! I am not a huge fan of big family portraits -let's just be honest here....it is SO hard to be creative with so many people, not to mention it's intimidating as HECK! So, to the future big fam portrait clients, joke with me!!! Make me less intimidated! This is not a cake job people! You gotta help me out :) :) :). Your personalities will come out in pics if you let them :). Ok done with that speech. These pics totally speak for themselves & you all know I adore you. SMOOCH SMOOCH SMOOCH - Nancy, you win MVP for this shoot, and the rest of you, thanks for going along with every crazy idea that I or anyone else had. You rock. Period. EEK! love these :)

abby :) + sister hannah and friend dina

2010-11-24T19:45:00.007-05:00

this post is out of order!! sorry guys...somebody took forever to pick her faves, so the delay on this one is surprisingly NOT because of me!!! ;) kidding abby!!!! :) :) :) ok so abby picked some of these and some of these i added for comedic value. i've been stressing for months now and need a good laugh!!!! girls you were SOOOOOO freakin fun - i have never laughed so hard on a shoot. period. and i laugh a lot. between the girls acting crazy, abby and i alone in quite shady area with her getting hit on by some uhhhhhh interesting fellows while the others were getting us all subway sandwiches -wondering if we should run for our lives, and then the last location where i warned them "btw the cops are gonna show up, just so you know" and them getting to meet officer nick and his buddies just like i had warned, it was a riot :). if you don't know who officer nick is, you'll have to start reading more blog posts ;). anyways this one is going down in history :). and now that i've made all the fathers of all the daughters who might potentially hire me for senior pics in the future, nervous as HECK...here you go!

kinda proud of this one :)

hahahahahahahaha!!!!!!!!!! look at the parking lot dude!!!

i have no clue. but it's kinda really funny :)

are. you. kidding. me???? who are you??? oh that's right. a gymnast. :) love!!!

duuuuuude. that's smokin.

we need more leaves!!!!! :) :) :)

this one is a future greeting card :)

alyssa :)

2010-11-18T18:28:00.002-05:00

nuevo amigo (amiga?) numero tres. or something... haha :) WILL WRITE SOON!

Grant+Lainie=Sully & Morgan

2010-11-16T22:49:00.002-05:00

will write soon!! (i promise, i really am gonna write on all these posts someday) ;). i LOVE words and i am trying to save time by keeping them all to myself! :(. sooooooooon :) :) :)

i think this is my number one fave of the shoot :)

megan :)

2010-11-15T20:05:00.003-05:00

will write soon!!! :) :) :)

totally love this next one. period.

jessica :)

2010-11-14T17:10:00.002-05:00

will write soon!!!

OMG OMG OMG!!!!

2010-11-13T21:32:00.005-05:00

will write very soon!!! (on all the recent posts!!) trying to get these up asap! EEEEEK!!!!!! sorry to play faves, but this has to be in my top 5 shoots of all time. maybe top 10, but betting on top 5. HOPE YOU LOVE THEM!

i love lamp. hahahaha

George+Joan = Steve, Jim, & Mike :)

2010-11-13T09:54:00.004-05:00

will write soon :)

holy cow.

2010-11-11T14:00:00.000-05:00

Ok folks, here's the deal. I am broadcasting this in order to save time. Time is of the essence. I know Christmas is coming up. I'm doing literally everything I can. I now have my husband helping even. Below is the order in which you'll get your CD. The CD will be in the mail the day after your blog post is up. I would email everyone individually and apologize profusely, but hopefully this is enough. I am trying to find ways to save time without skimping on the final product because I refuse to cut back on quality. Remember, you paid me for my editing, not just my shooting. The editing is what you all love so much and don't realize. The editing is also what takes hours and hours. Starting tomorrow, I'm hoping to get two shoots completed per day. This means less sleeping, less showering...you get the idea. Ok I'll shower, I promise, but other than that, I'm at the computer busting them out on what was formerly known as my vacation. Which I don't expect pity for - it's my fault for taking on too many clients. Even though I've loved all of you! Remember, these are just pictures and I am one person. XOXOX
Here comes the list:
1.Heather L.

2.Laura

3.Tara

4.Jessica

5.Megan W.

6.Lainie

7.Alyssa

8.Nancy M.

9.Erin

10.Courtney

11.Christin

12.Helen

13.Stacie

14.Robin

15.Christine

16.Misty

17.Erica

18.Melissa

19.Grace

20.Carey

21.Shannon

22.Sarah

23.Emily

24.Molly

25.Beth

26.Lisa W.

27.Dawn

28.Heather B.

If you're not on the list, you either agreed to snag the weather now and get your pics after the holidays or I made a mistake, in which case, email me.

Thank you my loves!!

Tyler+Heather=Kiera & Aiden :)

2010-11-11T13:14:00.005-05:00

will write soon!!

this is post-tackle. sometimes you gotta snap it while it's fun :) just in case they stop smiling once you pose them ;)

Ethan, Zoe, and mom Jen :)

2010-11-10T15:12:00.004-05:00

WILL WRITE SOON! :)

Mark + Jenn = Camryn :)

2010-11-09T21:23:00.002-05:00

will write soon! :)

Adam+Ellen = Lauren, Sammy & Molly :)

2010-11-08T20:59:00.005-05:00

will write soon!! :)

meredith & brooke!! :)

2010-11-07T17:34:00.002-05:00

will write soon! :) -starting with one of my faves!!

hannah :)

2010-11-06T20:58:00.001-04:00

will write soon!! :)

lesley & fam!!

2010-11-05T12:54:00.002-04:00

will write soon!!! :)

tatiana :)

2010-11-03T22:04:00.003-04:00

what a freakin blast!! tatiana totally rocked the shoot - pulling out all sorts of ANTM moves towards the end. we scored a seriously random and completely awesome little urban area that i've driven by several times and never seen. we were headed to some tracks and we passed a blue slug bug that we just HAD to use. it was unfortunately in someone's driveway though! i went chicken and tatiana walked straight up to the door and knocked! hahaha :) my rockstar awesomeness comes and goes like i bowl. gutter ball or strike. never in between. that day i gutter balled. ;) thank goodness tatiana was a bit more brave. no one was even home! i've climbed in abandoned buildings for crying out loud! anyway right next to the bug was this sweet urban place with the cool chair - we just happened to park there and swung around the corner and *INSERT ANGELS SINGING HALLELUJAH" viola, it was there :)

during the entire shoot, i gave tatiana a hard time and she dished it right back - it was like we'd known each other forever - pretty sure we were name calling and all sorts of things. at one point she goes "stop looking at me with your one eye!!" i'm like huh??? this was the day i discovered that i don't always shoot with my "one eye" closed. oopsie!!! hahaha i bet that looks funny!!

anyway i adored foo as well (her cousin anna)

i think they are foo and choo or fu and chew or something

i remember what both of them mean but i won't embarrass them. choo/chew is funny :) hehehe

ok here's tatiana!!!

starting with one of my faves!!!!! :)

Keith+Christy=Johnathan, Henry & Greta :)

2010-11-02T20:17:00.007-04:00

hope these were worth the wait!!!!! thank you for not bugging the crap out of me for these!!! :) i love you double what i loved you before!!!

christy all your ideas rocked and your house is adorable!! thanks for letting me hang out for a little while!!

i made some comments - caption style :) cause i'm tired and junior is kicking me right square in the bladder :).

so for the record, I LOVE THE V. FAMILY!!!!!! :) :) :) haha :) seriously - how could you not?

hope you love these :)

note to clients: i WILL make your kids disobey the rules ;)

gotta catch those random big grins!!!

shot these while waiting for greta to be fed... :) i totally love this series and think it should be put in one of those 3 frame thingys :) just my opinion... yes, christy put them in their pjs on purpose and then changed them again :) which by the way = perfection.

sleeping beauty!!!! (not for long) ;)

love me some pigs!!!

not your typical family portrait, but sometimes you have to take what you can get ;). personally, this would be my christmas card :) :) :)

my turn!

yeah yeah, you're kissing me. whoopie. i'm gonna blow bubbles!

lovelovelove!!!

love this series too!!!!! :) especially number 3 :)

dear big brother, thanks for loving me even when i bite your head off. :)

katie :)

2010-10-28T21:03:00.005-04:00

ok people!!! here's number 2 of the 3 amigos i told you all about ;). AHHHHHHH katie :) (who brought carly and alyssa!!) i got to share some fame with you on your day!!! i want pics!!!! (her mom jenny was taking some with her own camera of katie and of me working with katie. so fun!!!) i'll put the one i have at the end of this post :). katie i LOOOOOOOVVVVVVVE you!!!!!! :) let's hang out all the time, k? k. i swear it was one big party during this shoot. i can't believe i got paid for it ;). oh and can someone tell this girl she's freaking gorgeous???? i can still hear her nervous laugh :) don't think she knows it just yet!!! i know i'm embarrassing you now :) p.s. to embarrass you further, i want your muscles!!! i think i'll take up

running. HA! just a little joke for ya. no thanks! i prefer sitting!!!

ok SMOOCH! shutting up now!

i make magic out of total crap dangit! ;)

exhibit A: ugly construction zone

= sweet glowy goodness!!!!

(so glad you trusted me!!!)

BESTIES!!! YAY!!

ellen :)

2010-10-26T21:41:00.004-04:00

ellen!!! ok remember the hip-hop session in 2009? NQDC???

welp, here's another lovely lady from that crew :). i was soooooo excited when she contacted me to do her senior pics!!!! smooches to you, lovely lady!!! :) love your sis emily too!! usually i fire off several frames for different smiles and expressions in the same pose, but with ellen, i swear it was boom - boom -boom. she kept nailing it the first time. i told her we were done after like 15 minutes. (kidding of course). love how you went from total sophistication (rocking it by the way - i would feel like a poser in an outfit like that!) to cottage-y au natural whatever, to urban, to almost vintage. shutUP - you're awesome! can't wait to see you in december!!!!!

Amanda :)

2010-10-24T10:10:00.003-04:00

no this is not me!!! i was asked that 3 times in the airport coming home from california when i was editing these! too funny!!! :) i'll take it though - amanda's is beautiful!!

girl you're old. ;) when did i meet you? when you were like 8?? amanda's dad is one of my besties from my old COMPLETELYLAMEANDMUCHHATED desk job :)

-paul you're the best :). anyways i was pretty nervous shooting amanda with paul watching me work -i didn't want to appear un-pro like, so i wasn't my normal hyper self - (darn it!) but i LOVED creating these images!!!!!! amanda you are so perrrrrrrty!!!!!!!

hellooooooooooo legs! ;)

dad got pretty excited about the sweet windows - he wanted a "city" look ;) she wanted urban. i always tell the parents to do what the kids want. and for some reason they listen :). but i added a little city to the shoot ;). you're welcome :)

paul's idea - that is a 2-story drop-off behind her FYI.

i would never put a client up there!!! i told him i wanted him to sign something saying if she took a spill, it wasn't my fault. my insurance doesn't cover that ;). you people are crazy :) LOVE IT!!

Liz :)

2010-10-22T22:46:00.004-04:00

liz i totally heart you.

oh my gosh i don't even know where to start with this girl!!! i shot over 800 photos in 2 hours. no joke. i've never shot that many!!!! choosing which ones to edit was a job in and of itself - and then to narrow it down again for the blog? insanity. i don't think i gave much direction at all on this shoot - or at least i didn't feel like i did. or maybe it was direction and then effortless application.

i know i'm gushing right now, but YOU little lady, need to walk your butt into abercrombie and tell them you want to model for them. i'd totally hire you.

i didn't know if i wanted to photograph this girl every day, or BE her!!! ;) i adored her world of twirling around in a field and finding caterpillars and everything else a.d.d. ;).

oh btw liz, i totally bought those shoes - i had too. they are super fun!!! and now i wear them all the time ;) p.s. still working on a fork bracelet. need to channel a little bit of pure joy from you daily, so i figure with the shoes and bracelet, it might do the trick ;)

she goes "can i lay down?" and i go "heck YES you can lay down crazy lady!"

she's actually looking at a caterpillar here and it's a little out of focus (whoops) but i do not care - i totally love this shot!!!!

crap. nope. wait - this one is my fave. someone please blow this up massive and frame it as art. when i have a studio, this one's going on the wall -canvas style.

tied for fave. freaking love. move over taylor swift.

David + Erica = ???? :)

2010-10-20T19:41:00.009-04:00

i am so excited to post these!!!!! ps -hope you love the vintage effect :) trying out some new coloring ;). man - talk about going along with whatever i said and then adding to it!!! i'd be like erica, do this and she'd do me one better. she was a ROCK STAR!!! and david, you were supposed to be a difficult male! did you not get the memo??? erica, what a perfect location - i'm SO glad you found out and asked me to shoot there!!!!!!!! i almost don't ever want to shoot there again because i'm afraid i won't get the results i did on this day!!! smooch smooch smooch to you for being 1000% AWESOME :)

oh and btw, the pumpkins are not because of the fall and halloween - it's because david proposed to erica (back when) by carving it in a pumpkin!!!!! SO fun :)

my original idea - love.

then this GENIUS idea popped into my head -thanks to stalking guess what photographers? if anyone gets it, you win a non-existant awesome gift.

btw, this might be my favorite picture i've ever taken...ever. i freaking love everything about it. you don't have to agree ;)

erica's baby pumpkin idea. david was very confused however about what a "tiny" pumpkin looked like. he kept bringing these massive things over. i finally went and found it myself ;) just teasing david :)

hehehe :)

Ron+Barb=Bridget & Rusty / Bridget+Terry=Kierra, Rusty+Victoria =Arielle - is that right??? :)

2010-10-20T11:05:00.006-04:00

man o man did they brave the heat!!! it was in the upper 90's that day and we were trying to work fast! (or at least i was so they didn't pass out!)

this was such a loving family :) all very excited to document their family with photos!!!! thanks for being SOOO warm and friendly and being so patient on your pics!!! rusty, it was fun talking shop!!! most people think i speak a different language ;) barb, you have a wonderful family who loves you dearly!!!! and bridget, i kinda miss all of our emails ;)

CAN I GET A GROUP HUG???? :)

i love LOVE

i was feeling wacky and i kinda really love the result!

Tuta and family! :)

2010-10-14T00:51:00.006-04:00

what a fun family!!!! tuta's mom was in a bicycle accident only a week before this shoot i believe - thank goodness she was ok, just beat up a little. i fixed her right up in photoshop though! :)

omg i wish i had a second shooter on this one to record all the laughs. i can't even remember now what all happened, i just remember i laughed my butt off!!! it started with the kiddos attacking me at the door with show & tell and questions galore :). i loved it!!! i was also presented with a cucumber from the garden - hand washed and ready for dinner ;). you'll see in a minute ;) thanks tuta and family for everything!!!

this was right before grandpa started nibbling grandma's ear :)

just being goofy :)

michael jackson :)

english to romanian translation *fail* ;)

sisters!!!! :)

a pool in the backyard. no fair :( this one cracks me up :)

my cucumber. which by the way, hubby and i ate the next day :)

Carly :)

2010-10-05T19:29:00.004-04:00

AHHHHHHHHH i TOTALLY HEART YOU carly!!!! carly is one of "my girls" now :) she is one of 3 friends that all got their senior pics done with me - carly brought katie who then brought carly and alyssa and then alyssa brought carly and katie. we had so much stinking fun!!!!!!!!! it is rare that i get to stick around after a shoot and hang out, but on this occasion, it was a morning shoot and "nugget" (baby kamper) was starving, so we went to the oregon express for pizza after! (thanks linda!)

so on the way to the dayton art institute area (before i met carly), there was a small detour which took me through a neighborhood that had the cutest little gates and flowery things - i got there, peeked through carly's wardrobe and asked them if they were up for "cottage-y" because her clothes were perfect for it, and they were! it was fun exploring a totally new area for little spots! thanks for trusting me!! :) then we headed on down to the oregon district and got some urban shots. :) love these!

MIGHT BE MY FAVE!!!

kayla :)

2010-10-03T18:25:00.007-04:00

remember, these particular tracks are off limits - this is pre-cops harrassing me :)

good ole' officer nick...

remember nqdc???? I LOVE MY DANCERS!!! i was so excited when kayla contacted me to do her senior pics!! - i've got another one coming up soon that i've already shot and one more in february!!! WAHOOOOOO!!!! ok back to kayla ;) omg did we have fun!!!! what more can i say???? SMOOOOOOOCH!!!! thanks karen (kayla's mom) for chauffeuring us around! yes i had to look up how to spell chauffeur - an exra U - who knew??

who knew baby brown's could be so beautiful!!!!???

kayla, you rock! - thanks for trusting me to rock a bunch of huge dumpsters????

gorgeous!!!!!

a lil' hip hop action? why not?

purple guy!!!! what's his name again? i think we googled it on my phone. purple hamburger guy from mcdonald's.... hang on let me google it again....GRIMACE! yes, i googled it just now and didn't delete the part where i was trying to figure it out. why would i? :)

why did we not walk right up to this super fun random parked van? because there was some creepy voodoo doll or something hanging from the window!!!!!! (you totally can't see it - ask kayla - it freaked us out!) it was such a creeper van we decided to shoot as quickly as humanly possible several feet in FRONT of the van and then run like hell laughing our butts off. i thought that doll was gonna get us. it happens :)

Chad + Rachel = Carter & Kaitlyn

2010-10-03T13:20:00.002-04:00

holy shamoley. is it a word? it was so flippin hot during this shoot!!!!!! bigggg difference between then and now - it's 50 degrees today!!! (90 a week ago) BRRRR. makes it look like i'm even more behind than i really am. ;) rachel i heart you. chad, you're like super dad. i love that you guys brought chairs from home - too cute! and i love how chill you were about everything. everyone was sweating within about 5 minutes, so things got a bit interesting however - before rachel could stop him, chad dunked his kids right in a sprinkler to cool them off ;). actually she was fine with it -especially after i said i had time to wait for them to dry off. which by the way only took about 10 minutes! plus the kids were instantly happier which made for better pics. :)

ok enjoy!!!

i have no idea what the kiddos are doing but mom and dad are too cute. :)

this needs a caption: "welp took care of that problem..."

only got 2 shots of this before carter became obsessed with a wedgie ;)

it happens ;)

Eric + Kim = ???????

2010-10-01T20:40:00.002-04:00

OMG kim had her baby a few days ago!!!! she was early!!!

congrats to kim & eric :) YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

ok so i don't know what my problem is when i get around baby bumps but for some reason i always have to make reference to how the ladies got them!!! hahahaha :). i'm so unprofessional!!!

(note: do not hire me if you are looking for a professional). :) anyways i was off my rocker on this particular day... i am pretty sure i never shut up!! if i remember correctly i had downed a starbucks for the first time in forever (NOT decaf) and i was W-I-R-E-D!! hopefully i wasn't too crazy! sorry if i was ;). eric i think i called you an ass didn't i?? usually i say turd - but not this day!!! whoopsie! but it was in jest and he laughed - settle down people. i'm sure he's been called worse ;). KIDDING :) you're awesome. thanks for going along with everything guys - and being so easy going about it! p.s. - if i sound hyper, it's not a starbucks repeat tonight - it's lucky charms!!!

ok shutting up -

i loved seeing you two so in love!

Denis, Brianne, & ??????? :) oh yeah and chloe too :)

2010-09-28T16:41:00.004-04:00

first i must say that the train tracks at the end are OFF LIMITS now :( so sad. once we were done with the tracks, a cop pulled up and told us we weren't allowed to be on them. i told him i wouldn't do it anymore and asked if i needed to delete the pics i took on the tracks (joking) and he said no. i've now made friends with said cop because every time i've used that location after this particular time, he's come to say hello and see if i'm on the tracks (which by the way i'm not). you'll see one more post (with me on the tracks) but it happened BEFORE this shoot. i'm posting out of order so Brianne doesn't have her baby before she sees these ;). so officer NICK, if you see this, i swear i haven't been on the tracks since (at least not these tracks) :) ANYWAYS!!! i've known Brianne over half my life and been friends with her for the past few years wahoo!! -thanks to a mutual friend (her maid-of-honor and my honorary made-of-honor since i eloped teehee!), so it was an honor to photograph her very first baby bump! :) i've been dying to post these!!! i used my wide angle a bit more than usual because i knew they'd be patient with me "playing" and i just love the outcome!!! the coloring in these is divine (in my personal and humble opinion). i just can't get over them! they wanted nature-y and i swore they belonged in an urban atmosphere, so we did both. and guess who liked more of the urban pics than the nature pics?? they did! told you so :) anyway, brianne and denis came in from new jersey (slash) new york to visit family and have their photos done - i wanted to go to them but it just didn't work out that way :(. i can still hear denis's accent when he said he actually had a lot of fun :). when i hear that from a GUY??? i make the cha-ching!!!! arm motion :) like the dork that i am...or a very unlady-like hip thrust. (it happens). i totally love you guys and i totally loved hanging out with you. NOW GO BLOW THESE UP AND HANG THEM EVERYWHERE!!! hot hot hot tamales!!!

28 one pic previews!!!

2010-09-26T13:27:00.004-04:00

if you looked at this post earlier today, i forgot two - whoops!

ok so here's the deal - there's about 250 hours worth of work on my plate (see below) plus shoots on the books that have yet to happen. here's the order in which you'll get your previews and CDs. and just so no one has a fit because i've done something out of order, i'll be upfront and honest and tell you i am bumping 3 maternity shoots up otherwise they are gonna have those babies before i get them their pics!! (or so i fear) ;).

if you want your money back, let me know, otherwise patience is going to be key. remember these images will last forever, so a few weeks won't kill anyone - right??? please say yes! I LOVE YOU ALL and i'm SO excited to post all these!!! can't wait to get caught up but more importantly, i can't wait to share the full awesomeness of these shoots below!!! SMOOOOOOCH!!!!

starting with the 3 maternity shoots. deal with it ;)

and back to the original order...sorry guys!!!!

Todd+Andrea=Luke, Brooke & ??? :)

2010-09-25T21:53:00.002-04:00

If you follow my blog, you'll recognize this family :) a few times over. I think this is my 5th time photographing them?? I'd have to count :). I started with a maternity shoot slash Luke shoot and then moved on to Brooke's newborn shoot which is still one of my faves ever. I remember it being one of those shoots where I felt like I had nailed some things I had been wanting to and hadn't had the chance to. (ie: baby in a basket, etc.). Anyway, each time I hang out with this family I'm instantly at ease and just play with them. And I must say - I cannot wait to meet #3!!!!! Yipee!!!!! Hope you guys love these - I wish Brooke had liked me a bit more that day, but I still think we got some great candids! :). LOVE the one of the boys "peeing" on the wall!!! Oh and speaking of certain liquids, should we go ahead and schedule two dates on this next one (one for rain)?? Why does it always rain 5 minutes into our sessions????? (which is why we only got a few in the field and had to reschedule) 30% chance my BUTT!!! hahaha :) Ok shutting up!

no that is not a load in brooke's pants. she is sitting on a toy and i didn't realize when i shot this! when we got it out, she was already moving her little body elsewhere. to delete or not to delete...that is the question :(. i love this one :(. stupid toy. that would be a photoshop miracle if someone could get rid of that and add her leg ;)

Angie, Tom, Mikayla, TJ, Maura, and baby Kate! :)

2010-09-21T16:38:00.006-04:00

This is one family I get to hang out with outside of "work" :). I am close friends with their babysitter YAY!!!!! The day before their shoot I got to hang out at McDonald's with TJ so I made sure to pump him up about all the fun we were gonna have when I took his pictures the next day. I think he was pretty excited. Even if he wasn't, I ended up getting hugs all around :). Love you guys!! Kids: I'll see ya soon I'm sure!! Get ready to play our dice game again!! I'm totally gonna beat you! :) Tom & Angie, congrats again on the newest member of your family!!!

claire bear and her big happy family :)

2010-09-18T15:50:00.005-04:00

I had the honor of meeting kerry (claire's aunt) almost 2 years ago and since then have met every member of her immediate family one by one. I felt like I was adding icing to a cake each time. No joke, I don't think I've ever met a more genuine and accepting family in my life! I knew it before I showed up for our shoot and it was confirmed the moment I sat down to chat with them. I felt like I had been a part of their lives forever. Thank you for being SO incredibly amazing - I know anyone that's ever met you all has walked away with the exact same sentiments.

Now that I've gushed to the point of embarrassing myself, I have to add that Claire is so stinking cute it's ridiculous and Kerry (Mrs. Auntie) is preggo with twins!!!! Isn't she adorable with that belly???? Ok shutting up now. No wait, one more thing - I lost a special bracelet on this shoot (why I wore it that day is beyond me) and Dee (Claire's Grandma) searched in her yard for what I'm guessing was HOURS. I told her not to when I showed up to scour the lawn myself, but she wouldn't stop! It was so stinking hot I felt awful!! I guarantee every time she goes out to enjoy her beautiful back yard, she is still keeping one eye open for that thing. Dee, STOP IT!!! hahaha :) smooch to your whole family!!!

Heather, Kiera, Aiden & Grandma Donna :)

2010-09-16T11:57:00.003-04:00

SUCHHHH a sweet family :) and I get to play with them again this weekend!! Yipee!!!! Heather and Donna, I hope you love these!! In an effort to save time, I'm not writing much (and i'm posting less than normal from here on out) - but you and I both know we had a blast :). Glad I hung around long enough at the end to remember I had your car keys in my bag ;). YIKES!! see you soon!!!

M.I.A.

2010-09-14T09:19:00.002-04:00

I'm sure everyone is wondering why I haven't posted anything in awhile. A) I was already severely behind in editing and B) I was tending to a critical family emergency in a hospital near Columbus Ohio for the past week. Please forgive the delay and understand that I put family first and was exactly where I needed to be for as long as I could possibly be there no matter the consequences. I'm back now and trying to get caught up to the point where I can go back again and tend to my family again. My communication is a little hit or miss, but I'm working on that now as well, so if I've failed to let you know that your CD is going to be super late or why your pics aren't on the blog, I apologize. I did the best I could considering the matter at hand. Things are looking better, slowly but surely - but we could still use a lot of prayers. (P.S., it's not baby kamper - baby kamper is A.O.K.) Thank you so much. ~Ali