Sneak Peek for the "O" Family

Here's just one sneak peek for the "O" family. I had fun with you at that night! Just wait until you see the ones by the stone steps. The lighting was as beautiful as your kids! :) Here's a fun one to tide you over until your proofs are up. It shouldn't be too much longer.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep

On Friday, I got a call to photograph my first "Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep" session. NILMDTS is a not-for-profit organization that I joined a little while back, after being inspired to reach out to provide photography (at no cost) for families who are about to lose a precious child. The organization was highlighted on The Today Show this spring. View the clip here.

My first experience was on Friday afternoon. My heart went out for the sweet and loving family of a beautiful little baby. Please say a prayer for them.

And, on a side note, if your proofs are a bit late, please be patient. I dropped everything to shoot and edit this very important session and I'm a bit behind schedule.

Lil' Cowboy

Isn't he the cutest? I love his smile and his little vest. "A", I hope you don't mind that I included you here. I just loved the interaction.

Crazy busy!

Just a heads up that my October is officially crazy busy. I may only be able to squeeze in one or two more sessions. I'm now booking into November, so if you're thinking of booking a session, please don't wait!

I hate saying 'no'. But, I'm also a mother of two little kids. And my daughter sometimes tells me that she wishes that I wasn't a photographer so I wouldn't have to work as much. How can I argue with that? They're only little once. It would break my heart to spend these precious young years capturing moments and memories for other families, only to realize that I've missed the precious moments in my own kids lives.

Face of an Angel

Doesn't she have the face of an angel? She's so pretty, and only 9 days old. Last time I photographed her, she was in her mommy's belly. Now she's a beautiful baby girl.

Baby "V"

I couldn't resist showing two from this session with Baby "V". Last time I saw her, she was just a newborn and now she's six months old. She's such a happy and beautiful baby. I know that the second image doesn't show her beautiful face, but there's something so graceful and dainty about her little fingers and toes that makes me love this image.

Peek at "K"

So, it's not a sneak peek, because they've already seen the proofs, but I had to post this image of sweet "K".

She gets the prize for the longest distance client. She lives in Zambia, Africa. She and her mom came from Zambia to visit her grandparents, who live in Cary. I was lucky enough to get be able to squeeze them into my busy schedule. I'm so glad it worked out, because it was so interesting to hear about their life and travels abroad. I was just fascinated by all the places and cultures they've experienced. K & K, I hope you had a safe trip back!

Someday, when the kids are safely on their own, I'd love to travel to remote places in the world and photograph children the way they live.

Career choices

From my five year old tonight at dinner: "When I grow up, I want to be an oceanographer.... what's an oceanographer?"

It cracked me up. Then I considered how many of us chose professions without ever understanding what they really are. Heck, I studied engineering at U of I in Champaign for four years, and then found out what REAL engineers did. Crazy. Kids are so innocent and so smart sometimes.

On the cover

Many of you know that this spring a few of my images were selected for publication in Jim Miotke's new book. We were also told that in publishing, nothing is certain until the book hits the shelves. So, I'd have to wait until September to see what images actually made the cut.

Yesterday, on a whim, I checked amazon. It's still not published, but they're taking pre-orders. When the cover image popped up, I dropped my jaw. There is my image, "Nummy". The cutest baby with his fingers in his mouth, right there! I couldn't even speak. I was shaking with excitement. So much so that I was worried that I'd have shaky hands for my photo session in an hour!

It was double excitement because the photo to the right of mine was created by my good friend Alli Gaulin! I was so excited that I could hardly even find my phone, and dial, to call her. Unfortunately, I got her voicemail, and I couldn't even speak to leave a message.

Of all the tens of thousands of images that the editors and Jim see at betterphoto.com, what are the odds that both of our images make the cover? Amazing.

The apple picker

Today, we went to Lang's apple orchard in Woodstock, IL. The kids loved hand picking the apples. Here's one of them. I added some grain to the image to give it more of a vintage feel. I like it a lot. I might even make a set of notecards from it.

I stink at naming photos, so I asked my daughter. She took one look and said "The Apple Picker". I love it.

Cary-Grove Seniors

Here are some super cool kids that I was lucky enough to hang out with one evening this summer. They're all seniors at Cary-Grove high school. We did mostly individual shots, but here are a few of the group ones that I thought were super fun. I'll be working on posting some videos and posts of each individual as I have some time. So, keep checking back!