Littlest Hunter

I can't believe how many baby boys I have been photographing lately! It has been all fun, though! For this session, we were lucky enough to have a day of unseasonable sunshine and temperatures, so we were able to take advantage of the beautiful afternoon glow. Daddy is a duck hunter, and they wanted to incorporate this into his session. I love the photo of him in the orange hat - we did a newborn photo of him with the same hat, but his entire body fit into it! Look at him now! We also squeezed in a few family photos, as well, and they turned out beautifully, too! I love it when a plan comes together!

Sunset on Little Prairie

I was on the way home from a recent session when I passed an old country road that I have driven on probably 1,000 times. The timing was just right, as we were smack in the middle of sunset. Since I happened to have my camera with me, I impulsively turned off the highway onto this familiar country road and started snapping before I ran out of light. Although most of what I got was pretty crappy, I was really happy with a couple of my images. That happens sometimes... a burst of 100 shots might only yield 1 or 2 that are really good. But, that's ok. I'll take 1 or 2 over NONE! I'm thinking about a big canvas of the color version of the tree shot for my living room...

It felt really good to stand on the side of that road all by myself and shoot for a few minutes. I didn't really know what I wanted to capture when I stopped, I just knew that I needed to take a moment with my camera and give it a try, even though it was quickly getting dark and I didn't have my tripod in the car. I've done so much portrait work lately, which is my favorite, that I haven't really given a thought to any nature shots in over a month. I'm glad I carved out a little time for it! Maybe I should do that more often :-)

Love + Gorgeous Weather + Fall Color = Beautiful Engagement Session!

I have had this engagement session on the calendar for several months now, and as soon as we scheduled for October, I was hoping for some beautiful fall color. The bride-to-be and I were both a little nervous about the dry weather we have been having and the speed at which the leaves were turning and falling off the trees, as well as the possibility of a thunderstorm stripping all the color before we were able to capture it, but it worked out to be a beautiful day and we had plenty of warmth from the tones in the trees. The time just flew as we were doing our session, and these two just fell into place and were totally relaxed with each other, which allowed me to capture some genuine expressions and intimate moments. I am so thrilled with the images from this session, and I can't wait to get to the rest!

We went back to the spot where he proposed!

If only we could bottle that energy and sell it...

This little guy had SO MUCH energy for his 18month photos! He's all boy, wanting to run, get into the dirt, and play with his tractors. We're starting to see some fall color in the trees, so the color palette that Mom chose for the family to wear coordinated nicely with the surroundings. The highlight of the session for me was that I - finally - got to get some images of a child playing on the beach! We're landlocked here in Southern Illinois, but we do have some nice lakes with swimming areas, and one of those spots worked out great for his photos.

Feeling Like Fall

When I was driving to work yesterday, I suddenly noticed all of the gold that is starting to appear in the trees. There are a few leaves on the ground here and there, the temps are starting to dip into the 60's at night, the corn is tassled... and then my favorite time of year will be here! I used to say I loved the spring, simply because I have a spring birthday, but, as an adult, I've come to realize that spring also brings mud, unexpected frost and snow, lots of rain, and only that brief period when things are beautiful as the new growth begins to blossom. The fun of the fall can go on for several weeks! And, when we have that abrupt change from spring to summer that always seems to hit Southern Illinois, it feels even hotter since there wasn't a gradual increase in temp. Let's face it, when it is hot out, there's only so much you can take off, but when the weather cools off, you can always add a sweater, bring a blanket, sip on hot chocolate, sit by a bonfire, and start up your fireplace... all those wonderful cozy things that lead into winter. So, while I was supposed to be driving and was really looking at the trees on the side of the interstate, and thinking of all the things I love about autumn, I remembered these images that I captured in Oct '10, and decided to post them. It's going to be 90+ degrees again today, but I have hope that fall is just around the corner!

This one needs a purpose...

This is a straight out of camera test shot from a session earlier this month... I feel like I need to do something with it, but I don't know what... got any ideas?

Tutus and Tea Parties

These little girls had some stunning golden hour sunlight for their session! I've been to this property several times to photograph this family, but this session was special, as their cousins from out of state had come to visit! The little girls had several matching and coordinating outfits to wear, I think this was the most wardrobe changes I've seen squeezed into a session yet! We started with the girls in their matching tutus, and ended with the two of them in coordinating party dresses with a little tea set out in the grass - so stinkin' cute!

Beautiful Baby Girl

This little sweetie has frequent play-dates with the sweet little boy I photographed this summer on his porch on the white swing in his Cardinal's attire. I was so worried about the weather for the day of our shoot, since the heat had been fierce and there were storms that morning. We had to bump back our session from morning to mid -afternoon, which isn't usually the best time for photos... but the rain stopped just in time, and we were blessed with some pretty phenomenal lighting. Isn't she beautiful?

Just turned two, and tutu cute!

This little girl was so stinkin' cute in her pink tutu and her puple Chucks! This was my first session with her, and it took her a bit to warm up, but once we got going in a game of running back and forth to "get mommy" and then "get daddy", she was smiling and having fun. She had her second birthday earlier this month, and her mom wanted to get some outdoor portraits done to commemorate her special day. This summer, the heat has been brutal for outdoor portraits, but you'd never guess by looking at her sweet expressions!

Wildflowers

I took this one a few weeks ago and finally edited it while taking a break from some portraits... I love wildflowers! I also tried a watermark I made, any thoughts? I'm really thinking about a logo for my photography but my ideas for font and color scheme and style are all over the place!

Goldenrod

The fields around here are FULL of goldenrod right now... my uncle pointed out that usually they are green with soybeans and corn at this time, but the weather just hasn't been conducive to planting. With all the storms, high winds, and flooding, it's going to be a late season. In the meantime, the goldenrod is just thriving, and I don't think I ever remember seeing it this lush and thick before. I've been dying to get out and get a photo of it, and finally took a moment on Saturday morning after I finished a lovely newborn session to snap a few frames. This one was my favorite:

After The Rain

I snapped these on Easter Sunday in the afternoon, in between rainstorms. I have several more to go thru, but these two images were the first to really jump out at me for editing. Landscape and nature shots have never been my best images, but I'm learning!

I would love to see this one printed on a canvas...

My recent obsession has been dandelions for some reason, and I was finally able to get a couple of good shots this afternoon. I edited this particular image four different ways, but I can't decide which one is my favorite... I love each one for different reasons, it will probably depend on my mood.

I wonder what these would look like on canvas or textured paper of some kind...

... and maybe a true black and white print on these.

Love That Shot Link-Up "Spring Fever"

In an earlier post, I shared several of the shots I took of the blooming tulips in my neighbor's yard last weekend, as well as some shots of the tiny white flowers on a bush in the front of my house. Today I found out that this month's Love That Shot link-up theme is "spring fever", so I went back through the images and chose my favorite one to enter into the contest. I think I will actually get this one printed (how ironic is it that I have bare walls in almost my entire house!) and hang it somewhere in my home... in the kitchen, maybe... It's bright and cheerful, and makes me smile when I look at it :-)

Springtime!

I'm so happy that we've had a few days of sunshine and warmer temperatures! As I was doing some housework yesterday, I happened to glance out the window and noticed the lovely lighting that everything was bathed in from the sun setting - the treasured "golden hour". I couldn't help myself, so I stopped the sweeping to run outside with my camera for a few minutes and captured these images. The beautiful red tulips are all over my neighbor's yard, and the white flowers are on a bush that was here when we bought the house. It's quite a shift from the ice glazing photos I took in February! I haven't tried for nature/landscape shots in a very long time, but I was pretty happy with these, and had fun shooting them!