This session was a blast- I haven’t laughed this much in so long.  I can’t wait for A & J’s wedding in March! Often people ask me what they can do to have great pictures and I tell everyone to relax and have fun. I know it seems hard to do, I have been on the other side of the camera too. I promise being yourself and being comfortable is really the key. Your love with come through, your smiles will be real and the session will be FUN!

This sweet couple is doing the long distance thing while “J” is away overseas in the Air Force and I know they are going to be looking at these images and remembering how much the L.O.V.E each other!!  Thank you guys for choosing me to capture these special moments in your lives!

Here are a few of my favorites, enjoy!

Thank you all for the kind words and sweet emails expressing care and sympathy for Baby Joshua’s family and friends. I know they appreciate your support.

Joshua’s memorial took place today and it was very therapeutic for me to create his slideshow, and to see his prints come in from the lab.  The image below is one of my favorites:

You can just feel how much he is loved by his amazing family! I was so lucky to spend those special moments with Joshua and his loved ones.

Here is a link to Joshua’s slideshow

Please remember Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS) and the wonderful support this organization is able to offer families.

Just a quick update to let you all know more Baby Joshua NILMDTS session photos will be up tomorrow!

I proof with a Wacom tablet and it broke of course I had to rush to Amazon.com and order a new one so it should be here this afternoon after a two day delay at the warehouse.   And yes, I do like the Bamboo Touch a lot more than the more expensive Intuos I had before the Bamboo Touch.  Don’t you just love it when something cheaper works out better?  Ahh the little things in life.

In other news… it has been a rough week for so many people I care about.  Another family lost a son/grandson/nephew/cousin/friend this week and they are grieving  just like Baby Joshua’s friends and family.  It makes me sad to know so many people I care about are hurting.  I wish I could do more or say something that would make things better.

{fingers crossed the tablet gets here soon so I can get back to my normal routine}

As many of you know, I work with the organization Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS), which provides infant bereavement photography for terminally ill or stillborn babies.  Often I don’t get a chance to meet the families until that moment I open the hospital room door, but I met Baby Joshua’s mommy early this summer.  We were able to sit down and talk about the family’s wishes and all the special moments they had planned for Joshua.   Then we ended up running into each other at swimming lessons and that gave the older children a chance to see me again.

Yesterday morning I got that call Joshua was ready to meet his family. And he was really ready to meet everyone, I arrived at 10:40 and at 11:14am Joshua Henry was born!  I feel so blessed that I was able to spend hours with Baby Joshua and his wonderful, loving family.  As soon as his brothers and sisters came in to meet him he opened his eyes to see those people he has been hearing all these months.  Joshua had so many loving visitors and he peacefully let everyone introduce themselves.  He did let us know (with the loudest cry of the day) that Kangaroo Care with Mom was his favorite place to be snuggled.

Joshua passed away this morning from complications of  Trisomy 13, he was surrounded by his loving family.  It has taken me so long to write this post, it is just so difficult to write. Please keep Joshua’s family in your thoughts and prayers!  And remember NILMDTS is a wonderful organization for families in need.  Please feel free to contact me if you need more information.

Today was a rough day- just all around yuck!  But as soon as I saw these I felt a little smile creep across my face.  Hope these bring you a little laugh too!

What’s a photographer to do when four cute little boys appear at sunset on the beach? And not just any beach at sunset.. Sanibel Island.  I watched them for a little bit and then I couldn’t stand it anymore {my own little guy was in bed after swimming for 8 hours straight} so I walked over and introduced myself. I am explaining that I am a photographer in Melbourne, FL {and not a weird stalker} would she mind if I played and took some pictures with her boys?  Guess what??!!  The boys’ mom used to live in Vero Beach, what a small world and it was their last night in Sanibel!

We ran out of light pretty quickly but had some fun splashing and watching hermit crabs before it got dark.  I decided to go with a light, airy, beach’y post processing on these.

Here is a sneak peek from a fun wedding at the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa.  This was a small, intimate destination wedding with a great couple from North Dakota.  The beautiful weather came through and gave them a perfect (although H.O.T) afternoon for the ceremony.  The groom is a meteorologist so we chatted about clouds and how different our climates are .. I can’t believe it is still cold in some parts of the country! I absolutely loved the bright colors and beautiful bouquet  Here are few images:

What would it be like without photography?  I can’t imagine it, it hurts to think about. No photos, no cameras… what would I do?  So instead of trying to imagine the world without photography I figured I would dedicate this post to my cameras.

Most of you know I have one beautiful son and a wonderful supportive husband; and of course I love them with every cell in my body BUT I also love my camera babies.  I baby sit them when we are at the beach. I keep them close to me in public places. I don’t leave them in the car alone. I buy them glasses (ok L glass) when then need to see something closer, farther away or just see better.  I keep them clean and fed (ok I just charge the batteries but that is their food, right?)  If one of them is in danger I leap tall buildings to save it (or stick my foot out and let it land there when the strap breaks).  I keep their boxes and paperwork like they are hospital blankets and birth certificates.  I keep first aid kits for them in the bag with first aid kits for my human child when we travel.  Speaking of travel..when we travel they always arrive in style.  I have a bag for every season and never pass up a new bag I think they might enjoy.

Now I know it sounds like I am a really over-protective camera mom but trust me I let them have fun too!  I take them to beach and we stand in the surf and we lay in the sand (I do move really quickly when a little person decides to throw sand at my baby and I have been known to sprout Inspector Gadget arms to protect them from rouge waves trying to take us down).  We play in the rain and splash in puddles together.  They get to stay up late at night and see the stars and fireworks.  They get to travel by plane, car, and boat to exciting new locations.  I let them try new things and play with new toys, they really enjoyed going to school for off-camera flash. We meet all kinds of new people together, they love meeting children! Kids aren’t scared to hold them, try them out, or experiment. I think my cameras have it pretty good!

Enjoy this wonderful holiday and be sure to get your camera out and capture something fun!  I am going to take my boy out this evening and let him pick what we photograph.

Here is a link about World Photography Day

Some inspiration for World Photography Day

If you are reading this, I did it!  The website is live and working AND I didn’t pull out my hair or have to pay someone to fix something for me. I told my hubby I felt like I had the Jello Pudding Face smile on my face and then that made me think about the funny Doggie Denture smile too.

This update was such a long time in the works and I want to thank all my clients/friends/family for pushing me to finish the website updates, so here is a little laugh for you.  Stay tuned tomorrow – it’s an important day!

It is almost time to start the wonderful (although c.r.a.z.y) holiday photography season and I thought a new website and blog would be just the thing to make me stick to my promises of more blogging.  I have been working on the site for some time now and very excited for everyone to see it.

No need to remind me how badly I needed to update the website.. some new babies did just that. Can you believe some of my wonderful families have added new babies since I last updated my site?  This new site is all inclusive and seems pretty easy to update so I am hoping I can stay on top of sharing new favorites, tips and other fun stuff.

I am going to start the DNS server switch (yes I do all this web stuff by myself too) tomorrow and I am little worried about how it all will go.  Fingers crossed that this will go off into web land and somehow, magically, become my new site.

Here is a little sneak peak of  the new website:

It is very similar in looks to the old site but is ipad, iphone, smart phone friendly and should load faster too! The blog is connected to the site as well which makes it much more streamlined. I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to share with friends and family I know you all love seeing your little ones on the site

This  image shows the drop down menus for the portfolio galleries. The Featured galleries contain newborns, baby, children, family portraits sessions. Wedding galleries are of course weddings.. and the birth gallery are so amazing! I have been so blessed to photograph some very special birth sessions and I love it! The “giving back” gallery has some special angel photos from NILMDTS and other families I have met while giving back. It also contains some editorial work from charity event coverage. I hope you enjoy viewing the different galleries.