It's Baby Time!

Last weekend, I had the chance to do my very first indoor shoot. I ordered a background set online (MUCH cheaper than Idaho Camera) and got it all set up. I don't have a lighting kit yet, so I had to make due with what was in my house. And let me tell you, I NEED a lighting kit. The low lighting in my house makes the pictures quite grainy, and I wasn't about to turn my flash on.

So cousins Coleton and Tahtiana were all dressed up in their Christmas outfits, and we made sure to have plenty of props to keep them busy and happy. I bought these huge peppermint sticks, and Coleton LOVED them. He was quite a messy boy by the time we were done!

And Tahtiana was just a doll in her little dress! It was glittery, so there were sparkles all over the place.

Coleton was quite impressed with her bow, so he kept trying to grab it off of her head. Too funny!

I even brought out Carter's big rocking horse for Coleton to try out.

Then I decided we were going to strip the babies down to their diapers and just wrap them all up in garland. I loved it!! It was so cute....and Coleton is such a chunk and chunky babies are the best!

Hopefully by the next indoor shoot, I will have my lighting kit and I won't have to deal with grainy, poorly lit pictures anymore. But for the meantime, these will do and they are naked babies....how can you not love them?!!!

Finally

So I mentioned before that I had four photoshoots last weekend. It has taken me ALL week to edit these pictures.....too much!! The baby Christmas shoot will have a blog post all to itself later this weekend. In the meantime, here are samples from my other three shoots, which consisted of two family shoots and a maternity shoot with a couple who are good friends of mine. They lost a baby earlier this year and somehow got pregnant right away. Everything appears to be perfectly normal with this baby, so this shoot was extremely special to them since they didn't get to do one with their first child.

~*~*~*~*~*

~*~*~*~*~*

I'd Settle for a Slow Down

BUSY does not even begin to describe my life lately; this last week, especially. My family is experiencing some trying times, the burner on my computer bit the dust (and anyone who is a photographer can share in my panic when this happens) with four photoshoots looming in the near future, and my husband being out of town for work for six straight weeks is finally starting to take its toll.

However....."this, too, shall pass."

Or however that quote goes.

This week managed to pass without too many casualties. I spent a few nights on the phone (for hours at a time) with my friend Wendie's husband.....who is a computer whiz. We managed to fix some problems, make others worse, fix them again, and get off-track talking sports. But by the end of the weekend, it all seemed to come together. I managed to juggle two photoshoots Saturday (baby Christmas pics and family pics), talk my husband into taking me out to a much-needed dinner (cooking was well beyond out of the question), juggle another two photoshoots today (maternity pics and family pics), get a Christmas tree for my house, and many other smaller tasks in between.

And while I welcome (and enjoy) the supplement to my income the photography provides, the holiday season is busy enough without cramming in last minute photoshoots for those trying to beat the first snowfall of the season! Besides the weddings I have booked for next summer, I only have one more photoshoot booked for the remainder of this year and I'm quite all right with that. I'm ready for a slow down. I'm ready to sit down in front of the fire and just read a book, or hell, even fold some laundry! Anything but planting my face in front of the computer for hours-long editing sessions.

In the midst of all this chaos, I have managed to grab a picture of my little guy and me playing around. I wish I had more to share, but this one is good enough for now. I did get Christmas cards ordered today, but I won't spoil the reveal of THAT picture until it gets closer to Christmas.

'Tis the Season!!

{Randy, Issabell, & Piper}

Yesterday was another photoshoot day.

This cute little family and I met at the park yesterday and had a ball. For those who don't know, Randy is my ex. With him was his girlfriend, Issabell, and their daughter, Piper. Piper was......a lot of work. We'll just leave it at that. ;)

A Day of Thanks and Laughter

Yesterday started off pretty early......Carter and I were over at my parents' house to help at about 10:30 in the morning. My brother and his girlfriend showed up soon after us, and it didn't take long for the laughter to start rolling. Dinner this year was pretty small - I think there were only ten of us.

And the reigning King of olive fingers was definitely in true form.

He started snacking long before the meal was ready.

{Dana and me} {Tracy and Dana}

{Dana and our dad}

Carter getting a sample of the homemade whipped cream.

And he even attempted his "mad" face, though he breaks out in laughter about .8 seconds later. He's too silly to stay mad!

And he spent time bonding with Papa.

And building towers while the food cooked.

Carving the bird.

And passing on tips for carving.

And I can't think of a better way to end the day. There were many pies......though my grandma's chocolate pie is my favorite.