Danielle & Neemah

There is some history here.
The first time I ever met Danielle, her and Kari talked for about 2 hours in the little lobby at the old studio. By the time they were finished I found them both crying and hugging, and there was a connection. She sent us a link to her website and we even got to hear some of her music. We've been in touch through emails and visits as the days and months have ticked by, and the pages of their story were written.
It was awhile before I got to meet Neemah, because he works on the East coast. He finally got a chance to break away and come home for their engagements last year. And he had some stacking up to do, because by then we knew Danielle very well, and for some reason I had the mentality that this guy had better do right by her. Don't ask why, I'm just the photographer I know, but for some reason she reminds me of my little girl, and I see my Abby in her. (So you can understand, 10-15 years from now, any boy that comes to my house looking for my daughter will still be having a date, except it will be with me. And we'll be driving to the shooting range, where things will be made point-blank clear...)

At any rate, Neemah did stack up. He stood by his bride through the thick and the thin, and he was there for her. The culture from his Iranian family is very rooted, rich and beautiful in many ways, and it was interesting to capture the dynamics of two cultures merging, all because of love.

The wedding ceremony was beautiful, the day was crisp and the air was sweet. And now we have to close the chapter in their book until the next one is written, when hopefully they'll come back with little ones in tow, and we can continue the friendship. I guess I'm going to have to learn to have a little patience.

P.S.
Danielle's kid sister chased me around with a camera for awhile, but in the end, I think my shot of her settles who won that little contest. whatdyathink? ;)



P.S.S Since this post, Danielle has emailed the shot her sister got. You decide.
Don't you think mine is better. I got the tongue...c'mon...no contest.

Jamie & Caitlyn

We had the chance to photograph a very special little girl named Caitlyn just the other day. Her Daddy's friend brought her in for pictures to surprise him with on Father's Day, and so we had to wait to post on the blog until after the beans were spilled.
This was the case with a few other sessions and weddings recently, so my apologies for not keeping everything up to date.

Caitlyn has a smile that is absolutely infectious, and I just wanted to take this time to tell her how much I appreciated her giggles, and also to say again that I'm sorry about the stickerbush. Bad idea for me to have her running around in the weeds in her bare feet. Ouch. :( Those darn photographers! What are they thinking?!! Anyway, from me to you Caitlyn, Sorry Kiddo.

Jamie is sister to a very special person in my son's little life, his preschool teacher from years ago, Miss Kelly. (Even when I talk to her on the phone, I can't help but to call her Miss Kelly, no matter how hard I try.)
She brought her little ones along in full support for her sister, so we decided to snap a few shots and play for awhile after the session.
C'mon, cute kids at play, in my studio, good light, a camera with an empty card, time to kill.... what can you expect from me? ;)
P.S. Miss Kelly, when's the next grown-ups night out? We had a great time. :)

Dan & Ashley

We've got history with Dan and his family, from family pictures years ago to senior portraits for two brothers, and now engagements.
It's exciting to watch a family grow, and getting to capture the years as they fly by is certainly a privilege for us.
These two are getting married in Chicago, and although there's a plethora of talented photographers in the Windy city, I'll tell you that if this family calls and wants us to shoot it, we're there. They've been that much of a pleasure to work with over the years.
Dan has found a peach of a wonderful girl, by the way. Ashley absolutely compliments his personality, and it's great to see how happy she makes him. I'm certain he can't look at her and not feel a little flutter, just by the way she makes his smile grow. She's a sweetheart.

Kara & Aaron

Kara actually started to work for me in the early summer last year, and in another month we'll have the honor of shooting her wedding.
You can attribute quite a bit of the work done around here this week to her... as I've been flying below, or off the radar, building a fence for the new studio with a friend. Even had a woman stop and ask for a quote last night as I was putting away the tools. :) (p.s. I'm no carpenter, self-admitted, so it's Torrey Babb's workmanship that you're seeing when you look at my fence. I was just the gofer)

Aaron has also played a big part since we've opened the new studio. He knows just about everything and anything when it comes to computers and networking, and he setup practically all of the communications and storage system that we use for our client images...so you, most of you, have him to thank for anything that runs smoothly in that department.

I just take the pictures. :)

We had a great time, even though this was the first ever shoot I had to reschedule on account of gnats. The hungry buggers hatched just before our outdoor session, and I think they had a record-breaking, banner year, because we couldn't stand outside for more than a few seconds without running for cover. Interestingly enough, one of my favorite shots of these two is from that day, about 3 seconds before we were mobbed by about a hundred of those little pests and had to flee, yes, flee the area. I still shiver thinking about it.

Seriously though, put these two together and great things will happen, for 1 reason. God is onboard. And with Christ in the driver's seat...well, put your seatbelt on. :) I can't say nothing could go wrong, because anything could happen. With Him, there's an outside sliver of hope that life might be a breeze, but the truth of it is, I think sometimes God likes to drive like me, and if you ask my kids, that can be a very interesting experience. I'm thinking lately that God has a thing for hairpin turns, brakes, throttles, and wheelies, sometimes all at once :) Sure, He's not like that all the time... But there are days that I've found that He's very General Lee... very back-roads, Dukes of Hazard.
How's this? Life will be interesting, exhilirating, breathtaking, and teeth-clinching. You'll be left wide-eyed and bushy-tailed, but if He's really in charge and at the wheel, you'll have the ride of your life.