Tournament of Champions!

 

Just wanted to take a minute a show off one of my favorite shots from last night. That was serious fun for me. Having played basketball and loved it, I just got a jolt of memories... good calls, bad calls, blood and sweat, yelling coaches, intensity of the game, the stall, the confusion of "who has who?"... love it. Being right there on the sideline and under the basket - truly the BEST seat in the house!!

Reynolds School Pics

My first photo shoot with my new little lens of wonder... the Canon EF 50mm 1.4. It was my Christmas present to me. And don't roll your eyes, you do it, too. Justify that one special thing because you've worked hard for it, you deserve it, plus, there's a little Christmas cash coming - you hope. So this is it for me. A new lens. It's an INVESTMENT, I say.
I bought that lens, and ran immediately over to take these pics. Technically, these are their school pics for the year, thus the simple background and no outdoorsy stuff. Hopefully we can grab some creative shots at a later date. I just love the expressions, though... Enjoy!

Demers!

I have too many favorites of this shoot, so I'm sharing several of them here...



Laura had asked that I not post until after Christmas gifts and all had been opened, so FINALLY, I get to share these with the world.





Obviously, we all look a bit cozy warm in these outdoor shots, probably because it was November and it was during that beautiful weather phase here in the Ozarks...






Last night I texted the Demers to see what they were up to, and lo and behold, they were watching the exact same movie our family was watching!! Only they were 13 min ahead of us, texting me improtant lines and such. Now that's friendship. It's OK, though, it was Fellowship of the Ring, and I kinda know how it goes ~ since we watch the Trilogy every winter break. I'm not an orc junkie, I hate 'em, but the themes interwoven throughout the Lord of the Rings are wonderful, and I preach to my kids the whole time. I know they love it.
Sorry, I digress.

I can't say enough good things about this family, other than I've enjoyed getting to know them on a deeper level this year, and I was thrilled to get to take their pictures. It was an easy and fast session, again in my back field which I think is perfect. Although, now there are 2 horses in that field and it's not so perfect anymore, if you know what I mean.

Big news!

Some of you may already know this, if you follow me on Facebook or Twitter, but I have wonderful news! In January, I get to travel with my Mom and Daughter to LONDON to see my nephew, Brad, and his beautiful bride, Sarah get married! How thrilled we all are, for this sweet couple to take this huge step! You can check out their neat little wedding website:

Not only do we get to go to London, but I also get to be the photographer for the wedding! And being family and all, I gotta do an awesome job! So to prepare for this, I called up the best in the business: Dawn Shields. You can see her website here:
She GRACIOUSLY let me tag along for one of her recent weddings, where I got to listen, observe, grab these images, talk equipment, and catch up a bit with my friend. I can't say THANKS to her enough for all her help so far! I am learning more with each step I take, and I find that in this business, there are certain people just committed to helping others make it.
So if you find me standing around fumbling with odd looking equipment, I'm just practicing and figuring out how to do yet one more thing.

THESE PICTURES ARE FROM THE WEDDING, COURTESY DAWN SHIELDS PHOTOGRAPHY!

Sidnei

Wow, it's been forever since my last post here. I need to do one of those year long photo a day goals, but I know me... I'll make it half way through February and get distracted. So, just in case you wondered if I was taking any pictures at all, well, you know me...

Meet Sidnei. Now this is a young lady who I have enjoyed very much. She was a bit shy to start off with, of course, she didn't know me from Adam. But pull out her favorite guitar, or throw on a bold outfit - and let the fun begin. I really can't decide which ones to post!

Earlier that very same day, I spent some time following around a fantastic, wonderful, experienced, highly skilled, knows-what-she's-doing-kinda-gal at a wedding in Springfield. I learned so much and even got to grab a few great images. So, a HUGE THANK YOU to my friend who has already helped me so much. Words don't do it justice, how grateful I am! :-)

I'm all caught up on print orders, photobooks, and Christmas cards - finally. Now I need to take a photo for my 2009 card. Wonder what it'll be...

The Carroll's!

So Angie wanted to do this "artsy fartsy" look, and that is a DIRECT quote from her. The place: downtown Springfield, my favorite alley. The time: 11-12 NOON. That is not usually the best time of day for a session, but look how it glows! Turned out so cool, don't ya think?
They were gorgeous. I had fun. What more can I ask?

One word: JOY

 

 

 

 

I mean it, this sweet family is full of life, fun, spirit, energy, and JOY. Last week, we got to get outside and grab some shots here in Rogersville, in the deep pile of leaves and beautiful sunshine. Some people have asked if it's still a good time to take outdoor portraits, and with a November like this, I think it's obvious! It has been beautiful! Plus, there are no bugs, critters, or snakes... with the exception of one little field mouse which scampered away from us in the field. The kids totally ignored it, which I think is funny. The tree house was waayyy too interesting!

So, this bottom photo is obviously not from a "session," but I love it - well, I love THEM. We have been blessed here in the Ozarks to have 2 BEAUTIFUL Saturdays in a row, so we better take advantage of it and go outside!
The next day, I took pictures of a barrel race in Marshfield, which was also great fun. I met a lot of wonderful people who are very good at something I am not... horses. I actually own 2 myself. But I do not do what they do... they ride their horses. A LOT. And to train them to work around the barrel course in about 15 seconds? Pretty cool. I'll just stick to snapping the shutter. Which, by the way, this was probably the most challenging shoot so far for me. LOW LIGHT - FAST ACTION - DUST - LOTS of brown dirt... All part of the job, and I did my best. But next time, I may bring that $4,000 lens along with me. Oh yeah, I don't have it yet... :-)

Ohhh, Brother!

Here are a couple of shots from the Ray family - there were times during this shoot, that I had to put my camera aside and just laugh at these little guys. Hopefully, I didn't miss a single shot, but I did have fun! It was a gorgeous day in Ozark, leaves still on the trees, and we went to a private, but open to the public property - where I kinda got in trouble with the owner for parking (Greg's monster truck) in the wrong place. Got some great family shots, though... oh well, live and learn!!

I Heart Fall

This is without a doubt THE prettiest time of year to take outdoor portraits! The trees are gorgeous, of course, and the colors so strong. If it just wasn't for all that nasty weather...
So, meet my Rogersville Senior, Megan. She is a beautiful girl, inside and out, and I honestly had a blast shooting these. She is no stranger to being in front of a camera, so, my goal was to give her something fresh, something completely different than what she's done before. I so hope we did it. THANKS for the opportunity!

{oh, do you like the new look? How awesome is it to have a daughter who keeps me up to date on this blog?! THANKS for the fresh colors, Lauren!}

Beautiful family

Meet the Dort family... It was the first really cold morning this Fall, and of course, we had a session lined up. Luckily, it had somewhat dried out from the weeks 8+ inches of rain, so we started inside for some warmth, and then headed out for some sun. I love the results, love that girl, love that belly (she's due in November!)...

Barrel Race!

Meet Abby and her horse! This girl can flat out ride! Check out the concentration on her face... Love it.

So, as a photographer, you get to do a lot of different kinds of things and meet lots of people. And though I have NEVER been to a barrel race, this was right down my alley. I will get to be the photographer for another race coming up in October - a very busy month - so I went to this event in Ozark to get some experience. The 2 things I learned:

1. Wearing boots is a MUST

2. Watch where you step...

Paul Winder

What a great morning this was for a Senior photo shoot downtown! The weather was slightly overcast and the temp perfect...
These are just a few of my personal favorites, but there were a lot to choose from, if I may say so myself! He did a great job and seemed comfortable with me, AND he even missed a cross country meet for this - I feel so honored! And get this, I almost slipped in the largest pile of dogpoop I've ever seen - AGAIN, it finds it's way into another photo shoot behind the scenes...What's up with that?!?!