I have never counted down the days to Christmas in this manner or had one of my own, so I had to do some research. I noticed that some of the Advent Calendars had candy or gifts for each day, and others had a daily activity written on them. I really liked this type of calendar. Kevin is a “quality time” child and it was a good way to do that. He was always excited to find out our activity for the day & it was a bonus that it was also a good exercise for him to practice reading aloud. It was also a way to add more structure & discipline to our evenings. He knew that he needed to eat his dinner & be respectful so that we could do our daily activity. Rocky has been traveling a little more often lately, so it was a good way to keep busy with the kids while he was TDY. Some of the activity cards were geared toward helping others or giving, others told him to open a little gift {Swedish Fish or a small pack of Jelly Beans}. I used the birdseed favor from a wedding I photographed and we made a mini DIY bird feeder {one of our favorites}.

I wanted to design something that could be in plain sight of our home {match our existing Christmas decor} & that was large enough for my eclectic supplies. I ended up stealing the embroidery hoop filled with corkboard {my version of a memo board} from my home office & haven’t returned it yet! I used little odds & ends that I already had, sometimes borrowing from other pieces in the house. It was fun to make some of the ornaments & assemble this surprise for Kevin. Designing & creating this non-traditional Advent Calendar was a good pick-me-up for December & it was a fun way to help us celebrate Christmas a little bit every day. *

*We didn’t do it everyday & sometimes I copped out with a “let’s read a dollar store Christmas book tonight” card.

Kevin wasn’t particularly excited about writing Christmas cards to deployed soldiers, but I was proud of him for doing it. This is a picture of his daddy {Rocky} from basic training. He has been deployed over Christmas in the past, so it was important to me to do this one. He drew one of them receiving a present & getting “cheered up from it.” The DIY Birdseed Feeder was easier than I expected & pretty cute! Kevin liked making it & playing with the leftover gel {from the gelatin packet}.I made this reindeer ornament with a cookie cutter + sprinkles. Kevin is 5 and Damian {Ocean} is 18 months. Moments like these make my heart swell.

The icing on the cake, was that on Christmas day {after we drove up to see my family in Findlay, Ohio}, we took the boys to ride the Northwest Ohio Railroad Preservation’s Polar Express {NWOR}. It’s a small “magical little train ride around our track decorated with sparkling lights and holiday decorations.” There is a little museum inside & lots of decorated Christmas trees + warm drinks. The staff was so cheerful & even had blankets waiting for us at the train since it was a cold evening. It was probably the best $6 {for all four of us} that we spent on Christmas! The boys had a lot of fun & it was the perfect surprise for them. You can find NWOR on Facebook, follow them for more information about train rides all year long!

Thanks for reading my Christmas flashbacks this weekend! I am really excited to post more weddings & engagements
in February {plus a special little DIY for Valentine’s Day}. Have a good week! ♥

I assumed that after Texas, we’d be given an exotic assignment. Germany. Italy. Japan?
I quit college to follow Rocky to a little base in a big state.

After being separated for the summer, I found out our next duty station while I was driving to join Rocky. Wright Patterson Air Force Base. Right back to where we started. We were both relieved that we would be going “home.” It was definitely a blessing. But knowing that I could essentially pick up where I had left off in college, I wondered if it was the best timing to have a baby. But it was too late to wonder, Kevin was due in March.

His birth made me realize that I couldn’t take a single “good” picture. I didn’t know how to focus the camera & I started begging Rocky to teach me how to do it. As a stay at home mom finishing my design degree, I didn’t have the luxury to leave the house for my assignments. I ended up doing a lot of food photography in the kitchen for various class projects. I had an itty bitty camera {not even a DSLR}, but I studied light & metering like a maniac. When I had the vision for a certain shot, I would ask Rocky how to do it. He patiently explained the technicalities of shutter speeds, ISO changes, white balance, etc. When I had free time, I’d photograph baby Kevin. Capturing him in those moments was pure euphoria.

He has been the passion, the catalyst, and the face of my photography journey. No bride would have ever Facebooked me inquiring about doing their wedding if I didn’t have million pictures of Kevin plastered all over them. Because I didn’t plan to grow up & be a wedding photographer. I just wanted to record his life & be a good graphic designer. He changed all of that & made it easy for photography to find me.

Today I took Kevin out and photographed him. It was like old times, but he’s almost my size & thinks he’s a grown man. This was Kevin’s Easter outfit {yes from last Spring}. I kept meaning to photograph him in it but never got around to it. “We’ve sort of had a lot going on,” is definitely an understatement. I fell in love with this suit when I saw it, I think it would be a fun take on a ring bearer’s attire for a casual wedding!

That poor tie kept falling off. Made for many photographs of him adjusting it.

His tie makes me laugh. I wasn’t allowed to touch it. Four year olds can be so stubborn, but it just makes for even more personalized photographs.

He let me hold his hand while I led him out of the tall grass. I cherish every time he lets me, because I know my opportunities to do it are limited.

It was hilarious to “work” with him. He has a lot of attitude lately & I had to bribe & beg most of the time to get him to stand in the right light. Posing him was useless, he would pretty much do the opposite… or run…

This evening as I arranged these photographs for this post I remembered why I ever picked up a camera in the first place.

Kevin, you are getting so tall that it makes me cringe. I miss the baby with rubber band arms. But your humor & sweetness make me appreciate you as you are. I will replay this evening a million times because of these images. I’m so glad I have them, because it was so special to spend time with just you again.

Thank you for being perfectly on time & changing me in so many ways that I forget who I used to be. ♥

Brothers.

Cousins.

I could shoot with this delicious lighting every day and never tire of it {and subjects as perfect as these boys}!

Oh the temptations for three young boys climbing on this contraption… they showed a lot of restraint for this portrait!

After we “finished,” we let the boys cut loose and this perfect scene unfolded. This is why when I say I’m “done” I never put my camera up right away:

Photographing children is outrageously fun & unpredictable! You never know what you will get & they are quite entertaining.
Here are some outtakes from their vintage inspired portrait session:

I enjoyed this session so much, a big thank you to their mamas for coordinating their outfits and helping to keep everything flowing on such a hot March day! We enjoyed popsicles at the end {to my satisfaction}. My one regret is that I didn’t incorporate the women behind the scenes, but I look forward to when we will! ♥

I’ve been eagerly anticipating spring and couldn’t wait to start shooting outdoors again. The idea was to create a sweet picnic for two adorable sisters with a yellow theme. As I’ve been assembling this post, Pandora played a live version of Coldplay’s Yellow. No kidding. I had to laugh at the very appropriate selection.

I love cotton candy & how it never fails to take me back to being a little girl. Usually, the portions are too much to eat at once. I made some quick cotton candy suckers by slicing the cotton candy, then cutting it with a cookie cutter. I assembled the cotton candy hearts on the candy stick with a small dab of lemon curd. I recommend them if you have some main desserts but want a pop of color and flavor for a shower, wedding, or birthday. I’ll have to post a DIY with pictures of how I assembled them and some creative ideas. The only drawback: they won’t last long.

Right now the earth is still waking up, so it’s pretty bare around here. Last fall & throughout the winter I shot most of my sessions in the field just at the edge of Tipp City. It’s ideal for some outdoor shots without showcasing our severe lack of greenery on the trees {plus it’s within walking distance of some other great historical backdrops}. It complimented their spring wardrobes perfectly.

Angie’s dad, {my uncle Dan}, was a Marine so I didn’t get to see her family a lot when they lived in Japan. Her daughter Madison looks exactly like the Angela I remember from when we were little and they were visiting one Easter…

I love these… Austin looked so handsome in his cowboy hat & you can just see how much he loves being with his mama!

When we were finished with their session we stopped to reward “the kids” with ice cream {Angie & I had some too of course!} and wrapped up the day enjoying our treats at the park. Madison picked me my first flower of the year and even though we were “finished” I had to snap one more…

Angie, your family is so beautiful… I had such a lovely day with you three! ♥

Here are some pictures from spending a beautiful spring morning with the Waltons…

Jack, I love your curls!

A little known fact about Jack, he’s quite a literary enthusiast.

All styling done by Mr. Jack. I just had the pleasure of watching & photographing him at work.

He kept track of every book they read and made sure Kerry got to every single one. I love how particular little people can be.

She makes pregnancy look so amazing:

I love Kerry’s modern style. It can be hard to find maternity clothes, but accessories & colorful shoes always make an outfit feel more fun {and you can still wear them after the bambino gets here}!

Kerry, you are beautiful in every stage of life. I wish your family all the best and can’t wait to meet your precious little baby! Happy Birthday lovely mama ♥

I always start any session out with some poses. Once we get them out of the way, we start having fun:

After playing, the little ones forget that I’m aiming my lens at them.

The man behind the snow. One of his amazing special-effects-snow-balls blew towards him because of the wind…

I know they made everything look fun & comfortable, but it was truly freezing outside!

I love watching toddlers check everything out. No matter their response, it’s priceless.

Aimee… you’re gorgeous.

Nataly’s enthusiasm is awesome. Love those bouncing curls :]

So it turns that The Greene isn’t just a great place to shop at the gigantic Forever 21 or grab Chipotle. It’s an excellent backdrop for photographs, especially as twilight approaches and all the city lights are illuminated against a kaleidoscopic sky…

On the other hand, I made some good friends at my church. During that painfully awkward year, Sarah became a good friend and we’ve been able to stay close.  We’ve had so many long conversations about husbands & children before either of those things were a reality for us.  There were years of wonderful, innocent memories made enjoying life {even though we always longed to be “adults”}.  Our sons were born on each other’s due date, two years apart. We always look forward to their birthday month & discuss how quickly they are growing. Her family is beautiful & she is blessed with two good “mans” {as my son would call them}. These were taken in the ripeness of fall and I  hope they do her favorite season justice. I wanted most of them to remain colorful, because there is such a short time when the colors are naturally this amazing.

Her Shiba Inu, Cider, is so adorable! I love when pets can make a cameo in family pictures, especially one as photogenic as hers :]

I love you Sarah Ann… I’m so glad you are part of my life.

Every business strives to be unique.  I’ve been really searching as to what that means for me.  I started to think about “what I do” and “why I started doing it.” I can’t say that I’ve always visualized myself as a photographer. I know it might be strange to admit that on my professional site. You know, I’m supposed to claim that I came out of my mother with a camera in hand, right? I’m supposed to say that I always knew what I wanted and this is it. Well, it’s really not the way it happened for me. Instead, it’s a passion that has been born out of other passions.

I fell in love with an expert in photography,  and it’s been fun to learn from him.
I fell in love with my baby son, and used photography to help me remember how beautiful he is.
I fell in love with graphic design and used photography as a tool to make my designs stronger.

Then… finally… I fell head over heels in love with photography & it’s become my obsession.

Something clicked when I started to think about everything that has led up to where I am now.  I’ve always offered to do design for my clients as an endnote, but I am professionally trained as a designer. Now I want to incorporate it more into all of my clients’ experiences with me. It dawned on me that it’s like an architect designing a home, then handing everything over to a builder for them to finish. What if the architect was also a builder? Someone with complete control over both aspects of the job would bring a cohesive vision to reality.

This winter will be the perfect opportunity to explore my options and debut them for you to see.  I’ve been slowly making investments that will help me transition into a photographer who will bring my specialized design to the printing process. I do feel very excited about this next chapter in my story… stay tuned :]

Kevin tagged along to an engagement shoot last week. I have now started to consider Tipp City as my personal studio {been there many times in summer/fall}  & knew just where I wanted him to stand… I say, “stand,” because we all know that three year olds are almost incapable of being posed! I look forward to the day when he will cooperate a little more, but I guess on the other hand, I never know what I’ll get when it comes to him ;]

Lucky for me, he was obsessed with really big trucks on the road. And a really big truck was going by…

I don’t normally bother to ask Kevin to smile, I have to find other ways to make him laugh. If I do, I normally get something like this next picture. Oh boy…

I tend to take the definition of “photojournalistic” & “candid” to the max when it comes to children {like my son}. It’s why when I get to work with adults, I tend to exclaim, “Oh wow, you listen so well…” Now you kind of understand why I say that!

When Kevin could just barely walk, I became obsessed with pictures of his reflections. They are near & dear to this mama’s heart…

His coat was getting red from rubbing on all the brick buildings :]

There will be more sessions to post, stories to tell. I don’t think I’ll be updating my blogger site. If I ever do decide to do more baking, I’ll just post images on here. Again, I’ve had to prioritize and there hasn’t been a lot of room for that hobby.

So very excited it’s December… we love Chrstmas around here :]

Miriah is a year old, and I love how at that age, everything is new & their curiosity is so obvious. She made me smile all over again working with these pictures.

And because her shoes were insanely adorable, had to show them in color :]

Recap of October II still in the works as well as three weddings & three engagements. I am gonna be a blogging machine for the next couple weeks ;]