The Arthur Murray Baby...

...is growing so fast! She's not even a year old yet, but already walking and dancing. She is so adorable how she bounces and bends to music at the studio, she makes you smile as soon as you walk in the door! So we had to take a couple of dance related photos, but I absolutely love these first few. Her Grandmother sent this beautiful vintage-looking outfit from Poland, and I was inspired to create images to match the feel of it.






Love this image of her carrying "ballet" shoes, walking with her mom (also love mom's gorgeous dancer legs...wish I had those).

Back to School Issue

This is why we did some school related shots of Julianna from this session - FOR THE COVER of Tampa Bay Parenting's Back to School issue, the biggest issue of the year! It's full of great information including where to buy fun and functional school supplies, packing healthful lunches, and a calendar of events for Pinellas, Hillsborough and Pasco counties. There is also information for the back to school fair on August 15th at MOSI (I'll blog about it in a few days), and many ads for after school activities. Check it out - easily found at Publix and Sweetbay.

In other exciting news the magazine is running a Cover Kid Search! You can visit tbparenting.com for more details. If there is an image I've taken that you'd like to submit, call or email me.

Six days fresh

It's the perfect age - between 5 and 10 days old. You can flip them, shift them, squish them...they'll sleep right through it as long as they are full and warm. This little man was a dream to work with, as was the family. I can't wait for them to see the results!


This blanket belonged to his mom when she was a baby. I absolutely love when I can incorporate something sentimental in the images.





Beautiful sisters...

Three generations...

Of course, we had to get a couple of the adorable (if I dare use that word for 100+ pound dogs) "first" children.

Engaged

These two were an absolute riot, especially Reggie (that's not his name, I just like to call him that...long story). ;) They were so cute and willing, and came up with some of their own shots. We had a blast and I've been so anxious to get these edited and share a few, so here they are...

Beautiful Girls

You know that baby scent that everyone loves? If you had to put a face with that scent, this would be the perfect baby for it. She "matches" that smell...so pure, with her flawless skin, rosy cheeks and sparkly eyes. Not to mention her four-year-old sister who looks like a real-life Disney princess - perfect lips, long lashes, and just the right number of cute freckles!

Family Pho-Video sample

This is a sample of my new Pho-Videos for family or kid sessions. It can be created with any number of photos, and can be used for the web, as with Facebook or other social networking sites, or burned to DVD to watch on the flat screen (dvd version is high-resolution). It's the coolest thing around! Ask me for details!

Julianna and family

I don't normally include my client's name in my blog, but this little girl is practically famous! She is the owner of Julianna's Fun Shoppe in Citrus Park Mall...and she's nine! The shop is adorable, full of Hello Kitty products and other fun things for kids. If you haven't been there yet, check it out, and if you're back-to-school shopping for your daughter, it's a great place to find backpacks, binders, pens, pencils, and other supplies, all with that pretty little white kitty on them. The first image is of her with a Hello Kitty pen, and there is a reason we photographed her with some school products, but I'm not telling yet. ;) She also has two super cute siblings (twins), and very nice parents.

The faces of Little Miss J

We had a beautiful (but hot) day at the Botanical Gardens, and a very active and silly 21 month old Miss J. She had no shortage of goofy faces to show me, but these were my favorites. I've actually been wanting to offer a "Faces" storyboard to clients, and she gave me great examples!

Pretty in Pink

I was so excited to schedule a newborn girl because I had just gotten a couple new items - the petal hat and frilly bottoms. Doesn't she look adorable? And baby K's grandpa made this beautiful cradle for her. She looks like an angel sleeping in the clouds!

Thank you to the parents for being patient with me. The editing is almost done and you'll have your proofs soon!

Tough as Nails

UPDATE 6/17 - HE'S OUT!! Finally! He's finally home and doing well. Still has a good bit of pain and lots of antibiotics to take, but he's so much happier to be dealing with it at home. Me too! :) It's funny how much I missed him even though I spent tons of time with him at the hospital. Soooo, now I just need to get caught up on all my work! Thank you, thank you, thank you for all your patience. I have a little something special up my sleeve for all my wonderfully understanding clients who have been waiting on their images. I'm working as fast as I can and I'll contact each of you when I have your proofs.

UPDATE 6/12 - Well it's been 9 days and he's still in the hospital. They want to make sure they get all that nasty infection out of there before sending him home. Today they said it would be a couple of days, but he's thought he was getting out a couple of times now, so we'll see. Thank you to everyone who has called to check on him, and to all my understanding clients. I'm lucky to have you.

I'm not going to lie, I enjoy giving my husband a hard time about his quirks and strange ways. Our home is not short on sarcasm. One of his quirks is (or used to be...he'll correct me as soon as he reads this) that when he stubs a toe or bangs a knuckle, he exclaims "Ow! I think I broke my toe/finger/other body part!" I used to chalk it up to a low pain tolerance and chuckle or mock him. Well, those days are gone, here's why:

Last Tuesday he developed a stomach ache. It got worse the rest of the week, then better on Sunday and Monday, then worse on Tuesday. Yesterday I convinced him to see a doctor, so we scheduled an appointment for today, but by the time I got home from work yesterday, he needed to go to the hospital. The diagnosis? A ruptured appendix. The solution? Emergency surgery. Ummmm, what??? Not what we were expecting. So when the surgeon comes to see me after the surgery, the first thing he said was "He must be tough!" Apparently it looked like an M-80 went off in his abdomen (doc's words, not mine) and the abscess was quite large. I don't know when it ruptured, and I really don't know how he was functioning through the pain. I do know that he has to stay in the hospital for about five days, so that's where I'll be all weekend...with my Superman.

Here's my tough guy looking rather pitiful today.
I was going to take a picture of the battle wound, but I thought that might be a bit of an overshare. ;)

Love you bunches, babe.

Happy Girl

This was a fun session as Little Miss A was so happy and silly! We played on the stairs and in the grass and ended up with a wide variety of images, which sparked my creativity when editing. M and R - I know you've been anxiously waiting on this sneak peek, so thank you for your patience, and enjoy...

I love the dad in the background here...letting her climb, but being there to catch her if she falls. As she grows up, that will be more valuable to her than ever.





Love the sunflare here, and the dreamy, vintage-y feel of this conversion. She was so adorable how she'd run away, and then look back to make sure mom and dad were still there...