I’d been waiting for this little doll to arrive FOREVER. I could not wait to meet this lil one and be in charge of her first photo shoot.

Turns out she was in charge…

I had all sorts of ideas involving a hat box and a blanket and some crumpled up, sleepy baby poses. Ha.

Turns out this one is a creature of comfort. At 7-days-old she knew which blanket she wanted and exactly what positions suited her best.

So, of course, we said, “Anything you want, baby.” We embraced the baby and all of her demands. And, we got some amazing photos.

Sooo sweet. It is such a privilege to be the one who captured her lil self, in her room, with her blankies.

The whole experience reminded me of a day long ago (15 years ago, sigh). A friend of mine came for a visit when my first baby born was fresh from the hospital. She thanked me for letting her stop by and gushed that, “It just wasn’t everyday that you get to meet a ‘new’ person.”

So true, so true. It is a moment to cherish. My friend’s words pop into my head whenever I’ve been lucky enough to hold a baby…I take a deep breath and soak in the moment.

Plant a tree, start composting, recycle EVERYTHING, grow a garden, help remove invasive plants…

If you are in Sherwood, a fun way to get started is to attend the annual Raindrops to Refuge Spaghetti Dinner and Silent Auction this Friday, April 20th at the Rebekah Lodge.

Raindrops to Refuge is a small non-profit organization dedicated to helping local citizens learn how to be responsible citizens of their watershed. They restore impaired wetlands and waterways; and they protect our watershed from the hazards of pollution from our everyday practices and from rapid development.

You can keep it simple and just join this fabulous group for a fun meal and to bid on some great auction items (including a canvas of my Red Currant image). Or, you can find out how to be a part of some of the great planting and clean up projects that are sure to be scheduled in the coming months.

I feel great after a morning planting. And I feel even better when I go back a year or two later to see the transformation. In fact, a Stella Olsen Park planting is what inspired my new “Native is Beautiful” photo series.

What’s the perfect, rare and precious gift for Mother’s Day? A photo session with Mom and her little (or not-so-little) ones.

Contact me about booking a Spring photo session or purchasing a gift certificate for your beautiful Mom.

Wow, it felt so good to be warm.

And, to my delight, Spring had sprung in the desert. My youngest son and I had a blast taking pictures of all of the new places and plants and animals.

My favorite bloom of all was the Joshua Tree. This photo makes me feel warm, dry and happy…even though it’s nasty, wet and cold outside.

Wishy Washy Weather.

A friend of mine claimed the other day that she really didn’t care for wishy washy weather. And, I have to agree.

In Oregon we have hovered at just above the freezing point for most of the winter.

Snow mixed with rain.

Snow that doesn’t stick.

Snow that does not give us even one single day off from school.

And now that we’re just a day away from Spring Break…

Snow!

I’m not sure the Spring flowers and buds appreciated it, but my kids loved that they finally could build a snow man. And I loved taking pictures of weary Daffodils and cherry blossoms.

It was just a 2-hour delay for school, but we sure made the most of it!

Whether you are a fan of the new Facebook Timeline or not, one thing that photography buffs are loving is the banner at the top.

Bigger, splashier and a huge opportunity to really put your mark on the page.

Sadly, I’m seeing a lot of stretched, blurry photos for those Timeline covers. Low-res phone camera shots are getting seriously mangled.

And, yet happily, I can come to the rescue. I’m now offering complimentary Timeline collages for my 2012 sessions. Woohoo!

I’ve found some amazing customizable templates* and can make your favorite shots shine on your Facebook page. Building these collages is very fun for me to do and hopefully will be very fun for clients to show off.

The two Timelines showcased here are for some of my favorite 2012 graduates. I’ve got many more styles and options that I can cater to fit the session. Watch my  Facebook page for more samples. Be sure to “Like” it while you’re there

And, of course, it’s a massive photo op for me. Love it.

One flute player shined extra bright the other night. Amongst so many serious and nervous faces, she seemed to actually enjoy herself up there. Nice!

LRMS parents: please be sure to go through the many, many fun photos taken both for the big portrait session and for the various concerts. You can contact me or Mr. Stai if you’ve forgotten the password.

He goes by the name of Smokey or also, and I do say this with affection, Fatso Catso.

We also call him Killer due to the many, many, many mice he has hunted and conquered on our property.

Smokey is not shy, but is usually quite uninterested in being photographed. He looks left, right, up, down and sometimes just closes his eyes. But, he rarely turns a glance toward me or my camera.

Smokey must have known this was a special photo opportunity. The Moms with Cameras Project52 theme was “learning,” and he graciously laid right down on my son’s workbook to “read.”  I practically squealed a “thank you, kitty” and ran to get my camera. I knew I had to work fast.

So, yet another successful and fun Project52 assignment. If it wasn’t for the “learning” theme, I may have just passed this image up and never grabbed my camera. Now, it’s one of my favorite portraits of one of my favorite animals.

Wrong. Oddly enough, after many years of back-to-back sports seasons, all three of my guys took the winter off.

The good news is that all of this sudden downtime in our schedule is getting the kiddos to reconnect with each other (and me). I’ve never played so many after school basketball games of “Pig.” And, the boys love to play “Knockout” on the driveway.

So, it turns out, all I had to do was go out on the driveway to get my competition pictures.

While I got a lot of fun action shots, my favorites are actually of the “Rock, Paper, Scissors” they played to decide who goes first in their game of one-on-one basketball.

The hands are filthy from playing with a damp, dirty ball on the driveway and for some reason, that game always gives them the giggles.

This Project52 work is fitting so nicely with my New Year’s Resolution to take more photos of my kids in “everyday life.” Very fun.

Oh, and, my close up got picked for a Moms with Cameras favorite of the week. Woohoo!

In the last several years I have been on a mission to conquer the challenges of basketball photography. That crazy gym lighting and high-speed, close-up action can be so, so hard to capture.

I use all my tricks and am ecstatic that I can freeze those passionate faces and amazing leaps to the basket. And it’s thrilling to share the images with the parents. I know they love the pictures now. And how sweet will it be to look back at these 3rd grade shots when they’re playing for the high school or college or ???

Let me know if you’d like a game photographed before the end of the season…just a few weekends left!