Home

Time flies when you're having fun, right? I hope you will kindly forgive my prolonged absence. I've been a busy bee. Since we last "spoke", for lack of a better term, I've been busy. I bought a house, moved into said house, and had a portrait session at MY HOUSE!

It's been a glorious transition for me and if you know me, you know it's been a struggle and a constant series of ups and downs. There were days where I wasn't sure I'd ever wanted anything more, days when I wanted to give up and rent a house, days when I was seriously pissed at myself for even THINKING of giving up, and days when I was really excited inside but didn't want the world to know - just in case it fell through.

I've been HOME for a little over a month, and now that it's finally sunk in that no one is going to come by and say "Just kidding! Give the keys back", I can finally relax and regroup.

As with any move, it's been time consuming. It's also been exciting and monumental. I finally have a place to store all of my photography gear and props, and our back yard is lovely. I can see many a portrait session here in the future. Of course, the inside of our home is light and bright, making for a great photography space.

Matter of fact, I had a recent shoot with some awesome kiddo's in my yard over the weekend - spurring me to publish a new blog post. My lovely friend J and her kids A & K were great to work with. They were in and out on their way to Grandma's house - although they didn't have to travel over the river and through the woods to get there. Oh, there I go... turning into my mother again.

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot. Enjoy!

Portrait of a Toddler: Round Valley Regional Preserve

Last Friday our office closed early in advance of the President's Day Holiday and that allowed me just enough time to get home, grab my little family, and make it out to Round Valley Regional Preserve in Brentwood in time for the "golden hour" of light.

I didn't know about this place until a local photographer, Alicia Holder Photography, took some portraits there for us last year.  It was loads of fun and a great place for photographs.

She took a photo of our boy on a large boulder when he was 1, and I thought it would be fun to try and go back there again this year and take a photo on the same boulder.  I'm going to try and do it each year for as long as he'll let me.  Maybe someday we'll take his Senior Pictures there... whoa, gotta reel myself in!

At any rate, we made it to Round Valley and we had a great time looking at the cows and he ran, and ran, and ran some more.  Let me tell you, that boy is FAST!





It was all I could do to get him to sit still for a half a second on the boulder for the shot we came for:



We had another "boy meets" moment that day. I like to call this one "Boy Meets Horse...Manure!"



Thankfully, Daddy was there to lend me a hand.  I wouldn't have been able to do it by myself!







Thanks for sharing these moments with us.  I'm so glad we went that day, even if it seemed rushed  trying to get there before sundown.



-Samantha

Watch out for sharks!

My parents are fortunate enough to have a tournament size billiards table in their home and let me tell you, the kids LOVE it! I mean, what child can resist balls and sticks, right?

My little boy is no exception.  He loves his time in the pool room with his Papa.  I snuck into the pool room with my son a few days ago and snapped these photos.










Luckily, my Dad isn't the "internet type", so there's no chance this will ruin his birthday surprise.  I'm going to have one or two of these printed and framed for him to display proudly every time his friends come over.

Love pool or hate it, these sure do warm my heart.

Fadalah & The Littlest Cowboy

We are so fortunate that our son has a Grandma who loves horses enough to have one of her own. She took us out to meet Fadalah on Sunday afternoon, and I couldn't think of a better way to spend the evening. Fadalah was such a gentleman.


He was absolutely lovely to be around and was so gentle. He didn't get even the slightest bit spooked by my boy, who was definitely hesitant at first.



Fadalah was a great model - he stood still and just let the evening sunlight reflect off of him and it was a perfect afternoon.


The littlest cowboy was definitely adorable in his miniature Wrangler jeans. I couldn't have been more pleased with the way our first encounter went. I'm sure it will lead to many, many more.


What better way could you think of to spend a fall afternoon?

Portrait of a Toddler

Where better to capture the fun of being a toddler than at your local community park?  I had so much fun shooting my son last week.  It was really a blast and I'm sure you will all be sick of seeing my little boy sooner rather than later.

I don't know what it is about him, but he draws people in.  People gravitate to his presence - even strangers in public places can't resist him.  I don't know if it's like that for every small child, but it certainly is for mine.  What a fortunate little boy.

At any rate, here is what is likely to be the first of the series: Portrait of  a Toddler. Happy Thursday!