Blue eyes and gone teeth

Happy New Years everyone!

Fun Times

This is a great time of the year for me. I basically take a very limited number of clients during the cold wet season, and have lots of time to play with stuff, and get ready for next years marketing adventures.

Today we went and froze at the local dog park again since the dogs had not been out in a week, and that's just too long! (Anyone out there with an active breed knows exactly what I am talking about)

Here's a shot I took, then played with a motion filter with in PSCS3. Which one do you like? Every once in a while I like to take it back to black and white and freshen up on composition and light. Well, there was no great dramatic light today, so I just played.....

Happy Holidays.

Season's Greetings and Happy Holidays to all of you. I am taking a break until after New Years but I will still answer email, and check my phone messages.

See you all in 2008!

Lost Tooth

I seem to have had quite a few parents requesting that I do not put their children on the blog, which I always respect, so let me post yet another shot of my own little one :)

My daughter lost her third tooth this Morning, So I played around and got some fun shots. Stuff like this just tickles me, I love documenting life little moments. I kind of haven't even started on my Christmas cards this year so I am going to use one of these, let me digress.

4 weeks ago when her 2 front teeth started showing signs of being loose, I giggled and told her; "Yay, then you can sing all I want for Christmas is my 2 front teeth" She proceeded to get very disturbed at this and decided they were not coming out before so she didn't have to sing the song. For weeks now she has been tucking them back into the gum and swearing they will not come out ever.

Last night, it was so loose we were sure it was time, and she became hysterical, I started playing around and suggested that she dry off her front teeth and use scotch tape to keep it in. She went crazy, like that was the best idea ever, and proceeded to tape her front teeth with layers and layers of tape. I grabbed the camera and shot away, but she begged me not to post it on the blog. So I made a promise that I wouldn't. They are so cute, it's is next to impossible not to post them, but a promise is a promise, I have to respect it, sigh. Years from now she will be so mad at me, man, I am so bad!

To quote Kevin Bacon when asked what his favorite hobby is: "Embarrassing my children"

Here's todays shot, by the way, it fell out first thing in the morning, and she was all smiles over it, go figure!

Dog Days in November

It was a lovely day today, so we packed up and took our dog to Hondo Dog Park to burn off some much needed energy. I took my new lens with me, and played a bit. As it goes with photography, some days are gold, some days are not. Today was not so much... I was in the zone, but the dogs had other things in mind. It was crazy busy, so better luck next time I guess! Here's a few shots to share below. CLICK HERE to see more from the day.

Happy Turkey day everyone. I got a new lens yesterday, and none of my family will pose for me today, maybe later... So I snuck outside and "shot" the dog instead. Hopefully I will have photos from the day a bit later. I hope everyone enjoys the holiday!

New Senior Templates

Hello, it's been a busy week. My apologies for not posting more lately! Last Monday I went to the PSCS3 power tour seminar. For those of you who don't know, I do this every year. This year I spent waaaaaay to much money with the vendors, but so goes growth right? (New lens coming any day now, oh oh oh I cannot stand it!) Just as I was feeling buyers remorse for jumping into a template package, I got to playing with them today. OH YA! Even though I could make these myself, it's the hours of creativity and playing I don't have these days. So, it's so worth it if they sell!

You tell me, all you seniors out there, something you might like? Of course it will take hours to make samples, and post online on the website, and and and, so for now, I am doing up a few, and passing them around just for feedback. I also have to set prices, so this is a super early preview, but I won't say no if someone wants one! I have about 200 of them, here are two.... What do you think?

Taiwan

Daddy came home from business in Taiwan tonight and he brought miss Millie quite an assortment of gifties which included but were not limited to this fan and gorgeous pink silk outfit. She modeled it for me on the back deck. It makes a much stronger portrait cropped in closer to the eyes and fan square I think, but I wanted to show the outfit here to so I left it as I shot it.

(Notice the edition of chopsticks in her hair? That was her idea, I think that is more Japanese, maybe even American.... but I didn't have the heart to tell HER that!)

We are really glad to have Dad back home with us tonight!

So much fun!

I went on a quick excursion outside my home this evening right before we lost all light. As luck would have it, right at the end, we got that great intense red sunset color. Really cool!

The time change makes it a bit tough to shoot where I am in the evenings, but I improvised, and we had so much fun. We really just decided to play and book the "real" senior session next Saturday. I cannot wait! Tonight was a really exciting start I think.

Here's a super sneak peek and as always, say it with me... "more to come!"
By the way... You can always click on the image for a larger view!

Fashion...

My miss Millie got a new outfit today and promptly proclaimed "Mom, lets go take pictures!"

I of course jumped at the chance since she has been very difficult to get in front of the camera lately, she goes through phases. So goes the life of a photographer's daughter. Some days it's all about making the camera competition for attention, and when it suits her, she becomes the attention. Today was one of those rare days indeed.

Evening light

Another spectacular session! What can I say, the day was set up for success... Here's your super sneak preview Mandy, these are a few of my favorites, there are so many great ones. Sorry, you'll have to wait for the rest :)

Another great night

It was another great night out. I live for this stuff, the light was challenging, and the skies threatened rain...

We were able to beat the weather, and these are a few of my top picks from the session. No doubt Mom and daughter will have other favorites, but these just shine for me.

I truly think every individual is gorgeous and unique that I get to work with, I love my job. How can you go wrong with freckles and dimples, I mean come on! I don't mean to gush, I just have so much fun out there!

Enjoy! As always, I will have a gallery up soon of proofs.

Super Sneak Peek

As fall would have it, yesterday was no exception. I found myself counting down to the scheduled session time, wondering if we would be rained out. It rained all day, but I still help out hope. Then, a half hour before the session, the skies cleared and the sun broke out into the most gorgeous light and we were ON! And so it goes for Autumn in Oregon.

Here's a super sneak peek for you from last night. I have several sessions scheduled soon, let's hope for "little miracles" for each. If not, it's "reschedule until we get it right" or next spring even I am afraid.

Enjoy, I hope to have the rest of these up within the week.

fun with the blues...

I have a blue image of my daughter here on my desk, and "K"'s Mom saw it an ogled over it. So I took a bit of time to play and here's what I came up with. People tend to love these or hate them. Personally I love anything non traditional, so this is fun for me!

10-19-2007 OK, so the general consensus from almost everyone is "Creepy"! Right on I say. It's the eyes and the milky glow... With Halloween right around the corner I guess it is only fitting! Sorry "K".....

Senior Portraits

Some of you that have been around my blog for a while may recognize this model-esk (is that even a word? Um no!) girl! I have had the pleasure of doing a session with her each year for 3 years now. It's so fun to watch clients grow up! I have literally watched her grow up as her Mother is a dear friend of mine.

Saturday we took off to a local park kind of off the map, and did some senior portraits. Some traditional and some very much not... Yep, she's a senior already! Seems just like yesterday she was 6 and tugging me down underwater in the pool with her friends. OK, I've embarrassed her enough no doubt! I will add more images to this post as I start to go through them, here's a super sneak peek for you guys! Stay tuned for more...





And a few more...

Dog Park

A recent trip to Hondo Dog Park with my camera. Visit my gallery to see more here.

Black Stallion

Yesterday found me out in Eagle Creek Oregon once more, to shoot a full eqyptian black stallion. The time of day couldn't have been worse, but I rose to the challenge of shooting a black horse in full sun at high noon. These kind of assignments are so fun for me, they are a challenge, and keep me on my toes. Here's a couple of my picks from the shoot.