"The Alley" Senior Session...

I had such a great time with Britt and her mom! One of my most enjoyable shoots ever! We stayed in one little alley and rocked out a ton of shots. Britt was a great sport and was willing to try almost every idea that I threw her way. Thanks so much ladies!

Twins Boys and a Great Grampa's Junkyard

 

 I have been waiting so long to take the twins to their great-grampa's junkyard for a portrait session. I was just giddy with excitement the day of the shoot. There is so much color, texture, so many great props, and great lighting that I was on sensory overload (in a good way)! The shot above is one of my favorites--love the color and patina on that old car. Next year when they are walking and talking we will go out again and venture further into the photographer's paradise! Can't wait!

Camouflage & Popping Pink! Need I say more?

The Event: McGill & Edwards Wedding
The Date: August Thirteenth, Two Thousand Eleven
The Venue: Pine River Recreation Club

Jake & Sara had a wonderful wedding day, despite mother nature and her sassy self. A change of venue had to be made early in the day that took the wedding from a beautiful green field with soft, rolling hills and a rustic barn wood "archway" to the indoor location of the reception hall. With the help of family and friends the hall was transformed into a sweet wedding venue. I met up with the guys at the recreation club early in the afternoon and we had a great time taking "the guy" pics. Soon, it was time for the bride and her entourage to arrive in a sleek, white limo. The ceremony was quickly underway and was executed almost without a hitch (Sara couldn't get her bottle of sand open, and the minister remedied the situation with his pocket knife). We were looking forward to some beautiful outdoor photo ops after the ceremony, but again mother nature "rained" on our parade and all pictures were taken inside. The weather did clear up later and I took Sara and Jake outdoors for a little fun and we captured some gorgeous portraits. Thank you Jake & Sara McGill!

A Boy's 4th Birthday Party!

We had a great time on Drew's 4th birthday. Cat in the Hat, Big Boy and lots of friends and family made the day a roaring success for one four-year-old little boy. His big gift was a trampoline from Mom and Dad which we surprised him with first thing on his birthday morning. He said the night before he wanted a really big present, bigger than his room! His cake turned out better than I anticipated which was nice surprise...we appreciate everyone who was involved and all of the birthday wishes on Facebook. We had his party in the garage this year and Mike spent a lot of time cleaning the garage and painting the floor, which believe me was something that has needed attention since we moved in over eight years ago! Happy Birthday Drew! We love you!

A Pretty Dress + Ballerina + Angel = One Sweet Little Girl!

I had a great time in the studio with little Miss A yesterday! We played dress up with my awesome tutu and headband from Anything Crafty by Leslie and the Angel Wings & Halo set. We made great use of my new and improved strobe studio and my natural light studio. I have been experimenting with the natural light side of things this summer and am really loving the results. I decided a change was in order and cleared out my studio, then brought things back together with the end result being a natural light area and a strobe area. Both are actually new to me because I have always used continuous lights with the indoor studio and only use natural light outdoors. I will let the pictures speak for themselves...check out this sweet little baby girl!

A Momma and her Babies...

After leaving GG's the other day, Drew and I happened upon a sweet momma deer and her two adorable fawns. I pulled up to the corner, looked for cars and instead spotted this trio standing in the grass. I backed up (yes, I made sure there was no one behind me) and parked at the side of the road. I hopped out of the truck, opened the back door and rummaged for my camera. Drew and I were headed to the lake so my truck was piled high and I literally had to crawl over things to find my camera bag and haul out my camera. I had a fixed lens on, not a zoom, but decided it wasn't worth the hassle to change at that point. I walked towards them and they seemed interested in me and not particularly scared or nervous. I snapped a few pictures and slowly walked toward them--then decided I needed my zoom if I really wanted to get a good close-up. I was thinking there was no way they were going to wait around for me to change lenses and come back for another shot...but, guess what, they did! I felt very honored that they chose me to take their family portrait that day. Thanks Deer Family!

mel·on·chol·y

 

 "melon·choly"

(mel·an·chol·y      noun   /ˈmelənˌkälē/)

A deep, contemplative manner of looking at life...

Congrats Jenny & Jason!

The Event: McBride & Olger Wedding
The Date: June Eighteenth, Two Thousand Eleven
The Venue: Deerfield Park Covered Bridge

A gorgeous day and a gorgeous venue made for a wonderful wedding day for Jenny & Jason Olger. A red Chevy pickup truck, a covered bridge, a perfect bride and groom, and two fun families made the wedding a one-of-a-kind event. This event was simple, elegant and amazing. We took wedding portraits before and after the actual wedding which means much less stress and more time to get those great shots. Wedding...Lunch at Maxfield's and off the following day on an Alaskan cruise with their closest friends. Woot! Congratulations Jenny & Jason.

 

A Gorgeous Wedding!

The Event: Bacome & Trecy Wedding Day
The Date: June Eleventh, Two Thousand Eleven 
The Venue: Dunning Memorial Chapel, Alma -- Maxfield's Restaurant, Edmore

A Bride...A Groom...A Fairytale Theme = the makings of an awesome wedding day for Amanda & Ryan Trecy. Mix spicy pink dresses with rich chocolate brown tuxes and you have a sweet color treat. Everything about the day was gorgeous, including the weather which turned around and was perfect. The ladies started their day preparing at Colorworks hair salon while the guys chose to get ready at the chapel. All of the planning, stressing, preparing and waiting ended as the beautiful bride and her father entered the sanctuary...the ceremony was poignant and beautifully executed. The reception, which included a candy buffet and "sweet" table center pieces had the guests "sugar buzzing" while awaiting the arrival of the bridal party. Everyone had a wonderful time celebrating this special day for Ryan and Amanda. Congratulations and Happily Ever After!

A Beautiful Wedding Day...June 11, 2011

Congrats Amanda & Ryan! Thank you for letting us capture your gorgeous wedding!

Gary Fong is the Bong!

I am loving my Lightspere by Gary Fong. I love the way the light is filtered. I have had it a while and have not used it, but decided to bust it out at my friend's daughter's 8th Birthday Party last night. Even though it is large, even though it looks like "a tupperware bowl" (not my quote), even though it's not the most convenient to store away discreetly---I LOOOOOVE IT!

Now, a few pics from the party that was at The Menu Manager in Midland. The Menu Manager is an awesome place and the kids had a great time! They had Quesadillas to eat, made Lasagna to take home, had cookies to dip and decorate and take home also. They made a recipe book and had loads of fun.

Making Lasagna...

 

The Birthday Girl!

The Birthday Girl and her Mom...

Drew Dipping...

My Little Chef...

My other friend's daughter...

Birthday Girl.

The Awesome Rice Krispie cake made by my friend...Delicious! and cute!

 

Wow! I need to post more often!

It has been too long since I have posted anything to the blog. I have had several moments to blog about, just have not carved out the time to do it. So, this will be a menagerie of things that should/would/could be blogged about, but were NOT--but now are!


BREAKFAST! Sometimes Mom can be clever like Daddy...

My Little Graduate...

And Cupcake Wars may not be far off--I have honed my skills. Took these to Drew's Preschool Graduation...

A walk down the lane...actually it's Bass Lake Drive.

Simplicity...a mom can never get too many Dandelion Bouquets!

The Big Fat Fort (aptly named by Dad and Drew) the beginning...

...on his way to help Dad with the Big Fat Fort.

Flower Power...(sorry not very original) at Bass Lake

 

THE END

Planes, Trains & Automobiles...well, actually just TRAINS!

 

Drew finally scored a train set. Our first sale of the season and he came home with a train set, a farm set and several movies. He has been wanting a train, but he has the table train set we gave him last year for Christmas, so we really did not think he needed another train...but garage sales being...well, inexpensive shall we say, how can you not!? Of course, who has room for them to be set up all the time--so we will be setting up, taking down, setting up, taking down... Since we are having our own garage sale this week (Tues-Thurs) hopefully I can eliminate some things from "garage sales past" to make more room. I can't let Drew know I am getting rid of anything, he always says "no thank you" when I ask if there are any toys he would like to donate to the sale...

Cupcakes...

Let's just suffice it to say that I will never be watched on "Cupcake Wars." Drew wanted to make cupcakes the other day, so I rummaged around the cupboard, didn't find a box cake mix...decided we would look up a recipe online. I found one that sounded good and simple enough from scratch...Cream Filled Cupcakes! I proceeded to get out the ingredients, bowls, measuring cups/spoons, etc. We started to make the cupcakes (and I use the term "we" very loosely, since my boy decided I could handle the project on my own this time--even though it was his idea). I made the cake batter and attempted to pour/spoon/ladle it into the paper wrapper things. I believe it took me 10 minutes to fill 15 holes--and not one of them was the same height--and I don't know when it is half full or 1/4 full or 1/3 full once you start filling it up--who knows!? Once they were in the oven I began whipping up the "filling." Everything went fine with this except that I was interrupting my fellow baker's "show" with my loud beater. Cupcakes out of the oven--they did not bake evenly since, well, they were 15 different heights! Let them cool, went back to the "filling" and searched for something, anything--well there has to be something! I can use to poke a hole in the bottom of this dang cupcake and squeeze the filling in---but alas--there was not. So, filling became frosting and wo-lah! Cupcakes!

A bunny named Beavis...

Wow! The bunny pictures were awesome this year. The kids looked adorable and were GREAT with Beavis. Some wanted to hold him while others preferred he just sit nicely by them. Had a wonderful day and a lot of fun and laughter. Thanks to everyone for making our bunny pictures a success! Thanks to my hubs and my niece Brooke for helping out. Thank you Beavis for your excellent photo debut!

Butterflies at Dow Gardens 2011

Took a little venture over to Midland yesterday...The hubs wanted to go over and look at my brother-in-law's new property and see how it was survived the deluge of water we received. I told Drew he needed to get dressed, brush his teeth, comb his hair, wash his face, etc...and he of course said "Why?" and I replied because we were going some place, he of course said "Where?" and I replied, "Midland." He said "Oh! to see the butterflies?" and I said, "Well yes, that is where we are going." So, we filled Daddy in on the addition to our itinerary and off we went. I had no idea how tired he was and on the way there he was being very quiet, so I was turning around to say, what are you doing sleeping back there? and guess what--he was! (That rarely happens, believe me). So, we went to check the property, put gas in the truck, went through Subway drive-thru, then to Dow Gardens parking lot to wait and eat. He finally woke up after sleeping about 45 minutes and was ready to go in. It was a great adventure!

My Mally Makeup before/after...or done/not-done...

Here is my Mally makeover and 

makeunder face!