Practice

Here is an exerpt from Katie's second photo shoot. She is now 11 weeks pregnant and overjoyed! She is so loving and kind; I know she will make an extraordinary mommy. See for yourself... pictures don't lie (at least this one doesn't!). With her permission there will be more photos to come :)

Pictures With A Name

I took the camera down to the neighbor's house today because I've spotted some really cool stuff to photograph. I warned them yesterday not to be alarmed if they found me stalkin' around.
Jane- I was at your house :) Hope you don't mind me publishing the results :)

You'd be a narcissist too, if you sparkled like this!

The new and the old

Bloom where you're planted... or where they can't get rid of you :)

Wildflowers

Singled out

Potential

Andy: A life fully lived

Lily: A life just begun

BabyFace: Love and Light

Berries in monochrome

Bed and breakfast

Old-fashioned country entertainment

A different brand of picket fence

The promise of new life

Ghosts of harvest past

(To be fair, the rotting gourds are in my yard, not Jane's.)

The Faith of a Child

My son has a doll. Not Tyler, which some of you may expect, but Robben. My baby boy has a doll. It's an old Baby Pooh Bear in jammies, a sleeping cap and perpetually closed eyes. Today Robben claimed it as his own to hug and kiss and tuck in at night. He has named it "Baby Jesus"!!!

Last night, while rocking Robben to sleep, he shouted out and then proclaimed, "praising Jesus!"

I LOVE that kid!

People Pics

Wow, such interest you've all shown in my pictures! I thank you...and keep it comin' :) Several of my friends have commented that they'd like me to take their family pictures. Whether hypothetical or sincere, I thought I'd share a few pictures of actual people. I have plenty of "pose-and-look-at-the-camera" pictures, which I'm sure I will share with you at some point, but I really like candids, so here are a few:

This is my beautiful friend, Katie. I am going to be taking maternity pictures of her every month of her pregnancy. Here she is 4 weeks and beyond ecstatic!

This is our friend (and Todd's employee), Joe, with his daughter, Serena. We got hundreds of great pictures of the baby, but I love this one... She's obviously happy to be with her daddy, and there's no shortage of joy on his face.

Payton on New Year's Day, visting Wesley at the Fresno Rescue Mission. We got to play in the yard with him for 2 hours, and I took a couple hundred pictures :) I like the action of this one. Payton is happily kicking a pile of dirt, and if you look carefully, you can see the blurred dirt flying through the air. I like the contrast of the industrial downtown in the distance.

Before leaving Wesley, we all got hugs and kisses. To me, this one says "love". Why? When I zoom in really close, I can see a string of baby slobber connecting their lips :) It was a real kiss!

Like I said, I took a couple hundred pictures. This is Ally as she waits her turn to hug Wes goodbye. The beaded bracelet says "BELIEVE".

Who doesn't love a baby in a box? Who, I ask you??

...As Promised

Who'da thunk it? Here I am, a mere 30 minutes after returning home, uploading pictures to the blog! Something strange and foreign is happening! Well, with all the comments from my faithful followers, not to mention the shout-outs I received on Facebook, how could I let you all down? Let me apologize in advance. You are not about to see the pictures of Yosemite that you are familiar with. Not only is familiar boring, we also didn't go all the way into the park where one would find these majestic beings such as Half Dome and Yosemite Falls... I chose to photograph the little things, which, after all, is where the joy is found :)

On the way up there, Todd took a little detour, not because he knew we'd find some amazing photo ops, but because there were some killer hills that I think he managed to actually make the Yukon fly off of, causing me to scream like a little girl. However, when we rounded a bend, we both recognized the scene for what it was. He slammed on the breaks and veered off the road (luckily into a turn-out) and I hopped out, camera in hand.

Todd took this one :) (above)

How's this for an award-winning shot? I got this one this morning at breakfast. It's looking outside, with the reflection from the fireplace in the window!

I have always wanted to go on horse-drawn sleigh... I still do. They're closed right now because there isn't enough snow :( I asked them to strap some wheels onto the bottom of the sleigh, but it was a no-go. The incident sorta reminds me of the time in college when my girlfriends and I went to the LA Zoo when it was raining. The animals, being smarter than we were, had all sought shelter. Crystal, my roommate, had never seen an elephant in person, but all she got out of the visit was a picture of herself drenched to the bone, standing by the sign for the elephants!

On the way home we stopped in Oakhurst at a little cafe we enjoy (remember, Lyndsay?), and then went to a really cute little antique-like store. It's called "Vintage Chic" and it was full of old/artsy stuff. It was so cute and creative. The following are pictures I took in the boutique. The photo above is a sign shop next door.

I love this picture! I want this to be the cover of my book. Now that I have the cover, I'll have to write the book :)

Which one is your favorite?

Just Waitin'

I'm all ready to go. The house is clean (relatively), the kids are packed, I'm packed... all I have to do now is wait. Todd is on his way home from work as we speak, and then after a brief stint of waiting for him to get ready (and pack), we will be off. Drop the kids off at Tara's & then Tenaya Lodge here we come!! I'm unnaturally excited to get away for a day/night. Though I'm already anticipating missing my little one (no offense to the bigger ones).

Stay tuned for pictures of our little vacation. I can only imagine what's waiting for us...

My New Hobby

For Christmas I got a really nice camera. A Nikon. I love taking pictures, and luckily, with all these beautiful people under my roof, there are plenty of opportunities. I also live in what apparently is a wonderland of photo-musts, forcing me to pull over and drag my children out onto the side of the road for some "candids". I pull well off to the side... Here are some of my favorites:

I don't know why, but I just LOVE this picture! Though we are in a really amazing orchard, I think it looks like a winter wood.

This man was outside the gates of the Rescue Mission and was so pleased that somebody, anybody, would stop to take his picture. He thanked me joyfully as he walked away. It never occured to him to even want to see the picture. It spoke volumes to me.

Flowers...

Payton was so patient while I got the picture I wanted. There's a closer shot, but I love her legs and sweater for some reason. And you gotta love the nail polish :)

Looking out my front door

Trying out the new camera; On the ground at church.

One of my favorite locations, a pecan orchard.

Up the hill by our house

My fence on a freezing morning. I was trying to take pictures of the ice crystals and one of our lovable country kitties came to rub her face on the camera.

Today, January 7, 2010, is my 4th wedding anniversary. Todd and I are going up to Yosemite tomorrow and staying at the Tenaya Lodge. This will be a first for us. I'm unnaturally excited about it. And just think of all the amazing photos that are out there to be taken! With any luck, I'll post them next week... here's hoping...