The Lee family and the AHA!

Every year, I donate a portrait session to a fund raising auction for the AHA (American Heart Association). The biotech company that I worked for has a big annual drive to raise money for the AHA, which is a perfect fit since the company is a leader in cardio-vascular transplant tissues/devices.

This portrait session went to the fantastic Lee family. It was nice to see Ashley and get to meet his terrific wife and kiddos. They are all about as photogenic as it gets. My friends always tease me by saying that I only take pictures of attractive people, and with folks like this to photograph, it's hard to make an argument against it.

I owe a double thanks to the Lees for such a relaxed session, and of course for helping to support the work of the AHA. Everybody wins!

I've never met any brothers and sisters who get along as well as these three do!

They have a lot of great black & white family photos displayed around their home, so to stay on that track, we kept it simple and let their expressions be the magic.

I adore this next image. When you look up the definition of "sisters", this photo should be there.

We took a few candids, and I really like this one in the mirror. Part of being a good sibling is understanding the necessity of an impromptu tickle attack.

These faces are priceless!

Much appreciation to the Lee family! To find out how to donate to the AHA, or for tips on living a heart-healthy lifestyle, please click HERE.

christian!

Retail facilities will have you believe that this is the most wonderful time of the year because the holidays are approaching and they would like us to wave our consumer flags as feverishly as possible. However, I am finding that this is a wonderful time because of all the gorgeous babies being born, and not because of the 50 catalogs I'm getting in the mail every day or the radio stations that have already begun playing "Jingle Bells" and Porky Pig's rendition of "Blue Christmas".

The real magic this time of year is found in families like this one. Crystal and Ken welcomed their handsome little boy, Christian, into the world. Being around this kind of love and joy is such a treat.

If someone could figure out how to bottle the feeling you get when you watch a mother hold her child, or when you hold a newborn baby's tiny toes and fingers...now that would be a great gift! (But I will also accept a new car or trip to Tahiti)

Here is the ever-adorable Kendall in a perfect state of giggle. She's taking her big sister job very seriously.

A big congratulations to the Liles family and their sweet new baby boy!

the sylvester family!

November is typically full of mixed emotions for me. Cold weather and I get along about as well as a panel of guests on Jerry Springer. However, one thing I can look forward to is my annual holiday portrait session with the Sylvester family, which is always a source of fun and giggles.

I've known Karen for over 10 years, and have gotten to see her kids grow up over all that time. Soon they will both be taller than me, which is completely unfair.

Every time I show up for our shoots, I know there will be tons of energy and playful ideas. This year was no exception.

Bob, Karen, Ryan, and Kirsten...it was great to see all of you, and thanks so much for once again brightening up my November!

We had to quickly get some shots outside before the rain started coming down.

Every year, I challenge myself to get a good shot of Isabel. She must have been in the holiday spirit when she let me snap this one. Thanks, Isabel!

Nothing says "happy holidays" like a facefull of m&ms. The kids really got a kick out of this.

I'm so glad that we got some nice pics of Bob and Karen together. Pretty adorable, aren't they?

Here are some perfect examples of why I adore this family.

Reindeer antlers for everyone!!

You guys are the best, and I hope your holiday season is a super-duper one!

chauncey rocket!

I'm crazy happy to announce that Mary and Dan's little fella has been born, and everyone is doing great! We all know what awesome parents these two are gonna be. Little what's-his-name is very lucky. They've narrowed it down to two names, but haven't decided yet. Until they make a choice, I've decided to call him Chauncey Rocket. When he's old enough to understand adult babbling, I'm sure he'll wonder why I STILL call him Chauncey Rocket.

Here are some pics from our hospital visit...

Dan is all up in the dad business. While we were there, he handled a diaper change, dressing the baby, and swaddled with stunning precision.

50% laugh. 50% pain. Since it hurts Mary a bit when she laughs really hard, naturally we tried to make her laugh as much as possible. She has terrible taste in friends.

Widdi, Rene, Chauncey Rocket, Dan, and Matt.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THE 3 OF YOU!!!

iSpy

I tend to be the last person to catch up when it comes to the latest cool products: phones, mp3 players, podcasts, and cars that aren't pulled by horses. In an effort to continue staying a good 5 years behind everyone else when it comes to modern techno gadgetry (of the non-photo kind), I finally played with the camera built into my iMac. Here's a photo of what Matt and I would probably look like if an apocalypse were to hit the south side. I do hope that if the world comes to an abrupt end, it happens when I'm in my pajamas.

As cool as this little icam is, I'm sure that it's being used by the government to monitor my patriotism and my pancake consumption.

ragenia's maternity session

Several months ago when I was taking portraits of my friend Ayesha, I met a sweet, soft-spoken lady named Ragenia...another friend of Ayesha's who stopped by while we were shooting. She had mentioned that she was expecting a baby, and we started talking about setting up a maternity session.

I always chat with people I'm going to shoot about the mood and style they want to achieve in their photos. Ragenia is a very creative woman, and had wonderful ideas to add to the mix. In addition to her already unique input, a week or so before our shoot, I got a message from her asking if I was afraid of snakes. I thought about it and figured "no" if it's a controlled situation that does not remotely resemble the scene from "Raiders of the Lost Ark". Then I got really excited about the idea.

Her friend Eddie brought over his pet boa constrictor, Baby. Baby is a beautiful creature and was well behaved the whole time. She worked it for the camera and at no point tried to squeeze the life out of anyone. Good girl.

Ragenia was so at ease during her session, and is one of the most natural, earthy indiviualds I've met. Just being around her makes you feel calm. I'm so glad that we got to take these pictures of her in all her gorgeousness. We almost ran out of time since she's due within the next week.

We took lots of photos and some were without Baby the snake. However, I can't post the majority of them here because there's nudity involved. So, those are just for Ragenia to enjoy.

Here are a few that I can share with you.

Near the end of the session, we were joined by her cutie-pie son, Red Hawk. Ragenia has a collection of feathers that she's gathered from many special places, so we had to work those into some of the images. I adore this one.

She's also a wonderful artist (wood carving, henna, paintings, etc), so she mixed up some clay paint and created this design. There's nothing she can't do!

Ragenia, thanks so much for an incredible maternity session like no other.