That said, Corey and Jim were so excited to welcome their little baby girl. And they are both adjusting to parenting, and their new roles, and are so cute, and loving and happy. Corey looks amazing, but we knew she would after we saw how insane she looked during her pregnancy. Baby Nicoletta is so sweet.  Her skin is perfect (even her peely feet, which might be my FAV thing about little babies!).  She is sweet and wide-eyed, and never once fussed (except when she was hungry, and c’mon, I know I still fuss when I am hungry!).  I loved having them at my studio.  And I am so excited for a lifetime of blond hair in my future, and photographs in theirs!

So these guys did not disappoint.  Everyone who has peaked over my shoulder has agreed… they are a gorgeous family.  Thank you so much… I am so truly grateful that you are my clients…and now friends.

So this little boy is so special because he’s the youngest of I think 27 grandchildren on his mom’s side.  And you’ve all been privy to me photographing quite a few of them.  I shot his parent’s wedding and it was one of the most beautiful, heartfelt events I’ve attended, working or personal.  I truly enjoy the company of both Monica and Todd and think they honestly epitomize what true, everlasting love should be.  And I couldn’t be happier that they allowed me to photograph their little boy in his earliest weeks.  Thank you.

And I am so sorry about the delay!  I hope you love these as you look back now at about 2 months and think “I can’t believe he was ever that small!”  He’s a gem for sure.

1. In 2011 I went from being a very awesome, heartfelt, deeply involved blogger about my work and my sessions to being a slacker to being downright absent. A number of reasons accounted for that, time, laziness, guilt, too many things to say, lack of anything to say. But I know that clients and future clients really enjoy seeing favorites from a session, and to share images before they even see their slideshow, and so for 2012, I am going to do my best to document my sessions.

2. I shot this session on Friday, and I am blogging it three days later. That’s not off from how I used to work.  But get this: their slideshow is ready. No joke. Undoubtedly, this trend won’t stick. There is no way it could. Typically it takes me a day just to upload, backup, organize and “star” my sessions, let alone to proof, final edit, rename, resize, select for slideshow, upload, produce, and publish. But I have almost nothing else in the hopper right now and if I didn’t do this, I’d have to clean my studio and I REALLY don’t want to do that.

3. I love this family. Read On.

I met these guys late in 2010. It was a session that almost didn’t happen because it was booked late in the year, then we rescheduled, and it was close to cutoff. But it did. And for some reason I had no expectations when I arrived at their house. Not high, not low, just no. And when I walked in, I was happy. They are my perfect family. Beautiful. Gracious. Smart. Kind. In love with their daughter. And BALLBUSTERS. Steven immediately let me know that I had to exceed the output of a friend’s family portrait “montage.” And thus with every click of the shutter, I was reminded of the bar I must vault. All while Jill shushed him and shook her head behind his back. And Ella smiled. I think I spent two hours with them and drove laughing the entire way back home.

A few weeks later, I decided to listen to my home phone messages (a rare occurrence) and there sat a message from Steven with a heartfelt thank you. Not only had Jill thanked me over email, which was awesome, but Steven had taken the time to call. This blew me over [and more important meant he WON the montage bragging rights]. I deliver countless orders to clients and other than checking the tracking numbers, often never hear directly from the client they’ve received their orders and were pleased. I don’t expect to hear each time, I delivered what I promised (usually late) and it’s end of story. But to get a call, from a husband no less, really meant something to me. [Please don't go calling, my home phone is in the garbage pail and my mobile voice mail is full].

This year, I was thrilled to hear from Jill that they wanted another session, but more important, that Ella would become a big sister in December. Oh happy day. I love hearing that my clients are expecting, I love that I am on their “notify” email list when the baby arrives, and I love that I can share in their growing family. And so twice in about 6 weeks, I was able to visit them and document more of their life, and share in their happiness.

So Kramers, thank you. Your third “montage” is on its way to you. Hopefully now you have three winners of which you can claim bragging rights to. I am so happy you have selected me to document the milestones of your life. You guys really are more than I could ask for and seriously amazing clients.

I cannot get enough of this face.  And she’s not even mine.

High key B&W images make my heart sing.  Even when they are serious.

And welcoming Evan.

Okay. Stop here. Girls, this is EXACTLY why your mother-in-laws have reservations about you. Because honestly, why wouldn’t you try to knife down any other person that received THIS LOOK from YOUR SON.

All this nostalgia might be surfaced because I am shooting so many high school senior sessions, and watching these kids with their parents, grown, getting ready to leave the house for college, driving, making decisions, and just be ready for the world.  And I think “my babies are still babies, 3 & 5 are still really just babies.”

But back to the topic, the little things.  I loved more than anything documenting Madison’s little things… and her bonds with her mom and dad (and grandmother)… and DOG!  And I loved looking at her little folds, and her little peach fuzz, and her perfect eyes, and her teeny toes.  And I loved how her parents cared for her, and made note, and worked together to figure it all out.  It made me just want to hit pause and tell them to love these days, and these moments, because when it goes, it goes, and you are on to the next thing before you even realize it’s gone.

So Amanda and Doug, thank you so much for allowing me into your life, and selecting me to capture these little things.  I am eternally grateful as it brings back those moments for me that are now so distant… and I can live vicariously just a bit… and you help me remember my own.

Thank you so much for inviting me into your lovely home (which by the way, I LOVED), and for allowing me to capture these early days!

[Photographers, if you are at all curious, the "lifestyle" shots on the couch with mom and baby are all shot at ISO 3200 with zero noiseware, proving that noise can be eliminated with correct exposure!]

Flash forward to about 12-18 months ago. Beautiful Ravi and her lovely family move right down the street from me. Still, the memory was too deep to recall. One evening I am teaching a workshop and looking around at my past clients (including Ravi) and a wave of embarrassment hits as I realize that the EXACT people I am poking fun of (people that go into business too soon or shoot sessions before they know what the fork they are doing)… well that “people” was me and like a movie, a movie of all my early sessions (oh, there were a few, you know who you are) start flashing before my eyes. I am sure I was inexplicably bright red. I also know that I am not alone, and that every photographer has a session or two hidden in their closet or under their bed that they thought was THE bomb and now realize it was A bomb.

Flash forward again to about 2 weeks ago. Ravi brought her gorgeous kiddos (and lovely mom) to the studio for a quick little newborn mini session [newborn sessions typically aren't mini sessions, but I'll shoot them that way if you are looking for sibling shots and a few quickies for a birth announcement rather than a full newborn setup]. I really feel like it was my time to redeem myself and make good on all those earlier images.

I really love Ravi. She might be one of the nicest people I know. I am not kidding. She is just genuinely REALLY REALLY nice. Her children are gorgeous and I am so happy she’s a member of our community and it’s so nice to see her face around town. I haven’t seen her husband since they moved here, but he’s good with me because he is of my people [this is where I start to channel my mom and talk about the villages even though I have never been to the villages and cannot speak a word of Greek. Unless I've had a lot of Ouzo. And I am in Santorini trying to communicate with a waiter.].

And so here they are! Ravi, we can set up a time for you to come by and see them all!

On top of that, big brother and big sister are scrumptious, Mom is a hottie and dad likes to cook the way Owen does — on the smoker!

I also have to give props to Trisha’s website because I sort of got sucked into it and it gave me a lot of really great ideas for summer eating, buying organic, and I loved the weekly menus!  So head on over and check it out!

Thank you so much for selecting me to photograph this amazing time in your life.  I am thrilled.

To anyone other than a Greek, that would be such an odd statement to include in an introduction, but our people know that this instantly forms a bond and a long conversation of churches, Greek School, Aunts/Uncles and visits to the Mother Country.  This time was no exception as I shot the session… and since this family was also a referral from another (non-Greek) friend, we had many other connections a degrees of separation to discuss.  When this happens, the session flies.  I am always surprised to check my watch as I wrap up and realize that the time flew, and it was fun, and we captured great images to boot.

This little doll was wonderful, she seriously zonked out for a good part of our time and I was able to capture some beautiful images of her as a newborn!  Hopefully we can connect again and I can document her as she grows!

Thanks for a wonderful Monday morning!

I had the honor of meeting Eric & Lissa through Eric’s sister Megan, one of my favorite clients. Megan wanted to do something special for them to celebrate the joyous occasion of the birth of their child, yet not trivialize the grief, sadness and loss they experienced when their lovely, beautiful, spirited daughter, Cadence, passed away just before she turned two. And so somehow, she seemed to think I could keep it together for this task. And I was thrilled and humbled and daunted by the request.

It is times like this, especially when I am out of sorts about the mundane matters of my own life, that I feel eternally and completely grateful (and again humbled) that this is my profession and that I can capture brief, fleeting moments of incredibly important times. It is times like this that I say a silent (and not so silent) “thank you” that I am no longer 1 of 350,000 employees, and that I am not “not working” and that I am able to meet people every day who impact who I am, at my core. And so it is these people, and this work, that make me a better person.

So Lissa, Eric, Baby Jackson, Angel Cadence, Megan, Jared and your entire family — a selfish thank you for the opportunity.

Baby Jackson is here and he is perfect. And Lissa & Eric are able, and allowed, to experience that perfection as a family and to love him with all their being and their hearts. And they know that they do not have to give up any of the love they will always have for Cadence, nor do they have to set aside any of her memories, because their hearts now have room for two.

I cannot say with enough conviction about how amazed I am of the power of the human spirit. And I’ll leave it at that.

Again, thank you for allowing me to capture your life.