Such as albums. Beautiful with all kinds of attitude, I think.

They come with an array of cover options, contemporary colors, and beautiful styling.

A great way to combine all your session images in one keepsake. Looking forward to creating these for seniors!

And gallery wraps…gorgeous and so very sleek. Gallery warps are printed on fine art canvas and wrapped around a wooden frame. Gallery wraps arrive complete and ready to hang the moment they are received. A collage canvas gallery wrap is an excellent way to combine up to nine images on one canvas wrap. This a collage gallery wrap I put together with photos that say “life” to me.

It’s the weekend. It is wet outside…I love rainy days. Smile. Happy weekend.

Most if us get a little nervous with one camera being pointed at us. Not Lauren. She had six and didn’t mind a bit.

Bubbly and laughter. This is Lauren. And adorable outfits. Love the orange coat!

The following photo makes me smile. This is what Lauren put up with! Deanna got in touch with me awhile back and we planned to meet this winter. My thought…hey, why not add to the experience and invite a few others?!!  Meeting with other photographers always inspires me. I always learn. Thanks to Deanna, Jess, Michele, Jolyn, Tiffany and ever so fabulous Lauren for a good time!

Stripes – I always gravitate to stripes. They just get me and I get them.

Converses – always. And the best part…they go with anything. Really.

Purses – the perfect add on. Ya know, you can never have too many. Bring on the color.

Boots – I am loving these ankle high cowboy boots. So chic, I think.

Hair pieces – Oh, they look sweet on photos. Jut adds that little “pop” of something to a photo. I am pretty sure I could not pull off the heart clips, but I am absolutely certain they would be perfect for senior photos!

Ruffly skirts – Something about them is divinely perfect. They make me happy.

Gray – Do you go through color spurts? Right now, I can’t enough of gray. Love the muted shades of gray that are so easy to pair with bright and bold color.

Accessories of all kinds. Yes, pretty please!

Forever 21 – Fashion without going broke. Amen.

And my crazy four year old. This is the best smile I could get from him. I seriously love him! Smile.

Dr Suess says…

“When you are in love you can’t fall asleep because reality is better than your dreams.”

Okay, Dr. Suess!

I was in the mood to play with color. Color makes my senses come alive. Bright and bold shades. Kinda feels similar to walking into a coffee shop.  The rich, aromatic smells lighten my step. Before I even sip on the caffeinated mug of brew, I am feeling perky. Color gives me a jolt…I love it.

Happy Valentines to you!  XOXO

This is the time of year that I have a chance to slow down, plan for the coming year, take in a workshop, bake cookies…chocolate chip of course, and take sibling’s school photos.

Little brothers.

This is Brandon. Brandon is my youngest sibling. He has a heart of gold and will do almost anything for you.

Mischievous…of course. Stubborn…uh, huh.

This is Jordan. Jordan is 14 and likes to think he is 18. We have all been there…it passes, right? Okay. He is an excellent babysitter and does so quite often for me. In fact, my kiddos have learned all kinds of useful info from him…like how to jump ramps with skateboards, to hang on tightly when you go for Gator rides, where to hunt for crows, how to build and then jump pillow towers in the living room, and Play Station strategies.

No really, they are growing up so fast and I love having my boys play with their big uncles.

This is Brandon’s “picture” smile and seriously, it was almost impossible to break it. It’s like a mixture of “I am kinda bored and I really don’t want to smile too big and look cheesy” smile.

I really do love my little brothers. Happy Monday.

Texture and color from the big city…mmmmmm.

Girl friends. God knew I needed them.

They understand me. Quite possibly better than I can myself. They push me forward. Watch my back. Ask me to trust them. Don’t flatter…will say the tough truth. Ask me to live with Life. Let me vent. Give me perspective. Tears, anger, laughter, highs and lows…we have shared it. Over the phone, late night McDonald fries, at the park with the kids…we put into words “our issues” and somehow we walk away “all better”. Seriously, these girls are such a significant part of my life.

Ann is the queen of quotes and she shares them and I love’em. So this one ended up in my inbox yesterday…

“Be glad of life because it gives you the chance to love and to work and to play and to look up at the stars.” Henry Van Dyke.

And with it were her words, “I am a firm believer in the little things of life. For the little things, are indeed, the big things of life….if we have the eyes to perceive them as such. Rejoice then , for the chance to live.”

So have a super weekend. Snow. Lots of it is in the forecast. Yes! And the Superbowl. Smile.

Happy birthday to my little “big boy”! Six today. Somebody tell me how that happened, please.

A green crocodile cake has been his requested “next birthday cake” ever since his last birthday. So I will be serving a green crocodile cake, complete with marshmallow eyes and malted milk ball nostrils….to little boy friends. Happy Friday to you to. Smile!

So I don’t know if all kids do this…

Collect everything. Everything! On any given moment Adler will be carrying a number of random “treasures”. It varies from day to day. Today it happens to be a brightly colored unsharpened pencil, a tiny super ball, an old cell phone, and a pack of gum. Today these objects are his treasures and they go with him wherever he goes. To bed at nap time. Outside in the coat pocket. In the car as we run errands. When it is time to stash and “hide” treasures…guess where they all go? In his bed…he sleeps in the top bunk. Either under his pillow or jammed between the wall and the mattress. And so his treasures collect. And collect. If something turns up missing…this is where we look. And then we remove colored papers, plastic dinosaurs, toy guns, lollipops, his favorite soccer t-shirt, and whatever else was deemed as “treasure”.

So he does his little boy things. Smile!

Happy weekend!

Just because I have been thinking…

So what is happiness? It can come in many forms…right? Dark chocolate cake, for sure. A “just for you” smile from your man. An chatty phone call from an old friend. But ya know, we can laugh and smile and enjoy our cake too, but not be happy, right? Does happiness lie in accomplishing? How about the “good life”? Or everybody liking me?

Could it be true, honest to goodness happiness lies in peace? Peace with who I am. Peace with where I am in life. Peace with waiting and resting. Understanding that life will never be perfect. There will always be somebody better. Something that should be done…most likely fingerprints on the front door and a closet that needs organized. There will always be somebody that doesn’t approve. The overwhelming “problem”. The unknown in the future. The what if’s.

January is the month of goals, plans and dreams. And I love this and I will…’cause I love planning and dreaming and goals. But for right now, I am learning that the most important goal I can have is to trust. Complete trust. A soft, gentle and yielding trust. And I am only learning, but I am thinking this is real peace and long term happiness.

Okay, and because their pretty smiles make me happy, meet my nieces…Megan and Taryn.

Happy weekend to you. Smile!

It’s always fun to photograph friends…

Beautiful Natalie.

Her pretty mother is Coleen from Capture This Photography.

Had to include Isaac’s grin…

The rambling part…

Help-Portrait is defined as “A movement of photographers who are using their time, equipment, and expertise to give back to those that are less fortunate.” Basically it involved four steps: find somebody in need, take their portrait, print their portrait, and deliver it to them. On December 12th this happened at locations all over the world.

When invited last minute by Carrie from Cairtree Photography to take part in Help-Portrait at Water Street Mission, I couldn’t get it off my mind. Details fell in place and I was able to jump in.

Yeah, it made me appreciate how blessed I really am. I take for granted that my basic needs are always there. But even more so, I realized again how quickly my world becomes centered on my world.

I mean, my computer seems to think I enjoy watching the little beach ball spinning as it processes…grrrrr.  The traffic was awful….made us late for our nice dinner out. Hmmm, flats or boot…flats or boots….I can never decide. The lines at the mall were out of this World…they really should do something different. Why does my four year old always spill his cereal right after the kitchen floor is cleaned? And that four dollar latte was waaaay to sweet.

Yeah, it made me realize how quickly my tiny world can consume me…there is so much more.

I love Carrie’s thought…a camera should never be used for taking, only giving.

As I had the opportunity to work with those less fortunate, I walked away blessed.

The photographer’s working at Water Street Mission:

It is Friday and snow is in the forecast and we are going to start wrapping gifts today. Smile! Happy weekend.