Anna & a Music Machine

Anna got this Fisher-Price music machine for Christmas. She gets so excited by the songs and the microphone. She especially loves the Elmo and the Pooh songs! She just squeals with delight. This little girl loves to sing and dance. :)

These are actually from back in February ... I'm soooo behind in my editing!!

Happy Mother's Day, Mom

I'm very blessed to have such a special mother. She's always there for me. She's my friend and confidant. She's always available to help when I need it. She's a fantastic grandmother, both of my girls adore her. I love you, Mom!!

And a Few More From Today

We got the tripod back out again today. Who knew a tripod and a self-timer were all I needed to get my little models to cooperate?!!



And a couple of outtakes!

More Tripod Fun

I'm finally growing to love my tripod. I'm especially loving the self-timer on my camera! Sure, it's a pain to get things setup, focused (don't look too closely, definitely still working that part out!), set the timer, run into the shot ... well, you get the point. But the girls thought the whole thing was so funny, look at that smile on Anna's face!!

Some Famiy Love

Anna is a total Daddy's Girl. I mean, she loves Mommy, but when Elliot is around ... it's all about Daddy. Lately when it is bed time she runs to him and says "Hold YOU!" and holds her arms up for him to rescue him. It's the sweetest thing. I love watching them together, seeing the bond they share. :)


I bought a tripod a couple of months ago and have barely used it. I used it once on my trip to Nashville, but I absolutely hated the thing. We have not yet bonded. Today I decided to get the thing out and try to get some shots of me and the girls. We were giggling and being silly, having so much fun. I can't wait to try it again with Elliot, too. Maybe this tripod thing isn't so bad after all ... hm ...


ETA: Wow, the web is really washing out my color on here. Not sure what that's about, its been happening a lot lately..........

Storytelling

Our last assignment for Wendy's workshop was all about telling a story with your pictures. This is what drew me to photography in the first place, capturing those little pieces of our daily life. I'm not in love with every one of these, but they are the ones that stood out to me as saying something. Some of them have some technical issues, but they each spoke to me. What do they say to you?

I'm so sad that our workshop is finished. I have learned so much. Wendy has really pushed me to discover who I am as a photographer. :)

One of the things I'm working on is trying to get really good photographs of difficult subjects. My youngest really fits the bill on that one! I'm also working on being a bit more creative, and letting go of the rigid technical details to focus on capturing the moment. I've spent so much time trying to get the technical side right that I've forgotten that sometimes its more important to tell the story. Balance ... its all about Balance.

A Sweet Hug

Even though there are lots of things wrong with this shot technically, I just love it for the emotional power. Anna so loves her Papa Mike. She talks about him all the time. Her new favorite phrase is "Where's Papa?" and "Papa 'Cola" (she can't say Pensacola yet!). She loves talking on the phone now, too, and the first thing she says to her Grandma Linda is "Papa Home?". In fact, when she talks on her pretend phone (which is sometimes the remote control or even her foot!), she always talks to her Papa Mike. So sweet.

Happy 5th Birthday, Sarah!

Five years ago today, our first child was born. After 16 hrs of labor and a c-section, Sarah came screaming into the world. We love you, sweetheart.

More Workshop Fun

As I mentioned a few posts down, I've been taking a photography workshop the last couple of months with Wendy Schultz. I am learning so much from Wendy and her amazing way of teaching. She really is pushing me to develop and understand my own style. Our last two assignments have really made me focus on lighting and how I use it. Here's a sample.

Using mid-day light










How do you use light?

Have a Happy Easter!

Here's hoping you have a very happy Easter holiday!

Just Playin' & Havin' Some Fun

I recently got some seamless background to play with, so I had to try it out with Sarah. She loves the stuffed seal, "Fluffy" that she got for Christmas ... she had to have him in almost all of the photos I took. She actually had fun with these ... for about 5 minutes, until she lost interest!

Spring! And a trip to the park ...

On a rare afternoon of me-time, I took a trip to a pretty little park in downtown Huntsville. I love that spring is finally here, and the flowers are blooming, and everything is turning green. I was beginning to forget what green looked like! Anyway, I went about 1.5hrs before sunset, and just walked around with my camera. I've been working on trying to be intentional about my photos, not just snapping away ... boy is it *hard*! But, it is really making me think, and its been good for me. I have Wendy Schultz to thank for that ... I am really enjoying her fabulous workshop. She's a great teacher and I'm learning a ton from her.

Anyway, here are a few of my favorites.

Happy Birthday to You, Sweet Anna

Yesterday was Anna's 2nd birthday. I can't believe its been two whole years since she came into our lives. We love you, Anna.

A little cooperation from Miss Anna

In a rare moment of cooperation, Anna let me take some photos of her the other day. Usually she just refuses to look at me when I get the camera out. I make a fool of myself trying to do things to get her attention, and it never works! I'm trying to learn to just be patient and watch her, wait for her. She was having a lot of fun, and so was I.


Anna & her Elmo sippy cup ... cooperation only goes so far, a girl's gotta have her "ah-ju". This kid loooooooves her apple juice. Yeah, she was drinking milk, but she still calls it "ah-ju."




A sweet hug for Lumpy the Heffalump. For the longest time she refused to sleep on a pillow. She insisted on using Lumpy for her pillow. Recently she's decided a pillow is a good thing ... but she has to sleep with this huge stuffed animal, and her small stuffed Eeyore, too.


Not perfect technically, but this just gets me as a mommy ... it was just before nap time and she was getting really sleepy. She loves playing with Sarah's winter hat and scarf now. It's the hat she was rubbing her eyes with. Right afterwards I asked her if she was ready to go "night-night" ... she was. :) I love how she now tells me "I tired" ... and she drags out the syllables like a real southern girl now!